Good Night! Irene Forcier!

It was indeed a fantastic gala for our club.Thirty out of the current forty Rotarians attended with their significant others.Twenty-one Past Presidents of the Rotary Club of Ladner were proudly present!An incredible turn out!Our Charter President Dick Ferguson was there with his lovely wife, Eileen.Dick is a young eighty-nine.He and Eileen had just recently celebrated their 65^th anniversary.Rotarian Doug Gaetz chauffeured Dick and Eileen Ferguson, Ron and Susan Bollen...and Clark and Freda Wise to the Gala. Irene Forcier, Jacqueline Nind and their little army of volunteers decorated the Delta Town and Country Inn as regally as anyone has ever witnessed it.  The red carpets were out from the entrance all the way into the ballroom.  The tables were filled tastefully with greens and crystals.  Guests were warmly greeted by Lynn Cameron, Melissa Granum and Denis Denischuk.  Tsawassen Rotarian Gerry Beltgen took amazing pictures of well dressed guests as they proceeded into the reception room.   Please visit his website to see pictures of most of the guests:  http://www.beltgens.com/lad50/index.html

 

The three clubs sponsored by us -- Tsawwassen, North Delta and Vancouver Centennial - helped created a warm celebratory mood.  Together, they brought about 60 guests.  The Richmond clubs were also well represented, including President Elects Linda Coyle and Albert Wong. Incoming Assistant Governor Wally Phillips from Richmond Sunset was also there.  Mayor Lois Jackson, MLA Valerie Roddick and MP John Cummins all came.  Councillors Vickie Huntington and Scott Hamilton also attended.  We also had a few PDG's - Michael Cruise, Kevin Conway and our MC Leo Nimsick.  To top it off, District Governor Dean Rohrs brought her congratulations and greetings personally.

 

President Chu Wu welcomed the VIP's.  MC Leo Nimsick followed with more welcome of Special Guests. President Elect Peter Podovinikoff made a toast.  Past President Graham Witcher started the meal with the briefest of invocation.

 

All guests were treated to incredibly presented meals...salads with mangoes, Cornish game hens, steaks and vegetarian main courses ... and fabulous desserts.  The service was impeccable.  A couple of provocatively dressed cigarette girls came to each table and delivered lovely miniature gold boxed chocolates -- another fine touch by Irene. 

 

MC Leo used breaks in between courses wisely to pace the program along.  Leslie Abramson, Doug Denyer and Kenneth Liu went to the podium and represented Tsawwassen, North Delta and Vancouver Centennial, respectively.  All the guests were somehow introduced.  Some were introduced more than once!  Past President and Honorary Rotarian Ed Klassen presented our club with a banner from Mount Monganui to keep at a prominent spot for our meeting.

 

As MC Leo Nimsick called out the year and the name of the Past President, each one stood up proudly and was recognized:  1957 Dick Ferguson, 1970 Arthur Birk, 1979 Bill Kushner, 1983 Don Abramson, 1986 Bill Learmont, 1987 John Yee, 1988 Dan Cameron, 1989 Ron Bollen, 1990 Bob Stewart, 1991 Ed Klassen, 1995 David Rushton, 1996 Irene Forcier, 1997 Marjorie Higginson, 1999 Graham Witcher, 2001 Tom Siba, 2002 Mel Baly, 2003 Denis Denischuk, 2004 Brenda Sheen, 2005 Mike Story, 2006 Bill Bramwell and 2007 Chu Wu.

 

MP John Cummins asked Leo to read his greeting.  MLA Valerie Roddick delivered a passionate greeting by Premier Gordon Campbell.  PDG Michael Cruise surprised Mayor Lois Jackson with a very classy execution of Paul Harris Fellow award.  The Mayor was so moved by Michael's delivery that she became speechless and forgot to give us her "greeting".  It was a very special Rotary moment.

 

The formal program finally wrapped up at about 9:25pm.  Disc Jockey and Entertainer Bruce Bissel came on with the music and the fifty-fifty draw...over $450 was won by Linda Ottho.  Quite a few stayed and dance the night away.  Arthur Birk showed us how to do the Twist!

 

A wonderful evening was had by all.  Thank you, Irene!