Here is the video link from our Area 1 Rotary Day of Action this past September 28, 2019, https://vimeo.com/371392386
What a happy story! Thanks Kelsey - and Rudi!
RCNS is more than happy to contribute to and support the ambitious, community-driven initiative to refurbish the Todd Eaton Memorial Track in Port Dover. The Port Dover community has energized itself in response to this need and is well on the way to raising the $250K of funding needed to replace and maintain the existing track with a new, high-performance facility. In photo below Jim Simpson is presenting a cheque to the ‘Back on Track’ Community Fundraising Chair Simon Joynes.
RCNS Out and About at Norfolk Association for Community Living (NACL)
Recently, we had an opportunity to provide a bit of ’sweat equity’ support for people in their homes that are supported by NACL in Simcoe. At two of these sites. we tackled general clean-up jobs and undertook the start of a garden reconstruction. We met some great people and had a wonderful time as evidenced by the following assortment of photos taken.
Thanks to the people who live at each location and their staff from NACL who made this day such a great experience for us.
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Before and after our garden cleanup.
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Notes and cards of appreciation. Very gratifying.
Rotarian Helga Stuermer presents a donation to United Way staff member Judy Tomczak for the Stuff the Bus campaign to assist students with the supplies they need to start the school year.
Helga wrote; “Judy explained to me that they were able to help the 600 children. 29 Schools applied for help and received it. It was a successful Stuff the Bus Campaign. I felt proud that in a small way we were able to help that many children to start the new school-year with the supplies they need”.
This is our Rotary Club of Norfolk Sunrise money going to a great cause.
The trip by Jim and Marjorie Dawson of RC Norfolk Sunrise to teach canoeing in Pikangikum this year was slightly different than planned. Their usual canoe certification training and subsequent canoe trip was postponed due to a significant fire and community evacuation at the start of June. They were asked to help with a bike camp and to run a canoe camp at the start of July and went to the community July 3. They helped deliver a short bike camp and the initiation of a hugely successful summer long bike program run by local youth with support from the RC of Cataraqui - Kingston, New Hope Bikes, and the OPP.
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As preparation for the canoe camp and the signing of parental permission forms was under way, a second much larger fire threatened the community and a full evacuation was called. Jim and Marjorie were recruited to help mobilise the full community evacuation. The Rotarians helped by providing coffee, tea, water and food preparation, feeding over 300 people per day as they waited to be evacuated by air for six days until they themselves were evacuated by float plane. The canoe program was picked up by some of their enthusiastic canoe students in late July as the community returned from evacuation. While not what they planned, Jim and Marjorie got to meet a lot of the community and develop the relationship further by working with the community during this trying time.
Cheryl Peck received a Paul Harris Award from Past-President Keith Jones for her amazing work leading up to and during the 2019 Welshpool Student Exchange. Well deserved Cheryl!
Two outstanding women were featured at this Rotary Norfolk Sunrise meeting. Sydney Buis had returned from her year-long Rotary exchange to Belgium and eloquently described her amazing experience there. And Lisa Buis, Syd's mom, was awarded a Paul Harris Fellowship for her impressive service hosting 3 Rotary exchange students and 4 Lions exchange students. What a duo! What service!
Check out the article below posted on social media by Dan Reardon about his daughter Hannah.
Hannah Reardon was sponsored by our club for her exchange to Argentina several years ago and her parents were also active members of our club some years back. The Reardons hosted several exchange students, giving back to the program. The Reardons clearly remain impacted through Hannah and her life adventures. Well done Hannah!
Congratulations to week 24 winner Patti Powless of Port Dover who won the $500 draw on October 4 AND chose envelope #10 containing the Ace of Spades, winning the $18000 jackpot. Well done!
Click on "Read More" to see the full list of winners.
Jim Simpson presenting an RCNS cheque to George Araujo, General Manager/Treasurer for the Norfolk County Fair and Horse Show. This donation (as has been the case with our previous-year donations to this cause) will be used in direct support of the Ag-Awareness program; a Fair program intended to enhance the awareness of Grade 4 children concerning the nature of our agriculturally-based community.
President-Elect Rudi Atkinson, presenting Eric Haverkamp with an RCNS donation towards his plan to re-brand the Riverside 83 building into a food-based facility, emplaced to support those in need in our community. This donation will go towards the creation of an artistic mural to add to the exterior aesthetics of the building.
RCNS Community Service Work - Riversyde 83
Over the past several weeks, we’ve had a great chance to help
our friends at Church Out Serving as they tackle the work needed to transform
an old liquour store into a community support centre. On several occasions, we’ve been able to get into destructo-mode and leave our sweat behind as we helped to clear out the place, tear down a rugged suspended ceiling and generally help out around the construction site.
