Aloha Rotarians in District 7090! To our friends across the pond and to those on this side of the pond, here’s wishing each a belated Happy Thanksgiving.
Rotarians around the world celebrate the great work being accomplished through “The Rotary Foundation”. In our District, we have an opportunity until 31 December to make lasting and impactful contributions matched by philanthropist Thie Coventry. She will personally match each contribution up to US$25,000. Consider this! Your gift is matched by Thie and then matched by the Gates Foundation! For example, a gift of US$5,000 becomes US$10,000 and with the Gates match, this becomes US$30,000 in action. What better way to celebrate than a gift to The Rotary Foundation?
Here’s an update for our recent District Conference: Rotarians and guests sailed out of Ft. Lauderdale, FL on the Allure of the Seas to explore the greatness of how “Rotary Connects the World”. But before we took our first step aboard, a great number of things had happened at our three designated Ports of Call.
Our conference cruisers were fortunate to have two VTT Team Leaders, Lezlie Murch - 2015 from Rotary Club of St. Catharines and Jennifer Schoenhals - 2019 Rotary Club of Niagara Falls AM along on the cruise.
Lezlie created a day of excitement in St. Maarten. Upon arrival, we disembarked and were warmly welcomed and greeted by Rotarians from District 7020 representing 13 countries and local dignitaries. We then traveled by coach to Sister Marie Laurence School and were greeted by Trustee and Director, Tanja Frederiks. Our District supported this school in collaboration with another District with a Global Grant for a total of US$345,000. The school was demolished by Hurricane Irma and is still not functional. The students are now taking classes at another location and we had an opportunity to participate in a few group activities with them. This was followed by an international Rotary luncheon hosted by the Rotary Club of St. Maarten. Gifts were exchanged between District Governors, Delma Maduro, myself and our Rotary International Presidential Rep, Bob Menconi. According to Rotary’s protocol, we marched into the restaurant with the soundtrack, “Celebration” by Kool and the Gang led by RIPR Bob, Past District Governors Robb McLeod, Rick Sterne, and the two District Governors. RIPR Bob Menconi gave an inspirational speech. Later District Governor Delma and I were interviewed by The Island # 1 Radio Station, PJI 91.1 FM.
The afternoon was spent at Player Development School for ‘at-risk youth’. Here we were engaged in a few activities and yours truly played softball as a catcher. We also met with the Early Act Club and learned about their international project that includes re-building of a train, Engine 35, in the USA. http://engine35.com/.
VTT 2019 Team Leader, Jennifer Schoenhals, from Rotary Club of Niagara Falls AM created a ‘discovery project’ with the help of DG Bob Artis and co-committee members; Caz Rodrigues, a former member Rotary Club of Buffalo and Esq. Betty Enrique, Director of NYS Office of Trade and Tourism for Puerto Rico. This small but dedicated group created a CONNECTION with the Rotary Club of San Juan. A larger group was created that included Past Rotary International Director, Bob Menconi, our Rotary International Presidents Representative, Past District 7090 Governors Robb McLeod, and Rick Sterne visited Loiza and met with the Mayor of Loiza. Loiza is a small coastal community that was ravaged by Hurricanes Irma and Maria. Over 50 homes are still without roofs and people are living in squalor. It is our hope to build a stronger CONNECTION and partner with Hearts 9/11 and create a Rotary in Action project for a future venture to the area. Prior to our arrival, 75 first aid kits were prepared by ‘Not Just Tourists’, led by Dr. Kenneth Taylor, Rotary Club of St. Catharines were shipped and received October 17, 2019.
The day in Labadee, Haiti was hampered by political turmoil, which prohibits entry or exit except for locals with proper ID. This did not deter Cathy Henry from the Rotary Club of St. Catharines South and a Board member of “Trees that Feed”. Cathy was able to arrange a shipment of Breadfruit Trees to the port of Cap Haitian for distribution. Although we could not physically plant the trees, we were able to contribute to the Haitian community who did the planting.
During the early evening, we were entertained and challenged by Assistant Governor Milica Kovacevich from the Rotary Club of St Catharines South to a game ‘Trivia’.
