Repeat from last week or until no longer relevant or until I delete it:
Amanda Gala Update (recopied from last week as a reminder):
Get your basket items in. You can either contribute small individual items or put together a full basket yourself. Give the completed baskets to Amanda, but the items to Marg.
Bring two bottles of wine to a morning meeting.
Lawrence has a contact offering a discount on liquor, so if you want your cash to go a bit further let him know, he’ll do a bulk order next weekend (March 22)
Amanda will send out another email about the best basket items.
We need someone to lead the volunteers for the 2026 Auction.
We need sponsors for some remaining categories.
Gift certificates go to Debbie S. when she returns.
April 7 is basket making at the Funeral Home at 6 p.m. A signup sheet will be coming.
Cutoff for all entries into the Givergy database is April 3. Get your items in as soon as possible.
Let Sandra know about your tables/ticket sales and let Debbie M. know if you need a table for 12.
Live Auction Items – we currently have 8, but need 10, so if you have another idea, please let Amanda know. Experiences are very attractive.
Hours are the same for the gala as in previous years – 6 p.m. to 9:45 p.m.
Menu will be slightly changed, with appetizers: tempura prawns, chicken bites, bruschetta, caprese salad skewers – all being served before sitting. Dinner is: salads green and pasta, prime rib, mushroom pasta, cilantro fish, a chicken dish? roasted vegetables, assortment of breads and balsamic on the table, mini cannoli and cheesecakes for dessert.
Games will be 50/50, Heads and Tails, and a Balloon Game.
If you don’t have time to buy items for the auction, you can let Chris know, and she’ll shop for you.
District convention April 25-27 at the River Rock
President’s Dinner confirmed, tell Pat if you’re coming
Pathways Fundraiser evening is May 1, the night before our auction. Mary Lou is organizing a table. Three spots left at the table.
Bring a list of the things for your baskets to Marg as at the moment we have only wine
OUR THURSDAY BREAKFAST MEETING IS ACCESSED THROUGH THE LINK BELOW.
Rotary Club of Richmond Sunrise is inviting you to a scheduled Zoom meeting.
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)Vote in the next election.
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 Martin Luther King Jr. via Marg “If I cannot do great things, I can do small things in a great way.”
VISITORS
Jeff Golby, CEO ACTS for Water Canada (Speaker)
Elana Gold (Susan Ness)
ANNOUNCEMENTS AND
CLUB BUSINESS
Gala Meeting April 9 - 6 p.m. chez Peter.
Basket Meeting April 7 - 6 p.m. at the Funeral Home, dinner included – Serving It Right (Mary Lou)
Gala Auction May 2
Gilmore Breakfast April 8, not next Tuesday
Golf Tournament Richmond Firefights May 29 – let Kal know if you want to golf or eat dinner
RWH AGM - Brian will attend with Elena.
Table Sales for Gala – let Sandra know configuration of tables, and list of names at your table (pay by e-transfer, Shopify or cheque)
Making donations for Gala, can be made through our website and a receipt will be generated
Speaker
Jeff Golby ACTS for Water:
ACTS for Water is made possible through the partnership of many Rotary Clubs, including Richmond Sunrise, and Rotary World Health. About 35 years ago, the first clean safe water was delivered to a small village in Uganda, using a gravity system. They have been receiving water since 1989 and Jeff has met many of the ministers who were there early on.
Jeff started in 2016 and visited Uganda where he met young Frank who, as a small boy, turned on the first tap with clean water. The community since then has been developed with schools and libraries, and is a modern, functioning community. ACTS builds gravity flow systems, as the water source is high up on the hills, a feat of engineering. The clean water is paired with a training program in sanitations, including latrines, and mirrors (being able to see themselves increased hand washing by 60%!). Women in the village started making their own soap and are now selling it on the markets, boosting their incomes. The community is well beyond survival and is thriving.
ACTS is working with successive communities, and mostly the word has already spread. Over the last 18 months, they have been working with a community which is completely cut off. A network of trenches and gravity flow systems is now extending into many areas. Within the past 12 months 98% of the households are now practising sanitary hygiene, using latrines and hand washing. There has been an increase in school enrolment, and a decrease in absenteeism. Poverty has been reduced. Ultimately the reduced burden on women and children has reduced hours walking for water and has increased pride in the communities. The water is sweet, and no frogs jump out of the cups!
Thank you, Jeff, for the update and for the important work you do!
