Stories
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The Rotary Lottery Calendar Fundraiser is Back!!The Rotary Lottery Calendar Fundraiser is back for 2025! This year beneficiaries are the Alliston Highschool Robotics Club, the Alliston Food Bank and the community of New Tecumseth through the Rotary Club of Alliston.
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Exclusive Rotary Club of Alliston Portugal TripThe Rotary Club of Alliston has arranged a custom tour to Portugal for its members and our families, friends and neighbors in 2-10 April 2025.
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50th Anniversary Potato Festival ParadeThe Alliston Potato Festival has been a family-focused event since 1973. Full of fun, history, and community! If you haven’t experienced it and the amazing organizations that help bring it to life, put it in your Calendar for 2024. It’s our Celebration Year and it is going to be the best festival yet!! In 1972 Davis Willis planted the seed to host a festival celebrating community and the opportunity for all local organizations to work together. Continuously supported by the Rotary and Alliston Lions from day 1, the motion sprouted and has evolved and continued to grow and become better year after year. What’s cool about it is that it’s not just your usual festival. You’ve got your weekend covered, with a beer garden and awesome entertainment, to fun stuff like the baby show, petting zoo, and Trillium Ford Mustang showcase. |
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Longtime Rotary Member - Ed Zelinski TributeThe Rotary club of Alliston grieves the loss of prominent long time Rotary Member Ed Zelinski. Colleen Kotnisz has written a beautiful tribute to Ed.
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Rotary Club of Alliston supports Mother based school in BangladeshRotary Club of Alliston sponsors one of the Amarok Society's mother based schools in Bangladesh. Please check out the letter from Parvin, our sponsored mother, for some of the amazing things that are happening in their community of Dhaka. |
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Rotary Roadside Refuse Clean-up on May 6thCome and join the Rotary Club of Alliston on May 6, 2024 from 6:00-7:00pm. We are collecting refuse from the side of the road along highway 89.
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Rotary Sponsored - Free Public Skate in AllistonOn the 8th of March, the Rotary Club of Alliston sponsored a free public skating session at the New Tecumseth Recreation Centre in Alliston. |
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Rotary and the Banting Robotics ClubOver the past two years, Rotary member Felix Kaechele has paid a weekly visit to the Banting Robotics Club, an after-hours robot-building workshop that gives a group of Banting Memorial High School students some real-world practical experience in STEM applications.
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Rotary Donation to My Sister's PlaceThe Community Service Committee of the Rotary Cub of Alliston recently
made a donation to My Sister's Place, a shelter for abused women and their children. |
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Tottenham Free Skate sponsored by RotaryOn Saturday, February 17th, the Rotary Club of Alliston sponsored a free
public skate in Tottenham. |
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Alliston Free Skate Sponsored by RotaryOn Friday night, March 8th, the Rotary Club of Alliston is sponsoring a free 90-minute skate beginning at 5:30 PM at the New Tecumseth Recreation Centre in Alliston.
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Volunteer Fair 2024The Rotary Club of Alliston's 2nd Annual Volunteer Fair was held on
Saturday, 10 February at the Alliston Memorial Arena. |
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Carnation delivery to long-term care homesTo celebrate Valentine's Day, and to provide a touch of warmth and caring
to the residents of Alliston's long-term care homes, the Rotary Club of Alliston delivered carnations to three homes the morning of Valentines Day |
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Join us at Winterfest 2024❄️We’ll be at Winterfest on Saturday, 3 February at the New Tecumseth Recreation Centre from 11:30 AM and 4:00 PM. Come out and say hi. The Rotary club will have a table inside the arena lobby.
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Rotarian Profile - Andrew |
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Alliston Rotary brings clean water to a family in Laos |
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Club AwardsPresident Brian Carmichael handed out Club Awards to Rotarians at the Clubs annual Christmas Party.
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Daily Lottery CalendarsThe Rotary Club of Alliston is excited to be working on the 2024 Rotary Lottery Calendar project.
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Giving Tuesday is November 28, 2023Giving Tuesday is November 28, 2023. Please consider giving to the Rotary Foundation of Canada or a local charity.
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Letter from Parvin |
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Country Music Concert - Jessica Sole |
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Paul Harris Fellowship AwardsEvery year the Rotary Club of Alliston presented Paul Harris Fellowships to members and non-member who have provide great service to the club and the community.
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2023 Rotary Foundation Walk |
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Rotary Club of Alliston - Social BBQThe Rotary Club of Alliston held a social BBQ last night for members and
their families. It was generously hosted by new member Gary Banting at the Nottawasaga Haven Campground. |
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Abilities In Motion (AIM) Regatta 2023On 18 and 19 August, the volunteers from the Rotary Club of Alliston helped Andy Owens of Abilities in Motion stage AIM’s annual regatta. Clients of AIM’s constituent organizations, such as CLASS, use adaptive paddling in canoes and kayaks to get much needed exercise and time outdoors. |
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Saturday’s Kid Zone at the Fairgrounds |
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The Alliston Potato Festival ParadeThe Rotary Club of Alliston's parade float, assembled by members Punnapa Hartley and Gary Banting
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Letter from ParvinRotary Club of Alliston sponsors a Mother based micro school in Bangladesh through the Amarok Society. See below a letter from Parvin and photos of her, students and colleagues. |
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Country Music ConcertThe Rotary Club of Alliston, with the support of McDonalds, is sponsoring a country music concert for the community at the Gibson Centre for Community, Arts and Culture on Wednesday evening, 20 September. |
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New Member InductionPresident Brian Carmichael welcomes Roy as the newest member of the Rotary Club of Alliston.
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Winners of the 2023 Paul Harris BursariesThis year their were 2 recipients of the Paul Harris Bursary's and 1 recipient of the Lamp of Learning Bursary which were presented by the Rotary Club of Alliston. |
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New Story |
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Rotary Club of Alliston and Lions Club New SignsThe Rotary Club of Alliston partnered with the Alliston Lions to design and erect four welcoming signs to recognize the contributions of both clubs to the community.
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RYLS
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Rotary Calendar Sales help CLASS to purchase a Wheelchair SwingDuring Rotary Club of Alliston's successful 2023 Calendar/Lottery project at the end of 2022, we raised the funds for the $2,646 grant requested by the Community Living Association of South Simcoe.
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Rotary Donates to CONTACT for Families in needAs the chair of the Rotary's Community Service Committee, George Scott presented a cheque for $1,000 to CONTACT Community Services. |
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Rotary donates to YMCA Day Camp at Earl Rowe ParkOn Wednesday, 24 May, the Rotary Club of Alliston presented a cheque for $1,250 in response to a grant request by the YMCA of Simcoe/Muskoka to support the YMCA Day Camp at Earl Rowe Provincial Park.
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Rotary Club of Alliston sponsors school in BangladeshRotary Club of Alliston is proud to sponsor a school in Bangladesh for mothers. The mothers learn and then in turn teach their children and neighbours children. The Amarok Society is a Canadian charity and they are teaching Parvin (our sponsored Mother) and she is teaching children and helping others in her community. Please read her latest letter below. Visit the Amarok Society for more information about their schools.
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Rotary Club of Alliston sponsorship of new van for the Good Shepherd Food BankRotary Club of Alliston donates $5000 towards the purchase of a new refrigerated van for the Good Shepherd Food Bank in Alliston. |
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Rotary Pitches in for Earth WeekRotary Club of Alliston, family, friends and volunteers from Banting Memorial High School and New Tecumseth community pitch in during Earth Week to pick up garbage along Highway 89.
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May is Youth Services MonthRotary Theme for May is Youth Services. Rotary Club of Alliston provides opportunities for youth leadership training(RYLA), scholarships for post secondary education students from Banting Memorial High School, Interact Club(Rotary for High School aged students) and sponsorship of services of MOBYSS(Mobile primary and mental health services to youth aged 12-25).
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Rotary Sponsored Team in Grate Groan Up Spelling BeeThe Rotary Club of Alliston sponsored a team in the Grate Groan Up Spelling Bee to support literacy in our community. |
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Rotary Club of Alliston members to tour Museum on the BoyneThe Rotary Club of Alliston presented a cheque for the Museum and a thank you to Katie for her excellent tour. |
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Tour of the Good Shepherd Food Bank in AllistonRotary Club of Alliston members were given a tour of the Good Shepherd Food Bank on Monday, March 13 by Jaime Karsch, Operations Manager, Good Shepherd Food Bank in Alliston.
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March is Water, Sanitation and Hygiene Month for Rotary |
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K-9 Training - Guest speaker Tony PallottaOur guest speaker on May 8th was Tony Pallotta, Working K9's Founder and Head Trainer. Tony started training dogs in 1993, with over 25 years of experience thus far, his knowledge and experience has made him a leader within his industry. Like most it is not uncommon he started out in obedience training and found within him the passion and desire to learn, absorb and to become more competent and proficient within.
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Rotary Sends Aid to Türkiye and SyriaA 7.8 magnitude earthquake struck south-eastern Türkiye and Syria on the morning of Monday February 6th followed by a second earthquake with a magnitude of 7.5. Over 45,000 people have been found dead after the devastating earthquakes.
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Rotary Club of Alliston helps MOBYSSRotary Club of Alliston made a donation of $2000 to the Canadian Mental Health Association to support MOBYSS. Rotarians and CMHA staff are pictured in front of MOBYSS at Banting Memorial High School. MOBYSS is a mobile walk in health clinic for youth ages 12-25. The MOBYSS bus visits schools in South Simcoe and York Region. Youth can visit the bus and speak to medical and mental health care professionals in a safe and welcoming environment. The mobile walk-in clinic(bus) is staffed by a nurse practitioner, youth mental health worker and peer support specialist. All services are free and confidential. For more information please visit this link. |
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Flowers for Seniors on Valentine's DayRotary Club of Alliston brought some happiness and flowers to seniors in 3 local Long Term Care and Retirement Facilities in New Tecumseth. Photos courtesy of John McFarland. Rotarians and staff at Riverwood Seniors Living with flowers for residents on Valentine's Day Rotarians, staff and residents at Aspira Kingsmere Retirement Living Rotarians and staff at the Good Samaritan Senior's Complex The Rotary Club of Alliston thanks Berns Flowers for their generous discount to help us to bring the flowers to our seniors.
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Our Rotary FoundationThe speaker for our February 13 meeting(7pm at Gibson Centre) is our President Elect Brian Carmichael. He will take us on a journey to explore the growth of our Rotary Foundation from an initial donation of $26.50 to beIng the world leader and champion of the efforts to create a world that is totally free of Polio. Brian will also highlight the passion of Rotarians who have helped make a difference in the world. Rotarian Deb who brought literacy to Guatemala. Why Rotarian Doug lived for 6 months in a Zambian leper colony. Brian will also shed light on our own club's International involvement including the Ukraine where the Alliston Rotary Club has been a part of the over $15 million that has been raised to help the efforts of this country deal with the many challenges of the war.
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Rotary Sponsors Free Skating for March Break and Family DayFirst time on skates at the March Break Rotary Sponsored Free Skate on March 16 at the New Tecumseth Recreation Centre in Alliston Photo Courtesy of Marg Barber |
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Rotary Club of Alliston's inaugural volunteer fair a great successOn 25 January, 2023, the Rotary Club of Alliston hosted their first annual Volunteer Fair at the Alliston Memorial Arena, which was graciously donated to the Club free of charge. The Volunteer Fair was designed to showcase our community’s charitable and service organizations which depend on the participation of volunteers for staffing. Did it ever! With over 200 attendees and 17 organizations, it was buzzing all day long and you could feel the collaborative vibe in the air.
17 organizations were present this year:
It took a lot of effort to get this event off the ground and running smoothly! The planning committee consisted of Rotarians Brian Carmichael, Rachael Tracey and Colleen Kotnisz. Many thanks also to Rotarians Patricia Middlebrook, Bill Wray, Margaret Barber, and Felix Kaechele for volunteering at the event! |
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Rotary Steps Up to Help Distribute Food
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Getting to Know Matthews House HospiceMathews House Hospice in Alliston(photo courtesy of Mathews House Hospice) Margaret Bachle, CEO Matthews House Hospice, was our guest speaker on Monday, February 27, 2023. Margaret Bachle is the current Chief Executive officer at Matthews house. She has been a volunteer and a Board member previously at Matthews House. In her past she was the Vice President of Patient Care Services and the Chief Nursing Officer at Credit Valley Hospital in Mississauga for 23 years. For more information on Matthews House Hospice visit their website
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All Wheels Legacy Project in New TecumsethProposed Design of All Wheels Legacy Project Riverdale Park in Alliston PC Joseph Chamberlain was our guest speaker on January 9, 2023. PC Chamberlain was join by one of his student project representatives. They spoke to members and guests about the All Wheels Legacy Project in New Tecumseth. For more information on the project visit: https://www.allwheelslegacyproject.com/
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Rotary Club of Alliston donates $10,000 to SMHFSMHF Director Dave Green, Rotary President Patricia Middlebrook, CEO of SMHF Mary Thomas and Rotarian Colleen Kotnisz Rotary Club of Alliston donated $10,000 towards it's five year commitment of $50,000 for Stevenson Memorial Hospital Redevelopment. This forth installment cheque was presented this week by Rotary President Patricia Middlebrook to the CEO of the Stevenson Memorial Hospital Foundation Mary Thomas.
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Volunteer Fair - Alliston - January 21, 2023 The Rotary Club of Alliston is pleased to announce the first-ever Volunteer Fair in support of community organizations in New Tecumseth and Simcoe County. The Volunteer Fair is designed to showcase our community’s charitable and service organizations which depend on the participation of volunteers for staffing. On 21 January 2023, 15 tables will be set up in the Community Hall on the second floor of the Alliston Arena on Nelson Street, featuring representatives from select organizations. Members of the community are invited to attend from 10:00 AM to 4:00 PM to learn about the important services each organization provides and find out how they can play a role in helping others in their community. “Our volunteers are crucial to our success as an organization,” explained Barbara Barta, Manager of Marketing and Communications at the Community Living Association of South Simcoe (CLASS). “We couldn’t operate without them. And so this Rotary Volunteer Fair is an important forum for us to tell our story and enlist new recruits.” “We’re pleased to have CLASS join us on the 21st,” added Brian Carmichael, President-Elect of the Rotary Club of Alliston and the lead organizer for this event. “Along with Matthews House, Stevenson Memorial Hospital Foundation, S.H.I.F.T and many others, there are so many charities and service organizations doing great work in our community. We want to help them attract more people who will join their teams of dedicated volunteers in making a difference in their community.” Residents of New Tecumseth and the surrounding region are invited to drop in and learn about these important organizations which add so much to the quality of life we enjoy here. Coffee and tea will be served and there is no charge to attend. Organizations that will be at the Volunteer Fair:
For further information: Brian Carmichael, Event Chair Rotary Club of Alliston 226-966-4350 |
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Update - Karantina Hospital in BeirutBack in December 2020 the Rotary Club of Alliston donated $1000 USD to this Global Grant Project. The article below is an update that was written by Steve Rutledge and posted on the District 7070 website. The Karantina Hospital in Beirut, severely damaged by the port explosion in August 2020, is pretty close to reopening next month, thanks to support from NGO's and Rotary Clubs throughout Canada and many other countries in the world. With the support from Rotary International, we were able to provide life saving equipment for the pediatric operating theatre along with beds, tables, lights etc. Yesterday, the green light was given for the operating theatre light. Soon young patients will arrive for free or low cost, life saving surgery. Thank You Rotary for all you do! Read more to see some of the photos..... Beirut Karantina Hospital Global Grant Initiative - THANK YOU TO THE ROTARY CLUBS IN ROTARY DISTRICT 7070 Thank you to Whitby-Sunrise Rotarian Steve Rutledge for leading the way for Rotary Clubs in District 7070 and all over Canada to make this possible. We are thrilled to announce that $391,400 USD was raised for the Global Grant to replace critical Operating Theatre Equipment and electric beds for the pediatric/neonatal ward of the Karantina Hospital, Beirut's only public hospital. 28 Clubs from District 7070 participated, along with 32 Canadian Clubs across the country supported with approximately half of the funds. In total, 155 Clubs around the world participated with Canada leading the way by a wide margin! The application has now been locked, authorized and submitted for review by RI. Thousands of people worldwide assisted in raising funds. Thank You for putting Service Above Self. |
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Christmas Card and Thank you from Amarok SocietyDear Rotary Club of Alliston members, I just wanted to thank you again for having Gem speak to your club in November, and for your club's support of our organization over the years -- it means the world to us. And if any members would like to sign up to receive the first book of Gem's series for free, along with other immersive content to go along with it, they can do so by emailing me either at this email address or at tangentbookscanada@gmail.com. Warmly, Grace Amarok Society Teach Mothers to Teach the World #300 - 10328 81st Ave NW, Edmonton, Alberta T6E 1X2 (250) 305-4848 |
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Rotary Club of Alliston volunteers for Christmas KettleRotarian Darlene Hunter was one of the 7 volunteers who raised $2551.10 for the Salvation Army's Christmas Kettle. Thank you to all the volunteers and to Zehrs for offering the space in store. Salvation Army was very glad of the Rotary Club of Alliston's help. "Thank you to all the Rotarians who took time out of their Saturday to help raise much needed funds for the area".
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Thank you VolunteersGeorge Scott and Marg Barber, members of the Rotary Club of Alliston, are two of the many volunteers that have helped make this fundraising campaign successful. A huge Thank You to all our membership and and volunteers from the Community Living Association of South Simcoe(CLASS) and the community of New Tecumseth. The 3rd annual Lottery Ticket/ Cash Calendar Fundraiser for CLASS and the Rotary Club of Alliston's Charitable Fund is complete. Together we sold 820 tickets and raised $16,400.00!! The revenue will fulfill the Club's donation to CLASS for the platform wheelchair swing and the Rotary Club of Alliston's Charitable Fund. The Rotary Club of Alliston will use the funds to give back into organizations in our community. The Rotary Club of Alliston members and volunteers from CLASS have been selling Calendars and Daily Cash Lottery Tickets for the last 6 weeks. All proceeds go back into our community of New Tecumseth. These fundraising events could never happen without the volunteers and the hours they gladly give back to the community. Thank you to all the local businesses and their staff for their help and support. Rotarian Jan Clayson selling Calendar/Lottery Tickets in Canadian Tire, Alliston. |
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Update - Help Bring Light , Warmth and Hope to UkraineWe have had a great response from our community! Thanks to you we were able to send $30,000 to the Rotary Club of Rivne, Ukraine. This money will be used to provide for humanitarian aid. Background information: We recently received an email update of the situation in Rivne, Ukraine. Our friends in Ukraine are facing a very tough winter with heating and power disruptions on a regular basis. They are tired and struggling to meet all the requests for aid that are coming in to the club. But they continue to work hard and help as they can. During this season of giving, we are proud and thankful to our community to help bring light, warmth and hope to Rivne and other communities in Ukraine by providing funds to purchase medicine, generators and other supplies to assist the Ukrainian people this winter. |
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Santa visits Alliston - 2022A big thank you to all the Rotarians and volunteers who helped bring Santa to town on November 19, 2022. A special thanks to the Town of New Tecumseth staff, the OPP officers and the EMS staff who kept us all safe. The participants in the parade did a great job with amazing displays of lights and sounds. Thank you to President Bill Wray for all his time putting together the parade. Bill and son Nate setting up the Parade Float markers on Saturday before the parade. Thank you to the Rotary Interact members for carrying the Rotary Banner. Photo by Punnapa Hartley Winners for 2022 are…
Thanks again. Rotary Club of Alliston |
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Keep MOBYSS in Motion – Youth Mental Health Support in our CommunityCatherine Matzig, Senior Director, Philanthropy, Canadian Mental Health Association York and South Simcoe spoke to Rotary Club of Alliston on Monday, January 9, 2023 at the Gibson Centre. Catherine Matzig spoke passionately about the Mental Health Services for youth in our community. In order to reach youth at the various schools in our area the MOBYSS Bus travels to schools to offer a variety of health services to young people aged 12-25. For more information about MOBYSS, please visit their website. |
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Rotary 12th Night Bonfire Returns to AllistonRotary Club of Alliston 12th Night Bonfire on 7th of January, 2023. The Rotary Club of Alliston with the help of our many partners hosted the 12th Night Bonfire. It was last held in January 2020, just before COVID shut down almost all of our community service activities. Thank you to the community for coming out for this event. We estimate that about 400 people attended. Our Rotary Club of Alliston thanks the Town of New Tecumseth for their support and the New Tecumseth Fire department for lighting the fire and keeping everyone safe. Thank you to Nu-Tek Electric, Cookstown for the lights and generator. The Rotary Club of Palgrave loaned us the use of their chuckwagon to help serve hot dogs and hot chocolate. Hot Dogs are generously provided by Country Meat Cuts, Utopia and the Hot Chocolate was provided by the Tim Hortons, Dunham Drive, Alliston. Thank you to Alex MacKenzie for the loan of straw bales for seating. Special thanks to Rotarian George Scott for leading the event and to all the Rotary volunteers for your work to bring back the 12th Night Bonfire. Rotary Volunteers Colleen Kotnisz, Brad and Nancy O'Neill selling hot dogs and hot chocolate Thank you to the New Tecumseth Firefighters |
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Rotary Project in LaosRotarian Steve Rutledge spoke to the Rotary Club of Alliston with an update about the Rotary Global Grant Project in Beirut and to share the Adopt a Village Projects in Laos. Steve Rutledge spent his career as co-owner of a mid sized computer company in Toronto. Since retirement he has narrowed his focus on local and international community support. Steve has served on several boards and committees in Port Hope including the Municipal Culture Committee, Parks, Rec and Culture Committee, Skatepark committee, Capitol Theatre Board of Directors and others. He has received two civic awards, the latest for philanthropy and is a multiple Paul Harris award recipient for his efforts (Port Hope, Whitby Sunrise and Beirut Cosmopolitan) and awarded the Spirit of Rotary award in 2016. In 2018, he received the Family and Community Service award from the Rotary Club of Courtice. His most recent award was the Bob Scott Disease Prevention award from Rotary District 7070 in June 2020. With his partner they created a number of large events including one they held in their home netting $61,000 for the Capitol theatre and another town event for 6000 people. For the last 12 years Steve has ventured into Laos serving the rural villagers with the most basic of needs for sustained life. Since 2009, Adopt A Village in Laos has completed over 65 villages with filtered water one family at a time, serving over 32,000 rural villagers, constructed 24 permanent water supplies, repaired numerous others, built over 40 banks of toilets, 12 school construction projects and continues to sponsor a host of primary, secondary and university students. After the Beirut port explosion in 2020, Mr. Rutledge chaired the international sponsoring partner club committee (Whitby Sunrise club) and raised approximately $240,000 from 60 clubs towards a global grant to replace operating theatre equipment for Beirut’s only public hospital. Steve is also co-Chair of the International Committee at Whitby Sunrise and sits on the District 7070 Water and Sanitation Committee. For more information on the Water Filter program please click to get the brochure. |
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Letter from Parvin, October /22Parvin with her Micro School Children in Bangladesh The Rotary Club of Alliston supports Parvin from Bangladesh to attend school and to teach her own children as well as other children in her neighbourhood. The club is able to support education through the Amarok Society. For more information about the Amarok Society, please visit their Website All are welcome to hear more about the Amarok Society at our club meeting on Monday, November 21st at 7pm at the Gibson Centre when our guest speaker will be Gem Munro, Co-Founder of the Amarok Society. Please take a moment to read a letter from Parvin. Parvin at her School learning with other Teaching Mothers October 2022 Parvin, Dhaka, Bangladesh Dear members of the Rotary Club of Alliston, I always feel happy to share with you about my family, school, micro-school and the present situation in my country. We are fine and hope you are well too. I feel happy by helping my neighbors when they come to me for any support. But I was not like this before; I used to go to people to get support like reading something for me, taking advice and such but nobody came to me as I was illiterate. When we were admitted to Amarok Mother School that time our teacher had to inspire us to talk, ask questions, and share opinions in the classroom but I felt ashamed to talk. But now I can talk logically and freely share my opinions in the classroom, I am confident and strong now. Our Mother School has made the changes by educating, training and awareness. My son Rahat studies in a science group. He is studying hard aiming for a good result in academic exams. I always take care of him, including other members of my family. Few days ago, I noticed that Rahat was not attentive in studies, coming back home late and noticed some other changes in him. I asked him but he didn’t say anything to me. The next day I went to his school five minutes before break hour. He didn’t see me but I was observing him from a distance. Suddenly I saw him going outside with some boys. I did not follow them but asked again when he returned home but the same result, he didn’t open up to me. Then I shared the issue with my friends Rohima, Tania, and Minara. They shared this matter with our school teacher Hasnur Apa. Our teacher advised us to arrange a few ’adolescent group meetings’ in our slum to build a good relationship with them, listen to them and share with the adolescent groups about their strengths, possible risks, dos & don’ts. We also invited some sensible parents to talk positively. We continued such small group discussion for the next 2 months and noticed that changes were coming to their behavior. I can see my son Rahat coming back home in time, playing with friends, and being attentive in studies. I have 20 hens and 15 ducks. I have kept them in two cages, during the night I put the cages inside of my room and take them out in the morning for the day time for feeding. You will be happy to know that 10 hens and 6 ducks are giving eggs. I am getting an average 15 eggs per day and sell them at a good price mostly from my home. I spend some of it on the education of my son and save some to buy a baby-goat for rearing. So, my husband is very happy for me. My younger son also takes care of them. I told you about my small vegetable garden but in the rainy season and because of water logging there are no vegetables. Because it is a low land area and my garden went under the water for a few days. The rainy season is almost over and I am preparing to sow new seeds in a couple of weeks to get winter vegetables. I hope this year more vegetables will grow as I have experienced in the past. Parvin in her Garden My Micro school is going well. All five children are enjoying their studies. They are very interested in learning English because I use interactive materials & methods for my teaching. They are learning by singing, playing and drawing. Thanks for supporting me and developing my life. Your lovingly, Parvin |
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Rotary District 7070 Conference 2022
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Remembrance Day Presentation 2022Captain Rachael Tracey, Commanding Officer RCSCC(Royal Canadian Sea Cadet Corps) 53 Barrie (right) spoke to the Rotary Club of Alliston about Remembrance Day on Monday, November 7, 2022 at 7pm at the Gibson Centre. LC Soloman Mooij (left) and MC Ethan Wickson (centre) both 3rd year cadets of RCSCC 53 Barrie were guests for the evening. Captain Tracey's presentation was courtesy of the National Veterans' Week Speakers Program. Captain Tracey's presentation recognized the contribution of all Canadian Armed Forces veterans, past and present, who have served their country. Thank you to all members of the CAF past and present for your service.
