The Rotary Club of Spruce Grove and The RavenWolf Brewing Co. are once again putting on a three-day BBQ rib festival in Spruce Grove's Central Park from July 22 - 24, 2022. The organizing committee's theme for this year is "MORE, MORE, MORE!" and they have expanded the event on all fronts.
This year's festival will feature five rib trucks plus ten or more local food vendors. A lineup of 17 local bands will take the stage over the three days, and Saturday will feature a family fair hosted by the Spruce Grove Public Library and a vendor market by the Spruce Grove City Centre Business Association. Once again, the Spruce Grove Skate Park Society is hosting scooter, skateboard, and BMX competitions on the weekend and the car show being put on by the Rotary Club of Parkland After Dark has been expanded to three days with different exhibitors showing up on each day.
Admission is free, and organizers hope to see over 10,000 people take part in the festivities over the three days. "Free admission is the most important thing about Ribfest," says event co-chair Brad Mastaler. "This event is about strengthening community and making sure that anyone and everyone is welcome to come down and enjoy the entertainment. Obviously, there's a cost for the food and drinks, but everyone's welcome to come sit down and listen to the music, wander around the car show, and watch the amazing talent on display at the skatepark. It's a celebration for all."
Supported by sponsorships from the local business community to offset event costs, the net proceeds from food and drink sales at the festival will fund the community service projects undertaken by the Rotary Clubs of Spruce Grove and Parkland After Dark. The Rotary Club of Spruce Grove has served the community by constructing amenities, supporting social enterprises, and developing youth through leadership and international student exchange programs in Spruce Grove for almost 30 years. The Rotary Club of Parkland After Dark has been doing similar things in the region in their own way for over a decade.
Jan and Randal Gillet, owners of The RavenWolf Brewing Co. are proud to have their brewery be part of a community-focused event again this year. "Ribfest brings people together from all walks of life and gives people a chance to connect and let them know the community cares about them," according to Jan. "The world is desperate for community," adds Randal, "and this is a way to bring people together from all backgrounds. When you do come down and spend some money on food and drinks, you're really just making an investment back into the your own livelihood and wellbeing because all the funds raised are going straight back into the community."
The event opens at 3 PM on Friday and 10 AM Saturday and Sunday. The activities end at 10 PM Friday and Saturday, and 9 PM on Sunday. General parking is available at Brookwood, Woodhaven, and Broxton Park Schools. Accessible parking will be available on the event site as well as a passenger drop-off and pick-up zone. While there will be seating for hundreds on site, attendees are also encouraged to bring their own chairs and blankets to enjoy the weekend's entertainment on Central Park's grassy areas near the Lion's Log Cabin. Having the event in Central Park makes it very accessible for anyone who's out and about on foot, on their bikes, or in their cars. VIP day passes are available for those who want an upgraded experience, including "fast lanes" at the rib trucks, tent-covered lounge seating, on-site parking, a dedicated private bar, and upgraded washrooms.
For more information, see www.groverotaryribfest.com or email info@groverotaryribfest.com.
Second Annual Grove Rotary Ribfest Will Be Bigger and Better
On Saturday, March 5th we baked cookies to support our Brown Bag Lunch Program for area schools. On Monday, March 7th, using product from our Food Rescue Program, we made sweet and sour ham over rice, beef stew, and corned beef hash. These meals are made in our commercially approved kitchen and then flash frozen to maintain all heath and food standards.
If you, or someone you know, who may be dealing with food availability concerns and could enjoy a couple of meals, please make arrangements with Our Community Pantry by calling 780-916-8149 or by emailing us at rotaryocp@gmail.com.
In recognizing that other Alberta communities were developing programs dealing with Food Security concerns and Food Rescue opportunities, a few members of our Rotary Club of Spruce Grove investigated the need for similar programs in our local community. The result is “Rotary, Our Community Pantry”.
Working with Parkland School Division (PSD) in support of its school lunch program, and with our food rescue partner, North Central, our community owned Co-operative, our Rotary volunteers gather twice weekly at St. Andrew’s United Church in Spruce Grove. We are thankful that St. Andrew’s offered their amazing kitchen, and a separate pantry space, for both our Brown Bag Lunch Program and our Food Rescue Program.
Our Brown Bag Lunch Program is prepared for school children as identified by their school communities, and consists of a fresh sandwich, a piece of fruit, a juice box and a granola bar. These lunches are delivered to local schools twice a week.
Across Alberta, 80% of people with developmental disabilities are unemployed or underemployed. Inclusion Alberta and Rotary District 5370 have formed the Rotary Employment Partnership to improve this statistic, and if you're an employer or you can talk to your employer about this fact, you can help!
Hiring a person with a developmental disability can make a positive difference to your bottom line and your corporate culture. On Wednesday, February 9, 2022, please join me for a one hour "Lunch and Learn" session on Zoom to find out more. To see more of the possibilities and success stories, check out the Employment Partnership's January E-Blast here.
Thanks to Jason and Tammy Svenningsen, Mardy Kulak and Tanya Tinney for facing off against Allan, John, Brad and Angus (standing in for Don Bay who is unable to attend due to a prior commitment).
Last year, The Rotary Foundation approved a global grant for construction of a potable water system in the Rio Muchacho valley near Bahia de Caraquez, Ecuador. Our club is an international partner on this project, the second time we've worked with the club in Bahia to bring clean drinking water to a community. Last week, we received an update from Bill Stumbaugh, the project lead in Ecuador. Please see his message below and a link to some pictures are videos of the water diversion phase of the project taking shape.
Dear Rotarians,
I´m writing to provide an update to our sponsors about the progress of this Global Grant project, #2119179.
Last month, we began the project construction by successfully drilling a test water well bore 30 meters deep that produced an abundance of water. However, the water stinks horribly and has a milky color. Maybe sulfur or some other element...we don't know and opted to not bother to test it.
So, we changed to option B which is to capture the surface water near the point of the river's origin, upstream from 99% of the population. The work to create the capture point is now in progress. Some photos are attached.
A pipeline is being laid from the capture point following the river shoreline downstream to the place where the test well was drilled. From there it will be pumped up to the ridge on the side of the valley where water tanks will be placed to store water as well as create the lift for gravity flow downstream to the distribution network and the homes.
The rainy season has begun. It will likely mean that at some point, we´ll have to slow down system construction as the dirt roads and river crossings will become difficult and hazardous. Also, the Omnicron is now here, and more restrictions are back in place. Schools closed again, restaurants are high capacity, etc. Hope you are all well. Any questions you may have will be welcomed.
Bill
William F. Stumbaugh, Ph.D.
Past President
Rotary Club of Bahia de Caraquez, Ecuador
Rotary Foundation Technical Cadre: Basic Education and Literacy
On November 4th, 2021, Inclusion Alberta is hosting its annual "Changing Lives, Changing Communities" fundraising breakfast. The event is virtual this year, and it's an excellent opportunity to learn about the work that Inclusion Alberta does. Our Rotary district is part of the Rotary Employment Partnership with Inclusion Alberta to help people with disabilities find meaningful employment. Please consider attending this event, and because it is a fundraiser, please consider inviting philanthropists you may know who may be interested in this subject. If you plan to attend, you may RSVP to the email noted below or to brad.mastaler@gmail.com. Click here to download a PDF copy of the invitation that you can forward to others.
The Rotary Club of Spruce Grove is putting on a three-day BBQ rib festival in Spruce Grove's Central Park from August 13-15. The event will feature rib trucks from Gator BBQ, Prairie Smoke and Spice BBQ, and House of Q, plus local food trucks. There will be talent presentations, live bands Friday night (Brasstactics and Achilles Last Stand) and Saturday night (FlatBroke and My Dog Sam), a show and shine on Saturday, and beer gardens.
This year's title sponsor is RavenWolf Brewing Co. who will be serving a specially branded commemorative beer to signify the kickoff of what the club hopes will become Spruce Grove's premiere community celebration every summer. The Rotary Club had originally conceived of bringing the event to Spruce Grove in 2020, but the pandemic prevented the plans from going forward. Plans this year were tentative until the province announced an easing of restrictions for the summer and the club felt comfortable that vaccinations were going in the right direction to help keep attendees safe. Organizers feel that they can help bring Spruce Grove back together and reinstate vibrancy in the community with this first-of-its-kind event in the region.
Admission is free, and organizers hope to see over 10,000 people take part in the festivities over the three days. The event opens at 3 PM on Friday and 10 AM Saturday and Sunday. The activities end at 10 PM Friday and Saturday, and 9 PM on Sunday. The Spruce Grove Skate Park Society is holding BMX, skateboard, and scooter competitions in conjunction with the event on all three days. The Spruce Grove Public Library is hosting their 60th anniversary celebrations just next door, including a vendor market, indigenous cultural presentations, and a splash bucket challenge where contestants can try to get local politicians and well-known personalities wet with a pinpoint softball throw. All three events running next to each other at the same time should mean there's something for everyone throughout the weekend.
General parking is available at Brookwood, Woodhaven, and Broxton Park Schools. Some accessible parking will be available on the event site as well as a passenger drop-off and pick-up zone. While there will be seating for hundreds on site, attendees are also encouraged to bring their own chairs and blankets to enjoy the weekend's entertainment on Central Park's grassy areas near the Lion's Log Cabin. Having the event in Central Park makes it very accessible for anyone who's out and about on foot, on their bikes, or in their cars. VIP day passes are available for those who want an upgraded experience, including tent-covered lounge seating, on-site parking, a premium private bar, and upgraded washrooms.
Money raised from the event will support the Rotary Club of Spruce Grove's community service programs and partners. The Rotary Club of Spruce Grove has served the community by constructing amenities, supporting social enterprises, and developing youth through leadership and international student exchange programs in Spruce Grove for almost 30 years
ENDS
For more information, see www.groverotaryribfest.com or email info@groverotaryribfest.com.
Our club is becoming a partner in another water project in Ecuador! Following the completion of a municipal water system in the rural community of Santa Teresa, Manabi, Ecuador in 2020, the Rotary Club of Bahia de Caraquez, Ecuador approached us again about their next project in the Rio Muchacho valley. Similar in intent, the project would provide, for the first time, reliable potable water to the homes and schools in the valley by creating a well, a treatment system, a distribution system, meters, and a local water board to govern and operate the system as a utility. The project would be funded by several Rotary partners and utilize a grant from The Rotary Foundation for expenses. We are hoping to raise $2,000 from the Spruce Grove community, which we can multiply several times over to become a major contributor to the US$90,000+ project.
The Service Projects committee approved up to $2,000 of matching funding under the Projects of Passion plan. That means if we can meet our $2,000 fundraising goal before the end of May, we will end up contributing $4,000 cash to the project. We are in the process of gaining approval from Rotary District 5370 to match that with $4,000 of funding. Following that, we expect to receive a successful match of an additional $6,000 from The Rotary Foundation's world fund. That would be a total of $14,000 from $2,000 raised from the community! We should all be so lucky to get a 7:1 match on investments in a matter of a few weeks. Really, though, the worth of the investment is priceless: the health, wellbeing, and community of the Ecuadorian people in the Bahia de Caraquez region, one with which Spruce Grove has had a connection for over 15 years.
If you're interested in making a tax-deductible donation to the project, please contact Brad Mastaler at 780-965-0258 or brad.mastaler@gmail.com or Neil Hollands at 780-690-8002 or nlholl@shaw.ca. If you know someone in the community who might be interested as well, please pass on this message and our contact info.
The Spruce Grove Rotary Club plans to reconnect local businesses with customers while raising some urgently needed capital to support ongoing social programs and continue to build community amenities. From November 3 to November 17, the club will host a virtual silent auction featuring a hundred items and experiences sourced mostly from local businesses. On the evening the auction closes, bidders can experience a bit of that auction sale frenzy feeling by joining in on their virtual gala.
Our Rotary Club has entered a curling team in the Friday Fun League at the Spruce Grove Curling Club. Any Rotarians who would like to curl on Friday night at 7:00 PM any time in the upcoming weeks can sign up using the following link. You don't have to commit to curling every week - only as often as you want, and, more importantly, no experience necessary! If you're interested in learning the game, keeping in practice, or just coming out for some fun, it's a great experience. The curling club has implemented protocols consistent with provincial public health orders and Curling Canada's guidelines for the prevention of COVID-19 transmission, so you can stay safe and stay connected to the game and the people you love. We hope to see you out!
On Tuesday, September 15, Rotarians from our club attended (or will attend... I don't know what time you're reading this!) the world's oldest Rotary Club, the Rotary Club of Chicago, founded by Paul Harris, Gus Loehr, Sylvester Schiele, and Hiram Shorey in 1905. With that first virtual pilgrimage complete, I thought it would be fitting to have us visit the club that put the "I" in "RI" (Rotary International). All you Manitobans may know that the Rotary Club of Winnipeg became the first Rotary club to charter outside the United States of America on November 3, 1910. Fast forward 110 years, and on Wednesday, October 7 at 11:15 AM Mountain Daylight Time, President Brent Jorowski will welcome the contingent of "travelling" Spruce Grove Rotarians. Darlene Ronald, the guest speaker that day, will give us "A Look Behind the Curtain at Manitoba Opera". President Brent wants to be able to introduce us personally, so please email me at brad.mastaler@gmail.com to let me know if you plan to attend. I'll send you the Zoom link when I receive it.
Future visits may not all be of historical significance to our club, but there are really good reasons to understand where we, as Rotarians, came from and where we find ourselves today. With that in mind, I am making arrangements with President Bill Stumbaugh to visit the Rotary Club of Bahia de Caraquez, Ecuador, a city where our club has worked for many years on a variety of projects, including recently bringing clean drinking water to about 750 people in two area villages. I'm finding out that even virtual visits to an Ecuadorian club require formalities to mark the occasion... they're not content to just let us "pop in". Stay tuned for us to nail down a date for that in October.
