The Westerner for April 8, 2013
Meeting: chair, Rob Dunseith; music, Jerome; grace, Ben Doz; Attendance: 26
Club Planning Session: please attend 9:30 a m for breakfast @ Duncan & Craig office on April 20 (Saturday); lunch will also be served; session to be concluded mid afternoon; located 2800 Scotia Place, 10060 Jasper Avenue
Casino: Bill Buckham thanked all volunteers for raising $88,000 - we have to wait for pooling for 3 months of proceeds from 5 casino locations before we get the adjusted amount via wire transfer - President Rob thanked Bill for all the work he contributed to organize and run the casino
Alberta Aviation Museum Association Fundraiser: contact Bill Buckham for tickets $50 for 2013 Gathering of Eagles Dinner; 95th anniversary of downing of the Red Baron, location Edmonton Coast Plaza Hotel 10155 - 105 Street; April 21 starting @ 6:00 p m - Bill's phone # 780 459 5502
Grandview Extended Care Centre Concert: please attend and bring guests for April 16; 6:30 p m to hear Murray Smith and 3 others for jazz; Muray has a PhD in Music Education - should be a great concert
50/50: Joe, back from Japan, acted as a guest and drew the tickets; Fred and Brian did not match cards, $124 carried over
Finemaster: Bob Lamoureux fined Joe for his trip to Japan and President Rob on general principals; the rest got dinged over lack of answers for questions on wine and wine making
Happy Bucks: Duane's son graduated in engineering and Duane was able to present his son with his iron ring.
Classification Talk: Brent Birch - Brent mourns the loss of 2 fathers - one to cancer and one to a kidney infection. He was born and raised in Alberta, High River was where he obtained much of his schooling. Family moves took him to B C as well and he spent 2 years in seminary in Saskatoon. His first job took him across Canada with his involvement in a drug abuse prevention program. He has spent at least 15 years in Edmonton with several jobs - the main ones being with a surveyor firm for 7 years and a sales position with World Stone, a granite countertop business. He recently became a business owner in Alliance Design which is a professional audio/video company. Their market is to concentrate on houses of worship, stadiums and professional stage equipment. They have offices in Edmonton and Calgary. They may start a training program for presenters.
Brent was thanked by President Rob.
Rotary District 5370 involvement in Alberta Substance Abuse Prevention Program (ASAP)
Mike Ryan presented Rotary's involvement in drug abuse prevention. Past District Governor Ross Tyson chairs the Rotary District committee that works with 8 other agencies to form ASAP. Mike's own operation, CleanScene, is one of the other 8 agencies. The main premise is that if we could eliminate the demand for drugs, the supply would diminsih. Over 450 youth/children die each year from drug overdoes in Alberta. 74% of property crimes are commited by drug addicted people. A gang is any group of 3 or more people involved in drug distribution and there are 100 gangs in Alberta. Drug prevention education needs to be in the schools. Addictions happen to all kinds of children - high or low achievers. Methamphetamine is a world wide epidemic (ephedrine is converted to meth). Crack cocaine is the big money drug in Alberta. Addiction includes mental illness which propogates the desire for drug use.
Mike, on April 9, celebrates 25 years clean and sober. CleanScene hires ex drug users with criminal records to spread the prevention word to students from personal experience. They provide drug prevention talks and other services. Don McDermid is chair of the board of directors for CleanScene.
President Rob also thanked Mike