It’s hard to imagine that 45 days have elapsed since my term as your Governor began. It seems like the older you get the faster the time flies! Just 320 days left to continue ‘Making a Difference’ with you, the wonderful Rotarians of the Friendship District!
Reflecting on those early days brings memories of July 1, Canada’s 150th birthday and spending most of the day in our beer tent at Brantford’s annual Canada Day celebration (serving, not drinking). Then later a wonderful fundraiser called Food 4 Kids with the Waterdown and Flamborough clubs, (my omelet took top honours at the event).
Days later, the Flamborough AM club hosted a great Paul Harris night followed by our trip to Welland, hosted by the Niagara area clubs, to greet the returning Tour du Lac bike riders. Talk about collaboration, the Niagara area clubs banded together to raise almost $100,000 for the building of a new cancer center in Fonthill and their bike riders road over 900 kilometres for the cause around Lake Ontario.
We did have an opportunity to stay in Brantford for a BBQ hosted by the president of our Brantford Sunrise Club, Cam Johnston, at his home. It was a super event for the members who were able to attend and our thanks go out to Cam and Vicky. Good news followed with the appointment of Roger Mann of the other Brantford Club as Assistant Governor for Area 2 replacing Marty Schure.
I accompanied the co-chairs and some committee members of the upcoming District Conference on another visit to the fantastic site of White Oaks Resort to finalize plans. All of our speakers and breakout sessions have been finalized and we are now getting the website up to speed to provide you with all the information. Don’t forget that if you register by August 31st, you could be the second winner of an upgrade to a beautiful suite for the weekend. Paul Roth of the Lincoln Rotary Club was our first winner!
Just a few days ago, Loretta and I began our series of club visits. Thanks to President Nyree Segui, the board and all of the members of the Dunnville club who made our visit a most memorable one. As pinch-hitting AG Margaret Andrewes said, “Dunnville set the bar pretty high for future meetings”. By the time this is published, we will have visited 3 more of our clubs.
By the end of the month we will be at 69 clubs with the addition of a new E Club for Social Innovation. At last count, the club had 30 charter members from many different parts of the world. They have plans to grow to 200 or more with members in various time zones able to participate at more convenient times. Thanks to a new member of Kevin Crosby’s Membership Committee, Gordon Crann, who has led this incredible accomplishment since only July 1. A big thank you Gordon to you and your colleagues for really Making a Difference. We look forward to your charter night!
A Spectacular Club Event: The 2018 RI Convention in Toronto.
Here’s an idea for a great event that current and new members of your club are likely to describe as “the experience of a lifetime. In late June (23-27), 2018, the Rotary International Convention will be in Toronto. If you’ve been to an RI Convention, you know it’s a truly amazing and inspiring spectacle. If you haven’t been to one, this is your best opportunity. It won’t get any closer than this one!
NOW is the time to start talking about taking your club members on a group excursion to the RI Convention in Toronto. It will be fun and inspiring. It will build camaraderie among your members and it will help your new members understand and appreciate the great big world of Rotary. There could easily be 50,000 Rotarians from all around the globe. Your club members will come home with a renewed passion for Rotary and inspired to take your club to new heights.
Harold L. Ruslander has been a dedicated member of the Rotary Club of Buffalo since April 19, 1967. This year Harold was awarded a pin for 50 years of perfect attendance by club President Paul Hurley, Jr. on June 29, 2017! Harold had to travel a great deal on business and made friends all over the world by going to Rotary meetings where ever he was. Harold is a Paul Harris Fellow and Benefactor of The Rotary Foundation.
Pictured is Harold (left) receiving his 50 year pin from President Paul.
The Rotary Club of Niagara County Central annually awards scholarships to students at Niagara Wheatfield, Starpoint, and Wilson High Schools. Six $1,000 scholarships were awarded to High School Seniors: Zachary Beyer (Wilson), Jennifer Darlak (Wilson), Courtney Day (Niagara Wheatfield), Dylan Dickey (Starpoint), Madison Klidonas (Niagara Wheatfield), and Jake Toczek (Starpoint)
Jake Toczek received the Stanley Sadlo Scholarship award. Stanley was an owner of Sadlo Lumber who helped to shape future carpenters. Madison Klidonas received the Jack Fechner Scholarship award. Jack believed in educating the youth of today for tomorrow’s needs.
These outstanding students were selected based on interviews with the scholarship committee, letters of recommendation, outstanding qualities in leadership, involvement in the community, clubs and extracurricular activities, and their potential to succeed both academically and in future careers.
Pictured bottom row (left to right): Madison Klidonas, Jennifer Darlak, Courtney Day, top row (left to right): Dylan Dickey, Jake Toczek, Zachary Beyer.
Officials of Schofield Care recently recognized the support of the Kenmore Rotary Club and Kenmore Rotary Foundation with a plaque unveiling at Schofield’s new Welcome Center, located in the lobby of Schofield Residence. With its $6,000 donation, the Kenmore Rotary Foundation helped to fund the transformation of Schofield’s reception desk into a more open and spacious Welcome Center, according to a prepared statement. The center includes information on Schofield Care’s services as well as events and reception personnel.
