The Weekly Westerner Edition 55.15 (Nov 15, 2021)

Today’s meeting was a hybrid event with an attendance of 26 present at The Grey Eagle and 22 on-line via Zoom. The meeting was called to order by President Marlene Doherty at 12:00 with acknowledgement and recognition of our presence on the historic lands of the Treaty 7 Nations. Our national anthem followed.

Visitors and guests, all present at The Grey Eagle, included DG Martin Parnell, Barb Young, Cheryl Ganong, Liz Jamieson, Ryan Ferguson (Young) and Jenny Zhe Yu. They were welcomed by Bill Quinney.

President Marlene lit a candle in remembrance of Lou Horwood who had been an integral part of our club and its events over many years. She was the consummate dinner host and friend to so many of our club members. On behalf of the club, Marlene expressed our deepest sympathy and support to Bryden.

DG Martin Parnell, Calgary West Chair Garfield Ganong and our Citizenship Award recipient, Liz Jamieson were invited to the podium. Recognition of Liz for her truly significant philanthropic and selfless, exemplary community service included the presentation of a Paul Harris Fellowship, bestowed by RI through Calgary West. DG Martin Parnell provided information on Liz’s impressive service background, both nationally and internationally, and presented her with her truly well-deserved award.

November is Foundation month and our speakers for the day provided excellent overviews of how Foundation funds have enabled so many extremely worthwhile projects to be undertaken.

Sa'adat Keshavjee started the presentations with an overview of the Rotary Foundations, with particular focus on the Calgary Rotary Clubs Foundation (CRCF). The funds in CRCF now hold $55M, of which RCCW holds $915K (our goal is to increase that number to $1M). CRCF distributes fund accumulations to the Calgary clubs each year, in proportion to their respective holdings. Last year RCCW received $37K. Each club has members on the Foundation board. RCCW’s current members are Gail Williams and Garfield. The donations of our members to CRCF are truly appreciated. Please contact Gail, Garfield, Saadat, Mike Carlin, David Watson, Bill Tapuska or Joe Klassen with any questions.

Garfield introduced 5 speakers to talk about their respective projects and the use of CRFC funds:

Nketti Johnston-Taylor - Hope for Those Left Behind, Action for Community Empowerment, Uganda
Clarence Buckley – new 3D imaging and printing of prostheses, Sri Lanka
Barb Young – Guatemala Literacy Programme
Gail Williams – Scholarships
Judy Cochran – Youth Programmes

Their descriptions of the size and impact of funds received from CRCF is as impressive as the impacts their projects have had on the beneficiaries of their projects.

Garfield expressed his appreciations to DG Martin Parnell for his attendance and presentation, and thanks to the 5 speakers.

Announcements were made by:

Barbie Hames, who provided a flyer listing upcoming events: November 22 meeting at the Calgary Golf and Country Club; Christmas Brunch on December 12; Huron Carol on December 22, Hogmanay on January 2 and Lunar New Year on February 1.

David Wartman has arranged a field trip to Blackfoot Crossing on Friday, November 19. Cost (for the bus) is $40. Email David.

Karl Herzog is still looking to fill one or two spots for the November 21/22 casino

Kurt Schurer introduced Three Weeks of Giving. Week 1 will support Alpha House with donations of new, warm, winter clothing items. Items may be dropped off with Kurt, who will deliver them to Alpha House (Yes, cash is always an acceptable alternative). If you have another charity you think would also benefit from a similar initiative, let Kurt know.

District 5360 Diversity Equity and Inclusion Committee is looking for a member. Contact Marlene if you are interested or have questions.

Marlene also apologized to those members who were offended by the community service survey. All avenues of service and member contributions are valued

President Marlene thanked Team 2, the greeters, DG Martin, Saadat and the speakers. Building Community pins were presented to our Westerner Bulletin editors in appreciation of their ability to capture our meetings with their unique style, ensuring they are entertaining and informative. She also introduced her guest, Jenny Zhe Yu.

The meeting closed at 1:00pm with The Four Way Test