November 25, 2008 Meeting Minutes

Rotaract General
Nov. 25, 2008

Attending: President Gabrielle, VP Darrell (acting as secretary), Treasurer Miranda, Membership co-director Dana – General members – Cheryl, Mark, Cedric, Dale, Becky, Spencer

Guest: Elizabeth (did not get last name, invited by Becky)

Approval of agenda: Motion by Cheryl, seconded Gabrielle - passed
Approval of past minutes: Motion by Dana, seconded Dale - passed

1. Welcome of new members

Official welcome to new members Mark (I finally paid, it’s official) Forman, David Crouse (unable to attend), Spencer Brownell. Congratulations all around and welcome to the new members.

2. Youth Emergency Shelter - Black and White dance

Event is this Saturday (November 29) for everyone who volunteered to help at the event. If you have volunteered contact Gabrielle to get information of a possible dress code and duties and time. Duties include security patrol and/or baby-sitting (actual babies, not the teenagers). Contact Gabrielle ASAP for more info if needed.

3. November social night

This past Saturday (Nov. 22) was the monthly Rotaract social event - gingerbread house making at Mark’s house. Event was fun for all who attended, copious amounts of rum in the icing made spreading it more challenging and Mark’s bathroom still smells like rum (thanks to Dale and Cheryl for hiding a house in there that took Mark two days to discover). The December social event is the Rotary Christmas Party – see details below.

4. Rotary Christmas party

Event is Saturday, Dec. 5 at the Grande Prairie Inn, cocktails at 6 p.m. dinner at 7 p.m. Is a city-wide Rotary event and generally a more classy affair. If planning to attend RSVP to Cheryl no later than Dec. 2. Register at the door when you arrive so the club can be invoiced at a later date.
Rotaract needs a reporting sergeant volunteer, basically a snitch, someone who will advise the master sergeant about events and people in our club that can be mocked properly in front of Rotary. Any volunteers? Contact Cheryl ASAP.
Also Cheryl is seeking donations for the silent auction. Proceeds from the event will be donated to the Youth Emergency Shelter. Any questions about the event contact Cheryl ASAP.

5. Rotaract badges
Gabrielle to contact former member Bill Given to get any information available on getting new name badges for new members.

6. Duck Race
Committee has a target list of prizes and is now trying to contact potential sponsors to determine what we can get. Hope to have firm list of prizes by Dec. 16.
Committee always looking for help. Anyone willing or wanting information contact Darrell.

7. Club Secretary assistant

Due to a family illness Sarah might be as available she would like to be for meetings so club needs a volunteer to take minutes on nights Sarah is not there. Contact Sarah if you want to be the go-to person or contact Gabrielle.

8. Rotaract Charity Scavenger Hunt

There is no general meeting in December for Rotaract. The first meeting date, Dec. 9 is instead the Rotaract Charity Scavenger Hunt, in past years this has benefited the Food Bank, this year club is contacting Youth Emergency Shelter to see what items we might be able to raise to help them. Event involved Rotaract teams canvassing friends and family to raise certain donations in a one-night blitz. This year an invitation is being extended to Interact and the exchange students as well. If you plan to come and participate RSVP to Gabrielle as soon as possible to help with vehicle planning. More details on the event will be coming via e-mail so stay tuned.

November 11, 2008 Meeting Minutes

Members: Dana, Kathleen, Jeff, Cedrick, Darrell, Gabrielle, Mark, Kendra, Dale, Michelle
Guests: David, Spencer & Kimberly

1. Introductions

2. Approving the Minutes of the Last Meeting
(no one recalls getting the minutes ... let’s move on ... )

3. Approving the Agenda
(motioned by Darrell, seconded by Dana)

4. Presentation by former Rotaractor Someh Niengor – Executive Director of GP YESS

The Grande Prairie Youth Emergency Shelter Society operates Sunrise House Youth Emergency Shelter, a Street Outreach Program and school outreach programs which engage youth to tell THEIR stories to other youth & encourage positive change. Youth homelessness is notoriously poorly funded by government. Most non-profit agencies fundraise 20-50% of their budgets, while GPYESS fundraises almost 80%

The shelter serves children that run away from home due to fighting or abuse and need a place to stay for a few days until it blows over, runaways from the system, kids who are abandoned or neglected, those involved in sexual exploitation or drugs, and those lacking mental health or medical support trying to do whatever they can to survive.

