MEETING RECAP - November 30th, 2015

 

Submitted by Will Arscott December 1st, 2015

 

NOVEMBER 30th 2015 - MEETING RECAP - MEETING AT SASKATOON CLUB WITH MANY ANNOUNCEMENTS AND HAPPENINGS FOR OUR BUSY CLUB AND THE PRESENTATION BY OUR ROTARY EXCHANGE STUDENT SAMULI NIINISAARI

 

 

Meeting Held at Saskatoon Club without our usual flags banners and such. The meeting was presided by President Bev D.

Cashier - Peter Z

Visitors and Guests - Avis H

Greeter - Gary K.

 

We lustily sang O Canada led by Wayne M

Grace - was tastefully prepared by Adriana VanD who asked we be provided with the strength and commitment to work to meet the needs of our communities.

 

Avis Hardy Introduced our two guests:

Assistant District Governor Colin Taylor

Samuli Ninisaari our Rotary Exchange student from Finland who was our guest speaker.

 

Colin Taylor ADG spoke briefly reminding our members:

- PETS training March 18 to 20 Mark and Jack to attend but others would be welcome.

- May 12th to 15th will be District Conference in Gimli Manitoba. Note the early date for this year.

- ADG Colin complemented our club for having an ongoing succession in our executive indicated that other clubs are having issues in this area.

- November 30th was the last day of Foundation Month and ADG Colin reminded us that a basic level of giving to Foundation is required for our club to qualify for district grants.

- Indicated that information from the international conference indicates people join [Rotary] due to personal relationships. 'You cannot overwork somebody who is having a good time.'

 

 

Announcements:

 

(We are a busy club and this is a busy time of year so much of the meeting was taken up with announcements.)

 

King George Christmas Market - Joanne F. (Thursday December 17th)

 

- we need gift items appropriate for all family members. Things for men are in short supply suggestions: socks, mitts, ball caps or T-shirts with logos.

- Christmas decorations are a hit as gifts

- Still need more volunteers for all parts of the project please sign the sheet on the table or contact Joanne. If you think you could have been missed please call Joanne to confirm your time.

- Set-up will run 3:00 to 5:00 on Wednesday December 16th to tie-up the gym for as short a time as possible.

- Big need for Christmas bags as they are more convenient than wrapping gifts.

 

Club Christmas Luncheon - Bev D.

 

- NOTE: Week of Xmas Monday December 21st at Bessborough

- We need gifts for Bethany homes of toiletries and other items.

- Bev Suggested looking for soaps and such that you may have from hotel stays and donating them to give to Bethany Homes.

 

Rotary (Nutana) Ribfest Project - Bev. D

 

- We have received a cheque for $756 for the labour our club provided to the Nutana Rotary Ribfest Project. This will go to the general revenue of our club.

- This seems like very fair recompense for the labour we provided. Wayne McG expressed that he hoped this would usher in a new era of mutually beneficial cooperation between five clubs and their various projects.

 

 

SAMULI NIINISAARI - Our Rotary Exchange Student and Guest Speaker

 

- Samuli was introduced by President Bev. Obviously Bev has come to hold Samuli in high regard in the short time he has been in Saskatoon. She indicated that to date Samuli has been a wonderful ambassador for Finland and for Rotary.

 

- Samuli's talk was titled 'Me and Finland' (Started with talking about his Midget AA Hockey here where he was recently moved to forward and in two games scored 3 goals and one assis or was that five goals and two assists in three games? or?)

 

- Samuli comes from Hamina, Finland and is sponsored by the Rotary Club of Hamina-Vehkalahti. Hamina is above the 60th parallel and is close to both Helsinki and Russia. Because of the high Northern location the differences in the length of days is extreme between summer and winter. Much of the country is above the Arctic circle. In Swedish, Hamina is called Fredericks Port but the port is not longer used as a major commercial port. The town is about 12,000 people and is about 360 years old. The town is laid out in a unique circular pattern. It is home to a big military tattoo held every second year.

 

- Finland is a parliamentary republic with a prime minister who holds power and a president who is the nominal head of state. The languages are Finnish and Swedish with an aboriginal language (Seame) spoken in the north (Lapland). Finland part of Sweden till 1809. Since then it has been both independent and part of Russia. It has now been an independent country for 98 years.

 

- Samuli's Family consists of this brother Joona who is twenty and a university student having completed his required time in the army. He has a sister Emilia 19 who is a high school student. His parents are both teachers. The father is Risto who teaches IT at a trade school and is an avid sailor and commodore of the local boat club. His mother Sanna has been a Jr. High physed teachers but now is training to be a wilderness guide.

 

- Both his brother and sister have been Rotary exchange students to Illinois and New Zealand. The mother also did a non-Rotary exchange to Oklahoma.

 

- Samuli plays very serious Under18 ice hockey for Kouvolon Kookoo. and also likes skiing. (There are no high mountains in Finland.) Last year Samuli lived away from home in Kovolon to pursue hockey.

 

- The family has a house with large yard and a cottage on a lake that looks very much like a cottage on a lake in Saskatchewan. The family also recently acquired a 38 foot sailboat.

 

- Two amazing facts about Finland: 1. The Finns are the world's number one consumers of coffee with an average consumption of 18kg per person per year. 2. The Finns have 3.3 million saunas.

 

Samuli's talk seemed to be very well received by our club.

 

 

 

Happy and Sad Dollars - Due to all of the above alas there was no opportunity for happy or sad announcements at today's meeting.

 

Sergeant at Arms - Despite the short time Sergeant Wayne rattled off several fines without specifying the offense including a particularly unjustified and egregious fine against the fine scribe of this rotateller. If this pattern should be repeated it would be necessary to undertake the impeachment of the sergeant.

 

 

NEXT MEETING:

 

Monday December7th at the Bessborough

 

Topic: EDWARD'S SCHOOL of BUSINESS, DAPHNE TARAS, DEAN