This centre fold ad was published in the Spruce Grove Examiner/Stony Plain Reporter on Friday, February 21st. Please bring your copies to our Vocational Visit meeting at COBS Bread this Thursday. I will mount and laminate those copies on Sunday, March 2nd and distribute them to Rotarians in all three clubs for display at their businesses, places of work, and/or around the community. This way we can get a lot of more mileage out of this $1,800 ad (our Club pays 1/6th of the cost).
We are still in need of many volunteers to help run the Bonspiel. Please contact Lesley Crawford here ASAP, if you can help out during the evening of Thursday, February 20th; during the day or evening on Friday, February 21s Saturday, February 22nd; and the morning of Sunday, February 23rd. All of these volunteer jobs are small tasks that require only your time and energy, not previous experience.
The regular meeting on Thursday, February 20th is cancelled so Rotarians and friends and family can enjoy the 53rd Annual Rotary District 5360/5370 Curling Bonspiel. Click here for more details.
Brad Mastaler, Chair of the 2014 Lobsterfest Dinner and Charity Auction (May 31st at the TransAlta Tri Leisure Centre), updated Club members of the planning for this event at our meeting on February 13th. At this point, all Club members are reminded that they are expected to:
Volunteer for some aspect of organizing this event;
Find seven items for the Silent Auction by the middle of May (a solicitation letter will soon be available).
Help set up for the event on the evening of Friday, May 30th and during the day of Saturday, May 3st;
Help take down and clean up on the morning of Sunday, June 1st.
Past President Brad Mastaler (far right below) and our Club Director for The Rotary Foundation had the honour of presiding over the awarding of two Paul Harris Fellows Awards at our meeting on February 13th. Judy Kesanko explained the rationale for awarding this honour to Bill Kesanko (second left) and Past President McKenzie (not shown) did the same for Past President John Moquin. President Nizar Abouchami (centre) congratulated both recipients.
We will be going on a Vocational Visit to COBS Breadin the Century Crossing Shopping Centre from 12:00 noon to 1:30 pm on Thursday, February 27th. After COBS Bread, we will move to the ATB Financial Building for lunch from The Chopped Leaf. RSVPs were due Friday, February 21st for this event.
By sweet coincidence, Rotarian Jelena Reich and COBS Bread was featured last week in a Spruce Grove Examiner/Stony Plain Reporter article "Bakery hopes to rake in the dough". Check the full story out here.
We have opportunities to send students to two excellent Rotary programs: Adventures in Citizenship (Ottawa) and Adventures in Technology (Saskatoon). Please let me or Shari Roszmann know here regarding any high school students who might benefit from taking part in either of these fine programs by February 28th.
... to Rotarian Randy Hetherington who will receive his Doctor of Education (Educational Administration and Leadership) from the University of Alberta at Convocation in May having successfully defined his thesis on January 28th!
The Annual Lobsterfest Dinner and Charity Auction is the only general fundraiser put on by the Rotary Club of Spruce Grove. The event this year will be held on Saturday, May 31st at the TransAlta Tri Leisure Centre in Spruce Grove. All of the funds raised at this major community event go towards supporting the wide variety of good causes supported by our Club.
If you or your company are interested in sponsored part of this event, please contact Ray Frayne here.
Vocational Service Director Ray Frayne spoke about the good works of our Club to about 125 members and guests of the Spruce Grove and Region Chamber of commerce on February 11th, prior to Mayor Houston's State of the City Address. Ray also thanked the businesses for their support of our previous Lobsterfest Dinners and Charity Auctions and invited them to do the same for 2014. Finally, he also encouraged members and guests to submit a nomination for our Annual Integrity Award which will given out at the May 31st Lobsterfest. President Nizar Abouchami, Vice-President Victor Moroz, Club Administration Director Tony Zeglen, and Rotarians Bill Steinburg, Judy Kesanko and Michelle Coates were also in attendance and helped promote our Club.
From Rotary District 5370 Secretary Don McFarlane:
Please be advised that a Special General Meeting of the membership of Rotary District 5370 will be held in conjunction with the upcoming Spring Training Event on Saturday March 8, 2014 from 12:20 - 1:00 pm (registration will begin at 11:45 am) at the Holiday Inn South, 2240 Calgary Trail, Edmonton (Evergreen Ballroom A & B).
I spoke today (Monday, February 10th) with my Canadian Blood Services (CBS) contact Keri, and asked about the possible move from the TransAlta Tri Leisure Centre (TLC) for our Blood Donor Clinics. Keri confirmed that, in fact, our clinics will be moving. The reasons are several:
From Rotary Friendship Exchange Chair Kevin Hilgers:
Rotary Friendship Exchange (RFE) is when a group of Rotarians from one Rotary District in the word travel to another for fun and fellowship. It is usually reciprocal and a great way to grow passion for Rotary. Currently there are RFEs planned to Taiwan, India, and Australia.
In 1922, U.S. Rotarians organized an attendance contest; the challenge was that the losing clubs would join in giving the winning club a prize. The Rotary Club of New York City was declared the winner and to them was awarded as a prize a bell from a popular patrol boat, which was placed on wood that came from HMS "Victory", Admiral Nelson's vessel at the battle of Trafalgar.
The Parkland Area Volunteer Action Committee (PAVAC) has a Facebook Page. This page is to support our members and partners. From recruiting volunteers to helping promote events, this page will advance volunteerism in our community. Please like the page, add your volunteer requests or promote your special event here.
You gotta be kidding! A twenty minute speech by Mayor Stuart Houston on the State of the City, explaining why Spruce Grove is such a great place to live, at the Spruce Grove and District Chamber of Commerce Annual General Meeting, and not a word about Rotary! And we were the official sponsors of the event! And President Nizar Abouchami and Vocational Service Director Ray Frayne sat and had dinner with him at the same table! What a snub!
Although every effort is made to ensure that the content of this eBulletin is faithful to the Rotary Four Way Test, readers should be aware that this publication is not the official record of decisions made by the Rotary Club of Spruce Grove. The approved minutes of the Club constitute the one and only such record.