There are a few GPYESS events coming up that they’d like Rotaract to help out with:
The Positive Choice Project – works to engage youth before they get into trouble by giving them something fun to do and give GPYESS support workers a chance to develop a relationship with them. The first initiative of the PC Project is a Black & White Much Music Video Dance Party, Saturday, November 29th 7:00pm-12:00am. Volunteers are needed to ‘chaperone’; directing people to the gym, monitoring the VIP section, ensuring no one gets into other areas of the school, keeping an eye out for intoxication, etc

Anyone interested in volunteering contact marsha@sunrisehouse.ca (cc Michelle so you get an attendance credit!!)

Homeless for a Night – raised $43,000 last year (close to twice what was raised in previous years. Rotaract has been involved from the beginning, cooking dinner for all participants.
Leisure Centre Luau – PC Project in January that they could require volunteers for.
Global Youth Day – PC Project modelled after Oprah’s Big Give where PC Project participants will get into groups & attempt to trade up from paperclips to secure the items non-profit groups in our community need. Local fundraisers will act as judges and eliminate one group each month, but they’ll need other volunteers.

GPYESS will recognize Rotaract for their support through posters, media coverage etc.

5. District Conference

The Rotary District Conference goes May 14-17 in Jasper.
Cedrick has booked two rooms for Rotaract (enough room for 4-8 people). Anyone planning to attend please let Cedrick know ASAP. Our club has been asked to make a presentation at the conference about what we’ve accomplished, what our current projects are, and how we work with our local Rotary clubs & Interact. Anyone interested in helping with the presentation contact Michelle.

6. Festival of Trees
Thursday November 13th – Volunteers Needed for set construction from 12:00-9:00
Bring your own drill/driver/saw

7. November Social

November 22 – Gingerbread House decorating at Mark’s House (30 Pinnacle Ave.) The gingerbread decorating starts at 7:00 ... feel free to bring your FAVOURITES: candy for the houses, snacks for our bellies, or drinks for our amusement.
Michelle will pickup 5 gingerbread kits & continue hating science

8. Duck Race

Ideal prize list is in development for 2009 ... if anyone have any suggestions let Darrell know.
The committee is working to develop an application system for potential partner groups, get final numbers for this year’s partners & get cheques into their hands asap.

Our portion of the proceeds from the 2008 race will go to pay the GP Rotary Club back for their loan of ‘seed money’, keep enough to fund our 2009 lottery, with any extra going to fulfil our commitment to The Community Village. DUCK RACE 2009 IS SCHEDULED FOR JULY 26, 2009 – anyone interested in helping is welcome at our regular Tuesday meetings ... contact Darrell for details of the next meeting.

9. Quad Club Christmas Party
Friday December 5th at the Grande Prairie Inn

Members of all three Rotary Clubs, Interact and Rotaract are invited to attend. Rotaract will cover the cost of any Rotaractors that want to attend, but anyone who wishes to bring a guest should be prepared to cover the cost of their ticket (apprx. $40 for their guest). Though again we have no records of ever being billed by Rotary for our Christmas Party tickets, so I guess you’re only on the hook IF we’re billed!

Our club is in-charge of decor ... if you’d like to help contact Cheryl
All proceeds from the evening will go to the Grande Prairie Youth Emergency Shelter Society

10. ONE LIFE Experience at People’s Church
November 20th at 11am
Rotaractors have been invited for a special sneak-peak at this interactive experience created through World Vision to help you step into the life of a child in an African village.

11. SCAVENGER HUNT
December 9th, 7:30pm
Meet at our regular meeting room at the Stanford Inn, break into teams, get our list of items to collect, and then hit the streets (and our friend’s houses) to collect as many as possible!
Gabrielle will contact GPYESS to see if we can collect the items they need on their behalf.

