Welcome to another issue of our monthly Newsletter! Find out who our upcoming speakers are, information about upcoming volunteer opportunities and upcoming events.
WHAT'S GOING ON IN ROTARY AND THE NEIGHBOURHOOD - July 1, 2025
PRESIDENT'S MESSAGE
HAPPY CANADA DAY!! I hope you all had, or are continuing to have, a relaxing and fun holiday celebration with family and friends.
July is the beginning of our Rotary Club year. Firstly, thank you to everyone who attended the turnover meeting/lunch on June 17th. It was another excellent reminder of the friendship and fellowship that our club demonstrates so well.
New beginnings are an opportunity for all members to renew, recharge and rededicate our core values, within the club and to our communities - locally, within the district and internationally. In his June message, Jamie reiterated the need for renewed commitment to our club, which can take many forms - attendance at meetings, active committee membership and participation in our many social and service-related events. As your new President, I hope to advance this commitment with this year's theme of Engagement and Transparency. As I said in my remarks at the turnover, our new mantra will be "Say Yes and Show Up".
I'm pleased to report that over 93% of our members have now renewed their membership for 2025/26, with potential new members for approval soon. We are a strong, engaged and vibrant club - I am honoured to have the opportunity to work with each of you over the next year to continue all of our good work and service to our communities, as our club has done for over 31 years.
On July 1, our club will be serving our town at the Canada Day barbeque in Simcoe Park. It's always a fun day for our club and the community. For scheduling reasons, our July Club Assembly will be on July 8 where the 2025/26 budget will be approved. An interesting slate of speakers has been scheduled for the remainder of July. I look forward to seeing as many of you as possible each week.
Again, Happy Canada Day and Happy Summer!!
Cindy
UPCOMING MEETINGS/EVENTS
Rotary Meetings
Our speaker calendar for the next few months is filling up fast. I am sure they will all be interesting and informative to our members and guests.
NOTL ROTARY CLUB WEEKLY MEETING SCHEDULE
As President Elect, Chris Hatch will be scheduling speakers beginning with our July meetings. If you have any recommendations for speakers or know about an interesting group or organization that our member might like to know more about, please let Chris know.
The speaker line-up for July is as follows:
MTHDATEMTG FORMATGUEST SPEAKER
July 8 Lunch Meeting Club Assembly: Jamie Knight to present year-end
report, and review the budget
15 Lunch Meeting Michael Bell: 'Understanding Rotary: Club, District,
Zone & Beyond'
22 Lunch Meeting Mishka Balsom (CEO-Greater Niagara Chamber of
Commerce), Hugo Chesshire (Director of Policy &
Government Relations GNCC)
29 Lunch Meeting Barb Babij: topic TBD
Aug 5 Lunch Meeting George Webber: The Underground Railroad and its
26 Lunch Meeting Emily Fieguth: Fundraising Coordinator - Start Me
Up Niagara).
Thanks,
Chris Hatch
The Sunset Cocktail Party is a special fundraising event that will take place on Thurs, Aug 28, from 7:00 to 9:30 PM, at a lovely waterfront property located at 233 Niagara Boulevard. This event will welcome up to 200 guests and feature food and wine stations, a cocktail and beer bar, and live music for dancing under the stars. It's an elegant evening in support of a great cause—50% of proceeds will support our local community initiatives, and the remaining 50% will go toward Rotary’s international projects. Get your tickets now, as they sell out fast. (Just log into ClubRunner, go to Events/Tickets, then click on Sunset Cocktail Party.) Please contact Nancy Bailey if you have any questions.
COMMUNITY SERVICE COMMITTEE (CSC)
2024 was a great year for CSC! Thanks to Chris Hatch (outgoing chair) and a great committee, we funded 19 organizations who are worthy of our support.
Our large projects include a contribution to The Orchard in the amount of $25,000. The Orchard is a transitional home for Family and Children's Services. Kid's no longer have to travel to the Ottawa for shelter. They can stay closer to home.
