President Mike Christie was sadly unable to join us on our Club outing to the Agriculture Discovery Centre in Irvine on Monday 26 August. Work called.
Meeting in the car park at the Medicine Hat Lodge, we did carpooling, and left for Irvine at round about 11:30.
Past President Bruce Shepard stepped in for President Mike and at the start of our hour plus with Nicole Neubauer and her assistant Ty Jans, said a few words of introduction and thanks
With great enthusiasm, conviction and a deep knowledge of agriculture, sustainable development and education, Nicole mesmerized the party of about 30 Rotarians from our Club and Saamis Club, partners and friends. She painted a vivid picture of how the Centre had come about, its purpose, what it entails, and how it is managed by Irvine School students (with supervision).
Nicole and Ty shared stories of how the hands-on involvement of the young people on the farm, impacts their thinking, their understanding of agriculture, and how it develops their life skills for the present and future.
After the presentation, Nicole and Ty showed us around the farm, introducing us to the pigs, goats, sheep, cow and compost-creating worms!
We also got to see and hear about the different crops.
It was a very informative, exciting, inspiring and memorable time that we spent at the Agriculture Discovery Centre. THANK YOU, NICOLE AND TY!
More information about the Centre is in the STORY section that follows.
After leaving the Centre, we headed for the Irvine Hotel, where we had a great time of fellowship and food, before heading back to Medicine Hat, some time after 3pm!
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 President Mike Christie 403 878 3311.
Rotary Club Committee Membership Update:
Please continue to assist your 'team captains' (committee leads) and please also work in other areas of club activity, as you are able.
Please have a look on ClubRunner in the Committee section. You should find your name on one of the committee member lists, as per your choice(s). If not, please contact President Mike.
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.
Rotary District 5360 and Rotary International News
RI CONVENTION 2025 IN CALGARY
The RI Convention was last held in Calgary in 1996. It’s going to be back in Calgary again June 21 - 25, 2025.
If you are interested in volunteering, contact Host Organizing Committee secretary, Luanne Whitmarsh (l.whitmarsh@shaw.ca)
PDG Sandy McKay has volunteered to be the Rotary Club of Medicine Hat's representative on the RI Host Committee. Many more volunteers are needed and will be welcomed.
The Rotary Club's Program Committee members are Jillian Koch (jkoch@jmhca.com), Margie Booyens (margiebooyens@gmail.com), Terry Brekko (terrybrekko@gmail.com) and Alain Guerard (aguerard@telus.net)
If you have ideas for future programs, please contact them.
Imagine an agriculture centre, attached to a school in a rural town, that is managed by students. There is a Board comprising a President, vice-President, Secretary, and Directors at Large that makes everyday decisions, and a rotating ‘chore team’ that looks after the livestock, supervised by teachers. Sound far fetched? Nope! On Monday 26 August, the Rotary Club of Medicine Hat had the privilege of visiting the Agriculture Discovery Centre in Irvine, a student-led farm in the grounds of Irvine School.
The idea of the Centre was conceived by Nicole Neubauer, after she had seen, through inviting young people to her farm, how much they enjoyed experiencing hands-on learning about aspects of agriculture. The idea was transformed into a proposal that was supported by both the Prairie Rose Public School Division (who interrogated the ‘why’ of the proposal) and the Irvine School. It was started in the grounds of Irvine School in 2021 and opened in the spring of 2022.
This program at Irvine School is amazingly successful. At what? A number of things:
Offering school children, the opportunity to take on responsibility in an area in which they are interested, encouraging hard work, and giving them the wonderfully motivating and esteem-building experience of achievement and success
This success in turn encourages self-control and motivation to keep on working towards successful outcomes
The program gives them the opportunity to think beyond themselves, through caring for, nurturing and taking responsibility, for animals
Hands-on learning about livestock, crops and sustainable development
Deepening the students understanding of the food chain and of the origins of the food they eat every day (no, it’s not from Skip the Dishes!!), and:
Life skills development, including democratic decision-making, problem-solving, and teamwork, these skills translating into other areas of the student’s lives – and preparing them, for example, for leadership roles in the not-for-profit sector
The Centre is open 7 days a week and has, in the short time since opening, become an agro-tourism hub, attracting and welcoming regular and new visitors. Nicole understands the importance of public education, one reason being that to influence policy and the government, the public needs to be informed about agriculture and the related issues and concerns.
Nicole, Ty and others keep the Centre cared for during school vacations, so that the labour of the students is not lost.
