At a recent meeting, Sean shared a multiple of photos and video clips on the convention, the friendly people and food.
It was the first time in its 80 years the event has been held in Asia and attendance was capped at 10,000 people. He found the technology and virtual reality offerings “mind-blowing,” adding the whole experience was “something else.”
And he estimates he only cost him about $50 to attend.
Chris, who has an alter ego named Conni Smudge, recently moved to the qathet region but has performed here numerous times.
While the short notice precluded Conni from coming in all her finery, Chris did bring a suitcase with examples of her flamboyant fashions and accessories.
He said drag queens have been around forever, providing entertainment for millions.
As a youngster Chris was bullied because he was effeminate and can relate to young people figuring out their own sexuality. “I can tell them I’ve been there too.”
His empathy, once considered a bad thing, is now his superpower and he says you build bridges by crossing over them.
He wants to help people feel they belong because they do and that if you are authentic, you will attract good things to yourself. His mantra over the last year is “Prejudice is just a commitment to ignorance” and he wants to help to eliminate that.
Chris has some serious messaging that is delivered plenty of humour.
With her enthusiasm and infectious laugh, District Governor Shirley Pat Chamberlain was our program speaker for the November 8 meeting. She said her head would have exploded in advance had she known that she was inducting eight new members that evening, four individuals and one corporate membership with four people.
Her induction speech and one to the club in general were inspiring. One member commented at the end that she thinks she will go to the District Conference in Terrace April 26, 27, and 28, 2024.
Shirley Pat told the new members they were being given “the opportunity to take the opportunity” to join the Rotary family, mentioning that it was started 117 years ago by Paul Harris based on the idea of service and friendship.
She encouraged them to try, learn, fail, repeat and get messy.
Happiness and a long life come from social connections and giving back to others, both of which are available through Rotary.
Rotarians give their time, talent, tools and treasure to make their community and the world a better place.
Dan Devita took the lead in submitting our application back in March and the announcement from city council was made in September.
The building needs a lot of work but as Dan mentioned in the application, we have the human and financial resources to accomplish that.
There are several other buildings on the site including the army, navy and air cadet corps, fine arts association, square dancing club and soccer club that have been renovated.
Our club had its own building for years until it burned down.
One of the pieces of information that city council liked in our application was our willingness to rent out space to other organizations for a reasonable fee.
Once a lease is received from the city and approved by directors, a plan for renovating will be put together in the near future and work parties will commence.
Major upgrades will be required for the kitchen, bathroom and entrance to make the building accessible.
Stan rebuilt old cars and a sailboat and loved to travel. Don and his wife Judy travelled with the Gisbornes on many trips around North America and called him a fantastic tour guide with a good sense of direction.
Don offered a toast to Stan which was responded to by all the Rotarians present at the meeting.
After the former chamber president decided he was unable to carry on in that role, Dave was asked to take it on again. At first, he said no but reconsidered.
With long-time manager Kim Miller retiring, there are five great candidates for the position which should be filled soon, he added.
Dave said that COVID was very hard on the chamber and its membership dropped off as businesses struggled through the pandemic. Once the new manager is in place and there is a focus on rebuilding membership numbers, he is very optimistic that the chamber will again be a robust advocate for small businesses.
There is a “fantastic” board of directors, Dave said, which gave him comfortable that a solid, dynamic team will make good things happen.
He explained his vision for a library of seniors who want to supplement their incomes by working some shifts in businesses that are impacted by a lack of employees. He related a story about a former vice-president of Lego who worked at the gas dock and did maintenance at Lund. He feels there are more people like him. A wine and cheese event will be held to bring seniors together with the chamber.
The chamber will also focus on ways to help decrease crime in the community and will advocate for Powell River to pay one way for ferries. This is the only ferry-dependent community whose citizens pay coming and going.
A final project he is looking at is one that people may think is “totally nuts” and that is to have the city and regional district merge to save costs. This regional district is the only one in the province that has only one city or town as part of it; all the others have more than one.
Dave said he enjoyed hanging out with Rotarians and our club is truly a benefit to the city.
She was introduced by Bente who said she has found her and her husband Gem’s dedication to Amarok to be inspiring with their motto Teach mothers to teach the world.
Tanyss explained that each school is comprised of 25 mothers, all of whom teach five children. The youngsters, who are the most vulnerable children, move on to government schools, then universities and college, breaking a long line of family illiteracy. The schools also reduce child labour, prostitution and early marriage. Through her presentation, she introduced Rotarians to several mothers who have changed their own live and the lives of others through Amarok.
Tanyss says giving children an education is like opening the treasures of life. It also makes them impervious to terrorism.
She is very appreciative of the support Amarok has received from the Sunshine Coast Rotary Clubs.
Asked about the honour during his year as president, Ross Cooper replied, “I am only a representative of a club that’s very productive. The benefit of being president is at the conference, I got to lead the group of members who attended from Powell River as we all took the stage after our club’s name was announced as the winner.”
