Today the meeting was run by Mike Christie, our President-elect nominee who started the meeting promptly at 12:15 pm, and had the guests introduced. Mike worked strictly from memory (his previous Presidency was almost 10 years ago), and he did rather well.
President Melanie Harty was enduring the "end of March" tax season, which is a very busy time and has a few weeks off.
Although it happened as a minute later on in the meeting, Director Dave Panabaker announced that the Club 1000 raffle in support of the Rotary Music Festival was completed on the weekend, and that the winners had been announced. Thanks to everyone who helped raise approx. $20,000 for the 2023 Rotary Music Festival. The winners are as follows and cheques will be delivered to the Rotarian involved, so they can be hand delivered.
Rotary Club "What-z New":
A few more meeting helpers are required to run cameras and sound during our hybrid meetings. Anyone wishing to help should contact Mike Christie 403 878 3311.
Rotary Club Membership Update:
Please consider joining the membership team. Check out a meeting of this team and see how exciting it is! The committee meets on the second Wednesday of each month at 5:00 pm. Contact Mike Christie to join in.
Rotary Club Information:
Housekeeping:
If you have a Meeting Minute, please phone, text or email the President and it will be included in the next Newsletter.
Board minutes can be found on ClubRunner, under Club Documents.
Upcoming Club Program, Activities and Meetings:
Monday March 27th - Meeting at REDI Enterprises.
Monday April 3rd - Club Business meeting
Monday April 3rd - Rotary Bingo (evening)
May 8th and 9th - Next Rotary Club Casino
Friday June 16th - Rotary at the Ballpark, Athletic Park
Upcoming Rotary District and International Events
Rotary District Learning Webinar: Tuesday March 21st, from 7-8pm, on the District's New Generations Service Exchange program for 18-30 year young adults. Register on District 5360 website, at the link https://rotary5360.ca/event/march-club-learning-webinar
Next District Conference: Lethbridge: May 5/6, 2023. Registration is open. The conference website is located at https://www.discon5360.ca Margie mentioned that some ride sharing and car pooling might let more folks attend.
Rotary International Convention: 27 - 31 May 2023, in Melbourne, Australia.
Ideas for Future Programs
The Rotary Club's Program Committee members are Jillian Koch (jkoch@jmhca.com), Dave Panabaker (d.panabaker@hotmail.com) and Margie Booyens (margiebooyens@gmail.com).
If you have ideas for future programs, please contact them.
The Rotary Club was delighted to welcome Lyndon Grunewald to our meeting today. Lyndon is the Executive Director of the Medicine Hat office of the Canadian Mental Health Association. Lyndon began his presentation by speaking about the organizational structure of CMH, how they are a Federated, National body with provincial chapters and local (area) offices. He advised that the MH office handles a large rural area as well, from Oyen to the Border, from Brooks to Foremost, a lot of ground. He spoke about their funding structure, how they did not get any government funding directly, and how they work with Alberta Health Services (AHS) to put on classes and provide education. He reminded everyone that the POST thrift store is one of their funding mechanisms, and they appreciate the donations and sales that arise from that outlet.
Lyndon went on to describe the "climate" of mental health generally in the community, the impact of a lack of school and social interaction on young people and how that has affected development and stability.
He spoke about their suicide prevention programs, how they have a "keep in touch" program and school representatives to liason with students. He mentioned how "My Collective Journey" has evolved from addiction recovery and that the need for attention to depression and addiction recovery has not diminished with the end of COVID, but has continued to be a major problem.
Lyndon also spoke about the CARE team (Community Assisted Response Team), and this community is one of three across Canada where Police Officers and Community Mental Health workers collaborate in their response to mental health issues. He mentioned that they have been responding to an average of 5 calls per day, and that they are operating two teams, 12 hours per day. This is a one year pilot, which so far has shown great promise, and although it still has many aspects to be perfected, is showing that putting the right people in the right place can have very beneficial results. He is hopeful that funding through the Provincial Government will be found to expand this service across the province and the country.
Lyndon was asked and answered a number of questions at the end of the presentation, and was thanked by Mike Christie for his talk.
Lyndon Grunewald, Executive Director of the MH branch of Canadian Mental Health (our guest speaker).
