CLUB-IN-A-PUB

The last Thursday of every month sees the members of the Rotary Club of Oak Bay gathering for a couple hours of fellowship and a chance to get a make-up for missed meetings. Jim Force, of the Rotary Club of Oak Bay, thought his club needed more opportunities for fellowship so he started gathering his fellow Rotarians for a beer at the Penny Farthing Pub in Oak Bay once a month. Although things started out slowly, more and more members of the Oak Bay club participated each month, and the meeting has attracted Rotarians from neighboring clubs.

The idea behind the extra meeting was to leave some of the business aside and enjoy each other’s company; to get to know one another in a new way. The friendly and relaxed atmosphere did not prevent a little business being transacted. The Oak Bay club is planning a benefit concert with proceeds going to the club's literacy campaign.

For the most part it has been a light and friendly gathering which is serving to bring the club members closer together. Several of the newer, younger members present expressed their delight in having a chance to get to know the older members in a more relaxed setting. As a Rotarian from another club, I was equally delighted by the friendly nature of the meeting and the opportunity to meet the members of the Rotary Club of Oak Bay. ~Marnie Hamagami, newer, younger member of the Rotary Club of Sidney

Malawi Girls' School presentations come to Victoria Rotary Clubs

Photo by John Edgell, President, Oak Bay Rotary Club

Memory Chazeza (above left), Director of the Atsikana Pa Ulendo Malawi Girls' School, and the Executive Director of APU-Malawi Education Foundation and co-founder of the school, Christie Johnson (above right), are making presentations throughout the Victoria area. At the Oak Bay Club, Memory gave a touching and inspirational history of why and how the school came to be and how Christie Johnson helped her turn her dream into a reality. Memory’s dream  of building a school to provide girls with an opportunity for education and a better future is creating a ripple effect by creating better futures for  the families and communities of these students too. She explained how Malawi is one of the smallest countries in Africa but it has lots of problems. Memory believes that education is a way out of those problems. Educating girls gives them hope, increased self worth, and provides choices like being able to choose when and how many children to have.  It gives them a voice and helps them avoid poverty, reducing the threat of HIV. Memory will be returning home to Malawi on Friday (December 3) after a successful tour through Alberta and BC. Unfortunately seven of the Vancouver Island Rotary Club presentations had to be cancelled because of bad weather and poor driving conditions, but plans are underway to reschedule these clubs later in the year. This week, presentations will be made at Harbourside (7AM Wednesday December 1 at the Union Club), Sooke (12.15PM December 1 at Village Food Markets), Sidney (6.30PM December 1 at Glen Meadows Golf Club) and Victoria (December 2 at Noon at the Union Club). Rotarians who have not had the opportunity to hear Christie and Memory speak on this hugely successful project, funded mainly by individual Rotarians and Rotary Clubs, could attend one of these meetings to hear them speak. An excellent article on the school's history and progress appeared last week in the Peninsula News - you can read it at this link. The article covers how Christie's inspirational volunteer work resulted in her being nominated on CBC’s Champions of Change. She made the final cut of 50 - more than 1000 were nominated. For more information on the Malawi Girls' School visit this link .  A new blog has just been started to keep donors and all up to date on happenings at APU Malawi at this link.

White Elephant Foundation Fundraiser

The Rotary Club of Sidney hosted its annual White Elephant dinner and fundraiser on November 3^rd. This highly successful evening brought in over $3800.00 directed and the Rotary Foundation and Polio Plus. There were Rotarians from 4 peninsula clubs: Sidney, Sidney by the Sea, Brentwood Bay and Royal Oak. Many of these Rotarians have been coming for years, as had some of the auction items.

Deb Bartlet, a Rotarian from the Sidney Club and her daughter were lucky enough to go home with the famous lamp this year. The lamp has been at auction every year for as long as most members can remember and one glimpse of this vintage piece will tell you why.

Each November Rotarians from all over the Saanich Peninsula gather together bringing brightly wrapped gifts and open wallets to Glenmeadows Golf and Country Club, for a night of fellowship and fun. With each package is a neatly written poem hinting at the contents inside. After a delicious dinner, the auctioneer and his lovely assistant step forward, the assistant reads each poem and with that the bidding begins.

