What a busy time - club visits, the Grant Management Seminar, the Zone 24 Institute, our District Conference, World Polio Day, the Foundation Dinner and the International Convention. I plan to share information on all of these events in this newsletter, in reverse order of how they’re listed above.
In just eight months our district and four others will host the International Convention in Toronto June 23-27, 2018. I urge you to register prior to December 15th; the price goes up on the 16th and hotel accommodation will be further away from both the Air Canada Centre and the Toronto Convention Center the longer you delay. This is our opportunity to welcome the world of Rotary to our doors and it’s my hope that we will support the convention with much bigger numbers than ever before.
Prior to the convention, on Thursday, June 21st and Sunday, June 24th, Rotarians visiting from around the world will have the opportunity to tour the Niagara area. During their visit, Niagara Rotarians are invited to host these visitors in their homes. Buses will arrive at 4:30pm and depart at 7:30pm from Niagara College on Glendale. Please think about playing host to our visitors. More details to come from John Crossingham when he returns from Australia.
On Monday, June 25th, Hamilton and immediate area clubs will also have an opportunity to home host visitors as buses and/or the train will bring attendees to their areas for three hours of hosting. Clubs in this area will be contacted shortly for volunteers.
Our Foundation giving was excellent last year. We’d like you to be part of the celebration at Salvatores Italian Gardens at 6:00 PM on Friday, November 3rd. Register on the District website.
I am so proud of our clubs, so many participating in World Polio Day activities on Tuesday, October 24th. I want to single out two activities. First, the E Club of SOWNY for their virtual march across Canada participation to both raise awareness and raise funds for the eradication of polio. This event is listed in this newsletter's club events section. And second, an event that I hope will attract Rotarians from all clubs to the Table Rock Welcome Centre at Niagara Falls, ON (6650 Niagara Parkway) to view the lighting of the Falls in Rotary colors. Please arrive about 9:30pm and park across from Table Rock. Tell the parking attendant you are a Rotarian and parking is free. The Rotary colours begin at 10 PM for 15 minutes. Please wear your Rotary jacket, hats and gear, and bring your banners or signs. This is a great opportunity to get media coverage so let’s have a great turnout! Thanks to all the organizers for their ingenuity and results!
The District Conference begins Friday evening, October 27th at the White Oaks Resort & Spa (253 Taylor Rd, NOTL) with a reception at 6:00. We’re hoping you’ll be there. Registration is still open and you can register for the entire conference or just those times you can be there. Go to the District website and register now! It promises to be an exciting event with great speakers, breakout sessions, fabulous food and fellowship.
The District Conference is right around the corner! Now is the time to get our young adults to join us for a fun filled day of fellowship and collaboration. As your new District Chairman of Rotaract, I respectfully ask you to pledge support of part of the cost for one or two Rotaractors/or RYLArians (future Rotaractors) to represent your Rotary Club at The White Oaks Resort on Saturday October 28th. Click on Read more to find out how.
Do you know someone who uses a wheelchair for mobility? Do you know someone who has significant hearing loss, or poor vision? What if this person wanted to attend a meeting or other event at your Rotary club? What if they wanted to join your club? Could you accommodate them?
This is a topic many of us probably don’t give much thought to, unless a specific situation comes up. Yet, as Rotarians, most of us would opt to provide accessibility to our activities for people with disabilities if it were brought to our attention.
When was the last time you stepped on a landmine? Probably never — aren’t we fortunate. If you live in Cambodia, Iraq or Syria, to name a few, you may have not been so lucky.
Starting the celebration of World Polio Day a little early, Tom Gerbasi (L), Rotary Club of Lewiston/Niagara-on-the-Lake Secretary, presented to District 7090 Governor Reg Madison (R) the club's annual contribution to Polio Plus - Rotary's effort to eradicate Polio.
District 7090 Governor Reg Madison inducted four new members into the Fonthill Club on October 4th.
Pictured (L - R): President Paul Snack, Jody Vizza Chair of Corporate Membership, Cesar Maldonado and Maria Pozas, Co-chairs of Couple Membership, and Brianna Willard, Chair of Young Rotarian Membership, along with Governor Reg Madison.
Over the past number of years the Rotary Club of Ellicottville has been funding equipment to provide special training to community youth. Working with the Library, Rotary has been supplying laptop computers for anyone to use when in the Library, this year providing two new laptops to begin to replace older models.
Pictured (L-R): Laura Flannigan (Library Director), Marcia Stoddard, Tina Barrett, Greg Cappelli & David Blanchard, Kathy Trost (Rotary Club of Ellicottville), Reg Madison (Rotary District Governor).
The Rotary Club of Ellicottville, in discussions with Ellicottville Library Director Laura Flannigan decided to provide a fun way to get kids involved with robotics and coding. Laura wanted to have some after school workshops to open up these exciting disciplines to our local students. There will also be kits available for use by anyone interested in creating outside of the formal workshops.
The Rotary Club of Norfolk Sunrise had an uplifting meeting with DG Reg and his charming wife Loretta on October 3, 2017. The room was buzzing with excitement, and Reg certainly lived up to expectations and delivered a focused and inspiring message about Making A Difference through Rotary.
A special treat, Reg inducted two alumni from Norfolk Sunrise who have returned to club rolls - Jenni Mudge-Winters and George Cornfield. In photo Jenni and George looking elated to be back, between Lucine, membership Chair, and Governor Reg. The club is excited to have them back and expects they will be a super asset to its membership. Also at the visit, the club welcomed a prospective member, Sue Finnie (aka Steve Malo's sister) and Assistant Governor Lisa Bishop who introduced Reg.
