The Westerner for June 13, 2011
Meeting: chair & grace, Mike Ryan; music, Jerome
Attendance/Guests: 24 including Nadine Fulmer, Rotary Club of Edmonton Northeast; Chris Hay, guest speaker
Gift Cards: please purchase from Kasey; commission goes to projects
June 27 Change Over Meeting: 6:00 pm, cocktails; 7:00 pm dinner
Cenntenial Interact/Ross Shepard High School: Ron advised that the 5 top Interact board members won major awards at Ross Shepard's award night; many other Interactors won service awards
50/50: Fred & Richard did not match cards; $232 carried over
Finemaster: Dave had everyone pay $3 for the privilege to see all the smiles at Rotary meetings: then gave a 1/3 discount for immediate payment
Happy Bucks: Jerome paid several bucks for the fact that his son has obtained a job with Grant MacEwan University which means his grand children will become residents of Edmonton plus Jerome gets the fun job of driving across Canada with his son as they move their possessions
Tommy Banks at Grandview: Mike Ryan thanked Jerome for arranging a great musical evening and for obtaining a very nice more than "piano like" piano
Guest Speaker: Joe introduced Chris Hay, one of his dental patients who is with John Howard Society of Alberta. Chris is executive director of the Alberta office. Prior, Chris was Edmonton Police Service Intelligence Unit Commander. John Howard Society is not an offenders huggers group but believes in research and logic to guide their path.
The society works with offenders to help rebuild healthy family environments.
Definition of insanity - do same over and over but expect different results each time - a definition of our justice system - punishment and more punishment.
Punishment only works if it is swift (not spread over months of trial dates), certain (not modified by political and functional discrepancies) and severe enough (not applied out of proportion to the crime).
Chris gave a hand out with a series of slides. These detailed the John Howard Mission Statement and various subjects that impact upon criminal rehabilitation.
Chris was thanked by Mike Ryan.