Welcome
Meeting Notes
REGULAR MEETING: January 13, 2025
Meeting Chair: Kim Boyco
Our meeting opened with a welcome to the members present and our guests:
- Jan Nestler, our inbound Rotary Youth Exchange student from Germany
- Oleksandra (Alex) Nechytailo and son Paul
- Adan Shaikh (by Zoom)
We continued with the singing of O Canada and the Rotary Grace, followed by a break for lunch and visiting.
The meeting re-convened at 12:15 with the Treaty 6 recognition and a welcome to the members joining by Zoom.
Announcements/Updates:
- Rotary Cares 2025 tickets- last call. Please help us sell out the last few. Contact Lou or Morris for tickets. First draw is at our next meeting on Jan 21.
- As promised last Spring, a survey will be sent out to members later in January asking their opinions about the combined Clubs structure and the new meeting schedule. We are hoping for lots of responses so watch your email and let the Board know your thoughts.
- District Conference dates are March 14/15 in Lloydminster and May 24/25 in Edmonton. Group discount for 6 or more attendees. Please let Lou or Morris know if you plan to attend one or the other conference before registering.
- Imagine Rotary (Strategic Doing) follow-up-Shirley Bergsma:
- Ideas for promoting Rotary in the community:
- Rotarians show their pride by wearing their Rotary pin ALWAYS
- Continue to showcase our members and activities on social media, Booster and Morning News
- Arrange a “focus group” workshop of community members to ask how Rotary is viewed and gain a better understanding of the reasons why people don’t join Rotary
- Update from Jan
- Jan has moved to his 3rd host family: Ken, Lisa and Nicole Rohr
- He attended a Kodiaks hockey game and spent some time in Edmonton last week end
- Next Sunday Jan joins the other RYE students from the District on their big trip to Ottawa
Presentation: Little Free Libraries Program – Odell Olson
The Little Free Libraries Program originated in St. Paul, MN with a mission to be catalyst for building community, inspiring reader sand expanding book access. By registering a library with the parent organization, affiliates receive an official placard with a registration number.
Carol Breitkreutz brought the project to the Camrose Daybreak Club in 2015. The first library was built by Rotary members, decorated the Camrose Arts Society and placed in the lobby of the Norsemen Inn in January 2016. We now have 26 registered LFLs with an additional 8 managed by private individuals in the community. Some of Rotary’s LFLs are built by Club members, others have been built and/or decorated by other community organizations including Men’s Shed, Zetsen Master Builders, Kodiak’s Cub Club, Canadian Mental Health, Camrose Arts Society, both High Schools, Camrose Public Library.
Rotary’s LFLs are maintained by a group of stewards who regularly check to add new books, remove any material that may be inappropriate or damaged and monitor the condition of the library structure. Books are received by donation, collected from Centra Cam and provided by the Camrose Public Library.
We continue to receive requests for new LFLs from individuals and communities. The costs to build a new LFL are approximately $50-$60 for material, $50USD to register and painting/decorating supplies. Adding benches has also been suggested.
We experience some challenges in maintaining the LFLs. Vandalism is the biggest issue by far. Deterioration of the library shell is problematic, especially those built with poor materials. We also encounter inappropriate materials and garbage.
Anyone wishing to become a steward is encouraged to contact Odell Olson or Alan Fielding.
Check out the slide show of all the Camrose LFLs by following the link below. Can you figure out the locations from the clues?
As Odell gave his presentation books and labels were distributed to each table. In short order all the books were labelled with information about Rotary Camrose. The labelled books will be given out to stewards of the Little Free Libraries to add to each location.
Happy Bucks –
- Happy with the great snow for skiing (Rob)
- Happy to be counting down the days to next holiday in warmer weather (Destiny)
- Happy to be back in Camrose for a visit (Jim)—Jim also noted that polio vaccination rates in Canada sit at 79%. With herd immunity at 95%, we should all be afraid of what could happen
- Happy for family gathering to celebrate birthday (Lou)
50/50 Draw – ticket # 723 was drawn, held by Dan Cole. Dan made a careful selection and drew the Ace of Spades! Dan is the lucky winner of the Jackpot of $389. This concludes our Chase the Ace 50/50 raffle. We will not be starting a new one.
- Next meeting : next Tuesday, Jan 21 at Days Inn at 6:00 pm, Zoom starts at 6:45
Liz Rolf and Lorriane Bell will share highlights of their trip to Honduras to distribute Days for Girls kits
--Board Meeting tomorrow, Jan 15 6:30 pm at Safety Starts Here
Meeting Closed with the 4-Way Test.
Thanks to Kim Boyco for chairing this meeting, Florence Blanchette for working the registration table and Lou Henderson for taking notes at the meeting.
ROTARY JOINS LEADERS | ROTARIANS SHARE IDEAS | ROTARIANS TAKE ACTION