I want to space out visits every couple of weeks so as not to crowd your schedules. Future stops on this tour may include...
the Rotary E-Club of Canada One, the home club of our current District Governor, Jim Ferguson, and a club that's no stranger to meeting online because that's the way they've always done it.
the Rotary Club of Edmonton Mayfield, the club that sponsored our charter into Rotary International in 1993.
the Rotary Club of Whitehorse and/or Whitehorse Rendezvous, two new clubs to join our District 5370 on July 1, making our geographically huge district even larger.
the Rotary Clubs of Stony Plain and Parkland After Dark, just to say "hi".
the Rotary Club of Windsor-Roseland, Ontario, the home club of Rotary International's first woman to be selected as President-Nominee, Jennifer Jones.
Once again Rotarians came together, this time organizing a charitable motorcycle ride, in support an organization doing good work in and around out community. You Can Ride 2 is charity that customizes bicycles for special needs kids. Even kids unable to walk can learn to ride a bike specifically adapted for them This one thing can have a major impact on these children and their families. This inaugural “Rotary Ride for You Can Ride 2” started in Spruce Grove and ended at the Goodwill Impact Centre in west Edmonton. A 250km scenic tour of Sturgeon, Lac Ste. Anne, and Parkland counties. Rotary raised over $6500 for You Can Ride 2.
On August 8, the Rotary Club of Spruce Grove is proud to host the inaugural "Rotary Ride for You Can Ride 2". It's a motorcycle ride and poker run that starts in Spruce Grove, winds its way west and then ends up in Edmonton's west end. Proceeds from the even to to support You Can Ride 2, a program of Goodwill Industries of Alberta that teaches children with special needs how to ride a bike and fits children with specially adapted bikes on loan at little to no cost to their families. Check out the event page for more details.
Zoom has changed its security settings and that has necessitated that we change the link to the weekly meetings. This new link will remain the same every week, so keep it handy. If you ever forget it, you can visit www.sprucegroverotary.org and click About Our Club - Meeting Info and Location.
(received via Anne, member of the COVID-19 Relief Committee)
Good morning Anne. I wanted to update you on our Laptop initiatives that the Rotary Sponsorship has helped to develop. I am very pleased to say that TriCALA has secured 2 Smart WiFi Hubs to provide internet service to those who require it along with the use of our laptops. Also, in partnership with Parkland County Libraries, we have started a new initiative called Tech Drive, where we will take our internet and laptops to where they are needed. Both initiatives have been made possible with the donation from Spruce Grove Rotary. We were able to secure the Hubs, purchase tables and chairs, and a portable power supply for our Tech Drive and get both initiatives off the ground. We are very grateful to your sponsorship to both these initiatives.
The 2020 Rotary International Convention that was to be held in Honolulu, Hawaii last week has had some of its content moved online later this month, from June 20-26. You can watch the live sessions or pre-recorded ones, and some Rotarians have expressed a desire to get together for some watch parties. We'll talk more about this at the meeting on Thursday, June 11. See https://www.riconvention.org/en for more details!
The partnership with our club and the Rotary Clubs of Stony Plain, Parkland After Dark and St. Albert Saint City has been established for the school year of 2021.
We have applied for matching District Grants. If the District Grants come through we will have grants of 50% of the total cost of $10 000.00 per year for our school. That means $1 250.00 per club.
I think this is a great model and partnership at a very reasonable cost for the sponsorship of a school.
This is a critical time to come together to hear each other. Join online for insights and conversation with our three speakers on Positive Peace at this Time of COVID-19. You will gain an understanding of Positive Peace; what Rotary is doing to promote peace and what you can do.
Our new physically distant reality has presented us all with challenges and threats to social cohesion. Rotary has a local and global role to be catalysts for improving equity and empathy. Please join us online for this 60 minute conversation.
In May, our club continued its financial support for organizations responding to the social and economic problems presented by the COVID-19 pandemic. Recognizing our community's strong ties to Ft. McMurray and the compounding effect of the COVID-19 pandemic's consequences have on the flooding that occurred there, the club directed $1000 to those relief efforts. We also adjusted our plans at the last minute and have held back some planned funding for May as we learned of the Alberta Government CIP grant funding announcements. We want to ensure we can maximize positive impacts from our donations to agencies to the community by considering how all funders are responding to meet needs. The COVID-19 Response Committee continues to analyze the developing situation and we will provide another update in June.
Organization
Activities
Donation
Auggie's Cafe
Providing brown-bag lunches to people needing food support
$1,200
Parkland Pregnancy Support Centre
Providing baby supplies, consumables and food to families expecting or who have recently had babies
$2,000
Disaster Aid Canada
Ft. McMurray Flood Relief Fund
$1,000
Tri-Community Adult Learning Association
Tables and chairs to support roving Internet connection stations
The District 5370 Pints for Polio Committee is putting on a Virtual Pub Night to continue to raise money for Polio and to have some fellowship during this time of isolation. Click here to see the event poster.
I hope you can join us for some virtual fun May 20, 6:00pm MDT enjoy some music, videos and fellowship, and of course your beverage of choice!
At last week's meeting, we played a game of Quiplash in our Zoom meeting to demonstrate how you can play online party games with friends and family online. Though we played a game that had to be bought, you can find plenty of free online games or even play traditional party games like Charades or board games with a little creative improvisation. You also don't have to be using Zoom. Any other online meeting apps like FaceTime, Google Meet, Skype, and more, can be used for this purpose. Any app that allows screen sharing and/or video sharing will do the trick.
Jackbox Games, the makers of Quiplash, have put together a guide to illustrate how to play their games online with Zoom. In addition, this article from Good Housekeeping provides a list of games, online and traditional, that you can play online. Again, they highlight Zoom, but any videoconferencing app should work.
Have fun!
Playing Party Games With Friends and Family Online
A letter from The Honourable Leela Sharon Aheer, Minister of Culture, Multiculturalism and Status of Women...
Volunteers are the foundation of our community life, and Alberta is proud to celebrate the incredible contributions Albertans make through a wide range of volunteering activities – whether simply caring for one another, or pitching in to help our local community organizations support those that are most vulnerable.
Albertans have been hit hard by the COVID-19 pandemic but continue to demonstrate resilience and compassion for one another during this time of crisis. Premier Jason Kenney has issued a call to Albertans to help out however they can during this time of crisis, recognizing that our first priority is the health and safety of Albertans. All Albertans are encouraged to follow the advice of Chief Medical Officer of Health, Dr. Deena Hinshaw, for social distancing, limiting the number of people in public spaces and wearing masks in crowded places. Guidelines for safe volunteering are available on Alberta.ca/COVID-19.
The Rotary Club of Spruce Grove has answered the community's call for support as we grapple with the public health, social, and economic impacts of the COVID-19 public health emergency. In April, our club members volunteered in many ways to help those in need. Highlights include picking up hampers at the food bank to deliver them to those who couldn't pick them up for themselves, delivering brown bag lunches to families in need of nutritional support, assisting Canadian Blood Services to ensure their recent donation clinic was healthy and safe for donors, and providing messages of support to front-line workers.
Thanks to our club's financial supporters and the generosity of Rotarians, our club was able to support the following community organizations providing vital relief services to the people of Spruce Grove and surrounding area.
Organization
Activities
Donation
Auggie's Cafe
Providing brown-bag lunches to people needing food support
$4,200
Parkland Pregnancy Support Centre
Providing baby supplies, consumables and food to families expecting or who have recently had babies
$4,500
Engage Network Church
Providing food hampers to people needing food support
$1,800
Tri-Region Pay Forward Kindness Society
Providing supports to unsheltered people in the region
$1,000
Tri-Community Adult Learning Association
Providing wireless hubs and devices to households without Internet connections
$1,000
Compassionate Connections
Providing furniture and household items to families with children
$1,000
Parkland Food Bank
Providing food hampers to people needing food support
Here's some info on a few of ways you can get involved in the community right now. Talking Buddies doesn't even require you to leave your home to be of service to your fellow human. Wonderful! Click on the link at the bottom of this article to learn more.
We've launched our social media project to show gratitude to essential workers during the COVID-19 pandemic. In conjunction, we've also expanded our social media presence. You can now follow the club @SGRotaryClub on Twitter and Instagram in addition to finding us on Facebook. Here's how you can participate:
On your own Facebook, Instagram, or Twitter account (or all three!), share a gratitude message about an individual or a vocation that you want to recognize. Make sure your post includes "@SGRotaryClub #ServiceAboveSelfSG" so that it shows up on our club's feed as well and gets associated with the hash tag.
You can also go to the club's Facebook's page and type your message where it says "Write a post..". Still be sure to include the hashtag #ServiceAboveSelfSG.
If you're not inclined to use social media yourself, simply email President Brad your message and he'll post it as the club. Let me know if you want it attributed to you or if you want it anonymous.
Due to the Coronavirus COVID-19 outbreak and associated public health emergency, the Rotary Club of Spruce Grove will be conducting its meetings online via Zoom on a weekly basis until further notice. Please join us online!
Mark your calendar: Saturday, April 4th, 9:00 to 11:00 AM, Elks Hall
And if you can...Mark some Rotary Bucks. We do need some more revenue. We are still knocking on doors but...
The Champions of Good, 2020, will be a great event. Recognizing youth in our community who provide volunteer service.
We have just confirmed Ben Scrivens as our main speaker.
We also need to know by March 16th if you would like to attend. No cost. The Elks hall does have limited seating, so please let Anne Montgomery or me know if you will be attending.
On May 9, Edmonton will host another Darkness Into Light Walk in support of the Coordinated Suicide Prevention Program. Our own Meryl Murray and Judy Kesanko are instrumental in the event's growing success. Last week, Judy asked for our help to make this one the best event yet. How can Rotarians help? Judy said that they're looking for course marshals and registration volunteers, among other things, and you can always register to walk and raise money, if you want. To register as a walker or a volunteer, visit https://www.darknessintolight.ie/event/edmonton and follow the event's Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/diledmonton/. You can also reach out to Judy by email at jbkesanko@shaw.ca to have your questions answered.
Recently we donated a small number of backpacks to the Amarok Society.
In January Gem Munro was in Bangladesh for a month. He took some with him.
Here's a photo of Gem handing out the bags to the women in our school.
Tanyss also made these comments to me in a letter.
“They were delighted, of course
It’s too bad it's such a poor photo. Alarmingly bad actually. We have only 2 good cameras. Anyway, looks like a photo from 1962, which is sort of interesting :)”
During July and August, our club will be unable to meet at Shotz Lounge. This year's board and next year's are working together to plan a series of special events for these meetings. If you have any ideas about where we might go and what we might do, please email Brad (brad.mastaler@sprucegroverotary.org).
The Rotary Club of Parkland After Dark has two upcoming events that may be of interest to you. On April 4, 2020, they will hold their annual Playoff Hockey Draft and Calcutta. If you are interested in entering a team in the draft, contact Lonnie Chadwick at lonnie@powerworks.ca and see this poster for more information.
On April 24, 2020, Parkland After Dark will celebrate the tenth anniversary of their club charter. Details are yet to come, but save the date if you're interested in attending.
Recently Jan Gillett, became a member of our Rotary Club of Spruce Grove. Welcome Jan.
Jan is a very community minded/service focused individual.
She is the founder and Director of Parkland Pregnancy Support Centre. She is the director of a recently formed body, Late Night Cafe, which supported those in need during our COLD WEATHER.
She is married to Randal, they have 3 daughters and now, 3 GRANDCHILDREN.❤️
She recently completed the Culinary Arts Program at Nait and is a certified food judge for The World Food Championships AND has her Level 1 Certificate in Wine Studies.
Jan is being welcomed by Michael Klassen, Membership Director and Brad Mastaler, Club President.
From Barry Twynam who was there that day, following is a little blurb and photos. For new members who may not know what this service is, You Can Ride 2 helps special needs kids learn how to ride a bike. Our club has been a supporter by raising money and donating volunteer hours.
YouCanRide2 isn’t just about giving special needs kids a bike and teaching them to ride. It is about the dignity, freedom and fun that most of us take for granted. It is about finding the right bike, adjusting it to maximize the limited ability some of these kids have and making sure they have an adequate braking system when they decide to take flight. Many of these kids suffer from conditions such as autism, cerebral palsy, down syndrome, spina bifida. Some of these kids may never walk, but can be taught to ride a bike. It is one of those experiences that you can only truly appreciate seeing the transformation first hand. From when a parent brings in their child for the first time, in some cases kids screaming and kicking at this strange experience. You will see at times 4-5 volunteers (most of them physio therapists) hoving around the child taking measurements, making adjustments and at all times reassuring the child along the way. With their new bike complete the child starts off slow with parents and volunteers with outstretched arms ready to support any misstep. The expression of joyful tears from parents is priceless soon giving way to the realization they need to chase down their kids as they explore their new found freedom. Now they can feel like “normal” kids and can share the experience with family and friends. The impact to the family dynamic is huge. “Look mom I’m flying”! To know more about YouCanRide2, to volunteer or donate to this important program, go to youcanride2.ca
$1970 was raised for Wings of Providence at this year's Silly Santa Auction! After the meeting, the housecoats, etc were packed up by some of the ladies (Dianne, Elizabeth, Judy, Patti, Myrna, Lesley and Catherine) and then taken into the city by Tony. Thanks everyone who organized, bought the gifts, bid on the auction items and delivered the packages. I'm sure the ladies and children at Wings of Providence are very grateful.
This week at Rotary, Amarok Society co-founder, Gem Munro, is addressing the Rotary Club of Spruce Grove about the society's unique and highly effective model for teaching mothers to teach children in the world's poorest neighborhoods. The Rotary Club of Spruce Grove and other District 5370 clubs have been partners in supporting several Amarok schools over the past number of years. Join us to find out more about what's happening and how you can help. If you can't attend in person this week, we are broadcasting Gem's talk live on the web using Zoom. You can join us remotely using this link: https://zoom.us/j/320936935. A recording of the talk will be available afterward, too.
While we're talking about the Foundation, don't pass up this opportunity to hear about it straight from the top!
