Tracy Bray introduced the lunch speakers, Joan Barrett and Joan Littleford or Joan squared as they refer to themselves.  Both have been Rotarians for ten years.  Joan Barrett is currently District 7070 Membership Chair and Past President of the Rotary Club of Scarborough and Director of Membership and Public Image.  She is also the Chair of Free Reading Canada and is a Literacy Consultant.  Joan Littleford is a member of the District Membership Committee and is Past President of the Rotary Club of Whitby.  She is also on the executive of BELRAG (Basic Education and Literacy Rotary Action Group) and is also a Literacy Consultant.  Both are retired educators.

 

Building membership in Rotary is a top priority according to Joan Barrett.  Simply put, when the membership is strong, the Club is better able to serve and act on the unique needs of the community.  So how do Rotarians work together to strengthen membership?  Well, listen up as Joan and Joan share some tips.  September is Education/Literacy month and based on a survey done, five categories were highlighted.  Currently the Rotary Club of Belleville is down 1 1/2 members over three years so what ideas can we can come up with to focus on member growth.

Andrew Kole has provided his application through the Rotary Club of Belleville website and has been proposed by Ken Wheeler under the classification of Finance Controller.   Andrew is the Site Finance Controller - Alstom (division of Bombardier), a French multi-national business.  If no written objections are received by the secretary within 7 days of this notice, then Andrew will be invited to join our Club.

Rotary bottle drive is Rockin'.....

Thanks to Rotarians Ken and Jo-Anne Wheeler, Coreen Reynolds, Peter Malone and wife Suzanne, the bottle drive campaign is Rockin' to the sounds of some 11,000 empty beer cans and $1200 to the kitty.  Big thanks to Brenda Snider and Rockfest goers last weekend. That's another great addition to funds raised for allocation to next year's X-1 budget spend.  The group sorted empties over 3 nights and 3 days of work.  Great work!

Darrell Smith introduced himself as the first two time President or Darrell Smith, the sequel.  Made in jest, but Darrell was very much appreciative of the support from members of the Club in this our 103rd year of Service to the local and global community.  Obviously, Darrell did not expect that he would stand again as President of the Rotary Club of Belleville and start his second Rotary Year.  As we move out of COVID-19 related shutdowns to a hybrid meeting structure, Darrell is looking forward to seeing more folks in person with an opportunity to rekindle friendships and fellowship.  Overall, the Rotary Club of Belleville and Rotary International have come a long way in creating a more inclusive environment and this can be seen at Rotary's most senior level of leadership as RI welcomes the first woman President, Jennifer Jones of Windsor-Roseland. 

 

Darrell thanked Past President Tim McKinney, President-Elect Peter Malone, VP and Treasurer Karen Baker and Secretary Jo-Anne Wheeler for serving the Club with their passion, dedication and experience and continuing on with their roles.  He thanked returning Directors Terry Thomas, Tracey Vandervoort, Collin Myers and Sam Reid for providing essential leadership to the Club.  Darrell welcomed four new incoming Directors Rosi Ouellette, Heather Hall, Brenda Snider and Anya-Deane Best for their willingness to participate on the Board for the coming Rotary year.

Rotary International's theme adopted by RI President Jennifer Jones is Imagine Rotary, asking Rotarians around the world to dream big and take action.  Imagine a world that deserves our best, where we know each day when we wake up we make a difference.  And Darrell challenged all of us as Rotarians to do just that.

 

Following Darrell's presentation, Dave Allen, RLK Co-Chair brought everyone up-to-date on RLK - July 22nd, 20 years after Bob Clute and Wolf Tausenfrend created the first fundraising golf tournament for the Rotary Club of Belleville.  It is the Club's biggest fundraiser, having raised close to $2,000,000 and that warrants a real celebration!  July 22nd promises to be a wonderful experience.  Black Bear is full, however there are tee times available at Trillium and people can register on-line.  There will be fun activities too -- cheese curds and beer and some story telling, ice cream and other treats.  Don't miss out!  Party on the Bay at West Zwick's is a separate event (golfers get tickets) .  Entertainment by the Impish Grins of Sam Brady fame.  With a goal of 400 to 500 people attending, volunteers are  needed to sell 50/50 tickets, bartending, set-up and close down.  Please reach out to Peter Malone to put your name on the list to help!  This is a community event, long overdue and people are itching to celebrate. 

 

Next up was Ken Wheeler, Chair of Diners and Duffers, first giving accolades to Dave Allen and Cassandra Bonn, Co-chairs of RLK, the envy of the District.  Hugh Campbell originally chaired Diners and Duffers and then Jeanette Minaker and Ken took it over about five years ago.  This year 450 books were printed and they are sold out!  A special shout-out to Tracy Bray who sold 65 books, Jamie Trudeau who sold in excess of 40 books.  The main outlet is Dewe's, now McDowell's with 240 books in sales.  The past two years have been challenging, but we are now on a roll with a goal of $20,000 in revenue each year going forward!