Perhaps the most memorable event was our remembrance program choreographed by Cathy Henry with the aid of Jennifer Schoenhals. Pastor Brian Williams from the Rotary Club of Lancaster Depew provided words of spiritual wisdom. Domenic Cortese from the Rotary Club of Clarence was our MC and did remarkably well in orchestrating the program. For each deceased Rotarian, a single pearl was placed in a teal/turquoise cloth. As the deceased Rotarian’s picture scrolled across the BIG Theatre Screen, a Rotarian representing their Rotary Club placed the cloth containing the pearl in a vase of saltwater symbolizing from which we came we shall return.
Our Sailabration District Conference Cruise has definitely embodied this year’s theme of Rotary Connects the World. The First Lady of the District and I have had an experience of a lifetime to last a lifetime. We are grateful to have the opportunity of serving each and every one of you. To date, we have visited 63 clubs and have had many new CONNECTIONS.
CONNECTIONS FROM AROUND THE DISTRICT:
Dear Christine and Brian,
Let me introduce myself…I am Bob Grinewich, the current President of the Rotary Club of the Buffalo Niagara Medical Campus (BNMC) in Buffalo, NY. Shortly after mi installation as President, our DG Bob Artis visited our Club as the new DG and had me pull out of a bag a business card that happened to be yours and asked me to connect with you as part of the RI’s theme of “Rotary Connects the World.”
Our Club is only five years old and my wife, Joyce, and I joined shortly after its charter was drawn up. Our Club started off with a very strong membership number but it has pared down to 38 members on the Roster with about half attending our meetings. We meet every Monday evening from 5-6pm at the BNMC. We do not have a food component as many other clubs do and this seems to be a positive factor in attracting new members as well as meeting in the evening after work.
We will be having a Visioning exercise shortly in hopes of bringing back a focus to our Club that will make it more exciting and hopefully increase our members participation in meeting attendance.
Hopefully we can connect again in some way convenient to you. If you ever find your way to the Buffalo area, we have a spare room!
Best wishes for an exciting and fruitful 2019-2020 year.
Bob
Bob Grinewich
President 2019-2020 Rotary Club of BNMC 716-208-6129
REPLY:
Greetings from D5360 Bob!
Thank you for reaching out! I'm attending the District Conference in Grand Prairie Alberta D 5370 this weekend. I’ll reconnect with you soon to chat about Connecting!
The final honor for the IPDG is to give out the Governor’s Trophy! Again, I am so disappointed that I can’t be there to hand this out personally, but I am fortunate enough to have other PDGs' to bestow this honor for me!
This year, the club I have chosen to honor has demonstrated Service Above Self in every sense of the word. They are a close-knit group who works together in the face of crisis, in the spirit of caring and with joyous celebrations. At the last minute, their President-Elect had to step down due to illness and a very nervous PE stepped in to pick up the pieces. I remember speaking to her in the very early weeks and told her “not to worry – everything will be all right”. The club came together to support their new President and forged a path forward full of new opportunities and experiences. Over the past year, this club has been a very strong supporter of Rotary Youth Services, increased its membership, performed several local community projects, and hosted our District Conference as well as an outstanding Paul Harris gala event!! It is my great honor to announce that the Rotary Club of Niagara on the Lake is the winner of the Governor's Trophy for 2018-2019.
Congratulations to every club member for all of the hard work and dedication you’ve given to Rotary, your local community, and the international community as well. You are truly a shining example of Service Above Self, and have shown us how to be Flamingos of Change! Congratulations!!
At the recent District 7090 Grant Management Seminar and Foundation Celebration, a challenge by Thie Convery was revealed.
My Personal Commitment to Polio Eradication:
"I challenge all Rotarians, Rotary clubs, businesses, associations, individuals and Friends of Rotary to join me – and our other global partners – to rid the world of polio. Imagine – just imagine – if together, we could help End Polio Now! Brothers and Sisters in Rotary, we are this close! Will YOU join us?”
Many clubs and Rotarians immediately jumped up to support this challenge from Thie. We thank all the individuals and clubs that supported that day but we still need more.
Are you up for the challenge?Make a gift to end Polio before Dec. 31, 2019, and Thie Convery will personally match your gift, up to a maximum of $25,000!
Take up the challenge now to End Polio and make a gift of support before end of this year. You can make your donation on-line, by mail or through your club. Thank you for this “giving challenge”, Thie!
It has been my honour to represent District 7090 Gift of Life throughout this past year. We are certainly looking forward to 2020 to do even more if possible. We will be attending clubs to sell our Chocolate Hearts for Valentine’s Day. We hope that you will support us in healing little hearts.