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World Polio Day - October 24, 2022 - thank you RotaryLetter from the President: As October 24, 2022, World Polio Day, approaches, I want to thank all of the Rotary Club members around the world, and in particular, to the 25,700 women and men of the 737 Rotary Clubs right here in Canada, and to the members of the Rotary Club of Alliston right here in Alliston, Ontario, that kept their promise to all of the children of the world when we decided, in 1985, to make Polio Eradication, our Number One Priority. When Rotary and its partners launched the Global Polio Eradication Initiative in 1985, polio paralyzed 1,000 children every day. We’ve made great progress against the disease since then. Polio cases have dropped by 99.9 percent, from 350,000 cases in 1988 in 125 countries to 29 cases of wild poliovirus in 2022 in Afghanistan, Pakistan and Mozambique. And we remain committed to the end. Since 1985, Rotary has contributed US$2.1 billion, and its members have logged countless volunteer hours to help immunize more than 3 billion children. If polio isn’t stopped now, the disease could stage a comeback, affecting an estimated 200,000 children every year. To sustain this progress, and protect all children from polio, Rotary has committed to raising US $50 million per year in support of global polio eradication efforts. The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation will match Rotary’s commitment 2:1. Rotary is a global network of 1.4 million neighbours, friends, leaders, and problem-solvers who unite and take action to create lasting change in communities around the globe. For more than 110 years, Rotary’s people of action have used their passion, energy, and intelligence to improve lives through service. From promoting literacy and peace to providing clean water and improving health care, Rotary members are always working to better the world. Please visit https://www.endpolio.org/ to learn more about Rotary and the fight to eradicate polio. Signed, Bill Wray |
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Remembrance Day ProgramCaptain Rachael Tracey will be our guest speaker on Monday, November 7 at 7pm at the Gibson Centre, Alliston. Guests are welcome. Captain Tracey will be joined by some of the Sea Cadets. My name is Captain Rachael Tracey. I am a Reserve (part-time) member of the Canadian Armed Forces as Cadet Instructors Cadre Officer within the Cadet Organizations Administration and Training Service sub-component. I have been enrolled as an Officer since November 2011. I am currently the Commanding Officer of Royal Canadian Sea Cadet Corps 53 Barrie (named after the HMCS Barrie, a WWII Flower Corvette funded by the citizens of Barrie). Before assuming Command this past June, I was the Corps Training Officer, responsible for planning and implementing the Corps yearly training schedule. Prior to moving to CFB Borden and joining RCSCC Barrie, I was an active member of 851 “Prince Edward” Royal Canadian Air Cadet Squadron in Picton, ON (where I ran the gamut from Supply Officer to Admin Officer to Trg O and occasional Officer Commanding) and 608 “Duke of Edinburgh” Royal Canadian Air Cadet Squadron (where I was the Admin O and Unit Cadet Conflict Management Advisor). 608 was also where I first served in the Canadian Cadet Organization as a Cadet myself from 2003 until 2009, when I had a brief stint as an Officer in the Regular Forces (permanent full-time) component of the CAF. In my civilian life, I am a full-time member of the Federal Public Service with the Department of National Defence, currently working at the Regional Cadet Support Unit (Central) at CFB Borden. I am also the Founder of Youth Beyond Enterprises, the online resource for rural young entrepreneurs and young leaders, as well as a Director on Nottawasaga Futures’ Board of Directors. |
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Amarok SocietyGem Munro, Co-Founder of the Amarok Society Gem Munro of the Amarok Society was our speaker on November 21st at the Gibson Centre. Gem Munro has devoted his life and career to improving educational opportunities for disadvantaged people across Canada and abroad. Pursuit of this objective carried him into residence in unfortunate communities across most of Canada, before carrying him overseas. He is presently a Director of Amarok Society, a registered Canadian charity that provides education programmes to the very poor in Bangladesh. As well, Gem is a bestselling author and artist whose new book, And Where the Wind Spun Them, follows the epic adventures of a resourceful girl and her courageous little brother who struggle, by wit and grit, to overcome the perils and extreme disadvantages of their lives. (Sale of his books is a major fundraiser for Amarok Society.) For their work, Gem and his wife, Dr Tanyss Munro, were recipients of Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medals. For more information please visit https://www.amaroksociety.org/ |
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Building a Strong Seniors Care SystemPhilippa Welch was guest speaker at the Rotary Club of Alliston's club meeting on Monday, September 26 at the Gibson Centre. Philippa Welch, MA,RN GNC(c), LNC Vice President, Regional Operations Sienna Senior Living Philippa has enjoyed a career in long term care that has allowed her to fulfill a variety of positions and leadership roles in both clinical and operations roles. Philippa is a Registered Nurse with an undergraduate degree in Sociology and Management from the University of Waterloo and a Masters Degree in Leadership from the Gordon Lang School of Economics. She also holds credentials as a Certified Administrator, Lean Six Sigma Green Belt, Canadian Nurses Association Certification in Gerontology, and Legal Nurse Consultant. In leadership roles, Philippa has led the successful opening, transition, and operations of many long term care facilities, including management relationships with municipal and hospital providers. She has over 30 years’ experience in senior’s care. Her roles have included leadership positions in long term care in municipal, charitable, and for profit environments and operating her own consulting business. Through this experience, Philippa has developed a focused vision of person centred care and the role that long term care plays in the greater health system. Philippa is committed to promoting strategic health system integration that will promote effective operations and celebrate expert leadership in long term care and is an advocate of leadership development for all professionals contributing to this sector. |
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Community Living Association of South SimcoeHeather Barzo and Barbie Barta gave an Overview of the Community Living Association of South Simcoe on Monday, Sept. 12 to our club members at the Gibson Centre. Rotary Club of Alliston has our upcoming Calendar and Daily Lottery ticket sales. One of the charitable organizations chosen this year is CLASS. They are planning to purchase a wheelchair swing with the proceeds. Heather Barzo Heather Barzo has a Recreation Leadership Diploma and Developmental Service Worker Diploma. She has worked for CLASS for 29 years. She started frontline for 6 years in a few different group homes and then joining the Management team. Currently Heather supervises the Community Participation programs for adults and youth. We strive to support people to make connections in the community, gain employment, participate in many different recreational activities, and give back through volunteering. Bio for Barbie Barta Barbie Barta has a Business Management Degree with a major in marketing from Ryerson University. Barbie has worked in the non-profit charitable sector for over two decades in fundraising, event planning and marketing.
Barbie is the Marketing and Communications Manager for CLASS overseeing events, fundraising, newsletters, and social media. |
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Alliston Potato Festival Parade 2022The Rotary Club of Alliston and the Alliston Potato Festival Committee presented the Alliston Potato Festival Parade on August 5, 2022. For more photos click here. Or watch the video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RVvQQYseMVs |
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Rotary District 7070 Governor Iosif CiosaThe Rotary Club of Alliston welcomed our District 7070 Governor Iosif Ciosa at our club meeting at the Gibson Centre on Monday, August 29. Other guests were 4 members of the Rotary Club of Kleinburg, Nobleton and Schomberg. DG Iosif Ciosa spoke about the Rotary year ahead for our district. He introduced members to the Rotary Theme for the year "Imagine Rotary". DG Iosif talked about meeting Rotary International President Jennifer Jones. RI President Jennifer Jones is Canadian and is the first women president of Rotary International. Rotary Club of Alliston President Bill Wray thanking District Governor Iosif Ciosa Photo by John McFarland Iosif Ciosa, District 7070 Governor 2022-23 Iosif joined Rotary in 2012 at the suggestion of a former member who recognized in Iosif a commitment to, and a passion for, the values for which Rotary stands. In the years since, Iosif has truly embraced the “Service above Self” motto by serving in many capacities across Rotary. In 2014, just two years after joining, he became the 64th President of the Rotary Club of Toronto Forest Hill. At the District Level, he has served on multiple committees and, as Assistant District Governor, supported the Rotary Clubs of Bay-Bloor, Toronto West, Parkdale-High Park-Humber and Toronto-Danforth. In late 2015, the Rotary Club of Toronto Forest Hill presented Iosif with the Paul Harris Recognition. More recently, he served on the board of Boxing Ontario in the role of Director of Marketing. Currently, he is honoured to have been asked to serve as President of the Rotary Club of Etobicoke in the year the club is celebrating its 90th anniversary. Iosif’s academic achievements include a Bachelor of Arts from Wilfrid Laurier University in Waterloo, Ontario, a Masters in Diplomatic Studies from Leicester University in England and a Masters in Business Administration with a focus on International Business and Marketing from both the University of Nottingham in England and the WHU – Otto Beisheim School of Management in Germany. In his professional life, Iosif is a dynamic and results-driven Business Development Consultant, agile in seizing opportunities that drive growth and revenues. He is an innovative thinker who identifies new and better ways to drive business growth while managing the delicate interplay among strategy, marketing, relationship management and sales. Iosif lives in Etobicoke with his better half Maggie, a staunch supporter of his work with Rotary. Maggie has joined Iosif in numerous hands-on projects, including the Beaujolais Nouveau Fundraising Celebration (now in its 8th year), and Toronto Ribfest. Together, they enjoy cooking, travelling and long walks. For the past few years, they have made an annual pilgrimage to the home of Maggie’s parents in Poland. Iosif is delighted to have been chosen to lead our District 7070 Family in the 2022-23 Rotary year. Please enjoy reading DG Iosif Ciosa's August Newsletter below. The above bio and newsletter are copied from Rotary District 7070 Website.
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Letter from Parvin in Dhaka, BangladeshThe Rotary Club of Alliston sponsors a community based school for mothers in Bangladesh. The mothers in turn teach their children and other children in their community. Please see the latest photos and letter from Parvin our sponsored mother. The Rotary Club of Alliston is proud to support the Amarok Society in this important work. For more information about the Amarok Society please visit their Website.
Parvin in her garden. July 2022 Parvin, Dhaka, Bangladesh Dear members of the Rotary Club of Alliston,
There is a community library in Amarok School that is little far from our school. We had to go there physically to collect books from the library. Then we requested our teacher to develop a system that books are available for reading and don’t have to walk. Our teacher talked to that teacher of Amarok School and now the librarian comes to our school with new books and receives the previous book. We have found an interesting science book full of examples, experiments and colorful pictures. It is really a fun to read that book which makes me satisfying. I took the book at my home for my son. After reading the book, he became very happy. He said, “It’s so easy to understand through pictures and simple description by steps”. We have learnt about measurement, force, pressure, energy, population & environment and such other things from the book. Every lesson starts with a story related to the topic. After reading the science book my younger son and elder son jointly did a “Candle Experiment “. The experiment is really exciting for them and me. The experiment matched a lesson of his test book that would make it easier for his test. We need such type of easier science books for practical learning opportunity of micro-school children. Parvin and other mothers making handicrafts to earn income. Now I would like to share about mothers’ Income Generating Activities of our school. Some mothers are involved with different type of handicrafts works and earn money which they are able to help their family. Ranu is a new mother of our school, has come from Vola now lives in our slum. Her husband left her with 3 children. They are 4, 6 and 9 years old. Ranu had to suffer a lot in this situation. She was fallen in troubles to manage the house rent, food and others costs. Little earning from the odd job as housemaid was not enough for her. Then our friend Tania shared with us in school about her family. After hearing her sadness, Majeda proposed to help her and include her in the handicrafts group. The group make rubber band for mask with cotton and arrange training by a skillful mother of that group. Now she is doing this work and can earn additional money sitting home during her free time. Her elder daughter (Mim) helps her to do the work. Majeda teaches Mim. Now the family is having 3 meals a day and looking for a better opportunity. You know I grow vegetables; besides gardening I have started a rearing chicken in boxes. I have saved some money from my vegetables selling. My elder son sells some vegetables in local market and bought some small chickens for rearing. Now they are growing up and will be saleable in 15 days. At present I have 10 chickens in my small farm. It takes 35 days to be matured and saleable. I could sell them by 150 taka per kg and expecting a profit of 1000 taka from the work. Parvin feeding her chickens My micro school is going well. The children are enjoying their lesson as I teach them with lots of activities and learning materials. When they sing a song along, it makes me so happy. Total 5 students in my micro school they are Rahat, Robiul, Moyna, Bristi and Fahim. Among them Rahat and Moyna are good at performing drama and role-play. Sometimes they do role play of a story-based to make fun and simplify learning with my guidance. As you know there are six seasons in our country and this is the rainy season. In the rainy season we face communication and hygiene problem because our drainage system is not perfect. Every year waterlogging happens for a long time. In this year it starts earlier and already we are in deep trouble. We can’t go out freely to do our necessary work. We have to walk through dirty water with bad smell. Sometimes the toilet lids overflowed and mixed up with water. We can’t solve the problem but we can discuss the issue with our local Counsellor that he develops a good sewerage system before the next election otherwise we will not vote for him. Thank you for your support to educate us, our children and our community. With love, Parvin |
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Bringing Hope and Help to Rivne, UkraineOn Monday August 8th, 2022 our Rotary Club were glad to hear from our partners in the Rotary Club of Rivne, Ukraine about the ongoing situation in their country. Since March 2022, the Rotary Club of Alliston, with donations from members and the community has provided over $32,000 in Humanitarian Grants to the Rotary Club of Rivne. Our guest speakers were our Rotarian friends, Yulia Melianchuk - President of the RC of Rivne and Olha Novytska - Global Grant Lead - RC of Rivne. Rotary District 2232 Governor Vitalii Lesko provided a summary of how Rotary is helping across the country of Ukariane. All 3 guest speakers talked about the challenges they are facing and how our donations have assisted them in providing humanitarian support to their community and country. Food, bedding and emergency safety supplies...just a few of the items purchased with the humanitarian grant money. Bios for our speakers: Yulia Melianchuk - President of the Rotary Club of Rivne, Ukraine Yulia Melianchuk is the current President of the Rotary Club of Rivne and has been a member since 2017. Yulia was club secretary in 2019-2020. Her first job was at Metro Cash & Carry in both Rivne and Lviv. She is currently HR Manager at SoftServe, an IT company. Yulia is also a former member of The Rotaract Club of Rivne. Olha Novytska - Global Grant Lead - Rotary Club of Rivne, Ukaraine Olha Novytska, immediate past president of The Rotary Club of Rivne, is the current treasurer for the club and the Chair of her District's Foundation Grant Subcommittee. She has a PhD in Engineering and is Associate Professor at The National University of Water and Environmental Engineering. Olha is a former member of The Rotaract Club of Rivne. |
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Rotary Club of Alliston volunteers at AIM Regatta The Abilities in Motion(AIM) Regatta July 22-23, 2022 was opened with a parade of canoes, kayaks and other adapted watercraft. Photo by Heather Barzo. Everyone loves a parade....the AIM Regatta was on July 22 and 23 at Earl Rowe Park. The Rotary Club of Alliston members had a great weekend of volunteering to help with the Abilities in Motion Regatta. Rotary volunteers helped park cars, set up shade tents, cook hot dogs, serve lunch, move watercraft, fit life jackets and had fun lending a hand to the AIM volunteers. Events for participants included paddling in the Big Canoe, a scavenger hunt, a tug of war between boats on the water and lots of fun paddling! Photo by Heather Barzo. Rotary Volunteers Scott and Darlene Hunter with Dave Green at the boat launch. Photo by Sue Leach Rotary Volunteers Brad and Nancy O'Neill parking cars and vans. Photo by Sue Leach Rotary Volunteers Felix Kaechele and KerryAnne McFarland try out their paddling skills in the Big Canoe. Photo by John McFarland. Smiles from participants and volunteers! Photo by Heather Barzo ...and more smiles. Photo by Heather Barzo Thank you to Andy Owens and all the great volunteers from Abilities in Motion for inviting Rotary Club of Alliston to be part of your Regatta!! To learn more about Abilities in Motion click here to visit their website.
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Lamp of Learning Award Winner Anne, Karli and Shawn Stevenson The Rotary Club of Alliston presents the Lamp of Learning Award each year to a graduating student from Banting Memorial High School that is university bound. The winner this year is Karli Stevenson who is pictured above with her parents. Karli won several awards(see below) at graduation ceremonies this June 2022. Karli is attending University of Toronto in September. Congratulations Karli from Rotary Club of Alliston. |
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Amelia Simms is awarded the Paul Harris Bursary by Rotary Club of AllistonAmelia Simms is presented with Paul Harris Bursary by Rotarian Kelly McCague Amelia has a strong volunteering pedigree and has had to overcome several challenges, to excel academically. She has worked hard in school, in her part-time job, and throughout her life to succeed. With plans to attend the University of Ottawa next year, she is a most deserving recipient of the Rotary Club of Alliston's Paul Harris Bursary. The Paul Harris Bursary is a financial award given by Rotary Club of Alliston to a graduating high school student pursuing a post secondary education. |
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Rotary Calendar/Lottery Fundraiser Thank you LettersThe Rotary Calendar/Lottery Fundraiser Recipients for 2022 were Sir Frederick Banting Legacy Foundation and the Stevenson Memorial Hospital Foundation. Please see the Thank you letters below. To Rotary Club of Alliston President Patricia Middlebrook Dear Patricia, Our sincere thanks to you and your Rotary colleagues for the generous gift arising from your 2022 calendar project. We appreciate also that you and John visited the site to make the cheque presentation. We are very grateful for, and motivated by, the continuing support of your club and members. We are slowly getting back on track in the aftermath of COVID although we have decided to stick with the pre-scheduled visits protocol going forward. We will hold our 9th Annual Symposium on Nov 2/22 but will do this as a Virtual event. Our 3 undergraduate Interns completed the data search earlier this month and we will publish our Rural Diabetes Coalition Collective Capability Report this week. We will send along a copy once released. Sincere thanks again to you and all your Rotary colleagues. Stay safe David ___________________________________ Fighting Diabetes/Celebrating the co-discovery of insulin by a great Canadian www.bantinglegacy.ca ___________________________________________________ C. David Sadleir, Ph.D., P.Eng., President, Sir Frederick Banting Legacy Foundation, P.O. Box 137 Alliston, Ontario, Canada L9R 1T9 |
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Rotary Adventure Playground ReopeningThe Rotary Adventure Playground Reopening on June 2 at 4pm. John McFarland spoke on behalf of the Rotary Club of Alliston. John was President at the time of the first playground being constructed in 2004-2005 for the club's 50 Anniversary project. The park playground equipment and surface was replaced after 15 years with the a government infrastructure grant. Thank you to the Town of New Tecumseth and their staff for making this possible. Rotary Adventure Playground sign Left to Right Town of New Tecumseth Director of Parks, Recreation and Culture Daniel Burton, Deputy Mayor Richard Norcross, Rotarians John McFarland and Ed Zelinski, Mayor Rick Milne |
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Rotary Calendar/Lottery Fund Raiser helps Local CharitiesThe Rotary Club of Alliston is pleased to be making donations to two local charities. The Rotary Club of Alliston sold combined Rotary Calendars and Lottery Tickets this past fall. The club chose these charities to benefit from sales of the calendars. A huge thank you to Eric Jagger for his leadership on this project and to all those who sold and bought Rotary Calendars. The Rotary Club of Alliston is pleased to present to the Sir Frederick Banting Legacy Foundation(SFBLF) a donation to help in the operation of this jewel of history, the Banting Homestead in New Tecumseth. From right to left Kathy MacFarlane - Secretary of SFBLF, Patricia Middlebrook- President of Rotary, David Sadleir - President of SFBLF and John McFarland Rotary Club of Alliston fundraising chair. The Stevenson Memorial Hospital Foundation was the second recipient of funds raised from Calendar/Lottery sales.