Rotary District 5370 is honoured to bring Past RI Vice President Jennifer Jones, who is also a member of the Rotary Foundation's board of trustees, to speak in Edmonton on Wednesday night. Jennifer is a captivating speaker who will inspire you with stories about what Rotary Clubs and The Rotary Foundation are working together to do in the world. Click here for more info and to register.
November is Foundation Month in the Rotary calendar. Did you know that the Rotary Foundation is a separate entity from Rotary International? Do you know how the Foundation supports the work our club is doing in Spruce Grove and the world? Are you aware of all the ways you can support our Foundation?
This week at Rotary, Past District Governor and current District 5370 Foundation Chair, Tim Schilds, is speaking to our club to answer all these questions and more! To explore for yourself, check out www.rotary.org/give
News from Bill Stumbaugh, our Rotarian partner from Bahia de Caraquez, Ecuador...
Dear Fellow Rotarians Supporters of Project Santa Teresa,
On Saturday, October 19, the Santa Teresa community water system was inaugurated by the community water board with Rotarians from the Rotary Club of Bahia de Caraquez present as well as the local director of the Ministry of Water. This is a huge achievement for the community, and the support of the several international Rotary Clubs was critical for this humanitarian improvement.
Attached are several photos showing different aspects of the event including two separate ribbon cuttings--one at the treatment plant and storage cistern and tank as well as at the water meter at one of the beneficiary´s home. Also photos of various individuals speaking to commemorate the event.
Note the temporary, large banner listing all of the contributing clubs. Each of yours should be indicated. A permanent sign of the same design is being constructed at this time and when completed will be placed in the community.
We'll continue with the school and community training about best practices for personal hygiene and protection of water sources.
We heard from Fran, our exchange student for Austria. She told us about her country (not Australia), her family, hobbies and what she would like to accomplish while she is here.
We also heard from Elly and Ramiro Contreras about the Rotary District 5370 Conference that is being held in Edmonton next year from September 17 to 19th.
At its October 3 meeting, the Rotary Club of Spruce Grove passed its 2019-2020 service projects budget, which includes a $37,000 line item for "People of Action" projects. Each member of the club will be allocated $1000 to use on one or more service projects important to them. At our meeting on Thursday, October 10, Service Projects Director Neil Hollands will provide us more details of how you can put these resources to use, including guidance for sharing and developing project ideas, getting your project approved, and taking action! Neil will send out some preliminary information by email before Thursday's meeting.
The Rotary Foundation's most important goal remains the eradication of polio, a disease on the verge of disappearing, but one that still threatens to reinfect the world through the ubiquity of international travel and misinformation about the safety and effectiveness of vaccinations. While polio is only endemic now in Afghanistan and Pakistan and that seems like a world away, there is something you can do to help Rotary and its partners wipe the disease off the face of the earth forever: eat wings, drink beer, and have fun!
On Wednesday, September 18 at 7:30 PM, join us at the Beer Hunter (140, 700 McLeod Ave, Spruce Grove) for our first annual "Pints for Polio" fundraiser. 100% of ticket sales go to The Rotary Foundation's End Polio Now campaign. 10% of food and drink sales that night will also be donated to the cause. Your $15 ticket gets you in and gets you entered to win door prizes! Ask any Rotarian you know for tickets, or contact us at info@sprucegroverotary.org or (587) 763-0250. See our Facebook page for more details.
Suicide Prevention Week (September 8-14) kicks off in our area with the Rotary Run for Life on Sunday, September 8, in support of the Coordinated Suicide Prevention Program (CSPP) and other mental health initiatives. On Thursday, Angela Fetch Muzyka from CSPP will speak at our Rotary meeting to tell us what the program is all about. There are a few more suicide prevention and awareness events in the area you should be aware of. Details of each event are available by clicking on the links below.
Into the Heart of Suicide - Making sense of suicide at a root level through the most powerful force that drives us: our need for connection. This talk by Eugena Maguire is being hosted by the CSPP and Stony Plain FCSS on Monday, September 9. Tickets cost $10.
You are Tough Enough - Bring the family to help build garden beds for World Suicide Prevention Day on Tuesday, September 10 at the Spruce Grove Ag Society Community Garden at 455 King Street, Spruce Grove.
safeTALK - Suicide Alertness for Everyone - a half-day workshop to learn the signs and how to get help for someone at risk of suicide. Thursday, September 12 5:30-9 PM in Spruce Grove.
The Rotary Foundation's most important goal remains the eradication of polio, a disease on the verge of disappearing, but one that still threatens to reinfect the world through the ubiquity of international travel and misinformation about the safety and effectiveness of vaccinations. While polio is only endemic now in Afghanistan and Pakistan and that seems like a world away, there is something you can do to help Rotary and its partners wipe the disease off the face of the earth forever: eat wings, drink beer, and have fun!
On Wednesday, September 18 at 7:30 PM, join us at the Beer Hunter (140, 700 McLeod Ave, Spruce Grove) for our first annual "Pints for Polio" fundraiser. 100% of ticket sales go to The Rotary Foundation's End Polio Now campaign. 10% of food and drink sales that night will also be donated to the cause. Your $15 ticket gets you in and gets you entered to win door prizes! Ask any Rotarian you know for tickets, or contact us at info@sprucegroverotary.org or (587) 763-0250. See our Facebook page for more details.
Our Rotary-based 'Connecting With Our Aboriginal Neighbours' interagency Committee gave financial support for Metis historian, fiddlers and jiggers, and a liaison on Day's organizing committee. Held indoors because of the rainy weather.
1) Women's Traditional Dance competition (note small children in traditional dress who had just competed their dance)
2) Red Dress group--honouring Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls
3) Men's Modern Costume and Dance (only 1 entry--but he was incredibly vigorous!)
Last week we had the opportunity to visit the Parkland Food Bank. Sheri Ratsoy showed us how the Food Bank has become very efficient in distributing food to people in need. She also showed us the expansion/renovation of the building and how that is making their job easier. It was a very interesting tour. Many thanks to Sheri for showing us around and to Shotz Lounge for bringing us our lunch off site. It was very delicious as always.
Inspector Mike Lokken was our guest speaker last week. He gave us an update on the new RCMP building, which will now be called "Parkland Detachment". He also told us about some of the challenges of being a RCMP officer and how the support staff of the detachment are the unsung heroes of policing.
Thank-you to the Inspector for coming out to our meeting and informing us while entertaining us with your stories.
Last month Catherine went down to help with assembling of the packages for "Days For Girls". She had a great time and was blown away by how efficient the Camrose Club was in assembling everything. The Camrose Club was very thankful for our donation and they were able to use some of it for purchasing fabric, etc. If you have no idea what I am talking about then check https://www.daysforgirls.org/ for more information.
Heather came to the club last week and told us about the MacEwan University Rotaract Club and their upcoming event called "Broadway Gala". It is to raise money for Polio Plus. If you are interested in going to this event you can check out their Facebook page for more information.
On the January 17th meeting, the Club presented Jim Heinbuch, from Neighbourlink Parkland, with a cheque for $10,000. Here is the link to their website, if you would like to see what this organization does and why our club supports them.
$1725 was raised for Christmas gifts to go to the women at Wings of Providence. Thank-you everyone for your generous support. Also thank-you to Elizabeth and Victor for doing such a great job as auctioneers!
Marika has been on her RYE journey for over 100 days now and is doing fantastic. She got word late last week that she passed the exam that she had some nerves about, and references below, so that is good news. German is a challenging language but she is conquering it along the way! Here are three questions she was asked so that I could share with the club.
1.Biggest surprise you have encountered so far that you didn’t think about before you left on your journey
People always said that everything happens so fast on exchange but I never really believed them. It was like I blinked and I’m already over 100 days into my exchange. It feels like last week I wrote my A1 exam and this time next week I’ll be writing my A2. Also everything is so close when you have public transit available to you. In Canada I don’t go anywhere unless someone can drive me but here I have a GA and can get on any train going in any direction and go where ever I need without needing to coordinate who will drive who. I knew that the Swiss railway system was amazing but I didn’t realize how much it would change how I go about my days. I spend a LOT of time on trains and I get so much done on them, most of the time it is either sleeping, eating, or doing homework.
2. Favorite “new” food so far
There are so many. I really like Käsespätzle but my favorite so far is probably deep fried camembert. I’ve also had some really good chocolate. Did you know that they have white chocolate Toblerone bars? So good. Also raspberry chocolate is good. One food that I don’t like is Cold Soup. At a joint Rotary meeting that I went to when I first arrived I had what I can only describe as Cold Dill Broccoli soup that I did not like one bit.
3.What are Rotary meetings like over there. Like or dislike about them?
Rotary meetings seem to be pretty similar to ours in Spruce Grove. Before the meeting everyone chats (except they mostly have wine instead of coffee) and then when the meeting starts everyone sits down at tables of around 6 people and instead of it being buffet style they bring everyone’s food out. During the meeting they discuss Club Stuff and usually there is a speech or presentation. I’ve only been to one so far when I gave my presentation because it’s all the way in Oerlikon, Zurich at Noon on Thursdays so I would have to miss a day of school so I’m going to go on school breaks. I had a dinner with my counsellor, YEO and second host family two weekends ago and I have a Christmas dinner with Rotary next month that I am looking forward to. Their meetings are more formal that the Spruce Grove meetings which I would say is the only thing that I dislike.
Say hi to everyone for me! Hope you guys have a good meeting.
Update from Marika (Our Outbound Exchange Student)
This past week's meeting we had our Annual Silly Santa Auction to raise money for the women at Wings for Providence. A lot of fun was had and money was spent! Brad even managed to buy back a painting we had donated a few years ago and Tony Z. bought himself some expensive cups! Nice to see some gifts are making the rounds a couple of times. All for a great cause though. No word on the total raised yet but as you can see, all the housecoats, socks, mugs have been bought and taken to the shelter for the women to enjoy. Thanks to everyone who could stay after the meeting to help out with the packing of the gifts.
The Rotary Club of Spruce Grove works to support the Amarok Society which runs 20 schools in the slums of Bangladesh. They teach women who then teach their own kids and their neighbors kids in their own huts. The cost of education is $80.00 per child per year. (locally it is about $11 000.00 per child per year)
Educating women...educating kids... is one of the best methods of opposing extremism!!
The Rotary Clubs of Spruce Grove, Stony Plain and Parkland After Dark partner to support a school. The cost of a school is $10 000.00 per year. We are able to access Rotary Grants of $3 000.00. Therefore we are delighted to to know that for each $1.00 contributed to our local Rotary Clubs turns into $1.42 in this project. (some projects can generate a much higher multiplier effect)
One of the benefits of Rotary is the ability to generate a multiplier effect with our community's dollars. Interested in learning how you can help and be involved? Contact our club president Tammy, by clicking on her name in the left hand column.
Through the past year, money that our club has donated to the Spruce Grove Library has been put towards:
1) Osmo coding and gaming systems, virtual reality programs and tablets with new apps to the Innovation Lab
2) they have expanded children and youth programs. Also expanding the Little Free Libraries to our neighbouring Indigenous communities.
3) introducing doll themed literacy backpacks, Indigenous adult and children's books and the all-in-one computers to a new group of young users.
The library has completed a new Plan of Service in 2018 which will officially launch in January 2019. The library's three areas of focus for the next 5 years are:
Visit a comfortable place: Community members of all ages will have barrier-free access to welcoming physical and virtual spaces. Practice and Promote Inclusion: Community members of all ages will have programs and services that embrace diversity through acceptance, appreciation, and recognition of all people in our community. Encourage Literacy: Community members of all ages will have programs and services that provide opportunity for life-long learning while helping them make sense of the world in a variety of ways.
Thank-you to Stephanie Kuhn (Community Services Librarian) from SGPL for coming to speak to our club about the exciting stuff happening and the plans for the future at the library.
Jesse Martineau spoke to our club about his passionate approach to building community and encouraged our club to find ways to engage youth to help do so. Due to technical difficulties, Jesse couldn’t share a video he wanted to show us, but you can watch it here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ENmhVcNq_H8. You can find Jesse on the web and on lots of different social media platforms. Just Google his name. As Jesse said, “There’s only one other person with the same name, and he’s a state representative from New Hampshire. That’s not me.”
This past Thursday our club enjoyed a great visit to Jen-Col Construction in their magnificent new complex in Acheson.
Jen-Col was founded by Ron Jodoin in 1978 and is now run by his son, Cory.
Cory was a tremendous host with his presentation of the principles Jen-Col uses as a basis for their business. He stressed to Rotarians that… construction is the ultimate team sport; their job is to get good value for their client; and that they believe they are building a better future.
Rotarians were very taken with Cory’s description of the culture of his business that he is building, one that would be an amazing addition to any business or organization.
While they build throughout Western Canada, they have constructed several of our local buildings, like the Border Paving Athletic Centre, which houses our international quality Aerials Gymnastics Club, the Jubilee Splash Park, as well as two ongoing projects, the Spruce Grove Protective Services building and the Main Street Law building.
Thanks Cory and Jen-Col Construction.
We also enjoyed a delicious lunch catered by Perks Coffee House.
This week's October 18th meeting we have:
Jesse Martineau
Building Community and the Value of People
Come listen to Jesse as he talks about building community and the value of people. Jesse is a Community Champion and does all the videos for Achieving Community Together.
Upcoming Things to Consider:
October 25th - Club Assembly where we are discussing Tony Zeglen's 4 motions that he brought forth on the club's Honorary Membership Policy.
October 26th- Wine Tasting hosted by Krista Mastaler and Angus Mckenzie at the Mastaler Residence. Max 20 attendees. Invitation has now been sent out. Please R.S.V.P by October 22nd. Cost is $10/person.
November 1st - Milja Leinonen's Exchange Presentation
Come hear our exchange student Milja present her exchange talk. Learn more about her, where she originates and what she is hoping to achieve on her exchange in Canada!
November 22nd - Silly Santa Auction
November 23d - Karaoke Night at Dianne Brown's house
December 20th - Annual Christmas Party at Porta Romana. More info to come.
