The Westerner for November 30, 2009
Meeting: chair, Ben Doz; music, Jerome; grace, Bruce
Guests: Cheryl Bauer, Rotary Club of Edmonton; Lena Bunzenmeyer, Rotary Ambassadorial Scholar 2008/2009; Ralph Melnyk, Rotary Club of Jasper; Ruth Linden, guest of Ross; Al Budlong, Rotary Club of St. Albert
Notice: please attend on December 14 for the election of the 2010-2011 board of directors plus use your vote during the annual general meeting of the Rotary Club of Edmonton West Society
Casino: please contact Bill Buckham for your opportunity to work the Jan 23-24 fund raising casino to be held @ Yellowhead Casino
Grandview: due to H1N1 the Christmas party has been cancelled
Hockey Pool Winners: Jerome, $35; Don Hamilton, $15; Ross, $20
Book Available: see Jerome, 40% discount, profits to our Rotary Club
50/50: Ben Lang & Charlie mismatched cards, $79 carried over
Finemaster: Bill Buckham fined $1 if you bet on either Saskatchewan or Montreal or did not bet re Grey Cup; if you know what to give you spouse/partner for Christmas; if you won on the hockey pool
Happy Bucks: Duane since his proposal for potential contract for his employer is now finished and he can start attending our meetings again; Laurie in thanks to Bob Lamoureux and Jerome for all their work to put together a wonderful Christmas party; Bob Kimmerley as, on the first Sunday in Advent, his son caught one of the balls off a field goal during the Grey Cup (end of first half)
Guest Speaker: Brian, as counsellor to Rotary Ambassadorial Scholar, introduced Lena Bunzenmeyer. Lena was nominated by our club to be the 2008/2009 Rotary District 5370 Ambassadorial Scholar and she was pleased to represent our club and the district by attending the University of Manchester with atachment to Rotary Club of Altrincham, District 1050.
Lena obtained her Masters degree in International Development - Environment & Development with distinction. This was a significant change in faculties since her undergraduate degree was in engineering. Lena has always wanted to work on water projects. Her BSc helped but she wanted specific development training. Before the scholarship period, she worked on projects in Uganda and Indonesia to confirm her interest in clean water and her work was mostly education of local residents re good water management.
After her orientation in Birmingham (she met the Lord Mayor of Birmingham along with 70 other ambassadorial students) she got into travel around the U K. Travel was required for her to immerse herself into the cultural exchange aspect of her scholarship. She went to Wales, Glasgow, Liverpool, Sheffield, Rotherham, Edinburgh, Chatsworth ( to the estate home of the Duke & Duchess of Devonshire), Stratford on Avon, York (conection to the Vikings), Dublin, Salisbury, Stonehenge, Stourherd, Bath, Cambridge.
Travel outside the U K included Uganda where the field work portion of her Masters Degree course was scheduled which took her back to one or her former projects. The other trip was to Morocco for a personal visit with a friend who spoke Arabic.
Manchester Culture - centers on soccer and Manchester United.
The ambassodorial scholarship is a great program presented by Rotary International and our club should continue to support it. Lena thanked our club for support of her application and her scholarship period.
Duane thanked Lena.