Chris and Sonya from United Way presented an overview of their organization’s mission to address community challenges. They highlighted key projects and programs, focusing on food security, mental health support, and education initiatives aimed at improving quality of life for vulnerable populations.
During the meeting, President Mark presented a $5,000 check to United Way, and $2,000 specifically allocated to support the Nourish Market, further reinforcing Rotary’s commitment to community collaboration and impact.
Rotarians cooked up 20 litres of delicious, nutritious vegetable homemade soup this morning. The vegetables for the soup were sourced from Nourish market. The packaged soup, once frozen, will be donated to the local food bank. Our special thanks to The Sunset Diner and Towne and Country Cheese Shoppe for donating the soup containers.
The Rotary Club of St. Marys congratulates Claire Dunbar, our next outbound exchange student! Claire learned this past Thursday evening that she’s been assigned to Denmark. She will leave sometime in August 2025 for her 10-month exchange. Claire is currently a student at St. Marys DCVI.
Hav en god udveksling i Danmark Claire! Vi er alle så stolte af dig!
At our Monday, January 6th meeting, Bernie Vandonk was inducted into the Rotary Club of St. Marys. He was sponsored by Gary Cumming, who is shown pinning Gary. Assistant Governor Kirk Riehl inducted Bernie into the club.
Cindy Benning, representing Rotary District 6330’s International Services Committee, outlined the committee’s mission to support impactful international projects by connecting clubs with resources, facilitating grants, and sharing expertise. She highlighted three goals for 2024–2025: developing a resource network, assessing club engagement, and increasing participation in international projects. Cindy explained Rotary’s funding model, noting over $100,000 available for global and district grants, and acknowledged St. Marys’ contributions, including projects in Kenya, Colombia, and Uganda. She encouraged Rotarians to join the committee, donate, and share their stories to amplify Rotary’s global impact.
Diane and Andrew are leading a Micro Service Project! On January 20th, we’ll prepare and package delicious vegetable soup for the Salvation Army Food Bank, using donated and fresh ingredients.
The Rotary Club of St. Marys proudly honoured Grant Barton with the "Service Above Self Award"—our club's highest recognition for exemplary service and dedication.
A devoted Rotarian for an incredible **47 years**, Grant has embodied Rotary's values through tireless efforts in our community and beyond. From being a founding board member of the Parkview Seniors’ Complex to organizing the Dragon Boat Races and countless other projects.
His leadership, commitment, and compassion have made a lasting impact on St. Marys.
Rotarians, along with many volunteers from other groups, helped pack Christmas hampers for distribution by the Salvation Army. A big shout out to the Salvation Army for organizing this project. The hampers will make Christmas brighter for over 100 families this Christmas!
The Rotary Club of St. Marys proudly unveiled a plaque honouring the club’s 100 Presidents, generously donated by Rotarian Claire Sherwin and his wife Mary. This plaque commemorates the men and women whose leadership shaped the club's history and includes a holder for one of the symbolic walking sticks crafted by the late PDG Maurice Oliver. These cherished canes, rich in Rotary symbolism, celebrate service and tradition, reflecting the legacy of dedication that continues to inspire the Rotary community.
Another successful “To St. Marys With Love” dinner was held at the Pyramid Recreation Centre on Sunday, December 8th with almost 400 in attendance! Rotarian volunteers were on hand to scrape plates and clean dishes following the meal. Thank you to the dinner organizers for all your hard work. Rotary was glad to be involved!
Jennifer Morris, Community & Family Services Manager (left) receives a cheque from Rotarian Diane O'Shea
In the spirit of Giving Tuesday, The Rotary Club of St. Marys donated $400 to the Salvation Army for Food Bank use. Plans are underway to further support the Food Bank in January with freshly made and frozen soups.
Discover how Rotary Youth Exchange transformed Majo Camacaro’s life, taking her from Venezuela to Canada, where she overcame extraordinary challenges with resilience and optimism. Now pursuing her passion for interior design with Rotary’s support, Majo continues to inspire others through leadership programs and mentorship. Click to read her remarkable journey and the enduring impact of Rotary Youth Exchange.
Mayor Strathdee, on behalf of Governor General Mary Simon, presented the Sovereign’s Medal for Volunteers to Murray Mitchell. The Sovereign’s Medal for Volunteers is a prestigious Canadian award that recognizes exceptional volunteer achievements by individuals from across the country. It is part of the Canadian Honours System and is awarded to those who have demonstrated commitment and made significant, sustained contributions to their community.
In addition to volunteering in the local community, Murray organized over 40 trips to developing countries including Malwali, Peru, Uganda, and notable “Hope for Haiti”.
The club sponsored several Hope for Haiti projects, one was to build a school. Several Rotarians have volunteered to do construction on several projects.
Murray was awarded a Paul Harris Award several years ago as recognition of his humanitarian service.
Sovereign’s Medal for Volunteers - Murray Mitchell
Izzy Mitchell, Curatorial & Programming Assistant, St. Mayrs Museum & Archives, presented at the club's Remembrance Day Meeting. She presented information about what it was like on the Home Front: rationing, improving farming techniques, Victory Gardens, and so much more! The full exhibit is on display at the St. Marys Museum.
Congratulations! Your club has earned the Rotary Citation, the most significant award a Rotary club can achieve, for 2023-24. This past year, your club demonstrated a commitment to achieve its goals, which ultimately helps strengthen Rotary and shape our future. Sincerely, Gordon R. McInally 2023-24 RI President
Rotary launched PolioPlus in 1985 and was a founding member of the Global Polio Eradication Initiative in 1988. Through decades of commitment and work by Rotary and our partners, more than 2.5 billion children have received the oral polio vaccine.
For more information, including making a donation - endpolio.org
Katherine Hahn is this year's District Governor for Rotary District 6330. She officially visited the club at our last meeting. She first met with the Executive and then presented to the members. The district includes parts of Ontario and Michigan. There are 60 clubs in the district. For more information on District 6330, visit their website.
Congratulations to Charles (Charlie) Hammond on receiving the King Charles III Coronation Medal!
Charlie Hammond has been a loyal and productive member of the Rotary Club of St. Marys for over 30 years. He has served as president of the club and has been recognized with the distinction of being a Paul Harris Fellow, a program set up as a legacy for the founder of the Rotary Club, Paul Harris. Through Rotary, he has supported important causes at home and internationally.
Charlie has also been active in providing leadership within the St. Marys BIA and promoting the town. Without Charlie, St. Marys might have been a very different place today. He was one of a group of people to successfully bring the Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum to Town of St. Marys. He served as a dedicated and respected governor and was a driving force in winning the bid against 13 other locations. He is a dedicated family man and loves serving his community.
Source: John Nater Facebook Post
Charlie Hammond - King Charles III Coronation Award
What a beautiful day to gather in the Rotary Reading Gardens at the St. Marys Carnegie Public Library! Members of the Rotary Club of St. Marys presented their annual donation, which covers the cost of books donated to the library in honour of their guest speakers.
Back row (left to right) - Ron Aitken, Pierre Chateauvert, Peter McAsh, Ed Parkinson and Club President, Mark Oliver Front Row (left to right) - Linda Schuyler (Literacy Chair), Kate Long (Library Collections Officer) and Sarah Andrews (CEO, Library Services)
The Rotary Club of St. Marys is excited to welcome Clara Licops (aka “Cla”) from Furnaux, Belgium. Clara arrived on August 31st and is currently enrolled in grade 12 at St. Marys DCVI. Clara’s first language is French. In addition, she speaks Dutch, English and Spanish. Clara enjoys dance (reggae, contemporary and hip hop) and playing the violin. Clara is looking forward to making new friends and experiencing Canadian culture.
The Rotary Club of St. Marys is grateful to the 3 local families who will be hosting Clara during her exchange.
Club Member Andrew Middleton represented the club at a recent tour of the renovations to St. Marys Memorial Hospital. The club donation to the project is acknowledged above the hand-washing station.
Rotarian Ron Aitken was the recipient of the Randy Echlin Lifetime Volunteer Award! The award is presented annually by the Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame to a volunteer who has shown dedication, passion and support towards the museum.
Ron is joined in this photo by Jeremy Diamond, Chair of the Board of Directors, Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame. Congratulations Ron!
On Monday, May 13, 2024, at 4:00 p.m., members of Council joined representatives from the fundraising committee, Rotary Club of St. Marys, and Saputo Inc. at Rotary All Wheels Park on James Street (180 James St. S) for the Official Opening.
In 2022, former Royal Family nanny Jean Rowcliffe partnered with teens Quinn and Sully Bolton to launch a fundraising campaign to revamp the St. Marys Skate Park. Throughout the project, the group secured $100,000 from the Rotary Club of St. Marys, $25,000 from Saputo Inc., and donations from supporters across the globe, totalling $208,443 in funds raised.
“It is great to see the park being used by riders of all ages, levels of expertise, and talents,” says Stephanie Ische, Director of Community Services. “We want to thank all the donors, including those that chose to remain anonymous, and the Skate Park Steering Committee. Your hard work and generosity have made the Rotary All Wheels Park on James Street inclusive and safe for all.”
The Skate Park Steering Committee is still actively seeking donations to support the cost of ongoing enhancements to the park, including signage, fencing, lighting, turf restoration and a bench. Members of the public can donate online with a credit card (www.townofstmarys.com/allwheelspark), through online banking, in person at the Municipal Operations Centre (408 James St. S) or by mailing a cheque to the Town.
Additional information about the Rotary All Wheels Park on James Street and a full list of donors can be found at www.townofstmarys.com/allwheelspark.
Our youth exchange student Eunice learns to curl. Rotarian Diane O'Shea invited her son, Jamie, to teach Eunice how to curl. Enjoy the photos that follow...
Our club was the first in District 6330 to participate in the Strategic Planning-Visioning Session on January 15th. Fourteen club members volunteered to participate in our club's Visioning initiative.
Enthusiastic group of members who were very engaged in the process which was led by the District Visioning Team ( Nurdan Tokoz (London-Hyde Park), Dawn Kennedy (Mildmay), PDG Mike Chaffee (Flint) and DG Sonja Glass (Meaford)).
An excellent exchange of ideas, we collectively agreed on our Master Plan, and determined our Action Plan outlining three/four goals, who will lead each goal, and the timeline for follow-up.
President Mark Oliver has some homework over the next 2 or 3 days and several members have a role to play in reaching the creation of our action plan over the next 4-6 weeks. In the pictures that follow, Pres. Mark addresses our members and introduces the Visioning Team, and he thanks the team for the well organized training session.
On January 8th, 2024, Rotary International President-elect Stephanie Urchick announced that the 2024-25 presidential theme is The Magic of Rotary and called on members to recognize and amplify the organization’s power to save lives.
“Don’t misunderstand me – we are not going to end polio or bring peace to the world by waving a wand and saying some funny words,” Urchick told incoming district governors at the Rotary International Assembly on 8 January. “It’s up to you. You create the magic with every project completed, every dollar donated, and every new member.”
Our outbound exchange student, William Kennedy, is spending a year in Korea. His host club sponsors a school in Laos and William went with his host club to volunteer at the school. While in Laos, William tried eating fried grubs. Well done, William!
Watch the video of William eating fried grubs - click here (links to Rotary Facebook Page - you don't need Facebook to see the video, just click on the 'X' to remove the login to Facebook)
Fresh grubs waiting in the bowl: (Screenshot from short video.)
School children in Laos singing "Baby Shark". (Screenshot from short video.)
Since 2014, our club has provided the Grand Bend club with volunteers and financial support. The first pictures show the RC St. Marys contingent including spouses and friends.
There were 100 guests attending the 100th container celebration at Hessenland. How appropriate!
Brian Hall, Chair Global Literacy Project sent us a recap of the evening:
Dear Linda,
While many of you were part of the 100 in attendance last Wednesday at Hessenland for our 100 container blast there were many who were unable to attend. I wanted to share some pictures and information delivered at this very special event organized by Morag Watt.
Speakers included Peter & Dini Twynstra who spoke about the inception of the project, Rotarian Morag Watt, who shared some of the lessons learned by seeing loadings and unloadings and Brian Hall who recognized the support provided by our many partners & volunteers. In addition, Peter's granddaughter, Shelby Mackenzie, recounted her experience spending time in South African schools. St. Mary's Rotary President Charlie Hammond spoke about how the school they still support in Uganda grew from 30 children to 450 after the container of school furniture arrived in 2014. Their Club has supported the creation of a "Skilling" Institute to teach the school graduates real world skills to improve their ability to access meaningful jobs.
One of the biggest surprises came in an email received from our contact in Sierra Leone , Stephanie Dobrowolski, a Canadian and friend of the daughter of Goderich Rotarian Dr. Bruce Thomasson.
In March of 2017 The Goderich Rotary Club, assisted by Grand Bend Rotarians, loaded 2- 40’ sea containers with books, school furniture and supplies which went to a Rising Academies School in Freetown Liberia. With our 100th Container Celebration on the horizon we asked Stephanie to reflect on the donation and her update is below. We are thrilled to have been a small part of the success Rising Academies has experienced, but more importantly to see the smiles on the faces of these learners who now have a chance to improve the lives of their families and their country.
“When the Rotary Club decided to offer their generous support, Rising Academies was still early days and only a couple years on from the Ebola crisis that closed our very first school. In early 2018, we were a network of 8 schools in Sierra Leone and 5 government partnership schools in Liberia, with about 4,000 students. Today, Rising is a network of over 930 schools serving over 250,000 students across Sierra Leone, Liberia, Ghana and Rwanda. We have over 700 staff members and have trained over 13,500 teachers, including over 3,000 just last August. It is through the support of organizations like the Rotary Club at very key junctures in our journey that we have managed to weather the challenges of the past decade and continue to grow our network of schools. In Sierra Leone, our students just achieved some of the highest marks in the country on the government exams, with 100% of our students passing the grade 6 and grade 9 exams (shown in the final picture). Achieving these results requires good quality teaching and learning materials, and the Rotary Club helped set Rising Academies on a path to higher quality education. More than 6 years on from your donation, on behalf of the Rising Academies team I want to extend my heartfelt gratitude to the Rotary Club for choosing to support our schools, and ultimately reach the lives of thousands of students and teachers. Congratulations on your 100th container shipment and once again, a very sincere thanks!” Stephanie Dobrowolski https://www.risingacademies.com/
These turn out to be some of the ” seeds” which sprout when we do little things to support literacy.
Thank you to Morag, John Smits for his AV talents and the Global Literacy Committee members who helped make the evening a huge success. We are all looking forward to Container 101!
After visiting many community projects of the Rotary Club of St. Marys, DG Sonja Glass was kept very busy during her official visit. Besides her official presentation to the club, DG Sonja presented President Charlie Hammond with three club awards.
DG Sonja Glass and Pres Charlie Hammond present a Paul Harris recognition to a non-Rotarian. The club chose to recognize Sheila Greason posthumously for the tremendous contribution she made to our community. Her good friend, Sienna Kainz accepted the award on behalf of Sheila's family.
Our 2nd Paul Harris recognition goes to Rotarian Ron McDonald for reaching the next Paul Harris level, a multiple PH+2 pin, resulting from his donations through the Every Rotarian Every Year.
Our 3rd Paul Harris recognition goes to President Charlie Hammond who was recognized by the club for his many hours of tireless service as Club President since July 1st, 2022.
DG Sonja announced one more special recognition being awarded to Rotarian Gary Cumming.
"I am pleased to take this opportunity to honour Gary Cumming who has generously contributed to the Rotary Foundation, and in so doing has achieved Major Donor status. Because of his dedication to our Foundation, we honour Gary with Major Donor level 1 recognition. Your gift inspires others to give, not just of their gift but of their time and of their talent! In recognition of your investment in The Rotary Foundation's wonderful projects and programs, I present this crystal and Major Donor pin on behalf of The Foundation's Trustees."
DG Sonja also presided over the Presidential Changeover from Charlie Hammond to Mark Oliver as well as the installation of Club Officers and Directors.
DG Sonja Glass visits The Rotary Club of St. Marys on November 13th, 2023. Her husband, Dave, also participated in her presentation. They are both members of the Rotary Club of Meaford.
RI Theme for 2023-2024
RI President, Gordon McInally
______________________________
District Theme: Plant A Seed
District Conference: June 21-23, 2024 Owen Sound
District Golf Tournament: Cobble Beach Golf Links : June 20th, 2024
Rotary is an international community that brings together leaders who step up to take on the world’s toughest challenges, locally and globally. The eradication of polio is one of our longest standing and most significant efforts. Along with our partners, we have helped immunize more than 2.5 billion children against polio in 122 countries. We have reduced polio cases by 99.9 percent worldwide and we won't stop until we end the disease for good.
Finishing the Fight
Together with our partners, governments, community leaders, health workers, and volunteers, we must stay vigilant. Until we eradicate the disease, we must continue to immunize every single child against polio.
To eradicate polio for good, we need your support! Together, we end polio.
Special thanks to ex Rotary president John McGarry for his private donation to the All Wheels Park. John was on board from the beginning and helped secure the very generous Rotary donation of $100,000 that helped establish the project here in town. The progress is very exciting since last week's groundbreaking.
What an engaging young woman! Alexandra Stephens, daughter of Rotarian Lucie Stephens and Sandy Stephens, gave a very impressive presentation about her experience participating in the 2023 World Dragon boat Races in Thailand. This young athlete brought home 7 medals, 4 gold, 2 silver and 1 bronze. Canadian boats won all he categories. This was an experience of a lifetime. Well done and congratulations to Alexandra and her teammates!
Rotarian Pierre Chateauvert thanked Alexandra for sharing her experience with us.
Dragon boat racing is a passion of 16 yr old athlete
The Rotary Club of St. Marys are sponsoring the weekly Saturday introductory and advanced classes of ESL for Ukrainians for the next six months. Our club provided dictionaries, grammar and speech booklets to assist with their learning the English language.
Rotarian Andrew Middleton who is with ESL teacher, Tetiana Pipus, showing three of the dictionaries that have been made available to the 33 Ukrainian families. The second picture shows students participating in the advanced ESL class. The youngest members of the class were not very talkative but it was great having Bobby and David in attendance.
Youth Exchange Officer, Mark Oliver, met our inbound exchange student from Taiwan at the Toronto airport. Her name is Ching-En Li. Her adopted English name is Eunice.
She is currently living with Walter and Teresa Pearce who are the parents of former exchange student to Croatia, Angie Pearce.
Rotarians please include Eunice in your family outings. Let's make her as welcome as possible.
Rotary Club of St. Marys welcomes exchange student from Taiwan
On Friday, September 1, 2023, members of the Rotary Club of St. Marys Literacy Committee presented a cheque to the St. Marys Public Library to cover the costs for books donated to the library in honour of our guest speakers for the coming year. The books selected for the children’s library reflect Rotary’s 7 areas of focus.