12. NO MEETING ON DECEMBER 23rd
Motioned by Gabrielle, Seconded by Dale

13. ROUNDTABLE

Mark’s been doing lots of travelling (to exotic places like Montreal and Fort St John). Mark confirmed his membership so he’s now officially a Rotaractor.

Spencer shared with us what he does at the Keg ... and how he & Kimberly put up their Christmas Tree, but gave up on the lights on their house. Spencer was introduced to the club through Keith Curtis at The Keg. Thanks Keith! And Thanks Spencer & Kimberly for visiting!

Kendra is learning how to drive in the snow (really learning for the first time ... not re-teaching herself like the rest of Grande Prairians do every ‘first snowfall’).

Dale has officially moved into the new place & is starting renovations now that their Nov. 1 STARS fundraiser is over ... They raised $46,000 through a dinner & dance in Dale’s hometown of Debolt!

Michelle will be spending Christmas in Grande Prairie for the first time ... spending the holidays with her new redneck family.

Dana will be in Lahaina Maui in just over a month with her family.

Kathleen just got paid back for a bike her brother Nathan borrowed & didn’t lock up 4 years ago.

David’s happy he won’t have to listen to Kathleen complain about the bike their brother Nathan borrowed & didn’t lock up 4 years ago. We’re also thrilled to welcome David as a new member!

Jeff has moved into a new position at Timbrr Mart and is working days (less evening & weekends) so he was able to join us tonight!

Darrell has gifts for people who donated their time at the Street Performers Festival and considered using them to bribe people to vote for Debi & Darrell’s proposal story at www.q99live.com, so they can win $4,000 in Tacori Wedding Bands!

Club President Gabrielle is recruiting people for pyramid schemes & alcoholism ... she pins down

Michelle & Dale, so look out for either of them or you could be next!!

14. MEETING ADJOURNED – 9:04pm

October 14, 2008 Meeting Minutes

Members: Tyler, Cheryl, Kendra, Michelle, Jose, Lisa, Dana, Gabrielle, Kathleen, Cedrick
Guests: Lisa Peters

Duck Race (covered at the very beginning of the meeting so Darrell could get on the election-beat)

- This year’s race was successful, but A LOT of work for our small committee

- In order to proceed with it next year we need a commitment from the ENTIRE membership

- We’d like to appoint individuals to look after one entire aspect of the lottery (ie. gaming, volunteer groups, ticket sale locations, marketing, finances)

- Many suggestions were made for next year, including implementing a large fine for volunteer groups that miss shifts (the fine is then withdrawn from the proceeds for that group)

- Darrell has suggested that the President Elect serve as Chair of the Duck Race committee (as the race takes place at the beginning of the Rotaract year, this will ensure that the President at race-time is the authority for all things Duck Race because they’ve been chair of the committee for a year already … it also gives them a focus (beyond helping the Pres.) for their year as President Elect

This, of course, means Darrell himself will be chairing the 2009 Duck Race committee
Work on sponsorship & prize development will start in November … if you can spare some time to help on the committee it would be VERY MUCH appreciated

Duck Race Meeting, Tuesday November 4th … time & location TBD

Motion to Approve the Minutes of the Previous Meeting
- Cedrick motioned
- Dale seconded

Motion to Approve the Agenda
- Kathleen motioned
- Jose seconded

October Social Night
- Sarah has offered to host a Game Night, Friday October 24th
- Bring snacks, drinks, board games, friends, or prospective Rotaractors

District Assembly - and upcoming District Events
- Cheryl, Gabrielle & Cedrick attended the Rotary District Assembly in Peace River

- Cheryl noted that one of the ways we could be more effective as a club is if our members are aware of district goals & look for opportunities to get involved

- Members NEED to attend these kind of events to get an understanding of the Rotary Family and how clubs work locally, regionally & internationally

- The Rotary District Conference is planned for May 14-17 in Jasper (Jasper Park Lodge)

- Our club has been asked to make a presentation about our club activities & future plans … who will spearhead this?