While word got back home fast, Cooper still had the satisfaction of announcing the award to the rest of the club at the first regular meeting after the conference. Then everyone celebrated again May 17 when the embroidered banner arrived with the club’s name on it and it was presented by Ian Grant, Assistant Governor of our district.
“It’s a confirmation of a club that operates well, is impactful to our community and to our international programs,” Cooper said. “We are very pleased. Our motto is Service above Self and it shows in the many projects our club has contributed such as the Westview Viewpoint and Rotary Pavilion at Willingdon Beach. Our club hasn’t stopped and is currently erecting a gazebo shelter at Palm Beach with another on Texada Island coming this summer.”
Quinn Carlson said it was the best four days of his life and talked about being involved in four different acts in the Variety Concert. Kanon Sugioka said she most enjoyed the team-building, Louise Liu loved the board games and Paige Sigouin said she most enjoyed the campfires.
Kanon presented a PowerPoint that outlined the many activities that were undertaken by the approximately 90 participants and staff.
Rotarians has lots of questions for the four students from Brooks Secondary who all responded positively about the event and were appreciative of being in attendance.
Our club meeting on March 15 had a busy agenda with two program speakers.
Townsite Jazz Festival founder and artistic director Paul Cummings attended our March 15 Rotary meeting and outlined the 10 ticketed concerts and guest musicians who will be attending the 2023 event.
The music educator has long been a jazz fan and loves to expose his students to that genre. His love of jazz began when he was in Grade 9 while studying trombone at Courtenay Youth Music Camp with the likes of Phil Dwyer and Diana Krall.
After growing up in this community and leaving for education and career opportunities, Paul moved home in 2000. He began teaching music at Brooks Secondary School and Powell River Academy of Music. He loves combining music with travel and has taken his choirs and bands on 17 international tours.
His enthusiasm for the jazz festival he created is shown in his statement “there is nothing like it on earth,” adding that it follows the Festival of the Performing Arts, Kathaumixw and PRISMA.
Three high school will have groups open for the professionals who will be in town April 14-16.
More details can be found at townsitejazz.com.
Powell River Community Foundation Alston Miller reported on the most recent Vital Signs report that was released recently. It was the third Vital Signs conducted after the initial one in 2011 and second in 2015. The third was delayed because of COVID-19.
Information is compiled from a survey of residents, organizations and Stats Can as well as other provincial and local studies and reports.
Population is 21,496 in qathet region with13.943 in the city of Powell River.
Alston presented some of the information from the report including the top languages spoken at home after English. They were Punjabi, French, Italian and Mandarin.
A living wage here is now $23.33 per hour, up from $16.31 six years ago.
Employment is highest in healthcare, followed by retail and construction.
There are 3,020 people living below the poverty line, including 460 under the age of 18. Some 28 per cent of seniors are impoverished.
70 per cent of people reported that have excellent health and wellness.
94 per cent were satisfied with arts and culture and 83 per cent were satisfied with the community’s diversity. 97 per cent were satisfied with sports and recreation activities available.
94 per cent shopped at Quality Foods, Freshco and Save-On. 42 per cent grew some of their own food. There are 50 farms that generate $3 millions in revenue.
26.4 per cent of all calls to police involve, thefts or B&Es, mental health issues, assaults for impaired driving. 18 people died in the last year from opioid overdoses.
The report is available online at prcommunityfoundation.com/vital-signs.
Allison was born and raised on Texada Island and spent 36 years with a local bank. Recognizing she wanted a change; she started working at Community Futures as business lender in 2017 and became executive director two years later when Pam Krompocker retired. She says it was the best decision she ever made.
Keith came to Community Futures in March 2020. He worked in banking in downtown Vancouver before moving to Powell River. The transition to business advising and lending has been a perfect fit for him with its more localized, grassroots level.
Community Futures is federally funded with 48 offices in BC to assist entrepreneurs and small business owners make their dreams become a reality. They are different from banks in that they help with business planning, one-on-one meetings and workshops to ensure job creation and retention with a rural focus through local decision-making.
Two programs they support are Export Navigator for getting product out to the wider world and Venture Connect, to help people wishing to sell their business through succession planning.
Gary visited Powell River over a decade ago and fell in love with the area. He and his wife purchased property here and moved in in 2015. He became enamoured with the theatre and has spent many hours writing grants for funding much needed maintenance for the building that is nearly 100 years old.
Over the past few years, the efforts have resulted in 100s of thousands of dollars coming to the project, including a private mortgage to help buy the theatre. The theatre company started in a tent further down Ash Street in the early 1900s.
The roof has been repaired and more improvements are planned, including reconstructing the original canopy on the front of the building as well as replacing the fire escape from the balcony so it can be used again for a seating area.
Seats need to be replaced but that will require a huge amount of money. In the meantime, Gary suggested with a chuckle that people bring a pillow.
He commended Brooks Interact for donating $250 which will go to help replace a urinal in the men’s bathroom which will cost $1,000.
