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Odd Eidsvik Park

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Published in The Northern View

May 20 - 22, 2022

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Ramesh Ferris tackles polio one step at a time

We're thrilled that Ramesh Ferris will join us as a keynote speaker at our District Conference in Prince George, May 20-22.

Ramesh is a Polio Survivor who resides in Whitehorse, Yukon.

He has shared our Rotary End polio message with countless heads of state and other world leaders including:

Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II, Former Secretary General of the United Nations Ban Ki Moon, The Director General of the World Health Organization Dr. Adhanom Tedros, as well as Bill Gates, Archbishop Desmond Tutu, & His Holiness the Dalai Lama.

Ramesh has travelled throughout Canada, India, USA, Puerto Rico, Australia, South Africa, Pakistan, and Afghanistan, all to convince more people to support the end of polio. Ramesh has spoken to delegates at the United Nations Headquarters in New York City and to many Rotarians at various Zone Institutes and District Conferences.

Ramesh is a Rotary Paul Harris Fellow, and Rotarian with the Whitehorse Rendezvous Rotary Club, which he is the current club President.

Ramesh is excited to share the important message of polio eradication, education, and rehabilitation with you.

Rotary Speaker Series: Ram Nayyar

Join the Regal Rotaract Club for a conversation with Ram Nayyar, an acclaimed certified life coach and author on Tuesday, Nov. 16 at 7:30 p.m.

It's the first of the District 5040 Rotary Speaker Series.

Ram Nayyar helps others bring their best to every aspect of life, sport, and business. He is one of only a few coaches to lead teams into medal-round contention at the Olympic Level, yet his focus is on developing skills for life off the court.

Zoom link:

You are invited to a Zoom meeting.
When: Nov 16, 2021 07:30 PM Vancouver

Register in advance for this meeting:
https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZYlduutqzktGN0aWWU40A7LoNMZ0NNToxz1

Ram is a Level-Five Chartered Professional Coach (Ch. C. P.), Master Learning Facilitator, and holds a Diploma in High Performance Coaching. He has been Head Coach for the Canadian National Badminton Team, The Canadian National Para Badminton Team, the Mumbai Rockets of the Premier Badminton League, and the Vancouver Lawn Tennis and Badminton Club. He is the author of two books: The Sport of Life, and From Confusion to Clarity.

World Polio Day: Eradicating Polio Two Drops at a Time

Posted by Andrea Johnson on Oct 26, 2021

Thanks to the work of Rotarians in Vancouver, prominent landmarks such as BC Place, Vancouver City Hall’s clock were lit up in red, while Telus Science World shone bright Sunday Oct 24.

Elsewhere, you might have seen photos of prominent landmarks around the world glowing in red.

The Nasdaq at Times Square in New York City glowing in purple, for example.

It’s all due to Rotarians around the world displaying their commitment to eradicate polio on World Polio Day on Oct. 24.

Thanks to Rotary and our partners and our vaccination efforts, more than 19 million people are walking today. More than 1.5 million children’s lives have been saved. More than 2.5 billion children have been immunized.

Nominating Committee selects Drew Antrobus for 2024/25 District 5040 Governor

The Rotary District 5040 Nominating Committee has completed the interview process for the District Governor position for the 2024-2025 Rotary year. The committee has selected Drew Antrobus from the Rotary Club of Richmond - Sunset.

As per our policy, we now enter in to the 14-day period in which any challenges by candidates must be sent to Past District Governor and Nomination chair Darcy Long no later than Oct. 31, 2021. Darcy can be reached at darcyrotary@outlook.com

Drew is currently a member of the Rotary Club of Richmond Sunset in District 5040 and will be the President in 2022-23. He is currently the Executive Assistant Governor, Vice-Chair of the Foundation Committee for District 5040.

He is a Paul Harris Fellow +4, a member of the Polio Plus Society, a Foundation Benefactor. In his 35 years of service, Drew has served both at the Club Level and the District Levels.

With Richmond Sunset, Drew is currently the President Elect and the Chair of the Peace Committee and has been the Sgt-at-Arms for the club. At the District 5040 level Drew is currently the Executive Assistant Governor and Vice Chair of the Foundation Committee, District Trainer, and a Peace Conversation Facilitator. Drew has held the positions of Lead Facilitator for the PNW PETS 21, District Trainer and sat on the Learning and Development Committee for four years.

