May 29 (May 29, 2014)

Bulletin Editor

Suzanne Benoit (If you have any comments or questions, please contact the editor)

Club Information

Join us for dinner!

Service Above Self

We meet Tuesdays at 6:10 PM

Frith-Radcliffe Auditorium, Kiwanis Village

1233 Kiwanis Crescent (off Nelson Street)
Nanaimo, BC V9S5Y1
Canada

District Site

Venue Map

Speakers

Jun 17, 2014
President Greg
Installation

Jun 24, 2014
President Jeff
So long, Farewell, Au revoir....

View entire list

Upcoming Events

Community Breakfast

Community Services Building

Jun 14, 2014
7:00 AM – 12:30 PM

Dragonboat Festival

Maffeo Sutton Park

Jul 04, 2014 – Jul 06, 2014

Sponsors

May 27, 2014

I am going to apologize ahead of time for not keeping good notes on this meeting. I was busy listening to the speakers from Ghana and totally forgot to take notes.

Our guests were Senyo Agbedra, Kodzo Agbedra, Prince Kabino Tanddro from Ghana and, Bev Hilton, Lorana Laporte and Kirk Coleman (son of our beloved Bruce Coleman). Last week I forgot to mention that we had another guest, Jamie Black, Past President of the VIU Rotaract club. She is currently working for the Boys and Girls Club while taking her Masters at VIU. She is a potential new member.

I want to thank Don for providing me with pictures. The photos I have used in this week’s newsletter are all from him. I think they are great and, if you think so too, don’t forget to mention it to Don.

Our speakers from Ghana provided us a great update on all the projects we have done there. They have a list of projects which they are hoping that we will work on in the future.

It seems odd but the club presented a large bag of bags to our Ghaniana guests. They will take these bags back to Ghana in the hopes that this example will halt or slow down the proliferation of plastic bags in Ghana as it has done here.

Lorana and Kirk presented the club with a cheque for $1,000 which was bequeathed to the club by Bruce Coleman. Bruce left this to us to be used to start a Paul Harris for each of the first 10 new members of the club. Audrey, Lynne, Derek, Daniel, Paul, Don, Ed, Scott, Barbara and Rick will all receive $100 towards their Paul Harris. Bruce is still giving to Rotary. Kirk spoke about how important Rotary was to his dad.

There will be a Broom Busting event tonight from 6 p.m. until 8 p.m. – bring your own clippers and, meet the other busters at the Northfield Rest stop on the Parkway.

Our incoming president will be installed on June 17^th. Here are the details but please remember to let Audrey know how many will be attending – it is totally a spousal night.

Date: Tuesday, June 17th, 2014
Time: 6:00 p.m.
Where: New York Style Pizza, 299 Wallace St, Nanaimo
Cost: $25.00 per person

Who: it's a special night so don't forget to bring your spouse! Incoming President's from the other clubs have also been invited, as well as our new District Governor, Michael Proctor

What: an Italian Buffet including pasta, pizza, salad & Gluten Free options!!

Drinks: yes! There will be a "no host" bar!

Theme: "The Godfather" -- Greg's gonna make us an offer we can't refuse!!

RSVP: to audreylellis@shaw.ca by June 10th

Pauline won the door price and Daniel, unsuccessfully, rolled the dice.

Carried over from last week are the notice about the Dragon Boat Festival and, a request for Host Families submitted by Craig.

Here is the schedule for the Dragon Boat Festival. Don’t forget to volunteer yourself as well as friends and family. I volunteered my sister Danielle! Let Bob Lasota know who you have volunteered.

The 12^th anniversary of the Nanaimo Dragon boat festival is fast approaching, this year it is running from July 4 to July 6. A call for Beer Garden volunteers is out.

Friday evening - Survivors dinner 5pm – 9pm

Saturday - beer garden 12pm – 5:30pm

Saturday evening - dinner & party 6pm – 11pm

Sunday - beer garden 12pm – 6:00pm

Craig wants us to know about…

HOMESTAY FAMILIES NEEDED - July 24-29 (5 nights) - Japanese youth group on annual visit to Vancouver Island:

• We need families who can offer a warm family atmosphere for either two boys or two girls. For families where Friday and/or Monday are work days, we have activities planned for those parents.
• Families will receive a small 'per diem' to help with expenses
• The youth are between the ages of 13 and 17 inclusive.

