O R I E N T A T I O N I N F O R M A T I O N

FAIRVIEW ROTARY CLUB

Lunch: Every Friday at Noon, Dunvegan Inn

Business Meeting: 12:30 PM

Program Starts: 1:00 PM

Adjournment: 1:30 PM

The Fairview Rotary Club is in Rotary International District #5370. This District extends from Red Deer to Yellowknife and west to Dawson Creek and FortSt. John.

Rotary’s year runs from July 1 to June 30.

The Club meets every Friday except if a holiday falls on that day. Occasionally, meetings are rescheduled to accommodate special events such as the annual District Governor’s visit, exchange student presentations, etc. As with all meetings, guests are most welcome to attend.

The executive for 2013-14 is:

PresidentKari-Lynn Rolling

Past-PresidentDennis Radbourne

President ElectRalph Boytinck

SecretaryKamie Currie

TreasurerPauline Broddle

Rotary’s ongoing motto is Service Above Self. Each year it adopts a different theme. This year’s theme isEngage Rotary, Change Lives.

The Object of Rotary

The OBJECT OF ROTARY is to encourage and foster the ideal of service as a basis of worthy enterprise and, in particular, to encourage and foster:

FIRST, the development of acquaintance as an opportunity for service;

SECOND, high ethical standards in business and professions, the recognition of the worthiness of all useful occupations, and the dignifying of each Rotarian’s occupation as an opportunity to serve society;

THIRD, the application of the ideal of service in each Rotarian’s personal, business and community life;

FOURTH, the advancement of international understanding, goodwill, and peace through a world fellowship of business and professional persons united in the ideal of service.

Four-Way Test:

TheFour-Way Test, which has been translated into more than 100 languages, is considered the cornerstone of all action. It is as follows:

Of the things we think, say or do:

  1. Is it the TRUTH?
  2. Is it FAIR to all concerned?
  3. Will it build GOODWILL and BETTER FRIENDSHIPS?
  4. Will it be BENEFICIAL to all concerned?

Rotary Code of Conduct

As a Rotarian, I will

  1. EXEMPLIFY the core value of integrity in all behaviours and activities
  2. USE my vocational experience and talents to serve in Rotary
  3. CONDUCT all of my personal, business, and professional affairs ethically, encouraging and fostering high ethical standards as an example to others
  4. BE FAIR in all dealings with others and treat them with the respect due to them as fellow human beings
  5. PROMOTE recognition and respect for all occupations which are useful to society
  6. OFFER my vocational talents: to provide opportunities for young people, to work for the relief of the special needs of others, and to improve the quality of life in my community
  7. HONOR the trust that Rotary and fellow Rotarians provide and not do anything that will bring disfavor or reflect adversely on Rotary or fellow Rotarians
  8. NOT SEEK from a fellow Rotarian a privilege or advantage not normally accorded others in a business or professional relationship.

When members arrive at the meeting, it is customary to shake hands with other members and guests.

Name tags are provided for all members and can be left in theblue cupboard at the front of the room. (It is frequently a finable offence if a member isn’t wearing his/her name tag and Rotary pin during meetings.)

As a courtesy, members are asked to turn their cell phone/Blackberry off during the meeting. (This is also a frequently finable offence if it rings.)

As much as possible, it helps if members use loonies or toonies for the purchase of ticketsto eliminate the Fine Master having to make change.

Dues:

$12/meeting paid 2 months in advance (i.e. billed January 1 for Jan/Feb). (Membersreceive a credit only if they attend another club meeting or do an online make-up);

Rotary International (RI) Dues - $36 payable on January invoice and $36on July invoice;

District dues $70 payable on July invoice;

Fines/50-50/Raffles etc.- $1-5 weekly;

$10 annual gratuity to Dunvegan Inn;

$100 (estimate) for social events throughout the year

Part of your semi-annual dues to RI goes toward a monthly subscription to The Rotarianand is non-optional.

Projects:

Some of the projects the club undertakes are as follows:

Ski Hill Assistance – Assisting on Wednesday nights with the ski lifts (training is provided), first aid (if qualified), and-or in the kitchen, from 6:00 – 9:00 pm.

Bingo at Continuing Care – This is done Wednesday nights during the month of February, from 7:00 – 8:00 pm.

Ditch Clean-Up – Although this wasn’t done last year, in the past it was done annually in the early spring, west of FasGas to the Four-Mile Corner.

Good for Kids Golf Tournament and Auction – This takes place each year in June. Monies from this event go the GFK Foundation to assist families with children requiring medical attention outside the region.

Rodeo (and other) Pancake Breakfast(s) – The Rodeo Breakfast is in July of each year; other breakfasts are throughout the year.

Rotary Calendar– This is the major annual fundraiser for community initiatives and is conducted in the fall.