Pictured around Rotary's Open Book statue that was gifted to the library when the Rotary Club of St. Marys designed and installed the Rotary Reading Garden in 2005:
(L-R) back row-Sarah Andrews, CEO St. Marys Public Library, and Rotarian Linda Schuyler; front row (L-R) Kate Long, Cataloguing and Acquisitions Clerk at the Library, and Rotarian Diane O’Shea.
Rotary Club of St. Marys presents cheque to the local library
Calling all St. Marys-based students from DCVI and St. Michael’s!
The Rotary Club of St. Marys is currently accepting applications from candidates who would like to go on Rotary Youth Exchange in August 2024. (A year from now.) Candidates must be between 15.5 and 18.5 years of age by August 2024. The deadline for applying is September 1st, 2023.
Youth Exchange has been one of the cornerstone programs of Rotary International for more than 60 years. The Rotary Club of St. Marys has been involved in Youth Exchange for over 50 years. To date, St. Marys has sent and hosted more than 125 young people! The goal of Rotary Youth Exchange is to strengthen world peace, one exchange at a time.
Benefits of Rotary Youth Exchange:
- Enjoy the experience of a lifetime while living and studying abroad.
- Become fluent in another language.
- Learn another culture.
- Make life-long friends from around the world.
- Choose from over 45 countries that participate in Rotary Youth Exchange.
- You will receive extensive training and preparation before you leave.
- Rotary Youth Exchange is the most-affordable exchange program.
Are you ready to challenge yourself? For more information, send us a message or reply to this post. Our Youth Exchange Officer will be happy to answer any questions you have. Remember, the application deadline is September 1st, 2023.
On Monday, June 19th, Janice Mitchell served the last dinner to our club. After 15 1/2 years of service to our club, Janice decided that it is time to cut back and take it easier and maybe even take a long vacation. We will miss her delicious, nutritious meals and her friendly smile and conversations. Her work ethics mirror those encouraged by Rotary and to recognize her service to our club and to the community, the Rotary Club of St. Marys presented Janice with a Paul Harris Fellow certificate of recognition. Janice joins a small group of non-Rotarians in our community who have achieved this recognition level. Pictured below is Janice Mitchell and club President, Charlie Hammond.
This event would not have been possible without the incredible support of our corporate sponsors, event coordinators, venue operator, food caterer, volunteers, and over 400 guests.
Besides great food and fellowship, we were entertained by author, playwright, and public speaker, Dan Needles who kept us laughing.
Update October 7th - With Aug and October bags collected, our community has now diverted 10,539 outer milk bags from our land fill site.
A BIG THANK YOU FROM THE ROTARY CLUB OF ST. MARYS!
More bags! Seven large bags of outside milk bags were picked up from McDonalds Your Independent Grocer on August 19th. These bags will not be going to landfill but will be made into sleeping mats. Keep the bags coming.
Outer milk bags picked up from the McDonald's Your Independent Grocer on August 19th, 2022, and on October 14th, 2022.
Since 2013, the Rotary Club of St. Marys has been donating books to the St. Marys Public Library in honour of their guest speakers. To date, almost 430 books have been donated to the library. On September 20, 2022, members of our Literacy Committee presented Library Acquisitions and Cataloguing Officer, Kate Long, with a cheque to cover the cost of the books purchased for this program.
Pictured around Rotary's Open Book statue that was gifted to the library when the Rotary Club of St. Marys designed and installed the Rotary Reading Garden in 2005.
Standing: Pierre Chateauvert (L) and Diane O' Shea
On Saturday, June 18th, Incoming President Charlie Hammond presented Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum President, Jeremy Diamond with a $15000 cheque as a partial payment towards our pledge to CBHFM.
When @Rotary formed PolioPlus in 1985 to #EndPolio, polio paralyzed 1000+ children every single day in 125 polio-endemic countries. Because #VaccinesWork, just 2 countries remain wild polio-endemic. Afghanistan has reported 1 case and Pakistan has reported zero cases so far this year.
#COVID19 reminds us that disease outbreaks anywhere can be a threat everywhere. That's why @Rotary#End Polio is more committed than ever to ending the threat of polio for every child.
Rotary International President-elect Jennifer Jones wants members to imagine the possibilities in the change they can make to transform the world.
Jones, a member of the Rotary Club of Windsor-Roseland, Ontario, Canada, revealed the 2022-23 presidential theme, Imagine Rotary, as she urged people to dream big and harness their connections and the power of Rotary to turn those dreams into reality.
RI President-elect Jennifer Jones imagines a Rotary where members act to make their dreams become reality and they make the most of their club experiences. She urges members to engage more with each other and use these connections to build partnerships that change the world. Speaking to District Governors-elect at this year's Governor's Training Assembly, RI PE Jones announced that the 2022-2023 Rotary International Annual Theme is Imagine Rotary!
On November 1st, 2021, Andrea Macko, Events Coordinator, Town of St. Marys brought greetings and congratulations from the Mayor and Town Council. The Rotary Club of St. Marys was presented with the 'Strong As Stone' award for all that we do for the community.
Andrea Macko announces that the Rotary Club of St. Marys has received
the 'Strong As Stone' award.
Three Board members accept the 'Strong As Stone' award on behalf of the Rotary Club of St. Marys.
Pictured in the forefront (L-R) Rotarian Ron Aitken, Club President John McGarry and Rotarian Doug Goudy.
Rotarian Ron Aitken, organizer of the Rotary Club of St. Marys' environmental project advises that DCVI students helped plant 400 trees at the Meadowridge Park (Meadowvale & Southvale area). Our club purchased a variety of trees from the Upper Thames River Conservation Authority (UTRCA). Thanks to the Town of St. Marys and UTRCA for working with the Rotary Club. There will be more trees to be planted in spring 2022.
We are very thankful that the DCVI students helped with the planting of the trees.!
The theme of this year is” One Day. One Focus: Ending Polio – delivering on our promise of a polio-free world”. It is a promise of a polio-free world for current and future generations.
World Polio Day is observed on October 24 every year to raise awareness for polio vaccination and eradication of polio. The World Polio Day was established by Rotary International over a decade ago to commemorate the birth of Jonas Salk who led the first team to develop a vaccine against poliomyelitis.
The last stronghold of poliovirus is in Afghanistan and Pakistan. Several critical challenges stand in the way of achieving eradication, including the global pandemic.
As per WHO use of the poliovirus vaccine and subsequent widespread use of the oral poliovirus, developed by Albert Sabin, led to the establishment of the Global Polio Eradication Initiative (GPEI) in 1988. As of 2013, GPEI had reduced polio worldwide by 99%.
The Rotary Club of St. Marys in consultation with the Town of St. Marys is proud to introduce a newly designed tote bag to help promote the town's new slogan "Strong as Stone". The totes feature scenic views depicting the beauty of St. Marys and they will become a keepsake memory for tourists and residents.
In addition to individual sponsor spotlight posts on Facebook, our website will also acknowledge four sponsors each week for their continued support of the Rotary Club of St. Marys events and projects.
Since 2013, the Rotary Club of St. Marys has been donating books to the St. Marys Public Library in honour of their guest speakers. To date, almost 400 books have been donated to the library. On
September 10, 2021, members of our Literacy Committee presented Library CEO, Sarah Andrews, with a cheque to cover the cost of the books purchased for this program. Pictured in the Rotary Reading Garden at the library are Literacy Committee Chair, Linda Schuyler (seated L), Library CEO, Sarah Andrews
(seated R), and standing are Rotarians Ron Aitken (L) and Pierre Chateauvert (R).
INTRODUCTION TO BASIC EDUCATION AND LITERACY
Basic education and literacy is one of Rotary’s seven areas of focus.
We know that basic education and literacy are essential for reducing poverty, improving health, encouraging community and economic development, and promoting peace. Consider these facts:
1. If all women completed primary education, there would be 66% fewer maternal deaths.
2. A child born to a mother who can read is 50% more likely to survive past the age of five.
3. If all students in low-income countries left school with basic reading skills, 171 million people could be lifted out of poverty, which would be equivalent to a 12% cut in world poverty.
The Rotary Club of St. Marys in consultation with the Town of St. Marys is proud to introduce a newly designed tote bag to help promote the town's new slogan "Strong as Stone". The totes feature scenic views depicting the beauty of St. Marys and they will become a keepsake memory for tourists and residents.
In addition to individual sponsor spotlight posts on Facebook, our website will also acknowledge four sponsors each week for their continued support of the Rotary Club of St. Marys events and projects.
The Rotary Club of St. Marys in consultation with the Town of St. Marys is proud to introduce a newly designed tote bag to help promote the town's new slogan "Strong as Stone". The totes feature scenic views depicting the beauty of St. Marys and they will become a keepsake memory for tourists and residents.
In addition to individual sponsor spotlight posts on Facebook, our website will also acknowledge four sponsors each week for their continued support of the Rotary Club of St. Marys events and projects.
The Rotary Club of St. Marys in consultation with the Town of St. Marys is proud to introduce a newly designed tote bag to help promote the town's new slogan "Strong as Stone". The totes feature scenic views depicting the beauty of St. Marys and they will become a keepsake memory for tourists and residents.
In addition to individual sponsor spotlight posts on Facebook, our website will also acknowledge four sponsors each week for their continued support of the Rotary Club of St. Marys events and projects.
The Rotary Club of St. Marys in consultation with the Town of St. Marys is proud to introduce a newly designed tote bag to help promote the town's new slogan "Strong as Stone". The totes feature scenic views depicting the beauty of St. Marys and they will become a keepsake memory for tourists and residents.
In addition to individual sponsor spotlight posts on Facebook, our website will also acknowledge four sponsors each week for their continued support of the Rotary Club of St. Marys events and projects.
Rotary Club launches new St. Marys Keepsake Tote Campaign
The Rotary Club of St. Marys has teamed up with local sponsors to release a freshly designed reusable tote bag featuring scenic imagery of the town that’s Strong as Stone! Available now at select retailers, the Rotary Club’s new Keepsake Tote is sure to be the ideal replacement for everyone’s shopping needs.
A collaborative effort
In cooperation with the Town of St. Marys, Rotarians coordinated the design to include a collage of unique local photos as well as the town’s new slogan. In support of the Rotary Club’s fundraising efforts, many local businesses helped finance the project. Their company logos proudly frame the design and serve to remind everyone of our town’s resilient and enduring character.
Perfect for many purposes
The totes will become a great keepsake memory for visitors to St. Marys and also make a perfect gift or promotional item for those who appreciate beauty and function. The polyfabric bags hold up to 30 lbs, are durable and consist of 10% recycled material.
How to get yours
Look for the Keepsake Tote poster in store windows to identify the local businesses who are selling the totes. Buyers can also shop online by visiting www.rotarystmarys.ca to purchase the bags in quantities of 5 for $25. Rotarian Len Hawkins will arrange pickup of online orders.
Support St. Marys
The Rotary Club of St. Marys is always seeking ways to better serve our community. It’s been more than ten years since the Rotary Club introduced its last tote bag fundraiser, so it decided, what better time to breathe new life into a community cause? As we turn the corner on COVID-19, let’s focus on the shared beauty, strength and distinction of our town. Please patronize valued sponsors and watch for Rotary Club thank-you ads featuring these dedicated businesses.
Help spread the news
If you’re online, participate in the social media coverage by liking and sharing Rotary Club of St. Marys posts.
Members of the Rotary Club of St. Marys volunteer at the COVID vaccination clinics at the St. Marys Pyramid Centre and the Rotary Complex in Stratford. Pictured above are 3 of our members, L to R, Pres Andrew Middleton, Pierre Chateauvert and Ron Aitken who are ready to volunteer at Stratford location on June 8th.
Local Rotarians volunteer at COVID vaccination clinics
Marcela's second host family - Dave & June Cunningham-
Unfortunately, there are no photos available.
Third host family -Mark & Janet Oliver
As former YE students, host families and Rotarians prepare for the RYE50 anniversary online celebrations, we receive emails and videos from former exchange students. Enjoy Marcela's video about her year on exchange in
St. Marys.
Click on the Video Link on the left side of our website to view Marcela's message to the
On June 5, we are celebrating D6330 RYE50: 50 years of Rotary Youth Exchange in District 6330! This celebration is also a reunion from across the years and the planet: an opportunity for D6330 RYE alumni, Rotarians, and host families to reconnect and catch up. The event will start with a plenary session, celebrating all that we have accomplished through the Rotary Youth Exchange Program in the past 50 years. Afterward, attendees will have a chance to break into small groups to visit with Rotarians from their host or sponsor club, other inbounds or outbounds from their year, and host families! Are you a D6330 RYE alumna or alumnus? A Rotarian who is/has been involved in the program? A host family member?
On Monday, March 22nd we will have David Knoppert as our guest speaker. David is a retired Neonatal Pharmacist from London, Ontario. In 2014 David joined the Rotary Club of London Hyde Park. In 2017 – 2018 he was Club President and currently serves as Club Secretary and Chair of the Golf Committee. In January 2017 David took his first trip with the group COMMIT to Nicaragua. He is on the COMMIT Executive and is an avid fund raiser, having hit over 6,500 golf balls in 12 hours in 2019 and currently is riding across Canada to raise awareness and funds for the people of Nicaragua.
David has asked that we share the COMMIT Winter newsletter with you to read before his talk on March 22nd.
World Water Day that began in 1993 has become an annual UN observance day that highlights the importance of freshwater. The theme of each March 22nd focuses on topics relevant to clean water, sanitation and hygiene. In 2021, the focus is 'valuing water'. What does water mean to people, what is its true value and how we can better protect this vital resource?
“At least 3,000 children die each day from diarrheal diseases caused by unsafe water, a grim reminder for Rotary members who make providing clean water and sanitation an organizational priority. While very few people die of thirst, millions die from preventable waterborne diseases, providing the impetus for our members to provide toilets and latrines and other clean water initiatives in underdeveloped countries. Members also teach these communities to maintain new infrastructure, and organize educational projects to promote hand-washing and other good hygiene habits.
Though 22 March is recognized as World Water Day, our commitment to these causes is ongoing.” By Adam Ross
On Feb. 23, 1905, Paul Harris met some friends for the first-ever Rotary meeting. Tuesday's anniversary is a time to celebrate our anniversary and reflect on how far we have come -- and where we want to go.
Celebrate World Rotary Day- Rotary's 116th Birthday
On Monday, December 14th a meeting was held at St. Marys Townhall to discuss the possibility of having fireworks on New Years Eve. The idea was proposed by Rotarian Homer Rath to Town Events Coordinator Andrea Macko-Hodgins and K & H Fireworks. More details will be announced shortly. Pictured above at top is Victor Arbor - K&H, Andrea Macko-Hodgins, Rotarian Homer Rath, Rotarian Len Hawkins, Rotary President Andrew Middleton and Rick Beauchamp- K&H. The project has been approved by the St. Marys Rotary Club. (photo by Rotarian G. Cumming)
Rotary Club of St Marys plans Fireworks on New Year's Eve
This year the Rotary Club of St. Marys partnered with the Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum for their annual Holiday Silent Auction. Check out the bidding site -
The District Polio committee planned a noon zoom meeting for Saturday October 24th during World Polio Day, however with so much actviity happening at different times we decided to give you a recorded Polio message featuring 2 Polio survivors and our District Polio Chair sharing her experience of giving vaccine to the children.
Watch for Michael O'Shea in this video along with a cameo appearance by our member Diane O'Shea.
Here is the link for the District 6330 Polio video
What a great day to be a Rotarian! Thanks for helping to eliminate Polio, another country is free of Polio. #EndPolioNow#WeThisClose#RotariansInAction — feeling thankful.
Where is the Rotary Club of St. Marys during the pandemic? Rotary is alive and doing what Rotary does “Serving the Community.”
A big first for us was meeting virtually on Monday, March 30th via Zoom. Regular club and committee meetings have occurred since. It hasn’t been easy. Having over twenty members on screen is a challenge but it works.
First of all, let us assure you that all of the financial commitments of our club will be honored for the coming year despite the fact that our major fundraisers have been cancelled or postponed.
We have made a substantial donation to a sister club Rotary District 6330 Passport Club under Rotarian Lynne Ternosky who was able to obtain Canadian made face shields to be distributed to compromised nursing homes in Perth County.
We have reached out to health services, educators and the town of St. Marys asking how we could help. These efforts are ongoing.
Since the community dinners were cancelled, we have been testing a plan with the help of St. Marys & Area Community Living to deliver meals to those in need. We have partnered with local businesses to deliver meals twice weekly to over 30 residents. A work party led and organized by Rotarian Andrew Middleton distributes the meals in an acceptable and socially responsible manner. Along with the meals, face masks made by President Lucie Stephens are also distributed. A big thanks to the Sunset Diner, Gordy’s, Janice Mitchell, Joe’s Restaurant, Jennie’s and McDonald’s Independent for responding to the call. Rest assured, whatever efforts being made now, and in the future are being conducted safely for the public and our members.
In addition, a $5000 donation has been presented to the Salvation Army to assist with the food bank and additional contributions they make to the community.
The Rotary Club of St. Marys will continue to monitor our service to the community based on the principles of Rotary. Thank you to all of our supporters. For more information on what the Rotary Club of St. Marys is doing, please visit our Facebook page or Instagram feed @rotarystmarys. Stay healthy and safe.
Rotary Club of St. Marys helps community during COVID-19
The global COVID-19 pandemic is a rapidly evolving situation. Rotary Youth Exchange students are currently posted throughout the world. The Rotary Club of St. Marys would like to update you on the status of our exchange students. For privacy reasons, we have chosen not to personally identify these students.
Our outbound student in Bolivia has decided to stay put in Bolivia. She reached this decision in collaboration with her parents here in St. Marys as well as with Rotary Youth Exchange officials here in Canada and in Bolivia. Her decision is supported by her current host family in Bolivia who are willing to host her for as long as necessary.
Our inbound student from France has decided to stay put here in St. Marys. She reached this decision in collaboration with her parents in France as well as with Rotary Youth Exchange officials here in Canada and in France. Her decision is supported by her host families here in St. Marys who are willing to host her for as long as necessary.
We have one local student preparing to leave for Sweden sometime this summer. She will continue to prepare for her exchange while monitoring this evolving situation.Our club has been assigned a future inbound student from Sweden who is scheduled to arrive in late-August. Until we hear otherwise we will continue to prepare for his arrival. We are currently working to find a first host family and secure school placement.
The well-being of all exchange students, their families and their host families at this time is our top concern. Countries around the world are making independent decisions about how best to contain the spread of this virus. For our exchange students caught up in this emergency, there is no “one-size-fits-all” solution. We will deal with this on a case-by-case basis and continue to monitor events as they unfold. Rest assured, they are safe, supported and not forgotten.
The Rotary Club of St. Marys is grateful to everyone who has reached out to us expressing concern about the well-being of our students. The Rotary Club of St. Marys is especially grateful to the host families here and in Bolivia who are looking after our students. Their generosity is applauded and appreciated at this difficult time.
