The month of October is designated as Economic and Community Development in our Rotary year. Nearly 1.4 billion people live on less than $1.25 a day! We as Rotarians have the opportunity to promote economic and community development to reduce poverty in underserved communities through training, well paying jobs and access to financial management institutions. With our access to district and global grants we can support local entrepreneurs and community leaders in our own communities as well as internationally.
Sea to Sky District Conference
Conference plans are proceeding well. We have a great group of enthusiastic and knowledgeable people working hard to create the best conference ever. We will inform you, entertain you and create wonderful opportunities for fellowship and fun.
Visit of RIPE ( Rotary International President Elect) Ian Riseley, his lovely wife, PDG Juliet and our own Rotary International Director Dean Rohrs were in Prince George for two days. The three PG Rotary club presidents created a wonderful itinerary for them. They addressed the joint Rotary clubs, talked with the Interact club, visited various Rotary projects and were extremely accessible to all Rotarians. On Saturday, October 22nd the Regional Foundation Seminar, held at the Wosk Centre for Dialogue had informative speakers and fabulous dialogue. This was followed by a dinner where RIPE Ian Riseley was the featured speaker.
Club Visits
We have substituted the Rotary mobile ( truck and camper) for a car to do the club visits. Instead of hundreds of kilometres we are now dealing with gruelling traffic! Thank goodness the reception at the clubs is so welcoming and fun. This month we visited the Rotary clubs of Steveston, Richmond Sunset, Tsawwassen, Vancouver Centennial, Vancouver Sunrise, Richmond Sunrise, Arbutus, Burns Lake, PG Nechako and the joint Rotary PG meeting, North Vancouver and we finished off the month of October at the Rotary club of North Vancouver Lionsgate. Every club was so interesting in their uniqueness. We have been sung to, fed an assortment of delicious ethnic food, (not to mention the famous Foundation cakes), inducted new eager members, respectfully awarded Paul Harris’, toured intriguing community Rotary projects, heard about life changing projects overseas, laughed at Rotary jokes, heard rousing and patriotic renditions of “Oh Canada”, but best of all we have been touched by people who live by the Four Way test. Thank you Rotarians for sharing your Rotary lives with us!
This month I also attended a meeting to talk about the prospect of creating a Philippine Rotary club in Vancouver. Do you have an ethnic group in your community who needs to be invited into Rotary?
World Interact Week is October 31st to November 6th. Invite these young leaders to your Rotary club meetings, join their service projects, and attend their meetings to show your appreciation for all of their hard work improving communities.
"Short Term Exchange (STEP) is an exciting adventure for students between the ages of 15yr - 19 yrs. It is a family to family exchange and we are now excepting applications for summer 2017! Deadline for all applicants is January 31, 2017. It is a great opportunity for young people who want to travel to a different country, and live as a local for 3 to 4 weeks in the summer.
World Polio Day was on October 24th. I hope that all clubs recognized that event. Before Rotary took on the huge task of polio eradication 350,000 people, mostly children were paralysed with polio every year. Today, 31 years later the children of the world, except for two countries are growing up without the knowledge or the fear of polio. But, as the fear wanes so too does the awareness of polio. This is why it is so important that Rotarians push polio eradication to the top of our government’s priorities. We need to make sure that the world knows that Rotary’s work to eradicate polio is almost done but more importantly the world needs to know that we will not give up till its done.
I attended Rotary on Ice earlier this month. This event creates awareness of polio. Monies raised from the 50/50 sales goes to polio as well as to Rotary youth. This has been collaboration with the Vancouver Giants. In the last three years Rotarians have paid for entry tickets of almost 100 kids from the Boys and Girls Clubs of the Lower Mainland to see the hockey game and receive a free meal.
I hope that you all have a happy and safe Hallowe’en. Here is President Peter from the RC of North Vancouver Lionsgate at their club social. Save some of your masks or costumes for the Gala at the conference.
With warm Rotary regards,
DG Lyn
Rotaract Update In September, we held a joint Rotaract Training Session with District 5050 at the Burnaby Neighborhood House. Members from eleven different Rotaract clubs came together for a day of learning and networking with each other. With the success of this joint event we hope to continue to work with District 5050. Last month the Rotaract Club of Richmond held a fundraiser at Ceili’s Modern Irish Pub in Richmond where they were able to raise $375 dollars for their club. They were really thankful for the Rotarian turn out that night. This month the Rotaract Club of New Westminster held a fundraiser at The Heritage Grill in New Westminster to support the Rotaract Club of Nairobi Central’s project “ A Girl A K A Year” sanitary Towels Project that provides hygienic sanitary towels and undergarments to girls in Kenya. With their fundraising efforts the Rotaract club of New Westminster is able to help 25 girls stay in school this year.
