Sept 12, 2016 Bulletin
Opening/Chair: Rod Jones was chair for the day and he asked Ed MacDonald to lead the group in the singing of O Canada. This was followed by the moment of personal reflection.
Happy Mug: The happy mug was busy today. Al Begin announced that this would be his last meeting due to his being appointed to the bench as a Provincial Court Judge. Reading a prepared text he thanked the club for all their support over his time in Rotary and congratulated the members on what they are doing for the community. He will be taking up his duties in Sydney presently. We'll miss you Al.
Other happy Rotarians included Ed MacDonald who offered to teach Al some of the finer points of "Cape Bretonese", Joanna McGowan Christianson, Kirk Saint, Garth Coffin, Brian Matthews (for the successful Golf Tournament) and Alana Hirtle (for the successful Bollywood night).
Attendance: 48%
Visitors/Guests: The were many visitors to the club this week including:
- Rotarian Tim Lewis from Richland, Washington State who is on a cross continent RV tour with his wife. They were on their way back from Sydney and had some mechanical difficulty that has kept them in Truro over the weekend. He presented the club with his Club's banner.
- Rotarians and Area Governor Roger Sevigny from the Rotary Club of Kentville.
- Rotarian Freida Burger and her husband from the Rotary Club of New Minas Sunrise.
- Rotarian Anne Gillis, Rotary Club of Charlottetown Royalty.
- Members of the District 5520 RFE team including
- Rotarian Donna Pedace (Team Leader) and her husband Bill
- Rotarian Regina Guest
- Rotarian Lynn Willard and his wife Donna
- Rotarian Janet Thompson
50/50: The winning ticket was held by visitor Freida Burger from the Rotary Club New Minas Sunrise. Unfortunately she did not find the joker and went away empty handed (with the usual expressions of sympathy from club members).
Member Health: No Health issues reported.
Committee Reports: Lech made a brief presentation on the efforts of members of NSCC staff to revitalize the Terry Fox Run that will be help this Sunday (September 18th). He encouraged Rotarians to get involved in supporting this effort. Details were distributed as follows:
Secretary's Report: None.
President's Report: President Ted welcomed all the visitors and guests to the meeting. He congratulated Al, thanked him for his service to Rotary and the community and wished him well.
Ted reminded ALL club members that we are back to a weekly meeting schedule. He further stated his hope that attendance will significantly improve in short order.
The president thanked the volunteers for both the successful CCW Golf Tournament and the Bollywood night. Both were great events with excellent participation by Rotarians.
Finally, Ted asked for a volunteer to chair the meeting on September 26. Please let him know.
Speaker:
The Rotary Friendship team gave an excellent presentation on the area that they live in, the Rotary clubs they come from and the service work that they are involved with.
District 5520 is geographically the third or fourth largest District in the Rotary world covering all of New Mexico and West Texas.
This is high desert country where oil production is followed by tourism and agriculture as the basis of the economy. Their farms and ranches are large. This is cowboy county with a high percentage of the population Hispanic and Native American.
We were treated to a history of the region, (think of John Wayne movies of the 1950's) and a travelogue of some of the tourist attractions including Carlsbad Caverns and the White Sands desert. They are also home to high tech (Los Alamos) and some major arts and cultural centers.
Their Rotary clubs are active partners in all the sorts of community services and projects locally and internationally that we might expect from mature, active Clubs. There are 7 clubs in the city of Albuquerque with the original 101 year old "old" club having 210 members itself.
There was an exchange of banners between the Truro club and the REF visitors and the speakers were thanked by Rotarian Jane Gourley-Davis.
Closing: 1:15pm
