Meeting Minutes - December 8, 2009

Greetings!!

Well, it's not the same day, but within 24 hours of the meeting - not bad!

Enjoy your latest meeting minute installment and the last of 2009!

1. Members: Darrell Winwood, Tyler Bulford, Matt Hall, David Crouse, Lisa Heck, Gabrielle Boulet, Dale Tiedemann, Chris Murray, Doug Porterfield, Cate Weber
Guests: Lucy and Jennifer

2. Approval of Last Meeting Minutes - add Jose to "in attendance"
Motion to Pass: Tyler
Second: Lisa & Cate - it was a tie

3. Approval of Meeting Agenda - add to New Business: Crystal Park Funding Request, Next Meeting Date, Greenworks
Motion to Pass: Dale
Second: David

4. Review of items from previous minutes

* Dues - PAY UP!
* Social Event - Thursday, December 10th at Oasis in Sexsmith. Lots of board games, Wii, Foosball, etc. Starting at 7:00 PM. Car pool if you can - save the environment. Chris apologizes for the short notice, he had a hard time getting a hold of the gentleman who runs the establishment (who goes to Hawaii anyways?! ... inside joke, you had to be there). Please come if you can, Chris has maps if you need one. Darrell would like you to bring your boyfriend/girlfriend/spouse/friends/crazy uncle, etc.
* Christmas Party - Lisa reminded us that the party is NEXT FRIDAY!!!!!!! (December 18th) She passed the sign up sheet around again. If you are interested in coming, please sign up. If you have a silent auction item, please put your phone number on the sign up sheet to be contacted for pick up details. The club covers the cost of our MEMBERS to attend the party, members are responsible for the cost of their guest ($40) - the club will invoice you after the fact. 6:00 PM start, GPRC choir to entertain. Please let Lisa know by Thursday, December 11th at NOON if you plan on attending.


5. New Business

* Rotaract Fun-spiel, March 19 & 20. Dale & Tyler will co-chair the event with the help of Andrea from the curling club. We are hoping this will increase awareness of our club in the community. Our main goal is to gain members and overall awareness. Please let Dale or Tyler know if you are interested in helping, including door prizes and sponsorship.
* Duck Race - yay!!! Darrell and Miranda completed reports for Alberta Gaming and are VERY pleased to announce that approximately $41,000 was raised this year!!!! Woohoo!! Donations were made to the following groups (amounts are approximate): Ducks Unlimited $9,000, PACE - $5,000, Soccer Association - $5,000, SPCA - $7,000, Rotaract - $11,000. Our club's portion will be going directly to our $20,000 commitment to the Community Village which will complete our commitment - EXCLAMATION MARK!
* Executive nominations for the 2010 - 2011 term - We will be seeking nominations for executive positions - President Elect for the 2011 - 2012 term, secretary and treasurer. Gabrielle has cudies (according to Dale) AND has decided to take on International Director and will be in contact with the Mazatlan Rotaract club to see if there are some projects our clubs can work on together. We are still looking for secretary and treasurer replacements for the current term.
* Next Meeting - in light of the upcoming holiday season, the December 22nd meeting has been CANCELED. Meetings will resume January 12, 2010. Motioned by Michelle, second by Matt, passed. If you bring Bailey's and cookies, Gabrielle will host an impromtu Rotaract meeting December 22nd at her house - please RSVP by email (gabannie@hotmail.com) if you would like to come and so she knows if anyone will show up.
* Crystal Park Funding Request - "Everybody Needs a Christmas". Our club has been approached by a student at Crystal Park to donate funds toward a Christmas fundraising project to provide food and presents for the less fortunate. The executive recommends that the club donate $250 to the project. Motion - Chris, second - Scrooge, I mean David, passed by the club. Darrell will contact the school's principal.
* Greenworks a la Chris - the Greenworks executive has discussed bringing a robotics event to Grande Prairie. In order to run an event, they need PEOPLE (Hey! We have those!) This is an opportunity for our club to raise funds for the club by providing people.


6. Round Table

* Cate - Cate gets to share all the exciting news before Doug! They are moving this weekend and they are going home for Christmas. YAY!
* Doug - is taking credit for the new house they found. Doug & Cate took a cat from Cheryl who likes to lick Doug's face. And she toots! The cat comes with much personality ... like it's previous owner!
* Michelle - 91 days away from the AWG. And is still looking for volunteers for the games.
* Chris - is the perfect height to be the mascot for AWG. His son has a fantastic time in the bath and it makes Chris' day!
* Lucy - is going down to Calgary to share Christmas with her family.
* Dale - has 3 working bathrooms in his house.
* Gabrielle - shared all the gorey details about her wisdom teeth extraction. Good times!
* Lisa - Shoot for the Cure at the Storm Game, Saturday, December 12th at 7:30 PM. Tickets are $10 through the Society. New Years Eve - Shark Club partnered with the Society to have a Pink & White event. Tickets are $20 and all proceeds go back to the Society.
* David - Kathleen & their mom are in Reno ... he is lonely. David will report on Season 5 of Lost at the next meeting.
* Jennifer - is trying to survive her finals and then she's going to Hawaii for Christmas!!! (pffft, whatever!)
* Matt - is also getting through exams. He landed the lead role in "Sonny's Song". Yay, Matt!!!
* Tyler - is experiencing hour cut backs at work and he may be transfered to Calgary, which he isn't too keen on. Today he "did a smart move" ... he lost his keys in the pit at work.
* Darrell - is the next Beatles lead singer. But, David (Scrooge) killed Darrell's dreams by confirming that "you can basically talk on easy and still get 97%". Watch "Dr. Horrible's Sing Along Blog" - Hilarious!


Thanks for coming out on this wintery night. See you all in 2010!

Meeting Minutes - November 24, 2009

PRESENT: Darrell Winwood, Chris Murray, Matthew Hall, Cedrick Leblanc, Glen Tissington, Lisa Hansen, Michelle Dupont (recording)
GUESTS: Pete & Jenna

MOTION TO APPROVE MINUTES OF THE LAST MEETING Moved by Chris, Seconded by Jose
MOTION TO APPROVE AGENDA AS PRESENTED Moved by Jose, Seconded by Chris

ROTARY INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE: A block of rooms are being held until Dec. 4^th in the hotel that many GP Rotarians are staying in, so BOOK NOW if you’re planning to attend. The conference is in June in Montreal, QC.

NURSING ‘ROLE-MODELS’ PROJECT: 1^st year nursing students are looking for ‘community rolemodels’ to visit grade 6 classes and bring their students anti-tobacco messages. Four volunteers signed up & Darrell has connected them with the students via email – as of yet no confirmation back from the students.

SOCIAL NIGHT: Chris is planning a ‘Game Night’ for the club and is looking at a potential date in early December at The Oasis in Sexsmith. Email Chris if there’s a specific board or video game you’re interested in playing, or a game you can bring. Chris will be confirming a date very shortly & will email everyone with details.

HOTEL PROMOTION: Dale to source prices on promotional materials to adorn our meeting room and promote within the hotel that we meet here (think a ‘Rotaract Meets Here’ plaque). Dale is out of town this week but will report back at the next meeting.

