Club News
Quinte Rotary Music Festival 2025
Quinte Rotary Music Festival 2025

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.

 

Proposed New Members
Proposed New Members
The following folks are proposed new members for the Rotary Club of Belleville.
 
Jill Vanderkooy: An application for membership from Jill Vanderkooy has been received.  Jill provided great assistance to the recent Rotary Winter Games, jumping right in to assist where she could.  Jill has been sponsored for membership by Rotarian John Smale.  Jill and her husband relocated from Toronto to Belleville in December 2022.  Jill’s work experience is in project management, logistics, business administration and special event management.  If no written objections are received by the secretary within 7 days of this notice, then Jill will be invited to join The Rotary Club of Belleville. 
 
 
Blake Reid: A membership application was received directly from Blake Reid.  Blake has participated in various events with the Rotary Club of Belleville, including Touch-A-Truck over the past 2-years.  Blake has already signed up to join the committee for Rotary Loves Kids!  Blake serves on the UCA (Utility Contractors Association) Committee.  He is Superintendent for K.G. Reid Trenching and Construction Ltd.  If no written objections are received by the secretary within 7 days of this notice, then Blake will be invited to join The Rotary Club of Belleville.  
 
Classification Talks Janeen Halliwell and Paul Fleming
Classification Talks Janeen Halliwell and Paul Fleming
Past President Peter Malone stepped up to the plate to introduce Janeen Halliwell and Paul Fleming, who were presenting their classification talks, having joined the Rotary Club of Belleville in the Fall of 2020.  Can that be?  Receive a Paul Harris Fellow before the inaugeration step?  It seems so.  Janeen and Paul were sponsored by Kristin Crowe and there's been no doubt that they have fit in like a glove so kudos to Kristin for that sponsorship! The connection behind Kristin and Janeen goes back a little when these two powerhouses met at an event.  Shortly after Paul and Janeen met, Paul qualified as the "real deal" according to today's introducer. So here is a little background on each of them.
 
Pre-People Minded Business, Paul touched the puck on a lot of things including corn detasseling, working for an easy listening radio station CKSY and City TV as a field newsman, attended Ryerson, got his MBA at Mercer Management Consulting and started work at Gateway ISI, but the lure of starting his own company building airplanes won out until the recession closed that opportunity.  Paul was involved in Scouts as Chief Scout, a head server, a young Rotarian, a voluntary professor in Lithuania, Chair of Humber Business School Degree Program and is pretty sure he has helped with a flood somewhere.  Paul hit some bad spots in his life and his health suffered.  Little did he know he would meet a beautiful lady that brought him some fresh employment opportunities, including becoming a partner and business strategist with People Minded Business in 2021 along with joining the Rotary Club of Belleville.  The people he has met!  And the connections he has made!  His latest venture is learning to sail.
 
Pre-People Minded Business, Janeen lived a life of service and adventure through an organization called PEACE that stands for protection, education, animals and a wide variety of volunteer opportunities.  Trained as an emergency response person, Janeen was on-site during Hurricane Katrina in 2005, stayed in her home, raised $11,000 for local aid and became the centre for relief.  In 2018 Janeen was involved with We Move Forward (WMF) and arranged speakers for an International Women's Day Conference.  Being good at logistics, Janeen secured her first job at 33 years old in 2016 in Tanzania in quality management through an organization called Canada-Africa Community Health Alliance.  In her spare time, she learned to love to sail and has 9000 sea miles under her belt.  Janeen loves this community and was involved with PorchFest early on.
 
Paul and Janeen were both presenters at the Creative Problem Solving Institutes 2015 Conference in Buffalo, New York where they met in an elevator.  They are part of an international tribe of 80+ innovators, artists and creative problem solvers who meet annually.  People Minded Business are experts in strategic planning, service co-design, organizational design, are awesome facilitators and assist with mergers and amalgamations.  They have worked with over 100 Ontario non-profits since Janeen started full-time in 2015.  Through the Rotary Club of Belleville, Janeen and Paul have found their people and the best way to their new community.  Thank you to Kristin Crowe for inviting them to join the Rotary Club of Belleville in 2020.  Janeen and Paul were thanked by Tracy Bray.
Board of Directors 2025 - 2026
Board of Directors 2025 - 2026
Club Secretary Jo-Anne Wheeler announced that the current Board of Directors of the Rotary Club of Belleville approved the slate of executives and directors for the 2025-2026 Rotary Year.  This approval was given at the February 18, 2025 Board Meeting.
 
The following have agreed to accept a position on the Board of Directors for the Rotary Club of Belleville for the 2025 - 2026 Rotary Year:
  • President - Tracey Vandervoort
  • President Elect - Hazzem Koudsi
  • Past President - Karen Baker
  • Club Secretary - Jo-Anne Wheeler
  • Club Treasurer - Andrew Kole
  • Director - Jared Bellemare
  • Director - Tracy Bray
  • Director - Heather Hall
  • Director - Janeen Halliwell
  • Director - Ruth Mathieson
  • Director - Collin Myers
  • Director - Carmela Ruberto
  • Director - Brenda Snider
The position of Vice President has not been proposed or filled at this time.
Red Badge PresentationsBadge Presentations
Red Badge Presentations

Badge Presentations
President Karen Baker was pleased to introduce and present red badges to the following newest members of the Rotary Club of Belleville and welcome both Janine and Seth to the Club.
 
Janine Foster-Elmslie, sponsored by Rotarian Dianne Spencer is employed by Loyalist College, works as their Higher Education Fund-raising Coordinator and has 24-years history as a fundraiser and alumni relations professional (member relations). She has 15-years experience as a journalist, editor and publisher and very strong tech skills in database management. Janine is married to Tom Elmslie.  Janine is a former Rotarian of the Rotary Club of Kingston, her classification with the Rotary Club of Belleville is fundraising.
 
Seth Nagendran was sponsored by Jared Bellemare and is the owner/operator of Domino’s Pizza, located on College Street in Belleville.  Seth has been attending meetings (both lunch and evening) for quite some time and is eager to be more involved in Rotary.  Seth even participated as a Clown for Kids in the recent Santa Claus parade!   Seth's classification with the Rotary Club of Belleville is Restaurant Management. 
 
Welcome Janine and Seth!
 
Rotary Youth Exchange Program
Rotary Youth Exchange Program
Rotarian Kim McKinney, Chair of the Rotary Youth Exchange program for the Rotary Club of Belleville invites everyone to a presentation at the evening meeting at Capers on November 28th at 5:30 p.m.  Heather Murray will be speaking.  All are welcome to join Kim, Peter Malone, Karen Baker and Liv Ahinas, the Rotarians behind the quote "are you ready for the greatest year of your life?".
Children of Hope Sculpture
Children of Hope Sculpture
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.
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