Join the Rotary Club of Fort St. John on Sunday May 12, 2013 as we celebrate Mother's Day as a community.  Take part in our 5k Run and Walk!

http://www.strideandglide.ca/index.php?option=com_dtregister

Today we had some food for thought from Bruce Christensen about attending a Regional Conference and the value it brings to a Rotarian.

We also had Moira Green touch on the Guess Who Coming to Dinner Event (at my house it's me and my cat) 

Mr Ric Hamre also put out to the club the need for host families for our inbound student ambassadors, so if you can put your name in fellow Rotarians. 

Until next time

Take care my friends

We all bid Gerry Gorek a fond farewell from our FSJ Rotarian ranks, you will be missed dearly (and keep in touch :)).

We also congratulate President Elect Julie Ziebart on her Paul Harris Fellowship (is there anything this person can't do?).  Good job Julie!

Congratulations to the lucky winners!!!

• 40% of the population does not have the literacy skills required to function fully in our society;
• Almost 25% of the population between the ages 18 and 35 have not completed high school.

I have invited Jean McFadden, Executive Director of the Fort St. John Literacy Society, to speak to our club on Thursday March 15th.

Welcome to 2012!  We are already two meetings into the year, and have inducted 3 new Rotarians.  Welcome Marva Kosick, Mike Whalley and Scott Wisdahl!

Mega Lottery 2011 was a huge success, netting one of the largest ticket sales in the last 6 years.  The distributions to the various organizations will take place shortly.  Congrats to Moira and her committee for a smooth running operation!  And of course, another thank you to Pamela Paul, our Mega Lottery assistant, for her dedication!

 A couple of days ago, Rotary International's President-elect Sakuji Tanaka unveiled the RI theme for 2012-2013, "Peace Through Service".  http://rotary.org/en/MediaAndNews/News/Pages/120116_IA12_theme.aspx?housead

January is Rotary Awareness Month!    The beginning of a new year is a good opportunity to renew inspiration for the rest of the Rotary year. 

It is fitting then, that one of the Rotary projects we've decided to take on is the 1st Annual Rotary Family Fun 5K, to take place on Sunday, May 13th, 2012 (Mother's Day)! In conjunction with the run to raise Rotary awareness, Rotary will be hosting a community barbeque.  With your support, we hope to meet the goal of 300 participants running or walking.  At today's meeting, I will provide a summary of the preliminary plans.

At today's Club meeting, we are having Ms. Muriel Stanley as our guest speaker.  Muriel is the Support and Education Co-ordinator, in the Peace Region, for Alzheimer Society of BC.  See you there!

 Our February 2nd Club meeting will be at the Fort St. John North Peace Museum, located at 9323 - 100th Street.

The year 2011 has less than two months left - time sure has been flying!

RECENT CLUB MEETINGS 

On October 20th, we enjoyed a visit from Kyle Thomas of Motion Media (http://motionmedia.ca/).  As was evident in his presentation, Kyle is passionate about the world of social media, and is committed to helping get the Fort St. John community connected through blogging, Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn and others.  While social media may seem daunting, it really is "just a fancy way to describe getting online and participaing in conversation on social networks".  Thanks to Kyle, who has been a wealth of information as we get the Rotary Mega Lottery Facebook page and Twitter site going. 

On October 27th, the Club's guest speaker was Michelle Laboucane of the North Peace Justice Society.  Michelle spoke on the Restorative Justice program.  The Club members learned that restorative justice can be considered more cost effective than traditional court.  The philosphy of restorative justice is based on community healing.  Using a Community Forum model, as a first step toward healing and reintegrating into the community as a productive member, offenders accept responsibility for their actions, are confronted with how their behaviour affected the victims personally.  For additional information on the Restorative Justice program, follow @restorativejust on Twitter.  November 13 - 20, 2011 has been proclaimed Resotrative Justice Week by the City of Fort St. John.  http://www.alaskahighwaynews.ca/article/20111109/FORTSTJOHN0101/311099994/-1/fortstjohn/a-different-sort-of-justice 

November 3rd was the first Thursday of the month, which is designated Rotary Day in our schedule of weekly meetings.  It was a nice day of fellowship, as we had various guests, and were updated on the current success of Mega Lottery's ticket sales.  We are over half way through our budgeted ticket sales.  Great job to the various clubs!  With two weeks left before the next early bird draw, the ticket turn-ins are anticipated to be huge.  We are thankful to Pamela Paul, our Mega Lottery assistant, for her dedication with administration!