Meet Your New Prince George - North AG: Dolly Hilton

Dolly Hilton joined the Rotary Club of Prince George – Nechako in July 2010 and hasn’t looked back since.

She first joined the club from an invitation from her friend Leona Anderson, a long-time member of the club and the Board.

Dolly initially joined for networking but soon realized it had so much more to offer than a small community-minded charity once she found the true meaning of being a Rotarian. As is her habit, once she became a Rotarian she joined the Board, eventually becoming President in 2015-16. That year under Dolly’s leadership, she led the club to one of the district’s most esteemed honours, being named the club-of-the-year.

She has stayed on the Board in different capacities since and likes to be part of the decision-making team of the club.
She was asked to join the District Foundation Committee about five years ago and presently holds the position of Paul Harris Society Co-ordinator. She believes strongly in supporting the charities she is passionate about. The Rotary Foundation is top of the list as she is a Sustaining Member of the Paul Harris Society.

Youth Exchange in a COVID World

How does an exchange program function in a pandemic? The obvious answer would be that it doesn’t, but Rotary Youth Exchange has always prompted our students to be adaptable and willing to step outside the box, so it was time to listen to our own counsel.

Rotary International suspended all non-essential travel until the end of June 2022. Covid had resulted in the repatriation of students that were on exchange and cancelled the opportunity for those students already approved for travel in the fall of this year. Short-term exchange came to a screeching halt.

After investigation and thoughtful consideration, the solution was found; a virtual exchange program would be undertaken. Our YEX committee formed a smaller subcommittee to plan, organize and launch “Virtual Exchange 2021." A few other clubs in our Rotary world had already launched similar programs, RI provided a webinar on the topic, and NAYEN (North American Youth Exchange Network) had compiled some documents that could be adapted for our use.

New Westminster hold 25th Annual Pot of Gold Golf Tournament

The Royal City Rotary Club and the Rotary Club of New Westminster continue to put the fun into fundraising!!

The two New Westminster Rotary Clubs partnered yet again to hold the 25th Annual Rotary Pot of Gold Charity Golf Tournament on August 24th at Mayfair Lakes Golf Club in Richmond, BC.

The above photo was taken at the tournament by Gabor Gasztonyi, Rotarian. The “Payne Stewart-wannabe” in orange plus-4s and tam with Felions Darby and April-Lynne is none other than Royal City Rotary’s one and only, current President, Roy Prevost, who blessed us with some haute couture on the day.

Diversity Equity Inclusion continues to define Rotary

Posted by Peter Roaf on Aug 14, 2021

Diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) is a top priority for Rotary International as well as District 5040. It underscores our core values as a foundation for how members interact with each other and their communities. Rotary was based on Diversity in 1905 and has grown globally on that foundation. Yet, our Rotary clubs can learn more and do more to support that commitment to DEI as our communities and our world transform around us. We want to welcome more people with diverse abilities and from diverse backgrounds, as people of action, in our cause of service above self.

District Conference 2022 passes a significant milestone

This just in. District Conference 2022 has just passed a significant milestone.

More than 100 people have registered for the conference. Already!

This is much ahead of our plans and we thank Rotary for the vote of confidence.

Dave Connors is the winner of the draw for the free ticket. Congratulations!

It looks like this is going to be a popular event. If you have not already done so there is no better time than now to register.

Meet Your New Vancouver AG: Mary Anne Velayo

When her family moved to Canada in 2011, Mary Anne Velayo has 20-plus years of entrepreneurial experience working in distribution of consumer goods and pharmaceutical products and has proven track record in the fields of enterprise development, finance, and marketing. She earned her bachelor’s degrees in Psychology and Business Management as well as her master’s degree in Education.

As a charter member of the Rotary Club Vancouver Mountainview (RCVM) since 2017, Mary Anne served as Club Administration Chair in 2018, has led major fundraisers and became Club President in 2019-2020. During her term as Club President, RCVM was given Rotary Citation (Gold level) and won D5040 Highest Number of New Members sharing the achievement with another club. She is a Paul Harris Fellow +5 and recently joined the esteemed Paul Harris Society.