Mark Oliver Lucie Stephens
Youth Exchange Officer Club President 2019-2020
The status of our Exchange Students during COVID-19 outbreak
The Rotary Club of Chicago ‑ Club No. 1 ‑ was organized on February 23, 1905, by Paul P. Harris and three Chicago businessmen. To Paul Harris belongs the credit for originating the "Rotary idea”. The first meetings were held alternately at different members' places of business.
From a small nucleus of nineteen loyal members in 1905, Rotary has grown to over 1,200,000 members worldwide,
Today marks the 115th birthday of Rotary. For more than a century we have invested our time in improving communities and creating lasting connections. We come to Rotary to do good for others; but over time, we all realize the good that Rotary does for each of us. Happy Birthday today and many more years of friendship and service in Rotary.
Raymond Elgin Bennett, age 85, of St. Marys, passed away peacefully at the Stratford General Hospital on November 21, 2019. Born in East Wawanash Township, son of the late Carl and Alberta Bennett.
Ray owned and operated Ray Bennett Men’s Wear in St. Marys for 52 years until his retirement in 2010. He spent many years volunteering in his community. He served on St. Marys Council, was a member of the Rotary Club of St. Marys where he was involved with the International Youth Exchange and was a Paul Harris Fellow. Ray has also been a board member of the Parkview Foundation for many years.
Beloved husband for 60 years of Jo (Easson). Loving father of Dawn Bennett (Matthew Certosimo), Denise Drinkwalter (Paul) and Dwight Bennett (Mary Lou Burtwistle). Grandfather of Meredith and Francesca Certosimo, Alexandra Lebold (Jonathan), Cassaundra and Connor Drinkwalter, Wesley, Alta and Evan Bennett and great grandfather of Jedsen Lebold. Brother of Iona Walker, Glen Bennett (Cathy), Dolly Somers, Carman Bennett (Cindy). Also survived by many nieces and nephews and their families.
Predeceased by his siblings Roy Bennett (Margaret), Clifford Bennett (Agnes), Mabel Templeton (Fred) and brothers-in-law Allen Walker and Ron Somers.
At Ray’s request, his body has been donated to the University of Western Ontario, Department of Anatomy. A private service will be held for immediate family only. The family will host a Celebration of Ray’s Life which will be announced at a later date, in the summer of 2020. As expressions of sympathy, memorial donations may be made to the Rotary Club of St. Marys, Stratford General Hospital or St. Marys Memorial Hospital through the W.G. Young Funeral Home, 430 Huron Street, Stratford. 519.271.7411 www.wgyoungfuneralhome.com
Today, on World Polio Day, Rotary and its Global Polio Eradication Initiative partners announced that wild poliovirus type 3 (WPV3) has been eradicated worldwide. WPV3 is only the third infectious human disease-causing pathogen to be eradicated in history, following smallpox and wild poliovirus type 2. This achievement means that two of the three wild polio strains have now been wiped out, an important marker of progress against the disease.
The announcement comes on the heels of recent news that Nigeria has gone three years without a case of wild poliovirus, which means that the entire African region could be certified wild poliovirus-free in sometime in 2020.
“The eradication of wild poliovirus type three is a critical step in Rotary’s fight to eradicate polio,” said Michael K. McGovern, Chair of Rotary’s International PolioPlus Committee. “Even as we’re addressing major challenges in Pakistan and Afghanistan, we continue to make historic progress that shows us that eradication is possible. Today is World Polio Day—a time to reflect on our efforts, how far we’ve come, and the work that still needs to be done to fulfill our promise of a polio-free world. It’s important that we remain optimistic and harness the momentum of this good news as we tackle the remaining challenges in the global effort to end polio.”
Anyone can help Rotary and its partners continue to make progress against polio. Donate to End Polio Now and view Rotary’s World Polio Day program, which will be available starting at 12 PM CDT/6 PM CEST.
CC: RI Board of Directors, TRF Board of Trustees, International PolioPlus Committee, District Governors, Club Presidents, 2019-20 EPN Countdown to History Campaign Committee, Polio Eradication Advocacy Task Force for the US, PolioPlus National Advocacy Advisors, National PolioPlus Committee Chairs, Regional Leaders, End Polio Now Zone Coordinators.
The Rotary Club of St. Marys club photo with inbound exchange student from Taiwan, Simon Lu is returning home in July 2019 and outbound exchange student, Ava Bettger who is headed to Bolivia in August 2019.
We are thrilled to invite you to the Grand Opening of the St. Marys NOURISH Equal Access Food Market on Thursday, June 20th. Thanks to your incredible generosity, we are working to address food insecurity in St. Marys.
Ryan Erb, Executive Director United Way Perth-Huron, Debra Swan, Executive Director of the Local Community Food Centre, John McGarry, United Way St. Marys Community Committee Chair and other committee members and NOURISH Market volunteers will lead a short presentation at about 3pm.
As you begin your year as President, you are about to discover the honor and privilege of captaining the good ship Rotary St. Marys.
You will find that, on shore, your District leadership is strong; that the women and men who devote their time to the programs and projects in 6330 are talented, dedicated and able to fully support you in plotting your course.
You will also find that the membership of our club will make your year as President seem to be effortless, for our club is a ship that runs on sails with the wind in our favor. Your crew, like that which I was privileged to work with, will make certain that the ship stays on course. You may stand at the helm but no captain ever truly ran her vessel; the stalwarts in charge of things below decks are the ones who keep the thing afloat. Chief engineers like Charlie, Bursars like Heather and Doug, cruise directors like Pierre, communications officers like Gary and recruiters like Bruce will keep you charted in the right direction.
Of course, the crew of your ship is much larger and includes all those who keep the boilers functioning and well-oiled; old hands like Linda, Len, Stan and Ron know just what it takes, and how to get it done. The same holds true for those who stoke the fires, whether it’s Homer at the Mess or Janice in the Galley.
The rest of the hands deserve accolades as well and there isn’t room to mention every sailor who contributes advice, time and talent in making our ship the class of the fleet. There’s not a single person on board who doesn’t make a contribution; And you know already that there’s a large cast of new recruits at the ready and some old salts just waiting for re-assignment.
Enjoy your year! And I know you won’t rest on the laurels left by all of those who have preceded you as Captain. Times change and our club, like Rotary itself, must change with them. Weigh anchor and cast off. Let the crew guide you but stay steady at the wheel and you will be sure to enjoy the ports of call along the way.
This Spring we were pleased to hear from our returning exchange students about their year away in a foreign country learning about their customs and culture. We always look forward to hearing about their exchange. We usually send one student on exchange and accept one incoming student. While interviewing the students, the committee decided that it would be a shame to deny three of the four applicants an opportunity to experience living in another country other than North America. The membership agreed and we sponsored the four candidates: Abigail Luytens to France; Samantha Berry to Colombia; Morgan Askew to Taiwan; Kevin Oliver to Denmark.
Abigail Luytens presents Pres Claire with banner from her host club in France.
Lucie Stephens thanks Kevin Oliver for his presentation on his year in Denmark.
Morgan Askew presents Pres Claire with a banner from her host club in Taiwan.
Samantha Berry thoroughly enjoyed her year of exchange in Colombia. Unfortunately, my copy of the photo was damaged.
Welcome back to each and everyone of you!
Returning Exchange Students reported back to our club
This has been a challenging Spring for our purple crocuses this year. Lots of blooms in the lower part of the waterfall but the lack of sunshine and cold weather did not allow them to come into full bloom. Unfortunately the upper portion of the waterfall never blossomed. In fact, the ground appears to be very compacted, I'm not sure we will see blossoms again in the upper portion. Charlie, Gary and I have taken pictures at different times during last week.
Linda Schuyler presides as Doug Goudy presents Mark Oliver with his first Paul Harris Fellow and
Ray Bennett receives a PH +3 pin and Pierre Chateauvert receives a PH +1 pin
On April 15, 2019 Rotary Foundation chair, Doug Goudy, assisted Linda Schuyler with the presentation of Paul Harris recognition pins to Ray Bennett, Pierre Chateauvert and Mark Oliver. Linda Schuyler shared her Foundation points to award Mark Oliver with his first Paul Harris Fellow and by transferring 250 points to Ray Bennett and Pierre Chateauvert who already participate in the 'Every Rotarian Every Year' program were elevated to the next Paul Harris levels and received multiple Paul Harris pins.
We were delighted to have AG Dianne Yundt induct our newest members, Diane O'Shea and AJ Ravichandran who were sponsored by Linda Schuyler. Diane's classification is Educator-Home Economics and AJ's is Retail Banking.
Maternal and child care is one of Rotary's six areas of focus. Rotary makes health care available to vulnerable mothers and children so they can live longer and grow stronger. This video shows how Rotary provides education, immunizations, birth kits, mobile health clinics and new mother training to help prevent and protect themselves and their children from disease.
RI Theme for April 2019 -Maternal and Child Health
I saw the first robin the other day. Baseball is on TV again. We just celebrated another Rural/Urban dinner, an event timed to coincide with the arrival of warmer weather, just before the farmers hit the fields to begin another planting season. Despite the “April Fools” joke of a snow storm last weekend, I am convinced that it must be Spring!
As Spring arrives and the lawns start to green, we feel invigorated and renewed; it seems like the year begins again.
New members renew Rotary clubs just like the passing of the seasons renews our faith that flowers will bloom again. The original four men who began the organization in 1905 witnessed its growth to over 2,000 members in only 20 years. Could they have possibly ever imagined that today there would be 34,282 clubs with a membership over 1.2 million?
As we look forward to Spring, we celebrate the new members of our club and new Rotarians throughout the world; they bring new ideas and challenge established ways, fostering change while honoring the value of established practice.
Rotary, like the seasons, is always in change and it’s our new members, the women and men who understand the value of Service Above Self, who will continue to drive Rotary forward and ensure that it remains relevant even as the seasons, and the years, pass.
We look forward to your contributions in the years to come.
The Rotary Club of St. Marys hosted the Area 3 meeting in conjunction with their regular meeting. President Claire Sherwin sponsored 3 new members, Peter Quigley, Toni McLean and Christina Silveira with DG Jim Schlatman presiding over the inductions. The Club presented Daryl McClure with a Paul Harris and Linda Schuyler shared her Paul Harris points to award Lucie Stephens and Heather Ellis with their first Paul Harris recognitions. Each Area 3 president gave a summary of what their club has been doing. In DG Jim’s words ‘What an active Area.Truly people of action.’AG Dianne Yundt gave news from the District and chaired the Area 3 part.A memorable and enjoyable evening. A few photos follow:
In Rotary, the RI Theme for March is Water and Sanitation.
(Look closely - Is that Stan Malcolm in this photo?) -Rotary Club of Stratford's Aquabox Project
Aquaboxes are a project unique to the Rotary Club of Stratford, which tries to keep a supply of them on hand to ship to disaster zones around the world. The Aquabox unit contains multiple self disinfecting silver impregnated ceramic cartridges (Filters). These filters are attached inside a receiving container into which the contaminated water is introduced.
The filter system is designed to trap and kill harmful bacteria >99.99999% ( E.coli, Coliform, Faecal Coliform), >99.95 % protozoan cysts (Giardia, Cryptosporidium) and filter particulates as small as 0.3 MICRONS (99.9%) The ceramic cartridges are cleanable and reusable.
This top container, with the filters, is attached to the lid of the receiving container which is equipped with a tap for dispensing the now potable water. The connection is designed to prevent any introduction of other contaminants into the lower container. (As required by the World Health Organization’s guidelines).
The system is capable of providing potable water for a family of 5 for up to one year. It is light, portable and easy to use until other sources of potable water are available.
The distributors of the Aqabox system, to the recipient’s families, are qualified personnel who instruct in the proper assembly and use at the site of the disaster.
For information on the Water & Sanitation Rotarian Action Group, please click on Read More...
On 23 February,114 years ago, Paul P. Harris, Gustavus Loehr, Silvester Schiele, and Hiram E. Shorey gathered in Loehr’s office for what would become known as the first Rotary club meeting. The four men, a Lawyer, a Mining Engineer, a Coal Dealer and a Merchant Tailor (the “Original Four”), were in different businesses, but they recognized that their experience provided the organization with a unique perspective. I’m certain that they enjoyed the camaraderie of meeting together but, more importantly, they shared a desire to do good in the world.
The Original Four agreed to meet again, two weeks later, in one of the other’s offices, and to “rotate” their future meetings from office to office. Rotary was born!
Over the next two years, the fledgling organization grew in membership, focussed its efforts, and decided to undertake a community service project - rallying forces around the effort to construct public toilets in Chicago. In truth, it wasn’t entirely a philanthropic project; some have speculated that the idea of providing “comfort stations” in the downtown business core was intended to keep shoppers there longer and increase sales. But, nevertheless, the undertaking established the Rotary Club of Chicago as the first service club and the newly constructed toilets became a source of civic pride. It’s safe to say that none of the original four members, nor any of those who would join the club over the next few years, thought that they were leaving a legacy. They were wrong.
LFPS 'Me to We' donates to Rotary's Global Literacy Project
On Tuesday morning, the Little Falls Public School ‘Me to We’ group presented their collection of excess school bags and school supplies to the Rotary Club of St. Marys for the Global Literacy Project. Accepting the donation with great thanks were Rotarians Ron Aitken and Linda Schuyler. Pictured with Little Falls students is teacher Robin Rutherford. The Rotary Club’s Global Literacy Project originated when Rotarians from the Grand Bend club, led by Peter Twynstra, visited rural schools in the Mpumalanga Province in northeastern South Africa. This school was staffed with enthusiastic teachers and full of eager “learners”, as the students are called there. The problem was that teaching aides, like blackboards, computers, and even desks and chairs, were not to be found. The group was taken by surprise with the lack of basic supplies that we take for granted here. Not long after the group’s return home, one of the participants was horrified to see perfectly good desks being thrown into a dumpster behind a school which had recently closed in the area. She implored Peter to find a way to get these supplies over to the
South African school that they had visited. This is how ‘Literacy Project’ came to be. After much negotiation and organization, the first container of surplus school supplies, including about 20,000 books, was loaded in the spring of 2009 and shipped to the very school in South Africa where the tour had visited. Needless to say, the teachers and learners were overjoyed with all of the bounty. The books, especially, created opportunities for reading that hadn’t existed previously. Over the past decade, the Global Literacy project has grown considerably, with a total of 83 containers shipped for the benefit of children in schools in South Africa, Haiti and Guyana. The Rotary Club of St. Marys is thankful for the help of the ‘Me to We’ group at Little Falls Public School and the ‘Global Voices” group at DCVI with this project. If you have excess school supplies that you would like to donate, collection boxes will be present at Vet Purchasing, Meridian Credit Union, St. Marys Public Library, YMCA, DCVI and Little Falls until February 28th so to accommodate the next shipment which is in March.
This year, the district introduced Public Image and Social Media Committee webinars: opportunities for you and your club to learn more about public image. The dates of upcoming webinars, as well as the link to register for them, are below, and you can find recordings of past webinars a little further down.
Questions, comments, or concerns? Contact Kirk Langford, District 6330 Public Image and Social Media Chair
Upcoming Webinars:
Wednesday, February 20, 7:00 pm: Using Facebook Pages
Wednesday, March 13, 7:00 pm: Increasing Your Club's Curb Appeal
Wednesday, March 27, 7:00 pm: To Instagram or not to Instagram?
Wednesday, April 24, 7:00 pm: Hashtags, sharing, and commenting... oh my!
Wednesday, May 22, 7:00 pm: Using images and videos from The Rotary Foundation and Rotary International
We acknowledge the excellent article written about the tribute paid to Rotarian Ray Bennett in the February 7th, 2019 issue of the St. Marys Independent. The article follows:
Ray Bennett honoured by Rotary Club
On Monday’s meeting of the Rotary Club of St. Marys, Bob Stephens gave an eloquent and fitting tribute to Ray Bennett in recognition of his three decades of service towards the realization and continued operation of the Parkview West and Parkview East developments, which include sixty-nine life lease residential dwellings for seniors.
Excerpts of Stephens’ tribute are as follows: “Dedicated and committed volunteers are ‘the coin of the realm’ for service clubs, and little can be accomplished without them. And the fact that this club successfully completes the number of important projects each year that we do is a testament to the quality of the volunteers. We Rotarians have been meeting weekly in this room for thirty years. How this room and this building became our permanent home is part of a much bigger story about how a small number of Rotarians in a small town, without capital of their own, set out to resolve what they considered to be at the time the community’s greatest need: the absence of housing for seniors.
In 1932 the USA was in the midst of The Great Depression. Herbert J. Taylor was a Rotarian in Chicago and had been a Rotary member since the early 20's. He was also the president of a nearly bankrupt company which sold cookware door-to-door.
Sales were poor and he believed that his employees were in need of an ethical yardstick.
He wrote down four simple questions and took them to four of his managers: a Roman Catholic, a Christian Scientist, an Orthodox Jew and a Presbyterian to make certain that nothing in them conflicted with their religious or moral beliefs.
Once they were approved, Mr. Taylor sent each of his employees the four questions on his list:
1.Is It The Truth?
2. Is it Fair to all Concerned?
3. Will it build Goodwill and Better Friendships?
4. Will it be Beneficial to All Concerned?
Soon after his staff began to apply the questions he had asked them, his business began to turn around and it became profitable.
On February 23, 2019 Rotary will celebrate 114 years in service to others.
It all began with these gentlemen…
The first 4 Rotarians -
(Gustavus Loehr (L), Silvester Schiele, Hiram
Shorey and Paul Harris, circa 1905-1912.
"The Rotary Way Works! But Rotary has no patent on it, for it is but the Golden Rule in action. Any person, any nation, can apply it by displacing negative hatred and fear with goodwill based upon understanding. Peace among nations is not impossible of attainment; they can find peace if they will," Paul P. Harris, January 1946.
Rotary celebrates 114 years in service-Feb 23, 2019
The Rotary Club of St. Marys will hold their annual Rural Urban event on Thursday,
April 4th, 2019 at the Pyramid Centre.
Entertainment for the evening will be Glen Foster, "That Canadian Guy". Glen has been one of the top comedians in Canada for over thirty years. He has a unique blend of clever, observational humour with a uniquely Canadian slant.
Save the Date: Thursday, April 4, 2019-Rural Urban
Family Literacy Day is a national awareness initiative created in 1999 by ABC Life Literacy Canada and is held annually on January 27th to raise awareness about reading and engaging in other literacy-related activities as a family.
Family literacy refers to the many ways families develop and use literacy skills, from enjoying a storybook together at bedtime and during the day, to playing board and word games, singing, writing to a relative, making grocery lists, following a recipe and surfing the internet for fun and interesting sites.
ABC Life Literacy Canada is encouraging Canadian families to have at least 15 minutes of fun every day with your child, your grandchild or a young relative in a literacy-related activity. Practicing literacy every day has tremendous benefits for children and parents or older relative. It establishes a culture of learning, an exchange of ideas, enriches family relationships and bolsters confidence and independent thinking.
