Burton Kennedy, Winnipeg. S/A;
Sara Dubois, our speaker.

Sergeant at Arms Mark Bedford felt John should receive two Paul Harris awards because he has paid that much in early leaving fines. Speaking of early leaving fines: Anne Sims and, guess who, John Picken, paid up. Steve, Lorna and David S. were fined for talking after the bell (didn’t they know school was in?). Tav was in big trouble for not remembering the dates of the DLTA, and honest Mark owned up to not checking the flag positions. Barry copped it for speaking in the masculine gender last week, tsk tsk, and any member of the executive who hadn’t registered for the DLTA was charged. All who forgot to contribute in kind or $ to Kids Kits had to kick in, and, much to Rod’s consternation, all who didn’t have the correct change for the cashier had to dig for a bit more change. Hans was naughty – he didn’t sign in, and John S. was fined for looking a wee bit too cute and colourful. There were three birthday boys: Bill, Neil M., and Joe, and to add to their woes of being older they had to listen to a tuneless performance of Happy Birthday. Rod had a happy $ for having his sinuses done – said it was lovely surgery – and, completing his good week, his brother-in-law received a defibrillator. Doug, lamenting what he couldn’t do himself because of his injured arm, sang a Lena Horne golden oldie that started out “Don’t know why … there’s no buttons on my fly …” Very nice too, Doug. Shame you quit your day job. Ben rejoiced that two Interact students will fly to Ottawa with Cst. Rob Smith to attend a youth conference on non-violent conflict resolution and violence prevention (www.youcan.ca) which the exec resolved (sans bloodshed) to support to the tune of $1500. Dallas was glowing about a Hawaii holiday, and happy Heather received exemption for all Feb. fines from Mark for the great job she did on the till last month. Tav hit the jackpot which was about $160 and generously contributed his winnings to the Foundation.

Announcements:

If you missed Oak Bay's Rotary in Action page in the BLACK PRESS PAPERS on JANUARY 31, 2007 Click here

Joan Firkins gave background on the Brits (South Africa, District 9520) Rotary Club’s project to raise $58,050 for a school bus in the Lillydale B area; the request came from Cliff Peake who was instrumental in ‘getting things going’ for Joan regarding the District 5020 Project in Lillydale B. She asked if our club could come up with $1500. So far our district has contributed $1000 and South Cowichan has provided $2500. As March has been declared “polio month” by DG Erik, Joan asked if we could contribute the price of one extra meal each, i.e. $15, which would aid a polio project in India.
	Tav reminded us about the Wilf Wilkinson luncheon on March 14. See Donna Carrigan for tickets.	Joan and Donna B. with children from the LillydaleB area, October, 2006

Jim thanked all who gave to Kids Kits, and reminded all that they were welcome to attend the International Committee meeting on Thursday (Feb 8) at 4.30PM in Windsor Park Pavilion.

Speaker: Ben Andersen introduced the speaker, Sara Dubois. Sara, a former Rotary Exchange student, has a BSc in biology from UVic and an MSc in Animal Welfare from UBC. She runs WILD ARC, a BC SPCA wild animal rehabilitation centre, located in Metchosin; it cares for more than 1700 injured and orphaned wild animals and birds annually—from Victoria to Nanaimo and from Sooke to Sidney. The centre’s objective is to release patients back to the wild without habituation. It works hand in hand with the BC Ministry of the Environment, Canadian Wildlife Service, Dept of Fisheries and Oceans, veterinarians (used only in extreme circumstances), the BC SPCA and the public. The 10-acre facility in Metchosin was built in 1997 by the Victoria SPCA, but because it does such different work, it became a separate branch of the BC SPCA in 2002. There are 4 staff and more than 100 volunteers. Sara’s Admissions chart showed that summer is their busiest time. In 2006, they treated 1711 patients at an average cost of $190. Customers include pygmy owls, otters, trumpeter swans, robins, gulls, raptors, raccoons, deer, bats, waterfowl, seagulls, herons, osprey, cottontails, mink, muskrat and beaver. Birds comprise 70% of admissions and mammals 29%. This past winter, 32 barred owls were hit by cars. Power lines and cats cause problems for wild animals and birds too. Successful releases are only a small part of the work in Metchosin. There’s also public education and outreach, school visits and other community involvement. As a charitable organization, WILD ARC relies on the support of the community to continue its animal care and education activities. It is not funded by any government organization but is supported almost entirely by donations and the efforts of many volunteers. For more info check www.wildarc.com.