District 7090 Gift of Life is just one of the 84 autonomous programs around the world and Gift of Life International is the connecting bond that allows us to maximize our capacity and develop new programs and partnerships with like-minded organizations. We now concentrate on the focus of developing sustainable pediatric cardiac surgery, catherization and aftercare programs in countries with the following criteria: Supportive and invested government, Motivated and involved hospital management, Established pediatric cardiac surgery program, and an existing in-country GOL or similar program.
Our district has had a tremendous impact during this past year and a half. Together we have helped the Gift of Life International and it’s 84 affiliated programs provide care to in total to 300 children in 2018/19 in partnership with the Rotary Foundation and Global Grants. We partnered in donations totaling $15,000 with programs in the Dominican Republic, Uganda children who had their surgery in India, and Mexico. Currently, we have committed another $5,000 US for children, in particular to the need with Syrian refugee children having surgery in Lebanon. We are definitely doing good in the world.
Our district champion is the Rotary Club of Niagara on the Lake who have donated yearly $3,000, and on September 14th held an Ice Wine and Martini Party with half of the proceeds being donated to District 7090 Gift of Life. I have been asked to speak for our Committee and am delighted to do so. Just recently we received our portion of the wonderful results, $13,500 for surgery for many children. We are so appreciative of this help.
In order for our committee to do the work, we need the full support of the district and clubs. Our work is evident through the numbers, all of these children’s lives were changed and the parents are so thankful. We ask that each club consider adding a line in their budget for an annual donation to our cause. We would so appreciate being able to rely on a baseline each year to work from.
Thank you for your help and support through the clubs and we invite anyone who is interested to come to one of our meetings.
Welcome to Gift of Life. District 7090healing little hearts one at a time.
Recently the Rotary Club of Lancaster-Depew was treated to a power-point presentation by Past President Brian Williams. Brian and Emily Williams represented the club on the District 7090 Conference Cruise. He discussed the work and needs of the Islanders they visited. He discussed a school that they visited that is so badly storm damaged it was shifted on its' foundation. The plan is to tear it down and start from scratch. A minister, Brian was part of the Remembrance Service, which he found very moving.
DONATING COMPUTERS
Pictured right is Fiona Barretto (left) donating computers and clothing to a project in Puerto Rico that the Lancaster-Depew Club is supporting, headed by Lancaster Depew Rotarian Diane Terranova (right).
Having already made over 60 official District Governor visits so far this year, District Governor Bob Artis is shown giving his presentation to the Rotary Club of Amherst South. Each time he attends a club meeting he makes sure the club president (in this case Scott Marcin) is also a lively participant in his challenge to them and to their club. Rotary Connects the World, and DG Bob ensures that each club makes some new connections as a result of his being there.
On Remembrance Day (a snowy November 11), the Presidents of the three Rotary Clubs of St. Catharines (Rotary Club of St. Catharines; Rotary Club of St. Catharines – South; and The Rotary Club of St. Catharines Lakeshore) placed wreaths during an Observance and Memorial Service at the Cenotaph in St. Catharines. The Annual Remembrance Day’s events began with a parade from the City Hall ending at Memorial Park, which contains the cenotaph. The service included a Two Minute Silence along with the firing of two of the guns of the 10th Field Battery.
Pictured left to right are Terry McDougall, Rotary Club of St. Catharines; Robert Eagle, Rotary Club of St. Catharines South; Eric Jones, Rotary Club of St. Catharines Lakeshore. Picture courtesy of Assistant Governor Milica Kovacevich.
FLAG RAISING
On Thursday, October 24th, the three Rotary clubs of St. Catharines (Rotary Club of St. Catharines; Rotary Club of St. Catharines – South; and Rotary Club of St. Catharines Lakeshore) joined together in raising the Rotary and the End Polio Now Flags at St. Catharines City Hall. This was followed by a joint luncheon, “Purple Pinkie Celebration” at the St. Catharines Golf and Country Club. The guest speaker for the luncheon was Bojan Stupar, Coordinator Post Polio from March of Dimes Canada and polio survivor Eleanor Lewis.
Jeff Kusche, a longtime member of the Rotary Club of Hamburg was honored by the club at its November 12, 2019 meeting as he was presented the Paul Harris Recognition Award, the highest honor in Rotary, recognizing his extensive service to the club and community.
