Fall has arrived! It has been 3 months since I was sworn in as Governor and despite COVID-19, it has been busy.
I have had the privilege of attending 44 Rotary Club and two Rotaract Club visits via Zoom, which has saved a lot of travel time and associated expenses. I have also had the privilege of inducting a dozen new members, which is a special treat for me. Remember our goal is for every Club to induct 4 net new members this Rotary year. Most clubs are doing well and have adapted to a new way of serving humanity. Club fundraisers have included modified Golf Tournaments, Ribfests, Bottle Drives, Shredding, Niagara Clubs annual TV auction, Trivia nights, and more.
Please note, we are reprinting the list of awarded clubs because of an oversight. Please congratulate also the Rotary Club of St. Catharines Lakeshore!
At the beginning of Rotary year 2019 - 2020 many presidents entered their goals and in spite of the COVID - 19 pandemic, they remained LASER-focused and determined to accomplish their goals. Therefore, they have earned the most significant award a Rotary club can achieve. This is especially true, for this year was indeed challenging for us in many ways. We had to re-think and quickly change our game plan and you demonstrated a will 'made of steel'. Your determination has helped shape the future of Rotary and we are better than before.
Are you busier than ever? Are you wondering if anything is ever going to get easier - not harder? Are you thinking, "What can I do to help my Rotary / Rotaract club in these crazy times?"
Here are three time-efficient ways that you can help your club so it continues to thrive in these ever-shifting times.
Be intrinsically motivated to be a part of the evolution of Rotary. Be open to hearing new ideas, take a leap of faith and try something different, be brave and toss your ideas out, and then take some action to move those ideas forward.
In everything we think, say and do…ask WHY? Get curious about everything in your club. Approach it from a new member perspective and a younger member’s needs. Question everything you do as it relates to your goals and the vitality of your club.
Don’t wait for inspiration to come. Go experience things together as a club, start a conversation around an idea and tap into your Rotary member knowledge bank. Make some withdrawals, invest wisely and watch that investment grow.
Get creative with the way in which you experience Rotary. Think and speak of meetings as gatherings, as connections and interactions. If you didn’t “meet” every week what else would (or could) you be doing? Every interaction is an invitation for potential new members.
Youth Exchange is looking for dedicated Rotarians who love kids and different cultures to help out on the committee. You don’t have to be experienced with youth exchange or in a club that sponsors a student. You just have to love kids, cultures, and high energy gatherings. Currently, we are looking for volunteers to help coordinate both the long term and short term programs as well as assistance in marketing. Please contact me if you are interested in volunteering to grow our program and giving a deserving student the best year of their life.
Waterdown’s Ryan Bridge has been recognized with the Lifetime Achievement Award at the Flamborough Chamber of Commerce’s Outstanding Business Achievement Awards.
Bridge, a member of the Rotary Club of Flamborough AM, has been involved with the Waterdown Oh Canada Ribfest organizing committee for the past 11 years, including the past three as co-chair. He said it is an honour to be recognized with the award, which he will receive virtually on September 14. “It’s a great honour — it was the last thing I was expecting,” he said. “I do a lot of volunteering, but I don’t do it for awards. I do it because it feels good and I like to help my community. “But it’s a really sweet honour to be recognized like this.”
The Rotary Club of Hamburg held two drive-through fund-raising events over the summer and plan one more in October to recoup some of the proceeds lost in the cancelation of three 2020 fund-raisers due to the pandemic. The Rotary Club of Hamburg Shredding event will take place on Saturday, October 10 from 9 a.m. to noon at Northwest Bank, South Park Avenue at Maelou Drive, Hamburg. Drive-through barbecue dinners were held in the Bounce Magic Plaza on July 21 and at Zittel’s Country Market on September 15 to make up funds lost from Breakfast With the Bunny, BurgerFest, and the annual Rotary Club Meat Raffle. The proceeds of these events will go to support many charities and programs, including the club's annual Warm the Children, which is being modified this year to address COVID-19 concerns.
Pictured at Zittel's Country Market are from left: Barb Stanley, Lauren Holstein, Patricia Castiglia, Michele Hanley, Diana Straube, and Tim Straube.
