At our recent District 7090 Conference, we celebrated, on Thursday evening, all 25+ clubs that achieved the Rotary Citation. On Saturday, we celebrated clubs that won the Lighthouse Award and one special club (Rotary Club of Fonthill) that won the governor’s trophy for their achievements during the 2020-2021 Rotary year.
I want to see even more clubs achieve the Rotary Citation in this Rotary year!
The Rotary Citation is awarded by Rotary International. It recognizes Rotary clubs that support the strategic priorities of our organization over the course of our current Rotary year - July 1, 2021 to June 30, 2022.
We are all deeply saddened by the sudden passing of Dear Rotarian, PDG Karen Oakes on October 9, 2021. We offer our most Sincere Sympathy to her devoted loving partner, Wolfgang Lindemann, and extended family and close friends. If you did not meet Karen personally, you most certainly benefited from her selfless dedication to many avenues of service within our D7090, and beyond. She had a quiet, yet direct manner that possessed wise counsel and compassion. We always knew we could “Ask Karen” and she would have the answer or support you to get the right answer. She inspired countless Rotarians and members of the community.
Those who knew her personally, cherish the memories and hold many stories of her positive impact on them as Rotarians.
District 7090 Rotarians – we have been challenged again! We met the challenges in 2019 and 2020. Can we meet the challenge in 2021?
In both 2019 and 2020, Thie Convery, Honorary Member, Rotary Club of Dundas Valley Sunrise challenged the clubs in District 7090 to match her contributions to The Rotary Foundation to assist in eradicating polio. The challenges were for $25,000 US and $37,500 US respectively and our District met these challenges.
Fellow Rotarians, Thie is challenging us again this year with a $60,000 US goal. Read on for how you can help!
On behalf of the District 7090 International Service Committee (ISC), I would like to introduce myself as the current committee chair. My name is Jackie Van Lankveld and I am sending out a personal invitation to each of our 7090 clubs to send a representative to our ISC meetings. The next meeting will be on Zoom on December 1st from 6:30pm to 8pm. It is our goal for 100% of the clubs in our District to know that this committee exists and understand what we have to offer.
The Rotary Club of Delhi has lost a family member. Karen Oakes passed suddenly October 9, 2021. When I received the call informing me of her death only a couple hours earlier, I said, “I just emailed her”….
In September the Rotary Club of Simcoe awarded the first annual Jeff Scott Memorial Bursary Fund for the Medical Arts to Caitlin Arrojo, who is in her first year of studies at the University of Western Ontario In London. She is studying to become a medical doctor.
The Rotary Club of Fonthill, along with other clubs in District 7090, participated in a Day of Service as part of the 2021 District Conference. Members had multiple options to choose from, each of which connected with the Environmental Protection Avenue of Service.
The Rotary Club of Westfield-Mayville had the opportunity to hold its club meeting at one of their long time community projects, the Chautauqua Safety Village.
On 16 May '96, the Rotary Club of Norfolk Sunrise was chartered as a new club within District 7090 of Rotary International.
On 18 May '21, with the restrictions of a pandemic upon us, the club celebrated its 25th Anniversary with a special 'zoom' gathering of our members, all being entertained with stories and anecdotes about the club and its beginnings, as told by the founding members still with us.
In conjunction with the District Conference, some Lincoln Rotarians and friends got outside to plant trees around 12 Mile Creek as their service project.
Given Rotary’s new mandate of supporting the environment, in partnership with the Niagara Chapter of Trout Unlimited (TUC), the Rotary Club of Lincoln participated in a tree planting event on Saturday, October 23. The purpose of the tree planting is to restore the forest canopy along the precious 12 Mile Creek, the last cool water stream in Niagara and home to the last Brook Trout in Niagara.
The Rotary Club of Jamestown, NY, has partnered with the Rotary Club of Karachi Sunset Millennium (District 3271) on a joint Rotary polio project for the rehabilitation and improvement of a Polio vaccination center at the Government Marwat Dispensary, Korangi District, Karachi, Pakistan. Located in a densely populated and low-income area of Karachi, this dispensary is providing health facilities to a huge population of the area through male and female OPD administering Polio vaccinations, COVID vaccinations and many health procedures for children.
The dispensary also serves as a facilitation and training center for Polio teams, but its poor and dilapidated condition is both alarming and worrisome.
The Rotary Club of St. Catharines Lakeshore recently held a Food Drive on Friday, October 22 as a District Conference service project to assist the Food4Kids Niagara Program. Club members staffed collection bins at two No Frills stores in St. Catharines from 1 to 5 p.m. The community responded by donating almost $5700 in requested food items and an additional $1050 in monetary donations. The club sends a special shout-out to St. Catharines South for their $1600 value food donation to the drive!
The Rotary Club of Lockport reports on the successful Lockport Cares program which took place on Sunday, October 10, 2021.
26 volunteers from eight community service clubs cooperated in helping Lockport Cares with the collection of goods. Many more club members from the eight clubs also supported the event with drive-by donations.
The Rotary Club of Dunnville, in partnership with the Rotary Club of Arusha has installed Rainwater harvesting at the Emirate Dispensary in Monduli Juu, in Northern Tanzania. The Rotary Club of Waterdown also donated to this cause.
The village has had limited access to water, and the Dispensary had to purchase water to operate. Because of this, they have not had a permanent doctor until recently. All this changed as a result of this Rotary project, which will allow the Dispensary to capture and store 140,000 litres of rain water, using appropriate technology and locally available resources.
