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.
Please direct any questions to the President or a board member of yourchoosing 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 calm.
INSPIRATIONAL QUOTE
Inspirational Quote shared by Bob Shoker:
“If you think positively…
Sound becomes music
Movement becomes dance
Smile becomes laughter
Mind becomes meditation and
Life becomes a celebration.”
VISITORS
Jeannette Patacsil, our new member
ANNOUNCEMENTS AND
CLUB BUSINESS
Welcome to soon-to-be new member Jeannette Patacsil, a registered nurse at Richmond Hospital, sponsored by Elena. We invite one of our members to mentor her.
Reminder about the Fireside Chat for new members and others at Kal Mahal’s home Wednesday October 26 at 7:00-9:00 p.m.
World Polio Day events, many happening.
Sign up for donating Blood and Rotary gets credit.
Foundation Dinner Nov. 5 and the $100 payment can be transferred via the same email account as the dues. Even if you are not attending, you can donate and receive a tax receipt.
Some members still owe dues and fees. Please pay as soon as possible.
A reminder to bring mugs rather than use the paper cups at the hall.
DG John Berry won’t be here after all as our speaker, so we’ll change our agenda for that week.
Next week's speaker has changed, so we’ll do Fellowship - wear costumes, masks or hats and let’s all tell Halloween stories! Michael and Debbie T. will bring decorations.
Max, our Youth Exchange student, needs more things happening in the next weeks as there is room in his schedule.
Melinda needs a cook at Newman’s. If you know someone, please contact her!
sergeant At Arms Tidbits
Dick: Is getting up later and later and might one day be late!
Susan: Regretting there is so much smoke in the valley, making it so hard to talk so Susan is trying to be as silent as possible.
Bob: Did the last hike for the year in Lighthouse Park, a 2 hour hike including mimosas and oysters, so only did half!
Dalbir: Took a friend to the cabin then arranged for a contractor to do repairs up there, who found the cabin door wide open since Sunday, but nothing was missing in spite of the animals.
Amanda: Graham is working with UPS and loving the no-stress environment and will become a driver because he’s so friendly. Amanda has lost a couple of friends lately and her Dad was not doing well, but things are getting back to normal and her meditation has really helped.
Chris B.: Had a great week and is happy that Malcolm won, although it means she has years of continued solo traveling. Thanks to the Burma Shavers. She found Philippino sweet buns for the breakfast today. She is going to California tomorrow after 7 weeks of being in the schools. The Richmond Hospital Gala was lovely and raised $1.3 million. Someone donated $500,000 by raising their hand at the back of the room. The funds will go towards medical imaging, which is hard to say. After 3 mimosas, she’s going straight to work.
Danny: The alarm clock is not working well, so he was a bit late but he just came back from Puerto Vallarta where he attended an alternative medicine conference and brought back a flag from the PV Sud Rotary Club.
Debbie T.: Was just settling down after the few weeks before the election, but was throwing up a lot yesterday, although is back on her feet this morning. Wow! Her son is home from Egypt so the puppy has gone back home. Congratulations on the election, Debbie!
Joyce: Had amazing experiences in the Okanagan, details of which were not divulged, but it was an incredible time and she’s been pulled back to reality kicking and screaming.
Marg: Her literacy projects are up and running and she just made antipasta, Christmas cakes and puddings.
Peter: Sad dollars for Constable Yang, who paid the ultimate price. Sunday at Safeway look for his granddaughter who will be selling Krispy Kreme donuts to raise money for soccer.
Kal: Friday night went to Gala and Chris B. was amazing. Bobby Ghirra was there, too, sitting in the balcony by himself. Saturday night he went to Malcom’s get together. Melinda did a great board meeting.
Sam: He donated blood last weekend, as gay people can donate! He met with Tylor on Saturday and Tylor has exchanged banners and met the mayor. Moose had a swimming lesson and he did not enjoy it.
Bill: was part of the zoom with Tylor. He had a great time in Miami. Jake’s first job was at Tim Horton’s, and was terrible, but at least he lasted longer than Liz Truss.
Gordon: It’s so smoky! He’s having problems keeping up with the leadership in the world, with the chancellor. PM in London and the NDP leader all stepping down or being forced out. We suggest he not look at Italy.
Peachy: Says Congratulations to Debbie and Chris, but she is disappointed that no Philippinos won - maybe they’re waiting for her to step up! She will be talking to VGH after the meeting about a husband who will maybe be moving to her nursing home as he can’t return to normal life.
Pat: Thanks for breakfast, Congrats to Debbie and Malcolm, nice to see lots of members here. It’s getting darker in the mornings, but the radio played Michael Buble so it was easier to get up. She is busy with her role with CFUW.
Garth: Thanks for breakfast. He turned on his oven to self-clean, but the oven turned off for good, not before having melted cupboards above and below before the thermostat went out. Apparently this is a known thing for KitchenAid ovens, if you’re not watching it. He could spend $800 to get it fixed, but …
Brian: Is managing the teenage dating scene – his 19-year old daughter was dating a boy named Cassius, who she met at Cultus lake, and now the 16 year-old is dating a boy named Cassius! Not the same one! Hope he can keep an eye on things because he will have cataract surgery at the young age of 47 due to a badminton birdie in the eye in high school! Then he tried an efoil on Cultus on thanksgiving weekend – not an excellent idea.
Michael: Is enjoying the weather and family time and decorating the house for Hallowe’en.
Chris M.: delivered and ‘put up’ our rotary tents to support B.C. Arts at the Cultural Centre this weekend, and realized she was not able to put up a tent! When she brought them back to the Palace she left them with Andy, but Bobby isn’t sure who that is, so we hope the tents are safe. She is off to Mexico on Monday to stay with Nicci and go to her Chapala Rotary Club to present our funding of their local sanitation project.
