Sunrise bulletin for the week of May 9, 2012
Posted by Rob Goodell
on May 9, 2012
A bit breezy and cool early this morning, but a beautiful sunny day with not a cloud in sight. Of course, we know it's always like this in Vancouver. Right?
Nearly a full house at Rotary today, with 16 members plus our two speakers and Rotarian Jane LaPorte, visiting from the Burnaby Deer Lake club. Do I hear rumours that Jane is considering moving her membership to a club closer to her Vancouver home? President Matthew Lynam opened our breakfast meeting on time and we stumbled through the 4-Way Test with minimal bloodshed. This being a family-friendly publication, we're going to skip right over the revelations of what Sheila Anderson and Carlos Obregon claim they've been doing on the floor in recent weeks. Shocking!
Rotary moment
John Haley reported a news item that said a Rotarian in Abbotsford will receive a kidney transplant soon, with the donor being a Rotarian from Oak Harbor, Washington. The donor is a friend and business colleague of Jim Clarke. Small world! John also summarized for us the growth of bicycle use around the world. He says that 72 percent of the world's bikes are now made in China, followed by India at 10 percent. Portland, Oregon, wins the prize for the most bicycle communters in North America. But Vancouver may be catching up.
Club and district news
Lori Pobuta was recognized as the club's new Vice President and received a valuable pin indicating her new status. Matthew and the club also thanked her for the great job she did developing a PowerPoint presentation announcing our Corporate Membership program.
There will be a board meeting next Tuesday at the Century Plaza hotel, sez the prez.
Jane LaPorte, representing the district's Friendship Exchange committee, announced that a group of New Zealand Rotarians will be in our city in July. She's arranging home hosting for them, so anyone who can host a Rotary single or couple for 3 or 4 days the second week of July should contact her at laporte@telus.net or www.rotary5040.org. Rotarians from our district will be hosted in New Zealand during February 2013, so anyone who's interested in going should let Jane know.
The Rotary Club of Burnaby Deer Lake is holding a benefit concert to fund a project for the hearing impared community in Bali. The concert will feature the Stradivari Ensemble of the Vancouver Academy of Music and will be held Saturday, May 26, at 6:15 pm at the Unitarian Church on 49th Avenue, Vancouver. Tickets are $25 and can be reserved at www.rotaryburnabydeerlake.org.
Today's program
Our speakers this morning were Julie Birtch and Stephanie Willoughby, both Detective Constables with the Vancouver Police Department, and each the mother of two children. One hundred years ago in 1912, the VPD hired the first female police officer in Canada and our speakers showed us photos of women in policing work over the years.
At first, the female police officers were restricted to clerical duties but now are fully integrated into all aspects of VPD responsibilities. The photos showed female officers in the mounted unit with their horses doing crowd control, women in the bike patrol, the marine unit, on motorcycles and in riot control roles. It was interesting to note the changes in uniforms as the decades passed. There are now 307 women in the VPD, nearly 30 percent of the total force and the highest percentage among police organizations in Canada. The officers described how they use "verbal judo" to diffuse difficult situations, rather than brute strength.
To commemorate the 100th anniversary, the Vancouver Police will be hosting a 3-day conference called "The Evolution of Policing" in September at River Rock Resort in Richmond. Contributions are being solicited to help finance this important conference.
Au revoir
Attendance may slip a little in coming weeks, as Banu Tulumen and her new husband will be in Turkey for an extended visit, Lori Pobuto is going to Greece and France for a few weeks, and John and Marni Haley will soon be going grizzly bear hunting. Ann-Shirley and I will be on our bikes in France for the next month, including several days with Hanne Kooistra, last year's Youth Exchange student. We'll see you in June.
Rob
Nearly a full house at Rotary today, with 16 members plus our two speakers and Rotarian Jane LaPorte, visiting from the Burnaby Deer Lake club. Do I hear rumours that Jane is considering moving her membership to a club closer to her Vancouver home? President Matthew Lynam opened our breakfast meeting on time and we stumbled through the 4-Way Test with minimal bloodshed. This being a family-friendly publication, we're going to skip right over the revelations of what Sheila Anderson and Carlos Obregon claim they've been doing on the floor in recent weeks. Shocking!
Rotary moment
John Haley reported a news item that said a Rotarian in Abbotsford will receive a kidney transplant soon, with the donor being a Rotarian from Oak Harbor, Washington. The donor is a friend and business colleague of Jim Clarke. Small world! John also summarized for us the growth of bicycle use around the world. He says that 72 percent of the world's bikes are now made in China, followed by India at 10 percent. Portland, Oregon, wins the prize for the most bicycle communters in North America. But Vancouver may be catching up.
Club and district news
Lori Pobuta was recognized as the club's new Vice President and received a valuable pin indicating her new status. Matthew and the club also thanked her for the great job she did developing a PowerPoint presentation announcing our Corporate Membership program.
There will be a board meeting next Tuesday at the Century Plaza hotel, sez the prez.
Jane LaPorte, representing the district's Friendship Exchange committee, announced that a group of New Zealand Rotarians will be in our city in July. She's arranging home hosting for them, so anyone who can host a Rotary single or couple for 3 or 4 days the second week of July should contact her at laporte@telus.net or www.rotary5040.org. Rotarians from our district will be hosted in New Zealand during February 2013, so anyone who's interested in going should let Jane know.
The Rotary Club of Burnaby Deer Lake is holding a benefit concert to fund a project for the hearing impared community in Bali. The concert will feature the Stradivari Ensemble of the Vancouver Academy of Music and will be held Saturday, May 26, at 6:15 pm at the Unitarian Church on 49th Avenue, Vancouver. Tickets are $25 and can be reserved at www.rotaryburnabydeerlake.org.
Today's program
Our speakers this morning were Julie Birtch and Stephanie Willoughby, both Detective Constables with the Vancouver Police Department, and each the mother of two children. One hundred years ago in 1912, the VPD hired the first female police officer in Canada and our speakers showed us photos of women in policing work over the years.
At first, the female police officers were restricted to clerical duties but now are fully integrated into all aspects of VPD responsibilities. The photos showed female officers in the mounted unit with their horses doing crowd control, women in the bike patrol, the marine unit, on motorcycles and in riot control roles. It was interesting to note the changes in uniforms as the decades passed. There are now 307 women in the VPD, nearly 30 percent of the total force and the highest percentage among police organizations in Canada. The officers described how they use "verbal judo" to diffuse difficult situations, rather than brute strength.
To commemorate the 100th anniversary, the Vancouver Police will be hosting a 3-day conference called "The Evolution of Policing" in September at River Rock Resort in Richmond. Contributions are being solicited to help finance this important conference.
Au revoir
Attendance may slip a little in coming weeks, as Banu Tulumen and her new husband will be in Turkey for an extended visit, Lori Pobuto is going to Greece and France for a few weeks, and John and Marni Haley will soon be going grizzly bear hunting. Ann-Shirley and I will be on our bikes in France for the next month, including several days with Hanne Kooistra, last year's Youth Exchange student. We'll see you in June.
Rob