EXECUTIVE SPOTS: Two executive positions are available,
Secretary – take minutes at the meeting & distribute them to the membership in a timely fashion (she says while emailing the minutes out they day prior to the next meeting).
Treasurer – take care of the financials. This will be a much easier task without the Duck Race, and Miranda will train whoever is taking over.

ROTARY CHRISTMAS PARTY: A good time is always had by all. This year’s party happens December 18^th at the Holiday Inn. Tickets are $40 each. The club will cover the cost for members to attend, so you need only pay for your guests! Lisa is our club’s representative and has some beautiful centrepieces in the works, confirm your attendance to her at the next meeting.

NEW BUSINESS

ROTARACT FUN-SPIEL: The idea of a Rotaract funspiel was proposed not long ago, and the only initial concern from the club was that the only dates available were coming up too quickly to give us time to do it right! Darrell has inquired and discovered that there are some later dates available, and has tentatively booked the weekend of March 19-20^th. Tyler was very interested in coordinating this event, so Darrell will contact him prior to our next meeting to get an outline of the tasks required. This could be a great fundraiser and awareness builder for the club without requiring that much work to plan. This item will be reviewed at the December 8^th meeting so people can sign up to assist with planning, prizes, activities & promotions.

ROTARY DISTRICT BONSPIEL: Coming up in Athabasca, February 18-21. Many teams from Grande Prairie’s 3 Rotary Clubs will be attending, so there are many options for car-pooling! Email President Darrell for details.

DUES: The Rotaract year started July 1^st, and membership dues for many members are still outstanding. Miranda is compiling a list & will be sending out email notices shortly. Please bring payment to our next meeting or mail a cheque payable to GP Rotaract Club to P.O. Box 21356, GP, T8V 6W7

DUCK RACE: There’s still some paperwork outstanding for gaming, which Miranda & Darrell are working to complete. We should be able to cut cheques for our partner groups shortly!

ROUND-TABLE

LISA HANSEN – is looking forward to ‘Shoot for the Cure’ a fundraiser & awareness builder for the Canadian Cancer Society held at the Storm Game December 12^th. Also a New Year’s Party which will benefit the CCS being held (you guessed it) December 31^st.

JOSE – Growing a movember moustache to support research against prostate cancer, and although it’s a VERY worthy cause it did negatively affect his photo with Brent Butt.

MATTHEW – auditioning for a role in ‘Sonny’s Song’ tomorrow, a wonderful play written by a student at GPRC that will run during the 2010 Arctic Winter Games.

CHRIS – GP Greenworks is busy busy busy, they’re registered for their first robotics competition in Calgary!

DARRELL – represented the club at a Charter Night for the Sexsmith Interact Club, bringing the total to 3 Interact Clubs in our local region (Peace Wapiti, Dawson Creek, and now Sexsmith).

NEXT MEETING TUESDAY, DECEMBER 8^th
7:30pm Stanford Inn

General Meeting Minutes - November 10, 2009

Hello!

Well, slightly late, but not the same day as the next general meeting, so I view this as an accomplishment to get the meeting minutes out "on time".

Sit back, relax and enjoy ...

November 10, 2009
7:30 PM

1. Guests - Jasmine and Lucy

2. Meeting Minutes from October 13/09 - motioned by Tyler, second by Chris

3. Meeting Agenda - motioned by Chris, second by Kathleen

4. Review of items from previous meeting minutes

• Social Event - Chris is working on organizing our club a games night at the Oasis Facility. Date & time to follow.
• Hotel Promotion - pass to next meeting, Dale to report
• Curling Bonspiel - Tyler loves curling and would really like to see this as an opportunity for our club to FUNDraise or even FUNraise/FRIENDraise. We are too close to the January dates to organize, we have been advised that there is a mid-March weekend available, which is a date our club can work with for organizing. If the goal is to promote our club and gain community recognition and more members, we can look at a lower entry fee and fun rules rather than focusing on how much money we can bring in. This is being brought to the executive level for futher discussion.
• Christmas Party - sign up sheet was passed around. Members are paid for by the club. If they bring a date, members are responsible to pay for their date's ticket. Please sign up if you can provide a silent auction item. Ticket price has not been determined yet. Lisa too provide further information.
• Executive spots - the club is still seeking a new secretary to relieve Dana and treasurer to relieve Miranda. Also, we will be doing nominations after Christmas for the 2010 - 2011 term (secretary, treasurer and president-elect positions will be nominated).

5. New Business

• Mentorship sign up - 1st year Nursing students have approached our club to help them with a community project to be guest speakers at local schools to discuss the importance of being positive influences in the community. Dates include: November 12/09 in Hythe, November 26/09 in GP at Kateri and Forbes. Please let Darrell know if you can participate for either of those dates.
• Shelter Box - last term we sent $1,200 CAD to Shelter Box Canada to sponsor a shelter box on behalf of our club as a project that our club was able to sponsor on our own, without piggy-backing on other Rotary projects. Shelter Box was started by a Rotary club in England and is now worldwide, however it not considered a Rotary International organization or project. We received a letter (attached) from Shelterbox letting us know our box was sent to Niger*, Africa to help those in need from a recent flood. They included a link to their Fickr account to view the pictures of the boxes being deployed: www.flickr.com/photos/shelterboxuk/4031006129. When Gabrielle was in Los Angeles for the Rotary International Convention in 2008 she ended up meeting one of the Shelter Box US representatives and talking about the project. Those who attended the District Conference in Jasper, May 2009 also saw the set up and learned more about the organization.

* Niger, Africa also happens to be the same country we exchanged a parcel of culture with. Those who have been around long enough understand the irony in this. Kathleen still had the parcel of culture in her car - she brought it in to the meeting to pass it around and bring back memories.

• Yusup suggested that we partner with the GPRC students on a project. The students are in our age group for members and the marketing and business classes are always doing projects in the community that could be good for our club to be part of. One example is the Peace Country Idol contest.

6. Round Table

• Kathleen - has been absent from meetings for some time due to the Coats for Kids campaign. Approximately 3,000 items were distributed.
• Gabrielle - tried to pass, but Chris bullied her into sharing something. She is having her wisdom teeth taken out next week.
• Miranda - is awesome! (per Chris)
• Yusup - looking to start his masters degree. He asked about personal development for club members, suggesting tours of local businesses as a learning opportunity - such as Weyerhaeuser, etc.
• Tyler - moved into his apartment!
• Chris - excitement in Greenworks!
• Jasmine - recently moved to GP from Manitoba.
• Lucy - talked about the "Spread the Net" program as another idea for our club to be involved in.
• Darrell - reminded everyone of the Interact Charter night in Sexsmith, Thursday, November 19th.

That's it, that's all folks. See you Tuesday, November 24, 2009. 7:30 PM. Bring a friend.

Gabrielle

Meeting Minutes - Ocotber 13, 2009

Grande Prairie Rotaract Club

Meeting Minutes – Tuesday, October 13, 2009

1. Introduction of Members & Guests

• Members: Dale, Kendra, Cate, Tyler, Darrell, Mark, Miranda, David, Matt, Gabrielle
• Guests: Doug (almost a member … once he pays!)