Mary Lou: It’s good to see Brian, thanks for board meeting Monday night, looking forward to having Jeannette join the club and congrats to Debbie and Malcolm. The family went Sunday to the UBC apple festival and did apple tasting, food trucks with apple stuff and , took Oscar who loved the school bus. Today she’s off to the pumpkin patch and then to the cabin this weekend.
Debbie S. found her rotary badge but without the back magnet. She says thanks for breakfast and brought grapes on back table from her vine for others to share. Marg will make some grape jelly with some. Her son Keenan works for the Port of Vancouver and rescued one of 3 victims who ran into a freighter with their rented boat and capsized it. The 3 victims have hired a lawyer and we don’t know why. She was delighted to have Malcolm Brodie at Richmond Addiction Society’s AGM where he restated the city’s commitment to work on toxic drug issues.
Bobby: Congrats to Chris and Debbie and thanks for the breakfast and to Melinda for hosting the board meeting. He volunteered at the RGH gala but this year Givergy helped on the floor so Bobby was in the rafters. However, he was called upon to help out Kal, Judy and Ron with their phone systems. But River Rock wifi was down for 45 minutes! Today is the 16th year anniversary of brother Victor’s passing.
Melinda: Is loving her new granddaughter, born on Thanksgiving, and marvels at how much love you can you spread to more than one child! John is looking fabulous and his mood is better, but he caught a cold so isn’t feeling all that well. When in the hamburger line-up, she saw someone offer to pay for the two RCMP officers’ dinner who were in the line-up.
SPEAKER
Blair Kennedy’s Classification Speech.
We learned from Dalbir and from Blair himself that life is a series of opportunities, passions, mentorship, friendships and then of paying it forward. Blair’s life has been so dedicated to work and we are hopeful that by joining rotary he’ll be able to also focus on himself.
In spite of the fact that Blair brought ultrasound photos of himself before he was born, his story was engaging and didn’t seem too long!
From a small town south of Toronto where Blair spent his formative and fun years, to college in Barrie to become a red seal chef (still has the laminated certificate), to the call of “Go west young man” Blair has meandered back and forth from B.C. to Alberta, with sojourns in Québec and Regina, as he followed an exciting professional path.
With his best friend in a 69 Camaro, using more oil than gas and being pulled over only 3 times, they came west to Alberta, bypassing the sister in Calgary and staying with the brother in Red Deer – for a long time! In the mid 80s he went to Regina, back in days when we did table-side cooking, and was listed in the top ten in Canada, although we’re not sure if this was reflective of quality of the restaurant or of dining in Canada at that time. After joining the catering group at the Sandman Hotel, he wrote a convincing argument to the food and beverage director, and next morning he got out of the kitchen. The Sandman group was home for years, in B.C and Alberta. In the mid 90s he moved to Vancouver, managing hotels in the Lower Mainland. His chosen vehicle at the time was a 1983 standard Toyota Corolla, brown so it matched the rust. From Richmond, he went back to Alberta for years. In 2012 he was VP for a company with 34 hotels in Western Canada and Quebec. He was involved in many openings, some conversions, and spent 45 days in Montréal and travelled around Québec. Later in 2019-20 the company took a new direction, so around pandemic time, Blair took an exit package and a year off.
He feels good that during his many years in the hotel business, he knows there are a number of people he worked with and mentored who have become leaders in their own right. When he came back to Richmond the first time, many staff came to greet him warmly. If we make a good impression, it lasts.
During the Pandemic, for the first time in his life, he was home all of the time, so he went to his trailer near a lake, spent the summer golfing, and, while he didn’t meditate, he had a clock on the wall which always showed 5 o’clock. He took time to decompress.
An opportunity arose to work in the real estate division of a major company, and his portfolio has grown to more than 40 properties, including apartment buildings, office space in Alberta and Vancouver - $400 000 000 worth of portfolios, with plans to grow in the next years (it has more than doubled since he’s been there). Blair’s current challenge is staffing and he needs to hire more staff, but it is hard to find people and sometimes they stay only for a few days, so he has had to learn how to run the places himself, but this gives him valuable insight.
In late July Blair was promoted to president and COO of the company, so he thinks he will stay for a while. Business has occupied most of his life, but he is happy to move back to beautiful Richmond where he will take time to enjoy it.
Blair had 3 daughters and now has 3 grandsons, so he moved to trucks and guns and put away the dolls!! He has been blessed throughout his life to have people believing in him and offering opportunities and now wants to pay it forward.
Friendships early in life are valuable, but we might take them for granted when we are young. He was lucky to be able to focus on his career but also to keep up the friendship with Dalbir who lately welcomed him to his home. Real friends make you feel part of the family and he looks forward to being a member in our club.
Welcome, Blair!
Meanderings
As we listened to Blair’s story, I was reminded how much I love cooking and went to have another look at some famous sayings by one of the most famous, and lovable, chefs in the world - Julia Child!
1. "If you're afraid of butter, use cream."
2. "I think every woman should have a blowtorch."
3. "Always remember: If you're alone in the kitchen and you drop the lamb, you can always just pick it up. Who's going to know?"
4. “I was 32 when I started cooking; up until then, I just ate.”
5. “People who love to eat are always the best people.”
6. “A cookbook is only as good as its poorest recipe.”
7. "I think careful cooking is love, don't you? The loveliest thing you can cook for someone who's close to you is about as nice a Valentine as you can give."
8. “Drama is very important in life: You have to come on with a bang. You never want to go out with a whimper. Everything can have drama if it's done right. Even a pancake.”
9. "The only time to eat diet food is while you're waiting for the steak to cook."
10. “It’s so beautifully arranged on the plate, you know someone’s fingers have been all over it.”
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