Our meeting was called to order at 18:15 by President Jim Richards with 29 members present. We sang O Canada, toasted Queen and Country and sang Rotary Grace. The only guest this evening was Derek Beachli.

No Art Ward, no sing song. But a ton of birthdays honoured by Linda Beachli: Kim (Bob the Builder) Emmerson, Art (the swinger) Dawson, Luke (the speedo) Schell, Jim (the cold, calculator) Henwood, Donna (the bug) MacDonald, Nancy (cuff-me) Bishop and Dave (meet me at the beach) Gray. Happy belated birthday to most of you.

Sergeant at Arms Jim Miners stated that happy bucks were the order of the day. Any table with less that two happy buck contributors would pay a table fine – an amazing number of happy bucks went into the bucket.

President Jim announced that Nada and Rick Vaughan are available as speakers, in case anyone needs a speaker.

Ted Brandon announced that 32 prospects were expected at the informal reception following the regular meeting. In fact, 20 came and were met by a number of club members who stayed for the reception. Thank-you Ted, Hugh and everyone on the speakers’ list. Some have already signed up for dinner and the rest will be called.

Dave Bishop did some math and was able to report that each member will need to average 6 tickets per week if we are to meet our target of 4000 tickets. Get selling!

Ted Brandon will be one of our district volunteers delivering chairs to Trinidad between June 19 and 26. There’s still room on the plane if you are interested in going.

Derek Knowles announced through President Jim that the golf is now sold out. While on his feet, President Jim also thanked VP Steve and Kim Emmerson (and their spouses) for acting as host families for Miky’s parents during their visit. Jim also read a note to all clubs in the district thanking us for our collective pledge of $580,000 to the Polio Eradication Campaign.

Sean Hawley passed around a signup sheet for dinner and another for setup. Call him if you aren’t on the list and want to be.

Fourth quarter dues are still due – Treasurer Jim Henwood will be happy to receive your cheque if he doesn’t already have it.

Briefly:

Treasurer Jim Henwood reported that both the Community and the Club Accounts are healthy.

Various Directors are helping VP Steve to build the duty roster for 2003-2004. If you get approached, please agree to take on a role. If you don’t get approached, let Steve know that you are willing to help out.

Jerry Walker, Chair of the Centennial Building Project, talked about his plan for the pavilion. The focus this year will be on securing the needed funding and donated materials and site preparation. The focus in 2004 will be on building, with finishing touches to be done in the spring of 2005. Dedication will be in the spring of 2005 after the black flies have moved away. Jerry announced a $1,000 from HCDC, thanks to a proposal submitted by Jim Miners. This means we only need about $39,000 more to complete the project. Jerry finished by saying that he, John Beachli and Jamie Cowen would welcome one or two more members to their committee.

Drew Carey spoke about a couple of ideas he brought back from PETS. The first, was to provide $100 per month to the family hosting our incoming student. A motion in support of this idea was proposed by Brian Black, seconded by Jerry Walker and passed by the club. The second, was to get the student more involved with club members by setting up an activity list with responsible members.

  Kim Emmerson discussed a new product, Club Runner, which will simplify the task of maintaining our website and keeping member information current. The district is considering whether to endorse the product – if that happens, Kim will make a presentation to Board.

Luke needs help with the train painting proposal – Jim Miners was suggested as a person who could provide the wordsmithing needed to get the thing in the mail (the proposal, that is – not the train).

A letter from the Menton’s was discussed. They have asked whether it would be possible to have a two-tiered meal plan. The regular plan would stay in place, but members could opt for dessert and coffee only at a reduced price. Discussion seemed to indicate no objections and probably few takers. VP Steve said the Board would pursue with the Pinestone.

President Jim thanked Andy Salvatori for shining the bell – it did sound a little cleaner tonight.

Upcoming Rotary Meetings:

May 15 – Nancy Bishop and Art

May 22 – Board Meeting at 4:00 p.m. and program by Dave Bishop and Brian Menton

President Jim sent us away at 19:19.