The Rotary Club of Hamburg participated October 6, 2021, in the Rotary District 7090 2nd Annual Dr. Ron Mergl Memorial Pedal for Polio sponsoring a duo of Hamburg bicycle riders who rode more than four hours to raise funds in an international effort to eradicate polio.
The bi-national Rotary district united bicyclists on both sides of the Niagara River along the US-Canadian border in Western New York and Southern Ontario a few days earlier on October 2 in 15-mile routes along the Niagara River, but clubs throughout each country also created individual routes over several days.
On October 2, the proudly Bi-National Lewiston/NOTL (Niagara-on-the-Lake) Rotary Club hosted the US leg of the 2nd Annual Dr. Ron Mergl Memorial Pedal for Polio.
This year the Rotary Club of Ancaster AM applied for and obtained a Rotary District Grant to support the Good Shepherd Food Bank. The District Grant is one that matches the club’s contribution up to a maximum of $2,000 US.
If you watch your step, you’ll soon be able to tiptoe through the tulips at Simcoe Park, thanks to work by Rotary Club of Niagara-on-the-Lake and NOTL Parks and Recreation Department in support of the worldwide effort to end polio.
The NOTL Rotary Club planted 600 tulip bulbs in the park on Friday, October 22. It was part of Rotary’s worldwide effort to raise an awareness of polio eradication around the world. NOTL Parks and Recreation Department had made it possible by preparing a flower bed at the entrance to the Simcoe Park and they assisting with planting.
The Rotary Club of Williamsville supported the Buffalo-Niagara Heritage Village (BNHV) by participating in their annual Halloween Trick or Treat on Saturday afternoon, October 23rd.
Due to COVID-19, this event had the costumed children touring the site in a car. Traditional Halloween candies were given to each child by Rotarians at ten distanced stations on the BNHV campus. Some Rotarians were also costumed in character dress to add to the children’s enjoyment and wonder. Resources for the purchase of candy was supplied by Bank on Buffalo and BNHV. Historically, this is a walk-thru event with children stopping by buildings within the reconstructed village on the campus.
The Rotary Club of Niagara Falls, Ontario was extremely fortunate to get the annual golf tournament fundraiser in this October after the original date was cancelled due to the abundance of rain.
It was a great day in the sunshine for golf, prizes and Rotary fun! The club thanks Rotarian Jim Craig and his committee for organizing the tournament.
Grand Island Rotary was proud, yet saddened, to include a special dedication as a rebuilt Gazebo was dedicated in our Town Park on October 18th. The town-constructed Gazebo followed the design Rotary built in 1980’s, which suffered after 40 years of WNY weather. Grand Island Rotary added a Rotary Bench to the Gazebo grounds as a memorial to recently deceased, Charter Member (since 1959) Dr. Robert Miller. His devoted wife, now widow, Shari Miller cut the ribbon to open the bench for use by all Grand Islanders.
Looking on were PDG Richard Earne and President Sherry Miller, plus Town officials.
The Rotary Club of Waterdown has been involved and supporting a Foods4Kids program for the past five years. The goal of the program is to get non-perishables and fresh fruit, vegetables, and bread specifically for the identified child year round. In past years, funding came from Rotary Brunches and local sponsors.
Chris Anderson and Kevin Sixbey, of the Rotary Club of Jamestown as well as Kelly Dawson and Greg Leonard from the Rotary Club of Greater Jamestown AM, and Jim Andrews of the Rotary Club of Falconer participated in the 2nd Annual Pedal for Polio event on Saturday, October 23rd, 2021. Other riders and friends of Rotary, including Jake Schrantz and John O'Hagan, also participated in the bike ride to raise funds to help eradicate polio.
On October 20th, the Rotary Club of St. Catharines South hosted their first in person gathering of the year. What better way to celebrate than by awarding well deserved Rotarians with a Paul Harris Fellow?! Congratulations to Robert Eagle (joined via Zoom), Dan Toppari, Matt Taylor, Georgette Taylor, Lisa Raham and Julio Batres-Gavidia.
During the summer of 2021, the Rotary Club of Brantford Sunrise approached the Brant County Health Unit about recognizing individuals who went above and beyond during the pandemic. The BCHU named seven key contributors, and as a result, those individuals were recognized as Paul Harris Fellows in front of their peers.
The club also presented a Certificate of Appreciation to Brant County Health Unit to recognize their tireless efforts over the past couple of years.
No… we are not sitting here idly reminiscing about Olivia Newton-John’s infamous 80s hit! It is our theme for this month’s District 7090 November Newsletter! Members from our club got “physical” participating in various fundraisers in the name of Rotary.
Rotary members in Ukraine are helping neighbors return to their homes, distributing supplies from other countries, and organizing long-term aid — all despite being affected by the war
Across Europe, Rotaract members are using digital tools to share information and coordinate to help people who have been affected by the war in Ukraine
Six Rotary members were honored in March as People of Action: Champions of Girls’ Empowerment during Rotary Day with UNICEF in New York City. This distinction recognizes the honorees’ commitment to improving girls’ access to education, health, and sanitation and hygiene resources, as well as their work to create environments where girls can flourish.
Two cargo planes packed with tons of medical equipment have already been flown from Chicago, USA, to Ukraine where members helped to unload the supplies.
Rotary responds to the humanitarian crisis caused by the war in UkraineEVANSTON, ILL,. April 5, 2022 – Rotary announced today that it has raised more than $7 million to support locally-led relief efforts
At Café Voca, Nathan Kim and three other autistic youths have been learning to handle the responsibilities and developing the social skills that they’ll need for other jobs.