2. Approval of Last Meeting’s Minutes

• Passed over to next meeting

3. Approval of Meeting Agenda – Tyler adds “Rotaract Bonspiel” to New Business

• Motion – Dale
• Second – Tyler

4. Review of Action Items from Previous Meeting

• Planning Session
• David – thought it was good to list out ideas of things we want to do as club.
• Dale – took away that we need improve our communication both within the club and with the other Rotary clubs.
• Kendra – she would like to see things go back to the way they were when she joined. More commitments for projects and she feels the meetings used to be more fun.
• Cate – as a new member she felt it was beneficial to learn more about the club and our members.
• Doug – he learned about volunteer oppurtunities – he enjoyed working at the Coats for Kids store.
• Tyler – would like to see more presence at GPRC*. And he would like to organize a Rotaract curling bonspiel.
• Matt – thinks our club is doing a good job and is looking forward to the improvements to come.
• Darrell – although he was away on his honeymoon during our last meeting he would like for members to give him more feedback, the good, the bad and the ugly. He can’t improve how he is running meetings and the club if he doesn’t get feedback. He wants to know what you think!

*Rotaract in GPRC – the club executive met before the general meeting and discussed ways we can improve our presence in the community and we did discuss our involvement with the college. We decided that it would be very beneficial for our club to be involved with the Student Association and to invite some of their members to our meetings and to join the club – giving us a direct connection to the students of GPRC. More on this to come.

5. Old/Ongoing Business

• Duck Race – it’s a short update this time, we promise! The committee is still trying to get the last of the prizes out to the prize winners. They hope to have this taken care of before the end of 2009.
• District Governor Terry Draeder of Drayton Valley visit – both lunch (Rotaract) & dinner (all clubs) went well.
• Terry is very youth oriented and therefore very supportive of Rotaract and Interact clubs. Rotaract also now has a voting seat at District level – this is our way to voice our opinion and lobby for things like lower Rotaract rates at conferences and training sessions.
• Members who attended the lunch received a pin with the 2009/2010 theme – “The future is in your hands”
• District Assembly – Dale attended Friday & Saturday sessions. Gabrielle & Dale presented on Rotaract to a small group of Rotarians from Dawson Creek who are very interested in getting a Rotaract club going (again). We offered our club’s support in any way we could help. To have another Rotaract club this close to Grande Prairie would be a great way to combine our efforts.
• College Expo – this is an annual event our club participates in. We set up a booth among other community tables, allowing us the opportunity to network with students, spread the word about Rotaract to new students and take names of those interested in our club.
• Quad Club Rotary Christmas Party – Lisa has offered to take on the Rotaract representative position as a liaison between the organizing committee and our club. In the past our club has been in charge of table decorations. Tradition in our club is that members who attend the party are paid for on behalf of the club’s general funds, however if members bring a date, they are responsible for their guest’s ticket price. Ticket prices have not been set for this year’s event.
• Coats for Kids – David let us know that lots of coats were still coming in as the needs are high this year. Thanks to Kathleen for organizing our club’s participation this year.

6. New Business

• Scarecrow Festival – our club has been approached again this year to offer a “Keys Please” service for those who attended the event and need a safe ride home. Our club offered this service last year (for the first time). It was an ok way for the club to gain more exposure among the Rotary Clubs and community, however in the end our members were more glorified taxi drivers, taking guests to local establishments or house parties as opposed to driving them home in their own vehicles. We made approximately $140 last year. Most of the trips were made in our club members’ vehicles, not in the owners vehicle. This poses concern for vehicle clean-up should there be any unfortunate incidents. It was decided as a club not to participate this year.
• Social Event – once again we attempted paintball this year. We even waited for newly wed President Darrell to return from his honeymoon. Member Chris did a great job organizing it on such short notice, with limited dates. Unfortunately, the only date available was during the Thanksgiving long weekend AND the weather turned cold on us. Of course! So, needless to say, paintball has yet again until the weather is slightly warmer. With that said, a costume bowling event was discussed. Darrell was voted as organizer. More details to follow via email & Facebook.
• Budget Committee – Darrell, Miranda, Gabrielle, David & Jose are the budget committee currently working on a more organized way for the club to plan & spend their general and lottery funds. They have met once to discuss all expenses the club has and will meet again to discuss how to divvy our the monies. Things they discuss include the District Conference, International Convention, District Bonspiel, etc.
• On the topic of budget, the bank signing authority needs to be updated as we are now several months into our new term. Cate & Dave proposed to have the club’s bank account signing authority amended from Gabrielle, Darrell and Miranda to Darrell, Dale and Miranda. Motion passed unanimously by all attending members.
• Hotel Promotion – Darrell has been in discussion with the Stanford regarding making the hotel our club’s home. We would like to be able to display a plaque in the entrance to the restaurant indicating that our club meets there the 2^nd & 4^th Tuesday of the month (similar to what we see at other hotels that house Rotary clubs). This has been approved by the hotel management. Dale will price out a few options for us. Further to this, Darrell would also like to see a display case that is preferably mobile that would store our club banners, other plaques and memorabilia that we have collected over the years and are currently spread across Grande Prairie in several members’ houses. As this is a larger commitment on behalf of the hotel – including storage capabilities, this has gone to higher ups for discussion. We will also need to price out such display cases as our dream display case could end up being quite pricey.
• Rotary International Convention – June 20, 2009 – June 23, 2009 in Montreal, Quebec (Gabrielle’s most favorite place … ever!) As previously mentioned, the budget committee is working on a monetary amount to put towards club members attendance. Members are highly encouraged to consider making this trip to Montreal to attend the convention. This is as close to home as we may see it for awhile. Currently Kevin Hilgers (Assistant District Governor) has blocks of rooms booked for Grande Prairie Rotary & Rotaract members to book, however rooms will be released by mid-December if not booked. At this point room rates will go up and availability will decrease. There are also housing options at McGill University for Rotaractors.
• Chamber of Commerce Membership – it was brought to the table to discuss our club paying for a club membership as a way of including information on our club in the Chamber newsletter that is released. As it is discouraged in Rotary to promote one’s business, this may be conflicting with the Chamber, as business members promote their businesses. It will be discussed further by Darrell & Dale at the next Quad club executive meeting with other Rotary Presidents & President-Elects.
• Rotaract Bonspiel – Tyler would like to start a small fundraiser for our club in collaboration with Interact by means of curling bonspiel. He will discuss venue logistics with the curling rink and report back.

7. Round Table

· Matt – looking forward to being more involved with Rotaract. It makes him feel good!

· Tyler – considering schooling in Olds, Alberta … or Texas?!

· Doug – is now licensed to get a gun!

· Cate – is a permanent employee at the County of Grande Prairie. Woohoo!

· Kendra – has a new dog, Ruby!

· Dale – is boring! (nothing new going on) (but the added exclamation mark makes it more exciting)

· David – went to San Francisco for work!

· Miranda – went to BC for her brothers wedding. It was cold on the beach!

· Mark – going to Montreal for 3 weeks. One week for work, two weeks for holidays! (Gabrielle likes, but is jealous)

· Darrell – got married … applause erupts! They spent 10 days in Hawaii!

· Gabrielle – going to Las Vegas October 22^nd to see U2 and Black Eyed Peas in concert. She won the trip from Q99!

Next Meeting – Tuesday, October 27, 2009, 7:30 PM.

