The Westerner for November 22, 2010
Meeting: chair, Mike Ryan; music, Jerome; grace, Duane
Attendance/Guests: 37 including Trisha Dea; Ben Turner, guest speaker; Steven P. Eleniak, Rotary Club of Edmonton Northeast; Shauna Ryan, guest of Mike; Bill Macdonald, guest of Al Sanderson;
Gainor the Gopher: Ron brought the Saskatchewan mascot to motiviate everyone to cheer for ??? (later he got fined for wearing his Saskatchewan hat during lunch)
Fellowship Dinners: sign up sheet is available
Rotary Club of Edmonton West Board of Directors for 2011/2012: Brian brought the slate to the attention of the club - moved by Jerome, seconded by Ben Doz; elected unanimously - Congratulations - President Sherry Holmes, Past President Mike Ryan, President Elect Rob Dunseith, Secretary Brian Thompson, Treasurer Lily Fong, Directors Duane Evans, Lorne Proctor, Cheryl Bauer, Bob Kimmerly, Bob Lamoureux, Alex Paterson
50/50 no match of cards between Bill Buckham and Ann, $201 carried over
Paul Harris Fellowship: awarded to Mike Ryan by Ben Doz on behalf of the club - Congratulations, Mike
Certificate of Appreciation: Ben Doz awarded Ron Hutchinson this for his 2 year effort as our club's liaison with Centenial Interact Club @ Ross Shepard - Congratulations, Ron
Finemaster: Ben Doz fined all of us through table questions about Grey Cup memorabilia
Paul Harris Plus: Mike Ryan presented John Blimke with a multi emerald pin signifying multi Paul Harris Fellowships - Congratulations, John
Hockey Pool Winners: Al Holmes, Don McDermid, Chris
Guest Speaker: Dave introduced his grandson, Ben Turner, who attended Global Youth Leadership Forum in Washington, D C , and United Nations, New York, in June, 2010; our club assisted with payment of travel costs.
Ben is the top NCO in his army cadet squadron, Thorsby, holding rank of Master Warrant Officer (lead the November 11 Remembrance Day Parade), is Calmar Interact Club director of international service (has been vice president for previous 2 years) and wore 3 medals - Interact, Gold Duke of Edinburgh, plus the highest award a cadet can obtain.
Ben's flights took him from Edmonton to Denver to Washington; return New York to Ottawa (with an unscheduled over night stay) to Edmonton. Chartered bus got the whole group of 360 participants from Washington to New York via Philidelphia. The participants were from 70 countries and usually were from very influential families.
First day - visit most of the monuments in Washington, remainder of the week was sessions @ Sutton Place Hotel. Ben was interested in the facts that a) the USA had almost as many casualties in the Korean War as in the Vietnam War; b) notice on one monument that "Freedon is Not Free". The standard introduction to other participants was How Long was Your Flight? (Ben's was about 8 hours - many had between 24 and 35 hours)
The participants were divided into Country groups of about 25 young people and there usually were no actual residents of the country included (infact, no member of the Brazil group to which Ben was appointed were even from South Americia). The group had to learn about the country including culture and cultural faux pas. The groups were to represent that country in mock UN debates and other discussions.
Ben was late for one of the first meetings and, thus, was elected as President of Brazil by the rest of the group. One major benefit of being assigned as a resident of a vastly different country was you continually learned about the major and minor differences between your own culture and that countries' plus about the culture of other members of the group. Slogan "Go Brazil - Wait Brazil" indicated a major element of their culture. But 190 million people live there and all have their own problems and views.
In preparation for the Global Summit, the country groups had to discuss who were allies from the other countries, how to vote for various resolutions, discuss national policies - 25 people in a small room all day (12 hours) then 3-4 hours of reading at night - busy schedule. Occasionally, all 360 participants got together in a social context after 10 p m.
One member of Ben's group was from South Korea - he had a very different perspective - daily survival of his country - ensure its survival.
During the mock UN Security Council session, the major premise was to decide on renewing the Cyprus peace keeping force - Ben, as Brazilian President, tried to set up a Brazilian Alliance and negotiate support for the Brazilian approaches/permises. In the end, Russia vetoed the Brazilian Resolution. In the process, Ben learned that, in order to help other nations you had to find out what the people of the particular nation want before you can effectively help.
In New York, the group visited Ellis Island, Manhattan College and had a cruise around Manhattan. Ben was intrigued by the fact that there was a model of the United Nations Building inside the United Nations building. The mock UN Summit was held at the UN Building.
Ben found that most participants spoke English. Ben then returned $500 to our club as the cost of travel was less than our original support payment. Ben was thanked by Mike Ryan. There were many positive comments after the meeting. Ben and his father, Don, hope to join our Rotary Club after he ages out of Interact and cadets.