- Kendra, Cheryl, Gabrielle, Kathleen, Dale, Jose, Michelle & Cedrick are interested in attending

- We need to book hotel rooms NOW, preferably large suites so we can fit 4-5 people per room … who is making these bookings?As long as the rooms are booked in advance, we can worry about exactly WHO is coming later … people can register online … Rotaract Rate is $250 for the weekend

- Just a reminder, Cheryl is in charge of fundraising for the Zone 22 Conference scheduled for September 2009 … she needs volunteers to ask Rotary businesses to help fund the conference … if you’re interested in helping behind the scenes or being the person to ask for donations, contact Cheryl

Scarecrow Festival
- Gabrielle was approached by the Sunrise Club to provide a ‘Keys Please’ service at their Scarecrow Festival

- It was suggested that we rent vehicles ($45 each for the weekend … the rental place would give us one for every one we rent)

- Members suggested that we would MAKE more money for the club if we used our own vehicles

- 9 people volunteered themselves & their vehicles for the night - THANK YOU!

- It was determined that we would provide drive-home services for a minimum donation of $20 to Rotaract. Drivers are needed starting around 9:00

November Social
- Proposed by new member Mark Forman … Gingerbread House Decorating!!
- Mark has volunteered his kitchen & is suggesting we actually make these things from scratch
- A few people suggested just DECORATING … maybe getting a kit for the actual walls & roof?
- Date in November, TBD by Mark’s work schedule … plan for Late November

Rotary Christmas Party
- December 5 @ GP Inn
- The Rotaract Club has been asked to coordinate decorations
- Cheryl is leading the Décor-Team, so contact her if you’re interested in helping out!

Meeting on Remembrance Day
- It was decided that our meeting on November 11th is still on, as Remembrance Day ceremonies are held in the morning
- That means Tuesday, November 11 … 7:30 at the Stanford Inn

Rountable
- Tyler kicked off his GPRC Curling season with a win

- Cheryl is excited to get into her new house (any day now, really) so she can host a painting party (everyone quick - DUCK!!)

- Kendra is full of news … she got a CAR (a hot little blue one), and her & Jamie bought a house!! Kendra will now be spending her free time admiring the purchases that will keep her at home for the rest of her life!

- Michelle is hosting a Halloween Party - Friday October 31st … drop by any time after 8:00 & feel free to bring friends (7831 Cedarwood Park, Park on 79 Ave West of 100 Street)

- Jose’s clinical work is exposing him (and therefore the rest of us) to detailed medical descriptions about c-sections and other things that make me queezy

- Lisa has recently moved back to GP & although she has a busy work schedule is interested in getting involved in the community through Rotaract - WELCOME LISA!!

- Dana is excited for: pumpkin carving, a season of Dexter, and a bubble bath (please Dana … one at a time!!)

September 23, 2008 Meeting Minutes

Attendance: Kathleen Crouse, Gabrielle Boulet, Cedrick Leblanc, Jose Magat, Tyler Bulford, Dale Tiedemann, Cheryl Budjak, Dana Moody, Miranda Leclercq, Sarah Davison
Guests: None

Approval of previous minutes: Kathleen motion, Jose second
Approval of Agenda: Sarah motion, Jose second

Action Items: NONE! Whoah....

Ongoing Business:

Chris Andersen stopped in to follow up with the person who so graciously volunteered their services to him when he was our guest speaker - duties were to sort through books, lost and found items, etc...... after Chris left, we pondered this and came to the conclusion that Darrell was the one who had offered - Darrell, defend yourself at the next meeting, buddy.

Duck Race: SO much hard work accumulated to a very successful barrell draw at the mall - way to go!!!! There was no cash prize winner, but the other recipients were pretty darn happy with their prizes. Michelle did a superb job of reading the rules and MC duties, and the other members in attendance sure looked cute drawing tickets, punching all the info into laptops, manning stations and notifying winners! We had a last minute burst of sales at the mall just hours before the draw - 109 tickets sold in 1.5 hours to be exact! There are still 6 books of 25 tickets MIA after recovering one of them from Corey, cheque the online site for details on refunds for these ticket numbers. There will be some sort of cheque signing get together for the committee to do an official tally and all payouts. They will keep us posted of final numbers!

