May 23 2019 Good Morning Everyone! With the rain, the Robbins were busy! Under rainy skies and +6C ……20 Rotarians and 1 Sherpa, arrived at The Valhalla this morning for our meeting. Guest speaker Liam Dowds from NWHT was present.

President Brian opened the meeting this morning. Thank you Brian! Thank you to Paul for saying Grace and blessing the food.

ON THE DOOR IN 2018/19: Thanks to Carol for stepping in for Karl on the door today! A fine job! We still have opportunities for you to volunteer to provide door services for the club. Let Clint know which month works for you. JANUARY Mo Papich. JULY FEBRUARY Karl Ratz AUGUST MARCH Karl Ratz SEPTEMBER APRIL Karl Ratz OCTOBER MAY Karl Ratz. NOVEMBER JUNE Gail Breccia DECEMBER SPONSORSHIP: If you can help your Club and wish to promote your business or community interests through a month sponsorship, please contact Sergeant Bill or Clint. Here is the list for this for this Rotary year: JANUARY Don/Scouts Canada JULY FEBRUARY Clint/TBAG AUGUST MARCH Volker/RFDA SEPTEMBER APRIL Salvation Army OCTOBER MAY MS Society NOVEMBER JUNE 5 Star Rotarians DECEMBER

OUR SPONSOR THIS MONTH!

Our sponsor for the month of May is Sandy Lychowyd with the MS Society of Thunder Bay.

The MS Carnation Campaign was very profitable this year, $34,000.00 was raised! Thanks to all the volunteers who helped with the success of this event! There are still potted carnations available for purchase. They are great for planting directly in the ground! Sandy tells us of some of the upcoming events in May. Month of May - Fight with a Flight at Sleeping Giant Brewing Co. - $1 from every flight goes to MS May 26 - MS Walk starts at Heritage Building on CLE grounds, registration at 9 am. Sandy is encouraging people to get a team together for this event or come and participate as an individual! This promises to be an exciting event with entertainment for all. May 31 - A Pint and a Pound at Beaux Daddy's from 5-9 Sandy is also asking if anyone has the time to help with any of these events. If you are interested please contact Sandy.

OUR FAMILY OF ROTARY IN THUNDER BAY

Celebrating Birthdays in MAY MAY 1 Liisa Leskowski MAY 10 Roy Lucas MAY 19 Sandy Lychowyd

Celebrating Anniversary’s in MAY

CLUB CALENDAR MAY YOUTH SERVICE MONTH OUR SPONSOR THIS MONTH- MS SOCIETY THUNDER BAY- Rotarian Sandy Lychowyd MAY 2 Jordan- Naturopathic Doctor MAY 8 Lakehead Rotary’s 35th Anniversary MAY 9 OPEN MAY 9 Offsite DFCHS tour 1:00pm MAY 12 Mother’s Day MAY 15 Club Board Meeting MAY 16 Club Business Meeting MAY 23 Liam Dowds- Helicopter Tours MAY 24 Shrimp Fest MAY 27 Victoria Day MAY 30 Ms. Deb Paris and an associate with Celiac Support Group JUNE ROTARY FELLOWSHIPS OUR SPONSOR THIS MONTH- THE FOUR AMIGOS Rotarians Bill Butuk, Paul Carr, Mo Papich, and Clint Kuschak JUNE1-5 Rotary International Convention- Hamburg, Germany JUNE 6 Kim Cuthbertson- Well Being of Individuals JUNE 13 Maya Fillion- Queen’s Model Parliament/Ottawa JUNE 16 Father’s Day JUNE 19 Club Board Meeting JUNE 20 MEETING CANCELED JUNE 20 President’s BBQ-Viking Room 6:00pm JUNE 27 CLUB BUSINESS MEETING JUNE 30 MEMBERSHIP DUES DEADLINE PRESENTATION: Our guest speaker this morning was Liam Dowds- Owner/ Operator of NorthWest Helicopter Tours. Liam has lived and raised his family in Thunder Bay. He has worked around Northwestern Ontario. He had a lucrative job with IBM but he had always wanted to start a flying business. While he raised his family, he chose the safer, surer route of staying with IBM. While there he learned how to operate a business! Liam’s plan was put on the back burner until he was no longer sure of his position while training WATSON (artificial intelligence) to do the job that Liam currently did! He decided his future there was limited.

Eventually an idea was formed out of BC where Liam observed tours given by helicopters to tourists. Loving Thunder Bay and wanting to promote a positive image of our city, Liam opened up his company, NWHT Helicopter Tours.

LIAM DOWDS OWNER/OPERATOR OF NWHT There were many challenges to overcome. The company wanted to be accessible to tourists and what better place than the waterfront!? Community acceptance was necessary. City By-laws required changes. A lot of liabilities had to be considered and different land use agreements had to be studied. Funding was also a huge challenge. The aircraft used for touring is the Robinson R-44.This craft is most cost effective. The cost to purchase and cost to operate this size of craft is the most economical.