This was not the kind of thing that everyone could participate in owing to the nature of the work but we offered up many volunteers; all making short work of it. Those able to help out included Peter Wheatley, Jim Dawson, Andy Kooistra, Jim Simpson, Ross Gowan, Dave Nicolle, Alan Plater, Keith Jones, Keith Catherwood and Gail Catherwood. Eric assures us there will be more chances to help out, before he’s finished with the reconstruction work in the fall.
Church out Serving has been keeping the public up-to-date on their own facebook page and we’ve even received a bit of sincere recognition for our contribution - see https://www.facebook.com/pg/churchoutserving/posts/?ref=page_internal
Photos that resulted from these adventures are at our album(s) at
https://norfolksunrise.org/photoalbums/riversyde-83-demolition/
A couple of the more interesting shots are shown below.
Presidents Leading from the Front!
While Pres Keith certainly knows a lot about dumpster diving, Past-Pres Gail makes a better fashion statement on a construction site; she makes such great cookies too!!
RCNS - Out and About with our Donations.
In recent articles about the good we are trying to accomplish with our money, you will have noted a few photos that resulted from our modest donations to the Norfolk Community Help Centre. Herein, is an unsolicited letter received from the NCHC Director, indicating the gratitude they feel and the impact that our donations have. Yes, our gifts may be small in value but as you can read, they are relatively large in resultant impact. Sometimes, the sincerest appreciation comes from the most unassuming of sources.
On Apr 11, 2019, at 17:02, Frank <nchc@kwic.com> wrote:
Hello Jim,
It seems that soon after our Moms and Tots program wraps up each year - as it did last week - we are eager to share the successes we have experienced. The first people we want to inform are those who have helped us get here - like the Rotary Club of Norfolk Sunrise. We were disappointed with the challenging news this year that as a result of some policy changes, a substantial amount of funding we have received in the past for Moms and Tots will no longer be available. We were inspired that people in organizations like RCNS find ways to reach out and offer their assistance.
Providing two hundred dollars which allowed us to purchase tights for our Moms may seem like a small gesture of generosity, but the impact was more widespread than one might have thought. Most of our Moms not only continued to wear them regularly, but some (and this is not really their nature) went out of their way to mention how grateful they were to have received them. As you know, the Moms and Tots program is offered free of charge and is available Tuesday through Thursday from October to April. While they are learning, children are provided with a pre-school and school readiness programs in addition to lunch and snacks each day.
The two thousand dollars in support we received from the Rotary Club of Norfolk Sunrise through the AGCO “Catch the Ace” proceeds was key to helping us provide transportation subsidies for Moms to get to the program, covering the costs for hot meals, as well as rent and learning materials for the children’s programs. At this time last year we were excited that two of our Moms were graduating with their high school diploma. As we approach June of this year we are elated as several of our Moms are set to graduate!
Please extend our thanks for the financial and moral support which came from RCNS. Just as importantly though, thank you for the interest you have showed in what we do by taking the time to come out and see us, asking the questions and getting to know more about the programs. As we continue to find ways to face our challenges it is heartening to know there are thoughtful, generous, and supportive organizations like RCNS which contain people who are interested in hearing of our successes.
Sincerely,
Frank O’Connor; Program Director, Norfolk Community Help Centre
Neither snow, nor rain, nor heat, nor dark of night kept three Norfolk Sunrise Rotarians from traveling to the remote northern community of Pikangikum to deliver much needed supplies and offer basketball clinics. Jim and Marjorie Dawson, along with Pete Wheatley drove 4,400 km over six days, pulling a trailer which included mountain bikes for the bike program, 25 basketballs courtesy of the Toronto Raptors, instruments for the music program, over 100 skates, and 75 boots that were donated by generous local groups, businesses, and individuals.
Lisa reported on her amazing international service trip to Belize to provide occupational therapy to residents of a care facility in Belize. Lisa is President of the Norfolk Rotaract Club, and represented our community and Norfolk Rotaract with pride and real accomplishment while in Belize. The photo illustrates how Keith is impressed!
With the Dynamic Duo of Jenni Mudge-Winters and Tracy Winkworth leading the charge in 2019, there's no doubt this event will be hotter than ever. Lots of changes in store with a reboot to an event that has been the club's largest fundraiser for most years in its 20-year history. Yes, that's close to $500,000 raised and pumped into our local and international community as the event has morphed from Cigar Night to its current Hot Havana Night theme. Even the venue and catering will be refreshed this year as the event moves to The Greens at Renton with Devlin's catering. The date is June 13th.
You've heard of the Halo Effect - well you can see it for yourself as Keith Jones is blinded by the glow as he prepares for Hot Havana Night. Will it add some colour to those cheeks?
