On October 7, 2015 the Rotary Club of Brantford Sunrise hosted its 6^th Paul Harris Fellowship Event and inducted three new Paul Harris Fellows:  Lucy Marco, John Utley, and Mary Welsh. These three long-standing community volunteers received this prestigious honour for their exemplary service to our community.  The evening was a celebration of volunteerism.  The event also featured special guest speaker Tony Chapman.  Tony is an award-winning Marketing, Sales and Communication Expert.    Special thank you to event chair Phil Race and the entire event committee for organizing such a wonderful event.

 

In the photo:  President Kevin Davis, presents the Paul Harris Fellow recognitions to (Left to Right) John Utley, Mary Welsh and Lucy Marco

 

Niagara on the Lake held it’s annual Ice Wine Cocktail Party on September 29.

 

Colleen and Eugene Johnson kindly donated their beautiful home to 160 people who enjoyed food, wine and Ice wine donated by restaurants and wineries in Niagara on the Lake.  This year $10,000 was raised, all of which goes directly to Niagara on the Lake Palliative Care.

 

 The weather, the venue and especially the Ice Wine Martinis made this event one to remember.

 

At the September 14 meeting of the Rotary Club of Jamestown, Greg Peterson, an attorney with Philips-Lytle LLC, spoke about a series of interviews he performed with members of the 1964 and 1965 Buffalo Bills American Football League championship teams. He has interviewed several players from that championship team, including Jack Kemp, Booker Edgerson, and Paul McGuire. During his presentation, Peterson played a video featuring vignettes from his interviews with these Buffalo Bills legends, along with clips of coverage from the championship games and the seasons leading up to them. His presentation was timely, as the Buffalo Bills honored the 1964 and 1965 AFL Championship teams at halftime during their Sunday, Sept. 13 win over the Indianapolis Colts. During the celebration, 18 surviving members of those championship teams took a bow at midfield and enjoyed a standing ovation from the sellout crowd at Ralph Wilson Stadium.

 

In the photo (left to right): Rotarian Mark Baldwin; Rotarian Mark Olson; and Greg Peterson, guest speaker.

 

The Rotary Club of Batavia, NY would like to report that we have just concluded our 13th Annual Corvette Raffle.  Each June, we mail out over 8300 raffle tickets to past and prospective buyers.  This year the winner could choose between a 2016 Corvette and $40,000 Cash. In addition, there were 15 additional prize winners of $500.00.   The proceeds from this project go to benefit healthcare, scholarships and community projects.  We are extremely pleased to announce that we had a net profit of approximately $80,000. 

 

This project has evolved into our biggest fundraiser for our club.  Many hands are needed to stuff envelopes, place stamps and each Rotarian writes a personal message to their addressees.  We have found that the personal message generates a favorable response and we “connect” to our buyers.  As chairperson this year, I found this project very rewarding.  Many Rotarians across the United States supported our project and many took the time to send a note of encouragement. Many will ask for our “formula” to success.  I love boasting about this project because any club can do this.  The one thing that has brought us such a following year after year is the fact that we send out 3 tickets to anyone that has purchased in the past.  We have collected a mailing list of over 2500 addresses.  This year we did an email blast that generated 400 ticket sales in one week. 

 

Each year we try to improve on the project and work smarter.  Due to the success this year with the email blast, next year we are definitely going to incorporate the use of emails sooner in our raffle. Check out this year’s winners @ www.bataviarotary.com

 

 

Samara Goncalves de Albuquerque (right) was an exchange student from Brazil in Taiwan with Michael Robinson, Lockport's exchange student several years ago. They later married and live in Niagara County. Samara spoke to us about the Rotary Youth Leadership Award (RYLA) retreat she and Michael were part of. Our sponsored RYLA nominees always speak highly of this key life and leadership skill building event for promising youth and young adults ages 14-30.

 

 

The Rotary Club of Ancaster AM will be holding the second annual Spelling Bee, sponsored by StoneRidge Insurance Brokers at Mohawk College on November 28, 2015. The Spelling Bee is open to all students in Grades 4-8 from all schools and home schooling in Hamilton Ontario.

 

The initial Spelling Bee in 2014 was well represented by 90 students in Grades 4-8, representing 25 Hamilton area schools.

 

For 2015, the 1^st place speller in each Category – Junior (Grades 4-6) and Senior (Grades 7&8) will win $1,000 for their school literacy program and a $400 for themselves.  The 2^nd place student in each Category will win $500 for their school literacy program and $200 for themselves and 3^rd place will earned $250 for their school literacy program and $100 for themselves.

 

There is no cost to participate. The Spelling Bee is open to all students in Hamilton.  You may register directly from the website: www.ancasterrotary.ca/spellingbee/.

Or to find out more about becoming a sponsor or participant in the Spelling Bee contact Kathryn Smith at kathryns@mbspc.ca

Kenmore Rotary is starting their second Interact club.  After a very successful Kenmore West Interact that not only has been a leading fundraiser for Polio campaign with their Purple Pinky project, but a positive role model for that school, Larry Coon is starting a new club in our other High School, Kenmore East. Larry has reported interest is high at the first organizational meeting and expects the club to be up and running shortly.

 

Interact Clubs for Kenmore Rotary brings fresh faces to the world of Rotary.  Kenmore Interact club has not only sponsored several Purple Pinkie days at the Elementary Schools raising thousands of dollars each year, their newest project is seminars to help eliminate Bullying in the school. Kenmore Rotary in addition to matching the Purple Pinkie funds raised by Interact; sponsors these seminars our  active Interact Club provide their classmates.

 

For more information, contact Larry Coon at lorenzocoon@yahoo.com

 

Ground-breaking ceremony for the $2.5 M Waterdown Rotary Memorial Skating Loop in Memorial Park.  The sod turners at the ceremony included President-elect Lena Aggus, Hamilton Deputy Mayor Judi Partridge, President Kim Piper, and Immediate Past President Kathy Harasyn. 

 

The ice skating loop will be complete with a changing room and small Zamboni and will serve as a rollerblading loop in warmer weather. The loop has been paid for by a $1M contribution from the Rotary Club of Waterdown and the balance from the City of Hamilton. Maintenance will be by the city's Parks and Recreation Department.  Planned opening is loosely targeted for January, 2016!  Stay tuned!

 

 

 

Rotary Club of Lancaster-Depew president Bonnie Marlor, Derek Clark, Colton Johnson, Patrick Seimbida, Sara Keller, and DG Kevin Crosby pose together following a recent meeting where four of the club’s six scholarship winner’s participated in the club’s annual District Governor visit.  With high praise for Lancaster-Depew leaders, DG Kevin spoke about Rotary’s challenges, future and his vision for better clubs.  Other scholarship winners included Molly Dunbar and Lauren Budzich.