Pictured are from left: Dale Stanley, chair of the Foundation Committee; President Lisa Avery, Jeff Kusche and Past President Brandi Reed.
The Rotary Club of Grand Island has been active in service to the community on many fronts for years. When its various activities work together, even more can be accomplished! Forty years ago, G I Rotary started the Neighbors Foundation to help temporarily needy families on the Island. For this year’s Holiday Food Collection by the Neighbors Foundation, the Rotary youth group – EarlyAct Service Club at Kaegebein School, led by Advisor Stephanie Pritchard, got together on Nov. 5th to make signs encouraging students to bring in canned goods. Their food collection will go a long way to help the Neighbors Foundation provide food and gift baskets to perhaps 50 families on the Island this Holiday Season.
Some Westfield-Mayville Rotarians gathered at the Westfield Volunteer Fire Department hall in Westfield, New York to provide a safe Halloween party for children during the blustery evening of October 31. Two of the many children who attended in their costumes were (left to right) Braxxtyn Stanton and Maddisyn Brown.
Serving refreshments were Westfield-Mayville Rotarians (left to right) Sheila Chapman, Tom Berkhouse (event chair) and Pete Bills. Also present was Westfield-Mayville Rotarian Janese Berkhouse, who was behind the camera taking this photo.
The Grimsby Rotary Club has had a busy few months, two work crews scoured the roadsides and picked litter and garbage to help keep the roadways in Grimsby clean, free of litter and beautiful.
A team of two female and two male Rotarians curled November 16th in support of the Big Brothers/Big Sisters Annual “Curl for Kids” Bonspiel. This fundraiser has been running over 20 years and all proceeds help fund the BB/BS programs. Club curlers also participated in the St. Catharines Rotary “Bill Ford” Bonspiel on Nov 21st. A women's team and a men’s team curled and socialized with Rotarians from the Niagara area and beyond.
After much planning, sponsor participation, signposting, box moving and Christmas tree decorating the 2019 Fantasy of Trees - 20th Anniversary opened to the public Nov 22, and runs until Dec 8, 2019. Located at the Grimsby Museum, 6 Murray Street, Grimsby, Ontario. For more information go to www.fantasyoftrees.ca and follow us on Facebook. Decorated Xmas Tree raffles; Xmas wreaths, gift baskets raffle; and many silent auction items: “something for everyone”.
The Rotary Club of Hamilton was proud to work with the City of Hamilton to have the HAMILTON sign light up in the colours of POLIO for World Polio Day. The Rotary Club of Hamilton invited Rotarians from all Clubs to join them in front of the sign for a photo that would be used for a social media campaign encouraging people and Rotarians to support the End Polio Campaign. Special thanks to Club President Heather Moroz and Rotarian Christopher Cutler for organizing this event. The sign lighting was well received by our members and we welcomed Rotarians from the Rotary Clubs of Stoney Creek, and Hamilton AM. The Rotary Exchange Student also attended the World Polio Day event.
A NEW FORMAT FOR VOCATIONAL VISITS
The Rotary Club of Hamilton hosted its vocational visit this month at Hamilton Municipal Cemetery. The visit took place as an evening meeting and included a historical walking tour with Hamilton’s historian Robin McKee of the historic Hamilton Cemetery.
Rotarian Alex Moroz who is the Family Services Coordinator spoke about operations of the City’s 70 cemeteries and new trends in the death care industry. Alex also provided a tour of the Gate House and the cemetery’s records vault which hold burial records dating back over 100 years. It was an enjoyable, casual evening meeting with food and refreshments to follow the tours.
The vocational visits allow Rotarians and Guests to visit the workplace of a Rotarian. Rather than the traditional vocational talk at Rotary, Rotary goes to the workplace and tours the facility and gets to understand the Rotarian's vocation through a more in-depth look. The Rotary Club of Hamilton holds several vocational visits throughout the Rotary year.
Rotary Club of St. Catharines Lakeshore members were pleased to do a site visit to the St. Catharines Food4Kids warehouse and distribution centre. During the visit, the club’s Food4Kids Committee Chair Marlene Mader and members presented Executive Director Amber Hughes with a cheque for $5000 in support of their efforts at local schools. Food4Kids provides packages of healthy food for kids aged 4-14 with limited or no access to food on the weekend. The packages are prepared by volunteers and delivered to schools each Friday. School staff discreetly place a package into every participating student’s backpack, which helps to shield the child from any stigma associated with hunger or receiving food assistance. Each child in the home receives their own food package.
