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Newsletter of the PROBUS Club of Vancouver West Our September speaker is Kevin McCort Mr. McCort is President and CEO of the Vancouver Foundation and a member of the Young Presidents’ Organization – one of the most powerful networks in the world for business leaders, uniting approximately 20,000 business leaders in more than 120 countries around a shared mission: Better Leaders Through Education and Idea Exchange. Mr. McCort graduated in 1989 with a B.Sc. (Specialist/Honours) from the University of Toronto. In 2005, he earned a Master of Business Administration from Queen's University. In February 2013, he was awarded the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee medal for his leadership in promoting Canada’s values of tolerance and social justice across the world. Vancouver Foundation started in 1943 with one person, $1,000 and a vision. Alice MacKay had saved $1,000 from her secretarial job and wanted to help homeless women trapped in a cycle of poverty. When she passed away in the early 1940’s she left a wish in her Will. She wanted to dedicate $1000 of her estate to set up an endowment fund. As an endowment fund, her gift would be invested and, each year, a portion of the money earned would support community projects that addressed what she cared about. Inspired by her generosity, local industrialist and philanthropist W.J. VanDusen added $10,000 and encouraged nine other Vancouver families to match his own gift. Vancouver Foundation was born and the original $101,000 donation has, with the help of donors, grown to over $930 million, making it the largest community foundation in Canada. On September 11, 2014, Kevin McCort, President & CEO of Vancouver Foundation will share the story of Vancouver Foundation, what its been up to over the past 71 years, and how its humble beginnings have resulted in over $1 billion being granted to the community. You’ll learn about the types of funds that donors can establish, the long term approach that Vancouver Foundation takes and the lasting impact that donors are making through endowed funds. President Mark H White [email protected] Vice President Nancy Deshaw [email protected] Secretary Joan Hebb [email protected] Treasurer Martin Linsley [email protected] Communications Rooky Driver [email protected] Member Services Bill Randall [email protected] Membership Maja Burston [email protected] Speakers Sheila Lahiffe [email protected] Activities TBA Acting Facilities Co-ordinator Mark White [email protected] PROBUS Canada Advisor Bill Sexsmith [email protected]

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Newsletter of the PROBUS Club of Vancouver West

Our September speaker is Kevin McCort Mr. McCort is President and CEO of the Vancouver Foundation and a member of the Young Presidents’ Organization – one of the most powerful networks in the world for business leaders, uniting approximately 20,000 business leaders in more than 120 countries around a shared mission: Better Leaders Through Education and Idea Exchange. Mr. McCort graduated in 1989 with a B.Sc. (Specialist/Honours) from the University of Toronto. In 2005, he earned a Master of Business Administration from Queen's University. In February 2013, he was awarded the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee medal for his leadership in promoting Canada’s values of tolerance and social justice across the world. Vancouver Foundation started in 1943 with one person, $1,000 and a vision. Alice MacKay had saved $1,000 from her secretarial job and wanted to help homeless women trapped in a cycle of poverty. When she passed away in the early 1940’s she left a wish in her Will. She wanted to dedicate $1000 of her estate to set up an endowment fund.

As an endowment fund, her gift would be invested and, each year, a portion of the money earned would support community projects that addressed what she cared about. Inspired by her generosity, local industrialist and philanthropist W.J. VanDusen added $10,000 and encouraged nine other Vancouver families to match his own gift. Vancouver Foundation was born and the original $101,000 donation has, with the help of donors, grown to over $930 million, making it the largest community foundation in Canada.

On September 11, 2014, Kevin McCort, President & CEO of Vancouver Foundation will share the story of Vancouver Foundation, what its been up to over the past 71 years, and how its humble beginnings have resulted in over $1 billion being granted to the community.

You’ll learn about the types of funds that donors can establish, the long term approach that Vancouver Foundation takes and the lasting impact that donors are making through endowed funds.

