March 12 Meeting - Test Run of Smitty's St. James

Wow great turn out to evaluate a potential relocation to Smitty's St. James.

The bottom line:

• Bright private room.
• Capacity: easily accommodates our group and allows for more membership growth
• Menu: more diverse menu
• Parking: Very good
• Accessibility: easy ground level access
• Audio/Visual: superior A/V capabilities
• Location: central - Polo Park area - (don't need to pack an overnight bag)

An informal vote of those in attendance. Carried - let's move!

Board met on Monday, March 16 and confirmed the above. Club will move effective June 2026.

Friends of Rotary

In the  February 19th  edition of the WestWind newsletter we announced that we had just created a new category of Rotarians in our club called "Friends of Rotary". The new category was created to recognize individuals in the community who choose to be associated with the Rotary Club of Winnipeg West for the purpose of making a difference without a full time rigid commitment.

This week, the Board unanimously approved the nomination of two individuals for the designation as “Friends of Rotary”.

Please welcome our newest “Friends of Rotary”, Terry Cooper and John Forrest!

Welcome gentlemen and thank you for all you do for the Rotary Club of Winnipeg West.

As “Friends of Rotary”, Terry & John are more than welcome at any of our Rotary events, lunch meetings, projects, & committee meetings. Your contribution to the club is truly valued.

President Bob introduced our speaker, Barry Prentice (Phd) from the Asper School of
Business. Barry served with Bob & Ernie on the Winnipeg Airports Authority many years ago.

Barry has long been a proponent of using airships for transportation to northern
communities. Barry said that the lack of transportation is a major factor in the lack of suitable living conditions in the north. Mining is also affected by the lack of
transportation as the cost of building roads in the north is about $5M per kilometer.
Barry has long promoted the use of airships to solve these issues.

Barry though, was here today to talk to us about another issue that a new type of airship could solve. Wildfires have become a huge issue with the high costs of finding and extinguishing fires. Early detection could prevent a lot of fires from spreading. Barry said that a sentinel airship hovering at a height of 3,000 feet could spot fires within a 100- kilometer radius. The airship he has proposed (Orbo) would be 100 feet in diameter, spherical in shape, and would be able to hover for an extended period. The airship would have small drones attached to it and the drones would have fire extinguishing pods attached, so that if a small fire was spotted the drones could put it out. The airships would be using AI and could be monitored from a central location.

Barry said that the cost of the Jasper fire is estimated to be 1.3 billion. The cost of
building and deploying 160 Orbos would be 600 million.

The Orbos could also be used for weather mapping, data collection and surveillance of illegal activity. Barry said that cities could also use Orbo for surveillance at a far lesser cost that helicopters.

Bob thanked Barry for his interesting and informative talk,

Greetings from Bolton

Upon receiving the notice that Barry Prentice was to be our speaker today, Honourary Member (and snowbird) Garry Bolton sent the editor a note to please extend very best wishes to Barry, saying that Garry was “…. very sorry to miss Barry's presentation. A fine man and we in Manitoba are so very fortunate to have him active in so many important initiatives.” Barry was pleased to receive this greeting from afar.

Thanks Garry!  Now, get home soon …. ChickenFest begins soon and we need your usual outstanding contribution to our success ;-) 

Did You Know?

Rotary International recognizes virtual Rotary clubs the same as any other
club. The “Rotary Club of D5550 Global Online” is based in Winnipeg with
President Jude Chigbo. The club has 18 members living in Canada, USA,
UK, China and Nigeria. RI dues are paid just like any club. Regular
meetings are held on-line. The club does fundraising and carries out
projects, as individual members rather than as a group. The club’s
international projects have included school renovations and health centre
equipment. They have received two $USD 30,000 Global Grants including
for the sponsorship of Masters Degree scholarships, one at Brandon
University.

WWRMW - $500 

This month's winner:

Ticket #388

Seller: Gord Johnstone

Winner: Gord Johnstone

Editor's note:  Geez Gord …. might their be a small donation to the ChickenFest Launch coming our way?  

Fines Master

Bruce McKenzie was scheduled to be our Fines Master today but upon arrival President Bob announced that he would like to do the fines.  While Bruce's feelings were hurt, Bob did an “acceptable” job of extracting a few dollars for the coffers.

Chase the Ace

Once again the Ace of Spades stayed hidden and the pot continues to grow.

Our “Friends of the Rotary Club of Winnipeg West"

• Terry Cooper
• John Forrest

Recognizing individuals in the community who choose to be associated with the Rotary Club of Winnipeg West for the purpose of making a difference without a full time rigid commitment.  Can be individuals, businesses, friends, family, spouses. 

“Friends of Rotary” are welcome at any of our Rotary events, lunch meetings, projects, & committee meetings. 

Know anyone who fits the bill?  Please send your nomination to any Board member for consideration.

Bob’s words of wisdom.

"I dream of a better tomorrow … where chickens can cross the road without always having their motives being questioned."

Club Links:

ChickenFest website:  https://chickenfest.ca/

Golden Rainbow Fund:

https://www.zeffy.com/en-CA/fundraising/golden-rainbow-fund

RCWW FaceBook page:   https://www.facebook.com/Rotaryclubofwinnipegwest