Eye Opener

mouthpiece of the

Rotary Club of West Vancouver Sunrise

 
Proceedings of the meeting on: 12/11/22

Oh Canada

Invocation: Jacci

Guests/Visitors: West Vancouver Mayor Michael Smith, Guest Speaker Tony McAleer.

Regrets:

Morning humour:

Rotary Moment: -      Judith Harder’s Rotary moment: Judith told us about a great fundraiser held by the Rotary Club of Comox: a used book sale. The Comox Club sets up in a local mall and for one week sells donated used books, with creative sales and decreasing prices the Club has raised $40000.00 in one week! Judith also passed along thanks from Christine and Webster for the Club’s help with moving them to their new home.

Club Business/Announcements:

-      President Ardath welcomed all.

-      DG Elect Ken Wilson had the pleasure of inducting West Vancouver Mayor Michael Smith as an Honorary Member of our Club this morning.

-      Park Royal’s Starry Nights holiday shopping event went well again this year, please remit all ticket sales money to Brian Martin and compliment him on his beautiful moustache, oh and maybe make a donation to the fight against prostate cancer.

-      The annual Seniors’ Christmas Luncheon takes place Sat. Dec. 8^th at the West Van Seniors Activity Centre. Setup at 09:00, teardown is done by 3:00  and Vicki and Roland Haller will host a potluck dinner for all Club members later that day.

-      Club night for Operation Red Nose is Dec. 21^st. Brian Martin notes that anyone wishing to donate an old celphone for next year’s event should contact him.

-      The West Vancouver Chamber of Commerce will hold their Christmas Dinner at the Capilano Golf & Country Club December 12th. Jason Bowman has details on ticket sales.

-       The Club Annual General Meeting will take place Dec. 6^th 2012. Past Presidents Jason Bowman and  Brian Kerr have reviewed the Club’s constitution and by-laws and found them to be in order.

-      Park Royal Mall is recruiting Christmas gift wrappers. The Rockridge Interact Club will be manning the scissors and ribbons to raise money for their projects.

-      Club member Gordon Bird notes that West Vancouver Baptist Church will hold a ‘Blue Christmas’ service on December 16^th at 7:00pm, an alternative celebration of the season.

-      Ken W. thanked the Club for the great member turnout at the Rotary Foundation dinner.

-      Reminder: Nov. 25^th is International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women.

Guest Speaker:

Jason Bowman introduced today’s guest speaker Tony McAleer who told us about ‘Life After Hate’. Tony’s journey from love to hate to love began with feelings of powerlessness at home and at school. He began to ‘disengage’ from others and family and became a self-described bully. Seeking power and attention Tony became a punk culture adherent and then moved on to the ‘skinhead’ movement where the ‘power’ and attention were magnified. Tony soon became a politicized leader of the movement, attaining national prominence and appearing on television promoting a white Aryan racist philosophy. At the height of his involvement in the movement he was charged and convicted of human rights offences. Unexpectedly Tony became a father in 1992 and began to realize that now he had the ultimate power over someone, for him a very sobering realization. Fatherhood caused Tony to drift away from the Aryan movement, somewhat lost he turned to alcohol. Eventually, fortunately, Tony found a mentor who helped him understand the reasons for his actions and to find a way out of the cycle of hate. “Once I learned how to have a good relationship with myself I learned how to have the same with others.” Tony states, and now he is reaching out to the world with his message. To learn more about Tony’s organization ‘Life After Hate’ check out his websites: www.lifeafterhate.org and http://theneocompassionist.ca. Brian Kerr thanked Tony for speaking to us today.

50/50/fines/happy/sad:

-      No winners, no losers, fines were levied and paid, we all went away happy.

Meeting adjourned.