Pictured: Edward Gray, president of Schofield Residence,displays the new Welcome Center plaque with Richard Graham, president of the Kenmore Rotary Foundation, and Thomas Lang, president of the Kenmore Rotary Club.
The Rotary Club of Jamestown participated in the 2017 Chautauqua Lake Dragon Boat Race. Rotary was highly visible during the event with its bright blue shirts emblazoned with the Rotary wheel! Fun was had by all who participated. The proceeds of the event will benefit the Chautauqua Lake Association.
The Rotary Club of Hamburg inducted new member John Nowak into the club recently. Nowak is a former member of Rotary in the Virgin Islands and is retired from the Boy Scouts of America. He relocated to Western New York to join family members. Pictured are Nowak, left, and President Jerry Bastedo.
Canaan Delgado recently visited the Rotary Club of Hamburg to speak to the club about his experiences as an exchange student in Spain sponsored by the Rotary Club of Buffalo. Pictured are Delgado, left, and President Jerry Bastedo.
The Buffalo Niagara Medical Campus Rotary Club was well represented at the BNMC Summer Block Party, August 9th, held in front of Roswell Park Cancer Institute’s Kaminski Park & Gardens. There was food, live music, activities and health and wellness information along with community organizations from the medical campus and surrounding neighborhoods.
The participation of the BNMC Rotary brought awareness to the many service projects being done by their club on the medical campus. Attending on behalf of the BNMC Rotary was President Andrea Scibetta, Sean Brennan, Susan Czyrny, Marti Gorman and Sarah Wagner.
Jordana Armstrong, an advertising professional with extensive experience in transit advertising, has become the newest member of RCNS. She delivered her Classification Talk on Tuesday morning to a very enthusiastic audience of Sunrisers.
While earning her BSc. in Psychology from Dalhousie University, Jordana indicated she got really excited in a course about the psychology of advertising, so after graduating from Dalhousie she enrolled in an Advertising Grad Certificate program at Sheridan College. Jordana says that despite trying it out at an advertising agency, she discovered it was not for her! She tried magazine advertising and enjoyed that, but magazine publishing was on a decline in 2007 - 2008 so she accepted an offer to work with Pattison Outdoor. At Pattison, she worked on the transit side (a bus is a moving billboard) of advertising and did well as a transit advertising specialist, transferring to the company's head office in Toronto.
The Rotary Club of Flamborough AM celebrated its Paul Harris evening with 3 new Paul Harris Fellows being recognized. Shawna, Scott and Wendy were not only surprised at having received this honour, but thoroughly enjoyed the evening of celebration.
Have you ever thought about the number of people in your community who are served by your local food bank? Well, the Dundas Valley Sunrise Rotary Club in partnership with St. Mark’s United Church and Dundas In Transition have. There are 120 families (400 individuals) in the Dundas community who are served by the Salvation Army Dundas Food Bank. For the past six years the community garden (paid for by the Rotary Club of Dundas Valley Sunrise) on the corner of Creighton and Governor’s Roads has been tended to by a variety of volunteers who built, maintain, plant and harvest. Of the 48 raised beds, 24 are dedicated to the Dundas Food Bank. Every Monday and Wednesday morning volunteers do the harvesting. The Rotary club is discussing the notion of starting a Rotary Community Corps to take over the management of the garden.
Pictured, Barb Montesanto, is a regular harvester and coordinates the picking crew.
On August 12th and 13th the Rotary Club of Lewiston/Niagara-On-The-Lake sold hot dogs at the Lewiston Arts Festival (sponsored by the Lewiston Council on the Arts). The club has been serving hot dogs for over 40 years at the festival. The tradition was started by Al DiMino, one of founders of the Tops supermarkets chain.
Pictured with Dr. Thomas Gerbasi, in his famous hot dog hat, is Anthony DiMino, owner of the Lewiston Tops and Al's son.
It is because of the continued support of the DiMino family that the Lewiston/NOTL Rotary is able to donate the funds generated from the endeavor to the Mount St. Mary's hospital maternity unit for the purchase of needed medical equipment. The dedicated nurses from that maternity unit have also partnered with the club to staff the booth and raise awareness in the community of both Rotary and the maternity services at the hospital.
The third annual Bushels of Books program of the Lockport Rotary Club was a delightful experience. Rotary held its story time and book distribution on June 23 at the Lockport YMCA. The children were divided into two age groups of K-2nd and 3-4th graders, and were supervised by the excellent staff of the YMCA Afterschool Program. Reading Rotarians were children's author Cyndy Cotten, Maria Biano, and Jackie Davis. The program was coordinated by Literacy Chair Jackie Davis and YMCA Youth Director Laurie Ferris.