Tickets now available from Catherine! Specific cause that is being supported to be announced soon.
Posted by Krista Mastaler and John Oldham on Oct 14, 2018
Our club enjoyed a great vocational visit on October 11th to Jen-Col Construction in their magnificent new complex in Acheson.
Jen-Col was founded by Ron Jodoin in 1978 and is now run by his son, Cory.
Cory was a tremendous host with his presentation of the principles Jen-Col uses as a basis for their business. He stressed to Rotarians that… construction is the ultimate team sport; their job is to get good value for their client; and that they believe they are building a better future.
Rotarians were very taken with Cory’s description of the culture of his business that he is building, one that would be an amazing addition to any business or organization.
While they build throughout Western Canada, they have constructed several of our local buildings, like the Border Paving Athletic Centre, which houses our international quality Aerials Gymnastics Club, the Jubilee Splash Park, as well as two ongoing projects, the Spruce Grove Protective Services building and the Main Street Law building.
This past week's meeting (October 4th) we had Dr. Mikolaj Raszek from Merogenomics come and speak to us about the current common uses of genome sequencing in medicine, who benefits from having sequencing done, and things you need to consider prior to having this done. He was a very engaging speaker and the topic seemed to be enjoyed by most, as there were a lot of questions asked at the end of the talk.
On Wednesday, September 19th the Rotary Club of Spruce Grove, Rotary Club of Stony Plain and Parkland After Dark came together to have a tri-region Rotary meeting. We met at Shotz Family Sport Lounge and listened to Jay Ball (general manager of FC Edmonton) speak about the soccer club's history and rebirth into the Canadian Premier League. It was a great turnout with nearly 80 people (members and guests) showing up. Food, drink and fellowship was had by all.
Wally Ross from Stony Plain Rotary Club, Deneen Roth from Parkland After Dark Club, Jay Ball and Tammy Svenningsen from Spruce Grove Rotary Club.
We recently heard from our current Inbound Exchange Student Isabel Meulenberg about her adventures in Canada this past year. We learned about the activities she participated in, the places she saw and the things that Isobel learned about herself while being away from her home country and family. Thank-you for sharing with us Isobel! You will be greatly missed.
Then we heard from our future Outbound Exchange Student Marika Mavridis. She practiced her speech that she must present to her home Rotary Club when she arrives in Switzerland. Thanks for introducing us to your family and teaching us all something about Canada that we didn't know. Good luck on your exchange Marika!
The Rotary Club of Spruce Grove invites you to become a partner! Let's build communities together!
Your partnership support will enable us to fund projects and programs, in whole or in part, in the areas Rotary calls:
Community Service
Youth Service
Vocational Service
International Service
As Rotarians, we promise to follow our Four-Way Test when judging which projects or programs we support using the funds raised from our partners:
Is it the TRUTH?
Is it FAIR to all concerned?
Will it build GOOD WILL and BETTER FRIENDSHIPS?
Will it be BENEFICIAL to all concerned?
100% of all funds provided by our partners go toward projects or programs that we have judged meet our Four-Way Test. We are a volunteer organization, so we do not incur administrative costs regarding the projects or programs we support. For more information on our projects and partnership opportunities, please check out our information package.
If you are interested in finding out more about becoming a partner or a Rotarian, please attend one of our meetings, or contact us at info@sprucegroverotary.org or phone 587-763-0250.
Celebrating 25 years of service, we are pleased to share this video featuring profiles of past and continuing service projects supported by the Rotary Club of Spruce Grove since 1993. Please share with your friends.
Rotary Youth Exchange builds peace and international goodwill while changing the life of a young person forever. Do you know a student who may be interested in participating in the program for the 2018-2019 academic year? Download the application form here. For more information about the program, visit the Rotary International Youth Exchange site.
Applicants must:
be between 16 and 18½ on September 1, 2018 (may currently be in 9th, 10th, or 11th grade)
have a good academic standing
be open-minded individuals who demonstrate leadership qualities
Note, the deadline for submission is Friday, November 10, 2017. For more information, click here to contact Anne Montgomery.
Service above self is Rotary's principal motto, which means that every Rotarian is responsible for finding ways to improve the quality of life in his or her community, and in those around the world, through service.
Rotary's reputation is built on service projects based on community need. This includes a focus on determining "hands-on" projects within our community that Spruce Grove Rotarians can add value to. The goal of the Spruce Grove Community Service Committee is to conduct service projects that ensure the proper use of club funds, benefit those in need and address real and current community concerns.
Examples of current hands-on projects include the Highway Clean-up and the Red Cross Blood Donor Clinic.
Through Community Service, the Rotary Club of Spruce Grove directly funds over 20 local non-profit organizations. Contributions range from large donations that sustain organizations, to smaller contributions that enhance services or facilitate annual events that would not occur without financial support.
The Community Service portfolio also includes 2 sub-committees:
Connecting with Our Aboriginal Neighbors Committee:
- Originally a Rotary District 5370 initiative, the purpose of this committee is to build partnerships with the Aboriginal community and close historical, systemic barriers while raising awareness of the challenges faced by Aboriginal people in our local area and beyond. This committee brings together the Rotary Clubs of Spruce Grove, Stony Plain and Parkland After Dark, local libraries, Chambers of Commerce, Indigenous Nations and various partners, the RCMP, municipalities, and interested individuals who have coordinated several successful initiatives and projects.
Major Projects Committee: Assesses the feasibility and coordination of major projects in our local community. Past projects include the Rotary Playscape, Parkland Food Bank expansion and the Ecole Broxton Park Playground.
It was interesting to read about our Rotary International President-elect,Ian Riseley, in an interview in the March edition of the Rotarian and his answer to the question,"If a young person asked you why he or she should join Rotary what, in order, would you say?" My comments here are the short version. For the full version go to the March edition of The Rotarian.
1. "The first one is friendship. Rotary offers the opportunity to meet people in a semi-social environment and also achieve good things."
2. "The second is personal development. "...being involved in Rotary means that you're encouraged...in a friendly environment to get experience speaking, running meetings, motivating people, all that sort of thing."
3. "The third is business development. We've shied away from this over a period of time, and I don't believe we should."
4. "The fourth one, and by far the most important is the chance to make a difference in the world."
I have had a very short form of answering this question for myself. Rotary until now has been, fellowship and service. Maybe now my view of Rotary has been expanded. It has definitely, for me, also been a place of personal development!! Interesting. What does Rotary mean to you? How would you answer the question put to our President-elect, Ian Riseley?
Brad Mastaler did a short presentation on how to register for the "My Rotary" website and what you can do with it. In case you missed it, check out this video tour of My Rotary: https://vimeo.com/73963261. 60% of our club members have registered already, but I know we can get EVERYONE registered.
If you haven't already registered, visit https://www.rotary.org/myrotary to do so. Use the email address for registration where you received this message. If you need help, Contact Brad!
Arlaine provided an update on the Connecting with our Aboriginal Neighbours committee. Next meeting is April 5th at 4:30PM at the Spruce Grove Public Library.
Congratulations to Paul Harris Fellow recipient Pete Demchuk, dear friend to Rotarian Barry Twynam. Please see the photo of Barry, his daughter Devan and Pete.
Please join the Rotary Club of Spruce Grove and our local High School Students as a participant in our first Vocational Day from 6:30 pm to 9:00 pm at the Horizon Stage, Spruce Grove Composite High School (SGCHS).
Randy Hetherington received a request for fundraising support from a former Spruce Grove Interact Club member! If you are interested in supporting Logan Fechter, please continue reading for more information or Contact Randy.
Our club is planning a job fair/career fair for students in Spruce Grove and the tri-area this March. If your business would like to get involved or you would like to sponsor the event, please get in touch with Rotarian Angus McKenzie!
We are very pleased to announce that Jennifer Heil, the winner of multiple Olympic medals and Canada’s Bobbie Rosenfeld Female Athlete of the Year (2011), will be the keynote speaker at our Career Day event, from 6:30 to 9:30 pm, Tuesday, March 22nd, at Horizon Stage and Spruce Grove Composite High School. This event is open to all high school students in Spruce Grove, Stony Plain, and Parkland County at no cost. Learn more about Jennifer here
As part of our desire to engage with our aboriginal communities the Rotary Clubs of Spruce Grove, Stony Plain and Parkland After Dark helped organize an event to celebrate reconciliation and build relationships with our aboriginal neighbours. We invite everyone to share in this event on February 3rd at 6:30pm, please get your tickets at Horizon Stage.
Our club Christmas party is on Dec. 17 at Porta Romana Restaurant in Spruce Grove! We're in for a treat. It's an excellent restaurant, and run by a great local couple. Please RSVP by December 15 to Tony Zeglen if you're joining us!
The cost is $50 per person and friends and family are welcome. We're being served appetizers, two main courses and a dessert ... drinks start at 5:30 p.m. See you then smile emoticon
Our exchange student, Julia Soires-Vieira, has a role in the Spruce Grove Composite High School's performance of Annie on Dec. 3. We're hoping to see plenty of Rotarians in the audience that night smile emoticon Ask Julia at one of our meetings if you would like tickets!
SPRUCE GROVE COMPOSITE HIGH SCHOOL'S PERFORMANCE OF ANNIE DECEMBER 3
As you are aware, our Club is embarking on a new project, a Vocational Day event, in March, 2016.
We have a great opportunity to piggy-back on an upcoming event hosted by the Spruce Grove CHS and St. Peter the Apostle HS, in association with NAIT, to help promote student participation in our event.
We need one volunteer to run our promotional booth at either SGCHS (morning) or St. Peters (afternoon). The volunteer will be provided with a short video (on a loop) and a one page handout describing this event. This information and your friendly demeanor will encourage students to save the date for our event.
Our club's Aboriginal Connections Committee is meeting on Tuesday, Dec. 1 at the Spruce Grove Public Library from 4:45 to 6:15 p.m. Coffee is on at 4:30 p.m.
Join us for great discussion on the upcoming event Celebrating Reconciliation and Relationships at the Horizon Stage and a followup on the Alexander First Nation Career fair that was held Nov. 27.
ABORIGINAL CONNECTIONS COMMITTEE MEETING: DECEMBER 1
Special thank-you to Rotarians Victor Moroz and Elizabeth Marsh who volunteer their services as auctioneers in our annual Silly Santa auction in support of Wings of Providence Second Stage Shelter:www.wingsofprovidence.ca/
Looking for some Rotary swag?! Exchange student Julia Soires-Vieira is selling Rotary t-shirts for $20 each as a fundraiser for Shelterbox! Great work Julia!
LI Part 1- “Me and Rotary” is a one day workshop helping to expand your Rotary knowledge beyond the club level and to learn about the bigger picture of Rotary International. The session shares practical tips, ideas and resources from Rotary International that will assist you in your current and future Rotary roles.
The Rotary Leadership Institute (RLI) was created as a grass roots initiative to help Rotarians build their leadership skills, both in their professional lives and as Rotarians. To provide this training, our district has partnered with Rotary Districts 5360 and 5550 making up the “Prairie Division” of RLI.
There are 3 RLI training modules and also opportunities for participants to become facilitators. This training has proven to help strengthen clubs because participants learn so much about Rotary in a condensed period of time. The more Rotarians know about Rotary, the better their experience will be.
This training is beneficial to board members in their leadership roles and also provides a great orientation for any members who are in their first five years of service. A perfect opportunity to share ideas, experiences and improve your Rotary knowledge.
Cost: Each workshop is offered at a very reasonable rate of $50 per person. This fee covers your workshop materials, food and refreshments.
Be sure to check with your Club President to determine if there are training funds you can access.
Thanks to Brad Mastaler and his wife Krista for hosting the World Polio Day livestream at their home in Spruce Grove.
The event (and the Poker for Polio game that followed), were a great chance for Rotarians to have fun and learn about how close we are to ending polio. If you weren't able to make it ot Mastaler's house, watch the livestream here.
A big thanks to Angus McKenzie, Casino Chair for organizing another successful casino. Also a HUGE thanks to all of the volunteers for taking the time to work at the two day (and night) event, it was quite easy work for a significant fundraiser!
Thanks to Mike Ryan and Lesley Cleary who spoke to our club about Clean Scene, an organization that works with youth to help them achieve their full potential and with a drug-free lifestyle!
Below: Ryan and Cleary with Rotarian Catherine Pederson (centre).
Special thank-you to Stephanie Chard (left, with Rotary president AnnLisa Jensen) who shared her powerful story with our club. Stephanie, who is from Spruce Grove, is a survivor of sexual assault and now works as an advocate for those going through the same pain she has endured. Stephanie certainly has our club's support in her advocacy going forward and we hope to be involved in the great work she is doing!
Thanks to Goodwill Industries and everyone who came out to the family softball game on Aug. 30! What a fun day! And by the looks of it, we could put together a World Series calibre team of Rotarians, as members from all three tri-area clubs participated.
Below: At the softball game, Goodwill's Dale Monaghan was presented with a Paul Harris Fellowship.
You can make Spruce Grove a safer place to live just by lighting the night for five minutes a week.
At the Safe Neighbourhoods Information Night put on by our club on Aug. 27 at the Horizon Stage in Spruce Grove, we challenged Spruce Grove residents to do just that.
A great group of people pledged to take part (below) and Light up the Darkness.
Without volunteer support, the largest cycling competition in Canada wouldn't be possible in Alberta.
Representatives from the Tour of Alberta came to our meeting on Aug. 6 to discuss the incredible event that will put Spruce Grove on display for the world.
Below: Darwin Park, who is volunteering for the Tour of Alberta and an avid cyclist, appeared at a club meeting during the last Rotary year to get our club ready for the upcoming race.
"Every one of us has something to give — whoever we are, whatever our place in life. We can give our talent, our knowledge, our abilities, and our effort; we can give our dedication and our devotion. Through Rotary, we can take these gifts and make a genuine difference in the lives of others and in our world."
In Spruce Grove we will do our best to be a gift to this community and internationally, every day.
New Rotarian Dianne Brown gave a heart-felt classification speech during our June 11 meeting.