Brenda Snider was pleased to provide some background on President Darrell Smith.  He joined Rotary in 2004 and has over 30 years in the financial field.  He is the Chair of the Special Needs Children Committee and has also been responsible for weekly Rotary attendance as well as Treasurer for the Club.  Darrell has been on the RLK Committee and sponsor since 2006.  In addition to his Rotary commitment, Darrell has been the Board Chair of Big Brothers/Big Sisters, VIQ and United Way.  He was recognized as a Children's Foundation Guardian Angel and a member of the Trenton Memorial Hospital Foundation.  Over many years, Darrell has volunteered and sponsored numerous events and programs in the community.

 

Darrell started off by saying if there is anything the last two plus years has taught us as Rotarians and individuals, it is the need to be flexible and willing to adapt to change.  COVID-19 restrictions and the fear of COVID has dramatically changed the way people interact with the world outside our homes.  Darrell was very proud of the Rotary Club of Belleville and its ability to adapt first through the initial onset of COVID-19 and transitioning to a virtual model under Past President Doug Peterson and then a year of virtual meetings with some limited personal interactions under Past President Tim McKinney and finally the first cautionary steps back to active club interactions that have occurred during the past 12 months.  At last, we seem to be in a place where we can have a degree of comfort to meet again on a regular basis in face to face settings as well as continuing the use of a hybrid structure which allows those who cannot join us personally, to attend via a virtual setting.

 

The Rotary Club of Belleville has continued to operate and flourish, continuing to help both local and global communities through volunteer efforts and financial resources that saw us provide support to the building of the Hospice Quinte site, provide tremendous financial support to the people of Ukraine displaced and challenged by the war in their country, provide meals for both our local and indigenous communities, provide an outlet for the arts through our virtual Rotary Music Festival, planting 3,500 plus trees within Belleville to create a greener future.  These are just a few of the organizations that have been positively impacted by the work of the Rotary Club of Belleville.

 

As President of the Club, Darrell was afforded the opportunity to have a much greater appreciation of the scale of impact of our Club, as well as Rotary around the world.  How much better is our community, our country, our world because of the impact of Rotarians.  One specific goal that the Club achieved was contributing to the Rotary Foundation.  The goals for the Annual Fund and Polio Plus exceeded expectations through initiatives of the Club including the Polio Plus Tulip program and the support by individual Rotarians through Every Rotarian Every Year and donations made personally by members.

 

Darrell spoke about the highlights of the past year and the continued level of commitment, enthusiasm and engagement of our members and the opportunity to continue as a viable and impactful club.  We have been blessed by a succession of interesting and timely speakers, presenting on a diversity of topics, bringing the world to our doorstep.  Darrell acknowledged the many people responsible for the success that the Club has realized during the past twelve months including the Board of Directors -- Terry Thomas, Tracey Vandervoort, Samantha Reid, Collin Myers, Len Kennedy and the Executive -- Tim McKinney, Peter Malone, Karen Baker and Jo-Anne Wheeler.  And last, but certainly not least, Darrell thanked his children Marianne and Ryan, grandsons Theo and Hudson and his wife Carmen for their support and love as he fulfilled the responsibilities as President of the Rotary Club of Belleville.  Thanked by Tracy Bray for his time and energy that Tracy jokingly referred to as his practice year.

 

 

 

 

Karen Baker, Treasurer and incoming Vice-President, presented the 2022/2023 budget for the Rotary Club of Belleville.  The budget Committee was comprised of Peter Malone, Chair and Rotarians Tracy Bray, Peter Coy, Karen Baker, Randy Coker, Collin Myers, Rosi Ouellette, Darrell Smith and Jo-Anne Wheeler and worked very hard to put forward a responsible budget for the Club.  Their time and collaboration was recognized by everyone.

 

After more than two years restricted by COVID, everyone has felt the challenges and frustrations that grew day by day, Zoom by Zoom.  Congratulations to Past Presidents Doug Peterson, Tim McKinney and Darrell Smith for their leadership and commitment and for keeping the Club working at almost full strength throughout the pandemic.  The funds raised and projects supported over the last two years is an amazing show of what the Rotary Club of Belleville is all about.  The Club adapted quickly, especially where programs were concerned to ensure those we support were not negatively affected.  Fundraising was adapted to meet COVID protocols while still raising money and maintaining regular meetings for the lunch time and the after-work members.  We look forward to getting back together in person, integrating the magnificent work of those who attend either Rotary meetings, organizing more fellowship and continuing the considerable work of those committees that raise funds and those committees that spend what is raised.

