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Wow, it sure has been a while.  It’s not that I haven’t had anything to say, quite far from it.  It’s just that I haven’t had near the time to write it all down.  Be excited for a whirlwind of activity pasted into a succinct blog, of sorts.

PolioPlus: A September Musical Celebration
Back on September 6th, 2012, four Rotaractors from the district (PE Mia Petrichenko, PD Manvir Chutai, President Desmond Devnich and DRR Jennifer Petrichenko) were honoured to attend the “Remember 9/11” musical in Mount Vernon, WA.  It was a gala event filled with good food, great wine, awesome music and lots of fellowship.  All four of us really enjoyed ourselves and would like to thank the many District 5050 members who donated their tickets so that we could attend.

Birthdays Galore
Both the Rotaract Club of Chilliwack Fraser and the Rotaract Club of Cloverdale celebrated their club birthdays this fall.  Chilliwack, who celebrated their first decade back on October 24th, collected canned food items for the local food bank during the day then celebrated their big day at a local pub.  Cloverdale, who celebrated on November 19th, had a low-key night of *too much* pot luck food, fellowship, trivia and Christmas Candy Wreath making at a member’s house.  I would like to take a moment to really congratulate both clubs on their achievements over their chartered lives and wish them all the best in their future endeavours.

Membership Seminar
October 13th was the district Membership Seminar in Mount Vernon, WA.  Members from both the Cloverdale and Chilliwack Rotaract clubs were in attendance learning best practices in Rotary Membership.  I took a number of ideas away from the day and hope to implement them in the coming future.

Zone Institute, Polio Walk, and a Photo Opp with the RI President
October 19th and 20th will stand out as special days in my Rotaract life, I’d like to take a minute to share them with you.

• October 19th, Polio Walk.  Rotaract members from the district were invited by DG Sean Hogan to take part in a Polio Walk along the sea wall in Vancouver as a public awareness/publicity campaign to “End Polio Now”.  After a solid week of dark skies, cold winds and giant raindrops the clouds parted just enough to save the 100+ walkers from wearing their red “End Polio Now” ponchos for anything more than fashion.  The walk started at the Westin Bayshore and ended up at the Olympic Torch beside the Vancouver Convention Centre.  There are pictures posted on the @RotaractClover Twitter account or on the Rotaract Club of Cloverdale Facebook page.  The walk was short but awesome.  It was really cool to see so many red ponchos bouncing across the waterfront.  Once we hit the finish point there was a large group picture then President Janice Khunkhun and I stole away a moment to take a most excellent picture of just the two of us with RI President Tanaka.  A picture that has served us quite well as a PR item.  Thanks President Tanaka!!!
• October 20th, Zone Institute and Gala Dinner.  Day two brought another invitation to attend the Zone 24/32 Institute for the day and the International Gala Dinner at night.  The Institute was fairly interesting.  It is an event that I haven’t had a chance to attend to date.  They rotate through different locations in the zones and include Canada, part of the USA, part of France, Bermuda, and part of Russia.  For the dinner we were notified well in advance that it was International Night therefore we should come dressed in the traditional costume of our people/ancestors.  So me, with heritage that traces back to Europe (mainly the UK, Poland, the Ukraine, and Iceland) I chose Iceland as my representation.  The costume is unique, I knew almost for certain that no one else would have the same costume, and quite frankly it was the easiest to get together considering we had to change in the parking lot.  So proud of how we dressed, Manvir, Manprit (although she came in a pant suit), and Janice walked into the event centre to see that in fact we were the ONLY people dressed in traditional costume.  With the exception of two other people, that was it.  Holy Hannah was that awkward.  But you know what?!  We wore our garb with pride, kept our heads held high.  I think President Tanaka appreciated it, he wanted to get lots of pictures with us at any rate.  

RLI Part II
The second part of Rotary Leadership Institute for Chilliwack President Desmond and myself was held earlier this month is Surrey, BC.  I am proud to report that we had an additional three Rotaractors from the Rotaract Club of Cloverdale join in as well.  Part II, much like Part I, didn’t really offer up anything that we didn’t already know or know how to get a hold of, it did give different insights on how and why certain things happen though.  What I found to be interesting was the new grants process and the journey that districts have taken over the past couple of years through pilot programs to get everyone up to speed for the 2013-2014 year.  Grants do not really come into play for us as Rotaractors but it is good to know how they work and why certain steps have to happen.  Again, if you are interested in RLI or want more information on it, just let me know and I can answer what I can or point you in the right direction.

Well, that’s all for now.  I will be updating soon with a rather awesome announcement, so stay tuned!

September 24th, 2012 marked another historic day for the Rotaract Club of Cloverdale. In the club’s short three-year existence, it was the second time that a District Governor had made Cloverdale one of their official stops during their district tour.  In an area with a relatively low number of available Rotaract clubs, this is a huge feat!