The main goal of NWHT, is to be beneficial for the community by boosting Tourism for the City of Thunder Bay! There are many different tours available: The Waterfront, Terry Fox Monument, Porphry Island Tours (lighthouse), Kakabeka Falls, Up the Kam River tour, to name a few. You can also book a customized tour! The helicopter is mobile via truck and trailer. It makes it very easy to get out to events in the community. Pop-up events to promote businesses are possible. The helicopter tours are $79/ person for 8 minutes of flying time. If you’re a little nervous about flying, Liam told us that he could hover a while to chase away your nervousness and away you go! The following is how to contact for a tour:

Liam was thanked for his presentation by Gail Kromm.

ANNOUNCEMENTS:: PEACE DAY: This years International Peace Day on September, 21 2019 will be the responsibility of our Lakehead Rotary Club. The Club is looking for a Rotarian (or Rotarians) to Chair the Annual Peace Day celebration at Marina Park on September 21. We have received a very detailed event blueprint from PA Past President Brenda Winter that will be very assistive to whoever takes this on. Interested Rotarians can speak to Clint or Clifford and they’ll get them on their way. Youth Exchange–Inbound Student The Port Arthur Rotary Club has asked us for help. They realize we cannot support in a monetary way. They ask to help support an Inbound Student with activities and events. If you can find some time to assist, it would be greatly appreciated! WILDERNESS DISCOVERY BOAT DRAW TICKETS Help support our local project, Wilderness Discovery! Books of tickets are available from Jennifer. We have been allowed to sell our tickets at Canadian Tire Intercity. The draw date is June 26th , a perfect Father’s Day gift! $20/ticket with 100% of money collected invested directly back to Wilderness Discovery! For more information contact jenniferkahan@hotmail.com WILDERNESS DISCOVERY OPEN HOUSE Mark your calendars to make sure that you attend our Open House on Saturday June 29 2019. There will be a dedication ceremony, tours and lunch. Details will be posted when all is finalized. FELLOWSHIP FINES: FINE MASTER Lori fined President Brian for being a banker and never financing any helicopters! Lori managed to clean house with two questions:

A dollar from everyone who didn’t buy a carnation for MS and a dollar from everyone who hasn’t eaten at A&W this week! Happy Dollars: Many happy dollars; from Carol being happy about a trip with her Girl Guides, Clifford’s happy trip with his Mom to see Cher, and Graham’s buddy turning 70 years old and buying wine for everyone in his Rotary Club! Gail Kromm was happy about her recent trip to Germany. And Audrey was happy that she has a new addition for her bucket list…a helicopter tour! 50/50 Draw: Congratulations! Our winner of the 50/50 this morning was Paul Carr! Paul has graciously donated his winnings to Polio Plus. Thank you Paul! Other Business/Reports and News CLUB ASSEMBLY: Fund Raising Events Review-June 3 2019 at 5:00pm at the RFDA. There will be a light meal followed by work! As announced at this week's meeting, we are hosting a Club Assembly on Monday, June 3 beginning at 5pm at the RFDA to discuss our club's fundraising efforts. Following an assembly format similar to the visioning session held in the fall of 2017 to develop the club's strategic plan, this Club Assembly will take a critical look at the Lakehead Club's three main fundraisers: December Dreams, Spirit of Thunder Bay, and Shrimp Fest. All Lakehead Rotarians, regardless of past attendance or involvement, are strongly encouraged to attend in order to provide feedback and analysis of these events, and input on direction moving forward. A light dinner will be served at 5pm, with the assembly session beginning at 5:30pm.

PRESIDENT’S BBQ: A reminder that the President's BBQ is scheduled for Thursday, June 20 at the Valhalla. Cocktails at 6, dinner at 6:30pm. Ticket info is still to be confirmed, but please mark the date on the calendar. UNITED WAY DAY OF CARING: The United Way Day of Caring is on June 15. The PA Club is encouraging Thunder Bay Rotarians to come together and roll up their sleeves for the day. Day of Caring is a one-day event that brings together dedicated individuals and local not-for-profit organizations for a fun day of volunteering to benefit our community! We encourage our volunteers to leave their wallets at home and instead donate their time and skills to help complete projects for local not-for-profit organizations who need our help. Past projects have included jobs such as cleaning up neighbourhoods, gardening, painting (inside and out), cleaning up offices, moving equipment or furniture, volunteering at special events/client service projects, helping to prepare meals, and more. Volunteers are matched to projects based on skills, group size, and general interest. The week leading up the event, you will receive more information about your team members, which project site you will be at, and what to expect on the day of the event. Interested Rotarians can RSVP to Clifford by June 6. MEMBERSHIP DUES Membership dues deadline by June 30 2019. See Clint for payment. NEXT MEETING Thursday May 30 2019 at the Valhalla Inn GUEST SPEAKER: Ms. Deb Paris and an associate discussing Celiac disease. Our thanks to Rotarian Paul for arranging this week's speaker.