During January, Rotarians are encouraged to focus on this important avenue of Rotary service. Discussions on vocational service can lead to projects that not only develop the ethical consciousness and vocational skills of Rotarians but also the talents within their communities. Vocational Service Month is an opportunity to begin year-long vocational service activities, ranging from Rotary discussions to awards to community projects.
Three new members joined our club: Ed Parkinson, Kyle Burnside and Peter Quigley along with returning Andrew Middleton. It was with great sadness that we lost long time Rotarian, PDG Maurice Oliver.
Here's some photos to help you recall happier times for our club in 2018.
Thank you Andrew Middleton for organizing this year's wonderful Christmas Party that drew a crowd of 51 people. Good food! Good friends! Good golly Molly. It was swell. Entertainment this year was led by Heather Ellis who not only challenged us with the Four-Way Test (so many things to think about) while we played Rotary Bingo and she provided positive reinforcement of key words in Rotary: Truth, Fair, etc. Thank you Heather for your efforts in putting this game together for us. We were having such fun there wasn't a chance of anyone falling asleep after dinner. Well done! Here's a few photos from the party. (The rest can be found in the photo album.)
In 1916, Rotary founder Paul Harris shared his thoughts about the organization in an article titled “The Future of Rotary,” published in The Rotarian. Addressing the Rotary world, Harris concluded the short piece with wishes for the new year: “I wish you all of the prosperity which your good deeds merit.... May all things you ought have be yours. May your charities rank among your necessary expenditures. May you not fall into the popular error of thinking that happiness is to be found in outdoing your neighbors. May it always be yours to look beneath the veneer of life to the solid substance which lies beneath. May you be builders, not mere climbers. May you be able to appraise life’s blessings at their real worth. May you be free to act in accordance with the dictates of your own conscience and good judgment. May you not be slaves to meaningless customs, social or otherwise. May you shun the groove followers. May you have vision to discern the right and health, strength and will to do it. That is to say, I wish you a Happy New Year.”
From our family to you and yours, Best Wishes for a Happy, Healthy and Prosperous New Year!
The Paul Harris Fellow recognition is a prestigious acknowledgement that the owner of this pin cares about making the community and world a better place. Rotarians who earn this pin through their donations can also acknowledge others for their contributions. This acknowledgement is done through the use of the Paul Harris points earned by Rotarians who donate to The Rotary Foundation. Here are the ins and outs of using your points.
Every dollar that a Rotarian donates to the Foundation puts her or him a dollar closer to the coveted Paul Harris Recognition. Every dollar also earns the donor one Paul Harris Point which may be used to recognize family members, friends and community leaders who have also worked to make the world a better place.
Please take a look at the files on this page to see how you can participate and can utilize your Paul Harris Points.
On Monday, November 5, 2018, the Rotary Club of St. Marys held the Annual Remembrance and Veterans Dinner.The speaker of the evening was distinguished Western University Professor Jonathan F. Vance who teaches military history, Canadian history and social memory.He is the author of many books and articles and spoke on the importance of Canadians during the First World War. Pictured L to R: is Centenarian Private William Elgie, Canadian Fusiliers, Canadian Army; Richard Anderson , two tours in Afghanistan with Royal Canadian Air Force, St. Marys Fire Chief; Captain Tom Jenkins, Royal Canadian Signal Corps, Canadian Army, President St. Marys Royal Canadian Legion; Private George Hayes, Black Watch Regiment, Canadian Army Peacekeeping - Cypress; Professor Jonathan Vance; Seaman George Hales, Canadian Merchant Navy; Cpl. Percy Smith, Engineer Corps, British Army; Jim Scott, Royal Canadian Navy Volunteer Reserve; Peter Bushfield, Past President St. Marys Royal Canadian Legion. Photo by Charlie Hammond
As today is Sunday, I decided I can give you a quick update for our Rotary Club on what I have done so far in the two weeks that I have been here. So, upon my arrival here at the airport I met my YEO as well as part of my family. My family consists of my mother Michaela, father Josef and my two younger sisters Maja and Petra. After the airport arrival, we went to the hospital to visit Petra who had just had teeth surgery. Once home I got a tour and we had supper. I started school and I must say I have gotten lost at least 3 different times and I have had to quick random students to help me find my school. The school and the school system are both very different here. I have 6-8 classes a day each being 45 minutes and start at 7:00 am or 7:55 am. I must say I am very good in English class.
I have also started going to Czech Lessons in Prague twice a week with other Rotary students in my club as well as my district (FUN FACT: there is only one district in Czech and Slovakia together, meaning our district has about 85 students) I am in the Prague international rotary club along with two other girls. One from the states and the other being from Mexico. I go to my first rotary meeting tomorrow as my host clubs meetings are the same time and night as our club's!
Last weekend it was a celebration of 100 years of the republic so we went to our town's square for a celebration! My host family has also taken my to Prague a few times and we have visited some of the main tourist spots like the Charles bridge, St. Nicholas Church, old town square, and the astronomical Clock. We plan to go to the castle, museum and zoo before Christmas!
I also plan to start curling here soon as well as pick up some activities through the week! Everyone here is very nice and welcoming! Also, I only have one host family for the year because I am so far from my rotary club, but they are all so nice and caring it is okay with me! My host mom and me even went shopping for ski clothes for their arrival ski trip in February!
Everything is going well here, I would to thank you all for this opportunity once again as the experience so far is great!
Situated on the Elbe River, Hamburg, Germany, is the third-largest port in Europe, a thriving hub of global trade. The city will host the 2019 Rotary International Convention 1-5 June. Local Rotarians are hard at work planning activities that will help you capture the moment. In the September issue of The Rotarian, you will learn more about what you can expect during your visit to Germany's gateway to the world. Register by 15 December to take advantage of the early registration discount.
What an exciting meeting we had on Monday, September 17th! We were happy to welcome AG Dianne Yundt and DG Jim Schlatman. Jim spoke about being an inspiration to others and what an inspiration he was indeed! I think we all walked away feeling energized and wanting to make a real difference in our community and internationally. This in itself would have been a full evening, but we enjoyed the company of our newest exchange student, Simon from Taiwan and we were thrilled to induct our newest member Kyle Burnside to our Rotary family!!
AG Dianne Yundt (L), Heather Ellis, President Claire Sherwin,
DG Jim Schlatman (C), Doug Goudy, Lucie Stephens and
back
row
centre Bruce Radford and Pierre Chateauvert (R).
Lucie Stephens thanked DG Jim for talking with us this evening and
presented him with a booklet about the book titled "Be Kind" that we donated to the St. Marys Public Library in his honour.
President Claire sponsored our newest member, Kyle Burnside (2nd from R)
who was inducted this evening - Membership Chair Bruce Radford
presided
over the ceremony with President Claire and DG Jim assisting.
Our newest exchange student from Taiwan, Simon (Hsin-Yang) Lu.
We’re challenged by the RI President this year to “Be The Inspiration”.
Thinking back to my first year in Rotary, when I was the “young guy” in the club, makes me recall some truly great Rotarians who inspired me: Clark Ready was a “stickler” for protocol and meetings ran according to Robert’s Rules, never a motion out of order. Bill Davis was conscious of rules too, but more concerned with proper manners; you never brought a beer bottle to the table in those days. Crosby Kirkpatrick was a great story teller and always ready to talk about the news of the day. Herb Sparling, being hard of hearing, had a habit of waiting until a presenter started to talk and then, almost always, would bellow “Speak UP!I can’t hear a damn word you’re saying” from the back of the room.Most often he was right. I’d be seriously remiss too if I didn’t mention Adrian Elderhorst; His recollection of the liberation of Holland from Germany by the Canadian Forces always made me choke with pride.
The Rotary Four Way Test is an inspirational creed. It’s a test of “the things we think, say or do”.
Keeping this in mind. like those that have gone before us, we are all building our legacy in Rotary and inspiring others, in thoughts, words and deeds.
World Polio Day will be recognized on October 24th. One day. One Focus. Ending Polio.
- Our 6th annual World Polio Day event will take place at the College of Physicians in Philadelphia and aim to bring together more than 100,000 viewers around the world.
Click on link www.endpolio.org to watch the livestream of the 2018 event.
· Two cases of circulating vaccine-derived poliovirus type 2 (cVDPV2) are reported from Niger, linked to an ongoing cVDPV2 outbreak in neighbouring Nigeria.
· Featured on www.polioeradication.org: Coffee with Polio Experts – Head of WHO Chad Dr Jean-Bosco Ndihokubwayo speaks about the ongoing efforts to reach every child with polio vaccine across Chad.
· Summary of newly-reported viruses this week: Afghanistan – two new wild poliovirus type 1 (WPV1) positive environmental samples; Pakistan – five new WPV1-positive environmental samples; Nigeria – three cases of circulating vaccine-derived poliovirus type 2 (cVDPV2) and two cVDPV2-positive environmental samples; Niger – two cVDPV2 cases; Horn of Africa (Somalia) – three cVDPV3 cases and one cVDPV3 positive environmental sample; and, Papua New Guinea – two new cVDPV1 cases.
Wild poliovirus type 1:
Total cases Year to date in 2018
Globally WPV 18
- In endemic countries – 18 - in non-endemic countries – 0
· Total cases Year in 2017
Globally WPV 22
- In endemic countries – 22 - in non-endemic countries – 0
Our Rotary theme this year is “Be The Inspiration”.Rotarians all over the world already fulfill the challenge set out by RI President Barry but, as we begin a new year in Rotary, it’s good to be reminded that we serve as examples both in our local community and around the world.
If I had the opportunity to pick a Rotary theme, mine would be “Experience the Joy in Rotary”.
Rotary is filled with opportunities to do just that; the camaraderie in weekly meetings, the feeling of achievement in accomplishing local projects, the pride in being part of global projects like ending Polio should allow us all to walk tall and hold our heads high.
Attending the recent International Conference in Toronto reinforced the joy of Rotary for me.President Barry pointed out that this large group of delegates from all over the world gave each of this the opportunity to call a stranger from a foreign country by name and consider them a friend.In particular, I met people from the African continent, from Sweden, from India and one notable rascal from Australia who genuinely made my day and reinforced the pride I feel in “wearing the wheel”.
This past weekend, I was invited by two of past exchange students for a weekend of wine tasting in Prince Edward County.It was great to see both of them again and to learn what they were doing, how their schooling was going, and what they hoped to do in the future.Several of their friends came along as well and getting to know them renewed my faith in the future.
I find joy in almost everything Rotary and encourage you to do the same as we continue our good work, whether in funding a new splash pad, teaching children about the importance of trees, or supporting a global organization that does so much good in the world.
TORONTO, August 30, 2018 /COMMUNITYWIRE/ - UNESCO has proclaimed that September 8th, 2018 is International Literacy Day (ILD). This year’s theme is Literacy and Skills Development. Skills, in this context refers to the knowledge and competencies required for employment, careers, and livelihoods; particularly technical and vocational skills, along with transferable skills and digital skills.
International Literacy Day is a global event which was created to bring awareness to the fact that literacy is a matter of dignity and a human right.
ILD is a global event which was created to bring awareness to the fact that literacy is a matter of dignity
Rotarians Ron Aitken, Grant Barton, Pierre Chateauvert, Doug Fread and Linda Schuyler participated in a joint literacy activity with the Library's Summer Reading Program at Sparling Bush on Aug 10th. We were pleasantly surprised to see AG Dianne Yundt participating in our "Let's Explore Sparling Bush". We had 21 children aged 5-12, a number of parents and grandparents and several Rotarians who joined us in our exploration of the Bush. Ron gave an excellent introduction to the benefits of trees. He led a walk through the bush, identifying different types of trees and vegetation and pointed out locations of hard to see Cooper's hawk nest, a tree with hundreds of woodpecker holes and invasive plants. Ron asked questions of the students. The one that I liked the best - "what do trees and people have in common" - the children gave some amazing answers. The children enjoyed bark or leaf rubbing led by Christina Donati (Library Summer Reading Program). To mark the occasion, the Rotarians had purchased a red oak tree for the children to plant. The children helped return the dirt to the hole by the shovel and later with their hands. A booklet which included pictures of trees, their bark, nuts, fruit, and leaves that can be found in Sparling Bush. There were pictures and info about birds and animals that also live in the woods. We also included pictures of bird and animal nests, garter snake skin that had been shed and woodpecker holes in trees giving evidence that creatures are in the woods. To conclude the booklet, there are pictures and info about the red oak that we planted with the children.
We were blessed with great weather and an excellent group of well-behaved children. I think everyone had a great time.
Have you considered taking your talent and skills and utilizing them in a role beyond your Club? We are looking for Rotarians who are interested in future roles at the District Level or beyond. What about chairing a District Committee, being part of the AG team, Support Membership, promoting our Rotary Foundation or being a Champion for the Eradication of Polio? We want you!
During this year we would like to hold some informal information sessions around the District to help answer your questions, assist you with your future plans and help us plan for the future Leadership in our District.
Please contact PDG Diane Chantler at dianechantler@hotmail.com to express your area of interest and your Club name. We will contact you as we schedule our information sessions.
In Rotary, the theme for the month of September is Basic Education and Literacy, one of the six areas of focus.
How can we take action?
-Participate in a world community project to provide teacher training and needed classroom supplies. A few of our members already help load containers heading to South Africa with unwanted school room supplies from schools that have been closed in our area. We welcome more of our members to help with this worthy "Global Literacy Project" which is an ongoing project of the Rotary Club of Grand Bend. On Aug 25th I had the privilege of helping them load container #79. I have already signed up for container #80 to be held on Sept 7th in London. It's probably too late to sign up for this one but please consider helping in Exeter when they load another container in October. Please join me in helping the Grand Bend club with this wonderful project. Not only do you have a great feeling of satisfaction knowing that these items will not be littering the dump but that children who have nothing will now have desks, chairs, blackboards, etc. You also have the opportunity to meet many wonderful Rotarians from our area.
More than 775 million people over the age of 15 are illiterate.
That’s 17 percent of the world’s adult population.
Our goal is to strengthen the capacity of communities to support basic education and literacy, reduce gender disparity in education, and increase adult literacy. We support education for all children and literacy for children and adults.
How Rotary makes help happen
We take action to empower educators to inspire learning at all ages.
Adult literacy
Rotary members fight adult illiteracy by working with local advocates to offer community literacy programs.
Teacher training
We share our knowledge and experience with educators and other professionals who work with vulnerable populations.
Mentoring students
Rotary club pairs students with celebrity and CEO mentors for success.
Our next exchange student, Hsin Yang Lu (English name is Simon) turned 17 in March 2018 and he is from Taiwan. He likes movies, reading books and exercising. He was on the swimming team and likes to play table tennis and badminton. He has studied English since Junior High School and he wants to teach others Mandarin and English.
This exchange is important to him as he wants to be a diplomat and understand the cultures of every country. He wants to be more independent and learn more languages.
He is eager to share the culture of Taiwan and his personal stories with us and looks forward to sharing his Rotary exchange experience with his family and friends when he returns to Taiwan.
Simon will be joining our club in August, date not yet confirmed.
As we all know, Rotary must continuously evolve so that we may continue to attract new members, retain current ones, and come together to do good in the world.
With this in mind, I am excited to announce the formation of the Provisional District 6330 Passport Club! Passport Clubs are a new format of Rotary Club where members meet only a few times a year, instead conducting club business electronically. In lieu of weekly meetings, members are encouraged to engage in humanitarian service in whatever capacity works best for them! The founding principle is simple: make Rotary fit your life!
This is an exciting opportunity for former Rotarians who are ready to return, Rotaractors, Alumni, and anyone else who does not find that a traditional club fits their life.
For more information, and to stay tuned to what this new, provisional club is up to- visit the website and follow them on Facebook at the links below.
At a regular meeting on July 23rd Rotarian Doug Fread made a presentation of "Service Above Self Award" to Rotarian Len Hawkins (pictured on right). This award is presented by the club to a member who has exemplified the spirit of Rotary in thought and action and service. This is the fourth such award presented by the club. Congratulations Len from your fellow members.
With help from Rotarian Heather Ellis, photographer and Rotarian Mark Oliver was able to photoshop himself into the photograph. Although not the club's official photo as several members were unable to attend, it's the next best thing for our outbound exchange student, Jessica Lawson, to take with her to the Czech Republic when she leaves for a one-year exchange in August 2018.
Club members with outbound exchange student Jessica
Pres Ron Aitken has worked hard to organize the rejuvenation of Rotary sponsored Sparling Bush. With the help of club members, town employees, friends of Rotary, Upper Thames Conservation
Authority and students from the local public schools, we planted approximately 150 native trees. Please also look at the photo album on the left side of our website.
There was also a component for Literacy activities. Pres Ron prepared an article for the District Literacy website. Please click on read more...
Enable Rotarians to make lasting friendships outside their own club, district or country
Contribute to the advancement of Rotary's public image and identity
Serve as an incentive for joining Rotary and for continuing as a member
Examples of Rotary Fellowships available to Rotarians, Rotary partners and Rotaractors...
June is designated as Rotary Fellowship Month. Rotary Fellowships are international, independently organized groups of Rotarians, Rotary partners, and Rotaractors who share a common recreational interest or vocation. This month is recognition of the opportunity to have fun, make new friends around the world and enhance the experience of Rotary that belonging to a Rotary Fellowship enables.
Rotary Fellowships began informally in 1928 when a group of Rotarians with an interest in Esperanto joined together. In 1947, Rotarians organized a group of boating enthusiasts, which became the Yachting Fellowship. This joining together to share common interests and activities gained attention and operated over the years under various names as World Fellowship Activities; International Vocational Contact Groups; Rotary Recreational and Vocational Fellowships; and finally Rotary Fellowships.
Fellowship activities vary widely. Some groups come together around hobbies or special interests. Others are based on common vocations. Some Fellowships are purely social while others use their fellowship for service projects. Each Fellowship must maintain a membership base representing at least 3 Countries. Each Fellowship elects at least 3 Officers to oversee the group’s operations. Fellowships are expected to facilitate communication amongst their members and to maintain regular communication with Rotary International.
There are currently over 61 Rotary Fellowships. To find more information go to:
Winners of the Putting Contest: Team members: Mike Wraith, Jim O'Toole, Ken Telfer and Gerry Teahen were presented with their prize by Rotarian Doug Goudy.
Rotarians Doug Goudy (far left) and Pierre Chateauvert (far right) pose with
2018 Rotary Golf Tournament Winners: Paul Noad, Matthew Awad, and Brent Costigan. Absent from the photo was Pete Morrison. The Noad team from London finished at 10-under along with the team of Stewart Grant, Chris Connolly, Clive Slade and Ian Boyd, The Noad team won the tie-breaker based on retrogression.
ROTARY GOLF TOURNAMENT
2018 CONTESTS AND HOLE PRIZE WINNERS
Putting Contest - McDonald’s Independent – 4 X 18 holes + cart (The Fox GC)
-Two teams were tied, Cement Plant team and Teahen team -55pts. Tied teams used a coin toss to determine the prize winner which was the Teahen team.