The Akron-Newstead Rotary Club and Akron Central Schools are teaming-up to fight childhood hunger by bringing the Blessings in a Backpack program to Akron Elementary School this September. Blessings in a Backpack (BIB) is a 501(c)3 organization that mobilizes communities, individuals, and resources to provide food on the weekends for elementary school children across America who might otherwise go hungry.
"The numbers are staggering", says Akron-Newstead Rotary Club President John Gehl. "According to BIB, more than 16-million children in this country live in households that struggle with food insecurity and it only costs $100 to purchase food to feed one child on the weekends for an entire 38-week school year."
Kindergarten students in the Sherman, Westfield, Chautauqua Lake, Ripley and Brocton School Districts in Chautauqua County, NY/USA are the proud owners of new books to take home and share with their family members thanks to the Rotary Club of Westfield-Mayville. Representatives of the Rotary club recently visited kindergarten classrooms in the five school districts, gave brief talks and presented 208 children with copies of the book We Can Get Along: A Child’s Book of Choices (Payne, Lauren Murphy. Free Spirit Publishing, c. 2015. ISBN: 978-1-63198-027-5).
Kindergarteners (front, left to right) Emma Oehlbeck and Ethan Taylor were two of all Sherman Central School students of this grade level who received their own copies of the book We Can Get Along by Lauren Murphy Payne from the Rotary Club of Westfield-Mayville on Sept. 28. Also pictured are (row 2, left to right) Sherman CSD kindergarten teacher Jennifer Benedetto, Westfield-Mayville Rotary Club President Elect Mary Swanson, Club President Janese Berkhouse, Club District Grants and Foundation Chair Jim Wakeman, and Sherman CSD kindergarten teacher Maureen Bogdanowicz.
The Rotary Club of Buffalo welcomed new member Brian W. Roche. Brian is the Executive Director of the Buffalo & Erie Co Military & Naval Park. He served in the United States Coast Guard for 36 years, 1980-2016, receiving numerous medals. He is on the board at Independent Health and the YMCA and Chairman of the Coast Guard Honor Guard Association. Brian received his Master of Science in Quality Systems Management from the National Graduate School. He is married to the former Helen Freeman from Swansea, South Wales. They have 2 children and live in Clarence.
Many children wish for toys, a bike or electronics. Some just simply want warm, winter clothing. That’s the mission of Warm the Children, sponsored for the past 11 years by the Rotary Club of Hamburg. The Rotary Club of Hamburg has begun collecting donated funds to purchase new, warm winter clothing for youngsters whose families are in need of assistance this year.
Schools, churches and human service agencies identify families in need from the following areas: Hamburg, Angola, Blasdell, Brant, Derby, Eden, Lake View, Evans and North Collins. Parents will shop at Sears in the McKinley Mall, accompanied by volunteers, who pay for clothing selected with purchase orders from the Warm the Children Fund. Last fall, 450 children from more than 140 families were helped. “My family is so very appreciative of the new winter clothing for my children,” expressed a grateful mom, following a trip to Sears.
26,000 pounds of food collected making Beamsville Lion's Food Drive a huge success! Nearly 200 volunteers and a host of sponsors were involved. "It would be impossible for us to have a successful undertaking without the involvement of our vested community," said CCWN executive director Carole Fuhr.
A great example of Making a Difference by partnering, some of the Rotary Club of Lincoln's Rotarians, friends and family helped the Lion's achieve success for the 2017 Beamsville Lions food drive for Community Care West Niagara!
The Rotary Club of Niagara Falls, ON held their 30th Annual Lobsterfest on September 15th at Club Capri. The event hosted 300 guests, who all enjoyed a wonderful dinner buffet, including all you can eat fresh Atlantic lobster. The evening ended with music, dancing and Rotary fun! There was also a fantastic silent and live auction, which consisted of multiple items donated from people and businesses throughout our community, raising $6200.00.
Lobsterfest was not only an exceptional social evening, but also managed to raise in total over $14,000 for the Rotary Club of Niagara Falls, Ontario to put back into our community, helping those in need.
District Governor Reg and Loretta Madison visited the Rotary Club of Niagara Falls, NY for the Official Club Visit. Governor Reg was presented the key to the City by Niagara Falls, NY Mayor Paul Dyster, and inducted new Rotarian Judie Glaser while he was there, after delivering an uplifting presentation on growing Rotary.
The Rotary Club of Holley held its annual Beefeater’s Dinner October 7th and had a great turnout. The club Rotarians and friends served 170 pounds of sliced roast beef in three and one-half hours and had a lot of fun doing it. The club knew where to get some helpers - their Interact Club, Youth Exchange students, and spouses and partners.
Reportedly, all in all, it was a great event to rub elbows with the people in their community and raise funds for future projects.
What a busy time - club visits, the Grant Management Seminar, the Zone 24 Institute, our District Conference, World Polio Day, the Foundation Dinner and the International Convention. I plan to share information on all of these events in this newsletter, in reverse order of how they’re listed above.
rting the celebration of World Polio Day a little early, Tom Gerbasi (L), Rotary Club of Lewiston/Niagara-on-the-Lake Secretary, presented to District 7090 Governor Reg Madison (R) the club's annual contribution to Polio Plus - Rotary's effort to eradicate Polio.
District Governor Reg and Loretta Madison visited the Rotary Club of Niagara Falls, NY for the Official Club Visit. Governor Reg was presented the key to the City by Niagara Falls, NY Mayor Paul Dyster, and inducted new Rotarian Judie Glaser while he was there, after delivering an uplifting presentation on growing Rotary. 