Decorating Hemstock Park for Christmas – This is done every year in late November. Decorations are taken down in January.(May change since the fire hall has new owners)

Casino– This is done approximately every 2 ½ years or so. The last one was April 29th and 30th, 2013.

International – The club has recently completed a significant project for a school in Cheptebo, Kenya and is currently pursuing undertaking a new endeavour.

Websites:

Rotary websites contain a vast array of information and are as follows:

Fairview Club:

District 5370:

Rotary International:

50-50:

To participate in the 50-50 (Heads and Tails) game, members each pay a dollar to participate. A pail is placed on the food service table for members to throw in their dollar. During the Business portion of the meeting, when the Sergeant-at-Arms gives the signal, each member placesahand, or hands, on their head and-or their backside. The four combinations are:

Head Left, Tail Right

Head Right, Tail Left

Two Heads

Two Tails.

The Sergeant-at- Arms tosses 2 coins and,if the placement of the member’s hands matches the coin toss, they remain in the game. I.e. if the toss shows aHead on theRight coin and a Tail on theLeft coin, any members who have their right hand on their head and their left hand behind themwill remain standing. Everyone else sits down.

The two coins are tossed until only one member is left standing or, if two members are left standing, one of the members “calls” the final toss (Heads or Tails), and the winner is declared. Members may change the position of their hands between tosses. The winner is expected to recite the Four-Way Test and is then awarded 50% of the monies collected that date.

Happy Dollars:

Members contribute a dollar—or dollars, if they wish—for something (or things) they are “happy” about that week. Occasionally, a member has only one item but is especially “happy” and puts in more than one dollar for it. Sometimes a member puts in a “sad” dollar. It is also acceptable to “pass” without having a happy dollar.

Fine Master:

At the start of the Rotary year in July and again in January, a schedule is prepared and issued indicating the week(s)each member is the Fine Master, the week(s) each member is Program Coordinator (see below) and the week(s) each member is assigned to spendtime with the exchange student (see below).

Whoever has been named Fine Master tries to garner funds for the Club by charging members for a variety of “offences”. This allows for lots of creativity and is intended to be in fun. Normally, new members are given an opportunity to get settled in before they are called upon to do fine master duty. This allows them a chance to get an idea of some fine-related offenses and how much to fine.

The fine master also purchases a prize to be given at the conclusion of the fines being levied. This is awarded to the member holding the winning ticket sold by the fine master that day. (It’s recommended that tickets be sold as soon as the fine master has finished eating, to allow enough time to work their way around the table before the business portion of the meeting starts at 12:30.)

Members may purchase as many tickets as they wish. Tickets are $1 each. The winning ticket is drawn and the winner receives their prize and is given the chance to draw the Ace of Spades from a deck of cards and win an even bigger “pot”. If the card that was drawn is not the Ace of Spades, it is taken out of the deck and the chances of winning increase as the deck decreases. The winner of the draw and prize is expected to recite the Four-Way Test.

Program:

Members are responsible for arranging the program a couple of times a year. As with the fine master, new members are usually given a chance to settle in before they’re called upon to arrange a program. The person arranging the program is responsible for introducing their guest and topic. At the end of the program, the program coordinator for that day expresses appreciation to the speaker with a certificate acknowledging a donation made to Operation Eye Sight and/or Polio Plus and with a Rotary pen. Occasionally, members have done their own program, i.e. travel slides with commentary, etc.

Exchange Student:

At least twice a year, each member is responsible for hosting the exchange student. This could be a visit to the member’s home, day trip to Grande Prairie, canoe trip on the Peace, etc. Members are welcome to host the exchange student more often, if they like. The Programs and Fines schedule posts when members are to host the student.

Normally, the club hosts one incoming student/year and hosts one outgoing student. Usually, three families host the incoming student. Host families and executive members must receive a clearance check from the RCMP.

Classification Talk:

The intent of the classification talk is to give each member an opportunity to talk about his or her vocation. These talks promote vocational awareness among Rotarians and help them recognize the worthiness of different occupations. It also helps members bond by providing them a better understanding of each other.

Meeting Make-Up:

A fair level of importance is placed on members attaining regular attendance. If a member misses a meeting, that meeting can be made-up in three ways:

1.By working at a Rotary function within the two-week period prior to or after the missed meeting.

2.Visiting another Rotary Club meeting and obtaining a make-up card, up to two weeks following the missed meeting.

3.Doing a cyber make-up. This can be done through the Club Runner site, a source for all matter of Rotary information.

In all instances, members are asked to advise the club secretary so that their attendance may be recorded accordingly.

The Duck:

This is handed out in good humour when a member slips-up, i.e. forgets their turn at being Fine Master, etc. The Duck is to be displayed prominently in the member’s place of business until the next person is guilty of slipping-up and assumes ownership of it. (Ralph Boytinck has been known to place the duck in his hunting season window display where it has blended in without raising so much as an eyebrow.)

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