Men’s Longest drive on # 6 – Meridian Credit Union - $40 gift card (Jackson’s Pharmacy) – Peter Morrison
Closest to pin on # 9 – St. Marys Buick GMC – $40 gift card (Jackson’s Pharmacy) – Josh Dowling
Ladies longest drive on #13 - O’Grady’s Clothing & Accessories - $40 gift card (Jackson’s Pharmacy) – Charlene Quinlan
Closest to pin on # 14 – St. Marys Ford – $40 gift card (Jackson’s Pharmacy) – Brian Hughes
Most Honest Golfers - Little Falls Car and Pet Wash – 4 X $40 car wash cards – Ellis team – Heather Ellis, Brenda Elliott, Deb Soeder, Amie Shackleton
Team Grant and Team Noad were tied for low score – 62. Retrogression was used to break the tie.
Runner-Up Low score– Ulch Transport– 4 X 18 holes of golf + cart (St. Marys GCC) –Team Grant – Stew Grant, Chris Connelly, Clive Slade, Ian Boyd
Low score - JMRD – National Bank - Wealth Management – 4 X 18 holes + cart (Mitchell Golf CC) + 8 btls. Wine (4 white, 4 red) – Team Noad – Paul Noad, Brent Costigard, Gene Chiaraud, Matt Awad
Rotary Youth Exchange builds peace one young person at a time.
Students learn a new language, discover another culture, and truly become global citizens. Exchanges for students 15 to 19 years old are sponsored by Rotary clubs in more than 100 countries.
What are the benefits?
Exchange students unlock their true potential to:
· Develop lifelong leadership skills
· Learn a new language and culture
· Build lasting friendships with young people from around the world
· Become a global citizen
How long do exchanges last?
Long-term exchanges last a full academic year, and students attend local schools and live with multiple host families.
Short-term exchanges last from several days to three months and are often structured as camps, tours, or homestays that take place when school is not in session.
What are the costs?
Room and board are provided, as well as any school fees. Each program varies, but students are usually responsible for:
· Round-trip airfare
· Travel insurance
· Travel documents (such as passports and visas)
· Spending money and any additional travel or tours
Rotary makes high-quality health care available to vulnerable mothers and children so they can live longer and grow stronger.
We expand access to quality care, so mothers and children everywhere can have the same opportunities for a healthy future. An estimated 5.9 million children under the age of five die each year because of malnutrition, inadequate health care, and poor sanitation — all of which can be prevented.
How Rotary makes help happen
Rotary provides education, immunizations, birth kits, and mobile health clinics. Women are taught how to prevent mother-to-infant HIV transmission, how to breast-feed, and how to protect themselves and their children from disease.
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Healing scars of war
In the mountains of Poland, 26 children traumatized by violence get a chance to be kids again at Rotary camp where psychologists mix escape and therapy.
·
Sustainable programs
Rotary programs improve women’s access to skilled health personnel: doctors, nurses, midwives, or community health care workers.
·
Clean births
Rotary members distribute clean birth kits and train health workers in safe delivery of babies.
While we are in the middle of the endgame strategy to end polio, wild polio virus cases are still occurring in the border area between Afghanistan and Pakistan. We pass along weekly updates from the Global Polio Eradication Initiative on this site,
Polio this week as of 20 March 2018
Headlines: Summary of newly-reported viruses this week: Afghanistan: Two new cases of wild poliovirus type 1 (WPV1) have been confirmed this week, one occurring in Kunar province, and one in Kandahar province. These cases were advance notification last week. Pakistan: One new WPV1 positive environmental sample has been reported in Sindh province. Democratic Republic of the Congo: One new case of circulating vaccine-derived poliovirus type 2 (cVDPV2) reported, from Haut Lomami province. Somalia: An advance notification of one new cVDPV2 positive environmental sample has been received, from Banadir province.
Afghanistan: Two new cases of wild poliovirus type 1 (WPV1) were confirmed this week. One case occurred in Gaziabad district, Kunar province, with onset of paralysis on 14 February, and the other case occurred in Shawalikot district, Kandahar province, with onset of paralysis on 19 February. This will raise the total number of officially reported WPV1 cases in Afghanistan in 2018 to five. Supplementary immunization days were recently completed, with vaccinators aiming to vaccinate children across 34 provinces using bivalent oral polio vaccine (bOPV).
Pakistan: No new cases of wild poliovirus type 1 (WPV1) were reported in the past week. The total number of officially reported WPV1 cases in Pakistan in 2017 remains eight. There are no cases reported in 2018. The most recent case (by date of onset) was reported in Zhob district, Balochistan province, with onset on 15 November 2017.
Nigeria:No new cases of wild poliovirus type 1 (WPV1) were reported in the past week. The total number of WPV1 cases for 2016 is four and no cases have been reported in 2017 or 2018. The most recent case (by date of onset) was reported in Monguno Local Government Area, Borno, with onset on 21 August 2016.
Rotary's Rural Urban Auction Items For You To Consider:
Rotary's Rural Urban Auction on April 14th offers a bird's eye view of St. Marys. Guests can bid on a scenic flight over the St. Marys area, emanating from and returning to Stratford Airport. The approximately 45 minute flight will be for two people, sometime in the warmer months on a date mutually convenient to the successful bidder and the host.
The flight is donated and hosted by Dr. Ellis Scott, who is retired and lives in St. Marys. Rotary is indebted to Dr. Scott for his cooperation and generosity.
Rural Urban - Auction item for you to consider: 1) An afternoon/evening of Culinary and Entertaining Adventure- welcome to the home of Paul and Laurie Smith - this item includes a party of 2-8 to a meal of multiple courses, a walk in the park and a possible moonlight swim. Please come to relax, unwind and let yourself be taken to another time and place. The property is centrally located in RR1 Rannoch. Booking agreed upon by both parties.
Rural Urban- another auction item for you to consider: 2) Old-fashioned Crop Tour and more... Travel through parts of Perth, Huron, Grey, and Bruce Counties in luxury vehicle with chauffeur and guide (courtesy of St. Marys Ford. Stops will include points of interest (farms, brewery, winery, business ventures, scenic towns and countryside). This will be a 6-8 hour tour. Flexible date. Suggestions and requests are welcome. Refreshments and BBQ Steak Dinner included. Plan for this outing with your friends. Fun and fellowship for 4-6 people.
Rural Urban Auction Items for you to consider: 3) Homemade pies donated by Janice Mitchell. 4) Cherry Blanket Chest constructed by Rotarian Doug Fread. 5) Dinner for two at Little Reds plus Bell Tower Tour donated by Town of St. Marys Mayor Al Strathdee. 6) Tour and dinner for 4 at Wilhelm residence donated by Perth Mayor Bob Wilhelm. 7) Plus many more live and silent auction items.
Hot Off The Press... Rural Urban Auction Item for your consideration: John Nater, MP for Perth-Wellington has offered 2 hours of his labour to assist in the spring
clean up, yard work or stone picking. Let’s put him to work folks!
Find inspiration around every corner at the 2018 Rotary Convention. Register by March 31, 2018 to take advantage of the early-registration discount. Join us June 23-27, 2018 at the Metro Toronto Convention Centre, Toronto, Ontario.
We were delighted to have PDG Will Pugh (District 7080) as our guest speaker on March 5th. His enthusiasm for RI Conventions was infectious. He believes that by attending Rotarians will understand and appreciate the difference that each of us make in the world through Rotary.
While we are in the middle of the endgame strategy to end polio, wild polio virus cases are still occurring in the border area between Afghanistan and Pakistan. We pass along weekly updates from the Global Polio Eradication Initiative on this site, click Read more... below.
In the Rotary world, we acknowledge a different theme for each month of the year. March happens to be 'Water and Sanitation' which is one of Rotary's 6 areas of focus. In addition, March 22nd is recognized as World Water Day.
From Rotary International: (A 2016 story that deserves to be told again.)
"Clean water and sanitation is a human right. When people, especially children, have access to clean water, sanitation, and hygiene, they lead healthier and more successful lives." For the rest of the story, click on the link below:
The first photo depicts Rotarians joining the fight to clean up the western basin of Lake Erie, the source of drinking water for millions of people.
The second photo - Rotary's target challenge to develop sustainable water, sanitation, hygiene (WASH), and education projects is being piloted in 5 countries: Belize, Guatemala, Honduras, India and Kenya.
The third photo - Rotary has partnered with the U.S. Agency for International Development to implement sustainable, long-term projects to improve water supply, sanitation, and hygiene in the Dominican Republic, Ghana, and the Philippines.
In 2015, we challenged our members to provide us with a testimonial outlining why they joined Rotary or the circumstances around their joining Rotary, why they stay and perhaps provide an 'aha' moment when they knew they were a committed Rotarian. We've had new members join since then and after giving them a couple years to take in what Rotary has to offer, here's the most recent testimonials that we have received.
______________________________________
Why I Joined Rotary:
I moved to St. Marys in 2009 and didn't know very many people. My out of town business was in the process of closing and I started making local real estate investments. It was important to me to make a contribution to this community. I noticed that Rotary was making St. Marys a better place to live. Mark Oliver introduced me to the club, and he showed me that Rotary supports more programs and initiatives than I imagined, including sponsoring exchange students. But Rotary has another part to play: the organization is active throughout the world, has made and continues to make life changing contributions to humanity.
The organization attracted me by it's visibility but the bonus is that it is a very social club. Dinner meetings are held every week with lots of time for interaction with others. The club encourages members to plan and become involved in local projects. The combination of friendship and participation in worthwhile community events keeps people coming back. For this reason most Rotarians tend to hang around. I plan to stay.
Bruce Radford
___________________________________
Why I joined Rotary:
I moved to St. Marys in 1991 to be with my husband, in the early years I was busy working and raising the children.When they were older and didn’t need me as much I looked for something to fill my time.While I enjoyed playing sports and still enjoy golf and paying darts, I felt it was time to give back.
I started by joining the Army, Navy and Airforce as a Ladies Auxiliary and was secretary/treasurer for a number of years.I then joined Habitat for Humanity and became very involved with Habitat, was the Board Treasurer and the Chair of the Restore for six years.When Stratford-Perth joined forces with London I left as I could not make it to London for Board Meetings and they no longer needed me for the Restore.
After a little break in Volunteering I again looked for a new organization that I believed in.I first tried to be part of the Stratford Boys and Girls Club but sadly the club did not make it in Stratford.
In September 2015 I started work at Veterinary Purchasing where we are very committed to sponsoring community projects.Len Hawkins had been my neighbour for a number of years and was in picking up a donation to the silent auction and while in conversation with him convinced me that I would be a great addition to Rotary.
I read up on the many projects and committees that Rotary had and did indeed think that I would enjoy being part of that organization.I joined in April 2016 and almost immediately joined the Literacy committee.I enjoy coming up with project ideas that helps promote literacy in the community and hope to continue to be part of this committee.In July 2017 I assumed the role of Treasure, this has allowed me to really see all aspects of Rotary and what we endeavor to do as a group.
I continue to enjoy the weekly comradery and have made many new friends in my short time as a Rotarian.I hope to continue to be part of Rotary and all the great contributions to the community the make.
Registration is now open for District Conference 2018 - May 4-5, 2018 - with a theme of "Embracing Change". Follow this link to the Grand Bend club website for details and a link to the registration page.
Past President Stan Malcolm presents Linda Bathe (Stratford Rotary Club) with a cheque for $4,200 for the new Stratford Perth Hospice. Construction is scheduled to begin this spring.
Vocational service is the very essence of Rotary. It is what sets Rotary apart from other service organizations. The concept of vocational service is rooted in the second point of the Object of Rotary which calls on Rotarians to encourage and foster high ethical standards in business and professions, the recognition of the worthiness of all useful occupations, and the dignifying of each Rotarian’s occupation as an opportunity to serve society. Put these ideals into action by using your professional skills to serve your community, practicing your profession with integrity, and guiding others in their professional development. If you do any of these things, you are performing vocational service.
Registration is now open for District Conference 2018 - May 4-5, 2018 - with a theme of "Embracing Change". Follow this link to the Grand Bend club website for details and a link to the registration page.
Family Literacy Day is a national awareness initiative created in 1999 by ABC Life Literacy Canada and is held annually on January 27th to raise awareness about reading and engaging in other literacy-related activities as a family.
Family literacy refers to the many ways families develop and use literacy skills, from enjoying a storybook together at bedtime and during the day, to playing board and word games, singing, writing to a relative, making grocery lists, following a recipe and surfing the internet for fun and interesting sites.
ABC Life Literacy Canada is encouraging Canadian families to have at least 15 minutes of fun every day with your child, your grandchild or a young relative in a literacy-related activity. Practicing literacy every day has tremendous benefits for children and parents or older relative. It establishes a culture of learning, an exchange of ideas, enriches family relationships and bolsters confidence and independent thinking.
UNICEF and the World Health Organization have produced a nearly-four-minute video thanking Rotary and its members for protecting the world’s children against polio for more than 30 years.
Please click on the link below to watch the thank you video.
Every dollar you have donated and every drop of vaccine you have helped administer have brought us one step closer to a polio-free world. This video is a powerful reminder of the positive impact Rotarians have made around the world.
It's been a while since my last post, I think over a month to be honest. A lot of stuff has been going on so I've been busy a lot!
Since my last post I've travelled to Western Europe when I visited Amsterdam with my school, I celebrated my 3 month anniversary since coming to Denmark, I changed classes in school, and I moved to my second host family.
Going to Amsterdam was phenomenal. As you may know, I love large cities. My favourite place on earth is Manhattan; so, finally getting travelling outside of rural Denmark was fantastic. Amsterdam was unlike any city I've been to before. I was struck by just how quiet the city was at night. I'd walk along the canals in the cool autumn air and could just quietly listen to the city. Three months ago I was still in North America, never travelled to Europe, and now I'm sitting on a bench by the Canal enjoying one of Europes finest cities.
New York is a City to Dream in, but Perhaps Amsterdam is a City I Could Live in.
While I love Manhattan in all aspects, I find myself living Amsterdam in a different way. Sure, there isn't a constant 24/7 hustle and bustle, but perhaps that's a good thing. Seeing the sights in Amsterdam, the canals, the leaning houses, and the Dutch culture, it was amazing. Oh, and I had the opportunity to see an old friend from Canada on Canadian thanksgiving. Suffice to say, I had a great time. I think Amsterdam is my #2 city of choice to live in.
Three months is a long time to be away from home. No parents, no home, no Canadian comfort food (well, I brought maple syrup with me, but that's besides the point) and no familiarity. This exchange was a leap before you look kind of affair. It's been fantastic for me in more ways than one. For instance, prior to leaving Canada, I was defined by certain characteristics. Maybe I was that "smart guy", or the "cocky guy", but since coming to a country where I'm unable to express either of those things through language I've been forced to adapt and try to flesh out other parts of who I am. It's been good for me to expand upon different parts of my character.
Today is my 100th day in Denmark. 300 days of Denmark only has 200 days left... Chronophobia is the persistent and irrational fear of the passing of time. I can definitely relate to that fear. Sometimes I lay awake at night and think about all the people I meet here, the things I do, and the places I go— it's all temporary. Sure, the memories will exist for the rest of my life, but in all honesty nothing has given me more profound sadness than remembering my old life. I don't miss home, I miss the memories. And perhaps someday I'll miss the memories of my Scandinavian home. That thought constantly runs through my head, and the fact that I can't do anything to stop the passing of time really messes with me. All I can do is try to ensure that I don't waste any time.
This year is approximately 5.26% of my life. But if I play my cards right the memories will account for a much higher percentage.
Denmark at night - photo taken by Kevin Oliver, Outbound Exchange Student from St. Marys
Our health is everything. Yet 400 million people in the world can’t afford or don’t have access to basic health care. We believe good health care is everyone’s right.
Disease results in misery, pain, and poverty for millions of people worldwide. That’s why treating and preventing disease is so important to us. We lead efforts both large and small. We set up temporary clinics, blood donation centers, and training facilities in underserved communities struggling with outbreaks and health care access. We design and build infrastructure that allows doctors, patients, and governments to work together.
Our members combat diseases like malaria, HIV/AIDS, Alzheimer’s, multiple sclerosis, diabetes, and polio. Prevention is important, which is why we also focus on health education and bringing people routine hearing, vision, and dental care.
How Rotary makes help happen
Disease does not prevent itself. We educate and equip communities to stop the spread of life-threatening diseases. Rotary members have hundreds of health projects underway around the world at any given time.
On Nov 6th, we welcomed 7 veterans and 7 guests to our special Veterans Dinner which continues to be our favourite event. For over thirty years the Rotary Club of St. Marys has entertained the Veterans of St. Marys and area observing Remembrance. A special thank you to Rotarian Ray Bennett for his efforts in organizing this honoured event since its beginning. This year Rotarian Grant Barton and his committee took over the reins from Rotarian Ray.
After a dinner of turkey and trimmings our Past President Stan Malcolm gave a presentation about his trip to the Canadian Vimy Memorial and the 100 year anniversary ceremonies held on April 9, 2017. We were reminded that 60,000 Canadians were killed during the Great War of 1914-1918. The Canadian National Vimy Memorial bears the names of 11,168 missing Canadians, killed in action in France but whose remains have not been found or identified.Stan also brought several Great War artifacts including uniforms, a gas mask and a copy of the iconic "Wait for Me" photo to name a few for us to view. We thank Stan for sharing his very personal story which included the story of his father's survival and the hardships his father faced during and after the war. His PowerPoint Presentation will be posted on our website.
The last post was played by Tom Osgerby and later in the program Frank St. Germaine played some old war time songs and encouraged everyone to sing along.
The Rotary Club of St. Marys has donated 12 books in honour of our local veterans on the occasion of our annual dinner which we hold in their honour on the Monday evening prior to Remembrance Day. This year we decided to recognize all veterans from St. Marys and surrounding area as a group which would include veterans who are unable to attend the dinner. A bookplate which honours our veterans has been placed in each book and a sample bookplate, a list of the books donated along with group picture of these books were made available to the veterans in attendance. Please click "Read more" for additional information on the books selected...
Rotary Gives Thanks to All Who Helped at the 2017 Wine & Cheese Event
Letter to the Editor sent by Event Chair, Pierre Chateauvert-
Oct. 30, 2017
Dear Editor,
The Rotary Club of St. Marys held its 6th Annual Wine and Cheese Tasting at the Pyramid Centre on Oct. 28, 2017, from 7 to 11 p.m. Rotary thanks these local cheese makers and vendors for their generous contributions: Shepherd’s Gourmet Dairy with their selection of feta cheeses; C’est Bon Cheese, George Taylor’s excellent goat cheese; Stone Town Artisan Cheese - Swiss cheeses made by the Weber Family. Towne and Country Cheese Shoppe donated the blue cheese and provided the gruyere and a 4 yr. old cheddar. As well, McDonald’s Independent generously donated cheese and fruit trays, and baguette. Special thanks to Steam Whistle beer, Vineland Estates Winery and Maelstrom Winery for their participation, to Nelda Oliver for taking pictures, to Randy Barber of RVS Exhibitional Draperies and Rotarian Lucie Stephens for transforming our venue.