As a long-time Host Family ourselves, I can tell you that hosting an International student is a wonderful experience, especially if you have school age children.

If you might be interested, please email me and we can arrange a time to talk. And – if you know of someone else who might be interested, please let me know.

Contact info:

Christine McCubbin - FACE Nanaimo Homestay Coordinator Email: cedarhillconsulting@gmail.com

I think that’s all for now. If you want items added to the newsletter, try to remember to send me an email.

Carol and Bob, our thoughts are with you at this time.

Stories

Derek helping organize Symphony Concert in the Park

'Looking for last minute Sponsorship for the "Concert in the Park" produced by VIS Concert Master Calvin Dyck which will be held Saturday, August 9th, 2014 at 6pm.

Seeking those who are not already supporting the VIS. We need to know by the end of May in time to get complete recognition.

Contact Derek Rickwood, 250-616-1158

Turkish project creates cookbook for the visually impaired

By Arnold R. Grahl Rotary News 16-May-2014

A participant receives instruction chopping ingredients during a cooking course for the visually impaired in Izmir, Turkey. Photo Credit: Figen Ertas

A woman with a black apron is stirring tomatoes into a pan of vegetables in Bursa, Turkey. Visually impaired, she is being helped by an assistant, who is a spouse of a Turkish Rotary member.

Elsewhere in the kitchen, other cooks and Rotary spouses are preparing meatballs, slicing and peeling eggplants, and measuring out cookie dough. At a table in an adjacent dining area, a man is reading a recipe from a Braille cookbook.

The cookbook, "Good Smells From the Kitchen," has enabled many members of the Library of Turkey for the Visually Disabled to enter the kitchen with new confidence.

"For the first time I made lentil meatballs," says Sϋheyla Karayalçin, a book recipient. "I had never done it before. I let others taste it, it was nice. I am very excited to have a special recipe book for us [people with visual impairments]."

The activity is part of a project by Rotary members in western Turkey, who have partnered with the library to produce the country's first cookbook for the visually impaired, printed in Braille and recorded on audio CD. Several dozen copies of the book have rolled off the library's presses and have been recorded in the library's studio, and given free to library members. Additional copies are printed as Rotary members secure funding and line up new sponsors.

Günes Ertaş says fellow Rotary club members came up with the idea after they had helped the library purchase Braille machines and other equipment through Rotary grants. Ertaş's wife, Fίgen, collected more than 100 recipes.

"We asked for recipes from Rotary spouses living in the areas from Canakkale to Fethiye," Fίgen says. "We asked them to empathize with persons with visual impairments before sending recipes. There would not be any sentences like 'add flour until the mixture comes together'; the recipes would be precise. We did not want to have measures in grams. Instead we asked for adjustable measures like tea cups and spoons."

A committee made up of a food engineer, a dietitian, several recipe contributors, and library users tested each recipe before selecting 100. Bursa chef Omur Akkor cooked each recipe with his eyes closed and made further adjustments.

"I came across an interesting description to dice a carrot in the book," says Karayalçin. "It says slice like a backgammon dice since not everybody may know what a cube is, but everybody knows the size of a backgammon dice. I usually do not spend much time in the kitchen, but thanks to this book I am more interested in cooking."

The recipes are divided into categories including soups, salads, starters, vegetables, main dishes, desserts, pastry, and bread. While the cookbooks were coming off the library's printers, Rotary spouses recorded the recipes for the audio version in a recording studio.

Four cooking courses were held in Izmir and Bursa to give library members a chance to practice the recipes. They were each given a free copy of the book and cooking utensils. Another course was organized by Rotary spouses in Balikeshir in December for children with visual impairments and their mothers.

The cookbook won first place among all Turkish entries in the Gourmand World Cookbook Awards in the categories of Best Innovative Cookbook and Best Charity Cookbook. It now advances to the world finals in Bejing. Günes says he and his wife plan to attend the award ceremony in May.

The project has also been featured on Turkish television and was selected by the Sabanci Foundation as one of its 100 changemaker projects. Günes says Rotary members continue to seek new sponsors to print additional copies of the cookbook, which costs $150. The name of sponsors are included on an inside page.

"This book is the first of its kind in Turkey," Günes says. "That's what makes this project special. That and a lot of people were involved. It shows what can be done in Rotary through collaboration."

Read a blog post about the project from Günes Ertaş