Miscellaneous
Repeat from last week or until no longer relevant or until I delete it:
There will be a Walk for Water and a $9,000 cheque presentation today at 1:00 P.M. at Garry Point. Wear any Rotary bling you have and bring your Rotary Mask.
The district is looking for nominations for District Governor for the Rotary Year 2.5 years from now.
Zoom Meeting Rules
THE LINK TO OUR THURSDAY MEETINGS WILL NO LONGER BE EMAILED BUT ACCESSED THROUGH THE LINK BELOW.
Meeting ID: 868 5522 9058
Passcode: 473892
1) Mute your microphone if you aren't already muted. Background noise is distracting.
2) If you are not engaged in the presentation, turn off your camera.
3) Chat function should only be used to address the speaker, not for Club member remarks during the presentation
4) Unmute when harassing the Sergeant at Arms or taking your turn during Sergeant at Arms.
Presidents Report
Our club is joining with other clubs to award a Richmond external Paul Harris award in March of 2022. So start thinking of a deserving recipient.
Covid passports will be necessary starting next meeting so bring your next week.
Please direct any questions to me or a board member of your choosing and we will discuss any and all questions or concerns during our board meeting. Also please refer anyone who may be interested in attending a meeting or joining the club.
Be kind and be calm and safe...
Announcements
Because it bears repeating, bring evidence of vaccination next week.
Flag waving Oh Canada.
Life begins at 40 along with a lot of other such as rheumatism falling arches etc.
Fortunately though, your eyesight deteriorates at the same rate as your face.
Visitors
Bob Smith of the Volunteer Cancer Driver Society or is he really Bob "Quantum Superposition" Smith. I was driving home from our Thursday meeting as he was being interviewed on the Simi Sara show CKNW. How did he do that?
sergeant At Arms Tidbits
Mary Lou as many others enjoyed Chris M's retirement birthday and Richmond reunion party. Also reported on the how close the fire had come to the cabin. Off to camping and fire wood collection.
Dalbir's new job is babysitting the granddaughter, has started negotiations at $1 per day. We knew it was Dalbir's turn to speak because his head was under the curser. Thanks for the prompt Bobby.
Chris M. had a wonderful party with over 90 people throughout the day and appreciated the reunion for many of her guests. Was her third full day of not going to school and she is loving it.
Dick met his daughter at the airport and noted how much the airport has changed. Enjoying her visit though.
Bill was in Toronto for his grand nephew's Bar Mitzvah. May return via Denmark.
Ron has heritage apples that he is giving away and had seven more boxes of apples that he left out on the street that were picked up. Has even more apples ripening so if you want apples come and pick your own. Was going to make it in person this morning but has to take out the garbage and recycling. Ron let drinking bad apple cider from the spigot as a kid put him off it for a life time. He should try an apple cider flight. There is even ginger cider now.
Bobby had good life/work balance last week which included a 22k bike ride and a second run(as opposed to an amble) of 5 K. The Banquet hall had four events last week one of which included the new challenge for us all, "Figuring out Bonnie's Rules."
Amanda spoke to us from a black hole where not even light could escape to tell us that she has fully moved in to the new place which not ironically, has good internet that allows sound waves to escape. Super busy at work with 12 hour days. Back to school hairdos.
Melinda is back from Osoyoos and got over her initial concerns to find it awesome to be out of town.
Judy saw lots of Richmondites at Chris M.'s BP/RP/RR. Had dinner with the Thai group(friends since graduation) at Montana's. Looking after grand kids, one with the croup. (not covid).
Marg although sitting right beside me left unintelligible notes in my note book "nice to see Blue Canoe, traditional Bridges before school, can grape farmers struggle." She will know what the notes mean.
I was back from the Okanagan where my daughter Kate had something that was eventually diagnosed as bronchitis. Granddaughter Zoe warned that your foot will go "smoosh" if you step on the dog poop while walking on the back lawn.
Peter gets to eat lamb while batching it. Will be going fishing for a week.
Kal expressed his sadness for the death at a drive through.
Garth had a full rehearsal that went well. Has a staff member who is not vaccinated but a husband who has had a lung transplant. Go figure!
Debbie S. was picking up her car which needed a new solenoid. She then humbly explained to us that a solenoid is a type of electromagnet, the purpose of which is to generate a controlled magnetic field through a coil wound into a tightly packed helix. The coil can be arranged to produce a uniform magnetic field in a volume of space when an electric current is passed through it. The term solenoid was coined in 1823 by André-Marie Ampère to designate a helical coil. It might be part of the starter.
Gordon's tall and beautiful eldest granddaughter started high school. He enjoyed our beautiful sunrise.
Elena is off with her team to Ladysmith. Enjoyed Chris M.'s retirement party and put in for a make up. Thanks Don Dixon for all the books.
Deb T. completed the Tour De Cure but for the first time accepted a ride up a hill. She had her injured back resolved by the chiropractor. Enjoyed the rehearsal for her upcoming sons wedding and then the rehearsal dinner where she had tasty "Indian Bite". That Kal confirmed was Indian cuisine. Also had the shower for her daughter in law to be.