SERGEANT At Arms Tidbits
Mary Lou has been away and is happy to be here in person this week. Lindsey got into Archival Sciences at U of T. The birthday year continues, and she is going to Hawaii on Friday until April. They booked a house in Kona, with people coming periodically, girlfriends first, then spouses next and the kids over Easter.
Debbie S. is soon hopping on a ferry so zoomed in. Most of the week has been in the garden and she is happy to see the sun when it peeks out.
Garth heard an exceptional O Canada and people leapt to their feet, a rousing rendition. (ED: He was not referencing this morning at the Grand Ballroom, but was, no doubt, comparable.)
Chris M. is busy going to the gym, getting ready for the golf season. A great segue from Jeff’s presentation is that Nicci in Chapala, Mexico sent her an update about their water sanitation project in the village of Ojo de Agua – the natural filtration system is up and running. Here is the link to the video, but it’s all in Spanish, so a good brain exercise.
Dalbir had lunch with Bob Shoker, and thinks he’ll be back to Rotary. Chewy and Brian are good examples of those who have come back. So, keep in touch. He went to Tina Turner, and noted references to racism and abuse, and we have trouble relating to those issues. In Dalbir’s village in India they have water, but not reliable electricity. He feels so fortunate to live here in Canada.
Susan brought her friend Elana as a guest and is expanding her birthday, now into two weeks. The blossom-gazing walk is compromised by the weather and by a big unexplained bruise on Susan’s foot, too.
Marg went to see the Cambodian Rock Band yesterday at the Stanley Theatre; very difficult to listen to the stories, but the music is outstanding.
Debbie M. has been paddling every night and last night they could see the rain coming, the water swelling and were hoping for no lightning and thunder, so rushed back. She has been teaching her granddaughter how to do her glider bike around the school grounds and she is finally getting it. What did Gigi think of that? “It’s fantastic!” “I know, I know, I know!” she replied. Where does she get that?
Judy says that Connor in Gr 7 had his performances on the weekend, playing the lead in the show Honk, where he was the character Ugly. She couldn’t take the smile off her face as he did his soliloquies and sang with animation. It was incredible. There will be “James and the Giant Peach” coming up, for which he’ll audition. Warren and the kids were in Birch Bay, and Judy went for the day, feeling guilty driving across the border. We have to remember that little community needs tourists, but it’s still a funny feeling. Driving across, there was a demonstration at the Peace Arch -- Americans holding flags and welcoming Canadians.
Kal saw that our speaker Jeff had an interview on the news. Kal’s funeral week is over, and he has had lunches and breakfasts with buddies.
Blair says every single day it takes hours to get home because Oak Street is closed again. He is still going and still has a job.
John’s son Danny went to New Zealand to do a bungee jump, where you bounce many times up and down, and he didn’t believe he could scream like that. His 5-year-old grandson plays goal and his technique is to places his stick along the goal line and lie down on his side. They lost 25-2, but he’s pretty sure it was only 4-2.
Carolyn survived her tooth implant and Larry has survived 4 (or more). She is finally starting to gum things after a week of baby food. She was looking for running shoes made in Canada and found Vessi – super comfy, and waterproof and there is now a store at Richmond Centre.
Larry says getting out of bed is his training. He is seeing the foot doctor, and he was told to change his footwear from the Jordans (he has 100 pairs) but would rather look good and live with the pain. His grandkids are growing up, and he gets phone calls that they are coming over to do things for him to help him out, and Larry can’t help throwing money at them if they promise not to tell the parents. Tomorrow, he has another appointment for his teeth, and is tired of eating baby food, but is not losing weight, as the pureed stuff is calorie-rich. Steve has lost 22 lbs. with a goal of losing 50 lbs.