NOTE: Signing authority must be done again for Rotaract bank accounts - committee members required to sign on, make a time to do so together.

Social Night: Plans??? Cheryl?! Glow golf is a no go, so what about games night? Sarah volunteered her shack to host it, see above dates and times and rsvp at next meeting when date confirmed..... let's be social butterflies...let's also bring some board games, as Sarah has a few, but not enough.

NOTE: Miranda needs help from 2 members to audit Rotaract financial statements - not sure whether they were volunteered or voluntold, but the lucky ducks (NO pun intended) are Cedrick and Jose. Thanks to both of you!

Coats for Kids: The dates and times have been confirmed - have you volunteered? Cold kids need your help - come to Crouse's Cleaners and help sort and launder Coats that have been donated by the community. DATES, TIMES, AND VOLUNTEERS SO FAR ARE AS FOLLOWS: Tuesday October 7 - 5:00-8:00: Jarrett, Gabrielle, Vaughn, Sarah, Michelle. Wednesday October 8 - 5:00-8:00: Gabrielle, Kathleen, Michelle, Dana. Anybody else that can come out and help, it's much appreciated!

Gratituities: We have a free room each and every month for our club - this is pretty awesome!! In return, the hotel asks that you maybe order some grub every once in awhile at a meeting, and tip your sever! 15% is the going gratituity rate - please make sure you do this. Hey, if you're a moneybags, tip more! Thanks in advance - hoepfully by us being a little generous, we'll continue to be lucky to have a free meeting place.


ROUNDTABLE. MEETING ADJOURNED

September 9, 2008 Meeting Minutes

Attending: Sarah, Cedrick, Tyler, Amanda, Kathleen, Dale, Gabrielle, Darrell, Jose, Mark, Michelle, Cheryl, Amanda, Jarrett
Guests: Chris Andersen

Approval of previous minutes: Cheryl motioned, Darrell seconded
Approval of Agenda: Sarah motioned, Michelle seconded

Guest speaker: Chris Andersen
Summary: Chris enlightened us on some majorly amazing international projects that are both past and ongoing within Rotary District 5370 (our district spans all the way down close to Red Deer and north of us). The most prominent one discussed was one undertaken by World Community Services Society, which is a sector of Rotary specifically created to tackle international projects, available grant information, and basically guide different clubs who wish to create new or contribute to projects. A few examples were a project in the Dominican that addressed leprosy and water filtration systems; one in Irkutsk Siberia through 2005/2006 that focused on education improvement, orphanages and high schools; and one in Belize that is focusing on on literacy, teacher facilitation skill improvement, and gaining new equipment (ie computers) for the schools' use.

Gabrielle accepted a certificate on behalf of our club relating to our contributions in 2005/2006 to the Siberia project - way to go!! Some fast facts for you keeners: Currently on the Belize project, there are 60 clubs in our district, and 45 of these are supporting this project - pretty great, really. It also received a $300,000 humanitarian aid grant from Rotary International. With the combined efforts of Rotary and 24 Albertan teachers who have volunteered their time, this program will reach out and affect over 80,000 students - quite the accomplishment.

The bottom line: Chris wanted to stress to our club how key international projects are - if we can handle a commitment of this sort, he would urge us to do so. Darrell inquired as to what we could in the form of non-financial commitment (as our club is a little less resource rich than some others). There was some great ideas thrown around involving school lost and found item donation program, and possibilities of other sweat equity projects.... perhaps details to come in the future??

Lastly, Chris touched upon a Christmas card campaign that donates funds generated to entrepreneurial women in Ethiopia and restore of goat, cattle, and horse herds to pastoral communities. Get this - Chris and his wife started this one up in their own home, made the cards from their own picture stash, and, with help of their computer savvy son, raised over $50,000 IN THE FIRST YEAR! Again, pretty amazing stuff...

Thank you, Chris, for coming and talking with us about all these things that our own district should be proud of helping with.

Now, back to biz, folks....