The Rotary Club of Lockport collected approximately 175 new books, at 5 different locations. It sends a special thanks to DeSalles Catholic School, the YMCA, The Palace Theater, and the Lockport High School Interact Club for serving as collection sights, in addition to Rotary. The club advertised Bushels of Books LCTV's Community Bulletin Board, Facebook, and Clubrunner.
On August 2nd, the Rotary Club of Fort Erie invited IPDG Marlee Diehl to bring 7090 to Fort Erie by formally swearing in its 2017-18 President Flo Odding.
IPDG Marlee also assisted in the induction of new members Ian Johnston, pictured in the yellow shirt, and Nancy Dumbrell, second from the right, explaining the larger world of Rotary.
July - a month of transition. Justin Bester, now a past-president, welcomes President Cameron Johnston. This is not the first time Cameron has been at the helm. Cameron was also the 4th president of the Rotary Club of Brantford Sunrise serving 1996-1997. Thank you Justin and welcome Cameron.
“It took me a long time to get this book through the process,” said Rotarian Bob Terreberry, Greater Jamestown AM, New York. “Writing it was the easy, fun part of the publishing process.” Bob provided his Rotary meeting’s program and told his fellow Rotarians about his writing project that had just come to fruition. “I’ve been reading mysteries for years,” said Terreberry, “and, seriously, it was fun writing one.” Pictured (left to right) is Bob with club president Steve Hayes.
Murder at Maple Springs debuted in October of 2016 and Terreberry explained how he has been enjoying the hustle of getting the book into the hands of the readers. He has performed on “the library circuit” and is just beginning to visit with book groups that have all read his first attempt at writing a full length novel. “The discussions with these reading groups is instructive for me and we all have a good time hashing over the characters and the story line,” said Terreberry.
We often think that the homeless or marginalized members of our community have it harder in the winter with the cold weather. But often, things are worse in the summer. Statistics show that homeless people are more likely to die from dehydration related diseases in the summer, than exposure in the winter.
This sobering fact shocked President June Mergl of the Rotary Club of Niagara Falls, Ontario. The Club teamed up with a support group in Toronto called Engage and Change through their initiative called “Project Water: The Water Line to the Homeless.” President Mergl had seen information about their organization, and that they give out cases of water and summer survival kits to organizations with links to the homeless for distribution directly to them. After an application was approved for 50 cases of water and as many survival kits as possible, a new Rotary hands-on community project was born. Engage to Change was thrilled to get their first organization in Niagara Falls to connect and work with.
The Rotary Club of Lancaster-Depew hosted its’ first ever Car Show on August 8, 2017.
Shown here, Club President Robert Benzel presents the “People’s Choice” award to Edward Carlsen, Jr. for his fully restored 1981 Delorean. All winners received plaques or certificates and gift certificates from Simply Itatiano and Camellia Gardens Restaurant. Major sponsors of the show included Lake Shore Savings Bank and Russell’s Steaks, Chops & More.
Michael Hahn ( Membership Chair) introduced and the Rotary Club of Lincoln welcomed its two newest members, Martha Kralt and Jim Bowman (pictured right to left). They join 1.2 million other Rotarians making a profound difference in the world. President Sue Foster gave them their Rotary pins and new member packages.
Westfield resident Patricia (“Patty”) Benton was recently welcomed back as a member of the Rotary Club of Westfield-Mayville. Benton, who served as president of this Rotary club in 1995-1996, took a hiatus of several years for professional reasons. Her membership was sponsored by Rotarian Tom Berkhouse. Pete Bills, Club Membership Chair, conducted the installation ceremony on July 25 at The Parkview in Westfield.
Benton is now retired from her former vocation in the food service industry. She most recently was employed for several years by the Westfield Academy & Central School District as its cafeteria manager. She decided the time was right to rejoin Rotary. Benton said, “As a former Rotarian, I enjoyed participating in the meetings and events, all of which contributed to a better village, a better country and a better world community. I wish to be a part of that again.”
lebration (serving, not drinking). Then later a wonderful fundraiser called Food 4 Kids with the Waterdown and Flamborough clubs, (my omelet took top honours at the event). 
lk about collaboration, the Niagara area clubs banded together to raise almost $100,000 for the building of a new cancer center in Fonthill and their bike riders road over 900 kilometres for the cause around Lake Ontario. 
ers who were able to attend and our thanks go out to Cam and Vicky. Good news followed with the appointment of Roger Mann of the other Brantford Club as Assistant Governor for Area 2 replacing Marty Schure.
Club of Jamestown participated in the 2017 Chautauqua Lake Dragon Boat Race. Rotary was highly visible during the event with its bright blue shirts emblazoned with the Rotary wheel! Fun was had by all who participated. The proceeds of the event will benefit the Chautauqua Lake Association.
a hiatus of several years for professional reasons. Her membership was sponsored by Rotarian Tom Berkhouse. Pete Bills, Club Membership Chair, conducted the installation ceremony on July 25 at The Parkview in Westfield.