Micheal bought a new car, paid his $20, and treated us to a long story. He bought it for his daughter who is turning 21 in July – a Chevrolet Spark, small, girlish, with 10 air bags, lots of engineering for safety, and one he has been eyeing since Christmas. He saw, on the Auto Traders update list, Monday might, a pastor-driven car (ED: thought he said “pasture-driven”, either would have been fine, but driving through fields in a small car might not have been the best), in Victoria BC, called the dealer Tuesday morning at 9 am., talked to the manager, asked to hold it for the day, was going to take the 1pm ferry, tried for the 11am ferry instead, texted Bobby he wasn’t coming in, no reply, paid the ferry ticket, they said not the 11, thought he might get on the 1, but maybe the 3pm. He didn’t park close to the person in front of him, saw the BC Ferries pickup truck with the roof lights on, got out of his car, started running to the man, knocked on his window, explained he can’t get on the ferry, learned the only way is to walk on, but how to get his car out of the line, found he could go to the ‘do not enter’ sign where the spikes won’t spike you, ran back to car, was going backwards, swerving with others, got to the sign, automatically opened, paid to park car, got on as foot passenger on the 11am. He was at the car dealer at 12:30pm, took the car for a spin, during lunch, gave $1000 cash to hold it for next week pick up. It’s a 2014 with only 11,000 km, so he asked for a warranty, was only $2000, so for $12 000 total he bought a Chevy Spark, and his daughter will be driving it her whole life. He’ll drive it here next week to show everyone. (ED: Standing ovation to Chris M for capturing all that – if it was Lawence or John it would have read “5 minutes on how he bought a car for his daughter”- assuming we stayed awake the whole time! )
Jeannette is fixing her schedule because of all the Rotary events coming up, and has to pick up extra shifts to pay for them, so is now working on Plan 63.
Elena had a good birthday!
Gordon is happy to hear from Jeff, after so many years of the journey together. Water is also “uisce” in Gaelic, translated means whisky. (ED: Your video tutorial)
Joyce has a 10-year-old entrepreneurial granddaughter who went to the school book sale with $20, bought books younger kids couldn’t get, and came back with $25 and 8 books.
Sandra rented a Spark and loved it, except for the lack of uptake going onto the freeway and last time they got a huge Toyota Tundra. She flew over Lake Chapala Mexico and saw how polluted it is. She is going to the Juno Awards on Sunday and also to the after party at the Commodore and worries about going to work the next day.
Chewy spent the day with his son but had to go to the liquor store for the auction, and his son was patient, but followed him around, and, after Chewy thanked him for his patience, after being annoyed, he turned his mood around. They went for lunch and then went playground hunting with google maps.
Pat is just finishing up bowling, but her average has dropped because of her sore shoulder. Her family is away, and she is looking after the dog Pepper, who needs walking twice a day.
Chris P. ran into Mark from the Grand Prix of Art, and learned it is cancelled for this year. She talked to Laurence Bourke yesterday and he might eventually come back. She can’t do the baskets, but the Yeti costume was donated by her.
Brian had a good week and skied 5 days with Adam at Cypress, with remote work he can do half a day on computer and Cypress is a client. Fun fact they have 50 f/t employees and hire 1100 people every winter. Sunday he was doing “this dating thing”, and she wanted to go hiking, the last half was in snow, but steep, and he got to the top, 100% saturated and cold, went to washroom, and it was cold à la George Costanza.
Bobby says their village in India was modernized, but others weren’t. He feels very fortunate to be in this country. Fact checking about Micheal’s story of running – it didn’t happen, Micheal doesn’t run. He is celebrating his wife’s 50th birthday this week, heading to Whistler, another birthday extended celebration and says thanks to Debbie and Judy for marriage counselling, after his Valentine’s Day fiasco.
Peter has a friend who bought a car for his son, at a Kingsway dealer, we know the reputation of those lots, quite cheap, and asked for warranty – was offered the 30/30 – 30 feet or 30 seconds. His granddaughter came home on Monday, played 4 games in Spain, won 3, and she was player of the game. Her dilemma now is about the process with White Caps, because, if successful, she would have to go to Burnaby Central, with school in the morning, and practice every afternoon. She hasn’t yet been selected, but is high on the list!
MEANDERINGS
According the National Geographic the first motorized taxi cabs in New York City were electric. The Electrobat was launched in 1897 and went a top speed of 20mph and a range of 25 miles on one charge. The vehicles were driven into a skating rink where the 1,250 pound batteries could be replaced with a freshly charged one. The EVs at that point were much preferred over the internal combustion engine vehicles because the EV's were easier to start and maneuver. Either were preferable over the 150,000 horses each producing 35 pounds of waste everyday. Now that's horse#$%@!
UPCOMING EVENTS
April 3rd, 2025 Cut Off date for prizes and Baskets.
April 7th Basket Making at Richmond Life Centre.
Friday May 2, 2025 Sunrise Rotary Gala Auction
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;
TODAY'S CHUCKLEs
Why do psychics have to ask you for your name?
Experience is something you don't get until just after you need it.
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