Mary Anne has also been engaged in community services and newcomers’ settlement assistance and been extensively involved in helping non-profit organizations and community groups especially the Filipino community.

Meet Your New Sea-to-Sky AG: Liz Scroggins

Liz Scroggins has been a Rotarian since 2009, club president 2011-2012, international projects chair from 2011-present. She is a proud, third-generation Rotarian as both her father and grandfather were club presidents. Rotary has provided many meaningful opportunities and experiences for both her and her family.

On her second trip to Lesotho, South Africa, she was fortunate to bring her two teenage daughters. They worked on volunteer projects for three weeks and they worked hard! Their time working there together to help others, was life changing.

Liz lives in Whistler with her husband where they enjoy the winters skiing and rest of the year biking, hiking, golfing and enjoying their home. She volunteers on a local farm in Pemberton one half day a week and tend to their backyard vegetable and flower gardens. This provides them with an abundance of fresh food during the summer and fall.

Meet Your New Northwest AG: Ron Malmas

Ron Malmas is B.C.-born, growing up in the Fraser Valley before his life journey living in the Central Cariboo and finally settling in Terrace in 2017. Ron joined Rotary in 2007 with the Rotary Club of Williams Lake Daybreak.

He acted as club president for two terms and was as the chair of the Williams Lake Daybreak Rotary Stampede Parade for three years and started the Williams Lake Starfish program. He was successful twice at raising community funds for Shelter Box relief in Fiji in 2008 and shortly after as club President hosted a Tsunami fund raising dinner after the devastation in Japan.

Ron has two sons, three grandchildren and has been married to his husband Steven for seven years.

Together they moved to Terrace where they work side by side in the funeral industry. After joining the Rotary Club of Terrace Skeena Valley upon arrival to Terrace, Ron has been the Membership chair, Learning and Development chair and the Rotary Club of Skeena Valley Starfish Pack chair.

Calder steps up as Rotary district governor

From The Prince George Citizen, July 11, 2021

Lorne Calder had a plan for his own retirement when he called it a career after 28 ½ years as an executive with Integris Credit Union.

On May 31, he packed up his desk, said goodbye to his colleagues, and shut the door to the office he occupied since 2014 as chief financial and risk officer at Integris.

But if you thought he went home to park himself in front of a TV sitting in his rocker to contemplate what he intends to do with all that extra free time on his hands, you obviously don’t know much about Calder’s volunteer spirit and desire to make this world a better place.

He’s as busy as he ever was during his working days now that he’s assumed his duties for the next year as governor for the Rotary International’s 5040 district. Calder was named to the position in December and began his one-year term on July 1.

Read the complete story in The Prince George Citizen.

Eidsvik named D5040 Executive Administrator

District Governor Lorne Calder is pleased to announce the appointment of Nancy Eidsvik to a newly created position as Executive Administrator, District 5040. Her duties will be to assist the District Governor and the Governor Team, the Assistant Governors, the Executive Assistant Governor and all Clubs and their members.

Nancy has served on most club positions. For the District she was Assistant Governor for the Pacific Northwest for three years. When she moved to Vancouver, she was appointed as Assistant Governor for the Burnaby/New Westminster area and served for three years. Nancy also served as Executive Assistant Governor for PDG Bala Naidoo when he was District Governor.

BC Wildfire Relief 2021 - Rotary BC Wildfire Relief Team – Write to Read Project BC

As you are aware, the village of Lytton was devasted by wildfire, leaving many people homeless and taking refuge in nearby cities.

The initial call for help from Write to Read Team member Sue, Past President of the Rotary Club of Merritt Sunrise, set this initial Immediate Needs Initiative into motion and the Rotary BC Wildfire Relief Team – Write to Read Project BC was formed. When our Rotary Family asks for help, the answer is always – how can we serve? And in the Write to Read family it is then –let’s get’ter done!

We are continuing to request donations for the purchase of gift cards be made via the Rotary Club of Steveston-Richmond Charitable Society (RCoSRCS) as the 1000 plus evacuees from Lytton will have ongoing immediate needs while the mid- and long-term plans are put into place.

Read more for additional information and how you can help.