On September 17th the Rotary Club of Hamilton held it’s annual Fall Golf Classic. Due to the pandemic, most fundraising efforts have been canceled. The annual Rotary Fall Golf Classic took place with a few modifications. There were no restaurants, wineries, or beer stations on each hole this year. The golfers all received welcome bags filled with golf tees, promotional items, and home-made banana bread and treats from Rotary Friend Shelley (Golfers always loved her home-baked goods on a hole).
Golfers enjoyed 18 holes of golf this year with a BBQ at the turn. It was a great opportunity to continue to host the fundraising event and to see many Rotarians and Friends in person at the golf course. There were great prizes to be won, a huge wine package, and two large gift packages from Eddie Bauer (Limeridge Mall). All proceeds from the golf tournament support children’s projects, initiatives, and charities. A great time was had as we teed off for kids!
The Rotary Club of Hamilton has offered the Rotary Summer Literacy for the past 20 years. A free summer literacy camp that sees 800 plus children participate each summer. There was fear that the pandemic would cancel the 20th year of the program. Thanks to the extra efforts of Program Director Rob Blunsdon and the ICYIC Committee Members, a plan was created to offer a safe program during a program.
The Rotary Summer Literacy Program took place during the last two weeks of August outdoors in two local parks - TB McQuestion on Hamilton Mountain and Woodlands Park in the inner city. Thanks to the support of a Friend of the Program, a $10,000 donation was received to cover the additional costs and PPE for the program.
The goal of the Rotary Literacy Program is to assist participants to maintain their literacy skills during the summer. Most of the students have been out of school since March, so the program included programing to prepare the students for back to school. Each of the students received a Rotary Back Pack with supplies and thanks to First Books Canada and the Hamilton Public Library each student received 5 new books to enjoy at home.
The 20th anniversary of the Rotary Summer Literacy Program was not canceled…just different and was a huge success.
This year’s Rotary theme is a perfect backdrop for a serendipitous conversation that has turned into a fun project for the Rotary Club of Buffalo Sunrise. Recently, President Denis Lefebvre started chatting with member Dr. Craig Crookston, a fellow bike enthusiast, about extra bikes he had in his garage. Craig enlisted the assistance of his son, Andrew - pictured left.
The call went out to club members and Andrew contacted a neighborhood social media group. The result in two weeks is the gathering of 41 bikes, some barely used, 3 scooters, and a bike trailer with more coming in each day. Denis is an expert bike restore, although many of the bikes collected are in tip-top shape.
Andrew is working on service hours towards his congressional youth award. The first recipient of a newly repaired bicycle is Ngabo Gasore (pictured with President Denis on the right), thanks to member Rubens Mukunzi. Ngabo is a refugee from Congo, who now has transportation to his workplace. Other BSR members have pitched in to contact distribution sites such as a mosque in Buffalo, the International Institute of Buffalo, and Jericho Road Health Centers. The hope is to provide transportation for adults, along with helmets and bike locks and bikes for children for their exercise and entertainment – all with the goal of helping to create a healthier, happier community. Certainly, as the RI theme states “Rotary Opens Opportunities”.
Rotary Club of Buffalo members surprised outgoing President Nora Eberl at her company, Eberl Iron Works in Buffalo, on June 25th. Because of COVID-19, the club couldn’t have its annual party for its outgoing president – but wanted to do something special for her. With the help of her husband – Matt Plizga, the club's Rotarians were able to keep its activities secret. Everyone gathered (hid) outside her workplace at the side of the building with signs and balloons, gifts, and flowers. Nora thought she was going to be doing a PowerPoint presentation about her year as president at noon that day…but…prior to noon, Matt told Nora there was a problem in the shop (the next building over) that she needed to come to see and as she came out the front door of her business, everyone yelled SURPRISE!!!! Of course, Buffalo Rotarians all wore our masks and were socially distanced outside. Nora was able to show her presentation at a zoom meeting the following week. What a wonderful way to thank President Nora!
So when you are a Bi-National Rotary Club that is famous for the quality of its' fellowship, how do you keep the great Rotary camaraderie alive when the US-Canada Border is closed shut? You could do Webex or Zoom, but maybe you are "Zoomed out." You can alternate Zoom business meetings with Satellite Social Meetings on either side of the Border and "cross-pollinate" each other with fresh ideas from a different perspective. Diversity keeps the club dynamic and makes complacency impossible!