LISA WITH ELLEN AND SEAN
Ellen Byrne and her husband Sean spoke to our members recently about qathet Refugee Sponsorship group that she formed in 2021 with a goal to bring a family to this region by 2024. Ellen said when the organization has collected the required $26,000, it will cover the initial start-up fees and six months of living expenses. She said with the program her group has chosen, the Blended Visa Office-Refereed Program, the federal government pays for the other six months. To date, they have raised $14,600.When the group has the money, there are different profiles from which its members choose a family they think would be good for this community. All potential refugees have been selected by the United Nations Refugee Agency and have been living in camps for several years. It can take up to four months for them to arrive in qathet region. The group is responsible for arranging housing and basic necessities, finding health care providers, enrolling children in school, connecting with community resources and provide emotional and moral support. Ellen said qathet Refugee Sponsorship group is comprised of 10 people who try to meet monthly and is always looking for new members. For more information or to donate, email qathetrefugeesponsorship@gmail.com and Facebook page.
Katcher Guidance founder and owner Cheryl Milne shared her personal experiences with loved ones who have dementia at a January meeting held at Willingdon Creek.
In addition to information and statistics about dementia, Cheryl spoke about the journey with her father-in-law, father, both of whom have since died, and best friend.
Cheryl said her presentation was meant to be informative and not a substitute for medical advice.
She explained that every case of Alzheimer’s disease is a form of dementia, but every type of dementia is not Alzheimer’s which accounts for 60-80% of all diagnoses. Only 5-8% of people over the age of 60 will live with dementia at one stage. There is a difference between forgetting your keys and having memory loss that affects your day-to-day abilities, she explained.
Cheryl’s father-in-law Tom had Lewy Body Dementia and his wife noticed the change when he lost his sense of direction and was unable to figure out how to wrap Christmas presents or remember how to spell common words.
Her father had dementia but was not diagnosed with a specific type. Her mother noticed when he was unable to do what was pervious his meticulous banking and was overwhelmed when presented with a menu at a restaurant.
Her best friend Katie was diagnosed with Early Onset Familial Alzheimer’s at 42, a disease that her mother died from at age 52. She was a baker and found she could not follow recipes. There is a 50% chance that her three children will get the disease.
Cheryl quoted, “Life is in the present, anxiety is the fear of the future and depression is fear of the past. Joy is found in the present moment.” With all three of her loved ones, there was joy to be found in some way and she wanted people to know that they can be happy.
The Alzheimer Society of BC is running a campaign Full of Life with Dementia that includes Katie and Cheryl and its website is alzheimer.ca.bc.en.
Pacific Region International Summer Music Academy president Michael Robinson spoke to our club on January 11 and was joined by founder Arthur Arnold who entertained us with a selection on his cello.
Robinson bought property in the Saltery Bay area in 2004 and has lived there since 2016. He has been a PRISMA board member for seven years.
Robinson spoke about the economic and cultural benefits of PRISMA to our region with financial spinoffs through wages and suppliers, hotels, retailers and restaurants as visitors flock to the two-week event. An economic multiplier of 2.3 is used to define the financial impact.
Like other cultural festivals in Canada, PRISMA relies heaving on values unique to this community with its cadre of enthusiastic volunteers.
Arnold mentioned that last year audience numbers were 65 percent of those pre-COVID and he expects them to increase this year. He is looking to breaking through a “glass ceiling to bring more joy” through music to the community.
“It could only happen here,” Robinson quoted from his annual report that will be presented at the upcoming AGM.PRISMA takes place June 12-24, 2023.
A club past president Carol Brown conducted the election of officers for the 20230-24 year during the recent AGM. Her remarks included “In this time of change in our world, we have seen many organizations and clubs falter and disappear. How then does Rotary persevere? I believe that Rotary actually embraces and welcomes change, and our club is comfortable with the process. The 4-Way Test is the glue that holds us together and those four simple tenets construct a safe and moral environment that allows us to embrace Service Above Self.”
In addition to a set of updated bylaws, the election this year of each directorship of areas of service will be shared by two members. This change reflects the shared responsibility, mentorship, succession and collaboration deserved for positive outcomes in our club.
Service projects – Kelly Keil and Ian Currie; Foundation – Don Logan and Katya Gustafson; Membership – Scott Randolph and Matt Wate; Public Image/Relations – Joyce Carlson, Cathy Korolek; Fundraising- Deborah Jenkins, Monica Peckford; International and Youth – (I) Bente Hansen, Elke Sager, (Y) Lisa Gunn; St. At Arms – Jill Ehgoetz. Executive members are Secretary Sean Dees, Treasurer Frieda Hamoline, Vice-president Kelly Keil, President-Elect Dave Gustafson and President Jan Gisborne.
Treasurer Frieda present the year-end financial statement as of June 30 for discussion.
The new set of bylaws were voted on at the December 7 meeting.
Service Above Self
Powell River, BC
Canada