On Saturday, October 5, 2019, at the First Baptist Church in Simcoe, a fundraising roast beef dinner was held. The purpose of the dinner was to raise awareness and money to support the work of Operation Eyesight Universal in its global vision work. The local Rotary Club of Norfolk Sunrise (RCNS) has supported OEU for more than 30 years.
The evening was a great success in terms of awareness, food, and funds. The three recent/current projects being done in conjunction with Operation Eyesight Universal were reviewed. The three-year project in Udhampur, northern India is now successfully completed. The major project in Kanpur, India which will service about 250,000 people is now underway and will be completed by year-end. Plans for a new initiative in Nepal are moving forward very well and should be underway in a short time.
The dinner itself generated over $2500.00 in funds that the First Baptist Church will donate to RCNS to support the OEU initiatives. Donations from other supporters produced over $10,000.00. These funds will now be coordinated with RCNS, District Rotary, and Rotary International Funds to support an amazing project in Nepal taking vision aid to remote and otherwise inaccessible people in need.
Participants reported it to be a heart-warming experience!
PARTNERING FOR KIDS
On Saturday, November 2, 2019, the Rotary Club of Norfolk Sunrise held its annual Coats for Kids event at the First Baptist Church in Simcoe and it was another great success! We distributed approximately 278 coats and 200 knitted items to needy families in Norfolk County. We were able to provide additional knitted goods to the St. James United Church and coats to the Norfolk Community Help Centre in Houghton, the Norfolk Pregnancy & Family Resource Centre and to the First Baptist Church to complement their Monday Meals program.
caring and with joyous celebrations. At the last minute, their President-Elect had to step down due to illness and a very nervous PE stepped in to pick up the pieces. I remember speaking to her in the very early weeks and told her “not to worry – everything will be all right”. The club came together to support their new President and forged a path forward full of new opportunities and experiences. Over the past year, this club has been a very strong supporter of Rotary Youth Services, increased its membership, performed several local community projects, and hosted our District Conference as well as an outstanding Paul Harris gala event!! It is my great honor to announce that the Rotary Club of Niagara on the Lake is the winner of the Governor's Trophy for 2018-2019. 
Pictured right is Fiona Barretto (left) donating computers and clothing to a project in Puerto Rico that the Lancaster-Depew Club is supporting, headed by Lancaster Depew Rotarian Diane Terranova (right).
On Thursday, October 24th, the three Rotary clubs of St. Catharines (Rotary Club of St. Catharines; Rotary Club of St. Catharines – South; and Rotary Club of St. Catharines Lakeshore) joined together in raising the Rotary and the End Polio Now Flags at St. Catharines City Hall. This was followed by a joint luncheon, “Purple Pinkie Celebration” at the St. Catharines Golf and Country Club. The guest speaker for the luncheon was Bojan Stupar, Coordinator Post Polio from March of Dimes Canada and polio survivor Eleanor Lewis.
Clubs of Stoney Creek, and Hamilton AM. The Rotary Exchange Student also attended the World Polio Day event.
Rotary Club of St. Catharines Lakeshore members were pleased to do a site visit to the St. Catharines Food4Kids warehouse and distribution centre. During the visit, the club’s Food4Kids Committee Chair Marlene Mader and members presented Executive Director Amber Hughes with a cheque for $5000 in support of their efforts at local schools. Food4Kids provides packages of healthy food for kids aged 4-14 with limited or no access to food on the weekend. The packages are prepared by volunteers and delivered to schools each Friday. School staff discreetly place a package into every participating student’s backpack, which helps to shield the child from any stigma associated with hunger or receiving food assistance. Each child in the home receives their own food package.
On Saturday, November 2, 2019, the Rotary Club of Norfolk Sunrise held its annual Coats for Kids event at the First Baptist Church in Simcoe and it was another great success! We distributed approximately 278 coats and 200 knitted items to needy families in Norfolk County. We were able to provide additional knitted goods to the St. James United Church and coats to the Norfolk Community Help Centre in Houghton, the Norfolk Pregnancy & Family Resource Centre and to the First Baptist Church to complement their Monday Meals program.