President Bill Fitzsimmons opened the meeting at 11:30 am for fellowship and officially kicked off the meeting at12 noon. 51 participants were in attendance, via Zoom.
Guest today was our speaker, Nav Scheie.
Chris Davis (alias Groucho Marx) provided our inspirational moment. Today marks the 5th anniversary of the Fort McMurray fire, commonly known as “the beast” which spread into the city on May 3, 2016, causing nearly 90,000 people to flee the flames. .Chris encouraged us to stop, think and reflect upon some of the milestones in our life. He also wanted to recognize Walter Haessel from the Downtown Club for his leadership with Rotary Challenger Park. He was recognized at the District Conference and “He’s a fine friend and Rotarian”.
Announcements
Gail Williams announced that Marlene Doherty was the recipient of a “special award” at the District virtual conference. This award recognizes outstanding contributions to our polio eradication efforts. Each year, Rotary International provides up to 10 regional service awards per WHO region to worthy recipients. Congratulations, Marlene!
Marlene Doherty had three announcements;
This is the sixth year of our involvement with the “In-Step Program” and volunteers are needed to sort over 300 plants into orders on May 27th at the Grace Presbyterian Church. Contact Marlene if you are able to help.
Martin Parnell, DG-elect, advised that Marlene Doherty will again be the District Champion this year and is requesting a champion from each club to promote and communicate progress of the
“Move for Polio” cycling fund raiser this year. The goal is to raise $100,000 from July 1st to October 31st. If you would like to be Calgary West liaison, please contact Marlene.
The Rotary International Conference is being held virtually, June 12-16. If you have never attended an RI Conference, it is something you shouldn’t miss. If you register by Friday, May 7th, the club will refund your registration cost of $65. It’s free….Wow!
Terry Felton advised that there is a strong possibility the Calgary Stampede Parade will be held this year. Hopefully, we will be selling tickets for seats along the parade route and we require hosts to monitor our guests. There will be no breakfast this year and we will only have to pay for the stands we use…..Yahoo! Please sign up to help by contacting Terry.
Bill Quinney advised that Hyder Hassan, CEO with Immigrant Services Calgary, will be speaking to us about the new Gateway Program. Since 1977, Immigrant Services Calgary has been providing a wide range of settlement services to immigrants and refugees looking to begin a new chapter of their lives in Canada. Join us next week.
Bill Lawless advised that he is collecting bicycles for “Wheels for Kids”. They refurbish the bikes for kids in need. Bill will send out an email.
Chris Ritter has been looking into the idea of our club providing a Rotary hockey skills competition to minor league hockey players over the age of 10 years old. The basic idea is for teams to set aside a portion of one practice so the kids can compete in five different hockey skills: hardest shot, fastest skater, most accurate shooter, best stick handler and best passer. Cost $3000. Chris will send out an email.
Robyn Braley announced that our guest speaker on May 17 will be Ali Velshi, a Canadian television journalist, a senior economic and business correspondent for NBC News since October, 2016, and co-anchor with Stephanie Ruhle of Velshi and Ruhle on MSNBC. Velshi is based in New York City. Bring your guest/prospective member, but sign on early as Zoom is limited to a maximum limit of 100 participants.
Guest Speaker
Sa'adat Keshavjee introduced our guest speaker, Nav Scheie, life coach and NLP practitioner. It’s another great day for Rotary. Be prepared for an opportunity for growth.
Nav came to Canada 20 years ago from India with three things; no English, no connections and no job. Today, she is an award winning multi-lingual HR career coaching professional, helping clients save money and create profits by igniting innovation into old HR practices. She currently is employed as a Director of People at Krux Analytics, and also runs her own business. She is married to Ryan and has two children; a baby girl named Rose and Jayden who is in Heaven. Today, she will speak to us about unspoken tragedies.
Nav shared her Incredible Personal Life Story
Nav is a bereaved mom. The doctor told her two days before the delivery of her first child that her baby did not have a heartbeat. Her son Jayden was stillborn at full term in 2015. For years she was unable to share her grief with the world, due to the stigma and silence around infant loss. Everyone expects you to move on. No one mentioned his name or talked about her grief.
During that time she struggled with digestion issues, anxiety headaches and episodes of depression. Today, she is stepping into her future confidently and freely sharing her experience and remembering her son with love and acceptance. She hopes sharing her experience can help families heal from infant and pregnancy loss, and other unspoken tragedies. In 2018, Nav and her husband were blessed with their rainbow baby, Rose.
Today, she shared her personal journey sharing her grief with likeminded people. She follows a five-point “mantra” program;
Recognize life as a journey. We will all experience heartaches and need to accept those heartaches as part of the journey. When you expect the unexpected you can think about what you can do; connect with family and loved ones, pray and turn to a higher power.
Connect with your community as like-minded people.
Nav maintains a daily “gratitude journal” which helps recognizes all the good things that are in her life.
Build rituals. She celebrates Jayden’s days. His birthday. She light’s candles for him on special occasions.
Lastly, take care of yourself – self-care.
Nav concluded with:
“Life is like a bicycle, you can only maintain your balance if you keep moving forward.”
Barb Hames expressed the thanks of the club. There is no time limit on grief!
“You are a very brave and courageous young woman that will bring hope, healing and compassion to many.”
President Bill also expressed the thanks of the club to Nav, and adjourned the meeting at 1 pm.
Rotary 2022 International Convention to be held in HoustonThe event will bring more than 20,000 participants from around the world and deliver $30 million in local economic
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