Themes are important to Rotary. Always have been; probably, always will be; and there are good reasons for it.

Annual themes: a 60-year tradition.

1949-1950 RI President, Percy C Hodgson, is credited with starting the tradition of an annual "RI Presidential Theme". Some critics view this tradition as corny and out-of-step with current fashion. Fortunately, Rotarians' desire to celebrate and support their president's annual program of service remains undiminished. Quite simply, the annual RI Presidential Theme is useful because it communicates a simple yet powerful message. A list of past presidents and the themes that they chose over the last 60+ years can be found in the Official Directory of Rotary International.

The "2011-2012 RI Presidential Theme" - REACH WITHIN TO EMBRACE HUMANITY - was chosen by RI President Kalyan Banerjee. In accepting his leadership role, President Banerjee empahsized the family as a starting point in serving others. "Good families lead to good neighborhoods, and good neighborhoods build good communities."

Monthly themes:
a calendar

In addition to the annual presidential themes, Rotarians have adopted a system of monthly themes. A cursory internet search of these monthly themes yields an uncertain result. This writer thinks that Rotary should be applauded for a calendar based on the decimal system. In the Rotary calendar there are only 10 monthly themes. That's right July (month #1) and May (month #11) didn't make the final cuts. The next time that you hear a retired Club President complain about the relentless "grind" of "his" or "her" Rotary year, perhaps you can remind them that July and May don't count.

This writer believes that the main reason that there is no official theme for the month of July is that we embark on a journey with perhaps new directions and new goals.

At this point, it would be helpful for every member of the Rotary Club of Oak Bay to understand what Reach Within to Embrace Humanity means to the leaders of Rotary International and how the leaders of our club interpret this theme and what actions they will take in pursuit of there goals.

Sergeant at Arms
Fines (what happened to "celebrations"?) Master ("Mistress"?) courtesy of Lorna Curtis. Sorry I missed some. I'm pretty sure that Don Tarrant and Jack Petrie had "Happy" or "Sad" Dollar$. Neil Rawnsley won the "draw" but was unable to pick the white marble.

One of the hatted: David P.

Invitation for a walk from Pieta VanDyke of the Harbourside Rotary Club:

I'd like to invite Oak Bay RC members to join Harboursiders for a fellowship event on Friday afternoon. We'll be 'hiking' Oak Bay's Centennial Trail from Gonzales Hill to the Penny Farthing pub. Meet at the Gonzales parking lot (end of Dennison St.) at 2pm. Any persons with disabilities (i.e. wheelchair or scooter users) can come. There are a couple of flat-land routes to avoid hills.

Some were a little less serious. Wynn, for one! And Mary, for another.

In Memoriam.
We note with sadness the passing of Allan Cassidy at age 59 from cancer. Allan, a former Club member, a longtime Oak Bay councillor, and life-long community volunteer lived a life that exemplified service above self. The Club joins many others in expressing sympathy to his wife of 35 years, Penny, and his three children Reed, Brendan, and Deirdre.

~~~~

Perry Bamji introduced the Guest Speaker, Linda Treiberg. Linda hopes to be an Ambassadorial Scholar candidate. Currently finishing a BCom at Royal Roads, Linda provided highlights of her experience with local and international aid projects and her particular interest in micro-finance projects. Ambassadorial Scholars will be chosen in September and begin their Rotary-sponsored travel and studies next year. Corey Burger thanked Linda (below) on behalf of the Club.

Club Assembly

Based on detailed reports and plans by Committee, President Joan laid out a plan for the Rotary year:

Club Adminstration - Heather Aked
Treasury and Budget - Brian Lamb
Secretary - Leslie Rogers-Warnock
Membership - Ron Beyer
Community Service - Peter Lawrie
International Service - Perry Bamji
Rotary Foundation - Neil Rawnsley
Public Relations - Corey Burger
New Generations - Gary Smith
Social Committee - Dallas Chapple
Fundraising/Governance Committee - Joan Peggs

Highlights from Presentations:

always looking for guest speakers;
Club revenues ($69K) and expenses ($69K) budgeted to break even;
currently 57 active members - planned increase of 4 net additional members;
other clubs have sponsored/supported projects that we have initiated;
many members have volunteered for more than one committee;
a successful Rotary club needs to have fun and accomplishment.

We closed the meeting at 1:30 with "God Save the Queen".

Today was a Hat Day. Below, some of the more elegant chapeaux.

Chef Leslie

Jester Jim

Ritzy Ron

Introduced by
Wolf Schopper

Visiting Rotarians:
Ken Haywood, Edmonton NorthEast (also Malawi Project);
Steve Sharlow, Nepean Kanata (son of deceased member Bill Sharlow);
Don Tarrant, Creston (Assistant Governor, District 5080);
Pieta Van Dyke, Victoria Harbourside

Guests
Dustin Marnell,
guest of Ron Beyer;
Linda Trieberg (speaker and guest of Club);
Mike Sharlow (brother of Steve Sharlow);
David & Batya Westler.

Analogy: a different tool
(Continued from LH column)

Even before her election, Joan Peggs realized that Rotary International had an exclusive lock on the use of "themes" to communicate plans and goals. Since "themes" were already taken Joan decided to claim "analogy" as her own communication medium. Thus began her interest in all things nautical: "captain" of the ship; the "crew"; the "fleet"; the "comodores"; the "admirals"; the "rearr-admirals"; etc.

July is a month for our new "Captain" to chart a course and set sail. With little more than a single week under her belt, Captain Joan was ready to show the crew the treasure map and describe the provisions and preparations that will assist us to reach our destination safely.

So, will this Rotary year turn out like "Moby Dick", or "Mutiny on the Bounty", or "Pirates of the Caribbean", or some other as yet untold seafaring story? For an answer to that question, the crew members of the barquentine "Oak Bay Rotary" must be patient and try their best.

End of Digression

Okay. So that was a long-winded introduction. And (if you are still with me) you would like to know if it served any useful purpose. Fair enough. Without any further preamble, let's get down to business.

We, the Members, of the Rotary Club of Oak Bay start our 38th year under the dedicated leadership of "2011-2012 Club President" Joan Peggs and the newly installed Board of Directors. This is a report of our second meeting of the 2011-2012 Oak Bay Rotary year.

Scribe: Rod Sim

President Joan called the meeting to order at 12:15 PM. We sang "O Canada" without (benefit of) Tom Lidkea. Grace by Leslie Rogers-Warnock.

Are you a hot dog?

C'mon ... join the rest of us hot dogs on Sunday August 7th in our hot dog stand at the Bowker Creek Brush-up. It's a roving art show that drew more than 3,000 people last year. Our club is cooking up dogs, making people happy…making new friends (and new members?) and making money for our club too. Our spot is near Oak Bay High. Can I count on you for a 2-hour shift? We'd set up at 10, open at 11, close down at 4. Thank you. I'll bring the sign-up sheet next Tuesday but if you can let me know before then, it'd sure help.

Shifts 10-12, 12-2, 2-4.

Jack.

(Can't you just smell those fried onions already?)

Digger Wolf