Be there, bring a friend!

Rotaract General Meeting, July 14, 2009

Attendance: Darrell Winwood (president), Dale Tiedemann (president elect), Miranda Leclerc (treasurer), Gabrielle Boulet (past president), Tyler Bulford, David Crouse, Sarah Davison.

Guest: Cheryl Budjak...... that's right, ladies and gentlemen - Cheryl OUR GUEST.... read on, read on.....

1. Introduction of Members and Guests

2. Approval of Last Meeting's Minutes: Gabrielle motion, Dale second, PASSED.

3. Approval of Agenda: Sarah motion, Tyler second, PASSED.

4. Guest Speaker: Donna Durnford, VSB. Donna was not in attendance tonight, but some packages were dropped off for the Street Festival so we went through them. We need volunteers to man the tent same as last year. Job entails giving out the daily schedule to the public, making change, water sales, general info, and oh yes..... Duck Race ticket sales. Please let Gabrielle know if you can sign up soem of your time for this this weekend. We need all the help we can get. This is actually quite a fun volunteer opportunity, as you are right in the thick of things in the festival. Think about it.

5. Review of Action Items:
a) Lobster Fest: A good time had by all! We have received a cheque that Gab will pick up for the whopping amount of $64.50. We have an agreement to give these proceeds to our Polio Plus project, but will be waiting to receive the bulk of the funds and present it all at once. Not clear on total amount yet, will advise at next meeting.

b) Budget Committee: We had agreed awhile back to create a budget committee that would help make decisions on such things as reimbursement to club members for club activities, review of budget and allotment of funds on a regular basis. This committee will be made up of President, past President, Secretary, and two club members. David has volunteered along with Jose (schedule permitting) to be the club members to participate. This committee has agreed to commence after Duck Race is completed and finished. Will revisit mid-August.

6. Old/Ongoing Business:
a) Bottle Pickup: Well, it has beena good source of extra income for the club, but it's got to keep going! We have many bottles to pick up and get to the depot each week, and all the help we can get is needed. There was a concern voiced from the depot regarding food and garbage in the bags, but all has been reported as good in the last while. We are having issue with people being able to make time to pick up, or having the capacity in their vehicle for the bottles. As Duck Race is fast approaching, the club has proposed to give North Wapiti Skating Club bottle duty and related proceeds until the week of August 15 - at which time we will resume the pickups. Cheryl is leading the Skating Club in the pick up. Please let Sarah or Michelle know if you will be able to be a pick up for this at that time - we'll revisit it in August's meeting. MOTION TO RELENQUISH BOTTLE PICK UP AND PROCEEDS TO NORTH WAPITI SKATING CLUB - Dale motion, Sarah second. PASSED.

b) Duck Race: Darrell reports that ticket sales and progress in general has been very slow this year with the Duck Race. We have approached the groups who will be benefiting from the proceeds to volunteer through to new proposed date of August 8, and they have declined. They were offered more of a share of proceeds to do so, but still declined - therefore, we are looking to members to staff this extension of the Duck Race. This is our big fundraiser every year, and we would sure love any help we can rustle up! If you know anyone who would be interested in doing a shift or two, or if you can take a few on yourself, please let the Duck Committee know. Much appreciated! So, as previously discussed: MOTION TO NOT CANCEL DUCK RACE DUE TO TICKET SALES - All in favour, none opposed. PASSES. MOTION TO EXTEND DUCK RACE DATE TO SATURDAY, AUGUST 8 2009 DUE TO TICKET SALES - All in favour, none opposed. PASSED.

c) Drag Wars: David reported t us that we haven't received any updates on this from Brad Jones for some time. Their website doesn't have any updates, Facebook group was under construction, etc. David has sent email to Brad asking for updates, as has Dale as well as a few phone calls. Gab says she knows him and will try to contact him to see what we can find out.

7. New Business:
a) Street Performers: We need volunteers for this too! See point 4 (above) for details of this volunteering this year. Gabrielle intends to go down the list of members and make a few phone calls to see who can contribute to this - lots of shifts to fill, and many of us are away this weekend...... can you help out? Pretty Please??

b) Brainstorm. Yes, you heard right. We want to get together and brainstorm some new ideas for the upcoming year. Darrell would like to know how members envision the club this year, and what they would like to see us put time into. A few projects? Fundraisers that are not lottery based? Activities/socials for our members? Your opinion is important!! Agreed that mid-August (Let's just refer to anything after August 8 as "post-Duck Race!) would be a great time to throw some ideas around. Hope to see you there with your thinking caps on!
On this note, Tyler brought up a good point for membership this year: could we try to set up at the college - maybe a booth? He commented that this seems to have worked great down at the U of A - they have a 100 member club!! We should brainstorm a few ideas together for this - I think this is a great source for potential members too!

c) Zone 22 Conference: Cheryl reminded us of the upcoming conference in Edmonton, September 17 18, 19. Cheryl has attended this conference numerous times before, and it's a great way to to catch up with other members in our region and see what other clubs are up to, meet new people, all that good stuff! Cheryl notes that she needs response from executive or budget committee on what reimbursements will be given for members who choose to attend. Darrell advises executive will address this asap.

ALSO! A bittersweet announcement made this evening - Cheryl has been inducted as a member into the Swan city Rotary Club!! Congrats,Cheryl!!! They are very very lucky to have you, and you will be greatly missed. Cheryl has been one of the most active members of our club and has some big shoes to fill! We hope to see you as a guest at our meetings, and we'll keep in touch, you Swan City girl! We'll miss you.

8. Membership Minute:
a) Coffee Time is all caught up! Not enough members in attendance at meeting to draw new names. Will wait til Michelle is in attendance to head up new pairings. Stay tuned!

b) Name Tags: If anyone does not have a name tag, please let Michelle know. Every member should have one at this point. Darrell notes that may even be a good idea to wear them to our general meetings, as when we have guests, guest speakers, new members, it's alot of names for someone to remember! Agreed. If we attend Rotary meetings, please wear your nametag there as well to represent the club, as well as at any fundraiser events. Awesome!

c) Membership Dues: $60 for new members, $30 for existing. If you have not paid this year's dues (like me......) please give them to Miranda our treasurer. There will be invoices sent out to members who have not paid, Michelle will be sending out shortly.

That is it for today! Hope to see you all at the next meeting. If you can volunteer for any of the above mentioned events, please let someone on executive know - it's a huge help. We know it's summer and everyone's busy busy, but if you can even squeeze in one shift it would be spectacular.

Meeting Adjourned.

Rotaract General Meeting, June 9, 2009

1. Attendance: Gabrielle Boulet, Darrell Winwood, Miranda LeCercq, Michelle Dupont, Cheryl Budjak, David Crouse, Kathleen Crouse, Matthew Hall, Lisa Hansen, Dana Moody, Rebecca Villebrun

Meeting called to order by President Gabrielle Boulet

2. Approval of Last Meeting's Minutes: Unable to approve as of yet, will approve at next general meeting.

3. Approval of Meeting Agenda: David, Dale, passed.

4. Review of previous meeting’s action items:

* Lobster Fest: Painting pinkies purple at Lobster fest was received very well. Cheryl or Kendra have the proceed money, will track down who has it.