From left to right Melody McLean, Director of Development and Campaign Manager SMHF and Marg Barber, Director on SMHF Board, representing the Stevenson Memorial Hospital Foundation and Rotary President Patricia Middlebrook and John McFarland Rotary Club of Alliston fundraising chairperson. |
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Invitation to Rotary Club of Shelburne EventThis invitation came today from Sandra Gallaugher of Rotary Club of Shelburne. Our club has hosted them in the past for a meeting and they have hosted us. Sounds like a fun event. Hi Everyone, This week feels like summer, so start planning your summer events. All outdoors at Fiddle Park in Shelburne on Sunday June 26 at 3:00pm. $60.00 a car Please pass this information along to friends, Rotarians etc. All proceeds to Shelburne Rotary Club and 100% is given back to community needs. Sandra Gallaugher Drive-in/walk in concert in Fiddle Park starring Leisa Way & the Wayward Wind Band performing the best of the last 50 years of Rock n Roll. DRIVE-IN /Wallk-in EVENT in FIDDLE PARK, SHELBURNE!! A musical journey through the history of Rock ‘n Roll Way-To-Go Productions keeps Rock ‘n Roll and the Classic Rock flame burning in this high energy show that will mesmerize audiences with the electrifying sounds of the hottest rock stars in history.Experience the sounds of Buddy Holly, The Beatles, Bruce Springsteen, Elvis, Linda Ronstadt, The Beach Boys, Chuck Berry, Led Zeppelin, Freddie Mercury & Queen, The Rolling Stones, Tina Turner, Bob Dylan, The Eagles, Steppenwolf, Pat Benetar, Fleetwood Mac, Bill Haley & The Comets, Joan Jett, Bob Seger, The Guess Who, Jerry Lee Lewis, Carly Simon, Eric Clapton & Cream, Deep Purple, Jimi Hendrix, Carole King, Billy Joel, The Police, Kiss, Jefferson Airplane, Blondie, Chubby Checker, The Isely Brothers, Grand Funk Railroad, The Spencer Davis Group, Aretha Franklin, The Beach Boys, The Who, Procol Harum, The Doobie Brothers – and more! NOTE: The carload ticket allows you to drive your car into the park to watch/listen from your vehicle (you can sit outside your too). An Admit One ticket allows ticket holder to park car at gate and walk in with lawn chairs to enjoy the show. |
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Thank you to Rotary Club of AllistonRotary Club of Alliston has sponsored Parvin(shown above) to attend Mother's School in Bangladesh and teach her own children and neighbourhood children in her home. Please see the thank you below from the Amarok Society. For more information about the Amarok Society please see links in letter below. Dear Dave, We would like to thank you and your Rotary Club of Alliston for your generous support of our initiatives in the developing world. Through your continued sponsorship of Parvin, you are bringing opportunity to the lives of children who want to learn, and women who want to make a difference in their communities. You have opened doors for them to a brighter, self-directed future. Please pass along to your club our deep gratitude, and that of Parvin and the children whose lives you are transforming. Warmly, Grace Amarok Society Teach Mothers to Teach the World #300 - 10328 81st Ave NW, Edmonton, Alberta T6E 1X2 (250) 305-4848 & (604) 726-3373 |
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Highway Clean Up on May 2Rotarians Kelly McCague, Brian Carmichael and President Patricia Middlebrook(left to right) On May 2 the Rotary Club of Alliston, members of the Rotary Interact and Rotaract Clubs and friends cleaned up the garbage along both sides of Highway 89 from the Nottawasaga River to the east side of Alliston. The club has cleaned up this stretch of Highway 89 for many years. A huge thank you to Rotarian George Scott for organizing. Rotarian Felix Kaecheille, Green Party Candidate Allan Kuhn and Rotarian Eric Jagger |
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Ukraine Update - You can help!The Rotary Club of Alliston has been a project partner with the Rotary Club of Rivne, Ukraine for over 10 years. When Russia invaded Ukraine we asked “How can we help?” In March of 2022 The Rotary Club of Alliston sent $15,000 to the Rotary Club of Rivne to support the humanitarian crisis created by the war. Rivne is situated midway between Kyiv, the capital city, and Lviv near the Polish border. Rivne is on the route that people are using to flee the country and many refugees are passing through the community. Our friends in Rivne have reported that the money donated is being used to provide medicine and clothing to people who are fleeing the war zone. As part of a previous project 3d printers were purchased to produce teaching aid for visually impaired and blind child. These have now been re-purposed to create much need medical equipment such tourniquet buckles and winders. Our partners anticipate that more humanitarian aide will be needed. You can assist our friends in the Ukraine by making a donation to the Rotary Club of Alliston. Here's how:
We will accumulate any donations and then send another transfer to Ukraine. The deadline for donations is May 16, 2022. Rotarians exploring Rivne, Ukraine on our first visit in 2017 The local theater in Rivne, Ukraine |
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Letter from Parvin in BangladeshParvin with the children in her micro school in Bangladesh The Rotary Club of Alliston is proud to support the work of the Amarok Society. We sponsor Parvin, a young mother to go to school. Parvin attends an Amarok Society school for mothers and in turn she teaches her own children as well as other children in the neighbourhood. Please see her letter of March 2022 below describing her experiences. Dhaka, Bangladesh Dear members of the Rotary Club of Alliston, It’s always my pleasure to write to you. Please take my love and regards. My life is going well with my Amarok friends and neighbors. You would be happy to hear that, we write Journals in school. Our teacher has given us a separate notebook to practice writing journals capturing the change of our lives including main events of our daily life. I write short paragraph but wish to write long in the future. We are so happy that all schools in Bangladesh are opened now. The children are happy to go to school regularly. However, the children we teach at our Micro School did not stop their learning we continued our little school except the days of extreme Covid-19 infection. I am happy to teach them. The children I teach are enjoying my lessons although one of my neighbors had permanently shifted house to the village where she lived before. Shuly a girl of that family used to study in my micro-school and was a very good student and attentive. She left Dhaka but I’ve requested her family to continue educating of Shuly and they have committed to me from their realization of importance of learning for Shuly. Her parents said, “We will continue her studies as now we understand the value of education especially for the girls”. I am so glad to hear it from them. I have replaced her with a boy child name Bijoy about 10 years old. They are very poor, used to live in a village. Few months ago, his father became paralyzed slowly so their family struggled to manage food and other needs. Finally, her mother moved to Dhaka to find a job. In Dhaka, his mother joined in a garment factory as a helper. He didn't get opportunity for learning in his childhood. Now, he is happy to get the opportunity. The other children of my Micro School are so happy to get him. They do a lot of fun playing together. I am happy to teach them. You know I have a small vegetable garden. I have planted different types of vegetables in my garden like cucumber, eggplant, Tomato, Chili and many kinds of flowers. All the plants are just growing up and will be visual in a few weeks. My son Rahat helps me for my work. I am so proud of my son. I will write more about it in the next letter. Thanks to you and Amarok Society for supporting us. With love, Parvin Parvin at School in Dhaka, Bangladesh For more information about the Amarok Society please visit their website
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Dr. Jaco Scheeres: Humanitarian: Experiences in Haiti, Guatemala and Africa to Chief of Staff at Stevenson Memorial Hospital
Dr. Jaco Scheeres spoke to the Rotary Club of Alliston on Monday, May 9 at 7pm. He spoke passionately about his humanitarian work and how it gives him strength. Dr. Jaco Scheeres was born and raised in South Africa and moved to Canada in 1995. He established a busy family practice in Manitoba where he had a large obstetrical patient population. He completed five years of residency at the University of Manitoba. Dr. Scheeres developed an interest in Maternal-Fetal medicine and in 2002 was awarded for the best resident research paper in Obstetrics and Gynecology from the University of Manitoba. His work was recognized nationally by the Canadian Foundation for Women’s Health. His research was published in the Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology of Canada. He is currently practicing in family medicine in Barrie and is a consultant in Obstetrics and Gynecology at SMH. He is also an Assistant Clinical Professor (Adjunct) Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology at McMaster University.
Dr. Scheeres joined the SMH Team as an obstetrician in 2015 and became Chief of Obstetrics in 2019. Under the leadership of Dr. Scheeres, with the help of dedicated nurses, midwives, respiratory therapists and physicians, the obstetrics department has continued to provide excellent care to the community and has almost doubled the number of deliveries per year since he joined SMH. As Chief of Staff, Dr. Scheeres provides medical leadership to SMH’s clinical departments and is responsible for ensuring the efficient management and high quality medical services that align with the hospital’s strategic plan. |
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Rotary Club of Alliston donates $15,000 Humanitarian Aid to Rivne, Ukraine
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Rotary Club of Alliston committed to the Redevelopment of Stevenson Memorial HospitalStevenson Memorial Hospital Foundation CEO Mary Thomas is presented with Cheque by Rotary President Patricia Middlebrook and Rotarian and SMHF Director Marg Barber(left to right). The Rotary Club of Alliston is committed to donating $50,000 over five years to the Redevelopment of Stevenson Memorial Hospital in Alliston. The cheque presentation of $10,000 this week was the club's third installment on the donation. |
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New Rotary Members Zoom Meeting
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Water, Sanitation and Hygiene is Rotary Theme for MarchMaterial in this story is taken from our District Website. Water, Sanitation and Hygiene is the Rotary theme in March. Clean water and sanitation is a human right. When people, especially children, have access to clean water, sanitation, and hygiene, they lead healthier and more successful lives. We don’t just build wells and walk away. Rotary members integrate water, sanitation, and hygiene into education projects. When children learn about disease transmission and practice good hygiene, they miss less school. And they can take those lessons home to their families, expanding our impact. Clean water is a basic need for human beings. When people, especially children, have access to clean water, they live healthier and more productive lives. However, at least 3,000 children die each day from diseases caused by unsafe water, which is what motivates our members to build wells, install rainwater harvesting systems, and teach community members how to maintain new infrastructure. While very few people die of thirst, millions die from preventable waterborne diseases, providing the impetus for our members to also improve sanitation facilities in undeveloped countries. Members start by providing toilets and latrines that flush into a sewer or safe enclosure and then add education programs to promote hand-washing and other good hygiene habits. |
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Supporting our Friends of Rotary Club of Rivne, UkraineRotary Club of Rivne welcomed members of Rotary Club of Alliston in 2017 Our two clubs have worked together on 2 Global Grants and met via Zoom just a few weeks ago to discuss a 3rd Global Grant. Please keep our friends in Rivne and their families in your thoughts and hearts. |
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Thank you from Valentine's Day Flowers |
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Interact Club of Alliston Raises Money for Coldest Night of the YearIan Mason, Philip Mason and Felix Kaechele ready to walk for Coldest Night of the Year Fundraiser The Rotary Interact Club of Alliston raised $2065.00 for the Coldest Night of the Year fundraiser in Alliston. The walk was held on Saturday, February 26th. Participants were Interact Club members Nadisha Hutchinson and Philip Mason, Ian Mason(father of Philip Mason) and Rotarians Felix Kaechele and Eric Jagger. The money raised will go to SHIFT(Support and Hope for Families Today). Congratulations to the Interact Club!! |
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Valentine's Day Flowers for SeniorsRotarian John McFarland delivering flowers for residents at Kingsmere Retirement Residence The Rotary Club of Alliston purchased and delivered flowers for Valentine's Day to the residents of the 3 retirement and long term care facilities in Alliston. This is the second year that the club has provided flowers to the seniors in our community. We hope to bring a smile and hopefully a little joy to each of the residents. The Rotary Club thanks Bern's Flowers and Gifts for their discount and assistance. Rotarian John McFarland delivers flowers for residents of Good Samaritan Seniors Complex |
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Happy 117 th Birthday Rotary and Peace Building and Conflict PreventionFebruary 23, 2022 is Rotary’s 117th Birthday. That day is also called World Understanding and Peace Day. On February 23, 1905, little did Paul Harris and his three friends realize what they were starting when they met in room 711 of the Unity Building in Chicago. We have come a long way, since then, but we still have a long way to go to achieve goodwill, peace, and understanding among all people of the world. February is a chance for every club to pause, plan and promote our Fourth Avenue of Service – Our continued goal for goodwill, peace, and understanding among all people of the world, as we also celebrate February as Peacebuilding and Conflict Prevention Month. |
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Your Future in Lucrative Skilled TradesSteacy Hinton SMCDSB OYAP Consultant and John McFarland, Master Electrician and owner of Nu-Tek Electric spoke to students, parents and members of the Rotary Club of Alliston on Monday, February 14, 2022 about Apprenticeships. twitter: @OYAP_SMCDSB Instagram: smcdsb_oyap For information about the Apprenticeship Program please visit the OYAP website below. |
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Good or Bad- Let's Talk BehaviourSarah Kaechele (M.Sc., KPA-CTP, SA Pro Trainer) Sarah Kaechele was our guest speaker on April 11th. For more information about her award winning business, please list her website. Sarah is the founder of Cued Canines - Dog Training & Behaviour, based in Alliston, ON, Canada. She started her formal education in the animal science field in 2009 and holds a master’s degree in Animal Sciences from the University of Hohenheim. She has worked with a variety of species including cows, pigs, chickens, horses, goats, and sheep. Throughout her professional career, her work has been focused on animal behaviour and improving welfare in a sustainable way. In 2020, Sarah graduated from the Dog Trainer Professional Program at the Karen Pryor Academy for Animal Training and Behavior, one of the leading institutions in the field of animal training. She is also an approved SA Pro trainer and specializes to help dogs with separation anxiety. As a skilled clicker trainer and behaviour consultant, she uses evidence-based positive reinforcement training methods. Sarah strongly believes that the human-animal bond should be a partnership based on empathy and respect. She is here to help dog guardians better understand their dog’s needs and form the best possible connection with their canine companion. |
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Zone 28 &32 Rotary Foundation Gala - February 23, 2022THANK YOU for your support of the Foundation! There were approximately 650 tickets sold and approximately $250,000 USD raised for the Rotary Foundation. Announcement soon with final numbers. |
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Ontario Nature on April 25, 2022 at 7pmBarbara MacKenzie-Wynia (she/her) – Ontario Nature’s Regional Nature Network Coordinator Barbara joined Ontario Nature in 2006 with a focus on Northern, Huronia and Lake Ontario North regions. She is a partner with Krystawyn Environmental Consulting, and owns BMW and Associates. Barbara was the director of communications with Nottawasaga Valley Conservation Authority for more than 20 years. As a proud farmer’s daughter, she continues to enjoy working with the rural and farming community in building bridges, trust and capacity. Barbara lives in Clearview Township where she enjoys gardening, traveling, and camping with her husband and red fox lab Cedar. Presentation Description: Join Barbara to learn about one of Ontario’s oldest charitable environmental organizations. Ontario Nature is celebrating its 91th anniversary in 2022 and proud of its long history and accomplishments of protecting wild species and wild spaces. This essential work is done through conservation, education and public engagement. Ontario Nature represent more than 30,000 members and supporters, and more than 155 member groups from across Ontario involved in significant conservation efforts in their own local communities. One thing, that the COVID-19 pandemic has taught us, is that Nature is more important to all of us! Barbara will share information on how we can all become the Voice of Nature. For more information please visit the website https://ontarionature.org/
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Hammers and Saws- tools helping the peoples ofDRC tell storiesJohn VanderMeer was our guest speaker on Monday, February 28. John spoke passionately about the people in the Democratic Republic of Congo. He is planning on returning to the DRC in May and hope to take the Technological "tools" with him. John's Bio My name is John VanderMeer and I was born and raised in Alliston. After school, I moved to the Oshawa area to work with Ontario Hydro at two of their nuclear power stations. Met my wife Marian there and we have been blessed with 6 children, 3 boys followed by 3 girls. In 1993, after 12 years working with Hydro, I left to join Wycliffe Bible Translators and SIL International. For the next 5 years, Marian and I busied ourselves with the needed training and preparations to move our family to eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). When we left Canada, the DRC had once again plunged into warfare, making it not safe to live in the country. So, we temporarily worked out of Nairobi, Kenya, for two years. We then moved and worked from Arua, Uganda, a town near the DRC border for about 8 years. Finally, we moved to Isiro, DRC, for about 6 years. We continue to support the work in the DRC, but now remotely, from our home in Whitby, Ontario, making yearly trips back, barring travel restrictions from the Covid pandemic. Using my technical training, I was able to provide technical support in areas such as solar power, radio communications, computer support and internet connectivity. This often involved being dropped into small villages within the forest by small Cessna planes or using a 4x4 on some very bad roads. I have since transitioned to providing support to the different language communities in the area of media. This includes building apps for smart phones, dubbing films into local languages, audio recording, some video, training and finding hardware solutions. One of the jobs for the May 2022 Congo trip will include leading an audio-recording training workshop to representatives from 8 different language communities. Discussing this workshop with my supervisor some months back, we explored different ideas to better enable the students to create local audio programs. Because of limited funding, these students will be expected to share recording and editing hardware among themselves, despite the fact that they live far apart. This is not good. It would be like asking carpenters in different towns to share the same hammer and Saw, then wonder why they were taking so long to build their houses. I offered to try raise the needed funds in Canada so to purchase the needed hardware to take back. |
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January is Vocational Service MonthJanuary is Vocational Service Month on the Rotary calendar. Vocational Service is at the heart of Rotary, which was founded on the classification system of membership. Business and professional life are the bedrock of Rotary, and Vocational Service is a major force in promoting honour, integrity, and trustworthiness in business. The Four-Way Test Rotary’s current code of ethical conduct – The Four-Way Test – is a four-part ethical guideline that helped Herb Taylor rescue a beleaguered business. The code’s four points are simple and direct ..... “Of all the things we think, say or do: The Four-Way Test was officially adopted by Rotary in 1943 and has been translated into the languages of over 100 countries. It appears on highway billboards, in schoolrooms and on the walls of businesses, in labour contracts, courtrooms and halls of government. It’s even on the moon, in the form of a Four-Way Test pin planted on the surface by astronaut Buzz Aldrin! |
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12th Night Burning of the Green 2022 - CancelledUsually this week Rotarians and community volunteers are out on the streets of Alliston gathering Christmas trees for our 12th Night Bonfire. Due to safety concerns and health restrictions related to COVID -19 the Rotary Club of Alliston has again had to cancel this celebration of the New Year, 2022. We hope we can host this great family event next year in 2023. 12th Night Bonfire - 2019
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Teaching Adaptive Paddling with Abilities In MotionAndy Owens paddling at Earl Rowe Provincial Park Andy Owens spoke to the Rotary Club on Monday, January 10th via Zoom. He shared his passion for volunteering with AIM. For more information about AIM and how you can get involved please visit their website link below. Bio of Andy Owens Locally raised in Alliston since 1956, Andy has taught both elementary and high school students from 1977 – 2009. Very active in teaching canoeing skills to students and leading canoe trips since 1990. Upon retirement in 2009, he became associated with Abilities in Motion and have coordinated many adaptive paddling opportunities at Earl Rowe P.P. for persons with disabilities. |
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Christmas Card from Parvin |
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Royal LePage RCR donation to Rotary Club of AllistonKelly McCague of Royal LePage RCR Realty presents cheque for $1000 to Rotary President Bill Wray The generous donations by Royal LePage RCR Realty from 2020 and 2021 will be used towards a bench in a park in New Tecumseth. Thank you to all the wonderful staff at Royal LePage RCR Realty! |
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Healing With HorsesFotini Chandrika Walton Fotini Chandrika Walton was guest speaker to the Rotary Club of Alliston via Zoom on Monday, January 24, 2022 at 7pm. Please visit her websites for more information about her programs. Author of ‘The Sacred Horse’ (coming soon!) Instagram: @redbarnwellnessfarm & @awakenwithhorses “Horses lead the way to a whole new world!” Bio for Fotini Chandrika Walton: Fotini Chandrika has spent the past decade as devoted Steward and Listener of her four Horses, Spirit, Malachi, Penny and Isa, who are her teachers and partners in their Equine Guided Wellness practice. She is a born empath and has lived in the wonder of sacred communion with the Animal Kingdom and at home in the Natural world since her earliest memories. Fotini is the Founder of Awaken With Horses International, where she is wholeheartedly devoted to the mission of the Horses as they lead the way to a better world for both Horse and Human. Together with the Herd, Fotini shares a unique modality, Horse Wisdom Yoga® which offers intuitively guided, creative, private sessions, small group retreats and various training opportunities at Red Barn Wellness Farm in Loretto, Ontario, Canada. Fotini strongly believes in the importance of reciprocal wellbeing between both Horse and Human. Through her support programs for Horse Stewards and Equine Guided Professionals, Fotini shares two decades of personal and professional experience in the study of, holistic care for and thriving partnership with Horse as teacher and partner with equine enthusiasts from around the world. For more information, please visit www.AwakenWIthHorses.com or @awakenwithhorses on Instagram. . *Horse Wisdom Yoga® is not yoga on horseback. All activities take place on the ground. No Horse experience necessary* See this great video clip from CTV news |
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Amarok Society Sponsored SchoolOctober 2021 -Parvin with students in Bangladesh Rotary Club of Alliston sponsors Parvin, a mother, to teach 5 children in her community in Bangladesh. The program by the Amarok Society teaches mothers and in turn the mothers teach their children and other children in their community. These children would not have the opportunity to attend school without this program. Here is the letter from our club's sponsored mother, Parvin. Dear members of the Rotary Club of Alliston, Hope you all are fine with your family. I am also well here with my family and neighborhood children. All five children I teach are doing well in their study. We have got new Bengali & math books. There are different types of learning method, games and activities in the books. So many practical examples, good stories related to our life, livelihood, problematic math and such. We like the books. More importantly some of the stories of the books are written by mothers of Amarok School and pictures drawn by the children of micro-school and our grads. Sometimes I take books to teach in my Micro School. I love them teaching, there are some topics difficult for me but I take help from my Amarok Teacher and sometimes send my students to her. In recent time I have developed some new games for them to make the lesson joyful. It is so fun and enjoyable session when I use new games in my Micro School. So that they are inspired to attend timely and learn very fast. Our teacher always starts a new lesson with an ‘introduction’. Last week our teacher discussed about six seasons of our country. At the start she asked about the present conditions of last few weeks and asked what could be in a few weeks. We have six seasons in our country but we wanted to know the names of the seasons in English. Our teacher divided us into 6 groups and told each team to talk about the season to do a short role-play to express the season the group belonged without mentioning the name. It takes 3 days to complete the lesson. I belonged to a member of the Spring Team. We acted on that season and other enjoyed it and understood the characteristics of the season nicely. In such way, we all talked and acted on six seasons. This is an interesting method of learning and our teacher follows the role. Most importantly we learn teaching methods from our school and deliver when we teach children in our micro-schools. A new mother admitted in our school named Rohima who is 38 years old. She is a housemaid and her husband is a day labor. She has 3 daughters and 1 son. 2 daughters got married and live in another place and one of daughter lives with her aunt in village. One day she was going to her work place, she met a mother Kohinur who was coming to Amarok School with notebooks. After hearing about our school Rohima wanted to learn. The next day she admitted and learning besides her work. Now she is doing very well and very enthusiastic. When we do group work, she sits with me and she needs support in English. We are supporting her that she can improve her level and come to close to our level. Now I’m going to share a story of one of my neighborhood children. The name of child is Nahid who is 7 years old. He studies in Micro School of Jhuma. He has a little sister, 4 years old. When Nahid was 3 years old, his mother left them and got married again and left them. After that his father also got married a woman. There are 5 members in his family including a grandmother. Although his grandma is 70 years old, she looks very strong now and she has to do the all-household work because Nahid’s step-mother is a housemaid so she is busy for the whole day. One day Nahid was walking in the backstreet of Nurerchala then suddenly he saw some 10 to 15 years old boys were doing something bad together in that alley. He tried to understand that what happen there but could not understand properly. After a while the boys left the place and he went there to see, he saw that a currency of 100 taka (1.5 $) had fallen on the ground. He picked it up and he fell into greediness. Nahid shared the incidents with her mother, then her mother with her friends in school and they discovered about the little boys smoked cigarettes and did some other bad things. Amarok mothers in a group identified the parents of the children, informed them and the bad practice has stopped finally. The COVID situation is improving in our country. More people are getting COVID 19 vaccines. Already I received the first dose and I will go to the hospital for my second dose in the next week. I am always careful about health of my family members and my neighbors and go out with safety measures. Our Prime Minister has declared that by March 2022, 80% 18+ people will be under the vaccination. Till now below 18 years children are not entitled for the vaccines. You know I have a small vegetable garden but there are no good vegetables now because of lot of rain. The vegetables are spoiled due to the waterlogging of the rain water. But the rain has almost gone and I’ll put new seeds in a couple of weeks to get winter vegetables. I hope this year more vegetables will grow as I have experience and use my learning from the past. Let’s hope for my children that they can be educated and live a better life than me. Yours lovingly, Parvin |
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Rotary Daily Cash Lottery/Community Calendar 2022Rotary Daily Cash Lottery/Community Calendar 2022 - Now Available The Rotary Club of Alliston had partnered with the Rotary Club of Barrie-Huronia and other Rotary Clubs and Group Sellers to sell the 2022 Daily Cash Lottery/Community Calendars. All proceeds going to local organizations, community projects, and charities. The lottery ticket comes with a beautiful community calendar so you can keep track of the daily draws! Tickets are just $20, with $25,000 in cash prizes to be won. All winners remain in the pool for multiple chances to win. Cheques will be mailed to the winners. ➢ Six (6) draws of $1,000 ➢ Six (6) draws of $500 ➢ One (1) draw of $300 ➢ 12 draws of $100 ➢ 120 draws of $50 ➢ 196 draws of $25 Buy your 2022 Rotary Cash Lottery Ticket/Community Calendar from your Rotary friends or at one of these locations: • Colleen Kotnisz's office/home, 19 Rogers Rd Alliston • KD WRAY/ Grant Thornton office, 22 Paris St in downtown Alliston • Canadian Tire, Alliston • Trillium Ford, Alliston Cash only please. The 2022 Daily Cash Lottery supports these Community Service projects in the Alliston area.