You can't allow COVID-19 to take the fun out of Rotary!!
Photo on the left: well-behaved Canadian members at a garden party,photo on the right: US members misbehaving as usual at a Bar.
The Rotary Club of Jamestown AM completed its last cleanup of the highway into Jamestown recently. As, our fearless leader Kelly said, "It was so nice to see everyone in the flesh instead of Zoom!"
On September 15th five Westfield-Mayville Rotarians volunteered at the Yorker Museum in Sherman, NY by weeding garden beds and painting the trim on one of the historical buildings. Its grounds have six original buildings dating back to the 1750s. Shown at Ray Larson's General Store are (left to right) Doug Richmond, Sue Hammond, Steve Stratton, Patty Benton (project chair), and Doc Hamels.
It is with heavy hearts that the Rotary Club of Brantford-Sunrise announced the passing of member and Past President John Coles, who was president of the club in 2005-2006.
John was an avid curler and a member of the Brantford Sunrise’s international curling team that traveled to bonspiels across Canada, the United States, and the U.K. He was also a member and Past President of the Rotary International Curling Fellowship and instrumental in bringing the World Rotary Curling Championship to Brantford in 2008, where the Brantford Sunrise club successfully hosted 20 curling teams from Canada, U.S., and U.K. over the course of a weekend.
John and his wife, Jill, loved to travel, and they were able to explore numerous parts of the world prior to the numerous health issues that he valiantly fought over the last few years. We will miss the stories he created and the stories he told.
The Rotary Club of Brantford-Sunrise is thrilled with the success of its first “Ribs-to-Go” event, held on September 12.
Thanks to a dedicated committee, committed sponsors, and hard-working volunteers, the drive-thru event was organized in less than four weeks and saw 860 vehicles drive up and away with orders from two ribbers on-site – Camp 31 and Billy Bones. The weather was perfect, people were hungry, and just over $12,000 was raised from sponsors and donations from attendees. Plans are already being discussed to repeat the event in early Spring. Special thanks to Dale Hall and the Niagara Rotary Club for sharing their idea and helping out on the big day!!
Wednesday, September 2 saw the Rotary Club of St. Catharines Lakeshore's first “Pandemic Social”! Despite a reported “downpour” earlier in the day in St. Catharines, it was great to see so many members out for the first face-to-face (at 6 feet) event since mid-March. A great, relaxing, socially distanced evening in a beautiful setting on the shores of Lake Ontario at Charles Daly Park. Thanks to Fellowship Committee members Bob, Joy, and Randi for organizing the event.
Pictured left and right, Rotarians chat at a safe social distance.
The Rotary Club of Grand Island teamed with the UB Rotaract Club to help the Grand Island Schools TRANSFORM student desks for more protection for students and teachers during the COVID-19 pandemic. The schools had received $320,000 from the big CARES Coronavirus Relief Fund and used a portion to purchase clear Plexiglas Pathogen Barriers for each student desk. (We would rather call them sneeze barriers!) But the schools needed lots of hands to peel protective film, fold and set up – there were over 3000 barriers involved. G I Rotary President Sherry Miller arranged a team of six from the UB Rotaract Club (Ruby Chen, Emma Correia, Taylor Sniatecki, Andra Sullivan, Sarah Swinnerton & Isabel Yu) to join Rotarians Sherry Miller, Dick Earne, Jerry Barlow, and spouse Barbara Barlow to provide much-needed help to school personnel. See a need, collect a team, then TRANSFORM plans into action; an ideal goal for Rotary Club of Grand Island, we try to come close!
On August 19th, the Rotary Club of West Seneca held an event, Pies for the Police! It gave the Rotary Club the opportunity to honor West Seneca’s finest and thank them for keeping the community safe! The police were treated to a delicious buffet of homemade dessert pies and pizza pies!
Papers, papers, and more papers! On Saturday, September 12th, the Rotary Club of West Seneca held their Fall Shred-It Event! The community was able to have any sensitive documents shredded, while they watched. Rotarian, David Rosner chaired the event, it was the largest shredding event ever held for the WS Rotary! The proceeds of the event went to help fund the WS Rotary Club’s Clean Water projects in Ghana, Africa and to partner with the Rotary Club of Buffalo Sunrise in their Safe Births + Healthy Homes solar light project!
