Diners & Duffers Value Book
On Sale Now!
 
Pick up your copy from a Rotarian
or from McDougall Insurance
(Downtown Belleville)
or from McDowell's - 
Your Independent Grocer, Belleville
Club News
What does poppy seed cake have to do with Indigenous Peoples Partnerships programs?  Well, listen up.  This committee started in 2012 and has developed and worked on many projects locally, provincially and beyond.  Let's start with the school systems in Indigenous communities.  The Indigenous schools are federally funded at 75% and there is little motivation for young people to attend school on a regular basis.  On remote reserves there are 8 to 10 people living in one home and it is challenging for students to get up in the morning and get to school.  The internet has been unreliable and during COVID, homework was hand delivered and picked up by the teacher, accompanied by the Chief to encourage the importance of school work.  There are no high schools on the reserves and parents don't want their teenagers to leave to attend high school in Thunder Bay or Sudbury due to danger and the young age of the children being more or less on their own.  Parents often cannot afford to move with their students so they become vulnerable in larger city communities due to crime and bad influences.  There is limited future opportunities without an education. 
 
Working with the communities comes with challenges as well.  All projects have be approved by the Chief and Council and trust must be built between them and Rotary.  The changing seasons are part of the equation as well.  Summer break, Fall is hunting season, followed by Christmas break and the livelihood of ice fishing and with springtime, comes flooding and evacuation in some areas.  One priority that Birgit stressed was the importance of listening to the communities and knowing what they need.  Not what we think they need, but what are the local needs and how to find them out is not easy.  Some of the projects include purchasing and installing ventilator fans in homes, providing clothing for children and mothers at a woman's shelter, connecting a local school here in Belleville to provide life jackets to a community in Pickle Lake as a fundraising project, Kids Against Hunger meal packing and getting those meals to Fort Hope.  One of the committee's favourite projects was providing art supplies to a community of 3,000 along with bedding, clothing, medical supplies, sports equipment, winter coats, all in all half a tractor trailer full.  This came together with a connection through Jared Bellemare, who we are pleased to announce will be the incoming Chair of the IPPC committee as of July 1st.  The Fort Hope community had been looking for hockey skates for three years in order to start an after school program.  One young child had been waiting for a pair of skates in his size and once they arrived, he taught himself to skate with the aid of a chair.  He was so excited and so was the community!  And the list goes on.  Birgit gave credit to those before her who started some of these projects and created the committee -- the Late Dave Mullins, the Late Don Holmes, the late Elizabeth Grew, Anne Cunningham, Paige Summers, Coreen Reynolds, Timbrell Meehan, with special thanks to Jamie Trudeau whose garage is always full of something going somewhere.  When volunteers arrive to pack boxes and sort things, Jamie's wife Marilyn was there with coffee and lunch refreshments.  Birgit thanked other Rotary Clubs who connected with IPPC and brought financial support and new ideas. 
 
So the story of the poppy cake.  Birgit promised Past President Peter Malone a poppy cake if he was able to help her find someone to replace her as committee chair.  But she didn't stop there, Birgit also promised the incumbent, Jared Bellemare, a poppy cake if he made the commitment.  So that is the rest of the story. 
Rescue Readers is a program where classes of elementary school children visit the Humane Society Shelter.  The students learn about what is involved in having and caring for a pet, the role of Shelters and the importance of developing empathy for other living creatures.  An excellent learning opportunity for the students that meet the educational objectives required by the School Board for field trips.  Reading aloud improves fluency and confidence.  Rotary Clubs of Belleville and Trenton have committed financial support, other Clubs in Hastings Prince Edward are invited to join in.
 
A major fundraiser, organized by the Humane Society HPE, Wiggle Waggle Walkathon is being held at Zwicks Park on May 17th, 2025.  Form teams of friends and family and pledge funds to support the Rescue Readers Program.  For more information, reach out to Sharon McConnell, Literacy Chair Rotary Club of Belleville at sharonmcconnell50@gmail.com
President Karen Baker recognized a Rotarian who goes above and beyond in everything they do.  The recipient for the April Angel Award has been a member of the Club since January 1996 -- almost 30 years!  Since joining Rotary, the member has contributed to so many Club initiatives including Kids Against Hunger, Camp Merrywood, Rotary Winter Games, Quinte Rotary Music Festival, Diners and Duffers, the Salvation Army Christmas Kettle Campaign (as chair).  Actively attending Rotary lunch meetings, always bringing a lovely smile and enthusiasm.  This member exemplifies "Service Above Self" and the 2024-2025 theme the "Magic Of Rotary" as contributions to the Rotary Club of Belleville.
 