* Downtown Business Association Meeting: We have decided to sent Dale to attend next meeting to kiss the D.T.A’s butt! Dale will not be attending tomorrows meeting because it is a beautification meeting, but will make it to the next general meeting.

* ClubRunner Training: Darrel (and possibly Dana) to be trained by Kevin Hilgers and give club a tutorial on how to use ClubRunner.

5. Old/Ongoing Business:

* Belize Scholarship Program: by donating our ONE TIME monetary donation, we are sponsoring 3-4 students through 4 years of schooling! This will help them complete a higher learning, that normally without the financial support, a student would not complete beyond a grade 8 level. The donations from Rotary & Rotaract clubs have been matched by both Rotary International & The Wild Rose Foundation.
Originally this project was a 4 year commitment to sponsor one student through 4 years of school. Now our club's money is sponsoring 3 or 4 students for 4 years with a single donation.

* Shelter Box Program: program originally developed by a Rotary club in England that supplies immediate relief to regions experiencing disaster, whether it be war or weather related.
This has become nationally recognized in the Rotary world as a worthy project, but is not considered an International Project.
The shelter boxes contain immediate relief equipment for 10-12 people, including a large tent, cooking tools, water filtration system, etc. These are designed to maintain the survivors for several days until rescue relief can arrive.

* Bottle Pickup: We are going to have to discuss whether or not to continue the bottle pickup at the mall. Recently, the bottle depot employees have been complaining that our bags have had garbage mixed in with the bottles. We will have to sort the bottles before dropping them off, or sorting them at the centre. There is potential to find a partner for this project that we could share the work/funds with. Cheryl is to discuss with her skate club, and someone from our club will approach Interact.

* Duck Race: We will be having some additional locations to sell Duck Race tickets the next upcoming
weekends. Saturday Sidewalk Sale, GP Farmers Market, also Marble Slab July 9th. We are looking for another location for Sundays. Contact Jeff Morgan @ Woodland Timbermart for potential Sunday location. Also, duck sorting is going to be the last weekend in June, first weekend in July at the Decoy Armories.

* Drag Wars: We have been asked by Brad of the Grande Prairie Rotary club to approach our club for volunteers for this year’s Drag Wars. David has volunteered to help out with the website/facebook/twitter site maintenance. Dale is to help with the designing and brainstorming for fresh memorabilia ideas. There is a Primer Party at Pats Auto Parts on June 20, 2009 9am – 4pm. They will be bbq’ing and will have cool cars on location!


6. New Business:

* Changeover Party: This upcoming Tuesday’s meeting will be cancelled for our Rotaract Change Over party! We have passed around a list of food/items for everyone to sign up to bring! We plan on inviting some past members as well. Gab will send out an email with directions.

* Budget Committee: The Rotaract annual budget committee is to present the budget to the general club after the Duck Race has been finished and members of the committee and two general members have time to meet. Dave and Jose have been nominated and voted to be the two general members of the club to assist with the budget.

* Lost & Found: The club would like to have someone contact the schools to see if it would be possible to sort through lost and found items in the fall instead of the end of the school year (Duck Race time).


* Storage: Miranda has allowed Rotaract to share her Storage space in Clairmont. We will be storing Banners, and Duck race paraphernalia here for a small fee. There is also the option of using the upstairs at Crouse’s Cleaners as well.


7. Membership Minute: Matthew discussed his exchange to Poland.

Rotaract General Meeting – May 12, 2009

Meeting Called to Order – 7:31

1. INTRODUCTIONS

Members: Gabrielle Boulet, Spencer Brownell, Cheryl Budjak, Darrell Winwood, Jose Magat, Mark Forman, Dale Tiedemann, Jennifer Villebrun, David Crouse, Lisa Hansen, Miranda LeClercq, Michelle Dupont (recording)
Guests: Yusup Yuskin

2. APPROVAL OF MINUTES FROM LAST MEETING

A few amendments were noted:

- Chris Anderson: Lost & Found project would/could include collecting clothing/shoes/etc, potentially from all schools, not just high schools
- Homeless for a Night: please note the t-shirts mentioned for $6 are ‘Rotarian at Work’ shirts (a Rotary initiative) details to come!
Jose. Gabrielle.

3. APPROVAL OF AGENDA
Darrell. Cheryl.

4. REVIEW OF ACTION ITEMS

Downtown Business Association – Tabled for Sarah to report
Clubrunner Training – Darrell to schedule with Kevin Hilgers and report back

5. OLD / ONGOING BUSINESS

Lobterfest – Saturday May 30

A Quad Club event
Lobster, Steak, Bevvies, the Fellowship of Rotary
$60 per person ... cocktails at 6 ... dinner at 7
2 Volunteers needed to take tickets at the door, these people’s tickets will be paid for contact _______
Rotaract has also been authorized to run the ‘pinkies for polio promotion’ throughout the night.
Volunteers collect $1.00 to immunize one person. People get their pinkies painted purple to signify that they’ve donated (this is what’s done when immunizations are ACTUALLY given)
All proceeds to international polio projects.
Silent Auction Donations: 2 required from our club – Cheryl will give a figure skating lesson package valued at apprx. $150 ... Yassup will donate some cultural items from Turkmenistan

Ovations Dinner Theatre – Fridays & Saturdays in May

Rotaract provides volunteers for coat-check & bussing every shownight in the month of May (Fridays & Saturdays)
3-5 volunteers are required to start Fridays at 5:00 and Saturdays at 4:30
1 volunteer can leave after intermission, but 2 volunteers are required to stay until all coats are collected tables are cleared & stripped if necessary (10:30ish)
A couple of the volunteers in attendance will also have to run the ‘Pin the Tail on the Duck’ promotion during intermission
Volunteers are still required for Friday May 15, Saturday May 16, May 30 ... contact Michelle 780-228-1211

Bottle Pickup – Weekly

Pair with another member or someone you know who has a truck, pick up the recyclables at Prairie Mall’s Food Court and bring them to the Bottle Depot.
Needs to be done once a week. We’ve already brought in a couple hundred bucks - and because of their cheque schedule that’s for not even a full month.
Bags of recyclables are in the tray-cleaning room off the Prairie Mall foodcourt
Tape our ‘PowerPlus Number’ onto each bag ... the tape/marker/number are on the rack to the left of the recyclables or in the storage room by the door
May 11 – Sarah & Paul
May 18 – Kathleen & David
May 25 – Sarah & Paul
June 1 – Jennifer & Rebecca
June 8 – Jennifer & Rebecca
June 15 – Lisa & Dale
To sign up for future shifts contact Sarah 780-228-1142

Duck Race

Tickets are printed & books of 25 or 50 were handed out to all members in attendance.
All members are expected to have a book available for sale, members who missed the meeting & don’t yet have a book call Cheryl at 780-933-7590 asap
First weekend of sales went great, we’re already 1.75% SOLD OUT!!
Miranda & Cheryl are handling virtually all cashouts, but other volunteers will be needed on occasion.
If you can help with the following cashouts, please contact Cheryl asap (780-933-7590)
o Friday May 15th, 9:00pm at Prairie Mall (apprx. 15 minutes)
o Sunday May 17th, 4:00-5:15 with stops at Superstore & Southside IGA (will take a little over an hour)

Drag Wars

Rotary (& Rotaract) will be assisting the organizers with the event this year in preparation for the Quad-Club to take over as the main organizing body next year.
Wednesday, May 20th is the official media launch. 10:00am at Centre 2000 ... the executive is expected to attend, any other members that are interested are more than welcome.