The Rotary Club of Alliston • The Frederick Banting Legacy Foundation • Stevenson Memorial Hospital Foundation
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Rotary Daily Cash Lottery2022 Lottery Calendar 2022 is here! I am attaching a sheet to explain the details required to sell these Lottery Tickets/Calendar at $20 each. It is quite simple and the important part is to fill in the Ticket accurately and legibly. The entry information is input on a computer so that when your ticket purchaser's name is drawn, they can immediately receive their cheque. To October 21st our club has had 41 winners! That is 8% of our units sold and even higher as there are still 10 weeks worth of winners to come. There are 365 Draws! 365 Chances to WIN! 6 Draws of $500 1 Draw of $399 12 Draws of $200 24 Draws of $100 120 Draws of $50 196 Draws of $25 I will soon have an advertising sheet to help sell and to put up on your social media. HOW MANY WOULD YOU LIKE ME TO DELIVER TO YOU TO START??!! Can you sell some through your business? Do you have people to gift a calendar? A Christmas stocking stuffer? Friends, family, neighbors? Whomever? If you have any questions or concerns, please ask me. Eric Lottery/Calendar 2022 |
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Santa Claus is Coming to Town - 2021We are pleased to announce that the Rotary Club of Alliston and the Town of New Tecumseth will be hosting the Night Lit Santa Claus Parade on November 20, 2021 @ 6:00pm. Thank you for the great community response the parade is at capacity. We are no longer accepting parade entry applications. For everyones safety the Health Unit requires use of masks outdoors if you are not with the family unit Route map and road closures for the parade. |
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Rotary : War Time and RemembranceThe following articles on Rotary and WW1 and WW2 were found on the Rotary.org site.
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Welcome to our Newest Rotary MemberRotary Club of Alliston welcomes their newest Corporate membership of Stevenson Memorial Hospital Foundation. Photo Left to right. Melody McLean(SMHF) Rotarian Paul McCullough, Rotarian Patricia Middlebrook, Rotary President Bill Wray, Margaret Barber(SMHF) |
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Rotary Lights up the Gibson Centre for World Polio DayRotary Club of Alliston Members and family Lights Up the Gibson Centre for World Polio Day World Polio Day was October 24, 2021. Rotary Club of Alliston in cooperation with the Gibson Centre lit up the building on October 21 and 24 in recognition of Rotary's commitment to eradicate polio from the world. World Polio Day was Sunday, October 24. Rotary Clubs all over the world raise awareness, funds, and support to end polio, a vaccine-preventable disease. “I am incredibly proud of the Rotarians, volunteers around the globe and our partner agencies who for 35 years have given so much to eradicate this disease. We are so close with only two countries in the world still reporting cases. “ said Rotary Club of Alliston President Bill Wray. In 1988, there were 350,000 cases of polio in 125 countries. Rotary and their partners have made great progress against the disease since then. In 2021, polio cases have been reported in just 2 countries, Afghanistan and Pakistan. Rotary and its partners will continue to try and reach every child with the polio vaccine. Without full funding and political commitment, this paralyzing disease could return to polio-free countries, putting children everywhere at risk. Rotary has contributed more than $2.2 billion to ending polio since 1985. Thank you to the Gibson Centre for their support! For more information download a Polio Factsheet click here. |
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'Leveraging Rotary: A Story of International Cooperation in a Time of Crisis - The Beirut Port Explosion.Photos of hospital in Beirut after the port explosion in 2020. Rotarian Steve Rutledge spoke to the Rotary Club of Alliston on Monday, October 18 at 7pm to update us on a Rotary Global Grant Project in Beirut and to share the Adopt a Village Program in Laos. Rotary Club of Alliston is one of 60 Rotary Clubs that have contributed money towards a Global Grant to replace operating theatre equipment in the pediatric hospital in Beirut. Steve Rutledge spent his career as co-owner of a mid sized computer company in Toronto. Since retirement he has narrowed his focus on local and international community support. Steve has served on several boards and committees in Port Hope including the Municipal Culture Committee, Parks, Rec and Culture Committee, Skatepark committee, Capitol Theatre Board of Directors and others. He has received two civic awards, the latest for philanthropy and is a multiple Paul Harris award recipient for his efforts (Port Hope, Whitby Sunrise and Beirut Cosmopolitan) and awarded the Spirit of Rotary award in 2016. In 2018, he received the Family and Community Service award from the Rotary Club of Courtice. His most recent award was the Bob Scott Disease Prevention award from Rotary District 7070 in June 2020. With his partner they created a number of large events including one they held in their home netting $61,000 for the Capitol theatre and another town event for 6000 people. For the last 12 years Steve has ventured into Laos serving the rural villagers with the most basic of needs for sustained life. Since 2009, Adopt A Village in Laos has completed over 65 villages with filtered water one family at a time, serving over 32,000 rural villagers, constructed 24 permanent water supplies, repaired numerous others, built over 40 banks of toilets, 12 school construction projects and continues to sponsor a host of primary, secondary and university students. After the Beirut port explosion in 2020, Mr. Rutledge chaired the international sponsoring partner club committee (Whitby Sunrise club) and raised approximately $240,000 from 60 clubs towards a global grant to replace operating theatre equipment for Beirut’s only public hospital. Steve is also co-Chair of the International Committee at Whitby Sunrise and sits on the District 7070 Water and Sanitation Committee. For more information on the Water Filter program please click to get the brochure. |
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Women's InstituteDonna Jebb was our guest speaker on Monday October 4th. She spoke to the club members and guests about the Women's Institute. Donna was born & raised in Alliston to Warren”Pat” & Shirley Gibson Married to Barry Jebb for over 40 years. They farm in New Tecumseth. They have two children & 4 grandchildren. Member of Tec We Gwill Women’s Institute for 40 years and held different positions in the branch, district & Simcoe Area for the WI. Past Provincial board director for Federated Women’s Institutes of Ontario (FWIO) & a member of Associated Country Women of the World (ACWW) with that organization Donna has been a member of the UN committee for 6 years & currently second term of the Agriculture committee As well was a leader of 4H life skill club in South Simcoe (39 years volunteer) & past president of that organization their two children were 4H members of the life skills along with the beef club. Past member of Stevenson Memorial Hospital Foundation, co-organized a wheel chair relay race to raise funds for Canadian paraplegic association in our area for 5 years (known now as Spinal Cord Injury of Ontario). Donna and her mother Shirley were both past recipients of the Rotary Club of Alliston's Elgin Blakely Award for Citizen of the Year.
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Community Trivia Night - Wednesday October 20, 2021 - 7:00 pmA Community Trivia Contest, sponsored by the Rotary Club of Alliston in support of CONTACT Community Services, is being held on Wednesday, 20 October. Anyone can play, as an individual, household or team, and the ticket is the same price -- just $25. Gift cards valued at $100, $50 and $25 will be awarded as 1st, 2nd and 3rd prizes. The event starts at 7:00 PM, with a technical orientation and trouble-shooting session beginning at 6:30. The 60 minutes of content will feature General Knowledge trivia, a Name That Tune round and a Game Show session, plus lots of laughter and audience interaction. Hosted by Quiz Coconut, a provider of virtual events to clients such as Google, Disney and Pepsi, our event will use content that has been tried and tested on varied audiences of all ages and backgrounds. No one will feel left out. Get your tickets on EventBrite at the link on our accompanying graphic or use the QR code. Upon registration, we'll send you a test link for Zoom and the Google answer form so you can be sure you're up and running well before the event. Join in the fun and help support CONTACT, one of Simcoe County's most important community organizations. Tickets are for sale online only at Eventbrite: Click here to buy a ticket Please invite family, friends, colleagues to join us for this fun, fundraiser. To play you will need:
You will get the zoom link and the google form link just before the event. |
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Storytelling for Community EngagementMary Lou Harrison in action. Storytelling for Community Engagement - On September 27, Assistant Rotary Public Image Co-ordinator Mary Lou Harrison joined us for a Zoom conversation about attracting volunteers, new members, community partners, and additional participants in Rotary programs and activities through strategic storytelling and active listening. Thank you to Mary Lou sharing her time and talents with the club. Mary Lou Harrison's Bio: A strong advocate for the role of women in Rotary, Mary Lou constantly seeks to increase the diversity of Rotary’s membership and leadership to better serve our world. She is proud to be a Charter Member of the LGBT Rotary and Friends Rotary Fellowship. Mary Lou is also a Charter Member of the Rotary Club of Northumberland Sunrise, a Past President of the Rotary Club of Whitby Sunrise, and an active member of the Rotary Club of Toronto Sunrise. She is honoured to serve as an Assistant Rotary Public Image Co-ordinator (ARPIC) and looks forward to becoming the Rotary Public Image Co-ordinator for Zone 28 in the 2022-23 Rotary Year. Her Rotary District 7070 roles have included District Governor 2018-19, Assistant Governor, Vocational Service Chair, and Co-Chair of RADAR (Rotary Action for the Development of AIDS Responses). She supports our Rotary Foundation as a Benefactor and a Rotary Direct Donor. Currently, Mary Lou is the Director of Partnerships & Administration for St. Anne’s Anglican Church, a national historic site, arts venue, and active parish in downtown Toronto. Her work life has included positions within the Ontario government, her own catering and events management company, teaching cooking, freelance writing, and being the editor of a community newspaper. In addition, she has her own blog - coolnotcool.ca. Both inside and outside of Rotary, Mary Lou seeks to be a changemaker. |
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Rotary Club of Alliston Supports the Gibson CentreAnd the winners are......Congratulations to the winners of the Taste of the Town Raffle Draw. |
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Rotary Volunteers at the 100th Anniversary Celebrations
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Riverdale Park Clean UpRotarian Jan Clayson checking in and assigning volunteers their area for clean up in Riverdale Park on Saturday, August 21st. Members of the Rotary Club of Alliston and Rotaract Club were part of the Great Lakes Cleanup, a US and Canadian initiative involving hundreds of Rotary clubs on both sides of the border, originally scheduled for Earth Day back in April (but postponed twice because of the Stay-at-Home order and its extension). Amzy and Irby pitched in representing the Rotaract Club. Volunteers spent three hours covering the entire park that borders the Boyne River and then sat down for a pizza lunch courtesy of Rotarian Jack Van’t Spyker. Rotarians Bill, Sue and Dave Rotarian Megan and daughter Riley ready to start collecting litter.
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Big Screen Movie comes to Alliston - September 5, 2021Join us Sunday, September 5th, 2021 at the Canadian Tire Parking Lot, located at 110 Young Street (Highway 89) in Alliston for our Big Screen Movie Event! It’s a pop-up fundraiser for families & we’re showing #SonicTheHedgehog! The gates open at 7:00 pm; On-screen pre-show at 8:15 pm; Feature movie at 8:30 pm. Our 2 goals for this event are to help #MatthewsHouseHospice & to help local families connect with one another & make happy memories in a COVID-safe way. Tickets are being sold online with admission being $30/car. Get you tickets here https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/big-screen-movie-night-tickets-163924886749
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Tablets for Seniors at Simcoe ManorRotary Club of Alliston donated 8 New Tablets for use by residents of Simcoe Manor. Tablets were presented by Rotarians Jack Van't Spyker and Ed Zelinski (centre of photo) to staff at Simcoe Manor. Photo by John McFarland. Residents of Simcoe manor enjoying the Rotary Tablets. |
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Meet Parvin our Amarok MotherParvin in "Mother's" School Through the work of the Amarok Society the Rotary Club of Alliston is supporting the education of Parvin and 5 children in the slums of Dhaka, Bangladesh. Parvin attends a "mother" school to learn to read, write and other life skills. She then returns home to teach 5 local children in her "micro" school. Her new education allows Parvin to earn a better living and to support other families in need in her community. In addition to teaching the children in her school Parvin is also using the techniques she learns to help neighbourhood adults become better readers. She is empowered to make a difference in her community. For more information about the Amarok Society please visit: https://www.amaroksociety.org Playing a word game in "Micro" School
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Paul Harris Bursary to Dayna SpenceThe Rotary Club of Alliston awarded its Paul Harris Bursary to Dayna Spence, a graduating student at Banting Memorial High School in New Tecumseth. Named after the founder of Rotary International, the award goes annually to the student who best exemplifies the qualities of scholastic achievement, exemplary leadership, community service through volunteerism, and financial need. Pictured with Dayna are her proud father Jeremy and mother Kelly, along with George Scott, club president. George was ably assisted in the review of applicants by club member Captain Rachael Tracey of the Royal Canadian Sea Cadets Corps. George added: "This $2,000 bursary is an important way Rotary can reward excellence and support our youth, who are our community's precious resource." |
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Year Review in Pictures '20-'21A few pictures to celebrate the end of the 2020-2021 Rotary year. Thanks to George Scott our president and all Rotarians who have stepped up during the last 12 months.
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Year End Zoom CelebrationMonday, June 28 was our year end celebration on Zoom. Unfortunately we could not get together in person. It has been a challenging year but President George Scott has done an awesome job of leading the members and helping us to help our community. The chairs of committees presented year end reports and Dave Green put together a slide show of the year’s activities. George thanked the current board, chairs and members. He welcomed the incoming directors. President George Scott shown here wearing his Past President’s Pin. |
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Rotary Pitches In to Clean Up ParklandRotary President George Scott clearing underbrush and deadfall from parkland near Town Tennis Courts. Paul McCollough, Nate and Bill Wray helping with the cleanup. Rotarians have volunteered for 3 evenings at parkland in New Tecumseth.
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Rotary FlashbackPolo for Health (2001-2010) for Stevenson Memorial Hospital Sweat Equity and Community Development, Kilema, Tanzania (2006-2015) |
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Thank you! to Royal Canadian Sea Cadet Corps 53Big thank you to Royal Canadian Sea Cadet Corps 53 for an interesting and engaging presentation at our April 26th meeting about the benefits and experiences of being a Sea Cadets. Well done. |
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Welcome New Members of the Rotary Club of AllistonWelcome Sunil and Darshna Suri to the Rotary Club of Alliston! Darshna and Sunil were inducted as a Family Membership in May, 2021. |
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Help for youth with hearing loss in Rivne, UkraineImagine being a child in a world that is silent or with limited sound. Members of the Rotary Club of Rivne, Ukraine identified a need to have the equipment to diagnose hearing impairment in their region. With the help of their Rotary partner clubs in Canada , United Kingdom and other charitable organizations in Canada the Rotary Club of Rivne was able to purchase diagnostic equipment for the region’s hospital. With the funds raised, five children received hearing aids to bring the gift of sound to their lives. Congratulations to the Rotary Club of Rivne, Ukraine and to all their partners. The Rotary Club of Rivne has just reported the project is now complete. The Rotary Club of Alliston was grateful to be part of this worthy international project! |
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"Family Agent: A World War One Trench Watch"Bob Burgar spoke to the club on Monday, June 14 via Zoom. Bob gave a great presentation with stories about his grandfather's WW1 Trench Watch. In researching the watch through documents and letters, he was able to discover many stories about his grandfather. Bob Burgar was the senior archaeologist for the Toronto and Region Conservation Authority for twenty-five years. From 1982 to 2005, Bob was responsible for the TRCA’s archaeological unit. Some of the programmes’ notable accomplishments during that time was the development of the province’s first proponent funded archaeological resource management program of public lands, and the designation of the Humber River as a Canadian Heritage River. For three decades one of Bob’s tasks was to act as the senior archaeologist of Canada’s longest-running high school archaeological field school. It was through his experiences at the Boyd Archaeological Field school that he developed his love of teaching – so much so that Bob went back to school (in the evenings for two years at Trent University in Peterborough), obtained his BEd, retired from the Conservation Authority and started working for the York Region District School Board. After teaching for a decade at Aurora High School (his alma mater), Bob retired in 2015. Bob has gone back to school in his retirement and is working on his PhD at York University, looking at the data collected during the field schools. Bob is an avid plastic modeler with an interest in WW2 aircraft and has had a long association with the 48thHighlanders of Canada as an Officer and a member of the Officer’s Association. Bob’s talk today is based on an essay he prepared for a course in his doctoral programme.
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Rotary FlashbacksPolo for Health (2001-2010) for Stevenson Memorial Hospital Sweat Equity and Community Development, Kilema, Tanzania (2006-2015) |
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Big Thank You to Herald Ad Sponsors - April 22, 2021The Rotary Club thanks all the members and local businesses for sponsoring our Rotary Awareness Advertisement in the April 22, 2021 edition of the Alliston Herald. |
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Rotary Club of Alliston Sponsored MotherIntroducing Parvin, a mother who the Rotary Club of Alliston is sponsoring through their donation to the Amarok Society to attend School and to teach 5 children in her neighbourhood in Bangladesh. Introduction of Parvin April 2021 Dhaka, Bangladesh Dear members of the The Rotary Club of Alliston, I am Parvin, 28 years old. I'm a housewife but I am good at hand sewing on clothes and able to make beautiful design with my needles on covers. I have two sons and one daughter. My husband Fazlur Rahman is 40 years old. He is a carpenter, makes new furniture reshaping the old furniture. We live in a joint family with my husband, children and in-laws. My husband income is about 12,000 taka ($200) per month but not regular. Sometimes he has no work and seats idle. So, we have to suffer those days for our food and other needs. I have cleaned a space of unused land of our slum to plant some vegetables there. I spent my free time to take care of the little vegetable-garden. When I get vegetables, I eat some and share with my neighbors. I never went to school in my childhood, so I was completely illiterate before I joined in Amarok Mother School. My father was a farmer. He used to live in a remote village of Kishoreganj district and we lived there nearby a river. Due to seasonal flood, often our houses, crops and lands were washed away in the monsoon. So, my father had to borrow money in interest to run our family. In such situation, finding no way out, we all moved to Dhaka 10 years ago and started living in Nurerchala slum of Dhaka. When I was 15, I was married off as my parents wanted to reduce the food cost of the family. During marriage I thought my marriage will give me some freedom but it did not happen. I had to face many problems. I didn't understand how to manage a joint family, how to take care of babies, could not feed them properly being an early mother. My mother-in-law used to act badly with me when I made a mistake including some physical punishment. I had no freedom to talk and to provide my opinions. I did all household works without any appreciation. One day I heard from my neighbor Nazma about Amarok Mother School for the illiterate women to learn and to teach little children. I went there with a woman, met the teacher and expressed my interest in learning and teaching children. Since then, I have been learning a lot from my school. Now I am able to read and write Bengali and English independently and I have started to teach 5 children at my home including my own children. They children I teach are;
After joining in Amarok Mother School, I can see changes in my life. Still my learning is not as good as many other mothers who are there for a longer time. With my basic learning I have got many health and social awareness sessions from my school which I practice in my family and share in the community who do not attend in our school. Last month I got a session about COVID-19 and it was very helpful for me and for the community people. I want to educate my children that they could find a better life in their future. I would like to continue my education and teaching to children. With love, Parvin For information about the Amarok Society, please click on the link below. |
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Building Community Through Ghost StoriesProfessor Cael Cohen spoke to us on April 12th about the fascinating ghost story history of Tottenham. Her topic.....Building Community Through Ghost Stories Cael Cohen is an award-winning university professor, eLearning expert, philosopher, educational researcher, passionate oral storyteller, writer, painter, and bird watcher. If you would like to explore the ghost walk on your own, please visit the link below for the ghost walk. |
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Hearing Testing in Rivne, Ukraine has begunChildren with hearing loss in Rivne, Ukraine are now getting the testing they require to equip them with hearing aides. The Rotary Club of Rivne has report that the new audiometer/tympanometer is now installed and being used to test the hearing of children in the region. Eight high priority cases were immediately identified and tested. Funds from the project have now been used to provide much needed hearing aides for 5 of these individuals. A big thanks to all the partners who helped make this happen. The Rotary Club of Alliston contributed $1000 to the purchase of the testing equipment and the hearing aides. The audiometer being setup ready for hearing tests. |
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Chasing Dreams - Turning a passion into a lifestyle & businessBeautiful Siberian Huskies, Awe-Inspiring Wilderness, Breathtaking Adventure. Tanya McCready, co-owner with husband Hank Debruin of Winterdance Dogsled Tours spoke to Rotary Club of Alliston on Zoom. 21 years ago, Hank and Tanya quit their jobs and moved to Ontario's wilderness to build their dream of starting a business, a family and creating a lifestyle around their beloved Siberian Huskies. Their business, Winterdance Dogsled Tours welcomes over 2000 guests from around the globe every winter. From day tours, to moonlit tours, to heli dogsledding, and recently, virtual dogsledding tours, they have stayed true to their dream and built Winterdance to what it is today. Hank and their huskies have had many adventures from Maine to Alaska including competing in six 1000-mile races in Alaska and the Yukon. Out of the many lessons and countless stories from these races, a corporate presentation was born that focuses on building and leading great teams through challenging times. Hank and Tanya also have a 2500 tree maple syrup farm and have co-written 2 books. Their latest book, Journey of 1000 Miles released just last Christmas has become an international best seller. This book is available for purchase on Amazon. They share their lives with their 4 children, 150 huskies and 5 cats. For more information please visit Winterdance Dogsled Tours by clicking on website
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Janet Looks Back in her Rotary MomentTo see the 96-97 Rotary Yearbook click here.
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Local Charities are the big winners in Rotary Calendar FundraiserLocal Charities are the winners! L to R....Rotary President George Scott, Rotarian John McFarland presents cheque to David Sadleir and Kait Perez Diaz of Sir Frederick Banting Legacy Foundation, Rotarian Eric Jagger The Rotary Club of Alliston worked with the Rotary Club of Barrie Huronia and several other Rotary Clubs to sell Daily Cash Calendar/Lottery tickets for 2021. The proceeds of this fundraiser are donated to the chosen charities. The charities chosen for 2021 were Stevenson Memorial Hospital Foundation, Sir Frederick Banting Legacy Foundation and Alliston Out of the Cold. The Rotary Club of Alliston donated $1740.00 to each of the 3 charities. The charities were asked to participate in the promoting and selling of the Daily Cash Calendar/Lottery Tickets. Thank you to all our members, Canadian Tire Alliston and the charities for helping us raise funds for such worthwhile local causes!! L to R...Rotary President George Scott, Whitney Sallach, Stevenson Memorial Hospital Foundation receives cheque from Rotarians John McFarland and Eric Jagger of the Fundraising Committee. L to R ....Rotary President George Scott, Rotarians Annabelle Song and John McFarland(chair of Fundraising) present cheque to Lisa Nicol and Jenifer Pergentile of Alliston Out of the Cold, Rotarian Eric Jagger |
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Rotary Club of Alliston supports Stevenson Memorial Hospital FoundationL to R..Rotary President George Scott presents $10,000 cheque to Whitney Sallach from Stevenson Memorial Hospital Foundation with Rotarians John McFarland and Eric Jagger The Rotary Club of Alliston to proud to have made a commitment to the SMHF to donate $50,000 over 5 years in 2020. On March 5, 2021 Rotary President George Scott presented a cheque for the 2nd installment for $10,000 to Whitney Sallach from the Stevenson Memorial Hospital Foundation. Please join us in supporting our local hospital.
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Local Seniors Blessed by Flowers on Valentine’s Day
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Rotary Car Scavenger Hunt WinnersCongratulations to all the winners of the Car Scavenger Hunts! Team of Louise and Ralph Jones tied for first place on short course. Team of Patricia and Gerry Middlebrook tied for first place on short course. Team of Kelly and Glenna McCague were first place in the long course of the Car Scavenger Hunt. Team of Carman Bruining and Colleen Kotnisz won the grand prize of first place for combined Car Scavenger Hunts!!
