At our club meeting on Thursday, February 6, our club will discuss the Community Appreciation Gala we have held in May for the past couple years and talk about what one may look like this year. To allow for maximum discussion time, the format of this meeting will be a bit different. Lunch will be available directly at 12:00 PM. Once you arrive and pay, please proceed directly to get your meal, sit down, and begin eating. We will still do our 50/50 draw, but we will dispense with much of the other regular business of the weekly meeting in order to begin our discussion about the gala around 12:20 PM. Some of the questions you may consider to help shape our discussion include:
Should our club host a community appreciation gala in May 2020?
What is the purpose of the event?
Is it to connect with financial supporters?
Is it to expand our base of financial support and/or awareness in the community?
Is it a fundraiser, in its own right?
Is it to thank the supporters and the program delivery agencies with whom we work?
Given the purpose(s) of the event, are the formats of the last two years appropriate?
Our club has limited resources and can’t do everything it might want to do. What is the “opportunity cost” of hosting the gala compared to what benefit our club receives from it? Said another way, do we gain more than we give up by hosting the gala? Does that matter?
Does our club's tentative decision to plan and host a ribfest in July impact our desire and ability to host the gala? If we think we can only pull off one of them really well, which one should we do?
Normally our club's board meets on the fourth Wednesday of every month. However, the February 2020 board meeting has been rescheduled to 7:00 PM on Wednesday, February 19 to accommodate more board members' schedules. If you would like to attend in person, we meet at the clubhouse at Rotary Centennial Park. You can also attend online using Zoom using this link: https://zoom.us/j/224919848
Based on the club expressing a strong interest to host a "Rotary Ribfest" from July 24-26, 2020, tentative plans are starting to take shape. We are in the process of gathering information about the proposed partner organization that does the ribs from other community partners where they have run events in the past and are beginning to work on a contract that would be acceptable to all parties. We'll be working more on the event plans soon, but for now, please save the date in your calendar.
From Barry Twynam who was there that day, following is a little blurb and photos. For new members who may not know what this service is, You Can Ride 2 helps special needs kids learn how to ride a bike. Our club has been a supporter by raising money and donating volunteer hours.
YouCanRide2 isn’t just about giving special needs kids a bike and teaching them to ride. It is about the dignity, freedom and fun that most of us take for granted. It is about finding the right bike, adjusting it to maximize the limited ability some of these kids have and making sure they have an adequate braking system when they decide to take flight. Many of these kids suffer from conditions such as autism, cerebral palsy, down syndrome, spina bifida. Some of these kids may never walk, but can be taught to ride a bike. It is one of those experiences that you can only truly appreciate seeing the transformation first hand. From when a parent brings in their child for the first time, in some cases kids screaming and kicking at this strange experience. You will see at times 4-5 volunteers (most of them physio therapists) hoving around the child taking measurements, making adjustments and at all times reassuring the child along the way. With their new bike complete the child starts off slow with parents and volunteers with outstretched arms ready to support any misstep. The expression of joyful tears from parents is priceless soon giving way to the realization they need to chase down their kids as they explore their new found freedom. Now they can feel like “normal” kids and can share the experience with family and friends. The impact to the family dynamic is huge. “Look mom I’m flying”! To know more about YouCanRide2, to volunteer or donate to this important program, go to youcanride2.ca
Members of the club are encouraged to attend and observe our monthly board meetings. For the 2019-2020 year, they will be held on the fourth Wednesday of every month at the clubhouse in Rotary Centennial Park beginning at 7:00 PM and ending at 8:30 PM. If you can't attend in person, we are also now able to bring you in remotely using Zoom's online meeting software. The URL for the meetings will be the same from month to month, so you may want to bookmark this address: https://zoom.us/j/224919848. Hope to see you there!
Just a quick reminder that if you are going to be away and won't be attending a weekly meeting, can you please indicate by clicking the "Can't Make It" Button. The email comes out on Fridays and is called the "May Rotary Meetings" or whichever month it is. The email comes from Crystal Desilets. I use this info for informing Shotz how many people will be there for lunch. Also if you are bringing a guest could you fill in the "Bring a Guest" button. Thanks for helping out with this as it's makes my job easier if I have all the information.
Have a Rotary Story, pictures from a Rotary Social and/or information for the Rotary RAP?
Send me (Krista) an email: krista.mastaler@gmail.com by Sunday evenings at the latest so that I can include it in the weekly RAP on Mondays!
Thanks everyone!!!!
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.
