HERITAGE GROUP MEETING
DATE: Thursday, February 15, 2018
TIME: 10 a.m.
PLACE: Boardroom A137

ATTENDANCE: Leslie Walsh, Chair, Mary Hayes, Secretary, Don Carlson, John Reimers, Rose Marie Hess, Lorie Siebrand, Allison Cowell, John Graeb, Lynne Graeb, Dorothy Derksen, Karen Wall, Rose-Marie Floch, Gordon McBean, Dale Watts, Pat McDonnell, Liz Polzkoff, Don Kennedy, Steven Lipischak, Don Wiebe, Larry Neufeld, Elena Grinshteyn.

• Meeting attendees enjoyed coffee and socializing at 9:30.
• Guest Speaker was Ray Loewen of Build a Village, an organization that sponsors refugees. Ray’s talk was very moving; it included statistics and facts that were surprising to those of us who know very little about the refugee situation.

WELCOME AND CALL TO ORDER
Chair called the meeting to order at 11:30 after a short coffee break.

ADOPTION OF AGENDA
Amended to include Elections and Pensions (Dale Watts, Allison Cowell).

ADOPTION OF MINUTES (John Reimers, Steven Lipischak)

BUSINESS ARISING

• There will be a draft of the new Heritage Group brochure for pending retirees available at he next meeting. Karen suggested that it include quotes from members who have enjoyed the Group. They
  may be sent to Guy Dugas for the blog. Marketing will have the final say re the brochure (see Blog email address below).
• Speaker List for 2018-19: Leslie plugged in the names of people whom the group rated to be of highest interest. They include:
  • Michael Campagne (Meet Me at the Bell Tower);
  • Ron Blicq (Living in a Senior’s Residence);
  • Pal Samyn or Gord Sinclair, Jr. (Winnipeg Free Press);
  • Shahina Siddiqui (Islam and Islamophobia);
  • Marcy Markusa (CBC Radio).
  • Walter Kroeker on Fair Trade is tentative for this April.
• Financial Report (Elena)
  • There has been $6,262 in donations so far this year.
  • The Endowed Fund stands at $11,539.
  • Eight $1000 Student Awards will be given this year.
  • There were 68 applications.
• Social Committee (Karen Wall)
  • Karen thanked John Reimers for doing all the leg work for the St. Patrick’s lunch to be held this year in Kildonan Park on March 15. The cut-off date for attendance is March 9. Call Elena if you wish to attend.
  • There will be more details on the May Wind-Up in April. The Group will visit the St. Boniface Cathedral and Museum.
  • It was suggested that we might start an event in February. September, October, January, and April would be meeting months. Events would take place in November, March, and May.

NEW BUSINESS

• Ron Blicq will have one of his books presented as a play in Guernsay (Channel Islands). Congratulations, Ron!
• John Reimers mentioned that the Canadian Culinary Association, which is active in sponsorship of RRC students, will have a Fund Raiser at the Convention Centre on March 8.
• ELECTIONS will take place at the April meeting. Leslie is willing to stand for another year, but we need a Vice Chair. Mary will relinquish the position of secretary if someone would like to assume that role.
• Leslie will be away for the months of April and May. Gail Shimonek will be acting Chair.
• PENSIONS: Pat McDonnell will send a blog to Guy Dugas re proposed changes to the Plan. Although it was promised in 2016 that there would be no change, changes have been proposed; eg., move from a defined benefit plan to a hybrid contributor plan See the Heritage Group Newsletter for details. Guy adds to the Blog daily.

ADJOURNMENT: Pat McDonnell

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Please contact Elena Grinshteyn to receive this package by email:
Elena Grinshteyn at 204-631-3324 or egrinshteyn@rrc.ca
Please remember to check out our blog at rrc-hg.ca

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