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Eric's Rotary MomentRotary opens doors to connect members with leaders in our community and around the world. Thanks Eric Jagger for sharing your Rotary Moment.
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Capt. Rachael Tracey RecognizedCapt. Rachael Tracey gave our Remembrance address back in Nov 2020 at her very first meeting as member of our club...she had been recognized for her contributions to The 2020 National Veterans’ Week Speakers Program in the letter below. Letter of Appreciation to CAF Speakers for the 2020 National Veterans’ Week Speakers Program January 2021 To Whom It May Concern, As the Director of Outreach and Speechwriting (DOAS), I would like to extend my sincerest appreciation for the participation of Capt Rachael Tracey in the 2020 National Veterans’ Week Speakers Program. This year, the NVWSP shifted to virtual presentations to ensure the health and safety of CAF members. I am happy to report that Canadians responded with overwhelming interest to this new course of action. We received 2,570 requests for the CAF speaker videos, with another 378 requests for virtual presentations, allowing us to reach more than 931,000 Canadians. Without the willingness of current serving members such as Capt Tracey, who adapted in a virtual environment and who devoted time and energy to share their experiences, the program would not be as successful as it has been. The positive feedback received from schools and community organizations is a true testament to the fact that Canadians appreciate hearing first-hand about the great work that our military members do on a daily basis. Now more than ever, Canadians must know the importance of remembering CAF members who have served and who continue to serve, as well as those who have given their lives for our country. For this, I would like to express my gratitude for your dedication to the program. Once again, please accept my sincere thanks for your excellent contribution to the 2020 National Veterans’ Week Speakers Program. It is our hope that you will participate again next year. Sincerely, Elana Aptowitzer A/Director, Outreach and Speechwriting Assistant Deputy Minister (Public Affairs) Department of National Defence Thanks Rachael. Well done |
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Jack Van't Spyker's Rotary MomentRotary collaborates with other like-minded groups to make our community a better place to live. Thank you Jack for sharing your Rotary Moment.
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Happy New Year! |
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Calendar Fundraiser Results
The stubs are in and money is counted and the membership exceeded our goal of selling 500 tickets! The total tickets sold are 524 tickets total revenue of $10,480.00. Congratulations to our membership! Half of the revenue $5,240.00 is from selling the calendars/lottery tickets will be divided up among the 3 charities named at the beginning of the fundraiser, Alliston Out of the Cold, Sir Frederick Banting Legacy Foundation and Stevenson Memorial Hospital Foundation. The club’s membership is to decide collectively on the percentage to each beneficiary with a motion. The motion needs to be conducted by January 15 2021 so the Rotary Club of Barrie-Huronia can complete the overall accounting. A motion has been sent to the board and a notice of motion will be sent to the membership which will open the motion up for discussion at the club level and the inclusion of all members who want to contribute in the discussion to the final allocation of the funds raised to the three beneficiaries named at the start to the fundraiser. Ad revenue is split, half of the ad revenue is returned to the club that places the ad on the calendars. One ad value of $250.00 was purchased so additional revenue is $125.00 was added to our total. Total revenue raised from calendars/ lottery tickets $5,375.00 Recognition and our sincere thanks to: Rotary Club of Barrie- Huronia. – Sue Carr and committee for sharing the idea and spearheading it. Canadian Tire Alliston – member Megan White for organizing the selling of calendars/tickets at cash registers. Colleen Kotnisz member for having calendars available at her office. Christine Brayford for having calendars at Flato Homes Sales office in Beeton. The beneficiaries for their promotion of the fund raiser on their social media platforms, and selling of the calendars /lottery tickets. The membership of the Rotary Club of Alliston - Thank you all! As a result of the campaign but not part of it was the generous donation from Flato homes of $2,000.00 specifically $1000.00 each to the Sir Frederick Banting Legacy Foundation and Stevenson Memorial Hospital Foundation. This donation was made directly to the club charity account and then cheques were distributed to each organization. This donation was not associated with the Rotary Club of Barrie-Huronia. Flato Homes did not forget Alliston Out of the Cold, they had already given a corporate donation of $10.000 to the organization prior to our campaign starting.
Next Fundraising meeting is January 14th at 7:00a.m. via Zoom. Please let John know if you would like to attend and are not on the committee and he will send you an invitation to the meeting.
Thank you for your help John McFarland Fundraising, Committee Chairperson Alliston Rotary Club 705-391-8556 “COVID protocol, physical distance yourself, wear a mask if you can’t,wear a mask everywhere in public,wash your hands several times a day.”
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Christmas and Thank you card from Stevenson Memorial Hospital Foundation |
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Bill Wray's Rotary MomentRotary provides members opportunities to expand their skills while doing good in the community. |
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Santa Comes to New TecumsethThe Rotary Club of Alliston was pleased to help coordinate Santa's visit to the communities of New Tecumseth. Great work Emergency Service, New Tecumseth.
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Christmas Party WinnersBig thank you to the social committee for hosting our first and hopefully only online Zoom Christmas Party. Great to have Rotarians and family join us online for some silly activities. Photos from Christmas past, Trivia and "festive attire" combined for some fun. Trivia winners: Marvellous McFarlands (they are making a habit of this) Funniest Attire: Tanya Wall - great Antlers. Most Festive Attire: Ralph Jones Thank you to all Rotarians and Friends of Rotary for keeping us moving forward in this most unique year.
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Rotary and Flato Developments Support the Lion Christmas HampersPictured above is Rotary President George Scott. To his left left, starting with two thumbs up, is Lion Scott Cooke, then Lion Ken Wright and Lion Stuart Millard. To his right is Lion George ‘Big Dutch’ Bik. This is a cheque presentation by Rotary to the Alliston Lions Club for $1,000 -- a supplemental gift (to our usual annual support) sponsored by the generous people at Flato Developments. Now in its 40th year, the Hamper program will help to feed 180 needy families and seniors this year. Great work Lions. |
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Royal LePage RCR Realty donates $1000A big Rotary thank you to Royal LePage RCR Realty for a $1000 donation towards the sponsorship of a bench on the future trail in Riverdale Park. President George receiving the donation from Kelly McCague.
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Welcome Rotarian Annabelle SongWelcome Annabelle Song our newest member of the Rotary Club of Alliston My name is Annabelle Song. I'm working at Flato Developments as Public Relations, Sales and Marketing Manager. I worked in an ad agency for around 3 years in Toronto as Media Planner since 2017, and experiential marketing agencies in Beijing for over 5 years as Senior Account Manager before coming to Canada. I finished 2 bachelor degrees in China, one in Electrical Engineering, the other in Business Administration.
I came to Canada in 2014 for my Master Degree in International and Intercultural Communications in Victoria, BC, then move to Ontario after graduation. I'm also a volunteer of The Canadian Red Cross, participated several major responses in BC, AB and ON. |
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Interact Club Raises Funds for My Sister's Place ShelterOur local Interact Club, Rotary for young people between the ages of 13 and 18, has organized a fundraising campaign for our local shelter for women and children, My Sister's Place. If you would like to help our young people provide assistance to this very worthy institution, please click on the link and donate what you can via the Go Fund Me page they have set up. Thanks for anything you can contribute. Our young people will very much appreciate your support. |
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John McFarland Receives PH2The Rotary Club of Alliston is pleased to recognize John McFarland as Paul Harris Fellow 2. Paul Harris Fellowships recognize outstanding contributions to the Rotary Foundation which fund local and global grants for projects that improve communities. Thank you John. |
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Rotary Foundation and our clubRotary Club of Rivne, Ukraine and Rotary Club of Alliston partnered on a Global Grant project to provide resource material to teach children in Ukraine that are blind and visually impaired. Story by Joan Hayward and photos by Roger Hayward Past District Governor Bob Wallace gave us a very good presentation about our international Rotary Foundation last Monday evening. However, he didn't give some of the details specific to our club. In the last Rotary year our club was credited for donations to the Annual Fund of about $140,000 US. A large part of this money came from the estate of the late Rotarian Shirley Ford. She designated her legacy to the Peace and Conflict Resolution Area of Focus. We are very grateful for Shirley's consistent interest in and support of the programs of our Foundation. Our club has led six global grants in the past ten years representing a value of about $271,000 US. The base funding for these came from members of the teams working in both Tanzania and Ukraine, with added funding from other clubs in our District. Four of the global grants in Tanzania focused mostly on maternal health in the greater rural region of Kilema on the slopes of Kilimanjaro with a population of about 250,000. As the projects progressed, the number of mother and child deaths decreased appreciably, approaching the number in the developed world. The two global grant projects in Ukraine most of you are familiar with, since our partner members in The Rotary Club of Rivne gave us an update on the latest project focused on the training and certification of health personnel in the early diagnosis of autism in children. This will be followed by implementation of the training to diagnose autism in young children in the Province of Rivne. The first global grant in Rivne was focused on providing each blind child in Ukraine with equipment to be able to read Braille and on providing training for teachers on how to use the equipment with the children. The other part of this grant was focused on creating jobs for the visually impaired in a sewing workshop and in a facility to manufacture toilet paper rolls. Recording Studio at Rivne Regional Library Ukraine used to create audio books for blind and visually impaired. |
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Sue Leach - her Rotary Moment |
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Speakers for January 25, 2021Jenifer Pergentile, Executive Director - Alliston Out of the Cold |
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Unstoppable Mothers- February 8, 2021Dr. Tanyss Munro of the Amarok Society Dr. Tanyss Munro has devoted her life and career to improving educational opportunities for disadvantaged people across Canada and abroad. She has achieved extraordinary success in this endeavour as teacher, principal, district director, senior advisor in the federal government and with First Nations government. She has been active in international education as a specialist with the Commonwealth of Learning and other international organizations and advises two international development organizations currently. In addition to co-founding Amarok Society, she has a long history of charitable and social activity. By adoption, she is a Wendat (Huron) Indian. She recently co-edited ‘Learning to Live Together: Using Distance Education for Community Peacebuilding”, a book of experiences from around the globe illustrating this new approach to peace building in communities. Dr Munro talked about the experience of the communities in Bangladesh as they struggle to deal with the Global Pandemic. Many new programs have been developed by their "teaching mothers" to assist in food security (soup kitchens a first for Bangladesh), children programs, and food banks (another first). The education the mothers and their student receive has provide them with the skills to bring new resources to the community. Graduates from the home schools are successfully moving into the formal school system. Young girls especially benefit as they can now get better jobs and can avoid becoming a child bride. These women are truly unstoppable with and education as their foundation.
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Veseys Seeds and Rotary Tulip Project - February 22, 2021John Barrett of Veseys Seeds, End Polio Now Tulip Project John is a Charter member and Past President of the Rotary Club of Charlottetown Royalty. He has served as Clerk of Session at Zion Presbyterian church, member of the Presbyterian Church in Canada’s National Finance Committee and is a past member of the Assembly Council and Moderator of the PEI Presbytery. Active in a number of community Boards and Advisory Groups, he has been involved at Veseys Seeds Ltd. for the past 23 years Prior to joining Veseys Seeds Ltd in 1997, John spent many years as an entrepreneur having ownership and management responsibilities with Great Northern Knitters, Afton Lea Farms, Barrett Resources and the A. Littlewood Box Factory. Presented a Paul Harris Fellowship by his Rotary Club in 1997 and again in 2008 and 2016, other awards include Executive Member of the Year Cycling PEI, Rotary District Award, Recognition Award RCMP, National Recognition Award from the Canadian Cancer Society , Special Volunteer Award PEI Division Cdn Cancer Society, Rotary Governor’s Citation and the Outstanding Leadership Award. Recently, John has received the prestigious “International Order of the Tulip” Award during the World Tulip Summit in Korea. Today, John is one of three Directors of Veseys Seeds and is primarily responsible for sales, corporate image, design, customer service, marketing and the development of global strategic partnerships and company growth. John talked about the history of the business and it evolution. The seed business expanded into bulbs and continues to flourish in PEI. The global pandemic has created a huge demand and Vesey' Seeds has seen 400 percent increase in year over year business with people really exploring home gardens. |
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Welcome Rachael Tracey Newest Member of Rotary Club of AllistonCaptain Rachel Tracey was inducted as a member of the Rotary Club of Alliston on November 9th, 2020. Welcome Rachael! My name is Captain Rachael Tracey. I am a Reserve (part-time) member of the Canadian Armed Forces as Cadet Instructors Cadre Officer within the Cadet Organizations Administration and Training Service sub-component. I have been enrolled as an Officer since November 2011. I am currently the Commanding Officer of Royal Canadian Sea Cadet Corps 53 Barrie (named after the HMCS Barrie, a WWII Flower Corvette funded by the citizens of Barrie). Before assuming Command this past June, I was the Corps Training Officer, responsible for planning and implementing the Corps yearly training schedule. Prior to moving to CFB Borden and joining RCSCC Barrie, I was an active member of 851 “Prince Edward” Royal Canadian Air Cadet Squadron in Picton, ON (where I ran the gamut from Supply Officer to Admin Officer to Trg O and occasional Officer Commanding) and 608 “Duke of Edinburgh” Royal Canadian Air Cadet Squadron (where I was the Admin O and Unit Cadet Conflict Management Advisor). 608 was also where I first served in the Canadian Cadet Organization as a Cadet myself from 2003 until 2009, when I had a brief stint as an Officer in the Regular Forces (permanent full-time) component of the CAF. In my civilian life, I am a full-time member of the Federal Public Service with the Department of National Defence, currently working at the Regional Cadet Support Unit (Central) at CFB Borden. I am also the Founder of Youth Beyond Enterprises, the online resource for rural young entrepreneurs and young leaders, as well as a newly sworn-in Director on Nottawasaga Futures’ Board of Directors. |
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Fundraising Daily Cash Lottery and CalendarRaising funds for community projects is tough right now...but there are many projects and organizations that need our support. This year in partnership with Rotary Clubs in Barrie, Orillia and Innisfil we will be selling Daily Cash Lottery Tickets and Community Calendars to raise funds. The beneficiaries in our community will be: Alliston Out of the Cold; Sir Frederick Banting Legacy Foundation; and the Stevenson Memorial Hospital Foundation. Calendars/Lottery Tickets are on sale now at Canadian Tire - Alliston. Please note they are $20 CASH only. Please have full name, address and telephone number for filling out ticket stubs. Tickets and Calendars can also be purchased from members of the Rotary Club of Alliston. These Calendars and Lottery tickets make great stocking stuffers or gifts for teachers, baby sitters, hair dresser, colleagues, friends, family....the list is endless. If you want larger numbers of calendars you can pick your Calendars/Lottery Tickets up from John McFarland after 4:00p.m. on week days at his front door. Please wear a mask and social distance. Email ahead and John will have them all ready for you, john@nu-tekelectric.ca or call 705-391-8556 (cell). You will need full names, full addresses and phone numbers for all recipients of the Lottery Tickets. The stubs and money must be turned in before December 18th. |
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Night Lit Santa Claus Parade 2020 - CancelledUsually at this time many "elves" are scurrying to create brilliant floats of light and music for the Santa Claus Parade in Alliston. This year for health of the community and to comply with the health regulation associated with COVID-19 the Rotary Club has cancelled the Night Lit Santa Claus Parade in Alliston. We are disappointed that we will not see families enjoying this event this year and we are hopeful that we can host the parade again in 2021. Be safe and all the best of the season from the Rotary Club of Alliston. |
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Paul Harris Fellow RecognitionCongratulations to Ed Zelinski. Ed received a Paul Harris Fellow Level 2 Recognition Pin Thank you to Ed for his dedicated service to The Rotary Club of Alliston and his financial support to the work of the Rotary Foundation. Rotary Club members all over the world can make a personal donation of $1000 US to our own Rotary Foundation. For more information about the Rotary Foundation, please visit https://www.rotary.org/en/about-rotary/rotary-foundation
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End Polio Now Week in New TecumsethOctober 23 - 30, 2020In spite of the raging COVID pandemic world-wide, polio eradication is alive and well, thanks to Rotary International and our partners. In August, Nigeria was declared polio-free, after three years of no new wild polio virus cases. This means that we have Kicked Polio Out of Africa! In July, vaccinations resumed in Afghanistan and Pakistan and another wave will begin shortly in both countries. The total number of wild polio cases so far in 2020 in the two countries combined is less than 150. We have had so much success, in spite of so much political and civil unrest in all three countries over the years. This is due, in part, to all those Rotarians and friends of Rotary in the health field putting in years of service and, in some cases, sacrificing their lives so that we may keep our promise to the children of the world to eradicate polio forever. We Rotarians in Alliston are very proud of the dedication to polio awareness exhibited by our Mayor and Council. The week of Oct. 23-30 has been designated Polio Awareness Week in New Tecumseth and the End Polio Now flag has been raised at the Town offices in Alliston. We thank Mayor Rick Milne and our councilors for this proclamation. |
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Marvelous McFarlands are not trivialOn Friday October 16, 2020, twenty team competed in the first Rotary Club of Alliston Virtual Pub Trivia Night. Once we conquered the technology, the teams competed through three rounds of question for bragging rights as the "most trivial". After 1 hour of tough competition the Marvelous McFarlands were victorious. Congratulations! The quizmaster Ross did a great job with fun questions that were just tricky enough to keep everyone guessing. Watch for another virtual pub night trivia coming to a computer near you. The winning team, the Marvelous McFarlands.
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Twelfth Night Bonfire - January 2021 CancelledThe Rotary of Club of Alliston is disappointed that COVID has interfered with so many important community events in 2020. Every January for over 35 years we have celebrated the New Year with our Twelfth Night Burning of the Green Christmas tree bonfire. Hundreds of people every year have enjoyed the warmth of the fire while sipping hot chocolate and munching on a hot dog. Unfortunately a gathering of this size won't be permitted under the regulations currently in place and as such the Twelfth Night- Burning of the Green Bonfire in Riverdale Park will not take place in January 2021. We hope we can host the event again in the future. Stay Safe. |
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George's Rotary Moment |
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Rotarians take Action in support of the Rotary FoundationUsually this weekend Rotarians from all around the Greater Toronto Area (District 7070) get together to walk, talk and raise money for the Rotary Foundation. This money supports the “big” projects Rotarian do around the world. 2020 of course is different. This year our members did "their own thing" ... we walked, rode bikes, and explored our community in support of the Rotary foundation. We will update this story when we know our final fundraising total.
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Community Health Walk Supports the Banting Legacy FoundationBack in the spring Rotarians participated in a community health walk to raise funds and awareness of health organizations in our community. This week Rotarian Joan Hayward presented the proceeds from this walk, a cheque for over $1300, to the Banting Legacy Foundation to help support its education and awareness programs. Joan Hayward presents the cheque to Kait Perez Diaz at the Banting Homestead.
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Rotary Virtual Pub Night Trivia - October 16, 2020Rotary Club of Alliston is bringing you a Pub Night like no other with the help of Ross Docherty of the wildly popular Trivia By Ross We’re calling it Rotary Virtual Pub Night Trivia and it takes place on October 16 from 7:30 to 8:30pm. We're inviting you to an evening of Online trivia from your own home where you’ll compete in teams against your friends, colleagues, and community members. Ross will host the evening with all sorts of interesting and fun trivia questions via Zoom so you can interact with him and the rest of the teams. You’ll also need a smart-phone to buzz in your answers in real time so Ross can keep track of who’s winning! Because there are prizes for 1st, 2nd, and 3rd (and bragging rights of course). The cost is $20/household and the ticket link is available below. Once you’ve purchased your ticket, you will be emailed the Zoom link and password, as well as the instructions for the Speedquizzing Live app on your phone. The trivia begins at 7:30pm on October 16 but you can sign into Zoom at 7pm if you’d like to ask Ross some questions about how things will work. We look forward to seeing you all for a night of (virtual) fun in great Rotary fashion! Buy you tickets here online: Online Tickets
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2020 Virtual Potato Festival ParadeFor many years the Rotary Club of Alliston has worked with the Potato Festival Committee to kick off the festival with the parade...no festival this year so we are kicking off the weekend with a virtual parade with pictures and video from previous years...enjoy. |
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Walking for Community Health, 2020Through the support of members and the community we have raised over $1400. The fundraising website is open for donations until the end of July, 2020. To support our team and the community please visit: The Alliston Jokers |
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Walk for Community Health
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Empowering Our YouthMeet Amzy and Irby Syed. They have known to our club since 2017. They were amongst the first executives of the Interact, Rotary youth club and members of the New Tecumseth Youth Advisory Committee. They were volunteers in our local hospital for a couple of years. Amzy is also an active member of the Patient and Family Advisory Council at Brampton Civic Hospital. Irby has founded a technical support group to help seniors in one of local senior residences. Amzy was part of local youths who went to New Brunswick to help building a house for the Tobique First Nation. Rotary Club of Alliston, had sent Amzy to the Rotary Youth Leadership Award camp in Spring of 2019. They proudly carried the Alliston Rotary Club banner in the last Potato Festival. They have participated with many fundraising activities including: Canadian Cancer Society, MS Society of Canada, Native Canadian Centre of Toronto, The True North and the Friends of the North Misisway. They are involved with several students clubs in their university. They were elected by the senate on the Joint Committee on Honorary Degrees, and Science, Engineering & Architecture Council on Grade Appeal Committee at Laurentian University. Amzy is also elected as Marketing Advisor for the Medlife club. Recently, they appeared in the media for their Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) invention to help our frontline healthcare workers. https://laurentian.ca/good-news-stories/syed-brothers https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=agLQp8ydB_w https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4O__tJae1GI They possess strong academic records. These two young duos have received numerous academic and community service awards. They were recognized in the Ontario Legislature by our MPP, Jim Wilson. To recognize their volunteer and community services, they were also inducted in the South Simcoe Hall of Fame in 2019. They will be our guest speakers in our meeting on Monday July 13 at 7pm. |
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The Rotary Year in Pictures 2020-2021 |
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Cookies and Ice CreamRotary's Support for the Community During the Pandemic Under the current difficult conditions, with the COVID-19 pandemic affecting so many individuals and businesses, the members of our club thought about what help we could provide for our community -- especially for our most vulnerable citizens.
Support for Health Care Workers - The Rotary Club of Alliston recently purchased 450 ice cream treats and 450 individually wrapped cookies. Today Rotarians George Scott and Kelly McCague delivered these treats to the staff of four retirement facilities: Riverwood Senior Living, Good Samaritan Seniors Complex, Kingsmere Retirement Suites and Simcoe Village. Rather than hot meals that can only feed those on duty at the time, the ice cream and cookies can be stored onsite and served up over several days to ensure every staff member gets a treat. And these purchases help to support our local businesses at a challenging time. |
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Stronger Together Rotary and LionsTeamwork goes a long way during these times, that’s why Rotary Club of Alliston partnered with the Alliston Lions Club to donate a combined $1500 to the The Good Shepherd Food Bank | Alliston. Thank you Alliston Lions! Photo: Rotary Incoming President George Scott and Lion Jaime Karsch presenting the cheque to the Good Shephard Food Bank of Alliston Vice President Dave Bradbury. |
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Hand Sanitizer DonationRotary President Elect George Scott delivers Hand Sanitizer on behalf of the Rotary Club of Alliston to Simcoe Manor, Riverwood Retirement Home, Good Samaritan Nursing Home, Matthew's House Hospice and Kingsmere Retirement Home. Heretic Distillery in Collingwood made the hand sanitizer and graciously donated half the cost.