Year End Thank You from DG Darcy Long

As the Rotary year comes to an end Doug and I would once again like to extend our since thanks for all of your support and the opportunity to Serve you and our District.

It has been a very turbulent year for Rotarians around the globe as we have adapted to living through a pandemic.

Our District, and indeed the entire Rotary Family, suffered a huge loss when District Governor Dave lost his battle with prostate cancer in March.

He did however leave us with many doors of Opportunity Open.

Registration now open for 2022 District Conference

Register now for the 2022 District 5040 Conference in Prince George May 20-22. We can’t wait to see you all again and welcome you with open arms as we celebrate the Seven Wonders of Rotary.

The first 100 people who register now will have a chance to win a free conference registration.

The conference registration fee is now $340+ GST. Register now.

Stay tuned for more details on when you can book your accommodations as well as information on the Gala dinner.

Sneak Peak - Welcome to Prince George 2022

District Awards presented during Conference

During the Live Virtual District 5040 Conference members and clubs of the District's Rotary Family were recognized during the awards presentations

The Rotary Club of Mountainview was named District Club of the Year and John Bathurst of the Rotary Club of Vancouver was named Rotarian of the Year. at the conference held virtually on June 4th and 5th.

Nine Rotarians were also recognized for their service and dedication with 2021 Don Evans People of Action Awards. In addition four were awarded District Governor Awards. Membership awards were presented to those clubs that had significant membership growth. For more detail click here.

Odd Eidsvik Park

While watching the Rotary Club of Prince Rupert Centennial video you may have noticed the Odd Eidsvik Park sign. Nancy Eidsvik has graciously provided much more information about her husband Odd Eidsvik - Mr. Prince Rupert. Odd was a strong supporter of his community and Rotary Club. Definitely a person of action. Thanks Nancy!

Successfully launch a cause-based Rotary club

Are you a new Rotarian who's interested in creating a cause-based Rotary club?

Whether you're a new Rotarian, or a long-time Rotarian, everyone is welcome to join Tom Gump, the RI General Chair for Zones 25B and 29 Institute on Saturday, May 29 at 10 a.m. via Zoom. Gump will walk you through the steps in launching one and the successes he's had with other cause-based clubs.

Gump, a District 5950 Governor, is passionate about growing Rotary membership; especially, through forming new and innovative cause-based Rotary clubs.

Announcing the Dave Hamilton Service Above Self Bursary

A Legacy That will Transform

The Dave Hamilton Service Above Self Bursary will make it possible for students to reach for the stars and pursue their dreams after high school. This bursary will be available to any high school graduate of District 5040 and will be awarded to students who demonstrate:

being part of the Rotary family For example: Rotary Youth Leadership Awards (RYLA) attendee, participant at one of the Adventures Camps, Youth Exchange students who are graduating from high school or Interact members.
examples of Service Above Self to the community
good citizenship
satisfactory academic progress
the commitment to continue their education or skills development.

There will be a formal application process. Details to follow.

Please donate by using the donate button or QR code below:

Please contact Tanya Hall at tanya@tanyahall.org for additional information.

Dr. Bonnie Henry receives Paul Harris Fellowship award

On June 17th the Rotary Club of New Westminster - Royal City presented a Paul Harris fellowship award to Dr, Bonny Henry BC's provincial health Officer.

As mentioned during the presentation ceremony: When Dr. Henry first spoke the words, Be kind, Be calm, Be safe she showed compassion for what the people of BC would be dealing with in Covid 19. She inspired us with her gentleness and her calm voice of reason reassured us that we were going to get through this together.

Dr. Henry's experience includes an effort as part of the WHO/UNICEF polio eradication program in Pakistan. Definitely inline with Rotary’s mission to eradicate polio from the world. Her work to establish the Canada Pandemic Influenza Plan, which contains recommendations for health-related activities during the spread of a virus has directly and positively impacted the course of this pandemic

Dr Henry was selected to receive this recognition because her work exemplifies the humanitarian objectives of The Rotary Foundation. A very worthy recipient of the Paul Harris fellowship award and Rotary District 5040 thanks the Rotary Club of new Westminster - Royal City club for recognizing Dr. Henry on behalf of all Rotarians.

More information is available on this New Westminster Record article. Click the Read More for a Zoom meeting video of the presentation.