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Tuesday, February 26, 2019 proved to be a noteworthy evening for us when we listened to Linda Slanina and Michelle Martin share the work the people do with their organization. There are several programs beyond the service many people know them for - providing a safe haven for women's suffering from abuse. Their presentation described them, then continued with a detailed overview of the project proposed for construction on Quatsino Blvd. Where exactly it is proposed to be built, what borders the property, facilities that will be provided under one roof, the shelter for women, office space for all their programs, low income housing, transition housing, a cafeteria, furniture exchange, needle exchange and a play area for children. They also shared some of the concerns voiced by people living in/owning neighboring properties. The province has committed 103 million dollars to this project to be used for construction and operating costs once completed. For the most part, people are in favor of what the facility will provide, just not this proposed location. A final public hearing will take place Monday, March 4th at 6:30 p.m. at the Luso Canadian Hall.
Thank you from all of us LInda and Michelle for 'telling all'.
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Sunday the 27th, what an enjoyable afternoon. New members sat back at Eleanor's to see some 'pages' of Rotary picture stored on her computer. The joy of technology was used by having her laptop hooked into the television so the album went big screen We saw club youth projects, club support of Polio Plus, Peace Fellows, guest speakers, international projects, all moments worth sharing. International projects, The Rotary Foundation, fundraisers, District 5040 conferences, Rotary International Conventions and more. It was a good way to see Rotarians in Action.
Happy New Year - our first meeting in 2019. 
To say we started it off with a bang could lead to some questions on best choice of words, we certainly started it off with smiles! Lucy Borges induction 'shone' and we now have pictures. Welcome Lucy. We are thrilled to have you with us.
To say we started it off with a bang could lead to some questions on best choice of words, we certainly started it off with smiles! Lucy Borges induction 'shone' and we now have pictures. Welcome Lucy. We are thrilled to have you with us. Our newest members 
Jonathan pinned by Linda, Maryanne pinned by Jo, Meghan and Lucy (pinned by Eleanor)
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The calendar for the our meetings up to the end of March is set; planning for the balance of the year to continue at our next meeting. Eleanor asked new members if they would like to have a showing of "Rotary moments past'. The answer was 'yes' so the plan was to meet at her place to watch the picture show.
What an enjoyable time! In fact so much fun for everyone that our picture taking p.r. gal completely forgot to take pictures!. Cheryl poured the champagne and orange juice or just plain juice for all of us, The coffee was also on, then stratas, fruit salad with yogurt, home made muffins and more. Games followed, Maryanne ending up with the pass the parcel teddy bear. Her immediate Random Act of Kindness was giving it to Jon's delighted son. Seeing his bear hugs and delight is a memory to cherish.
Then it was putting on our thinking caps for answers - a Christmas Trivia Game, Michelle outshone us all with a high score total for most answers given. The highlight of the day, was the installation of our new members. Gareen read their inductions. We are honored to now have Jonathan Borgens (pinned by Cheryl Rumley) Maryanne Ouellet, pinned by Jo Hildebrandt, and Meghan Marshall, pinned by Eleanor Kendell - part of our team. No better way to finish off our coming together than the 'backwards' draw for the bottles of wine that we all brought if we wanted to be involved. Jonathan ended carrying "the stash"home. Kudos to everyone for a spread to be proud of! Merry ChristmasSecretary and Treasurer's report were presented and approved.
Election of new officer 2019/2020 Rotary Chair - President - Gareen Ball, Secretary/Treasurer - Jo HIldebrandt, Public Relations -Eleanor Kendell, Membership - Cheryl Rumley, Fundraising - Linda Campbell, Sergeant at Arms - Eric Bottah, Foundation - Robin Lapointe.
Rotary Connections continued on November 20th with many guests joining us for the evening to hear our guest speaker, Ruth Sulentich. Ruth is the senior consultation and community advisor for LNG Canada. She gave us an excellent overview of the project, the work that is now moving ahead, housing for employees, when to expect to see the plant visibly on site. Fluor Corporation is joint venturing with LNG Canada to handle, engineering, procurement and construction. We have since learned LNG Canada and Fluor have established an information centre at the Kitimat Chamber of Commerce. Without question, there was a cheer from all of us when we heard on November 2nd, the project is a go! Our thanks go to Ruth for an excellent presentation and her offer to keep us up to date whenever we may wish her to do so.
We finished off the evening by asking guests to share some questions passed out to us by Cheryl. Answers certainly enlightened us about others at our tables AND what fun telling stories. Guests were also asked to fill in the blanks answers to a few questions for Rotary Connections 2.