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The Rotary Club of Alliston and COVID-19Incoming President George Scott talks on Rogers cable about how the Rotary Club of Alliston is reaching out to the community during this time of uncertainty with COVID-19. |
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Thank you to our Essential Frontline WorkersBig thank your to the Circle Theatre @AllistonCircleTheatre for helping the Rotary Club express our gratitude to the essential workers in our community...thanks Kelly McCague for taking the lead on this tribute. |
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Overcoming AdversityJoin us on May 11, 2020 on Zoom to hear Dan Carter talk about his incredible journey from homelessness to city hall. An invitation will be going out to members shortly. For non-Rotarians please contact Dave Green for a Zoom invite. Elected in 2018, Mayor Dan Carter is serving his first term as Mayor of Oshawa after serving as a City and Regional Councillor from 2014 -2018. The Mayor is an ex-officio member of all City Standing Committees. At the Region of Durham, he currently serves as a member of the Health and Social Services Committee and President of the Durham Region Non-Profit Housing Corporation. Active in community development initiatives Mayor Carter lends his time to many philanthropic endeavours and has a deep commitment to making a difference to those in need. Mayor Carter takes his role as Mayor of Oshawa to heart and feels blessed that he has been given the opportunity to serve and to help people in his community every day. He is committed to leading in a way that will bring out the best in all of us and be the light that brings hope, optimism, and pride to this great city. |
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Brushamania Goes VirtualApril is Oral Health Month in Canada. Celebrate with us. We have some great ways to keep the kids entertained this month and have fun at home while staying healthy. Visit www.brushamania.ca to see the details and how you can get your kids involved. |
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Stevenson Needs Your HelpSMH Launches PPE Drive Hospitals across the province are managing anticipated shortages of personal protective equipment (PPE) across the health system, and Stevenson is no different. To support our need for PPE, we are organizing a PPE Drive to encourage businesses and individuals with personal protective equipment, like masks and gloves, to donate them to the Hospital. We are grateful for the supplies that have already been donated by local individuals and businesses. We are not accepting any hand-made PPE at this time. The demand for these items is critical, so we appreciate the support from our community. We are still in need of more, in particular these critical items: We will be accepting donations of unopened, unexpired PPE. Please note we are a latex-free facility. We will validate the product to ensure it meets our needs and arrange for drop-off at our location. Social distancing practices will be enforced during the drop off. All PPE will be inspected, assessed, cleaned and disinfected (where possible) prior to use. |
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Emergency food information Simcoe/Dufferin
Compiled April 6th, 2020 |
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COVID-19 Frontline workers - you are appreciatedThank you frontline workers. You are appreciated. |
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COVID -19 Local Information, New TecumsethThe Rotary Club of Alliston wants to help in the community with information regarding essential services and businesses. We are compiling this information as it becomes available. The information is constantly changing please contact the business or location before heading as this information may already be out of date. We will update the information as soon as we get any changes. Compiled Mar 27, 2020 Stevenson Memorial Hospital Assessment Centre (from a statement from SMH Mar 23, 2020) Stevenson Memorial Hospital (SMH) has opened a COVID-19 Assessment Centre in the lower parking lot (staff/shipping & receiving entrance). To start, the Centre will run three times a week on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays from 4-8 p.m. We will evaluate hours of operation based on need from the community. The purpose of the Assessment Centre is to screen patients who have symptoms or have been in close contact with someone who has COVID-19. We are asking the public to use the Ministry of Health’s self-assessment tool to help determine if they need to come to the Assessment Centre. We’re really trying to divert traffic away from our Emergency Department and main entrance, but provide a place for community members to be screened if they are experiencing symptoms. It’s important to note that not all patients will be tested at the Centre. Patients will be assessed by a physician who will determine if a test is needed. The public is asked to not show up at the Assessment Centre asking to be solely tested for COVID-19. Testing is restricted to patients who meet government screening criteria. The Assessment Centre will be staffed by SMH nurses and physicians, along with primary care physicians from the Alliston Family Health Team. Patients arriving at the Assessment Centre will be asked to complete a self-assessment form. Depending on symptoms, a nurse will determine if they should proceed for further assessment and testing or return home to self-monitor. If it is determined upon further assessment that criteria for testing are met, a swab will be taken and sent for testing. All patients will be provided with information and instructions on self-monitoring or isolation. Patients requiring emergency care, care in the Obstetrics Unit or have other health care needs, should continue to come to the main entrance and will be screened in the OPP Community Safety trailer before entering the Hospital. For up-to-date information on the COVID-19 pandemic, please visit: Public Health Government of Ontario Groceries Zehrs Alliston Hours for Seniors and vulnerable population 7am-8am Hours 8am-8pm 705-434-9391 Order food on line for pick up Paid for by credit card Book well in advance to use 4 designated parking spots for pick up of groceries. https://www.zehrs.ca/online-grocery-shopping Walmart Alliston Hours for Seniors and vulnerable 7-8am Hours 8am-8pm 705-435-7100 Fresh Co Alliston Hours for seniors and vulnerable sector 8-9am Hours 8am-8pm 705-434-9512 No online shopping Beeton Foodland- Updated April 1, 2020 Hours for vulnerable Monday-Saturday 8-9am, Sunday 9-10am Hours Food Orders may be emailed beetonfoodlanddelivery@gmail.com or call 905-729-2513 Paid for by credit card Free Delivery to Vulnerable sector of population Deliveries: Monday- Beeton and Loretto Tuesday- Tottenham and Schomberg Wednesday- Bradford and Area Thursday- Beeton and Alliston Foodland Cookstown - Updated April 1 Hours are 8am-8pm 705-458-1611 Phone in for food orders and delivery, first come first serve! Call Monday 8am-4pm for a Tuesday delivery Call Wednesday 8am-4pm for a Thursday delivery Minimum food order is $50 Delivery charge Pharmacies Shoppers Drug Mart Alliston Hours 8am-10pm 705-435-6051 Refills can be done online. Rexall Pharmacy Alliston Hours are Mon.-Fri. 9am-8pm, Sat.-Sun. 9am-6pm 705-435-7902 Orders from Pharmacy can be paid by credit card and delivered. Wrays Drugstore Hours are Mon.-Fri. 9am-8pm, Sat. 9am-5pm, Sun. 10am-3pm 705-435-6011 |
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Rotary Pledges $50,000 to Stevenson Memorial Hospital FoundationThe Rotary Club of Alliston has made a momentous $50,000 pledge towards the Because of you, we can Campaign! “The Rotary Club of Alliston is proud to make this donation to the Foundation in support of the redevelopment of Stevenson Memorial Hospital,” says Sue Leach, President of The Rotary Club of Alliston. “We are very fortunate to have this hospital meeting the health care needs of our community.” This donation will transform care at Stevenson Memorial Hospital. |
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Scams and frauds in our CommunityDetective Harry Lawrenson is now the National Director of the Canadian D.A.R.E program, having educated over 22,000 students over his decades of service. Harry gave us a great informative talk on scams and frauds ongoing in Canada yet originating in India and other countries. We heard about:
Harry left us with this key message, DO NOT GIVE ANY PERSONAL INFORMATION OVER THE PHONE, and HANG UP when you get a suspicious call. He also reinforced that the “Days of a handshake closing a deal are gone,” and strongly advised to get a written agreement in all your business dealings. Scamming seniors is a common occurrence. Having a Power of Attorney in the hands of an adult child set up is a great way to reduce the possibility of a senior family member being defrauded. On a successful note, Harry related a story of the RCMP travelling to Mumbai India, finding a three-storey building filled with close to 400 people in cubicles making scam calls to North America. The good news? Two hundred arrests were made. What can you do if you’re approached by a scammer? Report the calls to the police and help our finest do their jobs. After all, they are here for us. To download a PDF copy of Bill Edward's notes on Harry Lawrenson's talk visit this link |
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FREE Family Skate! - CancelledCancelled due to corona virus restrictions and closings.
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Honda Plant TourRotary Club of Alliston and friends on Honda Plant Tour on Feb. 5, 2020 |
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Dictionary projectGrade 5 Students from Ernest Cumberland PS in Alliston receive Rotary Dictionaries. Rotary Dictionary Covers front and back The Rotary Club of Alliston visited two schools in Alliston to present Rotary Dictionaries this week. All grade 5 students at St. Paul's Catholic School and Ernest Cumberland Public School received their own dictionary to keep. The students had a chance to learn a little about how to use their dictionaries to read and write. Rotarians George Scott, Darlene Hunter and Sue Leach were all part of the presentation. Thanks to Joan Hayward and George Scott for organizing the project. We thanks the teachers and schools for their support in this local literacy project. |
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Hockey Equipment for Northern Fly in CommunitiesGeorge, Sue and Dave at Cloverdale Mall in the middle of goalie equipment bound for northern fly in communities. Rotary Club of Palgrave and Etobicoke invited us to help sort equipment over 3 weekends. Rotarians, friends and family were all welcome to help sort the equipment. The Rotary Club of Alliston donated $500 towards transporting the equipment.
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12th Night Bonfire CelebrationWow...What a great turnout for the 12th Night Bonfire Celebration - Burning of the Green on Friday, January 3, 2020. The Rotary Club of Alliston has been holding this event for over 35 years. This year we had a crowd of about 600 people thanks to the warm weather and great publicity. The fire was lit at 6:30pm by the New Tecumseth Fire Service volunteers. Some of these firefighters came to our bonfire night as children with their parents. Thank you to Rafee from Country Meat Cuts. Thank you to all the volunteers(Rotarians, Interact members, friends and family) who collected trees the day before and helped out at the event on Friday night! We had great coverage by CTV Barrie and New Tecumseth Times Newspaper. Special thanks goes to the New Tecumseth Fire Service for lighting up the fire and keeping us safe, Rotary Club of Palgrave for their Chuck Wagon and volunteers, Town of New Tecumseth for their support, Country Meat Cuts for providing the Hot Dogs and Hot Chocolate, Alan and Jane Ann Downey for their straw bales for seating, Nu-tek Electric for lighting and generator, George Scott and Dave Green for organizing the event. |
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Rotarians helps Out of the Cold Volunteers with Yard Clean-upRotarians and Out of the Cold Volunteers pause for break from Yard Clean-Up at the Out of the Cold Shelter in Alliston. Missing from the photo is our photographer and President Elect George Scott. Please see the thank you below from Out of the Cold Executive Director Jenifer Pergentile. |
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Rotary Supports Race Against DrugsOn the 5th and 6th of November, Alliston Community Policing and the Simcoe Muskoka District Health Unit held its 11th annual R.A.C.E. against Drugs rally for Grade 5 students in Alliston. Over the two-day event, more than 700 kids from 16 schools were bussed in to the New Tecumseth Recreation Centre Field House, where they assembled into groups of 15-20 and made their way around 11 “pit stops” at eight-minute intervals. Each pit stop was designed to educate them about various risks – alcohol, tobacco, vaping, prescription drugs, cannabis, illegal substances and even gambling – at a time in their young lives when they may first be exposed to peer pressure and other influences. “HOW TO SAY NO” was the message presented at every pit stop,” explained Patricia Middlebrook, President of Alliston Community Policing and a long-time member of the Rotary Club of Alliston. “Our aim is to build awareness of addictions and encourage them to delay first use as long as possible” added Cathy Eisner, a public health nurse with the Simcoe Muskoka District Health Unit and Co-Chair of the R.A.C.E. committee with Patricia. “The learning they get today will help them make more responsible choices in the future.” Stop #1 on the layout was an artwork station, with a supply of plan brown LCBO liquor bags and colored markers. The kids were invited to write messages, such as “Think of Me” and “Don’t Drink and Drive,” and add pictures to illustrate their feelings. The finished bags are given to the LCBO to use during the annual RIDE program throughout the month of December. |
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RAISING AWARENESS OF THE RISKS OF DIABETES FOR CHILDREN AND TEENSRotary made a $500 donation to the Foundation to support its educational programs, particularly promoting awareness of the risks of Type 2 (adult onset) diabetes among children and teenagers stemming from poor diet and lifestyle choices. |
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Helping the Blind in UkraineFor the past four years The Rotary Club of Alliston and The Rotary Club of Rivne, Ukraine have been in partnership to make a difference in the community of Rivne and beyond. The Ukrainian Rotarians have developed and implemented a project worth $90,000 Canadian. This has been made possible through funding from Alliston and District Rotarians, The Rotary Foundation, and the Government of Canada. As a group, handicapped children and adults in Ukraine have been neglected and many spend their lives in orphanages and hostels poorly funded by the Ukrainian government. The fourth highest cause of death in Ukraine is being handicapped. To address this issue Rotarians between our two countries have just finished a large project focused on the blind and visually-impaired. First, the project has focused on providing educational aids and training for educators so that children between two and ten years of age across the region can be taught Braille using newly-developed resources which will allow these children to enter an integrated school system similar to what we are used to in Canada. A new sound studio, where CDs are produced, and a new library that will distribute these have also been funded. Second, the project, for visually-impaired adults ages 20 plus, creates jobs. Workers in the textile area have been trained on new sewing and embroidery machines, making uniforms for workers employed in industry. Other newly-created jobs involve the making of toilet paper which is cut, packaged, and sold for profit. Alliston Rotarians are committed to the Rivne area of Ukraine primarily because of the commitment to help their fellow citizens. Ukraine is the poorest European country and Rivne is a former large manufacturing centre that is struggling to revive a strong economy. Rivne Rotarians are a dedicated group of professionals and industrialists who are trying to help their community. Alliston Rotarians are proud to be in partnership with them. |
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Celebrating World Polio Day in AllistonOn Monday, October 21st His Worship Mayor Rick Milne declared World Polio Week in New Tecumseth and raised the End Polio Now flag in front of the municipal offices in Alliston. In an effort to raise awareness of the importance of continued efforts to vaccinate the children of the world, the flag will fly all week. Rotarians from the Alliston club were on hand to witness the ceremony and to show their support for the international partnerships that, since 1984, have been working together to eradicate this crippling, and sometimes fatal, disease. UNICEF, WHO, the Centers for Disease Control in Atlanta, the Gates Foundation, and the government of Canada have all committed to working with Rotary International to keep the promise to the children of the world that polio will be defeated. Polio remains endemic in two countries only, Afghanistan and Pakistan, where geography, civic distrust, and political unrest create difficult challenges in getting the precious vaccine to vulnerable children. Early in 2020 polio will have been eradicated in the continent of Africa, once Nigeria has been declared polio-free. This gives the partners hope that the millions of dollars and the thousands of volunteers' time and effort will not have been given in vain. We ask that citizens of New Tecumseth remain committed to vaccinating their children and grandchildren and not to let apathy and disinformation question the wisdom of regular inoculation. Measles has come back; let's not have polio return as well. Photos: The flag raising ceremony and the proclamation signed and presented by Mayor Rick Milne. World Polio Day, Thursday, October 24th World Polio Day is 24 October! Mark your calendar to tune in for Rotary International’s World Polio Day Online Global Update, streamed on Facebook in multiple time zones and languages around the world. President Sue has sent out a separate note about this unique opportunity. This year’s program will highlight the heroes of polio eradication, with stories from polio-endemic and recently impacted areas. This is the link: |
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Great Show of Light and SoundA big thanks to everyone for coming out and participating in the Rotary Club of Alliston Night Lit Santa Claus Parade. Here are the winners:
Thanks to all the groups that entered the parade. |
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Day 4 - Team UkraineDay 4 - Building the Rotary Family in Ukraine
The Rotary Club of Rivne is very committed to the growth of Rotary in Ukraine. Today we visited the town of Ostroh with Rotarians Olha and Eugene to talk with young people about Rotary and Rotoract. Ostroh has a population of about 12,000 people and is situated 50km south of Rivne. This is a university town centre around the National University Ostroh Academy. The academy is one of the oldest tertiary learning centres in Eastern Europe having opened its doors in 1576. In it early years it was centre for language and publishing being source of the Ostroh bible. This 1256 page book was the first complete bible printed in Cyrillic type. The original academy closed in 1636 but was reopened as a university in 1994. We toured the campus learning about its history and famous people and the after lunch met with faculty and students to talk about Rotary and Rotoract. Nine young people had many questions about the Rotary movement and how it functions. The Rivne Rotarians and Rotoractors hope to establish a Rotoractor club on the campus in the near future. We have had another great visit to Rivne. The Rotary family here is dedicated to making their community a better place. We greatly enjoyed the fellowship and their hospitality. Tomorrow we say our goodbyes and drive back to Lviv for our flights home on Sunday. |
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Day 3 - Building new PartnershipsMeeting the new Partners.
With the project for the visually impaired community of Rivne completed the Rotary Club of Rivne is now moving forward with a new global grant. The new grant will address the diagnosis and treatment of people on the Autism Spectrum. This is a serious issue in Ukraine as being handicapped is one of leading causes of death.
Four organizations in the community will partner in this project. Today we visited the partners at their facilities and then participated in a general meeting of the global grant team. The project has three key components:
The purchase of new diagnostic tools will allow earlier detection of autism. Staff training will focus on the use of these tools and new treatment regimes. Additional training session will be held with parents and caregivers so that the treatment plans be implemented on a daily basis.
Our first stop of the morning was at the Children’s Rehabilitation Centre. This centre works with children and youth with mental and physical challenge (up to 16 years of age). This location will be a group training centre for the project and will have a room renovated into a “dark” sensory room for treating children with autism. This centre is a bright welcoming facility, with a variety of treatment approaches including, physical therapy, speech pathologist, art therapy, music therapy, massage, water therapy and more. Our second stop is the regional psychiatric hospital. This facility treats more serious cases of mental health treating both children and adults. They have day and residential programs. This will be the key diagnostic centre for the global grant. This facility is in need of funding to update the infrastructure. Such renovations are well beyond the scope and scale of the project. Our final stop is the Rivne Regional Children’s Hospital. We have visited this location on previous trip to Rivne. One of our clubs first projects with the Rotary Club of Rivne was the rehabilitation playground and equipment for this facility. The hospital is undergoing renovations and we could see the improvement since our last visit. This location will also receive diagnostic tools and staff training for the diagnosis and treatment of children with Autism. One of the sensory “dark” rooms will be constructed at this location. At the end of our visit the key staff from each facility met with us and we talked about the co-ordination and implementation of the project.
The Rotary Club of Rivne have done a great job in connecting these partners and coordinating the start of the project. The grant has been approved and will move forward once funds are transferred from Rotary International and our club to Rivne. The project will result in better care and treatment of people with Autism in the Rivne Region. |
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Day 2 - Review the projectsDay 2 - Review the results of the project to assist visually impaired
Today we visited locations associated with the global grant projects that helped the visually impaired. This grant is near completion and seeing the final parts of the project in place was inspiring.
NGO at the Regional Library Our partners at the regional library were responsible for the education tools and materials for youth. They have done a great job with 40 schools receiving the new learning aids and many teachers and parents being trained on how to integrate these tools into the regular learning environment. They have already taken orders for more materials from 5 schools creating an income stream that will help them become more financially sustainable. The recording studio has been completed and 10 books have been recorded and put on digital media. The NGO and the library are updating their websites to make these resource available online. Volunteers are lined up to read more books and enlarge the digital library. Institute for the Blind The programs and projects at the Institute for the Blind focussed on job creation and skill development. The sewing workshop renovations are now complete and all the new equipment is up and running. Six women with visual impairments work producing uniforms and aprons for local businesses. The new sewing machines allow for more workers and an expanded range fproducts. The computerized embroidering machine enhances their product by allowing the addition of logos and company names to clothing items. The toilet paper production equipment is fully installed and employs 4 men per shift. This process converts large rolls of paper, into small rolls which are covered, cut and bagged for sale and distribution. We were each gifted with our own bag of 8 rolls...wait until we have to claim that one at customs...”anything to declare?” The Rotary Club of Rivne pull out all the stops and invited the media to Institute for our visit and the celebration of the completion of the project. Four TV stations sent reporters and camera people to see the TP paper production and the sewing workshop. We were thanked and entertained by the people at Institute with speeches and songs.
Concert and Dinner Our day ended with our own personal concert at a local music hall...organ, piano and some beautiful operatic vocals. We spent our evening with the Rivne Rotoractors at a restaurant serving Georgian foods. The future of Rotary in this community is bright and enthusiastic with these thirty something young people leading the way.
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Day 1 - Team Ukraine - RivneOur journey began a with the 4 hour drive from Lviv to Rivne. Roads were relatively quiet and the weather was wonderful allowing us to arrive ahead of schedule at 12:45 pm. Our afternoon was an exploration of old projects and the start of new relationships. We were met at the Myr Hotel by members of the club, had lunch and then began our walking tour. First stop...the newly completed accessible playground in the Central Park of the city. It was officially opened just last weekend. Funds from the Rotary Club of Alliston were used to purchase the equipment. All the elements are wheelchair accessible. It is already getting lots of use. Second stop...the playground at the children rehab center. This is a facility we helped fund and we were in attendance for the opening when we first visited Rivne in 2017. Patricia Wright’s Toronto West club also helped fund this project. She was thrilled to be able to see it and learn more about the facility. We were pleased to see it is well used and well maintained. Third stop...Pogliad Charity Fund headquarters. This group is a partner in the newly approved Global Grant addressing the diagnosis and treatment of people with Autism. The staff at this facility will be key players in the education and training of parents and professionals who are living and treating people on the autism spectrum. The facility was bright and filled with a positive energy. The dedication of the staff and their enthusiasm was infectious. We completed our day at the Maple Cafe enjoying a great meal and wonderful fellowship. The site visits tomorrow will focus on the projects and programs associated with the global grant assist the visually impaired.
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Eat, Bid, Laugh - By your tickets NOW! |
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Thank you letter from Matthews House Hospice |
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Virtual Reality fun on Canada DayRotarians provided a fun, virtual reality video to people of all ages at the New Tecumseth Canada Day Celebrations. The video followed a young adult on her journey to help immunize children in a remote area of Uganda. Rotarians enjoyed sharing our End Polio story with people celebrating Canada Day in Alliston. |
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District Governor - Beth Selby Coming to AllistonThe new DG for District 7070 was in Alliston visiting the club on July 8th, 2019. She spoke to the club about setting specific goals for the upcoming year and Rotary youth programs. Here is Beth's bio... Dr. Beth Selby, District 7070, District Governor Beth became a Rotarian in 2004 when she joined the Rotary Club of Belleville. Upon retirement in July 2008, she transferred to the Rotary Club of Cobourg. She was President in 2015-2016 and an Assistant District Governor supporting the Rotary Clubs of Bowmanville, Oshawa, and Oshawa-Parkwood prior to becoming the 2019-2020 District Governor for District 7070. In 2016, Beth was the co-recipient of the Les Faludy Leadership Award. Although relatively new to Rotary, her involvement began in 1993 when she and her husband were Counsellors to an Inbound Youth Exchange student from Mexico. She refers to this experience as her ’Rotary Moment’. Beth has almost thirty years’ experience in public education. She was a secondary school teacher, program consultant, secondary school vice-principal and principal, and superintendent of education. She received her undergraduate degree from the University of Guelph and completed her three degrees in education at the University of Toronto. Her Doctor of Education degree was conferred in 2005. She was a Faculty Advisor with Nipissing University supervising Teacher Candidates in both the Concurrent and Consecutive Bachelor of Education programs, and has also been a Supervisor of Teacher Interns with the University of New Brunswick. Beth is very involved in her community of Cobourg, Ontario. In addition to being the immediate Past President of the Rotary Club of Cobourg, she is the immediate Past Chair of the Northumberland Hills Hospital Board of Directors, and is in her eleventh year as a member of the Northumberland YMCA Board of Directors. Beth and her husband, Rotarian Barry Vail, live in Baltimore just north of Cobourg with their miniature French Poodle, Clicquot. Sons, Jason and his three children live in St. Catharines, and Matthew, his wife and their daughter live in Whitby. |
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Bolton Rotary Golf Tournament at Glen Eagle GC on 23 May***MISSED STORY THAT SHOULD HAVE BEEN POSTED IN OUR MONTHLY NEWSLETTER!*** Despite the cold and wet weather, two of our Rotarians, Ed and George, took part in the Bolton Rotary Golf Tournament. This is an annual tournament that has helped raise 1 Million $ + for both local and international causes. Great job guys! Pictured above are: George Scott, Ed Zelinski and Frank Frisen
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Helping our Youth with Youth Haven$1,841.45 was raised at the Flight To Do Right beer pairing event this year! The event was organized by the "newbie committee" of the Alliston Rotary Club, taking place at Redline Brewhouse with proceeds going to Youth Haven. Below is a picture of Marnie MacKay (newbie committee member) presenting the cheque to the executive director, Lucy Gowers and board member, Ian MacLennan.
