Submitted by Will Arscott 

 

 

The Board made the decision prior to this meeting to move to the Zoom only alternative. This was in response to the large surge in Covid cases in the province. We will remain on a zoom only format for our two meetings in January and then the Board will reassess based on the Covid situation at that time. A high number of twenty people were present on Zoom with two guests and eighteen members. Thanks, this week to Gary Rusu and Mark Gyba for organizing the technology. Thanks to Avis Hardy for arranging the duty roster. The MC for the meeting was President Mark. Donna Gauthier agreed to record attendance and happy and sad dollar commitments and give them to Wayne Palmer who was unable to attend the meeting.

 

The meeting began with the playing of ‘O’ Canada. The blessing was asked by Avis Hardy who provided an appropriate prayer for the new year.

 

 

We had two visiting Rotarians: Earle Newton is a member of the North Club, and he attended to contribute to Maureen’s presentation. Dale Worrall, who is president of the Riverside Club, was also present.

 

 

There was no report at this meeting.

 

 

AGM Jan 24:  Our next meeting will be on the 24 and will be by Zoom only. It will be our AGM. Mark will again MC this meeting. There will be club elections as needed.

 

Walk for Polio Plus: Brenda Banbury and Eva Vida have taken on a project to walk 1,500 kms to symbolically visit all the Rotary clubs in District 5550. You are encouraged to participate as the distance is too much for just two people to walk. We are being asked to track our walking and report it to assist in the project. The walking can be outdoors or indoors on a treadmill or whatever. The second thing we are asked to do is to find sponsors for our walks or to sponsor others to raise money for Polio Plus. It is the intention of Brenda and Eva to attend each club over their walk. The project will last three months ending at the end of March. Gary Rusu graciously agreed to receive walk counts from our club and communicate them to Brenda. Polio Plus is Rotary’s signature international project.

 

Friendship Inn on Christmas Day: Gary Rusu reported on the eight volunteers from our club who volunteered on Christmas Day to serve dinner at the Friendship Inn. Maureen Torr also remarked on how meaningful this service was in her presentation later in the meeting. Gary and Maureen were joined by June and Steve Wilson, Donna and Paul Gauthier, Jenny Lawrence and Will Arscott. The time was steadily busy but not overwhelming. Our volunteers were much needed and much appreciated. All the volunteers felt the service added to the meaning of their Christmas. There will be another opportunity to serve at the Friendship Inn in February.

 

Grocery Cards: With the return to a Zoom format the grocery card express will be back in service. Please order from Donna and Paul and they will be delivered in a day or two. Graham complained that they will not do in person delivery to Penticton, but Paul indicated anything is available at a cost.

 

BJM Youth Leadership Event: This event has again been put on hold. With the increase in Covid the schools are locked down to outsiders. The school SRG involves about twenty-five students. A plan is being developed to have the students meet in small groups at the Saskatoon Club to cover some of the topics. It is hoped the full project can still go ahead in the spring. In the meantime, those who indicated they would be willing to lead sessions please get your information to Paul.

 

Happy and Sad Dollars: In the past all donations for happy and sad dollars have gone to RI.   At their last meeting, the board has decided to allow members to direct their donations above $20 to any Rotary project of their choice. The happy and sad dollar section of this meeting was the first time to allow members to direct their larger donations.

 

 

 

 

Rotary Moment

 

This was given by Gary Rusu who spoke about the Paul Harris Society. All members are familiar with the Paul Harris fellowship that is awarded after the donation of $1,000US to the Rotary Foundation. We are also familiar that repeat donations will earn you recognition as a Multiple Paul Harris Fellow. Many of our members are Paul Harris Fellows.

 

The Paul Harris Society recognizes a further level of giving. To qualify at this level, one must pledge a gift of $1,000US per year. This gift can be paid in several ways including monthly and quarterly donations. Our club has at least one Paul Harris Society member. More information on the Paul Harris Society may be found on the Rotary International Website. Members are also encouraged to talk to Mark or Gary about this opportunity.

           

 

Maureen and Earle teamed up to give a wonderful update on the Joy’s Centre project accompanied by a PowerPoint presentation. That presentation has already been shared with all members by email so your editor will make no attempt to reproduce it here. What your editor found most interesting was the place this project holds in the lives of Maureen and Earle.

 

Maureen came to Saskatoon in 2004 from Uganda. She has been a member of our club since 2010. Her special project originally called Joy’s Home of Hope has become a special project of our club and brought much positive notice. Our club has been central to the Joy’s project.   Maureen is very appreciative of the support she has had from the club from the time she and the club met.

 

Maureen’s life is now in Canada. She proudly showed us a picture of her children. All of them are set for success in their lives in Canada. Despite living in Canada, she has chosen to give back to her roots in Uganda. This has created some surprise among the Ugandans she works with in her project. 

 

One aspect of the project that does demand a special note is the sustainability project to expand the agriculture and grow food for the orphanage and school. To this end a corn mill was needed.  Much money has been raised and Maureen estimated that they were maybe $4,000 short on the purchase price of a corn mill. Gary Rusu stood up and promised $1,000. There are likely others that would like to contribute.

 

Earle then spoke. Maureen and Earle have become fast friends and his work is important to the project. Earle initially came on to help with the Global Grant process and develop the administration. Listening to Earle it is obvious that this project has given him meaning in his retirement and to put learned skills to use. Earle spoke about how he would like to see more Rotary clubs becoming involved in the projects their members are passionate about.

 

A website is being developed for the Joy’s Centre project. It is not online yet but will come on stream shortly. This would be a good opportunity for Maureen to contribute some happy dollars to the club. The website will be www.joyscentre.org

 

In recognition of Maureen and Earle’s talk the regular donation will be made to Bethany Homes.

 

 

Next Meeting is the Club’s AGM on January 24.