For those Rotarians that still have tickets to turn in, please drop them off to me, Julie Ziebart (MNP office location is 10611 - 102nd Street).  I also have many $100 dollar books if you require more.  Let's try to get as much in before November 22nd, in order to get in on the $15,000 draw on November 24th!

NOVEMBER IS ROTARY FOUNDATION MONTH!

After reading the comments of some past presidents of Rotary International, they summarize some considerations of Rotary Foundation: 

•  Supporting the Foundation:  It is our greatest resource for doing good, and it is our responsibility to maintain its strength. 

• Celebrating our Foundation: Only God achieves the impossible, but The Rotary Foundation achieves the best that mankind can possibly achieve.  Like Olympic runners, we received a torch from those before us -- a torch of service that brings light to the shadow areas of mankind:  intolerance, ignorance, disease, and hunger... Let people know that Rotary cares and acts.

• Every Rotarian, Every Year:  The Rotary Foundation enables our clubs and sitricts to multiply their service efforts many times over.  This effect is increasing as the the Foundation's humanitarian grant projects become larger in scale to profoundly improve the lives of more people.

As individuals, we can help by continuing to contribute to the Rotary Foundation! 

UPCOMING EVENTS 

On November 17th, Enbridge Inc. will be providing the Club with a guest speaker, on the topic of the status of the Enbridge Northern Gateway Pipelines project.  As you may be aware, Enbridge has increased its stake in the Northeast BC Cabin Gas Plant, located in the Horn River Basin.  Enbridge now holds 71% of that development.

Watch for details on the upcoming Rotary Christmas festivities! 

Historically, Rotarians have promoted the practice of high ethical standards as part 
of their commitment to vocational service.

Rotarians can use their standing as business leaders and respected members of all
professions to promote and advance high ethical standards by setting a positive
example among employees, associates, and the community in general. All types of
work-related interaction offer an opportunity to encourage ethical behavior.

Fall is in the air!

We've had a busy 3 weeks of Rotary, especially with the  Rotary Mega Lottery well underway.  October 13th marked the first early bird draw, with Fort St. John's Tyler Penner winning $10,000.  By Tuesday evening, our Mega Lottery assistant, Pamela Paul had collected well over 50% of last year's ticket sales - amazing support from the communities! I think the Lottery committee can agree that this year's perforated tickets have saved loads of time.

Spouse day on September 29th was held at the Pomeroy Inn.  President-Elect Scott Selin arranged for Jennifer Stevenson, of Dynamic Funds,  to discuss gas fracking and the oil and gas industry, in the context of what is being experienced in Northeast BC.

The October 6th lunch meeting was full of Rotarian fellowship as the Club members shared what they are thankful for this Thanksgiving.  Here's hoping all were able to use Connie Sall's "I am thankful for..." recommendations during their own Thanksgiving weekend with family and friends :)  The club expressed gratitude for the Ross H. MacLean Rotary RV Park managers for the successful season that has just completed.

President Clark Lang hosted a Club Assembly on Tuesday October 11th.  An evening of strategic planning over some wine and appies included many new ideas and excitement over future plans for projects, locally and internationally.  Thank you to all those who took time out of your busy schedules to provide feedback on the future direction of the Club.

Join us for the upcoming Club meetings, as we are enlightened by community members Kyle Thomas, speaking on the ever-expansive role of social media on our lives, and Michelle Laboucane, speaking on restorative justice.

Next week will be the District Conference in Edmonton.  We look forward to hearing from our local attendees! 

Thursday, September 8th, marked a visit from Harry Buddle, our Rotary District Governor.  Harry inspired our club with his words of wisdom, ranging from community and international involvement, to membership diversity.  We appreciate the visit, and look forward to his direction as we continue with the 2011-2012 year.

From the photos of the Corn Roast and RV Park Camp-out, it looks like the event was a great hit!  They will be posted on here shortly.  Many thanks to Grant and Clark, who organized this successful event of fellowship.

On Thursday, September 22nd, we enjoyed a vist from representatives of the Fort St. John - North Peace Museum,  including Heather (museum curator), Evelyn Sims (President of North Peace Historical Society), and Larry Evans.  We received an update on the museum, including their near-completion of the renovations/expansion, before President Clark Lang presented them with our Club donation.