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Highway CleanupRotarians worked hard cleaning up along Hwy89 of Alliston. Over 30 bags of garbage were collected as part of Pitch In week! Way to go guys! |
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Alliston Union Brush-a-mania 2019 Contest Winner!Rotarians Suzanne and Marnie MacKay, visited Alliston Union Public School to draw a winner from our colouring contest submissions. Colleen Kotnisz of CPK Accounting provided the electronic toothbrush as a prize for the winning artist. For those who aren't familiar with the Brush-a-mania program, it is designed to promote oral health and awareness among young children from Jr. Kindergarden to Grade 6. This year, over 70,000 students in Ontario registered to take part in the event. Alliston Union Public School: Ellayah, Grade 2
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Snapd feature for Beer Pairing FundraiserOur feature in Snapd showcasing the Flight to Do Right Beer Pairing fundraiser! Snapd Write-up: Flight to Do Right Beer Pairing EventRecently joined Rotary Club of Alliston members Marnie MacKay, Suzanne MacKay and Tanya Wall (also known as the Newbie Committee) hosted a fundraising event at Redline Brewhouse in support of Youth Haven. The evening featured guided brewery tours of the facility before everyone sat down to enjoy a four-course meal paired with delicious craft beer. "We didn't want to decide on our own where the money should go," said Marnie MacKay. "We surveyed people within the community to see where they would like to see the funds go. Youth Haven is an amazing place that offers youth shelter, and a safe place to get their lives together." |
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Banting Students Presentation on D-Day history in EuropeTwo students, Laura Nielson and Amanda Dick, gave an amazing presentation of their D-Day trip experience. They were part of a group of 72 students from grades 10-12 in attendance from Banting Memorial High School. Dana Wright joined Laura and Amanda for the presentation. She traveled with the students to Europe. The following is a thank you letter from Banting Memorial High School for Rotary's support of their trip to Europe. Banting Memorial High School 203 Victoria Street East, Alliston, ON L9R 1G5 Tel: 705-435-6288 | ban.scdsb.on.ca March 25, 2019 Dear Rotary Club of Alliston, On behalf of the Banting staff and students that participated in the D-Day trip, we would like to thank you for your generous donation in support of our adventure. Your contribution helped 73 students experience key events in Canadian History and bring the lessons that we learn in our classes, come to life. The trip encouraged appreciation for the significant sacrifice that was made, on our behalf, by the thousands of brave men and women who have served and continue to serve, in Canada’s armed forces. Additionally, our students gained through their exposure to cultures and histories different from their own. Our travels took us to war memorials at Omaha, Dieppe and Juno beaches, Beaumont Hamel, and Vimy Ridge. Students conducted ceremonies at both Juno Beach and Beny Sur Mer that were both meaningful and heartfelt. We visited Tyne Cot Cemetery and the memorial at Menin Gate. Students were impressed with the hardships soldiers faced during a tour of the Wellington Quarries in Arras. I have attached pictures of a few of these experiences. In addition to the memorial experiences, students also had the benefit of touring the Palace of Versailles, medieval Bruges, Ghent and Brussels and spending three days in London. Several of our students fell particularly in love with the medieval centres in Belgium and along with the architecture and rich History, enjoyed the frites, Belgian waffles and endless chocolate. To close, I would like to include a sample of the some of the reflections of our students themselves. When asked to comment on the highlights of the trip, here are some of the responses: “Honestly speaking, everything. It was such a unique experience, and I don't know what to choose as a top favourite place. I think the best part of the trip was being there, immersed in history and culture.” “Being at vimy ridge, being able to see and listen to what the troops had to go through, and just getting to be in Europe” “Every walking tour had so much information to give to students, and enhanced my experience of the places in which we stayed.” “The overall experience I got from this trip was amazing! The London eye, Omaha/Juno Beach, and Brussels stick out in my mind though” Thank you again for your contributions to this experience. The Banting community is enriched by the support it consistently receives from the wider community that embraces it. Sincerely, Dana Wright, Chair Canadian and World Studies Department |
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Rotary at Base Borden for Flakpanzer Restoration Project
The Rotary Club of Alliston members, family and friends attended a very interesting and educational presentation at Base Borden on Monday, April 29th. John, Dave, Collin and John, four dedicated volunteers, shared what they have been spending their spare time doing every other Saturday at Base Borden's Museum. They, along with other volunteers (including students) have been working hard to reconstruct a Flakpanzer IV "Wirbelwind" self-propelled anti-aircraft gun made in Germany in 1944. This event was suggested by Rotarian Jack Van’t Spyker and he had provided some interesting background information if you would like to learn more HERE. If you haven't been to the museum, you should go! The hours are as follows: Open daily except Mondays and the day after holiday weekends. Hours are Tuesday to Friday, from 9 am to 3 pm (closed for lunch 12-1) and Saturday and Sunday from 1 pm to 4 pm. Admission is Free; Guided Tours cost $2.00 per person. |
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A Visit from Youth HavenThe Newbie Committee invited Lucy Gowers, Executive Director of Youth Haven, to speak about the many ways their organization supports youth experiencing homelessness in South Simcoe. If you are looking to make a contribution to such a wonderful service, please visit their website to find out how you can help. Also mark your calendars for the Flight to Do Right beer pairing event! Have fun while supporting the many youth that require shelter in our community. Proceeds will be going to Youth Haven. |
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Rotary Assists The Life Skills Program at BantingDavid Green and Joan Hayward were greeted with great enthusiasm when they visited the Life Skill Class at Banting Memorial High School. Student from the program were excited to learn that thanks to a donation from the Rotary Club of Alliston, they would be participating in a horse back riding program in April at the Hope Haven Therapeutic Riding Centre. The Rotary Club of Alliston provided $1500 to support the program.
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12th Night Bonfire - Jan 4, 2019 at Riverdale Park, AllistonThe Rotary Club of Alliston, the Firefighters of New Tecumseth and The Town of New Tecumseth had an impressive turnout at the Annual 12th Night Bonfire in Riverdale Park. The massive bon fire was lit at 6:30pm and was viewed by hundreds as they feasted on hot dogs and hot chocolate. It was a hugely successful event thanks to all the volunteers, as well as, Country Meat Cuts for supplying the hot dogs and Tim Hortons in Angus for donating the hot chocolate. Also, a shout out goes to Sheldon Creek Dairy as for supplying bottles of chocolate milk to be handed out to all the children!
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Donations made to Alliston Out of the ColdThe Rotary Club of Alliston held its Christmas Party last night at the Gibson Centre. This year's recipient of donations is Alliston Out of the Cold. Jeni Pergentile, program director, is here with President Bill Wray accepting the donated items and money. Thanks to all who donated. |
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Ted Barris - Dam Busters receives an awardOn Dec 6th, 2018 Ted Barris, who spoke recently at the Rotary Club of Alliston about his book Dam Busters: Canadian Airmen and the Secret Raid against Nazi Germany received the RCAF NORAD Trophy. Here is Ted's note to the Club: Hi Bill and all the hard-working members of the Rotary Club of Alliston.. I send this note with my gratitude and because it's never too late to remember Canadian heroes. On Thursday, Dec. 6, at a short ceremony in front of Canada's only airworthy Lancaster bomber, at the Canadian Warplane Heritage Museum, in Hamilton, Ont., L/Col. Dean Black awarded the RCAF NORAD Trophy to me for my work researching/writing Dam Busters: Canadian Airmen and the Secret Raid against Nazi Germany - the book published by Patrick Crean Editions (HarperCollins). It was humbling and inspiring to see my book honoured this way. Even more important, the NORAD Trophy pays tribute to the 30 forgotten Canadians who flew this incredible mission 75 years ago this year. It's never too late to recount their stories, nor to remember their service and sacrifice. We will remember them. Again, my sincere thanks for inviting me and for your support for the Dam Busters' stories. Best... Ted Barris. With Ted's help the Rotary Club of Alliston raised $550 for the Alliston Legion Raise the Roof project...Thanks to all those who attended. |
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End Polio Now Week in New TecumsethThe Rotary Club of Alliston and the Town of New Tecumseth celebrate End Polio Now Week in New Tecumseth, October 22-29, 2018. As a symbol of the commitment to eradicate polio world-wide, a ceremony was held recently to read the proclamation and to raise the End Polio Now flag. Polio is a virus that is transmitted through contact with human feces in contaminated food and water. Tests are done to determine the level of the virus in water associated with sewage treatment plants, canals and sewers. Immunization results when the virus is detected and when children show the early symptoms of the disease. |
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Day 2-3 Rivne ...update from the team in UkraineThe Rotary Club of Rivne has made significant progress in towards the goals of the global grant.
The 3D printing lab is up and running with hundred of piece of education equipment being produced. The technical team is continually evaluating the products and introducing new innovations. What are they producing?
Alphabet learning cube Shape dominoes and boxes Braille cube prototypes Boxes of these items lined the walls in the lab ready for delivery to the schools. |
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Day 1: First Day in Rivne - reviewing the ongoing Global GrantSince visiting Rivne last September, the Rotary Clubs of Alliston and Rivne have been working hard to develop and now implement a global grant to help visually impaired people in Rivne. The grant is complicated and has many parts but it can be simplified into two parts:
Three hardy Rotarians, Dave Green, Bill Wray and Roger Hayward make up this years team. We are in Rivne, Ukraine to audit the accomplishments of the global grant and talk with the Rivne Rotarians about their experience in implementing the grant and how they might move forward. Day 1: After a 4 hour drive we arrived in Rivne from Lviv. We were met by Ohla had lunch and were soon beginning our audit. The first visit was to the Rivne Association of Blind facility.
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Update on the Alliston Community GardensAlliston Community Gardens on Elizabeth St. The Rotary Club of Alliston helped the Women’s Institute clear the Alliston Community Gardens this past Autumn in preparation for planting in 2018. The raised boxes sit on Town of New Tecumseth property and any resident of Alliston can use the boxes to grow vegetables for their families. The town cuts the grass and provides water for the gardens. The Women’s Institute built the 29 boxes 3 years ago. All of the boxes are being used this season with a waiting list of 50 people. The Women’s Institute have plans to have more boxes built for 2019 season. Thanks to all the Rotarians who helped with this hands on project and thanks to Kelly McCague for the suggestion of some type of Garden project. Photo taken by Sue Leach |
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Interact Induction meetingThe Alliston Rotary Club welcomed and introduced our new Interact Club on June 11th at the Gibson Centre that was both informative and inspirational. Speaches were given by District 7070 Interact chair: Patti Wright, District 7070 assistant governor: Sam Veerasingham, as well as the Interact President: Amzy Syed. Pictured in the bottom right-hand corner image (left to right):
Neil Phillips, District 7070 governor Emily Hawkes, Interact Secretary Irby Syed, Interact Treasurer Amzy Syed, interact President Thanusan Wijawickrama, Interact member Tharsan Wijawickrama, Interact member Patti Wright, District 7070 Interact chair Sam Veerasingham, District 7070 assistant governor |
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CLASS - Art with Heart Silent Auction May 25, 2018The Rotary Club of Alliston is pleased to support CLASS. You can support this organization by attending their Art with Heart Silent Auction Fundraiser May 25, 2018. See the poster for more information. |
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Help us ...help CLASSThe annual golf tournament for the Community Living Association of South Simcoe is being held at Nottawasaga on 15 August. This is their major fundraising event of the year, which has in the past produced down payments for new group homes to serve intellectually disabled residents of New Tecumseth. This year, their goal is the acquisition of a wheelchair-accessible van.
Please help us help CLASS by registering a team or volunteering to help with the tournament. Please contact Rotarian George Scott if you can help.
To register a team download the registration form HERE: |
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Darling Bequest - Habitat for Humanity GalaThe Rotary Club of Alliston is pleased to support the Darling Bequest- Habitat for Humanity 2018. You can support this endeavour by attending their Charity Gala on Sunday May27, 2018. See the poster for more information. |
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Highway Clean up Spring 2018We had great weather and a great turnout of volunteers to help with the highway clean up. Thanks to Trillium Ford for letting us use their business as our base and the Town of New Tecumseth for picking up the many bags of garbage collected along Hwy 89. Thank to all the volunteers. Job well done. |
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Interact - Youth making an impact with the Alliston Rotary ClubTake action, build international understanding, and make new friends around the world.Interact clubs bring together young people ages 12-18 to develop leadership skills while discovering the power of Service Above Self. Find out how serious leadership can be seriously fun. Here are some of our Interactors with the Alliston Rotary Club: Alliston Rotary Club Interactor Executive: |
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Would you like to be a Rotarian for 1 Day?PROSPECTIVE ROTARIANS - CONVENTION DAY PASS Alliston Rotary Club is offering 5 FREE PASSES to prospective members. Be the first to request your pass by sending your information to the email address below. As of now, we have over 35,000 registered attendees, from 180 different countries or geographical areas! As comparison - this is twice as many as the last convention in Canada, held in Montréal in 2010. We could not be happier. For Convention Information please visit www.riconvention.org/en and for full information of what Rotary is all about and how you can become a member and help in your community and around the World visit www.rotary.org/en or visit the website of our local Club in Alliston at www.rotary-alliston.org/en Would you Like to be a Rotarian for a day? If you are interested please email MEMBERSHIP CHAIR ALLISTON ROTARY CLUB leo.kleiss@rogers.com • www.rotary-alliston.org/en |
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Global Grant is approved to support the visually impaired in UkraineThe Rotary Club of Alliston has just been approved for a $65,500 US grant by The Rotary Foundation Canada and The Foundation of Rotary International for a project to focus on education and job creation in Ukraine. Last September Rotarians from Alliston visited The Rotary Club of Rivne, about a 3-hour drive from the border between Poland and Ukraine. Rivne is a 3-hours’ drive west of the capital, Kiev. Since Ukrainian independence from the USSR, little money has been available from the central government. The first part of the program deals with helping blind school-aged children learn Braille. The Rivne Rotarians have developed a unique cube that allows young children to learn the Ukrainian alphabet and numbers through Braille. The school system is moving to an integrated program, accommodating all children with disabilities into regular classes, not unlike the Ontario model. Children in Ukraine learning braille with the new cubes All children of school age who are blind will receive their own Braille cube and their teachers will receive training on how to use the cube with their students. At the same time this is happening, a small recording studio is being set up to make audio CDs of Ukrainian books to be distributed to local libraries in Rivne Province. Other teaching aids will also be made available to blind children as shown in the picture. In Ukraine there is a blind association similar to our CNIB. It is very poorly funded. There is a residential facility in Rivne that has about 80 clients who are either blind or visually-impaired and have at least one other disability. These clients will benefit from the grant because of jobs that will be created. This will be done through the purchase of a tissue paper cutting machine which will allow the clients to produce toilet rolls for sale to local distributors. In addition, a small sewing facility on this site will be expanded by the purchase of new sewing machines, modernization of the sewing room, and a new embroidery machine for making simple uniforms with embroidered logos and names. There is a large cottage textile industry operating in Ukraine so clients will be taught sewing skills that should allow them to get jobs in this industry. At least 6 Rotarians will be returning to Rivne, Ukraine this coming September to audit the project and find other opportunities to work with Rivne Rotarians and support projects that they will identify. |
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Ongoing Support to ContactCo-President Maureen presents a cheque to CONTACT staff, Emily Harrison, Executive Director and Jennifer Fleury, Housing Access Worker to support Housing First Program. Contact are also looking for volunteers to help with the upcoming Homeless Enumeration program in Simcoe County.
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Tickets are SOLD OUT!
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A Thank you from Sweet Charity Medical Assistance DogsHere's a lovely Thank You letter from Sweet Charity to the Rotary Club of Alliston for their contribution to their Diabetes Support Dog program. Below is a tidbit of information on what the program is, and how greatly it impacts the children taking part. What is a Diabetes Support Dog or DSD?A Diabetes Support Dog is a dog trained to provide emotional support and companionship to children and youth with Type 1 and Type 2 diabetes. These dogs will accompany their Friend for Life to medical appointments and hospital visits in order to provide the child/youth with a distraction from procedures, and help to mitigate their feelings of anger, frustration, and alienation. Diabetes Support Dogs provide unconditional love and create a sense of purpose while promoting attention to self-care and responsibility to care for their Friend for Life. |
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It was a Cold and Windy Night - Jan 5, 2018A group of hardy Rotarians, friends and families braved the cold and windy night so they could share a cup of hot chocolate around an enormous bonfire. Big thanks to all who attended the 12th Night Celebrations in Alliston. Special thanks to:
Especially the hardy families who came out and had fun. |
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Wrap it up for ContactRotarian Darlene Hunter, Contact volunteer Mary Hook and Rotarian Sue Leach at Tanger Mall wrapping a very large present together to raise funds and awareness for Contact. Thank you to all the Rotarians who took the time this busy holiday season to help! Rotarian Irene Byrne and other Contact Volunteers on the last volunteer shift before Christmas. |
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Happy New Year!From all Rotarians, Happy 2018! Let's make this year an amazing one!
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Slate of officers for 2018/19 yearSlate of officers for 2018/19 year President (co) –Bill Wray President Elect – Sue Leach Secretary – Irene Byrne & Leo Kleiss Charitable Treasurer - Bill Wray Club Treasurer – Ed Zelinski Foundation – Joan Hayward Past President(s) – Maureen Royle and John McFarland Current Club Positions Membership – Punnapa Hartley, Leo Kleiss and Suzanne Mckay, Interact – Judy Irwin and Maureen Royle PR and Club Communications – David Green and Marnie Club Projects - Paul Foster WCS International Projects – Roger Hayward Club Service-Pod Co-coordinator– Colleen Kotnisz and Kelly McCague Community Service – David Green Coordinator - Events – Patricia Middlebrook |
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Update on the Rotary International Convention in 2018As you well know the next Rotary International Convention is being held from June 24 through June 27, 2018. Rotary along with six supporting districts and Toronto Tourism are pulling out all stops to make Toronto one of the best and most memorable Rotary Conventions ever. I don’t want you to miss out so here are a few reminders:
All 3 HOC Ticketed Events have limited capacity so register today. Also keep in mind that even if you cannot make it to the Convention itself you can still go to the HOC Ticketed Events. You just have to go to http://www.rotary2018.org |
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12th Night Celebration Bonfire - Friday January 5, 2018Last years great bonfire! Fire will be lit this year at 6:30 pm We we are a go for tonight. Dress warm. Fire starts at 6:30.The Rotary Club of Alliston, the Firefighters of New Tecumseth and The Town of New Tecumseth invite people of all ages to joi n us at the Rotary Pool parking area in Riverdale Park, Alliston for an evening of family winter fun on January 5th, 2018. The huge bonfire will be lit at 6:30 pm. The Rotary Club of Alliston will be selling hot dogs and cups of hot chocolate for 25 cents. You will not find a better deal in 2018. Hot dogs provided by Country Meat Cuts and hot chocolate provided by Tim Hortons - Angus. You can help by dropping off your Christmas tree for the bonfire at the Rotary Pool Parking area on or before January 4, 2018. Parking access at the site will be limited to emergency service and people with limited mobility. Please park at the ball diamonds and the pavilion on Fletcher Crescent. This is a fun evening for the whole family. |
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Rotary Club Christmas PartyLast night was the Rotary Christmas party! - I'm posting a bit late It was a lot of fun! We played games, did some trivia, and decorated some Rotarian's as Christmas trees! Yay! |
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District 7070 UpdateTo ALL Active Rotarians in District 7070: IMPORTANT: the next early-bird deadline for discounted registration to the Rotary International Convention in Toronto next June is December 15th. Registration goes up USD$100 after that date. As cancellation fee is only $50 - even if you're worried you might be travelling and out of the country then - it's a better deal to register now! :-) At present, we have about half the registrants expected from our district. Please don't wait until next May. Register here: Have you registered to volunteer? You don't need to decide in what area or what days yet - but the Host Organising Committee DO need you to sign up online. They're working extremely hard planning things, so I know it would relieve their stress greatly if they had a few hundred more people sign up now. Remember, volunteers are needed both INSIDE the convention (registered delegates) and also OUTSIDE -- so spouses, siblings, friends, colleagues, Rotaractors and Rotarians-to-be are most welcome as well! Sign up here by entering your info in just a few clicks: Still thinking about helping host a dinner for Monday, June 25th - Host Hospitality night? It's a highlight event for many going to conventions, and you'll meet a truly international group of guests. We should have 5,000 spots available, so please register your event - you don't need to have full details finalised. (I'll be sending a separate email to Club Presidents re potential joint events for those clubs outside of the city.) Sign up with even fewer clicks here, so they know you're hosting a dinner: Lastly, exciting news: HOC event tickets are now on sale. People from around the world are already starting to purchase - and of course everyone here is welcome as well! More info here: The HOC is getting updated on a regular basis, and includes info on all aspects of the convention, and a link to RI as well. So bookmark this one-stop resource... |
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Motions passed at the November 20, 2017 meetingBoard Meeting (New Board) November 20, 2017 At Gibson Centre Present: Maureen Royle, John McFarland, Sue Leach, Leo Kleiss, Irene Byrne, Ed Zelinski, Bill Wray, Ralph Jones Regrets: Joan Hayward 1. Reviewed board minutes from June 14 th , 2017. Motion to accept the minutes moved by Leo Kleiss, 2 nd by Ralph Jones – carried. 2. Motion to accept the agenda, moved by Sue Leach, 2 nd by Ralph Jones – carried. 3. Motion to accept the Financial audit of the charitable account and financial statements for the Dec 04/17 AGM moved by Sue Leach, 2 nd by Irene Byrne - carried 4. Club Budget presented by Ed Zelinski. Motion to accept budget as presented moved by Ed Zelinski, 2 nd by Bill Wray – carried. 5. Charitable Fund Budget presented by Bill Wray – motion to accept as presented moved by Maureen Royle, 2 nd by Leo Kleiss – carried 6. The charitable fund budget showed there are funds in excess of the budget set out for this fiscal year. Bill will initiate a discussion with the club to decide how to allocate these excess funds. 7. Christmas Float report submitted by Paul Foster – motion to accept as presented moved by Leo Kleiss, 2 nd by Maureen Royle – carried. The final budget/cost for the float will be presented to the club 8. Slate of officers for 2018/19 update – Leo Kleiss. In progress 9. Foundation Report - Joan Hayward and Ralph Jones. Accepted as presented, moved by John McFarland, 2 nd by Leo Kleiss – carried 10. World Community Service report – motion to accept as presented, moved by Maureen Royle, 2 nd by Sue Leach - carried 11. Community Service report - Sue Leach . Motion to accept as presented, moved by John McFarland, 2 nd by Irene Byrne - carried 12. Remembrance Day donations from Ted Barris event - Maureen Royle & John McFarland. Report was accepted as amended and will be posted in club runner under ‘event reports’. New Business: Nancy Ward is making a donation of $1000 in memory of her husband. It will be deposited into the charitable account and a future discussion will be held to decide how to allocate these funds. Motions passed at our regular club meeting on that same date The Rotary Club of Alliston to provide $2500 towards the weather proof doors on the Octagonal Shed at the Banting Homestead. Moved by Sue Leach Club Seconder: Paul Foster - Carried Rotary Club of Alliston fund Contact Housing First Client Support Relief fund up to $2500 on a needs basis. Moved by Sue Leach Club Seconder: Ralph Jones - Carried |
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Christmas Party Food Bank DonationsPlease help support the local food bank and bring non perishable food stuffs to the Christmas party. You can also make a monetary donation to the food bank on the night of the party by cheque payable to The Good Shepherd Food Bank and the food bank will purchase the supplies required.