New Business: How about those other non-lottery events???.....
Terry Fox Run: This Saturday, September 13 @ 9am Terry needs your help.... Race starts at Muskoseepi Park, it's a 10km run/walk. Anyone care to volunteer? Most likely helping with set up, take down, etc. Sign-up sheet available, or give Gab a ring-a-ding and catch her on the jimmy-jangle..... ps. This is a great cause! Terry Fox thanks you in advance...

Lottery Food Bank Drive: Have a vehicle? Some kindly donated food needs a lift from neighborhood doorways to the Food Bank.... please check with your C-A-R and see if it's available. Dates and times TBD.

Coats For Kids: Now til October 15. It's what it sounds like - people donating coats for kids this winter. Duties the cause needs your help with include (but are not limited to) sorting and cleaning coats, collection of coats from various locations. Tentatively marked for Sept 23, 24 (Tues/Wed). Let Gab know if you can help out if you did not sign up on the beautiful sign up sheets (which, I might add, she made all by herself and they looked wicked).

Festival of Trees: The committee has asked for our help, and wanted quite a large commitment from us - what with our schedules, time constraints of work, etc etc, Gab has asked them to revamp their request and present it again. More details to come.

ADDITION TO AGENDA: SEPTEMBER SOCIAL THIS FRIDAY, SEPT 12 @ LION'S DEN, 9PM. Please note, we are attending the Storm game same night, at 7pm, to sell as many more Duck tickets as humanly possible, then we will be moving on to the Lion's Den after this for our social. Come on down - it will be a good time!

Ongoing Business:
Dues: Who owes? Who will be renewing membership, who may not? Let Ashley or Michelle know, and give Miranda your money.

Ross Tyson: Yes, Ross Tyson wants to do lunch and even dinner with YOU. Please let's get a poll on attendance over the next few weeks via email.... The details: Lunch - Fri, Sept 26 @ 12pm at our regular meeting spot. Dinner - $31 gets you fed at the Quality Inn, same day as lunch.

DUCK RACE: 10 days left!! We have confirmed it will be a barrel draw, as we are far into the process with the lotto corp to do so - although there is enough water in the reservoir again, Ducks Unlimited cannot host a day event on such short notice, and the barrel approval process is almost complete. We need a video camera for this.... there were a few volunteers, so please keep the Duck Committee posted on whether you can get one for this date. Ticket sale update: approx 5300 sold - this is not including the outstanding tickets that we can't count til we get in......so......GET THEM IN. Darrell committed to getting an email out with the Ducks Unlimited website info for online ticket purchase, so stay tuned.

ROUNDTABLE

MEETING ADJOURNED

Duck Race Prize Draw - Sunday September 21

The Grande Prairie Rotaract Club will award 12 lucky winners with their prizes this Sunday at Prairie Mall. As recently covered extensively in the media, all Duck Race prize winners will be determined with a barrel-draw due to low water levels.

 

Join us at 2:00pm Sunday September 21^st at Prairie Mall to see if you’ll take home one of our 12 HOT prizes - or the Lucky 13^th Bonus Prize of $100,000!

 

TICKETS ON SALE SUNDAY UNTIL 1:00PM

August 12, 2008 Meeting Minutes

Rotaract General
August 12, 2008

... and there came a night, a night like none other in the history of Rotaract. It was a night that divided Rotaract like never before, a split that was subtle at first but then actively encouraged (by one side of the club). It was a night where all the women chose to sit on one side of the table and the men on another... (okay maybe not that dramatic but you had to be there, it was kinda funny)...

Attending: Cheryl, Miranda, Michelle, Gabrielle, Kathleen, Ashley, Dana, Kendra, Jeff, Jose, Tyler, Dale, Darrell (acting as secretary)

Guests: Prospective member Mark Forman, Colleen Tarrant past-president Sunrise Rotary

Approval of previous minutes: Motion by Jose, seconded by Michelle

Approval of agenda (written out on white board because Gab [in her second meeting as president] forgot to make paper agendas): Motion by Cheryl, seconded by Dale

Action Items:

Wave Media Surveys - report by Michelle

Club had again been contacted by Wave Media to see if club members were willing to volunteer to survey visitors to Evergreen Park in return for donation to club’s general account. Surveys would have had to be have been done Aug. 10 and Aug. 24, 2008. As these dates would have (keep reading to see why they would have and not will) conflict with the Duck Race club kindly turns down Wave Media but says “think of us in the future.”