Here we are bundled up in front of the Cenotaph on November 11th, friend Tom Balfour, Eleanor Kendell, friend and MLA Ellis Ross, Gareen Ball and Linda Campbell. Linda placed our Rotary Club of Kitimat on the cenotaph; Gareen recited the words we know so well from In Flanders Field.
2018 was the best year ever for the Aluminum City Telethon. Rounded up total of dollars donation - $134.654.00. Available Rotarians were on the phones answering calls for a normal one hour stint again this year. What an exciting end of day on October 21st!
Jill Barrowman's request from the Chamber found several of our members helping on the evening of September 26th. Linda Campbell's smile was infectious, encouraging people to write down their questions. A few other Rotarians joined her to look through the many that were submitted looking for 'duplications' and a good cross section of questions that were put forward. They did an admirable job! The evening moved along quickly, answers from candidates were enlightening; in some cases thought provoking. Sincere thanks came to us from those in the Chamber
Just after September 21st, Our club's Peace Champion was delighted to receive an e-mail from Janelle Hittel, principal of Kildala Elementary School, Kitimat's first Rotary Peace School. Students has faithfully marked the United Nations International Day of Peace every year since 2011, the year it first met the Peace School's criteria. Here's what she shared, "We did it a bit different this year as our school start-up was different. The first 2 days of school the students went into groups and worked on Peace Day activities and read Peace Day stories. We even practiced a Peace Day song to the tune of BINGO. We also painted rocks and added them to our school garden. Just wanted to let you know that Peace Day wasn’t forgotten here we just didn’t do an official assembly this year ☺"
From those of us in Rotary, thank you for remembering peace.
It’s a tradition! Every year our Rotary District 5040’s District Governor travels our area visiting the 51 clubs that are included. This covers a significant distance, north to Mackenzie, Bowen Island in the south, Prince Rupert and ourselves in the west. 100 Mile in the east (an attempt to ‘pick’ smaller communities). It was with pleasure that we hosted DG Darcy Long and her husband Doug at a BBQ on August 28th.Their hometown is in Sechelt, population similar to ours 10,000 people. Darcy shared their story, one built on random acts of kindness. Why Rotary? They saw the devastation after the tsunami hit Thailand. What could they do to help? There was a huge sign, six Rotary Clubs of Phuket working together to rebuild the local fishing fleet. A fleet meant small boats, rather like dugout canoes. From this a door opened, the way to help was answered. Rotary helps.
Be the inspiration is this year’s Rotary theme. Darcy is an inspiration. We’ve been invited to be at Sun Peaks for this year’s convention, to continue our efforts with Polio Plus, and encouraged in our efforts to grow Rotary in our hometown.
Many thanks go to Robin’s wife Melanie, our hostess for the evening. Everyone pitched in to make the evening special but the big credit goes to her for such a nice evening. The setup on the deck was so inviting! We were joined by guests, like-minded people who have done and continue to do good in our world. Particularly delightful were the children, Jonathon and Melissa's, having fun in the play area that Robin and Melanie have for their granddaughter Elsie.Darcy says she has been inspired making these visits. She will be taking many things to do ideas back to Sechelt to try.
It is possible to have a vision, believe in it, and have it realized. The director at Delta King Place has proven this! Lucy's dream was always to see their residents having home-cooked food at every meal. This meant a significant upgrade to the facility's kitchen. Past president of our club, Gareen Ball, recognized this before she presented our contribute to this work. Using our theme for this year Be the Inspiration, she commented on Lucy's 'perfect fit' when it comes to the meaning behind the words. Always smiling and caring, Lucy exemplifies its message. Congratulations to you Lucy and to the members of the Delta King board's members. Well done. Pictured above, a few of us along with some members of the board as Gareen is about to present the check (rolled up in her hand).
This kitchen is seasoned with love
(The words above the pass through into the kitchen)
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Monica Gonzalez, cook at Delta King Place, will soon be able to enjoy air conditioning in the newly renovated Delta King Kitchen. Without question, we know what a difference this is going to make when it comes to summer heat! It's easy to see how delighted and proud she is as she works in her new surroundings. We feel good about this and know the staff at Delta King and all of its other residents do too. This project was a 'fit' for Rotary, something we could support that mattered here in Kitimat. For us to pull of what we wanted to do we asked for help. Delta King staff members came out to give us a hand at our Annual Online Rotary Auction, and we did something we have never done before, all the proceeds from it were to go to Delta King. We will be presenting our check for $20,000 to the Delta King Place Housing Society on Friday, August 3 , sometime between 11.00 a.m. and 1 p.m., at the Annual Barbeque fundraiser hosted by Skeena MP Nathan Cullen. Do come out, and cheer on Gareen Ball, our check presenter. Just $5 for a hot dog or burger, pop and bag of chips.