For the first time, we welcomed local artists for a show and sale. They did not disappoint as their work was unique and beautiful. Thank you to the artists: Lisa Gerber/Plancke, Rene Knight, Peter Rice, Cameron Porteous, and Bonnie Richardson.
These downtown merchants helped with ticket sales: Carpe Vinum, St. Marys Wines, M and M Variety, Hubbard Pharmacy and Towne and Country Cheese Shoppe.
Many others donated items for our silent auction and we thank you.
Wonderful entertainment was provided by local musicians: The Stonetown Minstrels (Mary Starnaman and Marci Bremner), Stephanie Martin and Kim Anderka. Thank you!
Finally, a huge thank you goes out to everyone who attended and made the evening a success. All proceeds go back to our community through the many projects that our club sponsors.
Yours in Rotary,
Pierre Chateauvert, Chair, Rotary Wine and Cheese Committee
Doug Fread, Doug Goudy, Lucie Stephens, Bruce Radford
Rotary thanks all who helped at 2017 Wine & Cheese event
Basic education and literacy is one of Rotary’s six areas of focus.
We know that basic education and literacy are essential for reducing poverty, improving health, encouraging community and economic development, and promoting peace. Consider these facts:
1. If all women completed primary education, there would be 66% fewer maternal deaths.
2. A child born to a mother who can read is 50% more likely to survive past the age of five.
3. If all students in low-income countries left school with basic reading skills, 171 million people could be lifted out of poverty, which would be equivalent to a 12% cut in world poverty.
The world is making good progress in this area. According to a 2014 United Nations Millennium Development Goals progress report, literacy rates among adults and youths are on the rise and the gender gap in literacy is narrowing. But pressing global needs remain:
4. 58 million children worldwide are out of school.
5. Even after four years of primary schooling, as many as 250 million children cannot read and write.
6. 781 million adults are illiterate.
On Sept 23rd, The Rotary Club of St. Marys presented a cheque for $600 towards the club's book donations in recognition of their guest speaker program. Pictured : on the left, Literacy Committee Chair, Linda Schuyler, Library CEO Matthew Corbett, President Ron Aitken, Library Collections Officer, Kate Long.
At the end of August, I learned about a video project undertaken by outbound exchange student, Kevin Oliver. With his permission, I am sharing his YouTube video "Ontario by Drone" along with the story behind it.
"For weeks now, I have sat upon several gigabytes of raw footage, unseen to the world except to the mechanical eyes of my hard drive. Well, today that changes. Today I finally finished my cinematic video about my hometown. I’ve posted a link below if you’d like to check it out. I think this will be my first blog post that isn’t about Denmark. But, I wanted to share the process that lead to the release of this video; from the perspective of an amateur, not only in video editing, but in life as well.
So this project began months ago, before I ever even packed my bags for Denmark. This began out of a desire to capture the essence of my hometown so I could show the people of Denmark what Canada is like. However, as with many things in life, desire is easier than delivery.
To make an amateur video like this, I had to first actually capture footage to work with. So in the few weeks I had left In Canada, I travelled around my local area to capture footage. Being an Amateur, I had a terrible filming ratio of about 30:1. This means for every 30 seconds of footage I recorded, I would only actually use 1 second for my final film. The actual filming process involved me driving myself around with my Drone, DSLR Camera + Microphone, and GoPro. Once I had several hours of footage, I decided it was time to begin editing.
Now, the editing process is very different than the shooting process. It involves being finicky, precise, and most importantly, caffeinated. I currently use Premiere Pro to edit my videos, and I’ve barely scratched the surface of what that program is capable of. I’m excited to learn even more with Premiere.
Anyways, I have made several videos like these in the past, however, some part of me has ensured they never see the light of day. Let me explain; when it comes to creativity, I seldom release it into the world. Be it writing, art, or even videos like these, I never release them. If one thinks about it, there are so many reasons not to be a “creative”. What if I release it an nobody see’s it? What if people do see it, but they don’t like it? The list goes on. As a result, I’ve never released anything into the world prior to this project – We’ll see how that goes.
Perhaps I’m looking at this wrong. Perhaps I’m doing it for the wrong reasons. Who knows. But I want to continue.
More posts about Denmark later. I promise"
To view his video which he will use to tell his host club about his home town and country, please click on the link below:
At the end of August, I learned about a video project undertaken by outbound exchange student, Kevin Oliver. With his permission, I am sharing his YouTube video "Ontario by Drone" along with the story behind it.
"For weeks now, I have sat upon several gigabytes of raw footage, unseen to the world except to the mechanical eyes of my hard drive. Well, today that changes. Today I finally finished my cinematic video about my hometown. I’ve posted a link below if you’d like to check it out. I think this will be my first blog post that isn’t about Denmark. But, I wanted to share the process that lead to the release of this video; from the perspective of an amateur, not only in video editing, but in life as well.
So this project began months ago, before I ever even packed my bags for Denmark. This began out of a desire to capture the essence of my hometown so I could show the people of Denmark what Canada is like. However, as with many things in life, desire is easier than delivery.
To make an amateur video like this, I had to first actually capture footage to work with. So in the few weeks I had left In Canada, I travelled around my local area to capture footage. Being an Amateur, I had a terrible filming ratio of about 30:1. This means for every 30 seconds of footage I recorded, I would only actually use 1 second for my final film. The actual filming process involved me driving myself around with my Drone, DSLR Camera + Microphone, and GoPro. Once I had several hours of footage, I decided it was time to begin editing.
Now, the editing process is very different than the shooting process. It involves being finicky, precise, and most importantly, caffeinated. I currently use Premiere Pro to edit my videos, and I’ve barely scratched the surface of what that program is capable of. I’m excited to learn even more with Premiere.
Anyways, I have made several videos like these in the past, however, some part of me has ensured they never see the light of day. Let me explain; when it comes to creativity, I seldom release it into the world. Be it writing, art, or even videos like these, I never release them. If one thinks about it, there are so many reasons not to be a “creative”. What if I release it an nobody see’s it? What if people do see it, but they don’t like it? The list goes on. As a result, I’ve never released anything into the world prior to this project – We’ll see how that goes.
Perhaps I’m looking at this wrong. Perhaps I’m doing it for the wrong reasons. Who knows. But I want to continue.
More posts about Denmark later. I promise"
To view his video which he will use to tell his host club about his home town and country, please click on the link below:
It's time to learn more about our two newest members since they won't be giving their classification talks until later this fall.
Meet John McGarry:
Born in Montreal
Married to wife, Mary who is a retired Mental Health Nurse
2 sons and 3 stepchildren, son and 2 daughters
7 granddaughters
Semi retired - Retired Judge
Practising Mediator and Arbitrator
They have lived in St. Marys for 4 years.
Has many hobbies.
Meet Stewart Grant:
Grew up on a dairy farm north of St. Marys
Married to his wife, Laurie (daughter of Rotarian Gary Cumming)
They returned to St. Marys in 2004 to start a family
They have a son and a daughter
Stewart is an avid golfer who also enjoys hockey, curling and running.
To learn the rest of their stories, you will have to wait for their classification talks or better yet, introduce yourself and share your story with them.
Assistant Governor Dianne Yundt conducted the swearing in of new 2017-18 officers at our June 26 meeting at the home of Stan & Catherine Malcolm. This years banner by Rotary President Risley, Making a Difference was received by new club president Ron as well as president pin. Past President Stan was given a custom made cane compliments of Rotarian Doug Fread. Rotarian Stan and Catherine provided dinner helped by Rotarian Len. Past president Stan thanked all who made his year a success. President Ron vowed continued success for our club. Thank you to Nelda Oliver for the many photos at this event and many others.
Rotary’s biggest get-together of the year is underway. More than 33,000 members from 174 countries have gathered in Atlanta, Georgia, USA, to renew friendships, find inspiration, and celebrate The Rotary Foundation’s 100 years of Doing Good in the World.
For more than a decade, the Rotary Peace Centers have been developing leaders in peace and conflict prevention and resolution. But that program isn’t Rotary’s only contribution to a more peaceful world. Every time Rotary members provide clean water and sanitation, support basic education, grow local economies, or stop the spread of infectious diseases, they’re building peace.
Kevin Oliver, Morgan Askew, Abigail Luyten, Samantha Berry
Third Row
Mark Oliver, Ray Bennett, Grant Barton, Lucie Stephens, Gary Cumming, Dave Cunningham, Bruce Radford, Charlie Hammond, Ron McDonald, Stew Grant
Second Row
Doug Frread, John Uren, Claire Sherwin, Lynn Hainer, John Harlton, Homer Rath, Gerry Teahen, Bob Stephens, John McGary
Front Row Seated
Maurice Oliver, Dick McPherson, Ron Aiken, Nikolas Carrizo, Stan Malcolm, Heather Ellis, Doug Goudy
Farewell to Nikolas Cuello Carrizo of Chile
Niko presented an emotional and grateful speech to approximately thirty-seven members and guests at Rotary Parkview that was preceded by a group photo outside and above the hall. He thanked his host parents Sandy & Lucie Stephens, Gerald & Deb Weersink and Brent & Terry Shackleton. He also praised our club counselor Rotarian Lucie and Youth Exchange officer Rotarian Mark for exceptional support for the year. Niko spoke in front of a slide of his family and showed a slide presentation of his year in review. Niko and President Stan exchanged Club banners and Rotarian Ray presented Niko the Canadian flag. Rotarian Mark gave Niko some gifts including a Canada 150 mug and historical slate from our townhall. The host families spoke on their impression of their hosting Niko all with excellent reports. Some questions were asked one of which was, what were his plans. He plans to go to medical school. We are all happy to have Niko as part of our Rotary life.
Winners of the 32nd Annual Rotary Club of St.Marys Golf Tournament held on June 8th at the St.Marys G&CC. Left to right are Darryl Thompson, Jaden Ropp, Jeff Stewart, Rotarian Len Hawkins and Jeff Richardson. The Club thanks the 65 golfers and the tournament sponsors who made the event a successful fundraiser.
Rotary and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation announce $450 million commitment to end polio
ATLANTA, Ga. (June 12, 2017) – Today in Atlanta Rotary President John Germ and Bill Gates, co-chair of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, announced a commitment of up to $450 million to support the eradication of polio.
To an audience of nearly 40,000 Rotary members attending the humanitarian organization’s annual convention, Rotary and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation renewed their longstanding support for ending polio – a paralyzing, life-altering scourge on the verge of becoming the second human disease ever to be eliminated. Rotary committed to raise $50 million per year over the next three years, with every dollar to be matched with two additional dollars from the Gates Foundation. This expanded agreement will translate into $450 million for polio eradication activities, including immunization and surveillance over the next three years. This critical funding helps ensure countries around the world remain polio-free and that polio is ended in the remaining three endemic countries: Afghanistan, Nigeria, and Pakistan.
Bill Gates, co-chair of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, and RI President John Germ announce new pledges toward the polio eradication effort at the Rotary Convention in Atlanta.
Rotarian Grant won two hours of Mayor Al Strathdee's time at the Rural-Urban silent auction and decided to put him to work helping to mulch the Reading Garden and the St.Marys Library. On Friday June 16th, 2017at 10 a.m. the Mayor joined Rotarians Doug Fread, Grant Barton and Gary Cumming to apply some mulch to certain areas of the garden. Many thanks go out to Rotarian Grant for his organization and donation and thanks also to Mayor Al for being a good sport and a good worker.
Special bell cast to ring in The Rotary Foundation’s next century
Posted on
The Rotary Foundation Centennial Bell. Photo by Danilo Di Nucci
By Francesco Bruno, Communications Specialist, RI Staff
While we still need to use our fantasy to search for that hidden gateway that can launch us into the future, finding one that takes you back in history is at our reach if you happen to be at the right place, at the right time. Upon entering the large wooden door of the Marinelli Foundry in the hilltop city of Agnone, Italy, it took only a few seconds to feel like I was stepping back in time. The scene I witnessed was one my ancestors could have observed a thousand years ago.
Four silent workers formed a circle inside a knee-high hole, stomping the ground with their feet and a stick attached to a 10 inch round wooden base. Their motion caused finer dust to lift into the air.
It was mid-March, and while the air outside was being cooled down by the winds that swept through the snow-capped mountains, the heat inside the foundry was rising fast as the day of the casting of The Rotary Foundation Centennial Bell was approaching.
The Marinelli family has been making bells for about a thousand years and today they still do it the traditional way, by hand and fire.
The word bell derives from the ancient God of Fire known as Baal, which means “Lord or Master.” In every age and country, the bell is a universal symbol and an instrument used to communicate, notify, alarm, summon, mark the time, and call to action. For about a century, it has been used by Rotary Clubs to mark the opening of meetings and to symbolize order and discipline.
The world-famous Marinelli foundry, the only one that was granted the use of the Pontifical seal, is owned by Armando and Pasquale Marinelli, two brothers who also happen to be Rotarians. Their passion and love for Rotary has brought them to create and donate a 110 pound ornamental bell to help celebrate the Rotary Foundation Centennial. The large and shiny bronze bell resembles the one they gifted in 2005 for the Rotary International Centennial, and which is currently kept on display at Rotary’s headquarters in Evanston. This new bell, however, is embellished with a selection of images, logos, and words which tell the story of the Rotary Foundation over the past 100 years.
Thanks to all the Italian Rotary Clubs and Districts this symbolic bell was shipped overseas. It arrived right on time to take center stage at the opening ceremony of the 2017 Rotary International Convention in Atlanta to ring in the next century of doing good in the world.
On Monday May 29th John McGarry became our newest member. Rotarian Daryl McClure conducted the induction explaining the story of Rotary and
our mission. Acting Rotarian Doug Goudy presented Rotarian John a certificate of membership and sponsoring member Rotarian Bob Stephens presented the Rotary pin. The membership present welcomed Rotarian John into the club with handshakes,
It has now been one month since I arrived in Ibadan. Overall the experience so far has been very positive although it is difficult to be away from the family. Yesterday the daughter of one of our very good friends got married in St. Marys and I was sad that I could not be there with them. Working overseas has many benefits, but it also has its sacrifices.
For those of you who do not know, I took a sabbatical year from my position as Professor at Conestoga College and I am working at the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA). IITA is an Internationally renowned agricultural research centre with its headquarters based in Ibadan Nigeria. IITA was initially the idea of the Ford and Rockefeller Foundations and the institute celebrates its 50th anniversary in July.
Our family Middleton-Mohr has a long connection to Nigeria and IITA. My wife was born in Lagos and boasts (quite rightly although she was yet unborn in her mother’s stomach) to have been present at the Nigeria Independence celebrations on the 1st October 1960. I first came to Nigeria at Christmas in 1984 with my then girlfriend Trixie (now my wife of 31 years) to visit her parents who worked and lived in Nigeria for over 30 years. I visited for the next couple of years and in 1987 came to work at IITA as Manager of the Hotel and Catering Services. Trixie and I had 3 children while at IIITA and their firsts years were spent here in Ibadan.
I left IITA in 1997 and came to St. Marys to oversee the opening and manage the first couple of years at the Stone Willow Inn.
Early in December I was contacted by IITA who were struggling to find a manger for their hospitality and travel services. I proposed the idea of a sabbatical year to help them, everything worked out and now I am here for a year.
I manage as team of 185 national staff, we have hotel rooms, conference facilities, bars and restaurants in different locations, all the sporting facilities, book all the travel for the Institutes staff, a staff canteen serving 1500 people every lunchtime, a community store and guest houses in different locations.The job is challenging but there is never a dull moment.
Each month I will share with you a couple of the experiences that are shaping my stay here and provide an insight why I took up this challenge when I had finally been able to carve out a very enjoyable and successful life in the beautiful town of St Marys.
Before leaving many of you may have read about the security problems in North Eastern Nigeria and the famine. One of the ways of tackling the situation is to help the local agricultural industry in those regions to increase their productivity. IITA has been working with the farmers in Borno State delivery seed and expertise in their quest to improve agricultural production. Former President said in his speech last week in Maiduguri “I consider any productive farmer a humanitarian, no matter what he or she makes. This is essentially why the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture will forever remain of one the greatest holder of the world. This is an organization whose only concern is to deploy so much resources into identifying ways by which food can be grown in higher quality and quantity to feed the world, to make the farmer grow in productivity in order to create more jobs. Agriculture remains the highest employer on earth and the IITA plays a pivotal role in sustaining this”.
On a much smaller scale. One of my employees had taken a couple of days off to go and look after his sick daughter. The supervisor was not sure what was going on so I asked him what was going on. He said that his 10-year-old daughter had not been able to walk well for a while and the school had called and told him to take her home. He was desperately looking for some money so we could take her to a traditional healer. I told him I would not be part of that but I would pay for her to visit our clinic on site. A clinical visit, an x-ray, a diagnosis, treatment and medication and his daughter is walking fine. I am not sure what would have happened without her going to the clinic, but she is now able to walk, attending school and the smile on her face was well worth the small cost.
There are so many ways to help people here but there is only so much you can do. While writing this letter 2 your men came to see me looking for work, both of them had graduated for University but were willing to do any job that is available. Youth unemployment is one of the biggest challenges facing the developing world. Unemployment is not just a question of money but it also leaves those affected feeling unworthy and lost with a sense of little hope for the future. IITA has many strategies trying to address the situation and I write about those next month.
I wish all of you a happy summer, I am sure you realize what a privilege it is to live in such a beautiful town like St Marys. I am returning for my son’s wedding in early July and may see some of you then.
Tomorrow, Monday 29th May is public holiday here in Nigeria, Democracy Day and I will raise a glass and toast my good friend from Rotary.
Andrew Middleton
We've Got Mail - Rotarian Andrew Middleton - Nigeria
Enable Rotarians to make lasting friendships outside their own club, district or country
Contribute to the advancement of Rotary's public image and identity
Serve as an incentive for joining Rotary and for continuing as a member
Examples of Rotary Fellowships available to Rotarians, Rotary partners and Rotaractors...
The following was originally posted in the June 2016 issue of The Bridge District newsletter.
June is designated as Rotary Fellowship Month. Rotary Fellowships are international, independently organized groups of Rotarians, Rotary partners, and Rotaractors who share a common recreational interest or vocation. This month is recognition of the opportunity to have fun, make new friends around the world and enhance the experience of Rotary that belonging to a Rotary Fellowship enables.
Rotary Fellowships began informally in 1928 when a group of Rotarians with an interest in Esperanto joined together. In 1947, Rotarians organized a group of boating enthusiasts, which became the Yachting Fellowship. This joining together to share common interests and activities gained attention and operated over the years under various names as World Fellowship Activities; International Vocational Contact Groups; Rotary Recreational and Vocational Fellowships; and finally Rotary Fellowships.
Fellowship activities vary widely. Some groups come together around hobbies or special interests. Others are based on common vocations. Some Fellowships are purely social while others use their fellowship for service projects. Each Fellowship must maintain a membership base representing at least 3 Countries. Each Fellowship elects at least 3 Officers to oversee the group’s operations. Fellowships are expected to facilitate communication amongst their members and to maintain regular communication with Rotary International.