6. NEW BUSINESS

Cool Aid Society

The organization is looking for help as they prepare to open a new location on the South side near the Dave Barr Arena & Lions Learning Centre
Most of the tasks that they outlined involve some heavier construction duties (like building a deck) ... Gabrielle has let them know that we’ll help out with lighter tasks where possible.
If there are any lighter duty opportunities available the info will be emailed to everyone, so keep a look out.

Triathlon – Sunday, May 17th

Volunteers are needed to help by staffing water stations & directing traffic throughout the event.
Additional volunteers are also needed to help prepare / setup for the event THROUGHOUT the weekend (weekend volunteers are entered to win a new Trek Bike!
If you’re interested in helping out email info@highperformancesport.ca

Press Run – Saturday, May 30th

Volunteers are needed to help by staffing water stations & directing traffic throughout the event.
If you’re interested in helping out email pressrunwalk@gprunwalk.com

HIGH SCHOOL PRESENTATIONS

It was proposed that we schedule speakers for Grade 12 classes (specifically in schools with clubs like Interact or Students Without Borders)
Cheryl will schedule the Comp
Michelle will schedule St. Joes
Darrell will schedule Peace Wapiti Academy

7. MEMBERSHIP MINUTE

Cheryl & Spencer’s Coffee Time – Cheryl is “crazy on the outside with a side of sweet” she says. She coaches figures skating part time & wishes she could do it full time again as it’s definitely her passion. Cheryl tries to always stay positive – but she allows negativity on one front ... she HATES baseball. She’s a big fan of EVERY sports team from Edmonton as she was born in Edmonton & moved when she was 8. Spencer played hockey for 13 years, he’s from Chilliwack where he was in French immersion for many years. He is engaged to Kim, has two brothers (an engineer and a very tattooed hairstylist in Vancouver) and a sister. Plus a step-mom, a few step-sisters & two step-brothers. He LOVES Vancouver & disagrees strongly with Cheryl on her support of Edmonton teams!

New Members – The club is thrilled to OFFICIALLY welcome Rebecca Villebrun, Jennifer Villebrun & Matthew Hall to the club!! Nametags were handed out to the new members in attendance.
Guests / Prospects – The club would like to thank Yusup for staffing his first Rotaract Volunteer Shift, and donating a prize to Lobsterfest before even becoming a member - now THAT is the Rotaract Spirit! We hope to welcome you as an OFFICIAL member very soon!

Member Presentation by Matthew Hall – Matthew’s presentation on his Rotary Exchange has been postponed to a later meeting

Meeting Adjourned – 8:42

Rotaract Meeting - April 28, 2009

Attendance: Gabrielle Boulet, Darrell Winwood, Miranda Leclerc, Dana Moody, Jose Magat, Dale Tiedemann, Kendra Wilson, Michelle Dupont, Cheryl Budjak

Guest: Cedrick Leblanc, Glen Tissington, Chris Anderson of the Swan City Club, Kim of Rock City

Approval of Last Meeting Minutes: Gabrielle motion, Dana second Passed.

Approval of Agenda: Darrel motion, Michelle second. Passed.

Guest Speakers: Chris Anderson of the Swan City Rotary Club, and Kim of Rock City


• Chris Anderson: Chris was speaking to the club asking if we would be interested in helping sort books, as well as donate so they can be passed on to Schools and Libraries in Western Ethiopia, and Sudan. If we were to take on this role, it would happen the first week of June. Requirements would be sorting and packaging these books and goods for the trip overseas. It has also been brought to his attention that there is opportunity at the all schools, to help clean lockers and lost & founds after school is finished and donate the left over items to a charity of our choice. These goods would just be thrown out if we do not decide to take this on. Executive will discuss and respond to Chris as soon as possible.

• Kim: She is interested in working with Rotaract and creating a fundraiser for the Community Foundation. Rock City will be holding an event and auctioning off Neon Signs with proceeds going to the Community Foundation. Our role would be to come up with marketing ideas, presenting, and promotion of this event. It will be held in September. We asked if some of the proceeds could go towards the Grande Prairie Rotaract Club, and she seemed open to the idea. Will discuss further at a later date.


Action Items:

• Down Town Business Association: Sarah Davison to attend meetings on behalf of Rotaract, will discuss at a later date.

• Stompede Weekend: The club was approached by Cathy, organizer of the Stompede, to sell beer tickets in the beer gardens. There is a potential of earning some money for the club, but will require 20 people from the club for each night. Unfortunately, we have other commitments on the weekends such as Duck race, and Ovations Dinner Theatre. The Executive committee will discuss further and decide if this would be beneficial for the club.

Old/Ongoing Business:


• Rotaract Co Chair: Discussed the position requirements, which are still not to clear to the club. We decided that we will pass on nominating someone in our club because Cheryl was elected last term. We look forward to seeing what the other clubs have to offer!

• Ovations Dinner Theatre: We are requiring everyone in the club to take at least two shifts for either coat check, or bussing. Please contact Michelle for further information, and shift signup sheets. Spouses and friends are welcome to come and work the coat check!

• Bottle Pickup: The bottle pick up at the mall has been very rewarding to the club, bringing in around $200.00 to the club as of yet. To be fair, we will pair people with access to trucks, to someone without. The bottle depot is open 9-5 Monday – Saturday, and open 11-5 on Sundays.

• Rotary Greenathon: The Rotary Greenathon is coming up this Saturday, if you would still like to volunteer please sign up. There is a pancake and sausage breakfast at 7:30 at the Rotary Campground. Busses leave at 8:30 so make sure you are there by 8:15.

• Duck Race: The Duck Race launch party is this Wednesday! It starts at 4, with speeches at about 5:30. Unfortunately our tickets have not been printed yet, hopefully by this upcoming weekend we will be selling.

New Business:

• Homeless for a night: Friday, June 19th we will be participating in ‘Homeless for a Night’. We will be requiring volunteers to cook soup and grilled cheese for the participants. This year they will have T-Shirts available for only $6.00 each. A great way to support and you can also wear it for other volunteer events.

• ClubRunner Training: Kevin Hilgers will be doing the training ClubRunner sometime in May. This is necessary for all current and incoming Executive Members.

• Lobster Fest: Being held the last Saturday in May, this is an awesome event. They are having steak, lobster, and a cash bar. Our club will be selling tickets at the front table. We will also be colouring peoples pinkie fingers purple, for a dollar donation to immunize 1 child in a 3rd world country for Polio. There are only estimated 1600 cases of Polio left in the world!


Membership Minute:

• Coffee Time:
Cheryl & Spencer, and Dana & Dale: Some members were not present, will tell us about their coffee time next meeting! No new names have been drawn.

