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.
5)Don't accept a jet from the Qataris.
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.
INSPIRATIONAL QUOTE
From Arthur Ashe via Debbie S.” Start where you are. Use what you have. Do what you can.”
VISITORS
Tammie Wessels, Brian Wormald, Al Stjernegaard, Glen Brown and Martin Lee
ANNOUNCEMENTS AND
CLUB BUSINESS
June 3. last Gilmore breakfast – let Marg know if you want to volunteer.
Speaker
Brian Wormald, Al Stjernegaard and Glen Brown are members of the Rotary Club of Port Moody, a small but mighty club which, since 1999, has been a gathering place for leaders, problem-solvers, and professionals who want to have a positive impact on their communities. In September of 1999 members of 2 Tri-City Rotary Clubs branched out to form the provisional club of Port Moody following the requirements of Rotary International with 25 members from the business community comprising the total group.
The atmosphere of the club established at that time was one of warmth and camaraderie. Dubbed at the time the “hugging club”, the Rotary Club of Port Moody has since grown to 45 members and is renowned for its friendly and welcoming culture. They do Rib Fest every year, (this year July 18-20) which helps to increase their membership numbers. They do a lot of international work and are experts on writing global grants. They are up to their third global grant for Belize.
The presentation focused on Belize. First contact with Belize was in 2012 on a holiday. RACHEL (Remote Area Hotspot for Ed and Learning) as a key tool on these projects, an internet in a box. A collection of learning resources, it is used in over 53 countries around the world.
Cisco Woods, whose dad, John Woods, was a Rotarian, brought attention to the priority need of addressing the prison system, which was rife with corruption and murders. Work had already been done by Rotarians, who were encouraged to basically take it over, so the prison is now run by the Rotarians, operating on a shoestring budget. RACHEL is being used in the prisons now, thanks to the Port Moody Club. Prisoners are integrated back into the community, creating a sense of connection and growth and they are usually able to find work in companies in the country, supported by Rotarians. Prisoners help Rotarians unload Rotary Help containers. Rotary colours are seen throughout the prison! Inmates are learning to read and improve their skills, including vocational training and they feel confident they can support their families and break the cycle of crime-prison-crime. Facilitators are sometimes previously trained prisoners. The recidivism rate has dropped from 84% to 16%. Cisco reminds them of the importance of healing the heart as well as training the mind.
The Port Moody Club established one school, applied for grants and are now up to 11 schools all together. With another Rotary club there and the Ministry of Education, the RACHEL program was rolled out to other schools. This April, a team of 13 did a two-day workshop with principals and teachers, with great feedback - some schools are literally in the jungle.
Future projects include another global grant, focusing on a new school district, supporting 10-20 schools. They are looking for partners and travel team members. Note there are 7 Rotary clubs in Belize, most of whose members are locals.
SERGEANT At Arms Tidbits
Brian saw the auction photos of himself jumping to get the balloon, with his ‘spare tire’ showing beneath his disheveled suit - no wonder he’s still single. Coast Rica with the kids was wonderful, playing cards with them and enjoying the great weather.
An aside from Bill, the SA moderator: “This morning Brian thought he saw Gordon in the other parking lot, asleep in his car, so he called Gordon to wake him up, but Gordon was actually sleeping at home in bed.”
Garth says Chor Leone made over $400,000 -- up from other years and a great success. Don’t worry golfers, the rain stops at 11 am for today’s tournament.
Bobby was in Chicago for a restauration show [ED: I wasn’t at the meeting and so am unsure if “restauration” is 1) a typo, 2) a pun on “restaurant restoration”, or 3) a portmanteau of “restaurant association”], his first time there, and was impressed by the architecture, the river and the wind! Then he went to Toronto for a visit with his daughter.
Chris M. is a little tired this morning. Because she and Rod met ‘later’ in their lives, they decided to have monthiversaries instead of anniversaries and they celebrate on the 28th of every month. Last night they celebrated their 39th monthiversary and Chris hates when it’s a Wednesday as the Thursday mornings are difficult. Each month they exchange cards, treats and a gift. Rod is very romantic. This month he gave her a sledgehammer.
Tammie(our guest) is just back from a trip – a cruise on the Mediterranean – Greece, Turkey and Croatia with her husband and friends then met up with her sons in Athens and had a fabulous family time. She has been to Belize and appreciates the work they are doing. The people and country are beautiful and do need the help.
Micheal says India used to be like that, no electricity in the villages, but now the internet is everywhere, maybe even more than here. He is getting ready for summer, graduations from kindergarten and preschool are coming up, with sports day tomorrow.
Joyce has a wild life. She and Debbie T. went to the Indigenous awards ceremony to give the rotary scholarship to Nicky Taylor who will be going to Capilano film school. It was most uplifting and impactful. She urges everyone to take those opportunities. She was on Galiano for a week retreat, her son was up from Californian, and she is doing lots of ‘big picture’ stuff, but feels like she’s been shot from a cannon.