Our second large contribution of $10,000 went toward the Family Room at the St Catharines Hospital. A St Catharines Rotary initiative that we participated in. NOTL Rotary have a plaque on the wall celebrating our donation.
Mid-size contributions, ranging from $5-10,000 include Food purchases for Community Care breakfast program, Community Crew lunch program, Palliative Care, Yellow Door Theatre, NOTL Museum, the Farmworker's hub, and the Pumphouse.
Smaller contributions (up to $5,000) were made to Big Brothers & Big Sisters to train 3 of our own Rotary members for volunteer mentorship; Community Crew for the purchase of a commercial refrigerator; The Legion for a Remembrance Day Wreath; Governor Simcoe Robotics Team for motors and batteries; Niagara Nutrition Partners for Apples for NOTL Schools; and Westview Centre 4 Women for a TV and Sound Bar for education in their common room.
Finally, CSC made a decision to create a reserve fund as a contingency should we be unable to successfully raise funds as we have during the previous few years. The contingency fund may also be used for a legacy project in the future.
When I recall these contributions, it makes me realize what a huge impact we have on our community. And it makes me proud to be a member of NOTL Rotary!
Thanks for everyone who participated in raising funds, and for those on the CSC who helped with distributing the funds to these worthy organizations.
As we embark on our new year, we have a couple of openings on the committee. If you're interested in participating, please contact Helle.
Helle Brodie
Chair Community Service Committee
RECENT EVENTS
All of the District 7090 Inbound and outbound students on their last weekend together. Here they are in costume for their fundraising fun run. Emil is the big banana. He won the race!
Our new Board at the Changeover Event at Betty and Jamie's beautiful home.
Farewell and appreciation for President Jamie for his service as President in 2024-25.
District Governor Dave swearing in Cindy as our club's new President for 2025-26.
Anne Dickson kept all of us well fed at the Changeover Event.
On Monday June 9, in-coming President, Cindy Grant, and Community Service Committee Chair, Chris Hatch, with Jeannie Manning holding the camera, traveled to the newly opened The Orchard Home in Welland, to deliver a cheque in the amount of $25,000. This is the largest single donation that our club made locally out of 20 donations. You all voted to support this very worthy renovation. The date for the official opening has not been set yet due to conflicting schedules of various dignitaries. But the home is up and running serving the children's needs.
John and Fran Boot met Rotarian Ranjeev Shrestha from Dhlikhel, Nepal at a Rotary Convention in Hamburg, Germany. That was the beginning of several collaborations between our two clubs. The most recent was a WASH project. The installation of flush toilets and a sink for a school in Shree Damba Rudraswor Mata Pita, Nepal.
The Handover was on June 11, 2025. "I think this illustrates the benefits of going to a Rotary Convention...connecting and making friends with fellow Rotarians from the other side of the world...and then doing good works together."
Wash station.
School children.
Chris Hatch and Howie Kudlats make the final delivery of fruit to our three NOTL elementary Schools on behalf of Niagara Nutrition Partners. Funded by our Club.
Our 2nd Sip and Savour Social was hosted once again by Betty and Jamie Knight in their gorgeous back garden.
Our second 'Guess Who's Coming to Dinner' had more than twice the attendees as our last one. Thanks to hosts Chris & Karen Hatch, Patrick & Creena Mcneill, and Jan Van Haren and Brian Carberry. The Hatch's photos were taken before their dinner. Patrick and Creena's remains a mystery.
Jan and Brian's, after the dinner (and bottles of wine😉).
The cheque was for $2,000 for Start Me Up Niagara for a tent and flag that will be used for their summer market and other events and for their 25th anniversary events and gala this September and October. As you know, our logo will be displayed prominently on the tent.
Stewart Istvan & Chris Hatch at the St George's Anglican Church 'Gratitude Breakfast'. Our club supports the 'Community Breakfast Program' every second Tuesday of the month.
Some of our members enjoying fellowship and lunch at the Olde Angel Inn. See you next time!