Lots of Buzz about Conference 2017
Find out what two babies are saying in their unique language. In this translation, we discover they are discussing the District 5040 Conference 2017 in Whistler. Save $75 if your register before January 16, 2017. To register, links to hotel, and more details visit www.CelebrateRotary.ca
Happy World Interact Week! We want to share exciting ways to celebrate and support Interact clubs. As a bonus, we’re sharing the big reveal of the 2016 Interact Video Awards themes! Here are just a few ways you can recognize World Interact Week:
Here is a short Video invitation to The Rotary Foundation Million Dollar Dinner being hosted by District 5040 & 5050 on January 9, 2017. For more information, please visit: https://sway.com/33HP6HfAAmMyPPl4
RI President Elect Ian Riseley and PDG Juliet Riseley were keynote speakers at the Exploring – The Rotary Foundation – Regional Seminar in Vancouver. They were joined by facilitators RRFC Betty Screpnek, RPIC Sean Hogan, E/MGA Chris Offer, A-RRFC Larry Stinson and Annual Giving Officer Chris Boyce. Rotarians from Districts 5010, 5020, 5040, 5050, 5060, 5370, 7040 and 9810 gathered at the Wosk Centre for Dialogue in Vancouver. Enthusiastic and passionate discussion, debate, agreement, disagreement, sharing and enthusiasm were the order of the day. Click to view photos from the Seminar.
There was excellent media coverage of RI President Elect Ian Riseley's visit to Prince George which highlighted all of the great work being done by Rotarians in the area. Clikc on these links to get all of the news: Prince George Citizen, 250 NEWS, and CKPG TV.
$1,150 in proceeds to End Polio -- converted to $5,750 with matching grants -- came from tickets Rotary sold for the October 23rd Vancouver Giants hockey game at the annual Rotary on Ice event, led by the Tsawwassen and Ladner Rotary Clubs, with Rotoract Clubs and Interact Clubs in Delta and Vancouver, with help from District 5040 Governor Lyn Stroshin. The Boys & Girls Club received tickets worth almost $1,700 purchased by Rotarians and others so that 94 young people could attend the game at no cost. Finally, Rotarians of all ages sold tickets for a 50/50 lottery draw at the game with $2,520 going to Rotary's Rotoract and Interact clubs.
Nov 1 Vancouver
Nov 3 New Westminster
Nov 8 Ladner
Nov 16 Richmond
Nov 16 West Vancouver
Nov 17 Burnaby Deer Lake
Nov 19 Vancouver Cambie
Nov 22 Vancouver Fraserview
Nov 23 New West Royal City
Nov 24 Vancouver Yaletown
Nov 30 Pemberton
The three PG Rotary club presidents created a wonderful itinerary for them. They addressed the joint Rotary clubs, talked with the Interact club, visited various Rotary projects and were extremely accessible to all Rotarians. On Saturday, October 22nd the Regional Foundation Seminar, held at the Wosk Centre for Dialogue had informative speakers and fabulous dialogue. This was followed by a dinner where RIPE Ian Riseley was the featured speaker.
We have substituted the Rotary mobile ( truck and camper) for a car to do the club visits. Instead of hundreds of kilometres we are now dealing with gruelling traffic! Thank goodness the reception at the clubs is so welcoming and fun. This month we visited the Rotary clubs of Steveston, Richmond Sunset, Tsawwassen, Vancouver Centennial, Vancouver Sunrise, 
Richmond Sunrise, Arbutus, Burns Lake, PG Nechako and the joint Rotary PG meeting, North Vancouver and we finished off the month of October at the Rotary club of North Vancouver Lionsgate. Every club was so interesting in their uniqueness. We have been sung to, fed an assortment of delicious ethnic food, (not to mention the famous Foundation cakes), inducted new eager members, respectfully awarded Paul 
Harris’, toured intriguing community Rotary projects, heard about life changing projects overseas, laughed at Rotary jokes, heard rousing and patriotic renditions of “Oh Canada”, but best of all we have been touched by people who live by the Four Way test. Thank you Rotarians for sharing your Rotary lives with us!
World Interact Week is October 31st to November 6th. Invite these young leaders to your Rotary club meetings, join their service projects, and attend their meetings to show your appreciation for all of their hard work improving communities..jpg)
World Polio Day was on October 24th. I hope that all clubs recognized that event. Before Rotary took on the huge task of polio eradication 350,000 people, mostly children were paralysed with polio every year. Today, 31 years later the children of the world, except for two countries are growing up without the knowledge or the fear of polio. But, as the fear wanes so too does the awareness of polio. This is why it is so important that Rotarians push polio eradication to the top of our government’s priorities. We need to make sure that the world knows that Rotary’s work to eradicate polio is almost done but more importantly the world needs to know that we will not give up till its done.
