Rotary Club of Sackville Bulletin April 14, 2016

Dianne chaired the meeting (her third Rotary meeting this week) and provided a 2-minute bio.  Born in Chatham, N.B., she came to Mount A for a year, became interested in working with children and completed a program at Mount St. Vincent.  After a stint at Regent Street Nursery School in Fredericton she came to Sackville in 1979 as a teacher at the Sackville Play School where she was “Miss Dianne” for 16 years.  Then she met Frank - and the rest is history.

 

Visiting Rotarian:  Lacey Fisher from the Amherst Club who was also this week’s Gold Mine winner of $2001 !  ($506.50 went to the Tantramar Adult Learning Centre). 

 

Guests:  Mayoral candidate John Higham with his bodyguard Pat Estabrooks. (Louis with his new haircut almost qualified).

 

Makeups:  Wayne and Dale took the Food Safety Course, plus there was a slew of committee meetings.

 

PinPal Stories:  Charlie met Nancy and Paul Gilbert in Victoria and provided an update.  Nancy’s work in Nigeria with PIND (Partner Initiatives in the Niger Delta) is drawing to a close, but she is still heavily involved with WASRAG (Water and Sanitation Action Group), plus working on a Ph.D. at Royal Roads University.  With a condo in Cook Street Village and a yacht in Sidney marina it looks like they’re in Victoria for the foreseeable future.   John found that it pays to wear all the Rotary pins you have when he attended a meeting in Fredericton with the Minister and Deputy Minister of Heritage, Tourism and Culture both of whom recognized him as a Rotarian and a Paul Harris Fellow.

 

50-50 Draw:  Bill’s number was drawn but he picked the wrong card so the pot is now $85 and growing.

 

Happy Dollars:  Bill reckoned that he and Lacey between them had average winnings of over $1000 this morning.   Wynn was glad to be able to sing the national anthem without having to repeat the pledge of allegiance. Back in December he claimed his fourth hole-in-one !  Josh owned up to being late, as did Marita.   Ove took credit for being the one who introduced Nancy to Rotary.  Sue P thanked everyone who helped with the last breakfast.  Back from Belgium and Holland, she strongly recommends river cruising; however, she only saw one Rotary sign - on an interpretation centre.  Trish looks forward to leaving tomorrow for St. Martin.

 

Next Week:  Chair: Ove;  Greeter and Introducer: Wayne;  Thanker: David;  Speaker: David Bruce;  Gold Mine Counters:  Guylaine, Wayne, Gayle and Sue P;   Gold Mine Charity: Sackville Community Association.

 

Farmers’ Market:  Wayne is looking for help with the Rotary Bacon on a Bun (and coffee) stall at the Farmers’ Market this summer.  A sign-up sheet was circulated.

 

President’s Time:  Dianne announced that the annual BBQ has been rescheduled to Thursday 23 June 2016; it will be held at Gayle’s.   This is “Volunteer Week” and “Volunteers are the roots of strong communities.”  A show of hands revealed how much members volunteer in Rotary and in the community; everyone gave themselves a round of applause.

 

Gold Mine Draw:   Jamie announced that funds taken in by the Gold Mine Draw have now exceeded $100,000 !   We started with 500 participants; now we have 1,727 !

 

 

Spring Bash:  Jamie reviewed plans for the major fund-raising event to be held on Saturday 7 May at Tantramar Regional High School, with Tasting 7-9 p.m. and Dance with FreeFall band from 9 p.m. on.  Sale of all 250 tickets @ $40 would bring in $10,000.  Confirmed vendors are Moosehead (Beer), Molson/Coors (Beer), Sleeman’s (Beer), Univins (Wine), Belliveau Orchards (Wine), Winegarden (Wine), Innovative Beverages (Wine/Spirits), Mike’s Beverage Co. (Spirits/Ciders), Campari Group (Spirits) with a further two possibles (Labatt and Miller).  The school custodian will help with set-up and clear-up.  A sign-up sheet will be circulated next week.  The planning committee will meet next Monday, 6 p.m., at Mary’s - all welcome.

 

The meeting concluded with the Four-Way Test.