Pat's granddaughter is going into grade 8 and grandson into grade 6. The years have gone past fast. Announced that September 21 is International Peace Day.
speaKER
Bob Smith of the Volunteer Driver Cancer Society is moving into Richmond. The society provides a complementary driving service for cancer patients. It gets its support from volunteer drivers and financial support from various organizations and government agencies. The society started in 2016 and Bob became involved and on the Board in 2017. He became interested because his time is flexible and he volunteers when he is available. When he joined they had only three months of money left. The costs are reimbursement of mileage but 25% of that is donated back to the Society. He said 50% of Canadians will experience cancer and this year there were 31,000 diagnoses and in 10 years there are expected to be 41,000 diagnoses of cancer. The idea is to drive patients in need who do not have family support. Some patients may require treatment daily for six months. So not only does the patient have to deal with being told the diagnoses but also the practical aspects of the treatment regime. Some have no means to get to treatments and for the treatment to work they need to follow all the protocols. Bob gave the example of a patient diagnosed with melanoma who lived in Surrey but could only be treated at VGH and his wife did not drive. He needed radiation to kill the cells and then stem cell introduction. The treatment was for six hours every day for six months. The Society provides a human touch to a difficult situation. The same driver waits for the patient to finish their treatment and drives them home. The individual service provides great satisfaction to the volunteer and the patients are very grateful. The Free Masons provided the service for 33 years but had difficulty with funded and discontinued the service during covid. So the Society took over and has been expanding into Chilliwack, Burnaby, Richmond and Vancouver. It currently has 10 drivers in Richmond and hopes to increase that to 100 - 200 by next year. Bob would like the number of rides to increase from 1,000 per month to 2,200 by next year. There have been 70,000 trips since 2016. The drivers receive 50 cents per K. The admin costs are about 6 - 7% and the budget is $430,000 which they hope to double by next year. Apart from the first three months of the covid lockdown they have never had a covid case and follow strict covid safety protocols with masks and sanitized cars. A prospective patient contacts the society and a dispatcher then puts a driver in touch with the patient to arrange the trip. The society asks volunteers to commit to two half days a week or one full day. Parking is free and usually only require companions where an interpreter is required or assistants is required inside the appointment. If you want to volunteer go to the web site at www.volunteercancerdrivers.ca or you can email Bob at bob.s@volunteercancerdrivers.ca.
Meanderings
The International Day of Peace, sometimes officially known as World Peace Day, is a United Nations sanctioned holiday observed annually on 21 September. It is dedicated to world peace, and specifically the absence of war and violence, such as might be occasioned by a temporary ceasefire in a combat zone for humanitarian aid access. The day was first celebrated in 1981, and is kept by many nations, political groups, military groups, and people. In 2013 the day was dedicated by the Secretary-General of the United Nations to peace education, the key preventive means to reduce war sustainably.
To inaugurate the day, the United Nations Peace Bell is rung at UN Headquarter in New York City. The bell is cast from coins donated by children from all continents except Africa, and was a gift from the United Nations Association of Japan, as "a reminder of the human cost of war"; the inscription on its side reads, "Long live absolute world peace".
In recent years, a searchable map of events has been published at un.org.
It has been 20 years since the 9/11 attacks and here is a synopsis of the toll.
The attacks resulted in 2,977 fatalities, over 25,000 injuries and substantial long term health consequences, in addition to at least $10 billion in infrastructure and property damage. It remains the deadliest terrorist attack in human history and the single deadliest incident for firefighters and law enforcement officers in the history of the United States, with 340 and 72 killed, respectively.
Upcoming Events
September 12th Garry Point Walk for Water be there shortly before 1 by the Fishermen's Needle. Let Pat know if you are coming.
Please note the date for the Auction
Friday May 6th 2022 Auction Fundraiser with final details to be determined but anticipating live and in person.
Committee (and other) Updates
You know it!
TODAYS CHUCKLEs
🤪
This one was suggested by my mentor Dick Wagner, if you here of any good jokes send them to me.
An Irishman walks into a bar in Dublin, orders three pints of Guinness and sits in the back of the room, drinking a sip out of each one in turn. When he finishes them, he comes back to the bar and orders three more. The bartender approaches and tells him, "You know, a pint goes flat after I draw it, and it would taste better if you bought one at a time." The Irishman replies, Well, you see, I have two brothers. One is in America, the other is in Australia, and I'm in Dublin. When we all left home, we promised that we'd drink this way to remember the days we drank together. So I drink one for each o'me brothers and one for me self." The bartender admits that this is a nice custom, and leaves it there. The Irishman becomes a regular in the bar, and always drinks the same way: He orders three pints and drinks them in turn. One day, he comes in and orders two pints. All the other regulars take notice and fall silent. When he comes back to the bar for the second round, the bartender says, "I don't want to intrude on your grief, but I wanted to offer my condolences on your loss." The Irishman looks quite puzzled for a moment, then a light dawns and he laughs. "Oh, no, everybody's just fine," he explains, "It's just that me wife had us join that Baptist Church and I had to quit drinking.
I am pretty sure my last words will be “Well shit that didn’t work.”
