Rotary Weekly News - December 2, 2024 (Dec. 02, 2024)

MESSAGE FROM THE PRESIDENT

President Mike Christie started our monthly online Business Meeting promptly at 12:00. There was a good attendance of 22 members who were warmly welcomed by Mike.

The big news is that our District has two more District Governors lined up for the two years after Manon Mitchell's 2025-2026 year. They are Darcy Mykytsyshyn (RC of Red Deer) for the Rotary year 2026-2027 and Mohammed Idriss (RC of Brooks) for the Rotary year 2027-2028. These two have and are continuing to make remarkable contributions to, in and through Rotary, at club, District and International levels. We thank PDG Kurt Kowalchuk and the District Governance Committee for making these great choices, and look forward to their leadership.

DIRECTORS REPORTS

Projects and Programs Committee: Terry Cooper

The P&P committee will meet immediately after the noon meeting and on the agenda are: the finalization and adoption of this committee's Terms of Reference; the approval of the modified form members will use from now on, to request club funding; the nomination of a vice-chair for the months Terry is out of the country; and information about the use of ClubRunner for folders on Team FreeWheel and on the P&P committee, in which all documents will be stored for easy access and reference.

Money Matters: Gail Halderman

Treasurer Gail drew members' attention to an email he sent out on 7 November, about GIVING TUESDAY (3 December), a North American tradition. The hope is that members will consider making a donation on this day, to The Rotary Foundation of Rotary International.

Club Secretarial Matters: Doug Fleming

The revised and amended club bylaws, approved by the Board and the members, have been sent to Service Alberta for official approval. Thank you, Doug!

Club Service: Dave Stalwick

In our club's ongoing search for meeting venues alternative to The Lodge, Dave S has visited Medalta. Their Board room would be too small for our meetings; the other available venues would be the large ones used for weddings etc. Too big. There would also be a problem regarding the provision of lunch.

Thanks to Board member Anne Carrier, Dave S and selected members will have lunch at CORE at noon on Tuesday 3 December, to try out the available meeting venue and the lunch that will be provided.

Director-at-large: Anne Carrier

Publicity and Marketing: Anne reported that the Medicine Hat News would not have a problem if we were to place the articles on Rotary that get published once a month in the MHN, on our Facebook page(s). The News does not have copyright.
Community Project: Bell ringing for the Salvation Army: Anne reminded all that our Club will be ringing the bells on Saturday 7 December. Dave P will sent out a reminder about the locations and schedules.
Rotary Music Festival Raffle Tickets: Anne is waiting for the approval of Gaming so that the RMF raffle tickets can be printed, with the allocated licence number on the tickets. She is leaving the country on 27 December, after which Naadia Deenen will be holding the ticket sale torch. Anne said that the files are ready to be handed out to members once the tickets have been printed.

Finding Future President and Directors: PP Bruce Shepard

Bruce is on the lookout for a club President to follow Milan Vujovic, as well as for a few Directors. This is his responsibility as Past President.

He will, as is done annually, rope in the assistance of all Past Presidents, to help in this quest.

Bruce pointed out that the club bylaws make it possible for a past president to serve a second term as President. Dawn Barr reminded members of how she had shared her term with Dave Panabaker, the two doing six months each. President Mike said another variation was as Saamis and Sunrise Clubs do - having co-Presidents who serve together for the whole Rotary year. These options will be borne in mind.

Membership: Bruce Shepard

The good news is that a 'Why Rotary' event 2025 committee has been formed, which includes members from Sunrise and Saamis Clubs. They have had a meeting. Stan Sakamoto is exploring the viability of dates for this event, before and after Easter. The next meeting of this committee will be held shortly. Members are invited to submit ideas for this big event.

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

District Workshop: Wednesday 4 December at 7:30pm: "You asked, We answered", led by DGE Manon Mitchell. Register on the District website.

RI CONVENTION 2025 IN CALGARY: 21-25 JUNE

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)
Club Convention Champions are playing a vital role in communication (both ways) between the District 5360 Host Convention Committee and their Club. Our Convention Club Champion is PDG Sandy MacKay.
Registration for the 2025 Rotary International Convention is open - https://convention.rotary.org/en-us

SUMMARY OF FORTHCOMING CLUB PROGRAM

Saturday 07 December: Christmas Kettle ringing for the Salvation Army

Sunday 08 December: All Rotary Christmas Dinner at Desert Blume Golf Club House, starting at 5pm: $50pp. President Mike has tickets. You can also pay at the door - but let Mike know if you plan to attend as the organizers need an idea about numbers.

Monday 09 December: NO MEETING.

Thursday 12 December: Lunch at the Bistro in the Veiner Centre at noon, followed by stocking stuffing at the Centre in the afternoon.

Monday 16 December: Last meeting of 2024 at MH Lodge: The classification talks of Sharon Hayward and Kevin Walcer.

Ideas for Future Programs

The Rotary Club's Program Committee members are Jillian Koch (jkoch@jmhca.com), Margie Booyens (margiebooyens@gmail.com), Alain Guerard (aguerard@telus.net), Sharon Hayward (sharon.hayward@medicinehatymca.ca)
If you have ideas for future programs, please contact them.

