Sunrise bulletin for the week of November 27, 2013
It was a small but select group at this morning's Rotary breakfast, with 10 members and 2 guests in the room. Josh Green was with us again, as well as Iozsef Miskolczi (whose Hungarian name is a challenge so we call him Joseph).
Other members were away at glamorous destinations around the world: Cam Scott in New Zealand, Sheila Anderson awaiting a grandchild in Victoria, John Haley visiting his mother in Spokane, Julie Mantle and Diana Theman goofing off at BC Hydro meetings, and Abigail Turner thinking about warm, sunny beaches from a courtroom in Prince George. No telling where Sonya Orr might be, or any of the several other travellers.
Rotary moment
President Ann-Shirley Goodell says that Rotary was visible and helpful in feeding the hungry last Saturday at the Salvation Army, with the Quadra club leading the way and some of our members assisting. Quadra will be doing a shoe clinic, one of their ongoing projects in the downtown east side, on December 7. Volunteers will be welcome so check the Quadra website for details.
Club news
A month or more ago, we had a speaker who introduced us to the Saint James Music Academy, a charitable group providing music lessons for 150 at-risk kids in the Strathcona area. Some of us will be going to their Christmas concert on December 6 at 6:30 pm. Last year it was standing-room-only so be early if you want a seat. Our club has agreed to help this group find used musical instruments so they can avoid rental costs. If you have, or know people who have, unused instruments that could be donated, please contact Julie Mantle.
Members, families and friends are invited to the club Christmas party on Saturday, December 7, at 4 pm at our downtown condo. Bring a wrapped gift ($20 max) to exchange, a food item to share, and your choice of adult beverage. We will have juice and non-alcoholic eggnog for the kids and anyone else who would like them. RSVP to aturner@harpergrey.com by next Wednesday.
Today's program
Lisa Slakov spoke to us today about HUB and its role in promoting cycling in Vancouver. She's co-chair of HUB (a name which, surprisingly, is not an acronym and doesn't stand for anything in particular) and serves on the Active Transportation Policy Council, a citizen's advisory group that reports to Vancouver City Council. Lisa and these volunteer groups are working to make cycling in the city better for everyone.
In 1998, City Council was aware that our increasing population was creating more vehicle traffic than our downtown streets could accommodate and established transportation priorities, in this order of importance: 1. walking; 2. bicycling; 3. public transit; and 4. motor vehicles. Since then, the number of cars downtown on an average weekday has dropped by 20 percent, in spite of a huge population increase.
HUB is working to encourage cycling with events such as Bike to Work Week and Bike to School Week. Research shows that about 40 percent of our population might be interested in cycling more but have some concerns, so HUB provides education (cycling skills, safety, bike maintenance) for adults and kids. And HUB has encouraged bike access to all public transit including SkyTrain, downtown separated bike lanes and more.
HUB invites employers to become Bike Friendly Businesses, with lunch-hour workshops to encourage employees to cycle to work. HUB will provide resources and tips on facility needs, employee incentives, and other issues.
More information is available online at bikehub.ca.
After hearing about the benefits and the importance of cycling, we all jumped in our cars and sped off to our day's commitments. C'est la vie!
Rob