Who is this person?  Put your hands together to recognize and acknowledge Dianne Spencer as the April Angel Award recipient.
Past President Tracy Bray introduced today's speakers, Mayors of the Week and Tracy's favourite meeting of the year.  Five students took part in the program in November 2024 to tour City facilities, meet the staff, learn how everything operates and then to provide a follow-up report to the Rotary Club of Belleville.
 
Adele Chan is a Grade 11 student at Albert College and has been in Canada for two years from Hong Kong, a steep learning curve for someone at age 14 when they arrived.  Adele got to see first hand how government shapes our lives and was very impressed with the knowledge shared by staff in their roles.  Seeing health and safety practised first hand at the Wellness Center and then learning about emergency response at the Fire Department was exciting for her.  Of course, the water treatment plant was mentioned and Adele realized that careful planning for all City departments is a necessity.  Thank you to Rotary and City officials for the opportunity given to youth to learn more about how the City works.
 
Adanna Suresh is a student at Nicholson Catholic College and said it was a privilege to be part of the Mayors of the Week program.  She was able to visit many facilities and obtain a deeper understand of how things work, with a focus on the transportation department and how the bussing systems affect so many folks living here and attending school here.  This work requires a lot of effort and endless dedication and Adanna has a great appreciation for all that is required for smooth operations.  Thank you to the staff and Rotary.
 
Anna Woodrow attends Quinte Christian High School and was very pleased to have an opportunity to see how the community works.  Staff are amazing at their jobs.  Her favourite was the water treatment plant, inside and outside.  Before she only thought of it as water and how much can one know about it.  Well, now Anna knows it's much bigger than that.  Anna had an opportunity to speak to the Chief of Police and how mental health impacts the work done by police officers on a daily basis.  All in all a wonderful experience.
 
Max O'Bryn attends St. Theresa's and found the Mayors of the Week a unique opportunity.  Max grew up in Belleville so it was a great opportunity for him to shadow the mayor and meet staff in all the City departments.  He was careful to listen to all that was presented as he realizes that it will impact his future and decisions that he makes.
 
The students were thanked by Past President Peter Malone.  Their presentations were very inspirational and provided each of them ideas for the future.  Peter told them Rotary is a great resource for students and to remember that for the future.
Dave Allen, Rotarian and CEO of the YMCA Central Eastern Ontario updated the Rotary Club of Belleville on the Centre for Life project.  Currently in a $9 million fundraising campaign of which Rotary has donated $100,000, the largest donation the Club has done in a single donation in their 105-year history.  Mr. Allen advised that the building is coming along and once all due diligence has been done by the Municipality and a building permit issued, the construction team is ready to go.  Todate $6.7 million has been raised so the shovel goal of $6 million has been reached.  Dave walked the members through an on-screen tour of the building, including all the features, very impressive and welcoming with excitement building every day.  Thank you to the Rotary Club of Belleville for their generous support of this project.
 
Past President of the Rotary Club of Belleville and Co-Chair of the Centre for Life project, Kristin Crowe passed on her thanks and that of the rest of the team to the Rotary Club for their significant contribution by the Club and by individuals.  Kristin acknowledged other Rotarians on the team of the project and recognized how the project will build good will and friendships in the community, always a goal of the Rotary Club.  An amazing opportunity to accept the Rotary Club's cheque recognizing their contribution over three years.
 
President Karen Baker recognized what a great job the YMCA does in empowering youth both physically, psychologically and intellectually.  They offer a lot of services, a lot of programs, a lot of initiatives that directly affect youth in the community.  The Rotary's name will appear in the waiting and reception area of the Community Services of Belleville and District space when the facility opens in 2026.

Quinte Rotary Music Festival - Celebrating 55 Years of Excellence

John Chisholm welcomed everyone to the Rotary Club of Belleville lunch meeting on March 13th to share the excitement about this year's Quinte Rotary Music Festival.  We are so blessed with the talent we have in our community. The purpose of the Music Festival is to help young people develop their musical talent, and offer the opportunity to perform publicly. Awards are offered to encourage participants to continue in musical studies and performances.

Special thanks go to the parents, teachers, family and friends who have continued to encourage and support them in their study of music.

In addition to providing each participant with individual feedback on their performance, the adjudicators may provide a mini - "workshop" with many of the participants throughout the different categories.

We hope you all return! It's a pleasure to see many of the same students competing year after year and to watch their progress as they become more confident and take on more complex pieces.

The dates for our 55th Music Festival have been set as: March 31-April 4, 2025, and the evening of April 4, will feature our Trophy competitions. On May 16th, awards will be presented at the Concert of Stars.