Rotaract Meeting - April 14, 2009

Attendance: Gabrielle Boulet, Darrell Winwood, Sarah Davison, Michelle Dupont, David Crouse, Mark Forman, Lisa Hansen, Dana Moody, Dale Tiedemann, Rebecca Villebrun, Kendra Wilson

Guests: Cedrick Leblanc, Matthew Hall (soon to be a full fledged member! whoot whoot!)
Guest Speaker: Lane Smith from Ovations Theatre

1. Intro of members and guests (above)

2. Guest Speaker: Lane gave us some great insight on what to expect and what happens when we volunteer at Ovations. He also let us know that we are more than welcome to place our club brochures and info as well as Duck Race info etc around the front tables and in a display case - AWESOME! A sheet was passed around outlining the rules and protocol for both the coat cheque procedure as well as bussing procedure. Above all, he stressed that this is to be a FUN time!! Yes, we are there to work and make sure things run smoothly - but the more we can engage the guests in a fun professional manner, the better - Lane mentioned the tips we earn usually reflect how exuberant the volunteers are! See Michelle if you did not get a sheet outlining duties etc. A few more key points to note: Please wear all black, definitely no open toe shoes, and no jeans! We are able to take some time to watch the show in between duties, and tell whoever you can to come on down and have a great meal and show! Thanks, Lane, for the opportunity to earn some funds for the club, and promote the club to potential new members! Lastly - we will be hosting an intermission segment, thinking perhaps a "pin the tail on the ducky" game to include participation from the audience for a chance to win theatre tickets, duck race tickets, and other various prices. Stay tuned for further ideas on this show! Please contact Michelle @ dupontm @ telus.net

3. Approval of Last Meeting Minutes: Darrell first, Dale second. Passed.

4. Approval of Meeting Agenda: Sarah first, Dana second. Passed.

5. Review of Action Items from Previous Minutes:

• April Social Night: Was a huge success! 7 people came out and scaled some walls, had a great time rock climbing at the college! Thanks to Gab and Jeff for spotting everyone, and thanks to Jose for planning. Social Night Schedule for next few months: MAY=DARRELL
(paintball?), JUNE= GAB (changeover party), JULY=DANA (bowling/golfing?). Stay tuned!

• Downtown Business Association: Darrell advises that last he spoke with Helen Rice, she had offered some "sidewalk sale" tables at the Canada Day parade to sell Duck tickets, as well as something of the same sort potentially with the Iskoteo festival. Attending meetings? Sarah attends them already, will talk to Helen next meeting and firm some more things up for the club. Stay tuned!

6. Old/Ongoing Business:

• Black Tie Bingo: Volunteers resigned up for Dale - the last sheet is MIA.... Dale is looking for about 6 volunteers for this event on Saturday, think we got about 5. Black Tie Bingo is a formal affair, movie star theme this year, so dress up dainty and come down to help out! Rotaract will be doing coat check, and perhaps helping out throughout the night with a few different draws happening, etc. The vent is expecting over 300 people, so there will be lots to do! We are allowed to wear our Rotaract name tags and some signage at coat check. Please show up between 5-5:30 on Saturday.... see you there! Any more info needed, please contact Dale @ d_tiedemann@hotmail.com. Thanks!

• Volunteer Service Lunch: If you are one of the people that is attending, you must pick up your ticket at the VSB office BEFORE the luncheon. This office is located across from Blackman's Butcher Shop (same side of the street, on upper corner near Sylvan learning, Incubus Tattoo, etc). Not sure of the hours, but assume daytime business hours to be the norm.

• Bottle Pickup: So far, no cheque from the Recycle Depot, but let's keep em coming! They issue cheques once per month only if account sits at over $50.... so we should be getting one soon! We reviewed pick up procedure (please refer to last two meetings minutes for details again on this). Sign up sheet went around - but we still need a few more people! The commitment is a one time pick up per week, pick the bottles up from the mall, label them, then drop them off at the depot. Please contact Sarah @ mymortgage@telus.net for sign up or more details/questions.

• Rotary Green-a-thon: Saturday May 2 @ 7:30am, Rotary campground (on the bypass). Please see previous meeting's minutes for details of this campaign. Overview: garbage pickup around our lovely city to make it clean and prettier! Grade 5 and 6 kids come out and do this, starting with a pancake breakfast, and ending with a barbecue...... sign up if you haven't already with Gab! She will need someone to help her visit some schools to promote this day and hand out waiver sheets to the students to participate as well. For more info, contact her @ gabannie@hotmail.com

• Duck Race: We are still looking at our May 1 launch date, to kick off in fine form with somewhat of a party at the Keg. Some issues to ponder and give Darrell some input if you can: Ticket sale venues - we need some! Currently have deals with the mall and Coop, Home Depot, Walmart, IGA, Best Buy and Superstore - let us know if there is anywhere else we can get a booth set up to give this event more exposure and sales!! Ovations is also a great opportunity we've afforded for the Duck Race - we are title sponsor for the month of May. Next Duck Race meeting to be held next Tuesday (April 21) at 6pm, eastside Esquires coffee - feel free to join the committee if you would like more info, or want to get more involved! For more info, you can also contact Darrell @ dwinwood1@mac.com

New Business:
• Rotaract District Co-Chair: Gab received email from the district yesterday afternoon that there will be a vote shortly for this position in the district. All applicants must also submit a bio for review - these will be reviewed by clubs prior to voting. An important note: you cannot vote for your own club member on this poll! We are proud to say that our very own Cheryl is the inaugural current co-chair!! Kudos to Cheryl on this - taking on a brand new role is a trying thing sometimes, and she did a great job! Deadline for nominations and bios is *gasp* Friday, April 17 - but this can be extended if need be seeing as such short notice was given to our club.

• Ovations: As discussed above. Final note: Please consider being a volunteer for this if you are NOT going to the district conference, which falls on one of the same weekends in May - the long weekend. Thanks!!

• Stompede: Pretty sure we figured out this is happening in the last week of May. Darrell was approached to think about entering a team from the Club to volunteer throughout the event. We did this last year - had many of our members help out quite a bit, and did not receive any proceeds as we thought we would in return...... The people who volunteered say it was alot of fun - just a shame we did not get any funding for the club as promised. This year, Darrell was told we could expect anywhere between a $3000-$5000 honorarium for our efforts - a really great amount of money! Sarah did bring up concern around over-committing our club members to too many events - was discussed by club. Agreed that we have stretched our membership over quite a few projects for the next few months, and what with it being summer it's been proven to be that much more difficult to get the volunteers and bodies needed for events. To date, club has Ovations, Green-a-thon, Black Tie Bingo, Bottle Pick-up, Duck Race, District Conference running over the next few months - alot of great stuff, but quite the schedule! Agreed to have Darrell get more info on this, and we will revisit in a future meeting. If not this year, let's keep in front of mind for next year? Sounds good! Stay tuned.

• Rotary Club Updates: changes to meeting times/places for two of the Rotary clubs in town to note: Sunrise Club: Tuesday April 21 @ 7am, held at the Community Village - info session. GP Club: effective Friday, April 17, meeting will be at Quality Inn (no longer GP Inn).