Most of us already knew Dianne through her great work at Auggie's Cafe or with the Parkland Potters Guild, but there's so much about Dianne Elizabeth Brown (so named due to the coronation of Queen Elizabeth II around the time of her birth) that we didn't know at the time!
Below: Dianne Brown (right) accepts the Community Volunteer Award at the 2014 Chamber of Commerce Awards. - Photo courtesy the Spruce Grove Examiner
Spruce Grove Composite High School student Melanie Elhafid took the time to say thank-you for the "Student Recognition Award" that our club sponsors at her school.
"I feel very honoured to not only have received this award, but to live in a community where there are so many opportunities to get involved," she wrote.
John Head, from the Rotary Club of Workington (in England near the Scotland border), visited our meeting on June 11 while in town visiting friends who have retired to Spruce Grove.
John, now retired himself, used to work in the brewing business, so he had much to discuss with fellow Rotarian Angus McKenzie.
Below, club president Victor Moroz welcomes John Head to Spruce Grove, while John brings greetings from England.
Kirsten Skipper-Mortensen has a new last name from the last time we saw her, and some new additions to her family.
Our club welcomed the former exchange student from Denmark back on June 11 along with her husband and children.
Though it was many years since her exchange, she remarked that she was excited for our club to receive a new exchange student in the upcoming Rotary year.
Kirsten is set to finish medical school soon, a dream she spoke of when she first visited Spruce Grove as a teenager.
Below, Kirsten Skipper Mortensen and her family are welcomed back to Spruce Grove by longtime Rotarians.
Former Rotary exchange student visits from Denmark
Rotarians Brad Mastaler and Jim Rigby were at the Emmanuel Foundation warehouse in Fort Saskatchewan in May to help send away our mammography machine, along with other medical equipment, to Nigeria.
Our club got to know new member Tammy Svenningsen a little better at our May 28 meeting.
Many of us know Tammy through her work at the Spruce Grove Public Library and through the Rotary family as well (her husband Jason is a member of the Stony Plain club) ... but now that Tammy has joined the club, we had to get to know her better!
Lobsterfest, our annual fundraiser, was a massive success both for our club and the organizations we support!
Below: Rotarian Jim Rigby (our emcee) was one lucky lobster with lobsterettes "Garlic" and "Butter" by his side. Thanks to Rotarians Elizabeth Marsh and Julie Lilienskold for making the evening a fun night for everyone!
Katie is the owner of Be Free Yoga in Spruce Grove, the city's newest yoga studio.
At Be Free Yoga, they hold weekly karma classes, where the proceeds are donated to a charity or non-profit organization such as the Parkland Food Bank.
Be sure to say hi to Katie and her husband Jordan at this week's Lobsterfest :)
Below: Club president Victor Moroz and sponsoring member Thomas Miller officially inducted Katie into the Rotary Club of Spruce Grove at the club's May 21 meeting.
The Spruce Grove and District Chamber of Commerce was very appreciative of our efforts this weekend handing admission at the gate of their Life and Leisure Expo.
In previous years, we have had a booth at this expo. This year we tried a different approach by volunteering.
Below: Rotarians Randy and Thomas let the Interact Club go enjoy the Expo late into the Sunday shift once the gate slowed down.
At our club's annual fundraiser — Lobsterfest — we will be raising funds for many causes that we support.
One of those that we will be focusing on at Lobsterfest this year is You Can Ride 2.
Below: Melanie Harris (left), a physical therapist at Broxton Park School who volunteers with You Can Ride 2, presented to our club on the organization and its work in finding suitable re-engineered bikes for children with disabilities. Harris was welcomed at our April 30 meeting by Rotarian Barry Twynam.
Spruce Grove Rotary Club's outbound exchange student is Reilly Rosenke. Reilly is a Grade 10 student at Living Waters Christian Academy and is travelling to the Czech Republic for the 2015-2016 school year as part of Rotary Youth Exchange.
Rotarians Brad Mastaler and Barry Twynam represented our club at a Spruce Grove Composite High School clothing drive for Goodwill Industries.
It was Goodwill's first use of their brand new van, which we contributed $6,000 to.
Along with donations from the Rotary Club of Stony Plain and a matching grant from the Rotary Foundation, our contributions went a long way for Goodwill.
Below: Brad and Barry check out Goodwill's new ride.
Rotarian Elizabeth Marsh shared a powerful story of honour with our club during the Aug. 28 meeting.
At the Marsh home in Cerisy-la-Fôret, France, this past summer she and her husband hosted an event for the families of veterans who fought at and liberated the small French town following the Normandy invasions in 1944.
Thanks to Lee Foote and three other tour guides at Devonian Botanic Gardens (DBG) for showing us their beautiful backyard (which just so happens to be AnnLisa Jensen’s backyard as well).
The Rotary Run for Life is coming up in Stony Plain on Sunday, Sept. 14.
During our Aug. 14 meeting, members Julie Lilienskold and Meryl Murray spoke to the power of the event and the impact it has in the community, particularly for those who have lost someone to suicide. For sponsorship opportunities, contact Julie or Meryl.
Thanks to everyone who attended the Rotary social at Boston Pizza on July 31!
It was a great night of fellowship and an amazing opportunity to hear from one of our club’s former incoming exchange student (Mel, from Recife, Brazil), as well as a former outgoing exchange student (Ben McConnell).
The Spruce Grove and District Agricultural Society put out a plea for servers for their Flapjacks at the Tracks breakfast at the Grain Elevator site on Saturday, July 19.
And, as usual for our Club, members responded in number.
President Nizar Abouchami and Community Service Director Barry Twynam were in attendance when our Club won the Goodwill Advocacy Award on May 7th! The photo below shows Past President Arlaine Monaghan (right) showing off our award to Rotary International Vice President Anne Matthews while they attended the "She's All That" event on May 8th.
Community Service Director Barry Twynam was proud to present a cheque for $7,400 to Spruce Grove Public Library (SGPL) Director Tammy Svenningsen and Librarian Hayley Dolman at our meeting on May 8th, and the SGPL was very appreciative of our on-going support for their good work.
Meryl Murray will give her Fish Talk at our meeting on May 15th. The actual topic is entirely up to her, i.e. it may not actually be about fish, but it is sure to be interesting :)
We have been nominated for a Goodwill Greatness Award! The winner will be announced at a ceremony on May 7th to be attended by President Nizar Abouchami and Community Service Director Barry Twynam. Whether we win or not is not important. Being recognizing our good work, however, is very satisfying.
Thank you to all of the members of the community who attended the Canadian Blood Services (CBS) Clinic on April 25th and were able to donate blood. The CBS goal for our clinic was 94 units of blood donated - we got more than 130 units! Congratulations and special thanks to the members of our Club who volunteered to help run the clinic led by the incomparable Judy Kesanko.
Milja Kauppinen, a Rotary Youth Exchange student sponsored by the Rotary Club of Stony Plain, spoke to our Club about her native Finland, and how it compares to living and going to school in our area, at our meeting on May 1st.
AT THE MAY 1ST MEETING: MILJA KAUPPINEN, ROTARY YOUTH EXCHANGE STUDENT
Special thanks to Director Randy Hetherington and his wife Michele for hosting our third Fireside of this Rotary Year on Saturday, April 26th focusing on Youth Service. We had a spirited discussion about our participation in RYLA, RYPEN, Adventures in Technology (Saskatoon), Adventures in Citizenship (Ottawa), the great work being done by the Spruce Grove Composite High School Interact Club, academic scholarships to students from our three high schools, and the possibility of renewing our Club participation in the Rotary Youth Exchange.
The Spruce Grove Composite High School Interact Club wowed members at the meeting on April 24th. This amazing group of young leaders made an outstanding presentation regarding Malala Yousafzai and her efforts to promote education for girls.
AT THE APRIL 24TH MEETING: MALALA SGCHS INTERACT CLUB PRESENTATION
Chris Findt gave his Classification Talk at our meeting on April 24th describing his younger years in Germany, education in the USA, immigrating to Canada with his wife, and the trials and tribulations of an entrepreneurial life.
AT THE APRIL 24TH MEETING: CHRIS FINDT CLASSIFICATION TALK
The Stony Plain Reporter/Grove Examiner published an article (April 18th) about improvements made recently to the Spruce Grove Skate Park located behind Central Park. Unfortunately, the report did not include any of the following important points of recognition:
The next Canadian Blood Services Donor Clinic will be at the Elks Hall from 3:00 to 8:00 pm on Friday, April 25th. Please contact Judy Kesanko here, if you can volunteer. She is in serious need of volunteers for shifts from 6:00 to 9:00 pm.
At our meeting on April 17th, President Elect Victor Moroz (left in both photos) was very pleased to exchange club banners with Claude Blaisius (right in the first photo) from the Rotary Club of Insming, France and receive a banner from the Rotary Club of Superstition Mountain in Arizona via Past President Jim Rigby.
Thomas Miller gave his Classification Talk at our meeting on April 10th focusing on the joys and struggles of community newspaper journalism, and the support he has received from his friends and family during his life. Thomas (centre below) was thanked for his presentation by President Nizar Abouchami (left) and Past President Angus McKenzie.
AT THE APRIL 10TH MEETING: THOMAS MILLER, CLASSIFICATION TALK
Siobhan Coughan from the Canada World Youth International Education Program shared many wonderful stories about her youth exchange centering on Whitehorse, Yukon and Inhambane, Mozambique at our meeting on April 3rd. She also thanked our Club for supporting this great adventure and wonderful learning experience. She is shown below being thanked by President Nizar Abouchami (left) and Rotarian John Oldham for her presentation.
AT THE APRIL 3RD MEETING: SIOBHAN COUGHLAN, CANADA WORLD YOUTH INTERNATIONAL EDUCATION PROGRAM
Rotarians (from left to right below) Tony Zeglen, Patti Zeglen, Woody Murray (Honourary), Meryl Murray, Bill Kesanko (should be a Rotarian), and Judy Kesanko had fun at the Canadian Blood Services 14th Annual Volunteer Awards Ceremony on April 6th. We represented our Club on behalf of the many volunteers who help run our Blood Donor Clinics. The next clinic will be at the Elks Hall on Friday, April 26th.
CANADIAN BLOOD SERVICES VOLUNTEER AWARDS CEREMONY: APRIL 6TH
At our April 3rd meeting, Sheila Scrutton, President Elect, Rotary Club of Rocky Mountain House thanked our Club for helping support the Wechiau Hippo Sanctuary in Ghana.
We are currently looking for individuals and/or businesses that may be interested in contributing to the 2014 Lobsterfest Dinner and Charity Auction on May 31st by sponsoring items for Live Auction and/or specific parts of this event. Each sponsor will be appropriately recognized in the program for this major community event.
Our Twitter account is @RCSpruceGrove. Thanks to Thomas Miller for agreeing to manage this aspect of our social media campaign. Click here for our Facebook account.
Past President Jim Kulak joins the ranks of Des Bulger, Bob Morrison, Norman Dick, and Robin George as a members of Club 85 meaning that because of their long years of service to Rotary and their age, they are no longer expected to attend meetings on a regular basis. When they do attend, they are counted towards our Club performance level, but when they are absent they are excluded from this record.
We had a very special presentation by Goodwill Industries of Alberta called “Disability Awareness Training” at our meeting on March 13th. Unfortunately, the photo and text slides used by Nancy Murphy, Power of Work Program Director, as part of her presentation were not available for integration into the following video. I hope I have better luck next time :)
AT THE MARCH 13TH MEETING: GOODWILL TRAINING SESSION
We are looking for nominees for our 2014 Integrity Award for Community and Business People of Spruce Grove. Do you know someone who should be recognized? Please go to the Download section on the left of this web page for the nomination form (and more information) which is due at the beginning of May.
More seats added for award-winning REEL Thursdays movie!
Thanks to the generosity of the Rotary Club of Spruce Grove, more movie-goers will be able to view the highly acclaimed film Philomena (PG) on March 20th!
Kathy Rondeau spoke to our Club on March 6th about the traumatic highs and lows that she and her daughter Mandy went through in their journey into Ghana, West Africa while they attempted to adopt two brothers. They spent months and mutiple trips going through the process of acquiring a private adoption, eventually adopting one of the brothers, Caleb.
Below is my first iMovie, which integrates the photographs supplied by Kathy with video I recorded and the standard photo I took during the meeting. Enjoy :)
AT THE MARCH 6TH MEETING: KATHY RONDEAU, ADOPTION FROM GHANA
On Thursday we have a very special presentation by Goodwill Industries of Alberta called “Disability Awareness Training”. It will be of interest to us all, but because of the length of the presentation, which is about 50 minutes (including question and answer time), we are asking Rotarians to come to the meeting a little before noon, which you do anyway, to pay for your lunch and then go directly to the buffet as soon as you arrive. If we have all eaten by about 12:30, we will be in good shape to have our presentation and be out of the meeting in good time.
We went on a great Vocational Visit to COBS Bread in the Century Crossing Shopping Centre at our meeting on February 27th, followed by a Chopped Leaflunch at the ATB Financial Building. Below is a photograph of Chris Reich and Rotarian Jelena Reich co-owners of our hosts at COBS Bread.
Kathy Rondeau will speak to our Club on March 6th about the highs and lows that she and her daughter went through in their journey in Africa while they attempted to adopt two brothers. Kathy and Mandi Rondeau spent months in Ghana, West Africa while going through the process of acquiring a private adoption.
AT OUR MARCH 6TH MEETING: KATHY RONDEAU, ADOPTING AN AFRICAN CHILD
... the Rotarians of Spruce Grove and friends and family who had a lot of fun over four days of competition and social events. 31 of our Club members took part by curling and/or volunteering, along with some of their significant others. In the end we put on a great show leaving quite a positive impression on our guests regarding our Club and community. Well done organizing committee members and volunteers! Check out this video of highlights from this event.