There are currently over 61 Rotary Fellowships. To find more information go to:
www.rotary.org/fellowships
“Fellowship is wonderful; it illuminates life’s pathway, spreads good cheer, and is worth high
price.” -Rotary Founder Paul Harris
Rotary Fellowship is the theme for the month of June
On Monday, May 15,2017 the Rotary Club of St.Marys was joined by several guests to hear Jane Voll speak to us about the duties of the Bank of Canada. Above Rotarian Chris Nesbit thanks Jane with our customary book donation on her behalf to the St.Marys Library.
ROTARY EXCHANGE STUDENT’S LETTER HOME: Year in Croatia has been filled with learning
Dear Editor: It’s been 218 days since I’ve left for my Rotary Youth Exchange in Croatia. In that time, I have travelled to the countries of Slovenia, Austria, Germany, the Czech Republic and Switzerland. I have also visited
many places within Croatia, switched host families, met relatives who I thought I would never meet, and made friends from all over the world. In addition to this, I have improved my Croatian immensely since I arrived here. I currently have 90 more days until I get on a plane and return to Canada. In that time, I will be going to Dubrovnik over spring break, going on the Euro tour for 16 days right after I finish school at the end of April, and then right after that I’m going to Brač for a district conference.
During the Euro tour I will be traveling with the Austrian, Bosnian and Croatian inbound Rotary Exchange students to the countries of Austria, France, Italy, Croatia and the City-State of Monaca. After all of my trips,
I’m hoping to spend my last month with friends, relaxing and swimming.
During my time in Croatia I have learned a lot about the country. One thing that sticks out is that there are a LOT of grocery stores. I pass around 15 on my way to school every day.
Another thing people should know about Croatia is that people take their coffee very seriously here. Every Saturday morning most people dress up and go out for coffee for about two hours.
Croatia also has some really good food that I’m going to miss when I leave — like fritule, kebab (not exclusive to Croatia), and mlinci.
I have enjoyed my time in Croatia, had some good times and some bad, but I have also learned a lot. I am both excited yet sad that my exchange is soon to be over. I have had the time of my life here and
hope that if anyone has the opportunity to go on exchange that they do because it is a great experience.
Angelica Pearce (Editor’s note: If you are interested in learning more about Rotary Youth Exchange or in hosting a Rotary Youth Exchange student please contact Mark Oliver at mark_oliver@mac.com.)
PHOTOS COURTESY OF ANGELICA PEARCE Pictured at top is Knin Fort, one of Angelica Pearce’s favourite places in Croatia. And below, Pearce, left, is shown with two other Rotary Exchange students from the US, Teanna Fults (middle) and Olivia Le Blanc (right) in Salzburg.
Youth Exchange Officer, Mark Oliver, received an email from Emily McCutcheon recently asking that he pass along her utmost thanks and appreciation to the Rotary Club of St. Marys.
Her message follows:
Good evening Mark,
I would like to ask you a favour, as a Rebound Exchange student, to pass on my utmost thanks and appreciation to the St. Marys Rotary Club.
From August 1999 to August 2000 I had the honour of representing the St. Marys Rotary Club on exchange in Belgium. The experience changed my life forever. I made friends from all over the world,
I gained a family, and it fundamentally changed the way I look at the world, and the definition of family.
My second host family became family to me. Life had its struggles while I was living their with them as the family dealt with alcoholism, mental health issues and cancer. Despite that we had
a ton of laughs, found joy in the small things in life, and ate a lot of chocolate :)
My host mom and sister have since visited me in Canada a couple of times, and I have returned a few times as well. Their family grew with the addition of more grandchildren, only one
grandson when I lived there, he was only a few months old, and I remember the laughter and fun we had together. My visits to them were less frequent as time went on. I was there
visiting again when my host brother had their fourth child, I got to hold my two day old nephew 10 years ago, and I was so blessed to be a part of their ever growing family.
I recently returned to Belgium to visit and reconnect with my second host family and introduce them to my youngest son and my spouse. It had been 10 years since I had last
visited them. Our lives had all change; more children, weddings, divorces, new partners, and new homes. As soon as the trip was booked I couldn't wait to get there, to see them all
and introduce them to part of my family, my heart raced every time I thought about it. As soon as the train started to reach Belgium I started to feel nostalgic, the home I knew had
not changed. I was disoriented as we got off the train as they had built a brand new train station, and it looked nothing like the one I had known. As we tried to ensure we had all of
our belongings with us from the train, I began to search the platform for my host mom. It seemed like forever, and then I saw her. My host mom, running towards me from the other
end of the platform, calling my name and tears streaming down her face. I raced towards her, in tears as well, and we fell into each others arms. We hugged so long I'm sure everyone else
thought they were forgotten about. But I was home. In the short time we were there my son developed strong relationships with my host family's young ones, he was very sad to end our trip
and not have them around any more. I felt like it was just yesterday I had been living there, my picture is in my host moms house along with all of her children and grandchildren.
I want to truly thank the Rotary Club for their continued support of the Exchange program. The duration of the exchange itself may only last a year, but the benefits, and relationships that come
out of that last a lifetime. It makes the world a small place, it makes strangers into family, it creates a second home for people, a second family, bonds that last forever. I cannot thank you enough for
the experience you gave me so many years ago. It changed my life.
Yours truly,
Emily McCutcheon
"Always do what you are afraid to do."- Ralph Waldo Emerson
We have mail from former YE student -Emily McCutcheon
The Rotary Club of Grand Bend's Global Literacy Project had help loading container #67 destined for South Africa. Our inbound exchange student Niko Cuello Carrizo along with outbound students Morgan Askew, Samantha Berry and Abby Luyten where joined by our club Rotarians John Uren, Mark Oliver and Linda Schuyler despite the cold windy weather and intermittent snow squalls. Our crew along with approx 20 other club Rotarians and friends accomplished the task.
For more information on this project, please click on "Read More"...
inets, coat racks, 50 computers, overhead projectors or VCRs, 60 children’s work tables and stacking chairs, sports equipment for volleyball, soccer and baseball, medical supplies, 5 wheelchairs, 60 crutches, 1000 crocheted mats made from milk bags and 20,000 textbooks, reading and reference books. Sometimes dried soup mix is included.
The RI Theme for the month of February is Peace and Conflict Prevention and Resolution.
Conflict and violence displace millions of people each year. Half of those killed in conflict are children, and 90 percent are civilians.
We refuse to accept conflict as a way of life. Rotary projects provide training that fosters understanding and provides communities with the skills to resolve conflicts.
How Rotary makes help happen
Through our service projects, peace fellowships, and scholarships, our members are taking action to address the underlying causes of conflict, including poverty, inequality, ethnic tension, lack of access to education, and unequal distribution of resources.
REBUILD: We help refugees integrate and find jobs.
TRAINING: We help leaders learn how to prevent and mediate conflict.
IN ACTION: Rotary supports peacebuilding in communities and regions affected by conflict.
Rotary makes amazing things happen, like:
Improving quality of life -
Rotary members founded the People for People Foundation, which has helped 10,000 families afford food, clothing, rent, utilities, medications, and other necessities.
Raising awareness of bullying -
Rotaract clubs in the Philippines conduct antibullying campaigns in schools to teach children how to handle conflict peacefully from an early age.
Protecting domestic violence survivors and their families.
The U.S. state of Louisiana has the fourth highest incidence of death caused by domestic violence. Local Rotary members met this issue by helping a shelter provide food, clothing, legal advocacy, and counseling to over 500 women in one year.
On February 23, 2017 Rotary will celebrate 112 years in service to others.
It all began with these gentlemen…
The first 4 Rotarians -
(Gustavus Loehr (L), Silvester Schiele, Hiram
Shorey and Paul Harris, circa 1905-1912.
"The Rotary Way Works! But Rotary has no patent on it, for it is but the Golden Rule in action. Any person, any nation, can apply it by displacing negative hatred and fear with goodwill based upon understanding. Peace among nations is not impossible of attainment; they can find peace if they will," Paul P. Harris, January 1946.
Rotary celebrates 112 years in service-Feb 23, 2017
In 2017-18, we’ll answer the question “What is Rotary?” with RI President-elect Ian H.S. Riseley’s theme, Rotary: Making a Difference. “Whether we’re building a new playground or a new school, improving medical care or sanitation, training conflict mediators or midwives, we know that the work we do will change people’s lives — in ways large and small — for the better.”
The Rotary Club of St. Marys presents Gord Surgeoner as keynote speaker at their 2017 Rural Urban event on April 8, 2017.
His topic: Agriculture Beyond Food and Feed plus information on some new technologies in the pipeline.
Gord Surgeoner, Ont, PhD
When: April 8, 2017
Where: Pyramid Recreation Centre, St. Marys
Time: Social 5:30 pm
Dinner 6:30 pm
Bio follows:
Dedicated leader is perhaps the best way to describe Gord Surgeoner. During his 30-year career, he has worked tirelessly to promote initiatives and champion causes that he believes are important to the well-being of the agri-food industry.
After completing his Bachelor of Science in Agriculture in 1971 at the University of Guelph, Dr. Surgeoner went on to obtain a Master’s degree in Economic Entomology in 1973, also from Guelph and a Ph.D. in Forest Entomology in 1976 from Michigan State University. Gord became an esteemed professor at the University of Guelph in Environmental Biology and Plant Agriculture, where he remained on faculty until his retirement in 2004.
Seconded from the University of Guelph in 1999, Gord became the President of Ontario Agri-Food Technologies, a non-profit organization consisting of members from farm associations, universities/colleges, industry and regional governments. The organization focuses on ensuring that Ontario producers have access to the latest technologies to compete globally and to develop new market opportunities, many of which are beyond food.
In September, 2005 Dr. Surgeoner was invested with the Order of Ontario. This distinguished award recognizes Dr. Surgeoner's significant contribution to Ontario's agri-food sector.
In addition, Gord has received the 1989 Distinguished Teaching Award from the Ontario Agricultural College Alumni Association, the 1994 T.R. Hilliard Award for Notable Contribution to Agricultural Extension in the Province of Ontario, the 2002 Award for Contribution to Advancing the Benefits of Biotech for Canadians, the 2007 University of Guelph Alumnus of Honour Award, the 2011 Life Sciences Ontario Community Service Award, and is a recipient of the Queen’s Golden (2002) and Diamond Jubilee (2012) Awards. Most recently, Gord was inducted into the Ontario Agricultural Hall of Fame in June, 2014, received the 2014 University of Guelph MBA Leadership Recognition in Agribusiness and Food Award, was inducted into the Wellington County Agricultural Hall of Fame in September 2014, received the Canadian Renewable Fuels Association Award for Outstanding Dedication to the Advancement of Renewable Fuels in Canada in December 2014 and received the Lifetime Achievement Award from the Guelph Chamber of Commerce in 2015.
Gord is a strong advocate for Canadian agriculture, the Canadian regulatory system and the opportunities Canada has in a global marketplace.
Effective September 2014, Gord retired as President of Ontario Agri-Food Technologies, but continues to advocate on behalf of Canadian agriculture as an Associate with OAFT and through various Board positions. Gord is currently semi-retired and working with agriculture producers and food processors on sustainability initiatives.
For 100 years, The Rotary Foundation has been supporting Rotarians' work to create sustainable solutions to our world's most pressing needs. But there is still much to do, and we need your help.
Rotary gives in countless ways, focusing our service efforts in six areas: promoting peace, fighting disease, providing clean water, saving mothers and children, supporting education, and growing local economies. We're also working hard to end polio once and for all.
Give the gift of Rotary today and be a part of the positive change Rotarians are making in your community and around the world. Every gift makes a difference.
What your gift supports:
$10 Mosquito bed net
Bed nets provide a safe, peaceful night's rest in countries like Uganda, where malaria is a major health concern.
$15 Polio vaccines
Polio is still a crippling threat to children in Afghanistan, Nigeria, and Pakistan. A gift of just $15 can protect children for life.
$26.50 Books
Share your love of reading by paying for books to start libraries in classrooms and community centers around the world.
$50 Water filter
In rural Guatemala, deadly waterborne diseases are common. Personal water filters fill the need for clean water.
$85 Business classes
In the United States, business classes teach low-income entrepreneurs the skills they need to be successful.
$100 Sewing machine
With a sewing machine, a microloan, and some training from Rotary, entrepreneurs can turn their sewing skills into a thriving business.
$500 Anti-bullying campaign
No child should live in fear of being bullied. Your gift helps communities create a safe and positive atmosphere where children can thrive.
$1,000 Midwife vocational training
In remote areas, midwives provide vital prenatal care. Mothers who receive care during pregnancy are more likely to have safe births and to seek medical care for their children.
$2,650 Irrigation system
In areas where food security is a concern, irrigation systems give farmers a reliable and efficient water source so they can grow crops and provide food for the community.
Contact the Rotary Club of St. Marys if you are interested in making a donation to support our local and international projects.
Your gift supports projects like those described here but may not purchase the specific items listed.
I grew up as a “Rotary brat”! My father was very involved with Rotary and so was my mother. I was a Rotary Youth Exchange student when I was 17 years old. I guess it was only logical that when the time was “right” that I would eventually join Rotary. The time was “right” in 2014 when my father sponsored me as a new member. (Homer Rath asked me, “What took you so long?”)
I am in awe of all the good that Rotary International does in the world. I enjoy the social fellowship of our Club. I have the deepest respect for all of the projects the Rotary Club of St. Marys has completed over its 90+ year history. I look forward to helping our Club celebrate its 100th anniversary in 2025.
Rotary means something different to every Rotarian. To me, right now, Rotary means Rotary Youth Exchange. It has been my privilege over the past 2+ years to work alongside some truly amazing youth, some very generous host families and some very dedicated Rotarians in this worthy program. As the Youth Exchange Officer for this Club I look forward to promoting this program that our Club has been involved with continually since 1972.
As volunteers and advocates, Rotary members play a crucial role in the fight to end polio. Our partners in the Global Polio Eradication Initiative will come together in Atlanta for World Polio Day.
On 24 October, World Polio Day, Rotary will bring together partners from the Global Polio Eradication Initiative for an update on our fight to end polio. As host and moderator of the event, our organization plays a key role in amplifying one of the most important public health concerns in modern history.
When we first took it up as an organizational cause over three decades ago, polio affected 350,000 children every year, mostly in lower-income countries where poor sanitation and limited access to clean water facilitate the spread of the virus.
Our collaboration with the World Health Organization, UNICEF, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, local health workers, and national governments has helped reduce the number of cases to just 74 last year. When the final case is behind us, polio will be only the second disease, after smallpox, ever to have been completely wiped out.
This year's event, the fourth to be live-streamed and the first to be held at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta, Georgia, USA, is our opportunity to put the fight to end polio in the public eye.
On September 22, 2016, Rotarian Linda Schuyler, Literacy Chair presented a $600 cheque to St. Marys Public Library CEO, Shannan Sword and Kate Long Library Collections Officer to purchase e-Books, audio books and DVDs for the Rotary Club of St. Marys 'Thank You Program' in honour of their guest speakers.
In the last 4 years, our club has donated 122 books/DVDs to the St. Marys Public Library.
All Aboard St. Marys, formerly known as Save Via, hosted a parade on Friday which included a BBQ and other events as well. The event will bring attention to, and support the need for, passenger rail service in our area. For more information email Save Via founder Chris West at chriswest@kwic.com
The Rotary Club of St. Marys helped with the BBQ. Pictured below are Rotarians Gary Cumming (L), Stan Malcolm (Club President) and Len Hawkins.
Even as parts of Haiti were still recovering from a catastrophic 2010 earthquake, Hurricane Matthew tore through the impoverished island country Tuesday, leaving hundreds dead and many more homeless.
The Category 4 storm has affected an estimated 330,000 people in Haiti, including 6,400 who have been moved to temporary shelters. Extensive damage to main bridges and other transportation networks have left some areas cut off and vulnerable. Torrential rains have resulted in flooding and landslides. And contaminated water supplies threaten to lead to a surge in cholera cases and other waterborne illnesses.
A ShelterBox response team of volunteers from Canada, England, New Zealand, and the United States traveled to Port-au-Prince, Haiti's capital, Friday to assess the damage and decide how best to help people. ShelterBox, an independent charity, is Rotary's project partner for disaster relief.
ShelterBox has limited supplies available in Haiti and is working with the Dutch navy to bring more from nearby storage sites. The charity is also exploring a partnership with ACTED, a French nongovernmental aid agency, which ShelterBox has worked with in the past.
"We are exploring every option to get aid to Haiti as quickly as possible," says Chris Warham, chief executive of ShelterBox. "Working in partnership could give us more flexibility and capacity to reach isolated communities in the country."
With wind speeds reaching 155 miles per hour, Hurricane Matthew is considered the worst storm to make landfall in Haiti in more than 50 years.
Linda Schuyler (C) with Julia and Incoming RI President Ian Riseley from Australia.
Linda represented our club at the gathering hosted by the Downtown London club on September 26, 2016. There were approx 120 Rotarians from the various London clubs and other clubs from the District in attendance. Mr. Riseley had been in Toronto organizing the International Convention for 2018. It was refreshing to hear his sense of humour throughout his speech.
Linda Schuyler meets incoming RI President, Ian Riseley
Rotary supports investment in people to create measurable and enduring economic improvements in their lives and communities.
Rotary’s Goals:
*Strengthening the development of local entrepreneurs and community leaders, particularly women, in impoverished communities
*Developing opportunities for decent and productive work, with a focus on women and youth
*Building the capacity of local organizations and community networks to support economic development
*Supporting studies related to economic and community development
The Rotary Foundation has received the highest possible score from Charity Navigator, an independent evaluator of charities in the U.S.
In the most recent ratings, released on 1 September, The Rotary Foundation earned the maximum 100 points for both financial health and accountability and transparency.
The ratings reflect how efficiently Charity Navigator believes the Foundation will use donations, how well it has sustained programs and services, and its level of commitment to good governance and openness.
In the previous rating, the Foundation had received 97 points.
Polio Watch (Sept 2016)
by Polio Eradication Co-Chair Joan Fisher
Polio eradication has endured an unfortunate setback in Nigeria. Two confirmed cases of type 1 of the virus came to
light in July. Prior to this detection, there had been no new cases of polio in Nigeria since July 24, 2014.
While these cases are isolated to the state of Borno, they are linked to a strain of the virus last detected in Borno in
2011. This demonstrates the insidiousness of the polio virus that can go undetected for 5 years and then paralyze two
innocent children.
Borno has been victim of civil unrest in recent years, suggesting pockets of children may not have
been vaccinated. Local gaps in surveillance to identify the disease may also have existed, allowing the virus to
continue circulating. To combat this latest outbreak, Nigeria’s government has stepped up immunization through
five, large scale vaccination campaigns taking place from August to November and strengthening surveillance across
Borno and at-risk communities.