Membership Minute:

• Kendra and Tyler: Kendra present at meeting, reported back that her and Tyler did see eachother briefly, and chatted about a few random things.......er........ they had a good time!! Got to know a little bit more about eachother - we'll get Tyler to elaborate as well next time we see him. A good suggestion from Kendra: the members that are paired up should be supplied with some sort of contact info for eachother in order to plan their date...... wicked suggestion, Kendra! So, see as Dale and Dana are the next two to meet, I will send you guys an email with eachother's contact info following these minutes!!! Can't wait to hear about your outing! Cheryl and Spencer were the last two to pair up, hope to hear about their get together at next meeting.
Have a great week everyone, and see you at the next meeting.....or perhaps Black Tie Bingo? Ovations?? Green-a-thon?? :) Take care!

Meeting Adjourned.

Rotaract Meetting - March 24, 2009

Attendance: Gabrielle Boulet, Darrell Winwood, Miranda Leclerc, Sarah Davison, David Crouse, Kathleen Crouse, Mark Forman, Jose Magat, Dale Tiedemann.

Guest: Cedrick Leblanc

Approval of Last Meeting Minutes: Dale motion, Jose second. Passed.
Approval of Agenda: Darrell motion, David second. Passed.

Action Items:

• Open House: Had great response, potential recruits from the evening, and cheques were made up and presented. thanks to Dana again for getting the space provided and the food! A successful event all in all.

• Bottle Pick up: We reviewed the bottle pickup process, but again for those who weren't in attendance: Please sign up with Michelle or myself for weekly pickup. We have been doing pick up preferably on a Monday/Tuesday, but whatever works for you midweek. When you go into the mall food court, the bottle room is located down the hallway in between the chinese restaurant and taco time on the right hand side (this is the mall's janitorial room as well). The bottles are at the end of the room in the corner in plastic bags. We have left a red Zellers bag there containing a jiffy marker, duct tape, and the power plus account number. Please put the number on tape and attached to the front of each bag of bottles - this way, our account will be credited with the funds. You can take these bottles to either one of the depots - the one on resources is now only open Mondays and Tuesdays, and the other from Wednesdays to Saturdays. There is a drop off spot labeled "power plus" in each depot when you walk in, and you can leave the bags under this sign. So far, we do not have a volunteer for this week - any takers??? I will have a new sign up sheet ready to go at tomorrow's meeting. Thanks to Jose and Gab for last week, and Mark for the week prior. Keep it up you guys!

• Black Tie Bingo: Ah, Dale's bebe, Black tie Bingo! We need volunteers for this for working coat check. A sign up sheet was passed around last meeting, but anybody else that would like to help, please let Dale know! This event is formal, so wear your Sunday's best and come out to help, should be a very fun event. the event is April 18, please be there for 5:30pm (earlier if you can). We have been advised that we are allowed some signage at the coat check, and can keep all tips towards the club! Awesome!

• Volunteer Services breakfast luncheon: 11:30 April 22 at the GP Inn, tickets have been allocated.

Old Ongoing Business:
• Belize Scholarship Project: Gab has found out that our contributions in fact put not one, but THREE TO FOUR students through high school - quite something! We are still deciding on whether we are allocating funds for this from gaming money, or lobster fest funds ($1000 for four years).

• Shelter Box: A quick review: Shelter box is a survival kit that supplies 10 to 12 people with aid/relief though a crisis. They are $1200 CAD each. We need a spokesperson or an ambassador if you will, to go to Peace River, Grimshaw and Fairview for 12pm meetings to present this project - who can travel? Please let us know if your schedule allows, would love the help. More to come, so stay tuned.

• Duck Race: And, over to Darrell for an update: Gaming has received our application, we are just waiting on the approval from them - so the ball is rolling quickly! April 30 has been confirmed for ticket sales to commence. We still need to find and confirm locations for ticket sales - this is a 12 week campaign. Please let Darrell or a member of the Duck Race committee know if you are aware of a location we could use commencing April 30 for 12 weeks running, or even a portion of this time.

• DTBA invites: Helen Rice has extended invites to our club for the Downtown Business Association committee meetings and participation in the Canada day parade a Duck race ticket booth perhaps?..... more to come on this proposal. Also, Iskoteo festival may be somewhere we could sell tickets or participate in the events (this is an arts festival happening in June in Grande Prairie featuring many local artisans - how cool!). Again, more to come on this...

New Business:
• Social Night: April 7 wall climbing, 7pm at the college $18-$20. This event has happened, Jose you will have to fill us in on how it was! Hope it was a success

• Rotary Green-a-thon: let's clean up this city of ours! the 1st Saturday on May there will be a garbage pick up day in Grande Prairie. Kids volunteer as well from local schools, so you may be in charge of a gaggle of little ones doing their best! Gab did it last year, reported it to be very entertaining.... complete with a pancake brekkie to start, then a barbecue after. 9am-1pm approximately, May 2. Sign up sheet will be passed around again at the next meeting.

Membership Minutes:
• Kendra and Tyler coffee time.... neither were present, so we'll have to hear what they got up to and learned about eachother at next meeting...... stay tuned! Cheryl and Spencer have been paired up next for coffee time, so we'll look forward to that as well.

• There is a Swan city Poker Tournament May 7, cost is $20 to enter, with plenty of prizes..... ask Dale for the deets.... he is the poker guy....

• Another Rotaract Interest: Darrell told our club about 6 Rotaract clubs in London, Ont that are doing odd jobs in seniors centers around their community - very cool. They volunteer to do the mundane tasks that help people very much, as well as some fun stuff for the residence. The club has been featured in a few articles for their work - way to go! Also, clubs in salt Lake City are up to some goodness: they raised $51,000 for clean water projects in Cambodia, and reforestation projects in Bangkok.

Meeting Adjourned
Hope everyone had an excellent Easter, and we'll see you all really soon! Have a wonderful night.

Rotaract Meeting - March 10, 2009

7:32 p.m. start

Approval of last minutes: Motion by Kathleen, second by Jose - passed

Approval of agenda: Motion by Dale, Cheryl second - passed

Action Items

Interact charter night: Five members attend. Was a good event to support and the cupcakes were very yummy!

Community Village breakfast: Club was invited to attend - Dale, Gabrielle and Kathleen attended to represent Rotaract and our fundraising commitment. Club has donated $9,000 so far, still have $11,000 commitment outstanding.


Visiting other Rotary Clubs: Visits made to other three clubs to promote Rotaract Open House.

Drag Wars: Meetings ongoing, Rotaract has little involvement.

Open House: Dana and volunteers to set up, some members encouraged to stay behind to help clean up. If needed, Cheryl and Jose will bartend. Event starts at 6 p.m. - speeches at 7 p.m.

Duck Race - Darrell reports on Duck Race. Event is still on track, much more information to come.

Mazatlan bus trip: Bus trip leaves this Saturday at 6 a.m. - your welcome to go and see them off if you like 6 a.m. on a Saturday.

Grande Prairie Legal Guidance: Club invited to celebration/information event for legal clinic in town - March 12 at 4:30-6:30 at Maddhatters.

Black Tie Bingo: STARS event - April 18. Volunteers needed for help that night, possible fundraiser for club. Talk to Dale to sign up.

Volunteer Services Bureau lunch: Lunch to celebrate volunteers in Grande Prairie, club has five tickets for April 22 lunch, two are spoken for - talk to Gab for the rest.


Membership minute: Tyler and Kendra to report for next meeting.