Welcome

Evening Meeting - September 15, 2026 - Chair Kevin Smook

The meeting opened with the welcome of Guests - Carol Davies, Kennan Wu, Ellen Parker and Air Cadets Captain Erin Mitchell and Sergeants Henrose Ante and Joel Woodford. This was followed by the singing of O Canada and the Rotary Grace and then dinner from Joey's Fish Shack.

The meeting resumed and 6:45

Announcements

- Tim Parker announced that there is a full complement of volunteers for the Parkinsons Step and Stride event.

- Tim announced that Battle River Brain Foundation will be having a conference on Oct 23-25. See Tim for more details. He also spoke of a book titled The Brain Book and held a short straw draw with Lisa Rohr and Kevin Smook receiving free copies of the book.

- All club members are invited to the Battle River Lending Place open house/grand opening on September 26 at 11am. 

- A thank you was extended to the volunteers at the Community Registration night and the Camrose Block Party.

- The Youth Exchange presentation to students interested in participating is on Thursday September 17 at 7pm at the Rotary Youth Centre.

- Rotary Cares raffle tickets are available for sale for the 2027 draws. See Lou for tickets.

- There are still 5 Peddle Pub seats available for the 11am ride on Saturday October 3. See Lou for tickets.

- Help is needed to set up the tech at meetings. Training and detailed instructions are available - it's not that hard. Please contact Kim if you can volunteer.

Program

Captain Erin Mitchell provided us with an update on the goings on with the Air Cadets. Captain Mitchell has been involved with the leadership of the cadets since 2011 and has been captain since 2018. She was also a cadet as a youth.

The Air Cadets is a program for youth age 12-18 and membership is provided at no cost; the program is free although members must participate in fund raising. The program focuses on leadership, aviation, citizenship, fitness, drill & ceremonies and members attend summer training camps. The cadets also have opportunities to fly.

In the 2025/26 year some of their events included the senior cadets hosted and planned a sports day for 150 cadets, 12 cadets attended summer training, and the year was planned and instructed by the cadets themselves. They finished the year with 47 members but there have been several new enrollments, and the number is now over 60.

Costs are an issue for the organization with facility costs of just under $15k per year being the largest expense. They currently operate out of the Seniors Centre. Funding for the program comes from Rotary’s $15,000 year donation, some funding from DND and fundraising by the members. DND supports officers salaries, uniforms for cadets and covers the cost of field training. Other monies come from fundraising with their bacon sales being the biggest fund raiser.

3 former cadets in recent years have now moved into permanent roles with the armed forces, their career choice a direct result of their membership in air cadets. Sergeants Joel Woodford and Henrose Ante spoke of the impact of the program on them including life skills they have learned and the personal character development it has provided plus the great experiences at the summer training camps. Joel stated cadets has made him better in many ways and Henrose said that cadets has helped her grow into a better leader, friend and person.

2027 will be the 70th year for the squadron plus the 70th year that Rotary Camrose has been providing support. Because of the significant anniversary, the final parade will be a celebration at the airport on June 12, 2027. Stay tuned for further details.

Happy Bucks

- Lou for great health care people that took care of Morris for a surgery he had on Monday. All is well and Morris is home resting.

- Shirley Rostad - happy brother-in-law and past Rotarian Al Rostad is out of hospital after a recent infection.

- Odell - happy he painted his house at the lake, and this weekend will be the annual alumni and homecoming at Augustana.

- Jackie - daughter is in the mix for a AA hockey team and excited for the Youth Exchange meeting on Thursday.

- Melanie - 22-year-old daughter has decided to go to NAIT to study forest technology.

- Tim - happy that at the October 20 District Governor meeting the DG will be inducting Grace Doucet and Melanie Poole as new members.

- Kevin - happy his daughter who is pursuing a professional dance career will be dancing at the Electric Elton show at the Lougheed Centre.

Rotary Cares Draw

Ticket #011 was drawn with the winner being Linda Farnham and ticket sold by Don Rebus 

Next Meeting

Next meeting will be a happy hour social at the Jokers Den Lounge at the Camrose Resort Casino. The next regular morning meeting will be on October 6.

Meeting Closed with the 4-Way Test

Thank you Tim Parker for setting up the tech and running Zoom, Kevin Smook for chairing and Lisa Rohr for a great dinner and all others involved in set up, take down and dishes. Registration and notes by Kim.

Have a great week!

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