WHY RYLA?
Strong leaders are made, not born. Leadership skills are learned, not inherited.
Rotarians in our Rotary District 5040 are dedicated to helping young people develop leadership skills to their fullest. Evidence of this shone under Rotarian Kristen Riley's leadership at this year's RYLA Lakelse. Kristen is the past president of the Rotary Club of Skeena Valley
With tents setup on the shore at Lakelse, the location was perfect. The camp involved students in Grades 8 to 10 with teens, one from far away Vancouver, Prince George, and communities closer to the lake, Quesnel, Prince George, Smithers, Prince Rupert, Terrace, Kitimat come to mind. There were plenty of challenges, exciting activities, high energy, smiles galore.
Our club sponsored three honor roll Grade 8 students for the 4 day camp, July 5th to 8th. And what a plus they were! -- Kemper Weightman, Mia Anthony and Shaunhnessy Archibald. Left to right - Mia, Kemper, camp leaders from Kitimat, Chelsea and Brodie, Shaunhnessy.
ROTARY CONNECTIONS
June 27th saw us opening the door to invited like-minded people, some past Rotarians, Rylarians, and active community people who share our Rotary enthusiasm for service.
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This sign says it all. We are looking to create a masterpiece. Cheryl Rumley facilitated the evening. Thoughts and ideas flowed, answers to questions were shared. It was a beginning as we look to shape the Rotary Club of Kitimat’s vision moving into the future. Here is R.i.’s new vision.
Together, we see a world where people unite and take action to create lasting change - across the globe, in our communities and in ourselves.”
Rotary International’s new vision statement
An impressive evening. These students were recognized as outstanding scholars at Mount Elizabeth Secondary School recently. (photo credit Jerry Leibel)
Rotarian Linda Campbell presented our two Rotary scholarships To Cedrick Verreault and Amy Lane. They both have been honor roll students through all their years at MEMSS.
Lynda Hammerstrom Rocha Scholarship
Cedrick is the Prime MInister of the Student Council. A young member of the NDP for three years, he founded the MEMSS Social Justice Group. He will be returning to his hometown in Quebec City to study political science at Universite Laval in the fall. He chose to use a quote to begin his application for the scholarship, "Change will not come if we wait for some other person or some other time. We are the ones we've been waiting for."
Kitimat Rotary Scholarship
Amy is the artist, winner of the Innovative Design Bridge Building Award, the Art Award, on the Principal's List, awards in metal work and social studies. She is an active volunteer at her church, at the food bank, and a Girl Guide. While she would love to pursue further studies in art, her primary focus will be becoming a pilot. Her career goal is to become a Rotary wing commercial pilot.
Each scholarship is for $1000.00.
A big day for those of us in Rotary District 5040. Here you see our own Dean Rohrs (Langley) , right, installing the 2018-19 Governor of our 51 Rotary clubs in District 5040, from Greater Vancouver up the coast to Prince Rupert. Next to her, our new leader, 2018-19 Governor Darcy Long (Sechelt), and (l to r) Governor Elect Bala Naidoo (Burnaby), Governor Nominee Dave Hamilton (Delta) and Governor 2017-18 Don Evans (Vancouver). The ceremony took place in Gibsons, BC, on June 16, 2018.
Always a night to remember, this year's Foundation Dinner was no exception! We rocked the night away, cheered on by Skeena Valley's president Kristen Riley. So much fun in the room, enthusiastic bidding during the auction and the dinner was exceptional. Here are a couple of pictures that certainly show we were in the mood!
Our incoming District Governor, Darcy Long, walked us through District 5040's vision for 2018-19, some interesting, inspiring and enthusiastic directions for us to use in our clubs. All clubs in our area were represented at the assembly. Darcy did an excellent job sharing the many topics presented, bringing us all into the activity. We will be in good hands under her leadership.Here we are busy at work during the day.
Later, many of us had to leave quickly. Here are a few of us on the steps outside the school board office as we were leaving. You'll see Jo and Eleanor in this picture, attending for our Rotary Club of Kitimat 