We will be going on a Vocational Visit to COBS Breadin the Century Crossing Shopping Centre from 12:00 noon to 1:30 pm on Thursday, February 27th. After COBS Bread, we will move to the ATB Financial Building for lunch from The Chopped Leaf. RSVPs were due Friday, February 21st for this event.
By sweet coincidence, Rotarian Jelena Reich and COBS Bread was featured last week in a Spruce Grove Examiner/Stony Plain Reporter article "Bakery hopes to rake in the dough". Check the full story out here.
... the Rotarians of Spruce Grove and friends and family who had a lot of fun over four days of competition and social events. 31 of our Club members took part by curling and/or volunteering, along with some of their significant others. In the end we put on a great show leaving quite a positive impression on our guests (25 teams in total) regarding our Club and community. Well done organizing committee members and volunteers!
This centre fold ad was published in the Spruce Grove Examiner/Stony Plain Reporter on Friday, February 21st. Please bring your copies to our Vocational Visit meeting at COBS Bread this Thursday. I will mount and laminate those copies on Sunday, March 2nd and distribute them to Rotarians in all three clubs for display at their businesses, places of work, and/or around the community. This way we can get a lot of more mileage out of this $1,800 ad (our Club pays 1/6th of the cost).
Brad Mastaler, Chair of the 2014 Lobsterfest Dinner and Charity Auction (May 31st at the TransAlta Tri Leisure Centre), updated Club members of the planning for this event at our meeting on February 13th. At this point, all Club members are reminded that they are expected to:
Volunteer for some aspect of organizing this event;
Find seven items for the Silent Auction by the middle of May (a solicitation letter will soon be available).
Help set up for the event on the evening of Friday, May 30th and during the day of Saturday, May 3st;
Help take down and clean up on the morning of Sunday, June 1st.
Past President Brad Mastaler (far right below) and our Club Director for The Rotary Foundation had the honour of presiding over the awarding of two Paul Harris Fellows Awards at our meeting on February 13th. Judy Kesanko explained the rationale for awarding this honour to Bill Kesanko (second left) and Past President McKenzie (not shown) did the same for Past President John Moquin. President Nizar Abouchami (centre) congratulated both recipients.
At the board meeting of Rotary District 5370 Charitable Foundation, a resolution was passed to disburse any remaining funds from the Community Spirit Grant to clubs that have already contributed: Auggie's Cafe received $1151.40 for kitchen renovations for a grand total of $10,651.40!!
Congratulations to the volunteers and blood donors who made the Canadian Blood Services Donor Clinic on January 31st such a success! We had nearly 200 donors attend and contribute over 150 units of blood!
Jelena Reich gave a very moving Classification Talk at our February 6th meeting about her journey to Canada from Croatia, adjusting to her new life, getting an education, and moving from working for others to opening COBS Bread with her husband Chris. Past President Brad Mastaler is shown below thanking Jelena for her presentation.
AT THE FEBRUARY 6TH MEETING: JELENA REICH, CLASSIFICATION TALK
Jessica Chappell, Administrative Assistant, and Alyson Brown, Chair of the Rotary Run for Life (RRFL) Board reported at our February 6th meeting that over $55,000 was raised by the 2013 event, half of which has gone to the Coordinated Suicide Prevention Program (CSPP) and the second half to the three sponsoring Rotary Clubs. Our share was $8,700, which we will donate to the CSPP and other mental health programs. Jessica (left below) and Alyson (second left) presented the cheque to Rotarian Lesley Crawford, our representative on the 2013 RRFL Board, and Past President Brad Mastaler.
... Julie Lilienskold who was inducted into our Club at the January 30th meeting. Julie earned a Certified Management Accountant degree, now lives in Spruce Grove, and is a Vice President and Deal Maker with VR Business Brokers. She has worked as a comptroller and/or team leader for 17 years for local and international companies in Alberta. She was a real estate agent and accountant for RE/MAX Real Estate before moving to VR. She has worked as a volunteer with Parkland Search and Rescue in various flood and fire situations. She has also participated in Ride for a Cure, and Stollery Children's Hospital and local Christmas fundraisers. Her classification is Business Broker. She was congratulated in the photo below by President Elect Victor Moroz (left) and her proposer Rotarian Ray Frayne.
Ryan Kennedy gave his Classification Talk at our meeting on January 30th. Ryan (right) was thanked for his speech below by President Elect Victor Moroz.
AT THE JANUARY 27TH MEETING: RYAN KENNEDY, CLASSIFICATION TALK
We need your help to expand the exposure of our Facebook page which was started on January 24, 2012. All you have to do is friend us from your Facebook page so that our posts can be seen by you and your friends. Then maybe your friends will friend us, and so on, and the circle of sharing in the good things we do will grow!
Brad Mastaler, Chair of the 2014 Lobsterfest Dinner and Charity Auction, spoke about the history and importance of this event, what decisions have been made thus far, obligations of Club members, and the next steps towards making this event a success. This event will take place on May 31st, 2014 at the TransAlta Tri Leisure Centre in Spruce Grove. Brad (left below) was thanked by President Nizar Abouchami for his presentation.
AT THE JANUARY 23RD MEETING: BRAD MASTALER, 2014 LOBSTERFEST
... Michael Birdsell, Charter Member and President of our Club from 1999-2000, on recently being named to the Queen's Counsel! For the full story click here.
Dale Monaghan, President and CEO of Goodwill Industries of Alberta, provided us with an update of Goodwill activities at our January 16th meeting. Dale is shown below (centre) with President Nizar Abouchami and Rotarian Larry Holland. What follows is a "spoof" introduction of Dale by Larry; to be amused by, certainly not believed. Then a serious video of Dale's presentation and a clip about Anthony referred to by Dale. Enjoy!
On Sunday, January 12th, in the St. Augustine's Parkland Anglican Church, Dianne Brown spoke before the service to the congregation about the incredible generosity of our Rotary Club and the commitment of our Club with helping get the church kitchen renovated with a new dishwasher. She spoke of the $5,000 that suddenly became $9,000 and she was very emotional. She also talked about how our Club sees the Auggie's Cafe project and the enhancement of their building, and of the Anglican Church as the same thing.
People were so overcome and so grateful. I think our Club should know just how much this has meant to the Anglican Church's ability to reach out to those in need in our community.
Mike Ryan, CEO, Founder and Program Director of Clean Scene, and 2013 winner of the Canadian Criminal Justice Association (CCJA) Restoration Award, spoke to our club at the January 9th meeting. He is shown below (centre) being thanked by Past President Arlaine Monaghan and President Nizar Abouchami for his presentation.
AT THE JANUARY 9TH MEETING: MIKE RYAN, CLEAN SCENE
We proudly welcomed Christian (Chris) Findt as a new member to our Club at our meeting on January 9th. Chris is a 14-year veteran in Rotary, hailing from the Rotary Club of Bad Mergentheim, Germany. He moved to our area three years ago and is the General Manager of Building Technologies. His classification is Information Technology and will be working on our Vocational Service Committee. President Nizar Abouchami is shown below (left) congratulating Myrna Findt (wife) and new inductee Chris Findt.
On January 9th, Community Service Director Barry Twynam (left below), Rotarian Yvonne Naughton (second left), and President Nizar Abouchami (right), proudly presented a cheque for $5,000 raised for kitchen renovations from direct donations by members of the Rotary Club of Spruce Grove ($4,000) and a $1,000 grant through Rotary District 5370 to St. Augustine's Parkland Anglican Church Reverend Donald Gray and Dianne Brown, Auggie's Cafe. In addition, the Rotary Club of Spruce Grove presented $2,500 for kitchen renovations and $1,500 for operations from the Club budget, for a grand total of $9,000. Auggie's Cafe serves a lunch and opportunity for companionship every Tuesday at St. Augustine's for the benefit of the homeless and elderly.
Please join nonprofit and voluntary organizations in the community as the Parkland Volunteer Action Committee (PAVAC) hosts guest speaker Brent Collingwood, Motivational Speaker and Director of Alumni and Corporate Relations for the Alberta MBA programs at the University of Alberta. Learn why volunteering is one of the most important renewable resources Alberta and our country has to offer.
Wednesday, January 22, 2014 10:00 am – 12:00 pm (Lunch provided by Community Services) Stony Plain Town Office 4905 51 Avenue, Stony Plain. No Cost, Registration Required, phone 780-963-8583 or e-mail here.
I invite all members to send me their thoughts which you would like to share with fellow Club members on an issue affecting our Club or the Rotary world. Submission deadline is the Sunday of every week. Enjoy this week's article, and please feel free to respond to those last words or submit your own article for future pbulication.
We are sitting in the Winnipeg airport waiting for our son and daughter-in-law to arrive from Grand Rapids, Michigan. Long delay because of plane trouble. They had to transfer to a different plane. I found one of the few power plugs available to use my laptop, but there are no chairs, so I'm sitting on a box on a baggage cart. I can't get to Starbuck's because it is located in the Departures Lounge and I'm stuck in arrivals. FIRST WORLD PROBLEMS are so ...
David Kinnaird of Edmonton Riverview is looking to make contact with car enthusiasts for a project involving disadvantaged youth. Are you a car enthusiast, i.e. do you belong to, or have links to, car, street rod, or truck clubs?
Once we locate some enthusiasts, David will share some information from Ontario where a car club has linked up with a high school to support interests in youth at risk in some interesting ways. David is just waiting for a video or slideshow on the topic to arrive.
If you are interested or know of other contacts David might pursue, please contact him here or Rita Sharek here.
For Rotarians and all Canadian Snowbirds who may be in the Phoenix area in January. This is a Rotary fundraiser and is held on one of Arizona's premier golf courses.
Rotarians Liz Gawenus, Elizabeth Marsh, and Past President Brad Mastaler shared their views on three inspiring books through a Rotary Reads Fish Talk at our December 19th meeting:
Please mark on your calendars April 16th, 2014 as the date of the District 5370 Integrity Awards. The awards will be held at the Executive Royal Inn and Conference Centre at 8450 Sparrow Drive in Leduc (directly across from the Edmonton International Airport east of the Queen Elizabeth II Highway 2). More details to follow in the New Year!
Community Service Director Barry Twynam and Past President Brad Mastaler announced at our meeting on December 19th that we have raised $5,000 (thanks in part to a matching grant through Rotary District 5370) for renovations and purchase of an industrial grade dishwasher for Auggie's Cafe. Yvonne Naughton had the pleasure of informing the Auggie's Cafe Gang of the good news. Also, we received the very nice thank you card below.
There are numerous reasons members choose to leave a Club: sometimes it is due to relocation or conflict in schedule, other times it could be because of lack of leadership opportunities and motivation. Sometimes it is very difficult to gain the respect you deserve as a leader within a Club. Yet we are all leaders in our profession and/or community, that is why we were invited to join our Club. At the end of the day, the qualities of all members in our Club will motivate each other to work harder to achieve goals and remain part of the club.
Leadership is a quality that comes naturally to some, while others have to work very hard to be effective leaders. A good member-leader knows that it's not about them - it's about the club, club members, and the work the club does.
Once again, the women of Amarok Society’s schools have asked us to relay their wishes for a happy holiday season and a happy, peaceful New Year to all their “Canadian brothers and sisters”. We thank our friends, too, for helping to draw these desperately poor and benighted women and their families into the light of the best of the world. At the same time, we’re aware, as are you, that peace won’t be created simply by wishing.
We were suitably feted by Elizabethan Catering and members of the Grove City Chorus at our Christmas Party on December 12th. Special thanks to Rotarians Rita Sahrek and Randy Hetherington for organizing the event, to Lesley Crawford, Joanne Daniels, and Patti Zeglen for decorating the hall, and to Lyle Huston for providing the space at Diamond Grove RV Park. Check out the video of 13 songs performed acapella by four members of the Grove City Chorus below (Randy Nerbas, Dick Barber, Frank Traviss, Jim Cochrane) and the photo album to the left of this webpage.
Have you ever wondered where all those video clips taken at various Club functions go?
Well, all video clips are uploaded to our YouTube account, edited, and published (with permission from the subjects) on our Home Page and/or eBulletin. To date we have 1,092 video clips in the account, many of which have been merged into longer videos like our Christmas Party Choral Performance video in this eBulletin edition.
At the December 5th meeting of our Club, President Nizar Abouchami proudly exchanged banners with Rotarian Christian (Chris) Findt from the Rotary Club of Bad Mergentheim, Germany. Banner exchanges are just one of the traditions when Rotarians visit any of the 34,000 Rotary Clubs worldwide.
On Tuesday, December 3rd, International Service Director Neil Hollands and his wife Linda kindly hosted a Fireside at their home . The focus of our discussion was on continued work with projects in Ecuador, the medical equipment we have in storage waiting to be shipped to Nigeria and/or another needy area, and the new grant application process as is reguired by our District and Rotary International. Thanks also to Randy Hetherington, Past President Brad Mastaler, John Oldham, Tony Zeglen, and President Nizar Abouchami for their attendance and participation.
FIRESIDE FOCUSED ON INTERNATIONAL SERVICE: TUESDAY, DECEMBER 3RD
What you are looking at is the latest design for our eBulletin, including new links to our website Home Page, Archived eBulletins, and Archived Stories. Please let me know what you think here.
More importantly, our Club decided at the AGM on December 5th to limit access to the eBulletin to members only, i.e. internet users will no longer see a button on the website Home Page linked to our eBulletin or previously published stories. Also, I will no longer
As per usual, we will cancel our Thursday lunch meetings during the Christmas and New Years period, which means no meetings on December 26, 2013 and January 2, 2014. We will return to our regular schedule on Thursday, January 9th, 2014.
Check out the production of Cats at Festival Place in Sherwood Park (Box Office 780-449-3378) from December 19th to 30th. Elizabeth Marsh is playing Grizabella, the Glamour Cat.
Tonight, Tuesday, December 3rd, International Service Director Neil Hollands and his wife Linda have kindly offered to host our next Fireside from 7:00 pm at their home at 14 Deer Park Bay. As in our first Fireside, this will be an informal event with wine and light snacks, and spouses/partners/friends with an interest in Rotary are welcome. We will have a general discussion about Rotary at the beginning of the evening, but our focus will be on talking in-depth about what we have done in the avenue of International Service in the past, currently, and what we should be doing in the future.