Succession planning is done so that the student management of the Centre is handed over smoothly when the Grade 9s leave Irvine School to continue their education at a High School. Both present and past students are great ambassadors of this life-changing program.
The Centre also serves as an example of how rural schools can and need to reinvent themselves, drawing on and working with their assets, in this instance, offering hands-on learning about agriculture.
A strong recommendation: visit the Agriculture Discovery Centre, talk with Nicole and Ty, and see how you can support this innovative, very successful prairie province endeavour, of which we can all be so proud.
ATTENDANCE: There was a great turn-out for our Club's trip to Irvine - all told, 30 Rotarians (including three from Saamis Club), partners and friends.
GUESTS: Partners Jane MacKay, Joan Fleming, Phyllis McLaughlin, Diane Halderman, Johan Booyens, Deb Panabaker, Joanne Stalwick, Lenora Stein, Carol Cooper. Guests: Martha Munz Gue, Assistant Governor Sharon McDonnell, Brian Robinson, Ron Faichuk.
After a very informative hour plus on the Agriculture Discovery Centre student-led farm, we enjoyed a time of fellowship and food at the Irvine Hotel. Such a fun outing!
CLUB DRAW: -
Please remember to contribute gifts for the weekly draw. If you are somewhere interesting, a small gift to the club is an easy fundraiser!
Makeups: -
Birthdays:
Susan Withers August 7th.
Gregg Martin August 25th.
Milan Vujovic September 4th.
Dick Bide September 5th.
Joe Hrankowski September 15th.
Kevin Walcer September 24th.
Stan Sakamoto September 30th.
Rotary Anniversaries:
Ken Zollner 41 years August 1, 1983.
Jillian Koch 8 years August 8, 2016.
Bernie Scott 40 years. September 1, 1984.
Dieter Brand 30 years September. 1, 1994.
WEDDING ANNIVERSARY ROSE RUNNER FOR AUGUST 2024
Dale Stein
Minute Reminders:
PROGRAM:
No meeting next week (Monday 2 September, Labour Day); an online Business Meeting on Monday 9 September.
FUNDRAISING: BINGO:
The next bingo session will be on Thursday 5 September in the evening, with Dave Stalwick as team organizer. An email has been sent out.
A FUN (and learning) SOCIAL EVENT - AT BINGO!
Members are reminded that "learn to bingo" has been proposed, to help members understand the game we work at 18 times a year. The evening of Wednesday September 18th has been set for this "class", so put this in your daytime and come out to have some fun. The host club that evening is Medalta, a cause that our club has supported for many years.
TERRY FOX RUN
The Rotary Club of Medicine Hat Sunrise has invited us to participate in the Terry Fox run. The run is September 15 at 10:30 AM on the Sunrise Rotary Trail at the Medicine Hat College.
FUNDRAISER FOR AGRICULTURE DISCOVERY CENTRE (ADC):
In December, the Monarch Theatre will be putting on a show to raise funds for the ADC located at the Irvine School. Watch this space for details in forthcoming issues.
ROTARY's NEW GENERATIONS SERVICE EXCHANGE PROGRAM: BIA ARRIVES IN JUST OVER TWO WEEKS!
Beatriz (Bia) Souza arrives in Calgary from Brazil on Friday 13 September. She will be hosted for two weeks each, by: Nadia & Maarten Deenen; Ian & Phyllis McLaughlin; Mihaela & Carl Craciun; Peter Mueller & Gwen Dirk; and Dan Kammerer & Cheryl. She will attend a few Rotary meetings and make a presentation on herself, her family, her country and her NGSE experience. Bia is a University student, studying to become a teacher. She will do the vocational side of her NGSE program through the Prairie Public School Division (Reagan Weeks) and the MH Public School Division (Jason Peters). The humanitarian service pillar of her program is still being planned. It will likely include Bia volunteering for a few hours each week, at the YMCA, Saamis Immigration, and the Redcliff Youth Center. Bia returns to Brazil on Thursday 21 November. She is a delightful young woman and is likely to do a great job of marketing the NGSE in Medicine Hat, while she enjoys the different aspects of her 10 week program. The screenshot was taken on Friday 9 August during a Zoom meeting of Bia (top left) with three of her five host families, and a few members of the District 5360 NGSE committee.
Family of Rotary
Please keep a Board Member informed about members health and/or any other 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. Our first meeting of every month is a ZOOM business meeting. Check the club calendar, which is usually up to date for our meeting locations and program.