St. Catharines City Council has approved a recommendation to match funding from the Rotary Club of St. Catharines to the tune of $95,000, towards making Happy Rolph’s Animal Farm playground the most accessible in St. Catharines.
Nestled along the shore of Lake Ontario, Happy Rolph's Animal Farm is a well-loved spot for locals with its farm animal viewing area, duck and geese ponds, playground, picnic area and pavilion, nature trails, accessible parking, and accessible washrooms.
From left to right: Past President Terry McDougall, Rotarians Bob De Wolfe and Rick Vanderkuip, and President Sam Walters. – photo by Luke Edwards/Torstar.
The Rotary Club of Lancaster-Depew held a COVID-19 socially distanced car cruise in place of the annual Car Show that they typically host in August. Car owners were encouraged to bring their vehicles anytime between 3:00 and 6:00 pm. Following the registration process, they were asked to drive through a course passing three photographers, capturing different angles as they passed by. The event was free, however many made donations to the club which were gratefully accepted. High-resolution photos of their drive with the Rotary International logo embedded are being returned to all the car owners.
Shown in the photograph (left) are club president Brian Williams and his daughter Leah Williams who volunteered her time as a photographer for the event. An example of the many beautiful cars that were brought to the rolling event is this 1933 Ford Cabriolet, owned by Roland Brennan is pictured right.
"It seems like such a challenge to get club members together for an event in these COVID-19 days!!" Confronted by this thought, an energized group of planners under the leadership of Norfolk Sunrise Rotarian Keith Flexman took it upon themselves to organize a pandemic-friendly, car rally - this idea created a wonderful chance to do something together, to remain socially-distant, to discover our own county back-yard, to include our family and friends and to be outside during a perfect end-summer weekend day.
Gathering at several different departure points, the afternoon drives were organized so that a minimal number of cars were present in any one location at any one-time. 26 cars were attracted to participate with over 60 drivers/passengers involved. Each car was then guided through a pre-defined and detailed route that allowed everyone to discover something new and interesting about our own Norfolk County. No one got lost - everyone reportedly had a great time!
The event concluded with a drive-through BBQ party (thought of as ‘tailgate takeout'!) at the end-of-the-day, hosted by Club President Steve Malo and catered by stalwart W&E Chair, Tracy Winkworth.
The Rotary Club of Grimsby is participating in World Polio Day, October 24, 2020, by joining other district clubs with a dedicated ‘Pedal for Polio’ Bicycling Team of 9 member riders and support vehicles. The Grimsby Club's overall goal is to raise $3000 USD for the RI Polio Fund. Due to COVID-19 group size restrictions, our club will now be conducting our 22 km tour in the local Grimsby area, in lieu of joining several other clubs on a Niagara River Parkway route.
Fantasy of Trees is the primary annual Fundraiser for The Rotary Club of Grimsby. Since its cancellation due to COVID-19, the club will be holding a modest-and-safe Fantasy of Wreaths at the Grimsby Museum this holiday season. It is important to our club members to stay connected with the community who has considered the Fantasy of Trees a very important part of the holiday merry-making.
Rotarians Kathryn Drury and Liz Fisk have devised a unique Vocational project in spite of COVID-19 and social distancing. Planning is well under-way and the first Vocational series involves video/YouTube and “A Day in the Life” presentations of individuals in musical vocations. As it happens, there are three very talented offspring of Grimsby Rotarians who will be featured in the first sessions: Colin Fisher, Adam Goddard, and Shane Murphy. They discuss the ups and downs of the career paths they followed, how their dedication to music has shaped their lives as well as hints, excerpts of their work, and inspiration on careers in the broad field of music and creative arts.
Each series of three or four videos is targeted to audiences in upper elementary and high school and the estimated release dates are December 2020, onward. The intent is to share the output with other Rotary clubs or jurisdictions and to feature many different vocations including medical research, engineering, and faith vocations among others. Ensuring diversity and gender balance is extremely important and we will be reaching out to our broader Rotary family to offer suggestions of individuals to interview/present in the future and vocations we can focus on.