FIRESIDE FOCUSING ON INTERNATIONAL SERVICE: TUESDAY, DECEMBER 3RD
Shari Roszmann gave a very moving Classification Talk at our meeting on November 21st, describing her rough start in life, using inner strength to overcome many obstacles, raising her own children, and helping many troubled teens get on the right track in life. Shari is certainly an inspiration and will make a great contribution to our work on programs for Youth. Shari (centre below) was thanked by Past President Angus McKenzie and Judy Kesanko for sharing her life story.
AT THE NOVEMBER 21ST MEETING: SHARI ROSZMANN, CLASSIFICATION TALK
Shannon Clark and Claire Casault Grade 10, and Alex Irwin, Danielle Seymour and Kristen Knull Grade 11 from the Spruce Grove Composite High School wrote thank you notes to our Club as recipients of Rotary Awards for the Highest Academic Average. Classy!
Check out the Horizon Players production of Marion Bridge, from November 27th to 30th, at Horizon Stage in Spruce Grove. Patti Zeglen is the Costume Designer.
I have received cheques totaling $790 so far. Barry Twynam will match up to $2,000. So, we have the opportunity to provide $5,000 toward an industrial grade dishwasher for Auggie's Cafe ($2,000 donations, $2,000 from Barry, and $1,000 (or more) from District 5370. Please act now as this campaign ends at the end of this month.
Now there is a new, innovative way to do a make up on line. It feels and looks like a real meeting, with a different Speaker Program each week. A Moment of Humour, Inspirational Corner, Food for Thought, and Rotary Minute are all part of the meeting. There is even a way to make a small donation, in lieu of a meal. Visit the Rotary E-club of Western Canada, District 5370. Meetings run 24/7, from Sunday midnight to Saturday Midnight.
MISSED A MEETING? LOOKING FOR A WAY TO DO A MAKEUP?
Thanks to the support for motions by Past President Brad Mastaler on behalf of the International Service Committee to suspend the two week notice for a motion and to approve the expenditure of $1,000 from the committee's unallocated funds, our Club will pay for a shelter box from ShelterBox Canada in aid of victims of Typhoon Haiyan in the Philippines.
DISASTER RELIEF FOR THE PHILIPPINES: OUR CLUB RESPONSE
We have had some anonymous donors to Polio Plus come forward!!! This tremendous act results in another match for polio donations. We can now turn every dollar donated to Polio Plus before December 15, 2013 into two matching streams; your donation and the anonymous matching donation, each being matched 1 to 6. This is a tremendous windfall opportunity and we are asking for your support. What an exciting District we live in! Further, your money goes toward your next Paul Harris Fellow.
Here is how it works:
From now until December 15, the “Anonymous Donors” will give to District 5370 Polio Gonzo Challenge using The Rotary Foundation (TRF) Canada donation forms.
Clubs and individual Rotarians send their donations for Polio to TRF Canada here.
The Alberta Government Grant (that was announced at the District Conference in Edmonton) matches the combined donation up to a total district contribution of $175,000.
A duplicate match of your donation is contributed from the Anonymous Donors Fund.
Thus a donation of $1,000 is matched by the “Anonymous Donors” and the Provincial Government turns this donation into $4,000. The Gates Foundation then matches the $4000.00 twice turning it into $12,000.00.Through both donation streams the money is magnified… WOW!!!
To Donate, please use the link to the Rotary website or use the attached TRF Canada donation form. NOTE: the TRF Canada donation form is to be mailed to TRF Canada (not to the US address). The TRF Canada address is The Rotary Foundation, c/o 91160, PO Box 4090, STN A, Toronto, ON M5W 0E9. My Polio Gonzo mascot is depicted in the photo. This is an exciting time for Rotary, an exciting time to be a Rotarian! Imagine turning a dollar into $12.00!! An incredible opportunity for us all to make a dramatic difference in the Polio Eradication campaign. Remember this matching money is only available by the Anonymous Donor until December 15, 2013. Please direct any of your question to J. Ross Tyson, District 5370 Rotary Foundation Chair or 780-819-4910.
The Rotary Leadership Institute (RLI) Part 1 Workshop, ‘Me and Rotary’, is intended for new members of clubs that may not have a formal orientation program or no longer hold fireside chats [Editor's Note: we will hold our next Fireside on December 3rd]. It is also a great opportunity for an existing club member to mentor a new member by attending the workshop with them. The more the new Rotarian knows about Rotary the better their entire Rotary experience will be. The same holds true for our veteran Rotarian. Currently we are partnering with District 5360 to deliver RLI training.
Saturday December 14th from 8:00 am to 4:00 pm, lunch included at the Quality Inn, 74 Street and Gaetz Avenue, in Red Deer. The cost to member is $50 to be paid at the session. To register, please contact Sharon Price, District 5360 Training Director. Once RLI Part 1 is completed, those Rotarians will be one-third of their way to becoming an RLI graduate! The RLI training schedule is located on our District Site. To locate, Parts 2 and 3 workshop schedule, access the District’s Training Calendar here, then Access the District Site, Locate ‘Clubs and Members’, Choose ‘District Training’ from the drop-down menu, Choose ‘Training Calendar’, and, explore the District Training site to access club resources, webinars and other training-related materials.
On behalf of all Rotarians in District 5370, I wish to express my sincere sympathy to our Rotarians whose families have been deeply affected by the force of nature that has devastated the areas of the Philippines. Our thoughts and prayers go out to all of you. Over the next week, I will be sending you information on how and where to donate. Today, I received direction form Bryn Styles, our Zone 24 Director which says:
An email has gone out to the 10 District Governors of the affected districts to see if they have established relief funds. Once we receive details they will be posted on the Rotary International website. The Rotary Foundation (TRF) will not be establishing a relief fund; however, TRF can be used to address longer term recovery issues. As soon as we have that information, we will send it out to you.
Our District will also be sending money, but we want to ensure it goes directly to the District/s that are most in need.
I am also attaching for your information, received from Dale Perret, our Alberta Representative for ShelterBox Canada. ShelterBox is on the ground in the Philippines distributing shelter and aid to those so devastated by the recent typhoon with the staggering loss of infrastructure and lives. We have shipped almost 2,300 ShelterBoxes to the area to date and have two ShelterBox Response Teams (SRTs) on the ground this past week with our Chair of ShelterBox Canada Ron Noseworthy, who is also a fellow Rotarian from Ontario, arriving there shortly. We are still currently active in several other countries too such as Pakistan, Sudan, Iraqi Kurdistan and, combined with the the displacement of so many families due to ongoing civil unrest in Syria, we desperately need your support. It has been announced that the Government of Canada will match donations until December 8th, 2013 to registered charities of which ShelterBox is one and this certainly will help us in making an impact in those areas so tragically affected. Please ensure that all donations to this appeal are marked Philippine Typhoon Appeal. How can you help? By donating is certainly one way and forwarding this plea on our behalf to your friends and family, who in turn can share with their friends and family, will help spread the word and assist us in providing shelter warmth and dignity to the many in need. Our website is only a click away. We sincerely thank you for your support and assistance in reaching out to provide hope for those that are dealing with so much tragedy in their lives.
We need your help to FundRICE for the Philippines!!! Our dearest staff member Sharon is leaving to the Philippines on December 19, 2013. She is visiting relatives that got hit by the terrible natural disaster Typhoon Haiyan. On Thursday, November 21, 2013 from 10:00 am to 9:00 pm, Princess Florence Handbags & More, with your support would like to send with her as much money as we can to buy rice for people in need. A sack of 50 kilograms of rice cost $66. That will be enough to feed 300 people! We invite you do your Christmas shopping at the store, while helping support our Filipino staff who have been wonderful to all of us through the years! A percentage of the sales will be donated to Sharon to help friends and family in need. Wine and bites will be served after 6:00 pm. At 6:30 pm we will be offering our popular free workshop The Magic of Scarves - Christmas Edition. Please RSVP by Thursday Nov 21, 5:00 pm here or call us at 780-451-1531 to save your spot! You are welcome to extend this invitation to your friends and family!
The Rotary Club of Spruce Grove would like to welcome curlers in Districts 5360 and 5370 to the 53rd annual curling bonspiel to be held from February 20to 23, 2014 in Spruce Grove, Alberta. Interested teams may visit this siteto learn more about the event and to register a team. Only one registration is required per team. Details about team members will be asked during the registration process.
If you have any trouble with the registration process or have any questions about the bonspiel, please contact Angus McKenzie here. On behalf of the entire Organizing Committee, I want to wish all participants safe travels to Spruce Grove and good curling!
Below is a silly (a spoof really) video created by Tony Zeglen to help lure curlers to our event and our community.
SPRUCE IT UP DISTRICTS 5360 AND 5370 CURLING BONSPIEL: FEBRUARY 20 TO 23
We are sad to send news that Andrew Hawkes' mother has passed away. Club Direct Rita Sharek will soon send a token of our condolences to the family, on behalf of our Club. May she Rest in Peace. Andrew wishes to send his gratitude for condolences expressed by his friends in Rotary.
We are also saddened to inform you that former Club member, Stuart Hellis passed away from cancer. His funeral will be held on Saturday, November 23at 2:00 pm at St. Augustine Parkland Anglican Church, 131 Church Road, in Spruce Grove.
Our Silly Santa Auction was held on November 14th in support of Wings of Providence Crisis Centre. Members were asked to donate an item, deliberately concealed in Christmas wrapping paper, which was then auctioned by Rotarian Elizabeth Marsh and Vice-President Victor Moroz (shown in the photo below). To add to the fun, most donators wrote a little "poem" mischievously hinting at the contents of the item up for auction. Only the donator knew exactly what was in the package, but members bid on it anyway raising over $1,600 for this well-deserved cause. The winners got to unwrap their early Christmas gift, and the mothers and children in crisis will get some comfort and joy during this dark time in their lives. Check out the new photo album to the left of this web page.
AT THE NOVEMBER 14TH MEETING: SILLY SANTA AUCTION FOR WINGS OF PROVIDENCE
The incomparable actress and Rotarian Elizabeth Marsh entertained us with her Fish Talk at our November 7th meeting. Se spoke of one of her favourite charities, Wings of Providence Crisis Centre (the fundraising object of the Silly SantaAuction on November 14th). She explained how the Silly Santa Auction worked, for the benefit of the newer members, andhow she got involved with Wings of Providence. Elizabeth is shown below with Past President Angus McKenzie and Vice President Victor Moroz.
AT THE NOVEMBER 7TH MEETING: ELIZABETH MARSH, FISH TALK
The Salvation Army is looking for volunteers to run their annual Christmas Kettle Campaign: two hour shifts beginning at 10:00 am to 6:00 pm, from November 15th to December 24th at the Spruce Grove Wal-Mart and Superstore. Please contact Trish Haryett at 780-962-7634, extension 138 to volunteer.
SALVATION ARMY CHRISTMAS KETTLE CAMPAIGN: VOLUNTEERS NEEDED
It is my pleasure as your District Governor, to officially announce the selection of Laura Morie, member of the Rotary Club of Westlock as the successful candidate for District Governor Nominee Designate for the Rotary Year 2016-17. Here are a few of her background highlights:
Joined the Rotary family in 2002
Chairperson for RYLA 2009-2012
Presently injecting much of her efforts as Director of Youth Services
Leadership roles as President, Foundation Chair, and Secretary
Benefactor, a Paul Harris Fellow and a Sustaining member of the Rotary Foundation.
Financial consultant with Investors Group for the past 15 years.
I would like to thank Past District Governor Kevin Hilgers, whom I appointed as Chair to lead the Selection Committee. If you want any further information, I would be happy to respond so encourage you to contact me here.
The Board was pleased to meet with District 5370 Governor Betty Screpnek on October 31st and these were the highlights of that meeting.
Club Administration Director Tony Zeglen presented a report in writing that the Open House PowerPoint/video was updated to October 16th; four Humanitarians in Spruce Grove ads have been completed and November will feature AnnLisa Jensen; Public Relations projects posted on the District 5370 Data Base include the 20th Anniversary President History Video project, Memory Album project, and the Open House PowerPoint/video project, and the Membership Mentoring program; the Rotary District 5360/5370 Curling Bonspiel promotional video has been completed; and Brad Mastaler was locating a digital copy of our Club flag. In terms of Membership, we have inducted six new members in this Rotary Year, two others were approved as proposed members, five new members have been introduced to ClubRunner, and a second Fireside will take place in early December focusing on International Service and hosted by Director Neil Hollands.
Brad Mastaler reported on behalf of Community Service Director Barry Twynam that various community projects have been approved and cheques are being written; Highway Clean-up and Rotary Park Clean-up were completed; and Club members have been challenged to contribute to Auggie’s Café matching grant fund for kitchen renovations.
International Service Direct Neil Hollands reported that the Committee has a budget of $36,000; a matching grant initiative for shipping medical equipment to Nigeria is on hold; our Club supports the Children of Ecuador projects; and the Committee is working on establishing evaluation criteria for granting funds and establishing a long term planning strategy.
Youth Service Director Randy Hetherington reported that he has attended two Interact Meetings, that group is looking to fund raise for an organization that supports women’s right to an education, and the new executive is in place and moving forward (tentatively), recruitment drive continues and they have 12 members; the Vocational Visit to Parkland School Division took place on October 3rd, 2013, highlighting public education for youth ages 2.5 – 20 in Parkland County, with a specific focus on integration of technology and a detailed look into the largest school bus operation in the province; new member Thomas Miller has been added to the committee; Shari Roszmann has assumed responsibility for Adventures programs and RYLE, RYPEN and RYLA (RYLE 2014 – May 1 - 4, 2014 at Camp Nakamun, RYPEN 2014 – May 7 – 11, 2014 at Camp Warwa; RYLA 2014 – September 27 – 29, 2013 in Edmonton); the Committee was approached by Aaron Grenke from Living Waters Christian Academy for support of their Mission trip to Guatemala (a prezi presentation on this request was made available to Board members for consideration and discussion; contact was made with 4th Spruce Grove Scouts to contribute $1500.00 and continue our sponsorship of this organization (they will prepare their charter for signing in the next few weeks); initial planning for the Speech Arts competition is underway; and our scheduled speaker for September 26 (Kaileigh Feist) did not show up. Pending items include: Aboriginal Initiative (District 5370) information received; meetings held with past participants regarding RYE to be discussed; and Youth submission to website and sponsorship of Club newsletter.