President Mark H White

[email protected]

Vice President Nancy Deshaw

[email protected]

Secretary Joan Hebb

[email protected]

Treasurer Martin Linsley

[email protected]

Communications Rooky Driver [email protected]

Member Services

Bill Randall [email protected]

Membership Maja Burston

[email protected]

Speakers Sheila Lahiffe

[email protected]

Activities TBA

Acting Facilities Co-ordinator

Mark White [email protected]

PROBUS Canada Advisor

Bill Sexsmith [email protected]

Newsletter of the PROBUS Club of Vancouver West

Wasn’t Marianne Sadar just outstanding? I have heard her speak many times and each speech is a novel experience. I was especially interested in the financing model and the fact that she had to move the company to Texas in order to continue her work. It does seem a shame that Dr. Sadar could not find the endorsement or the means needed to complete her work in Canada. I hope that she succeeds with her trials and is able to bring her drug to market. Effective cancer drugs are sorely needed. We still need two more people on the Management Committee, an Activities Chair and a House Chair. PROBUS

Vancouver West can only continue to provide a quality experience for its members if the diverse interests of all of us are reflected in the operation of the Club; so please consider helping out by calling or emailing either Bill Sexsmith or me. In the absence of an Activities Chair, the Management Committee, through Nancy Deshaw’s initiative, arranged a private guided tour of the Vancouver Art Gallery for Thursday September 18th (see the Activities Notice that follows). I will be attending and look forward to a big turnout for this, our first event. Appointment of an Activities Chair will ensure that this momentum for offering our members interesting, periodic off-site adventures continues. I look forward to seeing you all on September 11th. Our speaker will be Kevin McCort, President and CEO of Vancouver Foundation. Mr. McCort brings a range of experience to the position, having volunteered, studied and worked in the charitable and non-profit sector in Canada and abroad since 1983. His passion and commitment is infectious (and, I hope, may provide the spark needed to fill our own vacant positions!). I look forward to seeing everyone on September 11th. Your faithful President, Mark

Newsletter of the PROBUS Club of Vancouver West

Medical Media Design The Prostate Gland

Treasury Martin Linsley Bill Bonar Activities To be determined Communications Rooky Driver Tony Weall House To be determined Member Services Bill Randall Pat Sexsmith Membership Maja Burston

Douglas Cucheron Tony Weall

Speakers Sheila Lahiffe

John Fraser Gladys Johnsen Anne Moore Colleen Saffy

Elaine Stevens

Newsletter of the PROBUS Club of Vancouver West

ATTENDEES: 46 members, 6 guests Chair: Mark White Announcements:

- Reminders of meeting dates for September. - Sheila confirmed that our ‘Special Event’ will take place September 18th at the Vancouver Art Gallery. A sign-

up sheet was provided. Space is limited to 30 members and their guests, with some space remaining for members who are away for the summer. A notice detailing the event and how to sign up will follow in the next newsletter.

Trivia: Mark introduced the ‘Rasberry Pi’, a small pocket computer, with obvious cheeky reference to the Blackberry phone. Speaker: Colleen Miller introduced today’s speaker, Dr. Marianne Sadar from the B.C. Cancer Agency, who spoke on “Prostate Cancer Research, Developing a Cure Today.” Cancer of the prostate gland is the most common cancer among men today, affecting one in six, and is the world’s second most frequently diagnosed cancer. Untreated in a timely manner, it often spreads to the bone. Dr. Sadar outlined current therapies involving radiation and chemotherapy but cautioned that these fail in cases of lethal Castrate Resistant Prostate Cancer. One path to a cure may come through a system of ‘decoys’ which inhibit the androgen receptor, thus preventing the growth of tumours. The high cost of research in the production of safe and effective drugs, as well as the need for lengthy trials on humans before a drug can be marketed, means that we still have a long way to go in tackling this insidious disease. Dr. Sadar’s talk sparked a great deal of discussion afterwards. She was thanked by Bill Lang. The next General Meeting will be held on Thursday, September 11, when the speaker will be Kevin McCort from the Vancouver Foundation, and the subject will be Philanthropy. The meeting was adjourned at approximately 11:45 a.m.