Tomorrow, September 29th is Bring Your Spouse Day.  Please plan on attending our lunch meeting at the Pomeroy Hotel, as we welcome our guest speaker, Jennifer Stevenson, from RBC Dominion Securities.  Jennifer is Vice president and Portfolio Manager, Energy, Dynamic Funds.  She will be speaking about Gas Fracking.  With over 20 years of experience in the sector, Jennifer is an energy specialist.

Rotary Mega Lottery has started.  If you have not picked up your set of tickets yet, please feel free to stop by my office at MNP.  I will also have them at tomorrow's meeting.  The first Early Bird Draw is mid-October, so lets get these tickets sold!

 Have a great Rotarian day! 

Working with Youth instills Rotary's values in future generations

Youth programs help extend the family of Rotary

Today's Youth are future Rotarians

As the end of  September nears, I thought I'd throw some questions out to our Club Members... no, not a test!  Rather, a reminder of how the Club has served the Youth in our local community in the past, and a lead-in on how the Club can possibly engage these community members in our future projects.

End of summer, and school is back in session.... back to a regular routine.  Hopefully, you had a chance to slow it down a bit for the summer months :) 

On August 25th, our club welcomed Constable Jackelynn Biller and Constable Scott Smook, who were both informative in the drug scene in Fort St. John, along with the proactive and reactive measures being taken by the RCMP to protect our community.  We appreciate them taking the time to share their experiences with us.

September 1st, the first Thursday of the month, was a day for Rotary within our club.  We were  entertained by next year's Club President, Scott Selin, as he provided his bio over lunch.

Please plan on attending tomorrow's lunch meeting, where we give a warm Northern welcome to District Governor Harry Buddle.  The members of the executive will be meeting with him beforehand at 10am. 

The Mega Lottery tickets have arrived, so I will be distributing these shortly.  Let's all get ours sold before the first early bird draw!

This weekend marks the Corn Roast and RV Park Camp-out.  Be sure to RSVP to Grant Timmins or Clark Lang.  They are also ready to field any questions you may have about the event. 

Enjoy the rest of your week! 

It was a great turnout at last week's lunch meeting, held at Lakepoint Golf and Country Club.  We had visiting Rotarians from the Okanagan, visitors from the Lower Mainland, as well as spouses and newcomers to the Fort St. John area.  What a beautiful day it was, and a beautiful meeting place to showcase Fort St. John!  I'm sure those who stayed on to golf the afternoon away had relaxing time filled with fellowship and great scores!

Darwin Pimm and others were going to set out riverboating on the following Sunday.  Hopefully those who met up at the Halfway that morning enjoyed a wonderful day on the water!

We have RCMP Constable Biller joining us on Thursday, August 25th to discuss the influence of drug abuse on crime in our community.   

 On September 8th, the guest speaker at our meeting will be District Governor Harry Buddle. Click on this link for some background on DG Buddle:  http://www.clubrunner.ca/dprg/dxprogramhome/_programhome.aspx?did=5370&pageid=26996  Please join us in giving him a warm welcome to our Club.  DG Buddle will be meeting with the executive committee at 10am that morning.

The plans are being set for the Camp-out/Riverboating trip, to be held on Saturday, September 10th.  The boating will include a corn roast upriver, and a camp-out at the Rotary RV Park that evening.  More details to follow in the coming weeks.

Save the dates of October 28th and 29th, for the Rotary District 5370 Conference in Edmonton.  http://www.clubrunner.ca/Portal/SitePages/SitePage.aspx?accountid=50012&pid=47784  If you plan on attending, the Club has a reimbursement policy in place for registration and travel, to a certain maximum.  Please feel free to ask a member of the executive committee for futher details.

Only a matter of days before the 2011 Rotary Mega Lotter is set to start.  Stay tuned for details from Moira and her committee! 

Have a great week, and see you on Thursday! 

What's been going on within our local Rotary world?  If you haven't been to our meetings lately, here is a re-cap of events over the last two months..

A month has passed since the last posting, so I will summarize what has been happening in the local Rotary world....

It has now been confirmed with President Trina Warren:  The meetings on Thursday, December 23rd and December 30th will be held at the Northern Grand, in addition to the Mega Lottery Draw  at the Totem Mall on Sunday, December 26th.

Thank you to Clark Lang for chairing the meetings in Trina's absence.

Thank you to everyone that turned in their tickets at yesterday's meeting.  There are still 5 outstanding sets, so please drop them off at my office as soon as possible so that Laura is not faced with too many last minute record keeping!  If you need them picked up, please call my office at 250.785.8166 to make arrangements.