The students, music teachers, parents and volunteers are an integral part of a successful Festival. At the core is all the work done by the Music Festival Committee.  John shared what some of the committee members are responsible for.  When Michael Summers joined Rotary in 2009, he gravitated towards the Rotary Music Festival where children in the community would be able to participate and see their musical talents not only recognized, but enhanced.  With Michael's IT background and expertise, he looks after the program scheduling and collecting stats on the different music classes, the demographics of the participants and number of participants.  Michael is proud of the effect the Festival is having on the community and pleased to see that the numbers are starting to rebound following COVID.  Helping one person grow is worth it all!  Judy McKnight's involvement goes back a number of years when her late husband, Bob was part of the Music Festival Committee.  Judy is the organizer behind the scene, reaching out to adjudicators, preparing the syllabus, meeting with teachers to look at the music classes, getting the on-line registration ready to go, preparing site kits for the adjudicators and to be the person where inquiries are directed as well as gathering feedback and suggestions.  Mark Musca looks after named awards, in honour of someone.  He also looks after all the trophies.  This committee is a well oiled machine with three (3) Clubs working together with a sense of satisfaction for encouraging local talent.  Real happiness is in helping others. 

Jo-Anne Wheeler's position as Provincial Liaison for the Quinte Rotary Music Festival with the Ontario Music Festival takes local talent to the next level.  Provincial Festivals happen across most provinces in Canada with currently 45 music festivals who are members of the OMFA in Ontario, many of which are sponsored by Rotary, Kiwanis or Lions Clubs.  The OMFA shares the mutual objective of providing performance and competition opportunities for youg artists with professional adjudicators offering assessment, helpful critiques and workshops.  At every level in the festival movement, besides developing friendships, competitors also learn a great deal about music from each other.  This year, the OMFA Provincial finals will be held in the Kitchener-Waterloo region from June 9th to 14th.  Local participants who receive a mark of 85 or higher and adjudicated are recommended for the provincial competition.  Jo-Anne is very proud of the outstanding results obtained by local competitors including honourable mention, honourable mention with distinction, 1st places, 3rd places.  A little plug for the Quinte Rotary Music Festival -- anyone wishing to be a music sponsor can do so with a donation of $50 and their name of support will be included in the program.

John encouraged Rotarians to get involved in volunteering the week of the Festival here in Belleville, March 31st to April 4th.  All hands are needed on deck.  Peter Coy will be reaching out to everyone.  Please help where you can.  John also feels all Rotarians should attend the Concert of the Stars at Maranatha Church on May 16th.  See talent at its best.

 

Every team has a leader and Rotarian John Smale undertook the task of commemorating Rotary International's 100th Anniversary in 2005.  The team researched ideas while at the same time, endeavouring to be realistic in the scope of this tremendous gift to the City of Belleville, marking the gateway into the downtown district.  The local artist who was commissioned to design and create what became known as the Children of Hope sculpture was the late Michael Rutland.  It was a priority to involve art in this project, to create something of significance, so Michael went to work and came up with some sketches that were presented to the Rotary Board for approval of the concept and expense.  The Connor Parkette was the preferred location, followed by many more steps to design a pedestal base and have a retaining wall built at the location.  The final sculpture was celebrated in 2005 as planned.  Fast forward seventeen years to 2022 and it became obvious that the statue had deteriorated and needed extensive repair.  John Smale, Vince Lynch and Joe Reid, City of Belleville got to work and researched a company to do the work.  The services of two local companies were retained by the City to bring the cherished statue back to its original condition.  Research Castings International of Trenton, world renowned, did the amazing work of carefully recreating the sculpture with great attention to quality and detail.  Eastern Renovations of Belleville built the pedestal base out of material that was not porous and would withstand environmental deterioration.  John Smale thanked Mayor Ellis and the City for their hard work and cooperation in restoring this very meaningful statue as it depicts the joy and hope of children and youth in our community and around the world.  Rotary President Karen Baker was very proud to be part of the community and able to support initiatives such as the Children of Hope statue that remind us of the good work that Rotary does and that reminds us of the joy and innocence in children.
 
Marilyn Lawrie, wife of the late Michael Rutland was on hand to explain as the sculpture's wife how she was the model for the project right from the beginning.  Her husband took photos of her "modelling" each of the three children that were part of the sculpture and created forms from those pictures.  He worked day and night and was so pleased and proud to have been asked by the Rotary Club of Belleville to be involved in the original project.  Marilyn is very proud to be known as Michael Rutland's wife.
 
Past President Wolf Tausendfreund was President of the Club in 2005 when the project was put in place and was very pleased to see the restoration results and the statue back in place.  It represents what the Rotary Club has achieved over the years in helping children.  Mayor Ellis thanked everyone involved and for all the projects that Rotary has given back to the community over the years -- trails, parks, parties.  All of these efforts build unity and great partnerships.  A perfect spot for the gateway landmark.
Rotary Club of Belleville
Rotary Clowns for Kids
Upcoming Events
Rotary Loves Kids Golf 
Quinte Rotary Music Festival