Submitted by Jim Dilamarter
Rotary’s December Adventures
Rotarians were very busy with lots of events during the last month of 2018. These included the Santa Claus Parade which, once again, thanks to all in our community, was a great success. Santa was pleased and says he looks forward to coming again next year to his favourite spot in Ontario. Members were also involved in helping with the collection and distribution of Christmas baskets from the Food Bank and ringing the Salvation Army Christmas cheer bells in Lion’s Head, collecting money for this great organization that helps so many.
We provided bars for several special dinners at the hall for different groups and thoroughly enjoyed our activities during the month.
We wish everyone a Happy New Year and hope that 2019 will be the best year yet for all.
Rotary Hall Changes
The addition of the new NpCoWork in the Rotary Hall under the coordination of Steve Woeller has been a wonderful asset to our community and to the use of the Hall. Steve joined Rotary and has already been involved in a number of activities with our club.
If you are driving past the Rotary Hall you will notice a change. The house on the north side has been demolished by the Municipality. We are anxious to see how this space will help those who use the hall. It will certainly give us more room on the north side which may be used for parking. We shall see what spring brings.
Club Membership
Our Rotary club has grown to 20 members and we are still excited about the possibility of more. Rotarians have been active on the Bruce Peninsula for over 70 years. We used to have two clubs but, a number of years ago, combined into the one.
Rotary’s motto is: Service Above Self. The organization itself was formed in 1905 and is 114 years old. It started in Evanston, Illinois and now, globally, with 33,000 clubs in over 200 countries and territories. There are over 1.22 million Rotarians around the world.
Rotary Clubs work locally to support their communities and internationally to support those needing assistance. There are a number of special programs that are part of Rotary right now including:
• RYLA – a Rotary Youth Leadership Award program.
• Polio Plus – a program dedicated to the eradication of polio world wide.
• Exchanges and scholarships
• Rotary Peace Centres
• Literacy programs
In future reports I will explain each of these programs so you have some idea of the tremendous outreach and dedication of Rotarians around the world.
Locally, our club has raised hundreds of thousands of dollars over those 70 plus years for our communities here in the Northern Bruce. Support to our hospital, our Doctor’s Centre, our Schools (each year we give four scholarships at BPDS and we provide ribbons for their track programs). We have raised money and built three play centres, one in Ferndale, one at the Lion’s Head Day Care Centre and one at the Beach Park with the help of the Trillium Foundation and others in our community. We organize and support our Santa Claus Parade. We hold Pancake Breakfasts for the community on holiday weekends from May to September. We tend bars for organizations (most Rotarians have Smart Serve Certificates allowing them to serve at bars), and, over the years, we have supported the maintenance of the community hall in Lion’s Head known as the ROTARY HALL. There are countless other programs Rotary has been part of over the years.
We hope you might consider joining our team. We have room for you and need of your expertise. We are open to men and women who have a desire to help others. It’s fun. It keeps you busy. It makes you feel part of our wonderful community. If you are interested, please call our hall at 519 793 4040. Leave us a message and we will contact you OR talk to any Rotarian. A Rotarian will be pleased to sponsor you if you truly want to join our active club.
Movie Nights
Our movie nights are continuing throughout the winter. We have a movie showing at 7:00pm at the Rotary Hall every Friday night. We also have a Sunday matinee at 2:00pm with movies geared to the younger crowd.
The price is $5.00 each or $15.00 for a family. We have soft drinks and hotdogs, popcorn and candy bars available for sale and know that you would enjoy the movie events. Our license does not allow us to advertise the movie titles in newspapers or other such means BUT, we can put the titles on our Facebook page with a description of each movie. Check it out or call our number 519 793 4040 and the movie titles will be on our voice mail.
Those who have attended have enjoyed them. Tell your friends and join us when you can!
