Meeting:  Chair, Fred; music, Bert; grace, Darryl W; attendance 22; guests included Terry Demers (Northern Lights), Bob Golan, and Speaker Shauna Feth.

 

 

Service to the Food Bank a success! - Thanks to all who came out on August 6th to help at the Edmonton Food Bank.  Lots of fun was had in helping out this worthy cause which puts out 17 thousand food hampers a month.  We are planning to do this 4 times per year, so if you would like to attend the next event, please contact Annie.

 

Edmonton West Club Golf Tournament - August 10 was a great day for a golf tournament, even though the weatherman threatened to wash us out. Much fun and many laughs were had on the course and a wonderful BBQ was held that evening in the clubhouse.

 

Membership Update: Unfortunately two of our members have had to "temporarily" discontinue their membership with our club.  Mike Henry is leaving Edmonton for a new vocational challenge and Kirsten Poon has just taken on a new job which is going to take much of her time.  Good luck to both of you in your new endeavors!

 

Board Meeting reminder - Just a reminder to all Board members that the next board meeting is planned for Wednesday, August 19 and it will be starting at 7:00 pm rather than the normal starting time to accommodate a couple of directors that are busy in other community activities. 

 

Fellowship Walk & BBQ - On August 22, we will be doing a club fellowship walk starting at Snow Valley.  The walk will be followed by a BBQ at the Muellers' house.  If you would like to participate in this fun event, please see Annie.

 

Habitat for Humanity build - Our next Habitat build is planned for September 19th at their Fabrication shop (e.g. warm).  Lots of good work and fun was held at our last build, so if you are willing and able to participate please contact Annie.

 

Rotary Learning Workshops - The District is putting on 6 Learning workshops through the months of Sept, Oct, and Nov.  These are great sessions to learn all about Rotary processes and projects and everyone is urged to take one. They are very interesting, enlightening and invigorating.

 

Rotary Spotlight – Anthony Lazaruk & Spencer Mueller delivered hundreds of bottles of water and dozens of pairs of socks to the Boyle Street Centre last week.  The water was required due to the heat, and clean socks are always needed at the centre.  Anthony has been working with the centre for the past while and noted these requirements.

 

Who Is Rotary Jack? - Rotary Jack purchased several articles at the Al Hamilton Golf Tournament.  Could the person who used this alias please step forward and claim their items.

 

Rotary Youth Exchange - At the next meeting, we will be having a presentation on the Rotary Youth Exchange and what it entails to host a student.  If you are all interested in being a host, this is a presentation that you should attend.

 

Rotary International Membership award - Was presented to Bill Buckham for sponsoring a new member to our club last year.

 

Rotary Day Award - David Gibbens was lucky enough to win a $1000 donation to our club to be used towards a club project.  A member from the Northern Lights Rotary club will be here next week for the actual presentation.

 

 

Shauna explained to the club that the Institute is part of the Alberta School of Business and the University of Alberta, and helps to ensure that family businesses operating in Alberta can succeed for generations to come.

The ABFI provides direct access to essential tools, resources, support and research-based outreach programs for business families and their advisors throughout Alberta.

 

The biggest risk to family run businesses is that of succession to other family members.  The ABFI provides advisors that begin the communication and planning process started, which is the most important part.  Once the communication between all the involved people is started, the questions start to be asked and things get thought about that do not normally do in a regular work environment.

 

Family businesses are the back bone to the Canadian Economy and multi-generaltional health and survival of these businesses is critical to the Country and why ABFI is there.  If any of our members need to think about this, they can contact the ABFI at: www.abfi.ca

 

Meeting:  Chair, Fred; music, Jerome; grace, Bill B. ; attendance 27; guests included Ron Swane, and Speaker Lauren Van der Hout.

 

 

Rotary Fellowship walk a success! - Several members and spouses had a perfect day for our Rotary Fellowship walk.  They walked the Whitemud Ravine nature reserve, which many people did not know existed inside our city's boundary.  It was a great chance to exercise, walk and chat with some great friends.  The walk was then follow up with an excellent BBQ at the Mueller's.  Overall a wonderful afternoon and evening.  Thank you Annie and Spencer for a wonderful time!.

 

 

Habitat for Humanity build - Our next Habitat build is planned for September 19th at their Fabrication shop (e.g. warm).  Lots of good work and fun was held at our last build, so if you are willing and able to participate please contact Annie.

 

Rotary Learning Workshops - The District is putting on 6 Learning workshops through the months of Sept, Oct, and Nov.  These are great sessions to learn all about Rotary processes and projects and everyone is urged to take one. They are very interesting, enlightening and invigorating.

 

Air Cadet squadron liaison - After several years at the helm, Danny is stepping aside as our liaison with the squadron.  We are now looking for a person who would be interested in taking on the very rewarding position.  If you are interested or would like more information, please contact Fred Kraft directly.

 

The Rotary club of Edmonton West has a long history of hosting International Youth exchange students.  In the past we have had students from Australia, Brazil, Thailand, Mexico, and France to name a few.  Each year, there are around 8000 student in the Rotary Youth Exchange Program worldwide.  Our District hosts between 22 and 25 each year.

 

We are now looking for 4 host families to be able to host a student for between 10 and 12 weeks each.  The student would arrive in time for the 2016/17 school year (August).

 

The incoming students are not tourists, but are meant to immerse in regular Canadian culture and activities.  It is asked that you would treat the students as you would your own kids during the time they are here.  They must attend school regularly and are taught how to use the Edmonton Transit System to go back and forth.

 

Rotary does provide the students with a small allowance for miscellaneous expenses.  The host family is not required to provide anything beyond the regular room and board.  With that being said, It is hoped that a friendship does develop and that there is a life long bond between the student and the family.

 

Lauren told of her experience with 2 families in Chile in 2005.  She arrived not knowing a word of Spanish and was taught the language in very interesting ways by her host families.  She had many wonderful stories and considers Chili here second home and family.  Her take away message was that "this program changes lives - On both sides!" and urged everyone to participate in this if at all possible.

 

She then answered a few questions from the members present.

 

 

Mr. Holmes saw his first airplane when he was 6 years old, and ever since then he had wanted to fly one.  The Second World War gave him that opportunity and he joined the Canadian Air Force when he was able.  He graduated with his wings in 1944.

 

After the war Al was recruited by the British to fly and train and after that stint became a Journeyman auto mechanic.

 

But the joy of flying pulled him back to the Air Force, which he rejoined in 1951 where he flew with student navigators which garnered quite a few stories and harrying moments.

 

He was able to fly all over the world and able to fly with some very interesting characters including the World champion hockey team, the Penticton 'Flying V's" whom he characterizes as "Slobs" for the way they acted.

 

Al met and married his wife in England, and splurged on a honeymoon in Amsterdam and surrounding areas.

 

Al's various postings training pilots also produced many interesting stories and characters.  He was eventually promoted up the ladder where he was asked to review and develop a better training curriculum, and he did this with measurable successes.

 

Al Retired from the Air Force and set up and ran a janitorial supply company in Edmonton, until he was able to sell the business and retire.

 

Mr. Homes was thanked for his classification talk by Fred Kraft.

 

The meeting was adjourned.