The Rotary Club of Norfolk Sunrise had community members trying to “Catch the Ace” for a very long time. The draws were held each Friday at the Port Dover Legion. It was never anticipated the Ace of Spades would be revealed with the 52nd card and would last the full 40 weeks, the maximum number of weeks allowed by County gaming rules. Every week, until the Ace was revealed, a lucky winner received $500 in prize money. In total $100,000 was raised with $30,000 going to the winner, $20,000 given out in weekly draws, and $50,000 going to Rotary for distribution into the community.
Why would a business owner in Simcoe donate free pizzas to support several community groups during their fundraising events? George Karamilev considers it his contribution to a great community. The Rotary Club of Norfolk Sunrise considers George’s contribution “service above self,” and recently recognized him with a Paul Harris Fellowship Award.
The club says George, owner of Dominoes Pizza in Simcoe, and his staff, have worked tirelessly to supply free pizzas and a smile to events including the Cystic Fibrosis Lawn Bowling Tournaments, CIBC Run for the Cure, Terry Fox Run, and the M.S. Walk to name a few. Thousands of people have enjoyed the pizzas after these events. Recently they made free deliveries of football-shaped pizzas to the community Grey Cup Party in Teeterville. George has sold pizzas and donated the proceeds back to families in financial need due to illness. He sells $5 pizzas and returns the full proceeds to the Sick Kids Hospital.
A Paul Harris Award is given to deserving Rotarians or community leaders that exemplify the Rotary ideal of “service above self,” going above and beyond to help others in the community and world wide. The Rotary Club of Norfolk Sunrise has donated $1,000 U.S. to The Rotary Foundation in George Karamilev’s name, in order to recognize his outstanding service to community.
Lyndsey Ross-Duwyn, in picture with George, and Gail Catherwood presented the award to George on behalf of the Rotary Club of Norfolk Sunrise.
RCNS recently contributed to the production of emergency meals destined for those in need. This photo shows preparation work which is now being done at a volunteer church in Simcoe but will be done at Riversyde 83 in due course. The meals are delivered to emergency shelter locations as coordinated by HN Social Housing.
Good progress is being made with the redevelopment of the Riversyde 83 facility and an end-year occupancy/opening is still anticipated.
You'll be inspired by this powerful message, as "we walk this earth together."
Chief R. Stacey Laforme was one of the most liked speakers at the 2018 Rotary International Convention in Toronto, and has a very common sense and moving message for everyone who lives on Mother Earth.
Thanks very much to Mike Cobb (left), representing the Rotary Club of Simcoe and presenting a cheque to John Wallace, to support the Operation Eyesight project in Nepal which is led by the Rotary Club of Norfolk Sunrise. The Simcoe and Norfolk Sunrise Clubs work closely together in several ways, to the benefit of the members in both clubs and the people and communities supported locally and internationally. Thank you Simcoe Rotary members!
Very uplifting "classification talk" by Tracy this morning. Interesting to learn that it took Tracy a while to find her passion as a chef, but she certainly hasn't looked back since. That passion certainly has driven Tracy to excellence, demonstrated in spades through The Bellworth House restaurant, her catering, and now her Liaison College venture. But Tracy's apparently not a bit competitive ... 
A whole lot of happy kids, parents, families, and Rotarians at the Jr. Farmers Building Saturday morning for Breakfast With Santa and his Elves. We served breakfast to over 240 people as well as over 20 volunteers. A great way to usher in the Christmas season and the Christmas Panorama. Thanks, Santa and Elves, for coming to Simcoe to delight our young families. Congratulations to Bettyann Carty and her team for putting together this great event.
Breakfast With Santa is a community service provided by the Rotary Club of Norfolk Sunrise in cooperation with the Christmas Panorama.
Jim used his Sgt-at-Arms opportunity to give a brief overview of his experience as a part of the 2018 Canada to Scotland Rotary Curling Tour. He noted the rewards, value and unique aspects of the tour and thanked his Rotary hosts as well as those in the club who had supported his great experience. Happy Bucks offered for each one. Shown here is Jim with the 'Bob Mackintosh TransAtlantic Rotary Curling Quaich' won by the 2108 Canadian team for the first time in 8 years.
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Our event was a huge success and Chef Tracy and her crew provided an outstanding delicious menu, sure to please any foodie, that was served throughout the evening. Right Roddie? Paulie (Zorad) was the doorman and he ensured no riffraff gained entry. Our keyboard player and soloist regaled the patrons with songs of yesteryear. The outfits were stunning. The poker table was busy all evening and no snitches ratted out our location. All was kept under wraps. Our drivers safely got everybody to and from, door to door. Thank you Nicolle’s and Dawson’s. Thank you to Jenni Mudge-Winters and the Ways and Means Committee for a superb event. More thanks to come from the committee for all who supported. Bravo RCNS!!
For more pictures click Read More ...