Newsletter of the PROBUS Club of Vancouver West

Here are some extracts from Dr. Sadar’s power point presentation. •Most common cancer in men •1 in 6 men will develop prostate cancer •1 in 27 will die of it •24,700 men will be diagnosed •4,300 will die Worldwide •2nd most frequently diagnosed cancer 782,647 men •6th leading cause of cancer-related death 253,906 men Major hurdles in treatment •Inability to identify patients that will die from their disease •Spreads to the bone •Resistant to castration therapies (Castrate Resistant) The full power point presentation is attached here for those of you who are interested:

Dr. Marianne D. Sadar, PhD - power point presentation for PROBUS Vancouver West.pdf

Newsletter of the PROBUS Club of Vancouver West

Vancouver Art Gallery

LIVING OUR VISION: self-development, fellowship and participation As announced at the August Members' meeting, a fun and informative activity has been planned for September to kickstart our Fall season: WHAT: A 1-hr private guided tour of two exciting exhibits: “The Painted Past” (a collection of Canadian paintings from the Nineteenth Century to the mid Twentieth Century: http://www.vanartgallery.bc.ca/the_exhibitions/exhibit_paintedpast.html "Lost in the Memory Palace: Janet Cardiff and Georges Bures Miller” (Canadian artists whose work promises an immersive art experience: http://www.vanartgallery.bc.ca/the_exhibitions/exhibit_memorypalace.html WHERE: Vancouver Art Gallery, 750 Hornby Street (close to Canada Line and Sky train stops at the Vancouver City Centre). WHEN: Thursday, September 18, 2014 at 10:00 a.m. (gathering in the VAG lobby at 9:45 a.m. for admission). COST: Admission is $13.50 for seniors (please attend with your ID) and 18.50 for adults under 65, plus $10.00 per person for the guided tour that has been arranged for club members. The VAG has confirmed that anyone with a membership to the VAG (or who has a “Tourism Challenge” card which allows the bearer and one other person in for free) may use it in lieu of paying an additional entry fee for the event, so only the $10.00 tour payment would be required. LUNCH: The Vancouver Art Gallery has a large cafeteria and outside patio. Food and beverages selection is diverse and at reasonable prices, so consider getting to know a few of the members better over a relaxing lunch following the tour. Participation will be limited to an aggregate of 30 members and their guests; so, if you did not sign up following the August meeting, please confirm your participation as soon as possible to Nancy Deshaw-Kilgour. at [email protected] or call and leave a message at 604-733-0777

Our September Activity – Come One and All

Newsletter of the PROBUS Club of Vancouver West

The VAG as seen from below Robson Street.

The Vancouver Art Gallery (VAG) is the fifth-largest art gallery in Canada and the largest in Western Canada. It is located at 750 Hornby Street in Vancouver, British Columbia. Its permanent collection of about 10,000 artworks includes more than 200 major works by Emily Carr, the Group of Seven, Jeff Wall, and Marc Chagall.

The Vancouver Art Gallery was founded in 1931 and had its first home at 1145 West Georgia Street. In 1983 it moved to the Hornby Street location, the former provincial courthouse. It was renovated at a cost of $20 million by architect Arthur Erickson, which completed his modern three city-block Robson Square complex. The Gallery connects to the rest of the complex via an underground passage below Robson Street to an outdoor plaza, restaurants, the University of British Columbia's downtown satellite campus, government offices, and the new Law Courts at the southern end.

The Gallery has 41,400 square feet of exhibition space and more than 10,000 works in its collection, most notably its Emily Carr collection. It has also amassed a significant collection of photographs. In addition to exhibitions of its own collection, the Gallery regularly hosts touring exhibitions. The Gallery also regularly features a variety of public programmes and lectures.

In March 2007, the 2010 Olympic countdown clock was placed in the front lawn of the VAG. It was open for free for the public to see. The clock has since been disassembled, with one half going to BC Place and the other to Whistler Village.

