Sunrise bulletin for the week of April 24, 2012
After our recent opportunity to order Rotary shirts, President Julie Mantle is promoting Rotary hats, shoes, handbags and accessories in a rainbow of colours. Unfortunately, the pink items are already sold out, so hurry to order your choice of fusia, magenta, celery, tangerine, lime or raspberry. Sounds like a garden to me.
A full house packed into the small meeting room for this morning's Rotary meeting. We were 15 members, including one newly-inducted member, plus guests Steve McGrandle and Milie Taing, both of whom have visited in recent weeks. Also with us were our speaker and 3 others from his organization. A room full. Nice to see Cam Scott, who survived his big trek in Nepal.
Rotary moment
John Haley reviewed some interesting facts about Canada's role within the United Nations. As a founding UN member in 1945, Canada has been active in many peacekeeping operations over the years and currently there are 190 Canadians working overseas with UN programs.
New member!
Jose Riga was introduced as our newest club member by President Julie. Jose was formerly a Rotarian in France and has been living in Canada for several years, so it's good to welcome him back to Rotary. He adds a French component to our multinational membership which includes members born in Turkey, Mexico, Venezuela, Scotland, England, the US and probably other countries. Welcome, Jose.
Announcements
The 100 Years of Rotary in BC celebration went well over last weekend. Our club's participation featured our youth project in Strathcona, with a basketball hoop that allowed donors to shoot free-throws, raising over $100 toward our Hoop-a-Thon fundraiser on June 15. Gary Chomyn reminds us we only have 6 more weeks to gather pledges and donations for this project.
The Board has set Friday, June 21, as the date of our changeover dinner, which will be held this year at the Century Plaza Hotel on Burrard Street. Tickets will be about $40 per person, including wine and dinner. RSVP with Matthew Lynam or online (if you're smart enought to figure out how to do that, which I'm not). Please let Matthew know, whether you're coming or not.
Susan Neale had to leave before the meeting started, but left a message that we should all be completing our police checks in the next few weeks, in preparation for welcoming Luisa Fiori de Godoy from Brazil this summer. Unfortunately, RI requires a new police check for each of us, even if we've recently had one for another organization. The completed forms go to Susan ASAP.
Today's program
Our topic this morning was the Saint James Music Academy, which operates in the Strathcona neighbourhood of Vancouver's downtown eastside. Andrew Dawes (that's THE Andrew Dawes, first violinist of the Orford String Quartet and recent recipient of the 2013 Governor General's Performing Arts Award) gave some background to the SJMA, where he's a board member. This charitable organization started in 2006 and now serves hundreds of elementary and high school students, nearly all from low-income families. SJMA provides a healthy after-school meal, free instruments and free professional instruction in a variety of musical instruments plus choral music. In addition, the children learn valuable life skills and have the opportunity to be part of a community of young people. Maestro Bramwell Tovey of the Vancouver Symphony calls it "one of the greatest projects of its kind in Canada today."
Kathryn Walker, Executive Director, actually was the founder of SJMA when her children's subsidized piano lessons in Strathcona were discontinued. She stressed her goal of "social change through music" and told us stories of how this music program transformed the lives of two of the students, including one who hopes to enroll at UBC next year. Christopher Loh showed us two brief videos highlighting the success of the program as demonstrated in the faces and voices of the kids. Tom Durrie, chair of the SJMA board, indicated that the organization funds itself through grants, donations and musical events. An upcoming concert on June 7 at 6:30 pm is an opportunity for us to experience the work of Saint James Music Academy first-hand. The concert will be at Saint James Anglican Church, Cordova and Gore Streets, Vancouver.
More information is available online at www.sjma.ca.
Next week's meeting
The club's annual Stanley Cup Hockey Pool will be held on May 1. Each team will be auctioned off, with the winners being paid off after the Stanley Cup final game. If you're not there next Wednesday, it will be assumed that you want to bid big bucks on the teams that no one else wants. So........be there, or be very sorry.
Rob