This year there were 48 items up for bidding and most went for over $60 and many over $150, with all of the moneys going the Rotary Foundation or Polio Plus as the bidder choose. The 50/50 auction was donated by its winner in full to the Foundation adding an additional $210.00 to the total.

Christmas Concert

The Rotary Club of Oak Bay is holding a Christmas Concert at St. Andrew's Presbyterian Church, 924 Douglas Street in Victoria, at 7PM on December 1, 2010. Please encourage your Rotary  members to support this event which is being held to aid literacy programs locally and abroad. Conductor and soloist is Pablo Diemecke and the guest soprano is Mary Kirkwood. Tickets are available at the McPherson Box Office at Government and Pandora.

Rotary's Great Canadian Food Fight

Victoria area clubs will unite with the Mustard Seed Food Bank to raise funds and collect food at Fairway Market stores.  Harbourside Rotary Club will be at the Quadra Street store.  Westshore Mall will be manned by Colwood and Westshore Club members.  Oak Bay will man the store on Oak Bay Avenue and Rotary Club of Saanich will attend to three stores on Mackenzie and Shelbourne Avenues as well as on Gorge Road.

This is the second year Rotary clubs have done this.  Mustard Seed claims the funds increase up to five fold the amount of donations compared to times when they fund-raise alone.  Fairway Markets is wonderful partner for this as they provide printed material, a space for Rotarians to work comfortable, and their cashiers accept Interact and charge cards.  Customers can add amounts to their grocery bills or convenience. 

 

Rotarians generally work shifts of two hours; although we tend to restrict our senior members to one-hour shifts.  They need only bring a smile and any Rotary paraphernalia they have.  Working the food drives gives Rotarians an opportunity for fellowship.  It is fun and I get a chance to talk to anyone without them thinking I am crazy.  If you would like to join in the fun, talk to your club president or email alanf.jones@telus.net.  Drop by any of the locations and encourage the Rotarians on shift with food items.

Saanich Club's "Plant A Seed To Read" Fundraiser

The Victoria READ Society and Rotary Club of Saanich are teaming up to present "Plant A Seed To Read" Gala Dinner and Fundraiser on Saturday, October 23, 2010.

READ Society is increasing the number of available spaces this year for youth who need an extra boost to keep up their reading, math and study skills. The Greater Victoria area is in need of more funding to address literacy challenges; proceeds from this gala will be used towards these needs of our youth as well as other new generation programs within Rotary.

For more information visit the Rotary Club of Saanich website or contact Alan Jones via email alanf.jones@telus.net or call 250-592-7044.

For tickets or to donate to the auction phone: (250) 721-0445 or email: info@saanichrotary.org Be part of the solution and have fun doing so!

The Great Canadian Shoreline Clean-up 2010

Today, 18 September 2010 marks the first day of the Great Canadian Shoreline Clean-up, which runs through September 26th. Two Oak Bay Rotarians, Lynne Murray and Jim Force along with a UVic Rotaract student joined more than twenty other folks for two hours in an effort to clean-up Willows Beach in Oak Bay. The event was organized by the Oak Bay Community Association with hot dogs, fries and drinks provided by the Oak Bay Kiwanis. This was a wonderful opportunity for community service.

Check out this blog’s events calendar for the Bowker Creek and McNiell Bay clean-ups next week-end, September 24^th and 25^th.

Rotaplast: Victoria Rotarians off to Cebu, Philippines

On October 11, two Greater Victoria Rotarians, Troy Alexander and Tricia Timmermans, will travel to Cebu in the Philippines as part of a Rotaplast team, along with veteran Rotaplast volunteer, Bent Harder of Courtenay, and three other District 5020 Rotarians from Olympia, WA.

Welcome to the blog for the Rotary Clubs of Greater Victoria, British Columbia, Canada

This blog is to give all Greater Victoria Rotary Clubs an opportunity to create an awareness of the Community and International service projects (past and present) that they have participated in. The goal, in keeping with the 2010-2011 theme of Building Communities, Bridging Continents, is to promote Rotary through active, vital dialogue for the purpose of gaining "cooperation and support to make the world a much better place to live and work.”  Ray Klinginsmith, RI President.

We invite all Rotarians, Rotaract and Interact students, and guests to join in the conversation. Your comments and suggestions are welcome.

Jim Force, Tricia Timmermans
On behalf of the PR Committee, Rotary Club of Oak Bay