March 10, 2009

Chair - Luc Van Hul grew up on a tobacco farm in Emyvale and still lives close by. He went to high school in Bluefield and then graduated from UPEI and UNB.  He has a degree in civil engineering and is a partner with Delcom Engineering.  Luc has been married to Darlene for 18 years.  They have two children, Logan (8) and Olivia (6).

Singsong - With the help of Gabe Chaisson on the keyboards, Leo-Paul Arsenault led the singing of Take Me Out to the Ball Game and Happy Birthday (to Malcolm Millar).

Makeups -none.

Visiting Rotarians - Dr. Raffath Sayeed (Lloydminster Rotary Club).

Guests -Kevin Porter (Phil Jost), Brian Whitehead (Paul Matheson), Mitchell Fraser (Mike Fraser), and Lorna Champion.

Queen of Hearts Draw - Katie Irwin handled the duties. The jackpot of $101 was missed by Antoine Richard, but he drew the joker and had to pay $5!!

Attendance - Ron Gallant reported an attendance of 74%.

International Toast - Marian Arsenault toasted the Fairbanks Sunrisers Rotary Club in Fairbanks, Alaska.

Sunshine Reports

Dale Craig sold his first brick for the Rotary Park. Ted Cross also sold his first brick AND got the last place trophy in the Easter Seals pool tournament. Katie Irwin announced that the Travel Store received the Travel Agency of the Year Award for 2008.  David Anderson survived the kitchen duties at the pancake breakfast.  He also survived the hockey challenge, and with Wayne Carew, the pool tournament. But he almost did not survive the power outage last Tuesday.  Because of it, he missed his Sgt-at-arms duties but reported that he will not forget who took jabs at him with hockey sticks and who made hair net jokes.

Esteffy had the most wonderful time in New York.  Among other things, she went to the Rockefeller Centre, Ground Zero, the Statue of Liberty, and the Metropolitan Museum of Art. She also went shopping and saw two shows, Mamma Mia and Lion King.  She met amazing people and describes it as the "coolest week ever".  She arrived home on Saturday night.  On Sunday, she participated in the Bowl for Kids Sake and she went to her last snowboarding lesson (but her teacher did not show up).  

Committee Reports

Luc Van Hul reminded of Discover Rotary on March 24. Gerald Morneau reported on the VISION project.  The committee has received a grant and is in the process of hiring a coordinator to make an inventory of what services are available in the community and what is needed.  The coordinator will make monthly reports to the Club.  Karla Flynn reported on the pool tournament.  Peter Brown was the Rotarian Champ.  The tournament raised close to $600 for Easter Seals and that amount was topped up to $1,000 by Dooly's. Les Chipperfield will be following up with those who haven't handed in their Pancake Breakfast money.  And anyone interested in being part of the mulch committee can contact Les.

Guest Speaker

David Anderson introduced Dr. Raffath Sayeed, a practicing physician and a Rotarian in Lloydminster, Alberta.  Dr. Sayeed gave a presentation on the Rotary Employment Partnership. The Rotary Employment Partnership is a collaboration between Rotary Clubs of Alberta, the Alberta Association for Community Living, and the Alberta Provincial Board of Persons with Developmental Disabilities. The goal of the Partnership is to create meaningful employment for people with intellectual disabilities. Members of the Alberta Rotary Clubs, many of whom are business owners, have become advocates for inclusion in the workforce of people with intellectual disabilities. So far, the Partnership has created 100 such jobs in Alberta.  Other provinces have begun to create similar partnerships and employers have found that employees with intellectual disabilities are some of the most motivated workers. Dr. Sayeed was thanked by Paul Matheson.

President's Report

President Sandy Rundle thanked today's guest speaker and welcomed guests.  He also advised on the following:

-          There is an Island's Presidents meeting coming up on March 13. 

-          He, Esteffy and Catherine Rankin had a good time at Bowl for Kids Sake.  The Club raised $720 for the cause. 

-          If anyone is not assigned to a team for the Rotary Celebration Garden, please advise Steve Cudmore.

-          The Rotary District Convention is being held from May 7-9 this year.  For those interested in attending, the early bird registration fee is $225 until March 31.

Sargeant at Arms  

Since everyone was pleasant, Sgt-at-Arms Gerald Arsenault made a donation on everyone's behalf.