The Rotary Club, in partnership with the Town of Grimsby, the Happening on the 40 community festival, Chamber of Commerce members, and others is also planning a Pumpkin Drive-Thru in Southward Park for November 1st. The concept is based on Pumpkin walks that are held in many other jurisdictions. It will include locally-donated pumpkins carved by elementary and high-school students, Halloween pumpkins carved and dropped off by families, and interspersed with vignettes staged by local gardeners and artist. Though a lot of planning has gone into the event, everyone is on tender-hooks to see whether it will ‘be a go!” Depending on the restrictions that will be in place for the end of October, this event may or may not move ahead. However, all is not lost. The planning will be completed and ready for next year when hopefully we will not be struggling with the very necessary COVID-19 distancing restrictions.
"Rotary kindled the spark within me to look beyond myself and embrace humanity."
Shekhar Mehta
Rotary International President 2021-2022
Fall has arrived! It has been 3 months since I was sworn in as Governor and despite COVID-19, it has been busy.
usier than ever? Are you wondering if anything is ever going to get easier - not harder? Are you thinking, "What can I do to help my Rotary / Rotaract club in these crazy times?"
and then take some action to move those ideas forward.
Youth Exchange is looking for dedicated Rotarians who love kids and different cultures to help out on the committee. You don’t have to be experienced with youth exchange or in a club that sponsors a student. You just have to love kids, cultures, and high energy gatherings. Currently, we are looking for volunteers to help coordinate both the long term and short term programs as well as assistance in marketing. Please contact me if you are interested in volunteering to grow our program and giving a deserving student the best year of their life.
Waterdown’s Ryan Bridge has been recognized with the Lifetime Achievement Award at the Flamborough Chamber of Commerce’s Outstanding Business Achievement Awards.
The Rotary Club of Hamburg held two drive-through fund-raising events over the summer and plan one more in October to recoup some of the proceeds lost in the cancelation of three 2020 fund-raisers due to the pandemic. The Rotary Club of Hamburg Shredding event will take place on Saturday, October 10 from 9 a.m. to noon at Northwest Bank, South Park Avenue at Maelou Drive, Hamburg. Drive-through barbecue dinners were held in the Bounce Magic Plaza on July 21 and at Zittel’s Country Market on September 15 to make up funds lost from Breakfast With the Bunny, BurgerFest, and the annual Rotary Club Meat Raffle. The proceeds of these events will go to support many charities and programs, including the club's annual Warm the Children, which is being modified this year to address COVID-19 concerns.
tember 17th the Rotary Club of Hamilton held it’s annual Fall Golf Classic. Due to the pandemic, most fundraising efforts have been canceled. The annual Rotary Fall Golf Classic took place with a few modifications. There were no restaurants, wineries, or beer stations on each hole this year. The golfers all received welcome bags filled with golf tees, promotional items, and home-made banana bread and treats from Rotary Friend Shelley (Golfers always loved her home-baked goods on a hole).
The Rotary Club of Hamilton has offered the Rotary Summer Literacy for the past 20 years. A free summer literacy camp that sees 800 plus children participate each summer. There was fear that the pandemic would cancel the 20th year of the program. Thanks to the extra efforts of Program Director Rob Blunsdon and the ICYIC Committee Members, a plan was created to offer a safe program during a program.
This year’s Rotary theme is a perfect backdrop for a serendipitous conversation that has turned into a fun project for the Rotary Club of Buffalo 
Sunrise. Recently, President Denis Lefebvre started chatting with member Dr. Craig Crookston, a fellow bike enthusiast, about extra bikes he had in his garage. Craig enlisted the assistance of his son, Andrew - pictured left.
Rotary Club of Buffalo members surprised outgoing President Nora Eberl at her company, Eberl Iron Works in Buffalo, on June 25th. Because of COVID-19, the club couldn’t have its annual party for its outgoing president – but wanted to do something 
special for her. With the help of her husband – Matt Plizga, the club's Rotarians were able to keep its activities secret. Everyone gathered (hid) outside her workplace at the side of the building with signs and balloons, gifts, and flowers. Nora thought she was going to be doing a PowerPoint presentation about her year as president at noon that day…but…prior to noon, Matt told Nora there was a problem in the shop (the next building over) that she needed to come to see and as she came out the front door of her business, everyone yelled SURPRISE!!!! Of course, Buffalo Rotarians all wore our masks and were socially distanced outside. Nora was able to show her presentation at a zoom meeting the following week. What a wonderful way to thank President Nora!
