The Westerner for June 15, 2009
Meeting: chair, Al Sanderson; music, everyone; grace, Ross
Attendance/Guests: 36 including Jasbeer Singh, guest of Al Sanderson; Jean Lavzon, guest of Ross; Glori Meldrum, guest speaker and her guests Cartney Needham & Janelle Watson
Golf: July 30, Cougar Creek - Teams filling up quickly. Volunteers please contact Brian Thompson.
Playground Renovation: rescheduled to June 27; call Mike if you can attend
Changeover Meeting: June 29, 5:30 for 6:30 meal; let Jennifer know if you can attend
Erika: back home after medical tests; Bill & Keatha took a card and flowers to her; Erika was in fine spirits
Condolensces: cards were being signed to show our support and respect for Marilyn, on the death of Arny, and Shauna, on the death of Michel. A memorial service will be held Friday, June 19, 7:00 pm, for Michel at Royal Mayfair Golf & Country Club
50/50: Richard & Charlie left the pot for next week
Finemaster: Ron fined the head table for having too many guests and anyone whose air conditioning is working since the Edmonton Real Estate offices are suffering without.
Ron then started with table questions but fined Chris for answering for the wrong table. Questions on Rotary Fellowships: how many - 63; which fellowship has operated continuously for the longest time - yachting; which animal related activity is not a Rotary fellowship - sheep herding; true or false=are there 2 fellowship organizations dedicated to motorhomes - true; which fellowship has the largest membership - Advancement of Latin Culture, over 4000 members.
Fines for being a Red Wing fan; also for being a Pittsburg fan
Guest Speaker: Lynette introduced Gloria Meldrum whose background has been detailed in a previous Westerner as she is our Rotary Integrity Award Winner.
Gloria suffered sexual advances from her grandfather, said advances and the fall out caused her to become suicidal. Her mother took her to police, social services and mental health but no one, including her family, believed her. When she was 12 years old she came up with the idea of Little Warriors as a way to deal with the aftermath of sexual abuse. She set high targets and standards for herself, obtained a B Comm from university in Halifax, moved to Edmonton with her husband (they now have 3 children). She has had to overcome panic attacks and depression. She offered her marketing skills to any "not for profit" organization dealing with sexual abuse but could not find such an organization. She wrote a business plan for Little Warriors at a national sexual abuse seminar/conference. Since she tells others who have suffered sexual abuse to stand up for themselves, she charged her grandfather with sexual abuse (and went through the horrible process of trial, etc).
Little Warriors has a website which, over the last 14 months, has had 3 million hits. Articles cover sexual abuse - Never Talked About; prevention - signs of symptons. A 12 year old child wrote a song - Stand Up For Kids - Gloria arranged for it to be produced as a musical tribute to the sexually abused. Gloria hopes to build a Be Brave Ranch for kids to go to so they can heal after sexual abuse. Survivours feel no one cares - the song addresses this problem. Gloria mentioned that Edmonton, with its Zebra Centre, is at the forefront of fighting sexual predators, in Canada. Wayne and Ralph thanked Gloria for her presentation.