Larry is out of control, with too much to do, living by two calendars and overbooks himself. He booked for a church event in Nanaimo this weekend but is also hosting 89th and 65th birthdays in Birch Bay.
Elena is just back from San Francisco, after 3 weeks, for her sister in law’s funeral, who passed away hours after Elena arrived. All 3 of her boys were there. She was asked to speak on behalf of the Agala side. There were lots of details and she looked after them. Her experience with RWH showed her the importance of the RACHEL, and she saw it working in the Philippines.
Sandra on Zoom, rode her bike to work on the bike path yesterday, was almost the only one, although there were more on the return trip and advises us of the need to watch the driveways. She is looking after Miller this morning.
Jeannette had 4 visitors for a week, and it was very tiring driving all over Vancouver and the Island. They enjoyed it a lot and are planning to come back.
Debbie T. as a school trustee, recognizes the importance of education, and recalls that a group of teachers had gone one year doing a similar project in East Kenya. Her oldest son and his partner (a criminologist) go to conventions and advocate for prison reform here as well and she will share this information. She received a call from her son who knew the girl’s mother and was personally contacted to say how overjoyed the Indigenous scholarship recipient was. It is wonderful to see Indigenous students going to post-secondary including UBC, film schools, etc. She attended the End-Polio event at Aberdeen centre last week. Our peace pole can have about 30 characters, so she needs help deciding what to have written on the pole.
Pat remembers Delta being involved in the RACHEL project.
Susan Ness said she ran into Moe at Costco and they had a make-up session [ED: This appears to be second-hand information but we remain confident that it says “make-UP session”]. She doesn’t go to the backyard often, but went to water flowers and found a raccoon was lounging on the sofa. It was surprised to be sprayed away by the hose. She hopes they won’t be back.
Martin Lee (our guest) sees he is the youngest here and happy to learn about our club. He is interested in more community involvement, having lived in Richmond for the last two decades.
Sam thanks Rotary for giving him experience that led him to become secretary on the board of his LGBTQ hockey club, as he is now comfortable cutting people off when they’re going too long – thanks to Micheal.
Bill continues the Jake saga by announcing that he flew to Toronto to get his visa in 5 minutes.
Kal says kudos to Larry for the successful Gerry Biggar funeral, after which he went to a wedding reception, slated for 6:30, but no one was there (thought it was Indian time), then stood in the parking lot until 7:30 as there was a fire alarm. He relayed some golf stories about Pat that merit repeating and says he’s looking forward to a great day on the golf course.
Marg started watching tennis at 2 a.m. and will be back here tomorrow night for the Choice School gala. There are lots of dinners on her calendar for June and they’ve booked for Newfoundland in July.
Blair noted that our two guests are both HR people and seem to be in a good mood, as he usually stays away from HR. He’s looking forward to golfing in the sun at 11:26.
Al and Brian and Glen from Port Moody thank us for welcoming them and letting them share their stories. Brian’s snake story which shouldn’t put us off from joining them - when they were going south in Belize, for a walk on a trail, he heard a noise, from behind or above, then a snake fell just behind him, and as they were staring at each other, the snake’s head came up, and it was going straight for him. So, Brian ran, then swung around looking for the snake, tripped, lost his glasses, constantly wondering where the snake was, either on him or sliding up his leg. But thankfully no snake in view and it might have been scared off by the fall. Glen has been to Belize four times. He spent the last week in Scotland, near St. Andrews and it is windy there, too. They say it’s 14 º, but feels like 4 º, and it takes a while to interpret the Scottish forecast.
Debbie S. will be cycling this summer, in preparation to cycle the Confederation Trail in PEI with daughter Nicole, her sister, her niece and some friends. It’s about 250 km, flat, not a hard cycle, and they’ll be staying at BnBs along the way. They booked through Great Canadian Trail Company, and it’s all organized, including the return to Charlottetown at the end. It looks like fun so she is training on the flat lands of Ladner and Tsawwassen and will come to Richmond.
Peter says his cousin and husband were celebrating their 50th anniversary on a cruise, but 10 days ago Sherry slipped in the shower on the ship, cracked her head, and is in hospital in Paris, waiting for a medivac from Paris to Nanaimo. The assistant is looking after her and her husband, thank you insurance company! They will hopefully be home on Friday.
MEANDERINGS
Video Discs were introduced 25 years ago by North American Phillips Corporation and MCA Inc. Anybody use a VCR any more?
UPCOMING EVENTS
Saturday June 14, 2025; Presidents Dinner
6:00 p.m. to 8:30 p.m.
Richmond Country Club,
Buffet Dinner
Approximately $90.00 per person;
Friday, May 1st, 2026; Rotary Gala
TODAY'S CHUCKLEs
R2D2 was the naughtiest robot on set; they had to bleep out all of his lines.
He said he'd carry on, despite the foggy weather, but I can't see him doing that.
Why are frogs so happy? Because they eat whatever bugs them.
.png)