 

The Board is taking steps this coming Rotary year to encourage members to create additional fundraising committees and ideas to compliment the excellent work of longstanding fundraising committees such as Rotary Loves Kids and Diners and Duffers.  More recently we have had fundraising initiatives from the after work members such as Hockey Night in Quinte and the Belleville Senators 50/50 ticket sales.

 

So here's to strengthening post-pandemic fellowship and building on the core initiatives of this great Club.  IMAGINE ROTARY and what we can do!

 

Karen went through the Operating and Service Budgets pretty much line by line and included year-to-date expenditures as well as the 2021/2022 budget and proposed 2022/2023 budget.  The bulk of revenue in the Operating budget comes from members' dues.  It was noted that dues have not increased since 2010 and a recommendation was made to increase from the current $400 per year to $470 per year.  The Operating budget includes the Rotary International Annual Conference, dues payable to District 7070, President-Elect training, office supplies, auditor fees, professional services (bookkeeper), website hosting and maintenance fees.  The Service budget consists of fundraising initiatives, investment fund contributions and other rebates and donations.  Total funds available for disbursement in 2022/2023 Service budget total $149,949 and expenditures based on budget proposals of the "spending" committees total $148,038.  Disbursements include International Service, literacy projects, Indigenous Peoples Partnerships, Quinte Children's Foundation, Kids Against Hunger, Rotary Loves Trees, Food for Learning, Special Needs Children and Global Disaster Relief fund to name some of the expenditure areas.

 

A motion was made by Karen Baker, seconded by Ken Wheeler to adopt the Operating Budget for 2022/2023 as presented with all in favour.  A second motion was made by Karen Baker, seconded by Shannon Neely to accept the 2022/2023 Service Budget as proposed/presented by the Budget Committee with all in favour.  A third motion was made by Karen Baker, seconded by Doug Peterson to approve a dues increase as recommended by the Budget Committee to $470 per year.  All members were encouraged to raise as much as they can with as little cost as possible.

President's Night saw three (3) Presidents front and center -- Doug Peterson, President in 2019/2020, Tim McKinney, President in 2020/2021 and Darrell Smith, President in 2021/2022.  Doug Peterson was first up to the microphone and his year started in July 2019, before any of us really knew about COVID, but half way through his year, that changed and Rotary Meetings pivoted to a virtual platform.  As Doug said, the best part of Rotary is fellowship so it is a pleasure for Rotarians and guests to gather in person and celebrate in style.  Having to meet via Zoom and continue the important work that Rotary does was challenging, but a testament to the Club and Rotary overall.  It took the leadership of many to maintain a focus and remain engaged so thank you to everyone for staying the course.

 

Next up was Tim McKinney, President as of July 2020 until the end of June 2021, all during COVID.  There were no get-togethers and that included Rotary International Conferences.  Tim was set to go to Hawaii, but that didn't happen.  Little did Tim know that all meetings would be via Zoom.  He was very thankful for his wife Judy's support during his year as Rotary President.  Even though the meetings were not in-person, it took a lot of time to organize and co-ordinate by telephone, conference calls and Zoom so he considered himself lucky to have had Judy in his corner.  Although the year was challenging, the speaker lineup was inspiring and proved that Rotary's theme of opening opportunities rang true with the work being carried on locally and around the world.

 

Darrell Smith thanked Doug and Tim and as his presidency year comes to a close at the end of June, he will continue on as President for the 2022/2023 Rotary Year, the first time in the history of the Rotary Club of Belleville that a President has served for two consecutive years.  The last two years has taught us to be flexible during the difficult days of COVID, changing how work was done dramatically.  When we thought things were returning to normal, COVID proved otherwise.  Now able to meet in a hybrid structure, the Club has operated and flourished.  Rotarians have risen to the challenge to support so many people and projects in the local and global communities.  Significant efforts were made and overall the scale of impact has grown and created a greater appreciation personally for Darrell, but also collectively as a Club.  President Darrell listed the accomplishments over the past year including RLK, a return to Camp Merrywood, being involved as a community champion of the environment through Rotary Loves Trees and the Great Lakes Cleanup.  A presentation on Polio Plus and the immunization efforts brought home the important and crucial work that Rotary does.  Darrell thanked Program Chair Tracy Bray for the lineup and diversity of speakers that were able to present to our Club.  He also thanked the Board for their commitment and continued engagement as well as the support of his family and in particular his wife Carmen.  Darrell thanked everyone for all their hard work and passion for others and to quote Gandhi "be the change you wish to see in the world".