Sunrise bulletin for the week of August 15, 2012
Posted by Rob Goodell
on Aug 15, 2012
A murder mystery dinner is dominating the headlines this week. But, you know what they say, "What happens in Pitt Meadows stays in Pitt Meadows." Here are the principal murder suspects:
Several days after the police closed down the madness in Pitt Meadows, some (but not all) of the perpetrators showed up at our Rotary meeting on Wednesday. President Julie Mantle welcomed 14 members plus visiting Rotarian Gary Chomyn from Langley Sunrise. Gary has moved his business to Vancouver and may be looking for a new club. Also joining us was Lori Pobuto's guest, Alex Dubrowski, a PR specialist currently looking for employment.
Rotary moment
Larry Belsito described his Rotary odyssey, which started in 1986 when he joined the Vancouver Chinatown club. Soon after, his work moved him to manage hotels in places where there are no clubs. Upon returning to North America he joined a club in New Hampshire, USA, but again was driven out of town before long. Next was Mississauga, Ontario, and finally Vancouver Sunrise in 1996. Along the way, he's been club president several times and is a multiple Paul Harris Fellow. Not bad for a guy who never could hold a job.
Club and district news
The club has officially committed to participating in Youth Exchange in 2013-2014. This means we will select a local student this fall to go to another country a year from now and we will host a student from abroad starting just a year from this week. All this will be organized by the YE Committee of Abigail Turner, David Parsons, Diana Theman and Rob Goodell, with assistance from John Haley.
Julie announced that the RI President will be in Vancouver for a lunch and afternoon presentation at the Westin Bayshore on Saturday, October 20. Tickets are $50 at www.rotary5040.org.
Guess Who's Coming for Dinner is also on October 20, but it's in the evening so it's not a conflict. Send an email to asgoodell@shaw.ca if you'd like to join the fun and/or host a group for dinner.
Videojournalist Alison MacLean will be leaving for Afghanistan on September 4 after several delays for visas and other technicalities. She'll be taking the protective gear our club and others provided for the brave women police cadets there.
Personal items
Lawrence Bicknell reports that his wife Bev is recovering from foot surgery and is doing pretty well. She'll be avoiding any hikes over 20 km for several weeks.
Bill Sheddy claims there was a wild time at Haley's cabin on Mount Baker over the weekend, but that the fire damage isn't too severe.
With a majority of club members being in the Okanagan in the summer, the board is considering holding July and August meetings in a winery in Oliver. All in favour say "aye."
Today's program
Lori Pobuta brought us up to date with the plans being developed by the club's Membership Committee. Most importantly, she stressed that membership growth is the responsibility of every member, not just the committee or the board. She circulated a long list of vocational classifications and urged each of us to choose 2 or 3 that we can try to fill. She also explained the concept of corporate memberships, which is new to Rotary and will be a test for our club. To promote Rotary to corporate people, she previewed a PowerPoint presentation which outlines the program. With some input from club members, Lori will revise this presentation and email it to us. We should all be thinking of potential corporate members, perhaps small businesses in our area. In this regard, each of us should remember to wear our Rotary pins as much as wardrobe constraints allow, and to carry Rotary business cards and "What is Rotary?" wallet-sized cards. All good ideas which have been proven to work. All it needs is commitment from each of us.
President Julie also has some thoughts on membership and will share those with us at the next business meeting.
Julie had a thought for the day which was just great, but Carlos Obregon stole her thunder during the discussion of vocational classifications. When the topic of convicted felons came up, Carlos opined that "In this club, that classification is already full!"
I'll be away for the next 2 weeks, for dragon boat races and hiking the Rockies, but Eduardo de Santiago has agreed to see if he can put a bulletin together. No easy task, given the vagaries of ClubRunner, but we all wish him success. Thanks, Eduardo.
Rob
Several days after the police closed down the madness in Pitt Meadows, some (but not all) of the perpetrators showed up at our Rotary meeting on Wednesday. President Julie Mantle welcomed 14 members plus visiting Rotarian Gary Chomyn from Langley Sunrise. Gary has moved his business to Vancouver and may be looking for a new club. Also joining us was Lori Pobuto's guest, Alex Dubrowski, a PR specialist currently looking for employment.
Rotary moment
Larry Belsito described his Rotary odyssey, which started in 1986 when he joined the Vancouver Chinatown club. Soon after, his work moved him to manage hotels in places where there are no clubs. Upon returning to North America he joined a club in New Hampshire, USA, but again was driven out of town before long. Next was Mississauga, Ontario, and finally Vancouver Sunrise in 1996. Along the way, he's been club president several times and is a multiple Paul Harris Fellow. Not bad for a guy who never could hold a job.
Club and district news
The club has officially committed to participating in Youth Exchange in 2013-2014. This means we will select a local student this fall to go to another country a year from now and we will host a student from abroad starting just a year from this week. All this will be organized by the YE Committee of Abigail Turner, David Parsons, Diana Theman and Rob Goodell, with assistance from John Haley.
Julie announced that the RI President will be in Vancouver for a lunch and afternoon presentation at the Westin Bayshore on Saturday, October 20. Tickets are $50 at www.rotary5040.org.
Guess Who's Coming for Dinner is also on October 20, but it's in the evening so it's not a conflict. Send an email to asgoodell@shaw.ca if you'd like to join the fun and/or host a group for dinner.
Videojournalist Alison MacLean will be leaving for Afghanistan on September 4 after several delays for visas and other technicalities. She'll be taking the protective gear our club and others provided for the brave women police cadets there.
Personal items
Lawrence Bicknell reports that his wife Bev is recovering from foot surgery and is doing pretty well. She'll be avoiding any hikes over 20 km for several weeks.
Bill Sheddy claims there was a wild time at Haley's cabin on Mount Baker over the weekend, but that the fire damage isn't too severe.
With a majority of club members being in the Okanagan in the summer, the board is considering holding July and August meetings in a winery in Oliver. All in favour say "aye."
Today's program
Lori Pobuta brought us up to date with the plans being developed by the club's Membership Committee. Most importantly, she stressed that membership growth is the responsibility of every member, not just the committee or the board. She circulated a long list of vocational classifications and urged each of us to choose 2 or 3 that we can try to fill. She also explained the concept of corporate memberships, which is new to Rotary and will be a test for our club. To promote Rotary to corporate people, she previewed a PowerPoint presentation which outlines the program. With some input from club members, Lori will revise this presentation and email it to us. We should all be thinking of potential corporate members, perhaps small businesses in our area. In this regard, each of us should remember to wear our Rotary pins as much as wardrobe constraints allow, and to carry Rotary business cards and "What is Rotary?" wallet-sized cards. All good ideas which have been proven to work. All it needs is commitment from each of us.
President Julie also has some thoughts on membership and will share those with us at the next business meeting.
Julie had a thought for the day which was just great, but Carlos Obregon stole her thunder during the discussion of vocational classifications. When the topic of convicted felons came up, Carlos opined that "In this club, that classification is already full!"
I'll be away for the next 2 weeks, for dragon boat races and hiking the Rockies, but Eduardo de Santiago has agreed to see if he can put a bulletin together. No easy task, given the vagaries of ClubRunner, but we all wish him success. Thanks, Eduardo.
Rob