The Westerner for September 20, 2010

• President Mike attended some more Rotary Leadership Training sessions last weekend.  More training sessions will be held in November and January.  These are aimed at the future directors and executives of Rotary Clubs in this region.  If you have an opportunity to attend, it is very eye-opening as to the power of Rotary International to do good things in our community, country and world.
• Our Board of Directors has approved the Community Gift Card Program, whereby gift cards for Sobeys, Safeway and Save-On Foods will be pre-purchased by our Club and then offered for sale to the members.  Because we are buying them in bulk, the Club gets a 6% discount, which amount will generate funds for use of the Club.  We all need to eat, and to buy food and other goods from one or more of these stores, so this is a great opportunity for members to help raise funds for the Club.  Participation is open to anyone, so tell your family, friends and neighbors that they can purchase a gift card or cards through our Club.  We can expect these cards to be available soon, so get ready to bring cheques for your gift card purchases.  More details soon!  Apparently Edmonton Riverview Club is earning in the order of $9,000/year on this program, so it's members and friends are certainly supporters.
• Our other currently active fund-raiser is our Hockey Pool.  Think about purchasing a $20 pool ticket to use as a gift for family or friends.  Doug MacDougall will have tickets for sale at the door at our next meeting.
• An event which was being planned for Grandview has had to be postponed.  It will be re-scheduled soon.
• Past President Ben Doz will be making his annual trip to Guatemala in January (approximately the second week) to conduct eye clinics for poor, rural people.  If you have any interest in accompanying Ben & Marley, please make that interest known to Ben soon.  If you are just curious, or are interested in a real adventure vacation in a part of the world where not many tourists ever get to see, then Ben will be pleased to answer your questions.
• Jim Spalding will have tickets for sale for the annual Cosmopolitan Music Society Lest We Forget concert.
• 50/50 Draw - Ann Orsini and Mike Henry did not match cards, so the pot is growing.
• The Board of Directors has decided to hold future Board meetings at the Clean Scene office at 10220 - 156 Street.  This will reduce expenses.  All members are welcome to attend any Board meeting.
• Secretary Laurie handed out copies of a Member Satisfaction Survey.  The information received from this survey will be used by the Board to make improvements to the Club.  Please give your completed survey to Laurie. 
• Finemaster Bert Andrews stumped pretty much everyone with a skill-testing question, and then coaxed some happy bucks from Laurie Wilkie and Mike Ryan.

PROGRAM - CLASSIFICATION TALKS:

CHERYL BAUER

Cheryl was raised in the Stettler area and then went on to get her B.Ed. at the University of Lethbridge.  She is the Executive Director of the Edmonton Brain Injury Relearning Society (EBIRS).

EBIRS employs a couple of Occupational Therapists who help patients recover from serious brain injuries.  These are patients who have been discharged from Hospital, but who are not as fully functional as they were before they were injured.  These patients would be referred to EBIRS by a hospital, and then they would participate in a 10-month program of cognitive skill development, personal life management and productive activity.

Cheryl passed around a set of eye-glasses modified to demonstrate what it would be like to have vision only out of one half of each eye - a real life condition for some patients.

Cheryl also talked about their Reconnecting Program where they teach patients computer skills and sell refurbished computers to patients at a minimal cost.  If you have an older computer which you could donate to this program, please contact Cheryl.  EBIRS could also use some volunteers to help refurbish computers or instruct computer classes.

BOB LAMOUREUX

Bob has been a member of our Club since 1993.  Bob was raised in Yellowknife and moved to Edmonton in 1970.  As a young fellow, he took some flying lessons and got hooked on flying.  He has been in the aviation business since 1978

He claims to be a pretty good lacrosse player.  In 1983, he married Brenda, and they have two daughters - Dominique and Jacqueline.

During the early 80's when the economy of Alberta was very tough, Bob flew out of Yellowknife.  He really enjoyed the beauty of the mid-Arctic.

In 1986, he moved back to Edmonton and became a partner in the Centennial Flight Centre at City Centre Airport.  In 1999, the partners sold the business to others, but Bob has continued as a manager with the company, in fact he is the Director of Flight Operations and the General Manager.  He also serves on the Board of the Air Transport Association of Canada.

For the last few years, he has also been a partner in Bin 104 Wine store, where they specialize in wine (& food) tastings.

In answer to a question, Bob commented about how the aviation business has been changing, and how it is driven by the state of the economy.  Recently, young potential pilots have not found the business as attractive as it was years ago, so it is tough to recruit.