Club Runner training - report by Darrell

Rotaract trying to join the new century and learn about this fancy thing called the In-ter-net??? Club executive has been trying to schedule a training session to learn more about the Rotary Club Runner system which is heavily used by Rotary. Grande Prairie Rotarian Kevin Hilger volunteered to teach system to club executive. Training postponed because of unstable In-ter-net connection at Stanford Inn and will likely be rescheduled for when the executives' heads won’t explode - a.d.r. - after duck race. Keep reading for more details.

Stompede mechandise sales - report by Ashley

Club members had volunteered at Stompede to run the merchandise tent in exchange for a small percentage of the sales profit. Merch sales.... well ... were about as flat as a runover cowboy in the bull riding contest ... there was no profit and many boxes remain in Ashley’s poor crowded garage. But not all is lost, Ashley talking with Stompede executive about possible donation to club to compensate for our time regardless and club is welcome to volunteer again next year when merch sales run again.

(suddenly... the sky darkened, thunder shook the room, a chill fell over all in attendance... well not really but some of us felt that way)

Duck Race - report by Gabrielle

Duck race committee, believing that no news means good news, has news (if you get that you share Darrell’s sense of humour, congrats).

Ticket sales have not been going as we had hoped, about 3,000 tickets sold and the break even point is roughly 5,800-6,000. As such, committee is applying to Alberta Gaming to move date back to Sept. 21 and plans to have a meeting next week with partner groups to outline the situation. Also hampering the duck race is a distinct lack of water (first to say ‘hot enough for you’ gets a boot). There is no water in the reservoir, really, try driving by the college side and you'll see it’s green with grow-in weeds. No water makes it hard to have a race.

The committee is investigating its options for other public races and concepts. Last resort, there will be a barrel draw with 12 tickets drawn, all prizes remain valid.

To make up the difference the club has two new weekend selling points at Wal-Mart and Canadian Tire which are being staffed by club members and Grande Prairie soccer in addition to Co-Op and the Prairie Mall.

ALL MEMBERS WILL BE NEEDED TO HELP STAFF AND SELL AT THESE LOCATIONS! Please watch your e-mail for sign-up notices and help us make this event successful.

New Business

Sunrise Rotary Scarecrow Festival - report by Gabrielle

In an effort to boost their general revenue and get away from lotteries which ties up its money, Sunrise Rotart Club attempting to start up a Scarecrow Festival. The concept is simple, think Festival of Trees but with scarecrows. Club will be seeking sponsorship to set up walking festival of highly decorative and artistic scarecrows and make it a public event with the companies getting the scarecrows afterward. No direct Rotaract involvement, but members encouraged to spread the idea to their businesses for potential support and sponsorship.

Round Table:

This is otherwise known as the point when Rotaract members try to one-up each other with a better story of their most recent adventures. This humble scribbler won’t even try to recount the tales but it was perhaps the best round table ever in club history, you really had to be there to get the full laughs and good news.

Not sure what was better – Michelle’s tale of cowboy boots saving her from doing something no one should ever have to do - (just be glad it wasn't you) - ‘nuff said, Colleen’s tale of ridin’ the bible bus with her Dad to Winnipeg and back (stopping for beer where needed), Ashley Rae becoming a future country music super star (her first album is out at the end of this month), Kendra nearly (but not quite) cutting her toes off while chopping wood camping, Jeff being mocked for thinking that RVing at Calaway Park in Calgary counts as ‘camping’, Mark buying a house (no joke here, he bought a house - congrats Mark), Dale enjoying the highlights of his ‘dry’ and very religious family reunion, Miranda enjoying throwing horse bones (yes horse bones) around in a game at her family reunion. You just had to be there.