The building was designated a National Historic Site of Canada in 1980. Both the main and annex portions of the building are municipally designated "A" heritage structures.

The steps on both the Robson Street and Georgia Street sides of the building are popular gathering spots for protest rallies. The Georgia Street side is also a popular place in the summertime for people to relax or socialize.

Newsletter of the PROBUS Club of Vancouver West

Sola Fiedler’s amazing Vancouver Tapestry

If you have a spare 30 minutes this is well worth viewing – at the Grunt Gallery Sola Fiedler, simply known as Sola, is a senior Canadian fiber artist, best known for her large-scale tapestry tributes to the cities that have hosted the Olympic Games. Her work captures the architectural and spiritual elements of each city, at that moment in time. Since winning a prize in 1973 for Best Fiber Art in Vancouver, B.C., Sola’s work has been collected by notable corporations and individuals such as Crown Zellerbach, Woodward’s, the CIBC, UBC, CBC and Jim Pattison. Her work has been exhibited in numerous galleries across Canada and the U.S. including her own “Soft Space Studio” in Deep Cove, opened during her attendance at the Vancouver School of Art. Over the next two decades, Sola traveled to the cities of Miami, Atlanta, Las Vegas, and Sydney, Australia, weaving in public and on location. In 2001 she was awarded a Canada Council for the Arts grant to create the Salt Lake City tapestry. Born in 1936, Sola grew up in London during and after World War II, when reuse and recycling played a fundamental role in daily life. Her tapestries transform the idea of thrift and make it glamorous. Using yarn procured from thrift stores and estate sales, Sola creates inviting, colorful landscapes full of rich detail and a warmth that comes from its materials. Her work has widespread appeal, and is more relevant than ever today, when young artisans worldwide are claiming craft traditions like weaving as their own.

Lauren Bacall, Deceased August 12, 2014 at age 89

“I think your whole life shows in your face and you should be proud of that.”

Newsletter of the PROBUS Club of Vancouver West

Our current membership stats: Couples 35+35 Individual Women 77 Individual Men 10 Total 157

Our PROBUS club dates We meet on the second Thursday of each month at the Marine Drive Golf Club in Vancouver, BC. Dress Code: Smart casual. Attendance fee: members $5, guests $10, Coffee and fellowship: 9:30 am to 10:00 am; Club business and speaker including Q & A: 10:00 am to 11:30 am. PROBUS Members are welcome to use Marine Drive Golf Club’s dining facilities after the meeting.

Bridge group

Anyone interested in playing social bridge in the Probus/Rotary Bridge Club is welcome to join. This Bridge Club has been meeting for over 40 years. If you have any questions or would like to register please contact Jack Zaleski at 604 328 4288 or at [email protected].

PROBUS links As of July 31st, 2014 there were 233 active Probus Clubs in Canada with 32,087 members

Probus Canada www.probus.org/canada.htm

Canadian PROBUS clubs http://www.probus.org/cnclbs.htm

World Probus www.probus.org

Probus Canada - Extended health care & travel insurance http://www.probus.org/instrvl2.pdf

Newsletter of the PROBUS Club of Vancouver West

Upcoming speakers

October Dario Alvarez, Senior communications advisor, Encana Jessica Twemlow PR Team lead, Encana

November Alison MacLean, Filmmaker, Tomboy Digital Productions

December Zaccheus Johnson, Slam Poet, 2014 Vancouver Poetry Slam Team

January TBA

February Dr Kam Shojania, Clinical Professor and Chief of Rheumatology at the University of British Columbia where he also holds the position of Rheumatology Postgraduate Program Director

March Deborah Jones, Topic: Intro to rain gardens

April British Columbia Securities Commission

Previous speakers February Jamie Matthews March Leila Getz April Christopher Gaze May Colin Hansen June Dr. Andre Gerolymatos July Ray Spaxman August Dr. Marianne D. Sadar, PhD