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Cenotaph Committee Cheque PresentationMaureen Royale and John McFarland co-presidents of The Rotary Club of Alliston presented a cheque to the Cenotaph Committee chair Mr. Hart Holmstrom in the amount $1,235.00 to further improvements at the Cenotaph located at Albert and Paris streets in Alliston. Funds were raised by a generous donation from Royal LePage RCR Reality Alliston, Frank Grey Jr. and staff, and public donations from the speaker presentation of The Great Escape by Professor and author of The Great Escape and frequent contributor to the Globe and Mail and the Toronto Star Ted Barris. Event was held on Oct 04/17 in Honda Hall at the Gibson Centre. Photo curtesy of John Heydon. Thank you,for your help much appreciated! John |
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Night Lit Santa Claus Parade - WINNERSHere are the 2017 Rotary Club of Alliston Night Lit Santa Claus parade winners... Best use of traditional - ALLISTON POTATO FESTIVAL COMMITTEE Most unique - KD WRAY PROFESSIONAL CORPORATION WOW factor - J J TOWING & RECOVERY Best overall - CIRCLE THEATRE Thank you to all the organizations, companies and groups that entered the parade your support and participation is appreciated. A few video highlights...
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Alliston Santa Claus ParadeTonight was a very WET and cold night, but the parade still happened and it was AWESOME! The star of the show!!! Santa! and our amazing Rotary float!
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Santa is Coming to Town - November 18, 2017Join us for the 11th Annual Night Lit Parade in Alliston... |
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Paul Harris Fellowship presentationJanet Clayton, Don Smith and Patricia Middlebrook all received Paul Harris Fellowships at the Rotary Club of Alliston on Monday Oct, 30th.
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Alliston Community Garden Clean Up Despite the WeatherThank you to all the folks who braved the rain and cool weather to help clean up the 24 raised garden boxes at the Alliston Community Gardens. The Women's Institute and the Town of New Tecumseth supported the building of the Garden Boxes on Town land 3 years ago. The Rotary Cub of Alliston, the Women's Institute and the Town of New Tecumseth helped in the clean up of the boxes that were not used this year. The boxes are free to residents of New Tecumseth to grow their own vegetables. Residents do need to sign an agreement with the Town to maintain their boxes. Thanks to all the Rotarians who came out to help! Pics above: (top, left)Boxes all done...Coffee anyone?, (top right)Kelly McCague and Sue MacKay, (2nd row left)Deputy Mayor Donna Jebb representing the WI, (second row right)Outstanding in his field...Ralph Jones celebrating a birthday by helping Rotary, (bottom left)Patricia, Sue and Kelly, (bottom right)Bill and Jack hard at work
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Alliston Community Garden Clean UpBill and Jack hard at work Thank you to all the folks who braved the rain and cool weather to help clean up the 24 raised garden boxes at the Alliston Community Gardens. The Women's Institute and the Town of New Tecumseth supported the building of the Garden Boxes on Town land 3 years ago. The Rotary Cub of Alliston, the Women's Institute and the Town of New Tecumseth helped in the clean up of the boxes that were not used this year. The boxes are free to residents of New Tecumseth to grow their own vegetables. Residents do need to sign an agreement with the Town to maintain their boxes. Thanks to all the Rotarians who came out to help! Kelly McCague and Sue MacKay Outstanding in his field...Ralph Jones celebrating a birthday by helping Rotary Deputy Mayor Donna Jebb representing the WI Patricia, Sue and Kelly Boxes all done...Coffee anyone?
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Foundation Walk 2017 Report
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World Polio Day, October 24, 2017TO: All Alliston Rotarians FROM: Joan Hayward, Club Foundation Co-Chair As I announced at our meeting of October 16, next Monday, October 23rd at 11:00 a.m. His Worship the Maor of the Town of New Tecumseth will proclaim the week of October 23rdEnd Polio Now Week. We will raise the flag and it will fly until October 30th to bring awareness for the need to "Drop Polio to Zero". Please join the Mayor and councillors in this event and wear, if weather permits, your red golf shirt or your red End Polio Now t-shirt. We will obviously be outdoors. I'm also sending you a note President Maureen received from District Governor Neil about an e-event happening on National Polio Day, Tuesday, October 24th. This is a very interesting take on raising both awareness and funds for the polio effort. Those comfortable with all things "e" may like to participate. This Message is being sent to All Rotarians in D7070: To Celebrate World Polio Day this coming Tuesday October 24th, Canadian e-clubs will march across Canada in 5 hours! You can participate in the meeting - and Make a Pledge Donation - and help Rotary accomplish its goal of eliminating polio. Of course, if your Club has an event, or you can make a District event, I would encourage you to participate in person. This effort is for the curious and those Rotarians and Rotaractors who cannot be actively involved with a local WPD event. The meeting will start at 7:00 pm Tuesday October 24 local time in Halifax. It will then roll across all time Zones starting at 7:00 pm in your local time zone. On hand to promote the fund raising efforts will be... Bob Scott A driving force behind Polio Eradication since 1986 Mike McGovern Chair of the Polio Plus Committee Ann Lee Hussey An organizer and promoter of more than 25 National Immunization Days So if you are not involved locally, still in the office, or just curious: mark your calendar and join us online 7 pm local time World Polio Day October 24. Maybe slightly different in Saskatchewan. Meetings will start at 7 pm Central and 7 pm Mountain. Meeting Link https://zoom.us/j/ Pledge Link to follow next week. See you at 7 we have room for 200!!!! Your World Polio Day Online Committee Brian Carmichael PDG District 7080 2011- 2012 Ass't Rotary Coordinator Zone 24E 2017-2018 DG Neil Rotary and Gates Foundation Celebrate 10 Years of Working Together to End PolioSince 2013, the Gates Foundation has matched every $1 Rotary commits to polio eradication 2-to-1.
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Monday night meeting (Oct 16)We had a great meeting tonight where we discussed which charities/projects the Rotary Club of Alliston would contribute funds to. Also, our team from the Ukraine has returned! They gave a short presentation on their experience and provided some gifts for the club and our club presidents. Top Image: the Ukraine trip team, Bottom left Image: gifts from the Ukraine Rotary Club, Bottom right image: pamphlet about the Ukraine Rotary Club
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Mommy, what's Polio?“Mommy, what’s Polio?” On Monday, October 23rd New Tecumseth’s Mayor Rick Milne will declare the week of October 23rd to 3oth as End Polio Now Week in New Tecumseth. To mark the start of this special week, the End Polio Now Flag will be raised on Monday, October 23rd and will fly at the municipal offices in Alliston all that week. If you live within New Tecumseth, please join members of The Rotary Club of Alliston as we participate in this event. We in Canada are so fortunate that the question, “Mommy, what’s polio?” can still be asked by our children. Polio has not been a health problem for many decades, thanks to proof of immunization being required for school attendance. Some of us still remember members of our families and friends suffering from polio and, indeed, having to spend most of their days in an iron lung. The developing world has not been so fortunate. Today there are three countries where the polio virus is still endemic: Afghanistan; Pakistan; and now, again, Nigeria. According to recent reports, there have been nine new cases this year. We need to stop this spread quickly. In June, at the Rotary International Convention, Marie-Claude Bibeau, Minister of International Development and La Francophonie, announced another CA$100 million in the fight to eradicate polio. This brings Canada’s total contribution to nearly US$650 million. We can be very proud of our government’s significant help in this endeavour. To sustain this progress, and protect all children from polio, experts say $1.5 billion is urgently needed. Without full funding and political commitment, this paralyzing disease could return to previously polio-free countries, putting children everywhere at risk. Rotary has contributed more than $1.6 billion and countless volunteer hours to fight polio. Through 2018, every dollar Rotary commits to polio eradication will be matched two-to-one by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation up to $35 million a year. If you or an organization with which you are affiliated would like to do your part, please go to www.clubrunner.ca/trfc/ and follow the link to donate. For approximately $1 you can immunize a child against this crippling disease. |
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District 7070 Newsletter informationThe SEPTEMBER 2017 Rotary District 7070 Newsletter is packed with information on our many Rotary programs such as: · Letters from District Governor Neil Phillips and from District Governor-Elect Mary Lou Harrison · Letter from R.I. President Ian Riseley AND Rotary Foundation Chair Paul Netzel · September is Basic Education and Literacy Month. One of the Rotary Foundations 6 Areas of Focus. What is your club doing to attract and retain members? · Are you getting ready to tell the world about your club's participation in World Polio Day on October 24 and why we celebrate? · Are you contributing to the District 7070 Speakers Bureau? How about MOBI ? · Newsletters from ShelterBox Canada , and Honoring Indigenous People, and WASRAG · A new section called Clubs In the News . A great opportunity to showcase your club and assist other Rotary Clubs. · Have you registered for Rotary Friendship Day in Oshawa on Sept 25? · Have you volunteered for Toronto2018 yet? Any thoughts on the entertainment? Break out sessions? · Don't forget the new section called ROTARY INFORMATION TO HELP LEAD YOUR CLUBS..... like Rotary Leadership Institute (you can now register for Belleville on Sept 30) , Club Visioning, the Mobile Business Directory, our Speakers Bureau and many more · Are you going to the Rotary District Conference? Have you registered? Have you booked your hotel room? · and many more news items and Reminders In addition, all editions of this year's Newsletters will be available on the District 7070 website. Look at the left hand column of the District Website and scroll down. You may wish to include a copy the link to your own Club website and your own Club Facebook page. This Newsletter is a good look at Rotary in Southern Ontario and around the world and just may attract new members to your site and to your Rotary Club. We will continue to email a newsletter out to you perhaps as many as 12 times in the 2017-18 Rotary year (we will try for one a month as our goal). This is a "no charge" endeavour so that our District Rotary Dues are kept in check. Please send all of your articles to me Dave Andrews, Public Relations Chairman. It is with great pleasure that Linda Grey-Noble, a member of the Rotary Club of Toronto Twilight is on the District 7070 Newsletter Team. Linda is welcoming the opportunity to help bring a "new look" to the District 7070 Newsletter. We look forward to seeing the "New" Newsletter. Thank you, Linda, for volunteering and "Making a Difference" in 2017-18. |
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Christmas float Work BeeHere are some images from our work bee meeting on Monday Sept 25, 2017: A video with additional pics will be added to the site at a later time. ***Important note*** On behalf of Paul Foster, the work bee for this Saturday Sept 30 has be rescheduled to Oct 28/17. It will take place immediately after the garden clean keep up that Sue has organized which starts at 9:00a.m. With a good turn out, we should be done weeding and able to start on the float by 11:00. Please check the calendar for more information. Rotary in action making a difference in our community! |
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Allocation of donation from Ted Barris eventEmail sent out to Rotary members from John: We have some options as to where we allocate the free will donation collected at the Ted Barris talk night scheduled for Nov 06/17. Thanks to Sue for doing the leg work here our options: I called Hart Holstrum back today. Hart said they need about $1000 to complete the mural project at the Cenotaph…. the Rotary club name would be on a plaque that recognizes all donors. The mural will be completed by November 11. Next year they plan to put a fence around Cenotaph and an underground sprinkler system. There are no estimates on that work yet. The Family Resource Centre is a not for profit and they have a charitable number. I spoke to Lynn Sorel and she said we can donate to a 1) general operational fund or 2) a program fund like childcare or support for families that have a parent deployed or 3) a new program launching in April that will provide all kinds of services to young veterans families(like respite care, support for families if they have to travel to specialist appointments, modifying homes to make accessible for injured veterans). She did say they have no immediate need at the moment. She said might be better to give the money to Matthews House or SMHF. Please email me (as Sue is away in the Ukraine) the program you would like to support. Sue will announce the recipient to the club first and then a PR presentation after the event. |
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Auction UpdateThe auction is fast approaching! All tickets and items must be to Janet so she can finish cataloguing and get the book to the printer....and get seating numbers to the Nott. If you are thinking of donating an item the sooner it arrives here the less cranky I'll be....and the sooner your tickets are here the closer you can be to the bar!! |
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Alliston Community Gardens Clean UpJoin us for the Alliston Community Garden Clean Up on Saturday, October 28 at 9am at 66 Elizabeth Street. The Women’s Institute, the Rotary Club of Alliston and the Town of New Tecumseth are working together to clean up the 24 raised box gardens on the Town of New Tecumseth property at the west end of Elizabeth St. The Community Gardens were built 3 years ago by the Women’s Institute to promote healthy lifestyle choices for residents of New Tecumseth. Please wear old clothes, gloves and sturdy footwear. Bring along your gardening tools. Parking is along Elizabeth Street. Map to location |
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*Important Update from Ukraine Trip TeamBelow you will find two updates on our pending trip to Ukraine. Please read through to the end. There are two motions that will come to the club once the team has returned and assuming they are satisfied that the project should be undertaken. These motions have been bolded. Update on the Rivne Blind Project (August 2017) Everything is on track for the Alliston team to leave for Ukraine on Friday, September 29th and return on Thanksgiving Saturday, October 7th. All members, at their own expense, are spending two days in Warsaw on the way to Rivne. Our team (Jack, David, Sue, Irene, Bill, and Roger) had a meeting to discuss some of the specific details of the trip. Since then we have learned that our government is offering Rotary clubs in certain countries (Ukraine is one that has been approved) additional grants. So if the team approves our project for the blind, we will be asking the club to consider the following motion: (note that the wording is slightly different than the one you saw at our initial presentation in July) “That the Rotary Club of Alliston be the lead club in a proposed global grant, together with a Government of Canada grant totaling $65,000 USD, to improve the education and socialization of the blind and visually impaired children and adults of the Rivne province and use $5,000 USD of Alliston’s World Community Service funds designated from team donations” The new funding for the grant is as follows: Rotary Club of Alliston Rotary Club of Richmond Hill Rotary Toronto $ 3,000 District Designated Funds (DDF) $ 10,000 Government of Canada $ 20,000 World Fund of The Rotary Foundation (TRF) $ 35,000 NB. The $5,000 from Alliston does not come from the 2017-18 club charitable account for funds raised. The money comes from both team money left over from Tanzania 2014 and the Ukraine team 2017 money. The team was not aware of the government grants but after a discussion we felt that we could not overlook this opportunity, since we will not have to use any more money than originally proposed for a total of $35,000. This will mean that we can do the entire project as outlined by the Rivne club originally. If anyone has any questions about the project and missed the club presentation in July, please contact Roger for further information. Update on the Rivne Project (September 2017) We all leave this Friday night, September 29th, en route to Ukraine with a 2-day stop in Warsaw. It looks as if we have the funding in place for the complete project provided the team feels comfortable with our on-site visit in Rivne. Assuming this is the case then to complete our funding we will partner with the Toronto club. To do this we will need to support one of their Foundation global grant projects (something we have done in the past). The following motion needs to come to the club: “That the Rotary Club of Alliston support The Rotary Club of Toronto, providing $3,000 USD towards global grant #1529550 which is for building 30 blocks of toilets for girls in rural and slum schools in India” This money will come from the Alliston World Community Service budget of $6,000 CDN. The highlights of this Toronto project are as follows:
Pictures of similar toilets are shown below. This similar problem we saw in Tanzania but these Indian schools do have access to running water. More details can be provided since we have a copy of the proposal as approved by the Foundation in our files. Bill, David, and I have looked over the details and are pleased to recommend the project, especially with the support of The Rotary Foundation which will multiply our money to $10,500 USD. |
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SUCCESS! Community Gardens in AllistonCommunity Gardens on Town of New Tecumseth property at west end of Elizabeth Street in Alliston. The weather wasn't very cooperative, but that didn't stop our dedicated Alliston Rotarians. Thank you to the team of individuals for making this day a success and making the Gardens look great! Information about the Community Gardens: The Community Gardens in Alliston were built on Town property by the Women's Institute 3 years ago to help promote healthy lifestyle of town residents. The Women's Institute's goal was to make growing your own vegetables accessible and affordable for people that live in Alliston. Many apartment dwellers in the area have taken advantage of this program for the the first 2 years, with some residents donating extra produce to the food bank in Alliston. The lack of advertising this year meant that some of the boxes were not used and became weedy. Councillor Donna Jebb has promised to get advertising out early for next season. The Town of New Tecumseth provides the land, grass cutting around the 24 raised boxes, water in large tank and road access to the site. Residents that book a box garden must sign a form to agree to certain requirements set out by the Town. No fee is charged, so it makes for an affordable choice to grow vegetables. Strawberries planted by one resident for 2017.Yum!
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District 7070 Foundation WalkRalph Jones, Art Kovats, Jenny Kovats and Sue Leach walked at the 100th Anniversary Walk for the Rotary Foundation. Our Rotary Foundation is celebrating it's 100th Anniversary this year. Each year Rotarians from our district walk together to raise funds for our Rotary Foundation. This years walk was in Whitby, Ontario and was hosted by the Rotary Clubs of Whitby and Whitby Sunrise. There were about 250 Rotarians walking this year the 5 km trail along the beautiful shoreline of Lake Ontario. The walk featured many stops along the way to highlight the work of the 2 host Rotary Clubs. Many families participated and there was a passport to get stamped and a trivia contest with questions to answer along the route. We finished the morning with a lunch and music from students in a song writing program from local schools. Over $100,000.00 was raised by Rotarians, family and friends. Congrats to the organizers for a wonderful day! |
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Monday Sept 11th Rotary MeetingWe had visitors tonight: District Governor Neil Phillips, and Assistant District Governor Sam Veerasinghsm. They were both presented with our New Rotary Club of Alliston golf shirts as a thank you for their support. Top Left: District Governor Neil Phillips, Top Right: Assistant District Governor Sam Veerasinghs Bottom(from left to right): Co President Maureen Royle, District Governor Neil Phillips, Co-president John McFarland, Assistant District Governor Sam Veersinghs |
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Art ExhibitionThe Artists at the Gibson are having an Exhibition in the Gallery beginning September 8 with the opening on that evening. Rotarians are invited to be at the opening. Tickets are available at the Gibson Centre front desk or on the website: www.gibsoncentre.com
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Annual District 7070 WalkRotarians – before your long weekend settles in, don't forget to mark your calendars and make plans for the following weekend! Come out and celebrate 100 years of the Rotary Foundation at the 2017 District 7070 Foundation Walk in Whitby on Sunday Sept 10. Join fellow Rotarians & Rotaractors with friends and family on Sunday Sept 10, 2017 for the annual District 7070 walk in support of the Rotary Foundation. Enjoy a leisurely walk along the beautiful waterfront trail in Whitby. (Long-range weather report looks lovely.) The walk will feature live music, local craft beer, prizes and trivia. Dogs welcome, or any other animal on a leash. A continental breakfast and lunch will be served. It's a day of awesome fun for the whole family. Doors open at 8:30 am for breakfast and welcoming ceremonies. Walk (5Km or less) starts at 10am with lunch and closing ceremonies. While a fun event on its own, remember it's a key opportunity to raise funds for our Foundation - half of which comes back to our own district in three years to support Club projects through District Grant funding. If you haven't already done so, please go to the Rotary 7070 website this week to register or click this link: Register Online. We welcome you to bring friends and family to this event, you can add them as guest through your registration.
Your Club President (or designate) should be organising pledges and bringing total funds to the walk. Alternately, if you have any questions re donating or the event itself, do not hesitate to reach out to the Event Chair, Mark Chipman: mark.chipman@rbc.com Look forward to seeing many of you there! DG Neil.
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Rotary Christmas Float Construction has begun! |
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Lions - Christmas in SeptemberPlease consider helping our fellow service members in the Lions with their Christmas in September Golf Tournament. Funds go to the Christmas Hamper Program.
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Rotarians and Lions UniteTonight was a an opportunity for the Lions Club of Alliston, and the Alliston Rotary Club to get to know each other. It was a celebration pub night at the Gibson Centre in Alliston. The Rotary and Lions Club will be working on some future projects together.
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Potato Festival Parade 2017Despite threatening weather and brief downpour the 2017 edition of the Potato Festival Parade was a great success. This year's parade had a great variety of floats, vehicles, bands and entertainment. A big thanks to the organizing committee and the volunteers for another great evening of family fun. Here are the winners: Commercial: 1st place Honda, runner-up Alliston Auto Non-Commercial: 1st place Next Step Literacy, Children's: 1st place Girl Guides, runner-up Creative Kids
Thank you to all the organizations and businesses that had and entry in the parade. Click here for a gallery of parade photos. More great photos on the Alliston Herald webpage here. |
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Thank you email to the Alliston Rotary, from the Amarok SocietyThe following email was forwarded by member, Irene Byrne, who attended the event, One Book One New Tecumseth, on behalf of Rotary Club of Alliston: Dear Sue, I hope you'll convey our appreciation to your club for its continued support of our work in the developing world. Our Amarok Society mothers are showing a lot of bravery and dedication by taking a stand for peace and education in Bangladesh and Pakistan, but it wouldn't be possible without the stand being taken by so many Rotarians across Canada and the US. It means a great deal to us that the Rotary Club of Alliston has continued its support of our operations - please pass along our gratitude, as well as that of the communities who are benefiting through your club's generosity. With best wishes, Gabriel |
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The Annual Rotary Potato Festival ParadeSave the Date for the ParadeFriday, August 11th – 7:00 p.m.President Leo and Punnapa leading the 2016 Parade As usual, this year’s parade is shaping up to be an exceptional event. The entry spaces are filling up fast and we are receiving new applications every day. The committee has decided to have no more than 85 entries, including commercial, non-commercial and children categories. Participants are encouraged to decorate their floats in a potato theme and to be as original as possible. The floats will be judged beginning at 6:00 p.m. and there will be two winners in each of the three categories. Look for the banners declaring the winners as the parade passes by! This year’s parade includes 8 bands, many floats with music, entertainment by the various Shriner groups, a stilt-walker/accordion player, and a unicyclist/juggler. Watch for amazing feats of balance from these two unique characters! So, get ready for another exciting parade as it makes its way through the heart of downtown Alliston. What a great way to kick off yet another awesome Potato Festival! |
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Celebrating Canada's 150th in Alliston!Canada day celebration at the Alliston rec centre with the Rotary club of Alliston! #canadaday2017 #canada #canadaday #canadadayinalliston #rotary#rotaryclub #shoplocalbusiness #shoplocal #shopalliston #buylocal
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New Members speechesNew member Judy Irvine during her speech Last Monday evening, on June 16th, two new members were welcomed into the Rotary Club of Alliston. Last night, Judy Irvine gave her speech to introduce herself and provide insight to the other members about who she is and why she's become a Rotarian. Judy is a lovely person and the Rotary Club of Alliston is pleased to have her working with them. Welcome Aboard Judy! |
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Club NewsJune is Rotary Foundation's 100th Anniversary and Rotary Fellowships Month The pod members for June are Art and Jenny Kovats, Paul Kerr and Don Smith. Coming Events: Monday, June 19- Judy Irvine- Classification Talk -Business meeting Monday, June 26- Changeover Night @ 6:30pm at the Gibson Centre- Partners Night- Please wear Red and White (or Canada shirts etc) to help celebrate Canada's 150th Birthday. Please register yourself and your guests. Cost is $30/member and $35/Guest. Saturday July 1- Canada Day Celebrations in Riverdale Park(near the Rotary Splash Zone)- 10am-2pm- 16 Rotary Members(4 for each hour) are needed to hand out Chocolate Milk and Rotary Beach Balls to children and answer questions for the adults. Please wear a Rotary shirt if you have one. Please contact Maureen via text, email, or phone her at 705-817-5540 if you can help that day. Monday, July 4- No Rotary Monday, July 10- Rotary Meeting Monday, July17- No Rotary Monday, July 24- No Rotary Monday, July 31- Rotary Meeting with Board Meeting to follow Rotary VIP
Ideas Wanted for Club Meeting Programs In order to make a difference in our community, Maureen and John are looking for 3 things for Rotary Year 2017-2018:
If you have any suggestions please contact Maureen Royle. maureen.royle@hotmail.com The best ideas come from our members. Announcements:
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Valentine's Sweetheart Dinner and Dance - Feb 13, 2017DUE TO CIRCUMSTANCES BEYOND OUR CONTROL THE EVENT HAS BEEN CANCELLED. |
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