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Fireside: 21 people met at the Matahari Restaurant and had a very good time
Finemaster: Dan Graham fined all who did not attend the fireside $1; then Rotary trivia about Warren Buffet giving his son Howard $1 billion and Howard is using funds to eliminate hunger around the world, especially in Africa, among other items;
50/50: Doug MacDougall and Art did not match cards
Guest Speaker - Steve McEachern: Brad introduced Steve who moved to Edmonton from a farm in 1923; his mother had passed away and his father could not handle farm and family of 5 children; the father worked at University of Alberta in summer looking after horses and dug coal in winter; in 1930 when horses replaced by a tractor, the family moved back to a farm near one occupied by the Walters family ( relatives of John who is remembered via Walterdale Bridge).
Steve joined Coca Cola in sales in late 30s, the Army in 1942, the Air Force in 1943 and became a bomb aimer and navigator. In 1945, he was sent to England but war ended before he got into combat. He met an Irish nurse (Margaret) and got married before he was redeployed to Canada. He was reemployed by Coca Cola from 1950 to 1955 when he joined Investors Group. He still works for them. He was president of ACT (Associated Canadian Travellers) in 1955. He has been in Rotary since 1964, Edmonton South till he joined Edmonton West in 2008.
Steve knows poverty first hand from his early years but has been successful in business, winning many sales contests that earned him things like diamond rings and a car. Investors started in 1940 with $250,000 in capital but now has capitalization in the billions and owns many firms in Canada and around the world.
He explained a few facts of different circumstances from his career: during the war he was an instructor teaching navigators to be able to navigate at night; Canadians had the night flights because they could navigate at night, the Americans had the day flights because they could not navigate at night; after the war, troops were held in redeployment camps until a ship could be filled with troops to return to Canada; Steve provided training in accounting, marketing, sales to equip these people for entry into civilian life; ACT was an effort to give back to community; they raised funds through a travelling show to earn funding for crippled children; Rotary Club of Edmonton South hosted a harvest fair at Fort Edmonton for 25 years and Steve was the voice that explained what was going on to the city crowd that did not know farming procedures; Steve enjoyed curling and golf and started an inter club annual tournament between 6 private golf clubs; he was on the board of University of Alberta Foundation for 6 years; he was involved with 4H for 30 years; and was on the board at Royal Mayfair Golf and Country Club for 4 years. He was also part of the founding charter board for Edmonton Community Foundation. He started several investment clubs to teach people how the capital system works
Steve was thanked by David Gibbens
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