Photographer: Pam Harrison
Chairman Wayne declined to give any biographical info but passed on some fascinating – if not frightening – info about Walmart. Customers in the U.S. spend $36 million every hour. With 1.6 million employees Walmart is the largest private employer in the world. The company takes out life insurance on its employees, but when the employee dies the company collects the money. 90% of Americans live within 15 miles of a Walmart. 92% of what it sells comes from China. It makes a profit of $36 billion per year. Bentonville, Arkansas, where the Walmart HG is located has more millionaires than any place else in the world.
50-50 Draw: Pam’s number was drawn but she failed to pick the Eight of Hearts. The pot of $81 carries forward to next week.
Visiting Rotaract: Colin.
PinPal Stories: Dianne, Charlie and George met outside the Post Office, with Susan F across the road – all pals, but no pins.
Birthdays: Darrell was serenaded in advance of his birthday next week.
Gold Mine: Kevin Price was on hand to receive his record-making cheque of $6,038 from Stacey. With no winner for the previous 5 weeks this was the largest pay out ever.
Happy Dollars: Josh was happy that Scotia Bank will sponsor our next breakfast, contribute $1,000, and provide two employees to help. Louise has a friend in New Zealand who has breast cancer; the last hope is a new procedure which costs $90,000. Among many contributing towards this goal is Mariah who has made salsa and sold 22 bottles at $10 a bottle – well done ! Wynn was glad to see a former bowling buddy, Kevin win the Gold Mine jackpot. Dianne was glad to see Mitchell helping with the corn husking; he’s is going in to Grade 12. After a delayed start owing to car trouble Dianne is heading for 2 to 3 weeks in Ontario. Bill will visit Fredericton for a family reunion, the first in 3 years. Edna is off for two weeks to Toronto, Edmonton and Calgary.
Next Week: 14 September 2017. Chair: Wynn; Greeter: Gayle; Introducer: Charlie; Thanker: Joyce; Speaker: Linda Leblanc, Dorchester Food Bank.
Corn: Pam reported on very successful corn husking and corn boil. 24 people (Rotarians and friends) husked 960 corn in 26 minutes, 30 seconds! On a cool day the hot corn was much appreciated. A great partnership with the Town !
Breakfast: Saturday 16 September. Please sign the duty sheet if you have not already done so. The breakfast is in aid of Marshview Middle School Breakfast Program. Two more bean-makers were enlisted. Susan F called for help with the Rotaract chili sale.
President’s Time: John noted that the Booster Pump now has a sign. Next year’s R.I. International Convention will be held in Toronto 23-27 June, 2018. The club Christmas Party will be on 7 December: we need someone willing to act as host. A Nominating Committee (Josh, Louise, John) has been formed to propose a slate of office-bearers for 2018-19. The club assembly on 21 September will receive last year’s financial report, and also discuss fund-raising.
Speaker: David introduced Adam Campbell, Head of Atlantic Conservation Programs, DUC (= Ducks Unlimited Canada), who gave a presentation on “A Scientific Approach to Local Habitat Conservation.”
Although DUC was started 78 years ago because of concern in the U.S. about declining numbers of waterfowl, surprisingly the speaker said very little about ducks but a great deal about wetland conservation. The main focus now seems to be on “Conserving Canada’s Wetlands”. The organization’s four main priorities in order of importance are 1. Wetland Conservation, 2. Public Policy, 3. Research, 4. Education. Wetlands conservation is essential not just for wildlife habitat but for clean water and for flooding reduction.
DUC has carried out 1,500 projects in Canada, 129 of them in Sackville and the surrounding area, the latter at a cost of over $12 million. One project in Jolicure was carried out to compensate for lost of habitat in Moncton.
In addition to the many wetlands projects in this area DUC also operates the Beaubassin Research Station which includes a laboratory and dormitory accommodation.
Josh thanked the speaker for an informative talk, and reminded us that conservation and hunting can go hand in hand.
The meeting closed with the Four-Way Test.
