Rotary Weekly News - August 29, 2022 (Aug 29, 2022)

On Monday August 29, 2022 members met at the Medicine Hat Lodge for our regular noon meeting. Club President Melanie Harty was in charge and she took the podium to talk about member engagement, club strategic planning and communication

But first, Rotarians and guests enjoyed a delicious lunch and Melanie kicked off the business portion of the meeting at 12:15 pm.

President Melanie spoke about the need to take some of our Strategic Planning to heart, and create an environment where engagement and communication is a given. She pointed as an example to the work of the Rotary Board, where perhaps inadvertently, it has not been shared as completely or thoroughly as it could have been. She will be making changes to our monthly business meeting format (the next one is Monday October 3rd). She would like to publish an agenda and secure club questions (and potential solutions) for all to think about ahead of the meeting.

It is her intention to have each Director give a five minute update, if appropriate, each month and perhaps publish the minutes in a different way so everyone is informed.

She also touch on the need for succession planning, both our Secretary and Treasurer have been at their jobs for many years and 2 of the current Directors with long service will be finished their terms in June of 2023.

Several questions were taken from the floor, the importance of education about the Rotary Music Festival, the need to ensure everyone is engaged at some point in a committee and perhaps some use of existing community assessments to help guide our work.

Other comments were entertained, including continued work on the sound system for hybrid meetings (if these are to continue), and keeping our eyes open for other opportunities to serve in the community. Much more work and discussion to come.

Treasurer Gail Halderman will be sending out our annual dues invoice, they were set with the budget and had a small increase to $275.00/year and are now due!

This week's Paraprosdokian - "Nostalgia isn't what it used to be. Nor is there any future in it."

Rotary Club "What-z New":

A few more meeting helpers are required to run cameras and sound during our hybrid meetings. We are all learning to adapt to this new reality. Anyone wishing to help should contact Mike Christie 403 878 3311.

Rotary Club Membership Update:

Would you like to join the membership team? Check out a meeting of this team and see how exciting it is! The committee meets on the second Thursday 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 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:

Thursday Sept 1 - a 'quad-Club' social: walking around the Sunrise Rotary Trail, followed by treats. Meet at 6pm at the Cultural Centre. Note that it's the first Alberta Day that day!
Monday September 5th - NO MEETING, STAT Holiday
Thursday September 8th - Saamis Movie Night, Lions Park, Redcliff
Monday September 12th - Presentation by Best Business Bureau and Community Service presentation.
Saturday September 17th - Evening Rotary Bingo

Upcoming Rotary District and International Events

Next District Learning webinar is titled, "Beyond Seagull Development", it will show opportunities for Rotarians to build beyond charity and into sustainability and capacity. An entire relevant topic, given our noon hour discussion. Register on the District 5360 website with this link. https://rotary5360.ca/event/september-club-learning-ebinar . In this session the audience will learn these 3 things:
 The difference between charity and development
 Strategies for mobilizing community members and building their capacity for development action
 The power of the local economy and how to use “quick-win” projects to spark entrepreneurship
Next District Conference: Lethbridge: May 5th and 6th, 2023.
The next Peace Park Assembly is being held in Great Falls, on Sept 16 - 18, 2022.

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.

Visit to Saamis Teepee with LINC students

Medicine Hat Rotarians joined the staff of Saamis Immigration and two classes of LINC (Language Instruction for Newcomers to Canada) students for a social event at Saamis Teepee and an hour of snacks and visiting at the Medicine Hat Tourist Center.

Rotarians Bruce Shepard, Emilia Dirk and Keith Walker (joined later by Gwen Dirk and Peter Mueller) enjoyed a beautiful day for the event.

The students got practice in the English skills and learned some history of the indigenous tribes of this area.

A great morning for all.

Meeting News

Guests:

Norman Leach, RC of Edmonton-Strathcona (a new employee of the MH College)
A total of 24 took in the "in-person" meeting, with another 6 on ZOOM.

Club Draw:

The club draw this week was won by both Terry Cooper and Glen Presley, who each won a pair of "On Stage Series" tickets.

MAKEUPS:

None reported

Birthdays:

Milan Vujovic Sept 4.
Dick Bide Sept 5.
Edward Lipin Sept 6.
Joe Hrankowski Sept 15.
Stan Sakamoto Sept 30.

Rotary Anniversaries: .

Dieter Brand 28 years Sept 1, 1994
Bernie Scott 38 years Sept 1, 1984.

Wedding Anniversary Rose Runner for September:

Dick Bide
Anne C and Dawn B are looking for Rose Runners for DECEMBER 2022 AND FEBRUARY 2023. If you would like to assist, please contact them.

Minutes

Movie Night with Saamis Immigration clients.

Bingo team

Dave Stalwick advised that the Monday evening bingo earned a profit of $615.00, and Terry Brekko was the lucky guess pot winner. The next bingo is Saturday evening, September 17, 2022.

School Pancake Breakfast

Anne Carrier was pleased to offer Rotarians another chance to serve in the public. Her Daughter-in-law's school, Dr. Ken Sauer elementary are having a pancake breakfast for students, parents and teachers on Friday morning, Sept 2nd. Anne needs people to be there starting at approx. 6:30 am, and everything should be complete by 9:00 am. Contact Anne if you have that "early" morning to spare.

Golf Windup Social

Dale Stein advised that partner social, in the spirit of the late Al Garden, will be held after golf on Monday Sept 19, beginning at 5:00 pm for drinks and 6:00 for dinner. It will be a choice of steak or chicken, and he is just waiting on confirmation of costs before the invitations go out.

Second Saamis Immigration Teepee visit.

Emilia Dirk advised that a second visit to the Saamis Teepee, as well as a snack social at the Tourist Center, will be held on Tuesday Sept 30, beginning at 9:30am (See Photos and Story for the event)

Rental of Knowles Electric Building for Project Freewheel

Terry Cooper advised that the rental agreement should be ready for signing this week, and he is hopeful that the movement of bikes, tools and parts can take place in the next few weeks. It will be great to have dedicated space.

Golf Invitation with MH College Executives

Terry Cooper also advised that a golf afternoon with Medicine Hat College executives, and perhaps some other guests will take place on Friday Sept 23rd, beginning at 1:30 pm. Please contact Terry if you would like to take part.

Saamis Rotary Harley raffle

The Saamis Rotary Club is holding their annual fundraising raffle this summer. Tickets can be purchased online at https://www.winningticketlottery.ca

Ribfest

Anne Carrier thanked everyone who took the time to do a shift at Ribfest this past weekend. Although we did not make a tremendous amount of money, the exposure to the public was great.

2023 Club 1000 update

Dave Panabaker also advised that our new AGLC licence for this year's raffle has been obtained, and ticket printing is underway. Hopefully ticket packages will be available after Labour Day.

Upcoming Social Events:

Thursday 1 Sept: 'Quad-Club' social: starting at Cultural Centre at 6pm. Walk around the trail. Treats courtesy of MH Sunrise Rotary. This is a fundraiser for "Move for Polio".
On Monday September 19th, we will have an "Al Garden memorial" supper at the Connaught Golf Club. A partner event and an emailed signup request will be out soon.

Family of Rotary:

Wayne Chesley continues to recover slowly and we wish him the best on this long, tough process.

Please keep Adolf informed about members health changes so that information can be provided to the club through the Weekly News.