Volume XXXVIII, Issue 27 FEBRUARY 02, 2012
District Governor EVA VIDA
2011 – 2012 OFFICERS
President Steve Coppinger
President Elect Darcy Duggan
Vice President Kathy Olson
Past President Lorna Law
Treasurer Gord Siemens
Secretary Gary Robson
Sergeant-at-Arms Roger Cathcart
Meets Thursdays 5:45 P.M.
Assiniboine Inn on the Park
1975 Portage Avenue
Winnipeg Manitoba
www.clubrunner.ca/winnipegassiniboine
Chartered on June 18, 1973
with an initial membership drawn from the business and professional
community of St. James - Assiniboia in Winnipeg
WINNIPEG-ASSINIBOINE ROTARY CLUB
Meeting of Feb 02, 2012
Presider: Pres. Steve Coppinger,
Speaker: Wendy Simonson
Visiting Rotarians: None
Guests: None
Partners: None
President and Club Reports:
Pres. Steve advised February 23 is the anniversary of the founding of Rotary. (Paul Harris invited Sylvester Schiele, Gustave Loehr, and Hiram Shorey to the meeting which led to the creation of Rotary on February 23, 1905.) The Winnipeg Downtown Club has moved its normal meeting from noon Wednesday to noon Thursday, February 23, and has invited Rotarians from other clubs to join them at their meeting that day.
Our members are welcome to attend the Winnipeg Downtown meeting at the Convention Centre on
Thursday. We will still hold our regular meeting on the Thursday evening.
RI has reached its goal in the $200-million Challenge, but the drive continues. Bill and Melinda Gates have donated a further $50 million from their Foundation to Polio Plus without the stipulation of a matching amount from Rotary.
Fran C: reported that Rotarians on a Group Study Exchange from the United Kingdom will be visiting Winnipeg in May during the District Conference. Host families are needed. Because there will be activities all day for the visiting Rotarians, host families will not be required to entertain their guests extensively.
Barry R: reminded us that the Goodwill Weekend is coming on February 17-19. Attendance at the Goodwill Weekend has been dropping, and there is a real risk that this could be the last Weekend for this event.
The Rotarian swept the Media Industry Newsletter (MIN) awards with 10 editorial and design honors – more than twice the number of any other publication such as Time, Sports illustrated and Harpers Bazaar etc. Have you read this month’s Rotarian?
Sargent@Arms: Kathy Olson Carrying Thor: Darcy Duggan
Who / WhyPres. Steve / Starting the meeting very late (10 Mins according to Sgt).
Lorna L / Volunteered a looney for arriving late.
Lawrence M / For missing Robbie Burns Celebration (Mexico doesn’t count).
Tom C / Poor addition of scores last week causing Sgt’s team to come third when they were the winners.
All / Not planning to attend Goodwill Weekend
Lawrence M, Kris W, Roger K paid for Graham L (isn’t retirement great Graham?) / Those going or intending to go south this winter.
Kathy O / All those owning property in Southern US.
Birthdays & Anniversaries: Cyndy J confessed to a birthday on Jan 29th.
Happy Bucks: Harold L his team came second thanks to Tom C math skills.
Lawrence M for Doug P & Bonnie taking care of his Phoenix property, otherwise Lawrence would have to pay a third fine.
King of the Night: Tom C fined four, for not greeting him properly.
Bullet Draw: No one knew the current value, so Cyndy J drew the 6 of clubs. The pot continues to grow.
Program: Wendy Simonson – Evergreen.
Cyndy Jones introduced the guest speaker Wendy Simonson. Wendy is the Winnipeg coordinator for Evergreen, an organization which works to develop Naturescapes
for Schools. Wendy is a landscape consultant for Pembina Trails School Division. She has guided many Winnipeg schools, in Pembina Trails and other divisions, in
developing natural spaces in their schoolyards.
Wendy told us that Evergreen's mission is to help people to reconnect with nature. They do this primarily through schoolyards.
A schoolyard today consists typically of tarmac, soccer pitches, and a chain link fence -- a major difference from what schoolyards were like when most of us were schoolchildren. As a result, kids today are just not exposed to nature, at school or anywhere else. Away from school, they walk around with their IPods in their ears and their eyes on the ground.
Evergreen focuses on creating ecological diversity in schoolyards. They plant trees and shrubs; develop flower, herb and vegetable gardens; lay out paths and mazes; alter the terrain with large and small hills and low areas such as ditches; set up seating areas for quiet reflection; and convert play areas by using rocks, logs, and poles to climb.
Where schoolyards have been "naturescaped", principals and teachers report improved academic performance, decreases in fighting and bullying, and an enhanced sense of community among students; these are only a few of the benefits
being reported.
Typical schoolyards today have virtually no shade, and kids are out in the yard when the sun is at its hottest and ultraviolet rays at their worst. We have finally realized that this creates a real risk of future cancers. Evergreen is heavily involved in planting trees in schoolyards, to create shade and to offer woodlands for kids to venture into and to play in.
Students are also involved in planting gardens. They plant flowers for beauty; they also plant vegetables for eating and herbs for tasting. Wendy told us of a school that has a "Pizza Garden" where they plant vegetables and herbs that the students use on pizzas they make themselves.
"Gathering Spaces" are typically built into Evergreen designs. These give a place where kids can gather and just hang out. Middle School kids, especially, need quiet places where they can be by themselves, alone or in small groups, just to relax and reflect.
Schoolyards today tend, typically, to be flat surfaces, especially on the prairies. Evergreen encourages the creation of terrain with various heights: hills both large and small, and valleys and ditches. They have noted that kids tend to be very creative and inventive with the terrain they experience. Wendy showed us a picture, and told us, of a young boy who was laying out a pattern of rocks on the top of a small hill. Wendy asked him what he was building; when she finally got his attention, he replied, "I'm building a beaver dam." What inventiveness!
The spaces that are developed in schoolyards provide places for kids to connect with nature that they just do not have otherwise. Kids rise to the challenge and utilize these spaces in the most creative ways.
In response to a question, Wendy acknowledged that vandalism remains a problem.
It is most pronounced during the first month or so after a new space has been developed; after that, the students feel a real sense of ownership of the space.
For every day that Evergreen spends thinking about the development of a space,
they spend another five days thinking about how to vandal-proof the space.
Lorna Law thanked Wendy for her talk.
The meeting adjourned sharp at 7:30 pm, so President Steve was not fined for
letting the meeting run late.
2011 UPCOMING EVENTS
Feb 09 Brian Slous - TBA
Feb 16 Harold Law – Doug Ross, Tour Guide: Bears, Birds, Belugas and Northern Lights of Curchill, Manitoba
Feb 23 Frank Schnerch - TBA
PLAIN TALK WRITER WELCOME DESK
Feb 09 Graham Lane Feb Kris Wilson
Feb 16 Ed Hollaman Mar Trish Boggs
Feb 23 Kathy Olson Apr
Most children feel immortal – they have no sense that they’re ever going to die. For a child, even growing up is something that’s barely comprehensible. John Saul
Writer: Roger Kingsley Publisher: Ian Anderson