Bulletin for November 19, 2014

Posted by Nina Benn 
on Nov 19, 2014
 
Meeting Notes
 
Greeter/Note taker: Ian
Door Duty:  Roger
  1. Meeting called to order @ 6:30 p.m. by President Gordon
  2. National Anthem led by Gordon Benn on the piano
  3. Invocation offered by Dan Rippin
Guests:
Meghan Keating and her friend Jessica Bouthillier.  Hugh Green, Marla Galarid and Gabriel (mostly from the Victoria Club).
Announcements:
  1. Carolyn tells us that we have 35 people signed up for our White Elephant next week.You can make your donation online after the event.
     
  2. Jack MacAulay handed out a schedule for shifts to work the Salvation Army Kettle.The kettle will be on Saturday, December 6th, 13th and 20th with 2 hour shifts each day.
     
  3. Sidney by the Sea are having their Christmas party at the Capital City Yacht Club again on December 6th.There was a signup sheet for that too.
     
  4. President Gordon will discontinue use of the post box and have mail re-directed to his Sidney office.
     
  5. Roger needs judges for the Sailpast which is scheduled for November 29th.
     
  6. President Gordon spoke about the Heart Smart Walk being extended up Weiler to connect with the new pathway around the airport.
     
  7. As you will recall we agreed to help the Sidney Classical Orchestra distribute some tickets to their upcoming concerts.  The person in charge was too ill and only got me the tickets late last week and not in time to distribute them to needy seniors or the like.  They would still like tickets distributed and gave me 35 tickets for use of anyone who would like to go.  (FOR FREE!!)  Gordon has given away 8 so far but we need your help.  We have 27 tickets left.  Would you like to go?  Friends? Family?  The first concert is this Friday night the 28th day of November at 7:30 at St. Elizabeth’s Church.  It is a mostly Mozart concert.  The players are all accomplished musicians.  Gordon and Nina have the tickets.  Let us know how many you would like.  We will bring them tomorrow night to the White Elephant night.  For the next concert we will try to find needy people other than Rotarians.Let’s help this worthwhile local group!
     
  8. We do not have a meeting venue for Dec. 17th as the Club is otherwise booked.  We have cancelled the meetings for December 24th and 31st so we should have a meeting.  Any suggestions?  I tried the Sidney Pier Hotel but it was very expensive.
     
Program:
The program was the presentation of our scholarships.  Dan Rippin gave some general background.  We have two scholarships of $1,000 each; one going to Parklands and the other going to Stellys.  The reviewing committee looks at grades but also a commitment to school or community and showing leadership skills.  The committee asks for a letter regarding the candidate’s qualifications and future goals and plans.  They also involve the school counselors.  The students must be accepted into a post secondary program in BC starting this fall or perhaps a deferral for one year.  Our Parkland’s winner was Meghan Keating.  She gave us a bit of background.  She is 18 years old and graduated from Parklands in June.  She is currently attending a pre-med course at Camosun College and hopes to move onto a program at BCIT involving the use of x-rays to treat cancer patients.  She is involved in figure skating and has volunteered some 400 hours to teaching kids to skate.  In 2013, Meghan went to Spain on a program to teach English to Spanish teenagers.  She works at Alexander’s Coffee but still volunteers once a week at Saanich Peninsula Hospital.  Our winner from Stellys was Ashley Blair.  Ashley was attending Thompson River University at Kamloops but has fallen ill and is currently on a medical withdrawal.  Dan Rippin read a letter from her parents who described how in middle school Ashley was diagnosed with dyslexia and began to build skills to deal with this.  Fortunately the program also allowed her to find her strong suits.  She is in a business program at TRU.  At Kamloops she volunteers with two youth groups.  Ashley also travelled to the Dominican Republic to volunteer to build housing.
 
Sergeant at Arms
Ian was Sarge tonight and fined Dan for passing the Sergeant at Arms onto Ian, Cosmo for dressing like a gangster, Gordon and Nina for being “Benn and Benn” rather than “Ben and Jerry’s”, Jack and Jack for not being Jack and Jill and Barry and Roger for being the subjects of our upcoming new game for the fair “Whack a Scot”.   For the record, Ian only gets to report this dribble as he was also the scribe tonight.
Marble Draw:
Our guest Hugh Green had the winning ticket but went away disappointed as he drew a white marble.
Next Week’s Program:
White Elephant Auction & Dinner.
Duties for November 26, 2014
Greeter and Note taker – Carolyn
Door Duty - Ian