Our 8th week of Rotary visits included meetings with the Brandon Rotaract Club, the Brandon and Brandon Sunset Rotary Clubs and the Neepawa Rotary Club. We met with the Brandon Rotaract Club at The Dock on Princess where we shared some nachos, briefly discussed the idea of a vibrant club, spoke of the need to attract new members and talked about Rotaract’s participation in the 2014 District Conference. We learned that the Brandon Rotaract Club works closely with both the Brandon and the Brandon Sunset Rotary Clubs. As we walked through a part of the Brandon Keystone Centre looking for the meeting site of the Brandon Rotary Club, we were impressed with the extensive display of awards, posters, pictures and Brandon Sun articles featuring the activities of the Brandon Rotary Club. Two members of the Brandon Rotaract Club (President Amy and Vice-President/Secretary Randy) attended the meetings of the Brandon Rotary Club to learn more about the Vibrant Club Award, polio eradication and the Siegel & Gale report on the challenges and strengths of Rotary International as well as the survey results of why people join Rotary and why they stay in Rotary. On our “day off”, with temperatures rising to +33°C, we took a trip to Souris to experience the new, rebuilt, “longest suspension bridge in Canada” and visited the Hillcrest Museum nearby. This castle-like structure happens to be home to the Lloyd Janz collection of over 5000 butterflies and moths from around the world, as well as a number of farm and fashion antiques from the early 20th century. Our meeting with the Brandon Sunset Rotary Club was a fun event chaired by President Rob. The induction of a new member (Karla) began with a solemn “Dearly beloved, we are gathered here …” and when the question was asked “Who has the honor of sponsoring this person for membership in the Rotary Club of Brandon?” Theodora, Karla’s sponsor, answered “I do!” And so it continued, with a reading of the “Objects of Rotary” and ending with a question to the club members if there were any reasons why Karla should not join Rotary. There were none. Well done! We met with the Neepawa Rotary Club at the Viscount Cultural Center. At the Board meeting, a suggestion was made for a “fireside chat” topic – have members bring their laptops to the meeting place to explore the new rotary.org web site. Another suggestion was made to have a breakout session during the 2014 District Conference (being held May 9-10 at the University of Manitoba Fort Garry campus) on the district’s approach to Vocational Training Teams. Following the meetings, AG Bob and wife Carolyn gave us a tour of Neepawa – with the first stop being one of Neepawa’s major tourist attractions – the beautiful Riverside Cemetery. There, each summer, over 2500 graves are covered with annuals, making it the most flower-covered graveyard in North America. It’s also the home of the Stone Angel (aka Davidson Memorial), as well as the gravesite of Margaret Laurence and the most westerly burial location for a victim of the Titanic. Neepawa’s Rotary projects include a baseball diamond, the Rotary Park, Nature Trail and Bird Sanctuary. This week, we are visiting clubs in Winnipeg before heading east on the weekend to NW Ontario and the Rotary Clubs of Kenora, Dryden and Sioux Lookout.
Posted on: Thu, 05 Sep 2013 04:32:41 +0000
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