Meeting: Dec 4th, 2021
Our meeting was in Zoom this week as a result of the increasing Covid cases.
Colin's Rotary History and Rotary Minute:
This is the start of the calendar year of our 50th anniversary. It was organized by Bruce Coleman on Sept 11th 1972 and officially chartered on Oct 15th 1972.
Colin also talked about the Rotary friendship exchange. It is intended for Rotarian couples to visit Rotarians around the world. The hospitality is then returned when the visitors become the hosts. It is now an official program of Rotary and more can be learned on the Rotary.org website.
Guests:
Harshil Patel
Deb Marshall
Dale Harvey
Visiting Rotarians:
None
Announcements:
- Bob Moss inducted a new member tonight. Harshil Patel is from the western part of India and came to Nanaimo to attend VIU as a student in the MBA program. He currently works with Bill Grace at GNCL management.
- Larry reported on Loaves and Fishes. The most recent night had 8 volunteers. Christmas was 22 percent busier than last year.
- Rob talked about the breakfast. Although there was a number of volunteers we decided that we should postpone the project until there is a reduction in Covid cases.
- Bob and Ian gave some info on the upcoming ball drop. Bob is just finishing up with the web site for purchasing tickets and Don has come up with another terrific poster. (it's now on our website).
Birthdays:
Bob Moss Jan 4th
Anniversaries:
None
Membership Anniversaries
Barney 25 years
Colin 42 years
Comedy Corner:
If a tree falls on your Ex in the woods and no one is around to hear it....you should probably still get rid of the chainsaw.
Program:
Our guest speaker was Cst Gary O'Brien from the local RCMP detachment where he is the media relations officer and a 32 year veteran of the police force. He has had postings in Powell River and Nanaimo.
Garry O'Brien
Gary spoke to us about several areas of local interest. The drug trade is concern here. We should not consider ourselves safer than Vancouver as we also have drug gang activity here.
The second area of concern is in regard to people with addiction and/or mental health issues. The police often interact with these folks when things get out of control because there are no other people to call. Ideally, there would be people available 24/7 that could help but - like so much else - funding issue is needed. There is currently help during weekdays but hopefully, next year will bring some additional resources.
Resourcing is another issue that he spoke to. Covid, burnout, negative public rhetoric and funding all put pressures on police officers in addition to the day to day stresses of the job.
Thanks to Gary for a very interesting discussion. It was also a reminder that we need to support (and show our support) for these members of our community do the tough job of keeping us safe.
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