To reduce the risk of the spread of the virus, immunization campaigns are also being
launched in the surrounding countries of Cameroon, Chad, Niger and the Central African Republic.
Globally, as of July 13, 2016, 21 new cases of polio have been identified. There are 13 cases in Pakistan, 6 cases in
Afghanistan and 2 in Nigeria. At the same time last year there were 36 cases. Fundraising is one of the key ways to
combat the spread of this disease. Rotarians are encouraged to sponsor Past District Governor Tanya Wolff as she
participates in her 5th marathon, The Scotiabank Toronto Marathon, on Sunday, October 15th to “End Polio Now”.
Rotarian donors receive a tax receipt and their Paul Harris Fellow points.
The United Nations' (UN) International Literacy Day annually falls on September 8 to raise people's awareness of and concern for literacy issues in the world.
Reading the Past, Writing the Future
The world has changed since 1966 – but our determination to provide every woman and man with the skills, capacities and opportunities to become everything they wish, in dignity and respect, remains as firm as ever. Literacy is a foundation to build a more sustainable future for all. UNESCO Director-General
This year marks the 50th anniversary of International Literacy Day and UNESCO is celebrating it under the banner “Reading the Past, Writing the Future”. International Literacy Day 2016 celebrates and honours the past five decades of national and international engagement, efforts and progress made to increase literacy rates around the world. It also addresses current challenges and looks to innovative solutions to further boost literacy in the future.
Fifty years ago, UNESCO officially proclaimed 8 September International Literacy Day to actively mobilize the international community and to promote literacy as an instrument to empower individuals, communities and societies.
Now International Literacy Day is celebrated worldwide, bringing together governments, multi- and bilateral organizations, NGOs, private sectors, communities, teachers, learners and experts in the field. On this day also International Literacy Prizes are awarded to people with outstanding solutions that can drive literacy towards achieving the 2030 Education Agenda. This year the focus is on innovation.
This is the first year of implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. In this context the vision of literacy is aligned with lifelong learning opportunities with special focus on youth and adults. Literacy is a part of Sustainable Development Goal 4, which aims to “ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong learning opportunities for all”. The target is that by 2030 all youth and a substantial proportion of adults, both men and women, achieve literacy and numeracy (SDG Target 4.6).
The International Literacy Day will be celebrated all around the world. The main global celebration of the day will take place at UNESCO Headquarters, Paris in the form of a two-day conference on 8 - 9 September, the highlight of which will be the awarding of the Literacy Prizes. At the same time the Global Alliance for Literacy (GAL) will be launched, a new and ambitious initiative to make all major stakeholders pull together to promote literacy as a foundation for lifelong learning.
RI President Elect Ian Riseley from the Rotary Club of Sandringham, Victoria, Australia, will be visiting our District from September 24th-26th, 2016. He will be joined by his partner Juliet who is also a Rotarian and PDG.
Rotary Club of London Meeting:
On Monday, September 26th, 2016 he will be the keynote speaker at the Rotary Club of London. The meeting will take place at the London Convention. Tickets are only $25 and you should be there by 11:45. Please contact Jim Belton jimbelton@rogers.com to confirm your attendance.
Area 2 and District 6330 Clubs Meeting- Rotary Foundation Centennial Year:
On Monday, September 26, 2016 he will be joining Rotarians in Mildmay as part of the Area 2 meeting. All Clubs are welcome to attend. The meeting will begin at 5:30 at the Mildmay Community Centre. Tickets which include dinner are only $25.00. Please contact AG Tim Mancell tmancell@wightman.ca with the number of people that will be attending from your Club. Mr. Riseley will be joined by Carolyn Ferguson our Senior Gifts Officer for the Rotary Foundation.
Please mark your calendars for these events. Mr. Riseley is a fantastic speaker and you don’t want to miss out on this great opportunity. Let’s give him a big District 6330 welcome and show him all the great Rotarians we have “Serving Humanity.”
2016 - 2017 District Governor Diane & Bill Chantler
Our pictures will tell the story. First of all, we must thank President Stan and his wife, Kathryn for being such wonderful hosts for the evening. What a beautiful setting!
Representing a combination of member donations along with proceeds from the 2016 Rural Urban event, the Rotary Club of St. Marys presented a cheque for $5,800 to the St. Marys Memorial Hospital Foundation 'Someone I Know' Campaign.Our club supports worthwhile community projects and our hospital is important to all citizens of our area. We wish the foundation success in reaching their goal.
Back row from left: Rotarians Gary Cumming, Doug Fread, Pierre Chateauvert, Len Hawkins and Homer Rath, Hospital Foundation representatives John McIntosh (chair) and Krista Linklater (fundraising coordinator).
Front row from left: Hospital Foundation Fundraising Committee chair Pat Craigmile, Rotarians Linda Schuyler, Doug Goudy and Heather Ellis and Hospital Foundation member Joanne Lounds.
Local Rotary Club donates to Hospital 'Someone I Know' Campaign
A sincere thank you to the many Rotary clubs, organizations and individuals who have contributed to our district foundation’s Fort McMurray Fire Relief Fund. Through your generosity we have received over $725,000 to date.
It will be some time before the funds will be disbursed. As we have previously noted, this fund is meant for the long term rebuilding needs in the community. In order to provide advice on those needs, the Rotary District 5370 Charitable Foundation is establishing an allocation advisory committee. The committee will consist of two representatives from each of the two Fort McMurray Rotary clubs as well as two representatives from Wood Buffalo Regional Municipality (which includes Fort McMurray). It will be chaired by DGE Frank Reitz, who is also a Fort McMurray resident.
The terms of reference for the allocation committee contain the following criteria:
Suggested Criteria for Inclusion in Disbursement Guidelines
1. Capital needs should be given priority over operating needs.
2. The degree that the disbursement meets immediate community needs or long term
community needs should be considered.
3. The project being funded needs to be defined and specific.
4. Priority should be given to projects that would rebuild or restore property loss due to
direct damage from the fire or would assist an indirect loss attributed to the fire.
5. The project must be in the geographic area affected by the fire.
6. Sustainabilty of the project is important.
7. Priority should be given to projects for children, youth and seniors.
We will be posting updates on this site regarding disbursement of funds, once that process has started. In the meantime, additional donations are needed and welcome.
Donations may be from individuals or corporations.
Rotary clubs may wish to facilitate this process by collecting donations, and then forwarding either the individual cheques or a cheque drawn on the club’s account for the total amount, along with a list of the donors and their addresses and postal codes.
Please make cheques payable to: "Rotary District 5370 Charitable Foundation" and forward to:
Rotary District 5370 Charitable Foundation
c/o Rotary District 5370 Office
16030 – 104 Ave.. NW
Edmonton AB T5P 0S3
Please annotate cheques “Fort McMurray Fire Relief Fund”
If you wish to make a donation using a charge card, you may do so using ATB Cares. ATB matches donations with an additional 15%. Here’s the link:
When John Germ unveiled the 2016-17 presidential theme, Rotary Serving Humanity, he said “I believe everyone recognizes the opportunity to serve Rotary for what it truly is: not a small opportunity, but a great one; an opportunity of a lifetime to change the world for the better, forever through Rotary’s service to humanity". He further added that Rotary members around the globe are serving humanity by providing clean water to underdeveloped communities, promoting peace in conflict areas, and strengthening communities through basic education and literacy. But none more important than our work to eradicate polio worldwide.
The Rotary Club of St. Marys would like to thank Dale Robinson, Forman Electric, Rotary International District 6330 and the Rotarians who donated time, materials and equipment that allowed us to erect the Rotary Field Scoreboard in time for the Induction Ceremonies at the Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum. This represents a donation of $10,000 and brings the Rotary Club of St. Marys total donation over the years to $260,000 to the CBHFM. Rotary has been a long supporter of this national project to honour Canadian Baseball Greats. We see the project as laid out by the planning committee of the CBHFM as a major boost for tourism and growth in the Town of St. Marys. This scoreboard will allow tournaments with games on Rotary Field to better serve the fans who come to watch the games.
From out of all of this hard work...
resulted in this completed installation of the electronic scoreboard...
Don't forget to check out the 'Rotary Scoreboard' photo album for more pictures and captions!
It was no small feat for the Rotary construction team to finish installing the scoreboard in time for the 2016 CBHF Induction Weekend. Although there were a number of Rotarians involved in this project from grant writing to photography, it is with deep gratitude, especially with the number of challenges we faced that we thank Pres Doug Goudy, Doug Fread, Charlie Hammond, Pierre Chateauvert and Stan Malcolm. You are all brave men!
Joep Heddes (The Netherlands) pictured with outbound exchange
student Angelica Pearce (L) who is off to Chile in August and
inbound exchange student Keely Iles from Australia who will
stay with our club until December. Claire Sherwin (District Youth
Exchange Officer) is shown behind Joep and Keely.
Pres Doug and Joep exchange banners
Joep gave an excellent presentation about his adventures over the past year. You are a great representative of your host club, your community and your country. Thanks for the memories Joep.
It isn't often that clubs have a member with service in Rotary for more than 50 years. In the past we have had two Rotarians who have been members for more than 60 years:
- Herb Sparling celebrated > 63 years with our club (now deceased)
- Frank Ball celebrated 60 years with our club when he resigned on December 30, 1999 (now deceased)
- PDG Maurice Oliver celebrated 50 years with our club on June 20, 2016
- John Rouble celebrated 56 years with various clubs on June 30, 2016
I never had the pleasure to know Herb but I have enjoyed working with Frank, John and Maurice over the years. Many times I have heard them and even some of our older Rotarians question the value of what they have to offer. I answer "Friendship" and "your wisdom from life".
I remind the chairs of our various committees to look for ways to include our aging Rotarians with some fun yet meaningful tasks with our projects or events, such as helping with our putting contest at the golf tournament or acting as greeter at some of our events. I am happy to say that we have done just that.
This month I have only received one testimonial from our eldest Rotarian in our club. His story follows in the next article.
As chair of the social media and website committee, I am pleased to announce that the following Rotarians have joined me as administrators on the Rotary Club of St. Marys FaceBook page:
Gary Cumming
Lynn Hainer
Lucie Stephens
At the Total Team Training seminar, I learned that we should have 4 people as administrators on our FaceBook page. All three of these Rotarians have lots of experience with FaceBook.
I invite each of you to check out and 'like' our club's FaceBook page.
As well, Gary also serves in the role of 'Editor' for our website which allows him to write and post stories and pictures and update information on our website. I will continue to serve as the club's website administrator and the monthly e-Bulletin editor. If you have any topics which you would like covered, please contact us.
Why I joined and why I stay in Rotary – John Rouble
‘Star of Courage Medal’ pictured
I was first proposed for Rotary membership in Dryden, Ontario in 1962 by Colin Proudfoot, owner of a large department store. In those days Rotary was quite exclusive and adhered to the classification protocol. The local high school principal, Gordon Wood, represented the “Education Portfolio”. When Mr. Wood heard of the rejection, he recommended me to the club as “Additional Active-Vocational Education” which fit quite well into my position as Head of the Guidance Department and I was accepted. In those days candidates were accepted or declined by a membership vote, using a black or white sphere placed in a box, a single black ball declined membership. This procedure was also used by the Haliburton Club until 1990.
We left Dryden in 1966 as I was appointed Vice-President in Prescott, where I was classified as ‘Education Administration-Secondary’. Prescott was a great club with many pranksters. To illustrate we hosted a District Conference and the breakfast orange juice at the buffet was spiked, and that certainly softened the stiff collars.
One of our members was the curator at Fort Wellington. He thought we should commemorate the Fenian Raid of 1837 with an attack on our sister club in Ogdensburg, N.Y. and fire a cannon down the main street. Agreement was unanimous. We loaded a small brass ceremonial cannon in a Station Wagon and told our plans to U.S. Customs who went along with our gag. Prior to lunch we made our presence known by a discharge and roused our hosts much to the delight of both Rotary Clubs.
To Haliburton as Principal of the County Secondary School and immediately was looking forward to joining the Rotary Club. Haliburton was a great club and a great experience. They were very supportive of the school and the athletic programs, especially football and hockey. And I had no problems with classification. We had a teachers’ hockey team while I was there and for several years we held a benefit game played between the teachers and the Rotary Club that filled the arena resulting in an excellent contribution to Minor Hockey.
The ‘aha’ moment and one of the most significant things in my life was enabled as a result of a Rotary program that taught members of the club how to resuscitate individuals by using mouth to mouth. About one week later our 14 year old son and I were privileged to save the lives of two people whose snow machine plunged through the ice in the Drag River. At -25C at 10:30 pm, I pulled the woman from the hole and she was gagging and I performed mouth to mouth successfully. I then fetched the man who was face down in the water and with my son’s help pulled the man to safe ice and started resuscitation and was successful as he vomited water and started breathing. The police arrived and using our snow machine we brought both up to the house and waiting ambulance.
The Rotary program was instrumental in saving their lives. Chris and I were awarded bravery medals by the Commissioner of the OPP and I was awarded the Star of Courage, Canada’s second highest bravery medal citation by Governor General Jules Leger.
I was appointed Superintendent of Schools in Haldimand County. A position I did not like as I was removed from students and for other reasons.
I spent my final 13 years in Yellowknife as the ||Principal of the Territorial High School for 9 years and was appointed by acclamation as the President of the Northwest Territories Teachers Association for two 2 year terms. I was a member of the Yellowknife Rotary Club during this tenure and the President of the Rotary Club for 2 years.
I retired in 1992, left Yellowknife and moved to St. Marys and was accepted by the Rotary Club of
St. Marys where I have been a member for the past 24 years. I have been a Rotarian for over 50 years.
There are several reasons why I have enjoyed being a Rotarian. I have enjoyed the enthusiasm and fellowship of Rotarians all over the world. I have taken advantage of visitation privileges by attending club meetings as I traveled and never cease to be amazed by their hospitality. I have worked on projects with the Wailuku Club in Maui and was especially pleased with their elementary school reading program. For several years I have been involved and it puts me back in the classroom teaching. I often focus on the isolation of Island life and compare it to life in Canada’s Arctic and the students find it fascinating.
Sincere thanks for the honorary membership in the Rotary Club of St. Marys that permits me to attend your meetings and participate in your activities.
Why I joined and why I stay in Rotary – Ray bennett
I arrived in St. Marys as a relative youngster, not yet having reached my 24th birthday, and being the new owner of the oldest of four St. Marys Menswear Businesses. The A. H. Loft Mens Clothing Shop founded in 1878 was a successful, quality, full line of finer quality men’s and boy’s clothing serving the town and surrounding rural countryside.
As a young newcomer to the St. Marys business scene and in some awe of the shakers and movers of the St. Marys business world, including Mr. Fred Loft, my business pre-owner and a Rotary Club Charter Member. He had invited me as a new business owner to come to Rotary and speak to his club at a regular Rotary meeting. Mr Loft invited me as a guest to a couple of meetings of the 2nd oldest service club in St. Marys. (The McConnell Club, a local group of ladies had created this club at the early part of WW1 to knit mittens and scarves for the servicemen overseas and to this day act in different ways, here in St. Marys, doing social work in our community.) Still in my early years of operating my own retail business, I realized my time was required with my business. I thanked Mr. Loft for encouraging me to join the Rotary Club of St. Marys but due to time constraints, I declined. I liked the many varied programs that Rotary does locally, Canada-wide and internationally and suggested that if and when I felt I would be able to join a service club, Rotary would be my first and only choice.
Some ten or fifteen years later, I was approached by a merchant neighbour, Mr. Ronald Sage, my next store druggist neighbour, to join the Rotary Club of St. Marys. I decided this was a better time and thankfully agreed to accept his offer.
There are several reasons why I continue to enjoy Rotary with the main reason being the International Youth Exchange which I believe may be among the best services that Rotary International sponsors that contributes to world peace and understanding.
In my early years as a club member, I remember that our meetings were held in different restaurants year by year.
In 1988, our club was instrumental in the creation of the Parkview West Seniors Living Complex. This building along with 42 suites for senior owners also has a large meeting hall for seniors recreation activities. And our club, as creators of this building, by paying a reasonable annual stipend, is one of the only clubs that I know of that can boast of a permanent meeting room with all of the facilities that a service club would require.
I am also, on a lighter note, a strong believer that the camaraderie of the club members would keep any member for some time well into the future….
Why I joined and why I stay in Rotary – Ron McDonald
St. Marys is the first small community that I have lived in and I was struck by the familiarity everyone seemed to have with each other. It was new to me. So when Linda Schuyler came into ValuMart and asked if I would come out to Rotary as a guest and then to join the local club, I felt it would be a great way to meet people by becoming more involved in everyday activities.
After I joined Rotary, I found it to be much more than I expected and that the experience benefitted me much more than I think I benefitted the club. I found out what Rotary was all about and I enjoy being part of it. I met a lot of strangers who took an interest in me and later became friends. I became involved for the first time with a group of people who are committed to making the world a better place, a new and refreshing view of things for the sceptic I once was.
But most of all the largest benefit I gained from Rotary is how it has changed me. I have become more aware of the world and community around me and more sensitive to the hardships of others.
Polio Update at the Rotary International Convention in Seoul Korea:
Dr Rebecca Martin, Centre for Disease Control and Prevention provides a 25 minute update on polio. To date there have been 16 cases of polio between Afghanistan (5) and Pakistan (11) in 2016.
Thanks to the efforts of Rotarians there has been a dramatic increase in government accountability.
Recruitment of women as volunteers to give the polio vaccine in their own communities has resulted in higher numbers of children receiving the vaccine.
Between 17 April 2016 and 1 May 2016, the world marked a historic milestone with 155 countries and territories switching from trivalent to bivalent oral polio vaccine in a globally synchronized manner. This switch brings the world one big step closer to eradicating polio. This will eliminate the rare risk of vaccine-associated paralytic polio and circulating vaccine-derived poliovirus.
The advancement made in treating polio can be used to help eliminate other diseases such as measles.
Challenges:
Keeping workers safe and engaged
Addressing fears, misconceptions in appropriate ways
Insecurity requires strong skills in keeping all workers safe
feeling thankful. 
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Winners of the 32nd Annual Rotary Club of St.Marys Golf Tournament held on June 8th at the St.Marys G&CC. Left to right are Darryl Thompson, Jaden Ropp, Jeff Stewart, Rotarian Len Hawkins and Jeff Richardson. The Club thanks the 65 golfers and the tournament sponsors who made the event a successful fundraiser.
On Monday May 29th John McGarry became our newest member. Rotarian Daryl McClure conducted the induction explaining the story of Rotary and 
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On Monday, May 15,2017 the Rotary Club of St.Marys was joined by several guests to hear Jane Voll speak to us about the duties of the Bank of Canada. Above Rotarian Chris Nesbit thanks Jane with our customary book donation on her behalf to the St.Marys Library.
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The world has changed since 1966 – but our determination to provide every woman and man with the skills, capacities and opportunities to become everything they wish, in dignity and respect, remains as firm as ever. Literacy is a foundation to build a more sustainable future for all.
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