DG Sean Hogan was met at the club with all the fanfare that should be afforded to an individual in such a position, as well as his wife Poor Carol (an inside joke that DG Sean will likely tell you in person should you ask.  We love Carol!).  The club met with its regular business and planning for up-and-coming meetings then it was off to the races.  The details of the presentation will be kept in utmost secrecy for now as the Chilliwack Fraser Rotaract Club is due to host DG Sean in just over a month from now.  What I can tell you though is that it was very good.  Information that I was privy to prior to the presentation is now a little clearer and no one fell asleep!  A feat unto itself!

Following the big event were some recognition awards as well as four new member inductions then it was off to dinner.  The club spared giving DG Sean the standard speaker’s gift, a 6-pack of chicken nuggets (the club meets at McDonald’s after all), and headed next door to a local pub for a nice sit-down meal and more fellowship.

A good night was truly had by all!  Next Rotaract stop… Chilliwack!

I have to preface this post by saying that if you are a Rotaractor and you don’t have Twitter, then you should.  You really should.  I’m not being paid to say this but I thought I would give it a try, and am I ever glad I did.  I’m not about to over-hype its capabilities or sell you on something that is completely useless… just hear me out…

For me, Twitter keeps me super connected to what other Rotaractors are doing out there.  I follow a number of key players around the world and in our own back yard (i.e. @khunkhunj, @desmonddevnich, @anget09, @interota2014, @cfrotaract, @rotaractclover, @rotaract, etc), all of which offer insight, support, friendship, and so on and so forth.  But most of all they offer leads into conversation and current trends at a macro level.  Where Facebook has got so big and is changing so often, I don’t feel the same connection with people there as I do on Twitter.  Anyways, enough about that.

If you’ve read any of my previous posts I have made comment to taking part in #RACtalk conversations on Twitter.  These are like group chats in limited character space talking about different topics that are relevant to Rotaractors (i.e. Rotaract talks).  I try and take part in as many as I can.  They can vary in time to try and capture different audiences around the globe.  They are hosted by Rotaract at the central head office in Evanston, IL which is situated about 30 minutes north of Chicago, and are moderated by a different Rotaractor each month.  The #RACtalk that just took place was on the six Rotary avenues of service and was presented in the form of a quiz show.  You can see some of the past discussions, if not all of them, by visiting http://www.storify.com/rotaract.  It’s pretty neat, I’m in there a number of times.  But I digress…

So this month’s talk kicked off a bit later than usual; 3 o’clock to be exact.  Typically they’ve been first thing in the morning Pacific Standard Time, but they chose a 17:00 Chicago time start.  That was alright by me, doesn’t bother me either way.  There were a number of participants, which is always good to see.  And overall it wasn’t the same people that are usually there, which is an even better thing.  I introduced myself and we were off.  They decided to hold the chat in the form of a quiz show whereby they would throw up a question that was fairly easy to find in the Rotary literature and everyone would respond.  Of those who responded, the names were thrown into a random draw for prizes.  There were four prizes drawn over the allotted hour at random of items from the RI catalogue.  The first prize was an Area of Focus bag, no idea what was in it but anytime you have a whole handbag to stick items in, there ought to be a number of goodies in said bag.  The second prize was a set of historic Rotaract pins, prize three was a Doing Good in the Word DVD while the fourth prize was a set of 50 of the Rotaract promotional cards (which are actually very nice).

Well, to make a long story short, you’ll never guess who won the historic pin set…

President Desmond Devnich of the Chilliwack Fraser Rotaract Club is an engaging speaker in the Upper Fraser Valley. I urge you to participate in one of the next up coming Rotary meetings that he will be taking part in. For further information, please see Desmond’s contact information on the Rotaract5050 site under Clubs | Chilliwack.

As we are well aware, Rotaract and Rotary offers some pretty spectacular opportunities to travel from international conventions to immunization trips to work and fellowship exchanges. This adventure is another one for the books.

[vimeo http://vimeo.com/44899134]

Are you free at the end of January, 2013? Are you interested in international peace and resolution issues? Do you love Hawai’i?!

The Global Rotary Peace Forum is making three stops for the 2012-2013 Rotaract year and stop number two is in Honolulu, HI, USA. Per the Peace Forum website, the conference hopes to:

• To encourage young adults to take a global perspective, and to believe that they can be catalysts for peace.
• To develop community and global peace projects involving young adults.
• To build a close working relationship between Rotary clubs and the leaders of tomorrow.
• To establish bonds of friendship and collaboration before the peace forum which can be solidified through a weekend of working together.
• To encourage continued participation in the projects that are developed as a result of this collaboration so that they become a springboard for change.
• To partner with the crew of the Hokule’a Voyaging Canoe as they embark on a three-year around the world journey to enable them to share peace projects from the Honolulu Global Peace Forum at each stop along the way.

It would be a great time, and it’s over a weekend therefore more reasonable for a quick getaway.  In the Fraser Valley we are favourably situated for a short flight over.  If you are interested in making the journey please contact your club president!  For further information please check their website.