So when you are a Bi-National Rotary Club that is famous for the quality of its' fellowship, how do you 
keep the great Rotary camaraderie alive when the US-Canada Border is closed shut? You could do Webex or Zoom, but maybe you are "Zoomed out." You can alternate Zoom business meetings with Satellite Social Meetings on either side of the Border and "cross-pollinate" each other with fresh ideas from a different perspective. Diversity keeps the club dynamic and makes complacency impossible!
On September 15th five Westfield-Mayville Rotarians volunteered at the Yorker Museum in Sherman, NY by weeding garden beds and painting the trim on one of the historical buildings. Its grounds have six original buildings dating back to the 1750s. Shown at Ray Larson's General Store are (left to right) Doug Richmond, Sue Hammond, Steve Stratton, Patty Benton (project chair), and Doc Hamels. 
Wednesday, September 2 saw the Rotary Club of St. Catharines Lakeshore's first “Pandemic Social”! Despite a reported “downpour” earlier in the day in St. Catharines, 
it was great to see so many members out for the first face-to-face (at 6 feet) event since mid-March. A great, relaxing, socially distanced evening in a beautiful setting on the shores of Lake Ontario at Charles Daly Park. Thanks to Fellowship Committee members Bob, Joy, and Randi for organizing the event.
The Rotary Club of Grand Island teamed with the UB Rotaract Club to help the Grand Island Schools TRANSFORM student desks for more protection for students and teachers during the COVID-19 pandemic. The schools had received $320,000 from the big CARES Coronavirus 
Relief Fund and used a portion to purchase clear Plexiglas Pathogen Barriers for each student desk. (We would rather call them sneeze barriers!) But the schools needed lots of hands to peel protective film, fold and set up – there were over 3000 barriers involved. G I Rotary President Sherry Miller arranged a team of six from the UB Rotaract Club (Ruby Chen, Emma Correia, Taylor Sniatecki, Andra Sullivan, Sarah Swinnerton & Isabel Yu) to join Rotarians Sherry Miller, Dick Earne, Jerry Barlow, and spouse Barbara Barlow to provide much-needed help to school personnel. See a need, collect a team, then TRANSFORM plans into action; an ideal goal for Rotary Club of Grand Island, we try to come close!
homemade dessert pies and pizza pies! 
St. Catharines City Council has approved a recommendation to match funding from the Rotary Club of St. Catharines to the tune of $95,000, towards making Happy Rolph’s Animal Farm playground the most accessible in St. Catharines.
The Rotary Club of Lancaster-Depew held a COVID-19 socially distanced car cruise in place of the annual Car Show that they typically host in August. Car owners were encouraged to bring their vehicles anytime between 3:00 and 6:00 pm. Following the registration process, they were asked to drive through a course passing three photographers, capturing different angles as they passed by. The event was free, however many made donations to the club which were gratefully accepted. High-resolution photos of their drive with the Rotary International logo embedded are being returned to all the car owners.
uch a challenge to get club members together for an event in these COVID-19 days!!" Confronted by this thought, an energized group of planners under the leadership of Norfolk Sunrise Rotarian Keith Flexman took it upon themselves to organize a pandemic-friendly, car rally - this idea created a wonderful chance to do something together, to remain socially-distant, to discover our own county back-yard, to include our family and friends and to be outside during a perfect end-summer weekend day.
The Rotary Club of Grimsby is participating in World Polio Day, October 24, 2020, by joining other district clubs with a dedicated ‘Pedal for Polio’ Bicycling Team of 9 member riders and support vehicles. The Grimsby Club's overall goal is to raise $3000 USD for the RI Polio Fund. Due to COVID-19 group size restrictions, our club will now be conducting our 22 km tour in the local Grimsby area, in lieu of joining several other clubs on a Niagara River Parkway route. 
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