Vocational Service Director Ray Frayne reported that the Committee is working on Vocational visits (completed one in October), and planning others for January and February; representatives of the Spruce Grove and District Chamber of Commerce attended a meeting in October; and we hope to educate their members about the Rotary Club of Spruce Grove.
Past President Angus McKenzie reported on plans to present a report to the Club about the history of the Trail project. The Club has the trail money in our account. We must now submit an application to change the grant’s designation and also apply for an extension. All financial information concerning this project must be submitted by December 30th, 2014.
President Elect Victor Moroz reported that he attended the President Elect training at the District Conference which instilled in him that continuity in the Club is important to insure we move forward with things we planned to do in the previous year, but did not complete due to time constraints, and that he will be attending the Rotary International Conference in Australia.
Rotary Foundation Director Brad Mastaler reported that our Club has a lifetime donation of $91,260 including 20 Paul Harris Fellows, two Bequests, three Benefactors, 37 Rotarian Donors, and 11 Non-Rotarian Donors; our giving goal is $3130 US (per capita less than $100 per member); and this year we added a line to our billing statements asking for at least a $10.00 donation to the Foundation for the Every Rotarian Every Year initiative.
Secretary Lesley Crawford reported that we have 48 active members and five honourary members, and that the attendance for September was 71%.
Treasurer Jan Vanderblij reported on our Community Spirit, Casino, and Interact Club (new account set up in October) bank balances, term GIC investment, Rotary Trail reserve (new GIC set up in October and that future attention will be required to administer this fund); financial records for the 2012-2013 year submitted to Tober, Hemblings & Callihoo for their review, and that a copy of our Meeting room insurance policy and current Club By-Laws; membership dues invoicing sent out on September 23rd, 2013 with receipt at 50% to date; and our Club has given $50,000 to the Ecole Broxton Park School for their new playground and we have committed $100,000 this year for the expansion of the Parkland Food Bank.
District Governor Betty Screpnek reported that the District will send out a message concerning the establishment of a District Hospitality Room at the Rotary International Convention for one day in order to provide an opportunity for all District attendees to get together; President Elect Training is set for March 7th to 8th, 2014 at the Holiday Inn in south Edmonton; the very first meeting of a Rotary Club in Edmonton was held May 10th at Fort Edmonton and there are plans to hold a birthday celebration on that date, and Dr. Oz has been booked for Rexall Place in June as the first of a series of fundraisers to establish a Rotary Office in Fort Edmonton; and that we should put the Rotary Year theme banner on our website.
BOARD OF DIRECTORS MEETING HIGHLIGHTS: OCTOBER 31ST, 2013
District 5370 Governor Betty Screpnek visited our Club on October 31st and made several special presentations. Along with Past President Brad Mastaler, she recognized multiple Paul Harris Fellow and Past President Des Bulger in the first photo below. Along with President Nizar Abouchami, she congratulated new members Thomas Miller, Ryan Kennedy, Michelle Coates, Shari Roszmann, and Jelena Reich in the second photo; and presented Past President Angus McKenzie Presidential Citation Award for 2012-2013 in the third photo. Finally, she presented President Nizar Abouchami with a picture in the last photo. Special thanks to Rotarian Jan Vanderblij for taking these and other photos for this edition of the eBulletin.
AT THE OCTOBER 31ST MEETING: DISTRICT BETTY SCREPNEK VISIT
Note: Grace was part of the Rotary Group Study Exchange (GSE) Team from Nigeria that we helped host (2009?)
From Grace T. Iyeghe-Erakpotobor via Arlaine Monaghan:
I feel so happy each time I read your mails. Your concern and care is so moving I can not begin to thank you enough for it. I am so glad you have overcome the surgery and would soon be back to your active self again. Please do not mind some of my terminologies because I write to you like I would another Nigerian. When I say overcome the surgery, I mean you have been successfully operated and are healing well and would soon be fine.
The things happening here are quite fearful and horrifying, but we are not in the midst of it all. We live in the north west zone of Nigeria and the main problem is in the north east zone. The fearful part is that it can shift to any part of the country, but with God we are in safe hands no matter what happens. I sometimes fear for my son who is in the University in Kano, and my daughter and parents who are in Jos, but despite all we would survive. At least my son is home safe for now.
You can send me mails without any problems. My major problem here are electricity and internet network stability. I have a whole pile of mails right now to read because I go for days before I can read my mails and also have the luxury of replying them at the same time. Today the network is stable and fast enough for me to attach a photograph of me at my friends' daughter's introduction (the groom and his family came to formally introduce themselves and their intention to take her as a wife). I would have liked to send you more pictures but I am not sure if it would not bug your system. Maybe I should add one more. In the first picture we were bringing the bride to be for the groom and his family to identify, if she is the girl they want, and in the second picture I was kneeling down to be prayed for as one of the guests at the occasion. Sitting beside me is the mother of the bride who is my friend and colleague in the office. I guess I have to go before the network stalls and I cant send you the mail again. Greet my friends for me.
District 5370 Governor Betty Screpnek will visit our community on October 31st. First she will meet with the Board of Directors at 11:00 am, then will be the guest speaker at our regular meeting. Rumour has it that she will make a special presentation to Past President Angus McKenzie, and congratulate and welcome the six new members we have inducted thus far in the 2013-2014 Rotary Year.
AT OUR OCTOBER 31ST MEETING: DG BETTY SCREPNEK VISIT
November is Rotary Foundation month! It's a good time to reflect on the great Rotary Foundation sponsored programs we support and on how each of us can contribute to make sure these programs continue. Our Club is asking each member to contribute at least $10 to the Foundation when they pay their annual dues. Our Rotary Foundation sponsors a broad range of educational and humanitarian programs that save and change lives here and abroad. These programs are the lifeblood of Rotary, creating world peace and understanding through the lives touched by the programs. Ask any Rotarian who has visited/worked on an international project about the difference made by these programs. There are many wonderful stories of saved and changed lives around the world. Our contributions to the Rotary Foundation fund these Rotary programs. While our Foundation is quite healthy (one of the largest foundations in the world), there is so much more we need to do. Your annual contribution and/or a contribution to the Foundation Permanent Fund (through a major gift or benefactor contribution) fuels our Rotary programs. A contribution to the Foundation is one of the best investments you can make with nearly 100% going to Rotary programs that save and change lives. Learn more about The Rotary Foundation here and make a contribution to continue saving and changing lives. These programs work and are a great investment for a better and safer world. Source: http://www.rotary5960.org/showDoc.cfm?pMenuTop=5&pObject=138
The Spruce Grove and District Chamber of Commerce celebrated their 50th Anniversary on October 22nd and made a special effort to thank us for our 20+ year partnership with them as shown in the plaque below. President Nizar Abouchami was on hand to receive this recognition on behalf of our Club. It is safe to say, "You are quite welcome and we look forward to many more years working together to better our community!"
Maren Hasse (right below), author of Fierce Integrity and a Life Coach, spoke to our Club at the October 24th meeting. Maren spoke about her journey in life, finding her true self, and her work now as an author and coach. Maren is congratulated on her talk below by President Nizar Abouchami and Rotarian (and proud mother) Dianne McConnell.
AT THE OCTOBER 24TH MEETING: MAREN HASSE, AUTHOR AND LIFE COACH
We proudly inducted Michelle Coates (centre below) to our Club at our meeting on October 24th. Michelle is a mortgage broker with Dominion Lending in Spruce Grove, and was sponsored by Rotarian Tony Zeglen (left below). Her classification is Mortgage Broker and she will work with the Community Service Committee. She is being congratulated by President Nizar Abouchami in the photo below.
Our Silly Santa Auction is coming on November 14th in support of Wings of Providence Crisis Centre. Members are asked to donate an item, deliberately concealed in Christmas wrapping paper, which is then auctioned. Only the donator knows what is in the package, but members bid on it anyway. The winner gets to unwrap it and discover their early Christmas gift.
At our October 17th meeting, Elizabeth Marsh reported that Arlaine Monaghan is much better, but still recuperating from surgery at home. Get totally well soon!
The Rotary Club of Parkland After Dark has launched their own "This Close" to End Polio Now! campaign in Spruce Grove, Stony Plain as well as a few locations in Edmonton on October 24th. They have created donation jars with pictures of local Rotarians and have set those up at Jack's Drive-In, ATB in Stony Plain and Spruce Grove, Royal LePage in the Westland Mall, Powerworks Electrical, Leberge Engraving, Drayden Insurance in Spruce Grove, and United Construction Inc. in Edmonton thus far. If you would like to display a donation container at your business, please contact Kristi Larson here. The campaign will begin on World Polio Day on October 24th. Please donate today!
And don't forget that Alberta Minister of Culture Heather Klimchuk recently announced that the Government of Alberta will match donations made by Rotarians in Alberta up to $350,000. $350,000 + $350,000, matched by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation = $1.4 million to eradicate polio for good!
Every Tuesday from 11:00 am until 1:00 pm, St. Augustine's Parkland Church hosts Auggie's Café, a place where anyone can congregate for a hot meal, and some fellowship and conversation. Totally financially self-sustaining, thanks to the blessings of locally-provided donations of food and cash, each week between 50 and 100 nutritious meals are served to all who are in need. A small army of volunteers provides cooking, clean-up, and conversation that is given in the spirit of helping those in need of food and companionship.
A few months ago Patti Zeglen, Yvonne and myself visited Auggie's Cafe for lunch. They serve a decent nutritious meal to all who come; that day there were 40-50 people. I can only describe the experience as what a community gathering should be like: there were old, young, native, white, black, homeless ... all are welcome. The room was loud because of all the interaction. It is totally a non-judgmental experience for all who attend.
About a month ago, probably longer, Yvonne Naughton approached me about trying to get a matching grant for Auggie's Cafe kitchen renovation. Currently, because of health regulations, the kitchen staff cannot clean dishes while meals are being served. They are looking at trying to renovate the kitchen and install a commercial dishwasher.
Yvonne proposed challenging our Club membership to contribute to this cause and then use those collected funds towards a matching grant application. Yvonne is kicking this off with a $100 contribution. I thought this over and I decided to do what Lyle Houston does with the Rotary Run for Life. I will match our Club members total contribution dollar for dollar. Because I know there are some cruel, creative types in our Club and I need to protect my family's inheritance, I will need to cap my contribution to a maximum of $2000. Once we know the total collected, we will make an application and see if we can add in a matching grant to the cause. So feel free be cruel, large or small!
Please make cheques payable to “Rotary District 5370 Charitable Foundation” and put “SG Rotary – Auggie’s Café” in the memo line. They also have to be personal cheques, not company ones.
President Nizar Abouchami was proud to present Rotary Awards for the Highest Academic Average to the following students at the Spruce Grove Composite High School Awards Ceremony on September 17th. Congratulations to the following winners!
Grade 10: Shannon Clark, Jonathan Boerger, Claire Casault, and Duncan McDonald
Grade 11: Alexander Irwin, Amira Aissiou, Danielle Seymour, and Kristen Knull
We were honoured to welcome seven guests from the Spruce Grove and District Chamber of Commerce at our meeting on September 17th. Congratulations on their 50th anniversary of service to our community!
From left: Chamber President Robin Grayston; Rotary President Nizar Abouchami; Chamber Directors Jim Peddie and Karina Beaudoin; Chamber Executive Director Brenda Johnson; Chamber 2nd Vice President Rosetta Taylor; Chamber Directors Charlene Bell and Dorcas Kilduff; and Rotary Vocational Service Director Ray Frayne.
Mariana Konsolos spoke to our Club on October 17th about coming to Canada and starting her Princess Florence unique fashion business in Edmonton. Rotarian Randy Hetherington and President Nizar Abouchami thanked Mariana for her presentation in the photo below.
AT THE OCTOBER 17TH MEETING: MARIANA KONSOLOS, ENTREPRENEUR
Sam Silent, as the old-timers of our Club will tell you, is a mysterious fellow who likes to stir up a little mischief from time-to-time. Apparently, Sam is in Paris, where he met up with the famous Door - the symbol of great responsibility given in care to those who host the annual Rotary 5360/5370 Curling Bonspiel (note Then President Angus McKenzie struggling mightily with this duty to the right below).
In a somewhat disjointed effort, our resident codger Bob Morrison and former World Champions John Moquin and Allan Shaw attempted to explain the skulduggery and shenanigans associated with "caring" for The Door in the past. We can only hope to understand these inside jokes! I expect we will all have our own stories to tell after we host the bonspiel in February, 2014.
Rotarian Larry Holland entertained and educated fellow Rotarians and guests at our October 10th meeting about post-photography techniques he uses to correct flaws in and enhance the photographs he takes. An interesting hobby indeed! Past President Brad Mastaler (left below) thanked Larry for his presentation.
AT THE OCTOBER 10TH MEETING: LARRY HOLLAND FISH TALK
We proudly inducted Jelena Reich (centre below) to our Club at our meeting on October 10th. Jelena is the co-owner of COBS Bread with her husband Christopher in Spruce Grove, and was sponsored by Rotarian Joanne Daniels (left below). Her classification is Baker and she will work with the Vocational Service Committee. She is being congratulated by Past-President Brad Mastaler in the photo below.
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respect you deserve as a leader within a Club. Yet we are all leaders in our profession and/or community, that is why we were invited to join our Club. At the end of the day, the qualities of all members in our Club will motivate each other to work harder to achieve goals and remain part of the club.