There were 20 in attendance at our meeting today, and a further 4 members on the ZOOM link.
Club Draw:
Ian McLaughlin won the club draw, Joe Hrankowski was "close, but no cigar".
Acting President Mike reminded members to contribute items for the weekly draw as the stock cupboard is running low.
Makeups:
Those who worked the March 15th bingo were noted.
Also noted were those who attended the "Tri-Club" social on Thursday evening, at the Saamis Rotary meeting.
Birthdays:
Dan Kammerer Mar 04
Dave Panabaker Mar 07
Terry Cooper Mar 25
Rotary Anniversaries:
Stan Sakamoto 39 years Mar 01, 1984.
Jack Snedden 34 years Mar 01 1989.
Mike Christie 21 years Mar 04, 2002.
Dave Stalwick 21 years Mar 04, 2002.
John John 20 years Mar 10, 2003.
Bruce Shepard 9 years Mar 10, 2014.
Dawn Barr 19 years Mar 29, 2004.
Wedding Anniversary Rose Runner for March 2023:
Terry Brekko
Reminders about important Minutes:
Bingo
Dave Panabaker is needing workers for his Bingo team on Monday April 3rd – evening session. Sign up invitations have gone out.
Dinner Club
Dick Bide would like to get the Dinner Club underway. He encouraged those put their names down, to send him a date for the dinner at their house.
E-bike Raffle Tickets
On behalf of the Sunrise Club, Assistant Governor Keith Walker announced the sale of e-bike Raffle Tickets… and happily sold a good few!
The e-bike raffle provides funds for the Sunrise Rotary Club to sponsor community and international causes. An important one for them is literacy, through the “Sunrise Rotary Ride the Road to Reading” program at the Medicine Hat Public Library, for grade four students in the city. Use this link to buy tickets with a credit card: https://www.zeffy.com/en-CA/ticketing/18de336b-5b29-4ee9-8e0a-81ade75a8684
Sunrise Rotary Club anniversary
Just a reminder of the 25th anniversary celebration of the chartering of the Sunrise Club will take place in the evening of Tuesday June 20, 2023. The draw for the two e-bikes will be done same evening.
The Medicine Hat Club chartered the Sunrise Club in June 1998. Past President of our Club, Mark Sorenson, was one of the charter members. Plans will be announced when they are finalized but please mark the date.
District Learning and Development: Tuesday 21 March
On Tuesday 21 March 2023 from 7-8pm, Rotary’s New Generations Service Exchange (NGSE) program will be showcased through a District Zoom meeting (a meeting rather than a webinar, to allow interaction between attendees and the NGSE team). The presentation will be made by District NGSE team members Lena Caparini and Maya Povhe.
Please register on the District 5360 website (under EVENTS) and learn more about this exciting, life-changing program for 18-30 year young adults.
Team Freewheel Bike project: The Bike Project encourages everyone to visit the project at 551 Spencer Street (Knowles Electric building). Thursday mornings are a good time to swing by for a cup of coffee and a chat with the team working on the bikes. Active involvement in the project would be warmly welcomed!
Clubrunner "Changeover" Training Series: Clubrunner, our Club Operations Software is providing a broad series of training webinars, to coincide with the changeover of club executives. Sessions on every aspect of Clubrunner are available, from District Executive, Membership, Club Executives and Website operations. Register online at https://site.clubrunner.ca/page/changeover-training
Meeting Room Setup
John John needs assistance setting up the meeting room on a go forward basis. The time commitment is about an hour before the meeting, starting at 11:00 am and about a half hour after the meeting, usually ending around 1:30 pm. If you are willing to help, please contact John or Dave Panabaker.
Family of Rotary:
Rotarian Sandy Mackay is at home recuperating from a fall that unfortunately broke a few ribs. He joined us today on ZOOM.
The club sends its prayers and best wishes to former Rotarian Ray Kemp, who is undergoing radiation treatment in Lethbridge.
Please keep Adolf Seiler informed about members health changes so that information can be provided to the club through the Weekly News.
The Rotary Club of Medicine Hat has returned to meeting in person, face-to-face meetings as of Monday March 21. A ZOOM link will still be available for those who are cautious, ill or are away on vacation.