Thanks again!

It's time for that final turn in!

We would like those tickets in to Laura at the Rotary office by the end of today.

Please deliver your sold and unsold tickets to me by the end of today.  I will be calling to arrange pick up if you are unable to come to my office.

Thanks everyone!

At our meeting on December 2nd, Huskies past president Carolyn Krauss and three of the Huskies hockey players joined us for lunch.  Rotary was pleased to raise over $600 at that meeting alone, which is to be matched by fellow Rotarian Ross Bannerman, to purchase goods that will fill the bus, before it heads over to the Salvation Army Food Bank on Sunday, December 5th.

Good luck Huskies!  You make our community proud!

On our November 25, 2010 lunch meeting, the second early bird draw was made.  The winner was Ryan VanEsch.  He received his cheque from Trina and Connie at our lunch meeting yesterday!  Congratulations Ryan!

For those Rotary members with tickets yet to sell, please turn in all sold and unsold tickets to Julie Ziebart by Friday, December 10th, so that we can do our final turn in to Laura on December 13th.

Thanks everyone!

On November 4, 2010, we welcomed Northern Lights College's Dwayne Hart, Vice President - Finance, who made a riveting presentation on the progress the College is making in the energy industry.  The presentation was timely, given BC Hydro's plans for Site C, along with the press releases the following week about more wind projects being set for northeastern British Columbia.

Mr. Hart provided further testament to NLC's claim as BC's Energy College, as he describe the success of the new wind turbine maintenance technician program graduates in entering the workforce.

Many thanks to Mr. Hart, a member of the Rotary Club in Dawson Creek, for taking time out of his busy schedule to highlight NLC's current ventures and future plans for Northern BC.

Moira has graciously offered that our November 18 lunch meeting take place at the local airport (The Aviator Cafe, I presume).  Please RSVP online by going to our "Events" section.

On September 30, 2010, many Rotarians joined Peggy Gagnon, the Executive Director of the CDC, for the grand opening ceremony for the Rotary Play Centre.  At that time, it was formally announced that our Club was making a $100,000 donation to help the CDC create the early learning play centre.  Our support of Project Build-A-Fort has enabled the CDC to further enrich the lives of children with special needs.

Take a look at the new photo journal of our visit to the CDC.

Northern Lights College is B.C.'s Energy College.  In September, we were offered a tour of the campus, particularly the Oil and Gas  Centre of Excellence.  The facility, which cost $12 million, allowed the college to more than double the number of students training for jobs in the oil and gas industry.

Many thanks to Stacy Smith, Chair of Apprenticeship and Trades, to take the time to highlight the positive impact a facility of this magnitude will have on the opportunities for our community.

Take a look at the photo journal on our website for various Rotarians in their "safety gear".

I've started my next project of adding photos to our website.  Of course, the ones I've loaded so far are from meetings where my Blackberry has been present.  I'll be gathering more photos from Dudley as well.  If you have photos that I can publish, whether it be from our field trips (eg. the building formerly known as the Enerplex), or from the recent Guess Who's Coming to Dinner event, please pass them on to me, and I will make sure they get on here.  Thanks everyone!

Congratulations to Alan Bone of Fort St. John, BC, who was the big winner in our Rotary Early Bird Draw on October 14, 2010!

If you have more tickets to turn in, I will be a today's lunch meeting.  Please remember to write a cheque for any cash you have received as payment.  Your help with this is much appreciated!

The first early bird draw is quickly approaching!  Thankfully, each Rotarian has his/her block of tickets to sell.  If you are holding some sold tickets and proceeds, please be sure to deliver them to my office as soon as possible.  Only those turned those in to me by Tuesday October 12th will make it into the draw barrel for the early bird draw.

How are those ticket sales going?

The kiosk is ready at the mall.  Should the kiosk not have a ticket seller, we will have a sign directing ticket purchasers to the Western Financial Group office, where we will have Rotary tickets.

For those that were unable to attend last week's meeting, I have your mega lottery tickets, which can be picked up at my office at 10611 - 102nd Street. 

Reminder:  When you are ready to turn in your sold tickets and funds, please submit a cheque payable to the Rotary Club of FSJ rather than cash.

I will see you all this week, as I deliver your sets of tickets.  The first early bird draw is October 14th.  The new Mega Lottery assistant will hopefully be joining us on Thursday's luncheon.  She will be collecting the ticket sales proceeds weekly.  In her absence, I will collect them.  Best of luck in your ticket sales!