Meeting:  chair, Fred until Duane arrived; music, Jerome; grace,Chris

 

Attendance/Guests:  32 including Lieutenant Colonel Roderick MacDonnell (commanding officer of 408 Tactical Helicopter Squadron); Second Lieutenant Katie Keyser (public affairs officer for 408 Tactical Helicopter Squadron); Kathy Strobl, Rotary Club of Edmonton Whyte Avenue; Bart West (guest of Bill)

 

Gift Cards:  See Rob Dunseith to purchase; commission goes to fund our club's profits

 

Clean Scene for Youth:  Mike Ryan advised that the May 17 fundraiser is sold out and a successful casino was held last Friday/Saturday.  Mike thanked the various Rotarians that helped in both ventures

 

E4C Clean Up:  Duart confirmed the community garden at Alex Taylor School (9321 Jasper Avenue) is the clean up venue.  10:00 AM TO ABOUT 1:00 PM followed by a BBQ. 

The garden is in the south east part of the site - park either south east or north west

 

Grandview Extended Care Concerts:  Join Jerome on the first Wednesday of every month between 2 and 3 pm.  The next is May 7

Rotary She's All That:  Kathy Strobl talked about this meet and greet opportunity on May 8 at the Edmonton Petroleum Club.  The program will highlight some of the women in Rotary International District 5370 with the key note speaker being current Vice President of Rotary International Anne Mathews of the Rotary Club of Columbia East, South Carolina.  Anne is the first woman in Rotary to be elevated to the vice presidency.

 

Al Hamilton & Friends Golf Tournament:  It will be held July 24 at Cougar Creek Golf Course

 

Happy Bucks:  Jerome's son ran the 1/2 marathon Sunday; Al Holmes passed his driver's test; Dan and Carol Graham celebrate their 53rd wedding anniversary this week congratulations;

 

50/50:  Ben Doz & Jerome did not match cards; $290 carried over

 

Guest Speaker:  Bill introduced Roderick MacDonnell who joined the air force in 1991, won his wings in 1996, served with 430 Squadron in Quebec; international postings include Haiti, Eastern Europe (Bosnia), Afghanistan; training school in Portage LaPrairie; #1 Wing which controls all helicopter operations in Canada; then promoted to commanding officer of 408 Tactical Helicopter Squadron which operates Griffon Helicopters from north of Edmonton.  

 

408 Squadron was commissioned June 21, 1941, as a bomber squadron training in England.  It flew the highest number of sorties of any squadron from Canada during the war.  It then flew Lancaster bombers in northern Canada on a mapping mission.  On January 1, 1971, it became Tactical Helicopter Squadron with a specific army connection.  The main  duty is to transport mechanized units for the army.  The squad is ready to go to any place in the world on short notice.  For instance, they had 3 aircraft and 54 personnel in the Philippines within 36 hours.  The unit is smaller by 20% than a decade ago and the force includes a lot of personnel that cannot perform at 100%.  Young people come in to get experience, then move on to higher paying jobs after their 6 years.  To combat this, Rod is trying to make it fun to work in the squadron.  4 pilots came from the United Kingdom because of downsizing and now personnel are coming in from Germany.

 

Rod and Katie were thanked by Brad A.