Ken Hammer - ADG

Rebecca Taylor - Pres Elect Nanaimo

Greg Devenish - Pres Elect - Lantzville

Guests:

Greg Antosz and Radek Wojtal (new members to be inducted at the next meeting )

Anne Marie Jones
Ruth Thorpe
Vicki Parkhill
Alfonsa Rumming
Barbara Waine
Ronda Williams
Dave ?

Master of Ceremonies, Ian, started off the festivities.

Larry received the coveted Rotarian of the Year Award.

This is one of those fun things you get to do as President. Each year we recognize someone as Rotarian of the year for all the hard work they do to make sure the club is successful. It’s not something that the President or Executive decide – it’s meaningful because it’s something that club members decide. I
talked earlier about the contributions that all club members make, and I thought it was revealing that there were six nominees this year. So, not just one member doing impressive things but six! I also said there wasn’t much given to members for all their hard work but in this case, we have the Bruce Coleman trophy. It is
best described as an incredible piece of artwork with a retro theme. More sought after than the Stanley cup, more revered than the Grey cup, this trophy has been shown in some of the best closets in Nanaimo. Presenters often try and talk about all the things that the person is known for without giving away the name until the last possible second but in this case I’m not sure it can be done. This year’s award winner is a long-term Rotarian and
a past club President and I’ll say more after we get this person up front. Please give Larry Rumming a round of applause.
I’m pretty sure when Larry cuts his finger, it bleeds blue and gold. He has been the membership director this year and has helped our club bring in new people. His knowledge of Rotary in general - and our club in particular - is nothing short of amazing. His work on club history has inspired us – especially since this
year was our 50th anniversary. Larry – on behalf of the club and for me personally, it gives me great pleasure to give you this award.

Then President Perry welcomed Incoming President Bill:

Our club traditionally gives the incoming President a token to keep for their Presidential year. This token is a clock from our sister club, the Rotary Club of Akita East in Japan and it has passed from President to President for some 33 years. Some say it is to remind the President of the international scope of Rotary, others say it is to remind them to keep the meetings on time. Whatever the reason, please keep this clock somewhere that will remind you of your office. I’ve even installed a new battery to make sure it keeps running! Good luck President Bill,
with year 51!

President Elect Bill gave his inspiring speech:

Thank you, Ian. It is a privilege and honour to take on this
position with our club. First, I would like to thank Perry for the past year’s leadership and his confidence in me, to take on this role. I was surprised, but welcome the challenge. I would also like to thank our outgoing executive for another great year where we saw new initiatives, new members, great ideas and a stronger fellowship. I’d also like to recognize that this past year we celebrated our 50th anniversary as a club, and we want to acknowledge the tens of thousands of hours that our club has dedicated to Rotary both locally – and internationally.
As Rotarians……there are several areas where each one of us has
an opportunity to ‘make a difference’; they include:
Community well-being and projects
International projects
Membership
Image enhancement and recognition
Collaboration and partnering with other Rotary clubs
And imagining new projects that will benefit our world
We rely on the strong experience and leadership of our executive
and we also rely on ‘the energy and commitment of all our
members’ to make the real difference!
The Rotary Theme this year is shown on our banner from Rotary
International……….. CREATE HOPE IN THE WORLD. This is not a challenge so much as ‘our promise’. We are committed to making this happen, here in Nanaimo …. and globally. I am involved in small business with teams that “think big” and I
want us to do the same. We can and should encourage each
other and take this message to everyone to do the same. Anything and everything is possible – all we need to do is believe WE CAN ENACT CHANGE! My challenge to our club is – to ‘think
big; vision what can be; take chances and let’s make it happen’.
Finally, there is another idea being promoted by Rotary International which is “One Person Can Make A Difference”. I
challenge all of us to be…….”one of those people”.

President Perry gave his report:

Ronda asked me what I was going to talk about tonight and I said