Sunrise bulletin for the week of March 6, 2013
President Julie Mantle is back from Puerta Vallerta; Ann-Shirley and Rob Goodell have returned from San Diego; Diana Theman hasn't left yet for Alberta; Sonya Orr doesn't go to Capetown until later this month; Alfredo Carrete will be off to Mexico soon; Cam Scott goes to Toronto next week; and Cleo Perez is busy packing to go to the Chavez funeral in Venezuela. So, at today's Rotary breakfast, we had a high attendance number of 18 members, plus Steve McGrandle, a frequent guest, and Laura Bicknell, member of Burnaby Rotaract (and Lawrence's daughter). It was almost standing-room only.
Rotary moment
John Haley did the math and determined that the eradication of polio will save $40 to 50 billion US dollars in health care costs over the next 20 years. More than I've made all week! Not to mention all the human suffering that will be avoided. "We are this close!" Isn't that a gread ad campaign? Carlos Obregon says we can each have our photo online as part of the campaign. Check the Foundation website.
Club news
Our outbound Youth Exchange student is Georgina Hargreaves, from King George Secondary School. She's going to Sweden in August and will be at our March 20 meeting so we can all get to know her.
Gary Chomyn previewed plans for the Hoop-a-Thon on Saturday, June 15, which will benefit the Strathcona Community Centre youth programs. Our goal is $50,000 and needs 100% participation by members. Media people and VIPs will be there to shoot baskets, and our club will form 4 teams to throw basketballs as well. Join a team, make a contribution, get corporate sponsors, get involved! The next planning meeting is Monday, March 11, at Strathcona.
Diana is organizing a sushi-making day on March 17, featuring Ron Suzuki from Strathcona as the sushi chef. Space is limited so talk with Diana.
Present-elect Ann-Shirley went to PETS last month and survived. She has good things to say about our incoming District Governor, Garry Shearer from Tsawwassen.
The board will meet on Tuesday morning, March 19, at Julie's office.
Today's program
New member Susan Neale gave her classification talk this morning and, as often happens, we heard a very interesting presentation. Susan grew up on a farm in Merritt, BC, came to Vancouver to attend BCIT, and received her CGA certification in 1994. She says the accounting bodies are contemplating significant changes and she may (or may not) wind up as a CPA instead. Who knows? Her partner Wally is a civil engineer.
Susan's career has been in corporate financial management, starting in insurance and then moving to the mining industry. She became Chief Financial Officer of a gold mining company with mines in Canada, the US and Australia. She described for us some of the environmental, heritage and operational challenges that mining companies face, and the extensive world travel that her job required. Later, the company went through an ownership and financial change, ending up as a non-bank lender with Conrad Black among its clients. Most recently, Susan worked for a diamond mining company, which she says is a very different business than gold mining. To prove her point, she distributed free samples of both products. If you weren't there, you missed it.
For the past 9 months, Susan has taken a break in her career to recharge her batteries and entertain new priorities. She's considering a return to mining. In the meantime, she enjoys travel, outdoor sports and book clubs. She's a volunteer with the Vancouver Youth Symphony Orchestra (a great bunch of young musicians), is a YWCA mentor with unemployed women, and leads Stanley Park bike tours for the Vancouver Hostel.
Thanks, Susan, for an informative talk and congratulations on your many successes. Welcome to Rotary.
And, that's all for this week. I'll think of you next Wednesday, from a chairlift at Whistler.
Rob