Meeting News

GUESTS: None, this being a Business Meeting.

ATTENDANCE: 22 members attended this online meeting.

CLUB DRAW: No 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: None were mentioned.

Birthdays:

Dieter Brand December 10^th.
Dale Stein December 12^th.
Gail Halderman December 16^th.
Ken Zollner December 18^th.
John John December 19^th.
Reagan Weeks. December 27^th.
Kitt Brand December 28^th.

Rotary Anniversaries:

Nadia Deenen 23 years. Dec 3, 2001.
Terry Cooper 17 years. Dec 4, 2007.
Linnsie Clark 3 years. Dec 13, 2021.
Sarah Koch 9 years. Dec 14, 2015.
Brent Secondiak 4 years. Dec 14, 2020.

WEDDING ANNIVERSARY ROSE RUNNER FOR DECEMBER 2024

Terry Brekko

Minute Reminders:

BINGO UPDATE

Dave Panabaker reported on the last Bingo session on Thursday 28 November. There were 74 players, 6 workers on the floor, and a profit made of $920.75. Dick Bide won the guess pot. The club received a cheque of $2,200 for the month of November.

The last Bingo session for the club will be on Sunday 15 December, in the evening, led by Gregg Martin.

ROTARY MUSIC FESTIVAL FUNDING

Dave Panabaker was happy to report that just on $20,000 has been channeled into the coffers of the RMF:

Community Foundation Endowment cheque of close to $12,000
Community Foundation grant of $5,000
Medicine Hat Real Estate Board grant of $2,500
City of Medicine Hat community grant of $500

MONARCH 1911 SOCIETY

The AGM of the Monarch 1911 Society, held on 20 November, was MC'd by Dave Panabaker. Five of our club members attended, including Stan Sakamoto, who was voted onto the Board.

Dave P reported that the first paid movie, 'Elf', had been screened on Midnight Madness night, with a charge of $5 per seat and $5 for pop and popcorn. 370 seats had been sold and $1,600 made on concessions. This augers well for the screening of future movies.

The big future spend of the Society will be on a new roof for the theatre this coming spring - an urgent matter, to protect the work that has been done inside the building.

INVITATION TO WATCH JUDGE DIETER IN ACTION

Dieter Brand brings his long and illustrious career in the legal field to a close on Monday 9 December.

He invites members interested in sitting in on one of his last hearings, to be in Court Room 9 on any of the following dates and times:

Monday 9 December: 09:30 or 13:00
Thursday 5 December: 09:30 or 13:00

On behalf of the members, President Mike congratulated Judge Dieter on his long and valuable service in the Courts.

Kitt Brand observed how those attending any of the above hearings, could extract ideas for club service, preferably interventions at a preventive level.

NGSE AND DISTRICT NEWS

Margie Booyens reported that Bia Murari Souza, the NGSE participant who spent 10 weeks on a school education focused program in Medicine Hat, had returned safely to her family in Belo Horizonte, Brazil on Friday 22 November.

The second 'You asked, We answered' online District workshop will take place on Wednesday 4 December at 7:30pm. Please register via the District website/events calendar. Dave P and Margie attended the first one.

CHRISTMAS STOCKING EVENT

Sharon Hayward reminded members about an opportunity for the club to serve in the community doing stocking stuffing. The Veiner Center will be preparing and distributing approximately 500 stockings to vulnerable seniors in the community. Our club has agreed to both support this initiative with $500.00 and to attend in the afternoon of Thursday December 12th to help prepare the stockings. There will not be a club meeting that Monday, it will transfer to the Thursday for lunch at the Bistro cafeteria in the Veiner Center, followed by some hands-on work. The Veiner Centre plans to give great exposure to Rotary via social media.

MEMBERSHIP FEE: $325.00. Treasurer Gail has sent an invoice to all members. Payment options are in the email.

ALL CLUBS CHRISTMAS DINNER PARTY

The "All Clubs" in Medicine Hat Christmas Party is on Sunday December 8th, at the Desert Blume Clubhouse, starting at . It was a great event last year and lots of fun. The cost is $50pp and payment beforehand would be appreciated, President Mike Christie has the tickets but payment can also be made at the door. However, the organizers need to know numbers, so if you plan to attend and pay on the night, please let President Mike know beforehand.

TEAM FREEWHEEL SERVICE WORK OPPORTUNITY

Terry Cooper with the Team Freewheel team are always looking for more volunteers to roll up their sleeves and help fix up bicycles, in the Knowles Electric Building on Fleming. Just on 600 bikes have already been fixed and distributed to those needing mobility to get to work, to the shops, for recreation opportunities etc.

SALVATION ARMY CHRISTMAS KETTLE SHIFTS

Anne Carrier reminded members that the shift work for our Saturday ringing the bells for the Salvation Army is Saturday December 7th. We have a total of 5 locations and 2 hour shifts from 10:00 am until 6:00 pm.

Family of Rotary

Adolf Seiler, previously a member of our club, is in Nanaimo Hospital in BC. Various tests are being conducted. The main concern is his heart. However, he is in good spirits, supported by his first wife, Rosemary, and would welcome calls. His cell phone is not working, so those wishing to talk to him should phone the hospital and ask to be put through to Adolf on the 5th floor.

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.