Rotary had an active and successful 2022, returning to past fundraising activities including Pancake Breakfasts and tending bars for events held at Rotary Hall and the Lion’s Head Arena, along with a wide range of other projects and activities. Some of the highlights of Rotary’s involvement in the community this past year include:
- After a gap of more than two and a half years, Rotary was able hold four well-attended pancake breakfasts on holiday weekends in 2022, beginning with the breakfast held at Rotary Hall on the Victoria Day weekend (May 22nd), followed by three breakfasts held at the Rotary Pavilion next to Lion’s Head Beach during the Canada Day weekend (July 3rd), for the August Civic holiday weekend (July 31st), and Labour Day weekend (September 4th). It was wonderful to see so many people include Rotary pancake breakfasts as part of their holiday weekend plans, and we look forward to hosting another full set of breakfasts in 2023!
- Rotarians were busy hosting and tending a total of 14 bars for a wide range of events and activities including multiple community concerts and fundraisers held at Rotary Hall and Lion’s Head Arena, community theatre events held at the Hall during July (with performances by Northern Bruce Theatre and The Inspired Acting Lab), as well as a wedding reception, curling Bonspiel and a class reunion! Our Rotary Club is licensed to host and tend bars at Rotary Hall (and can also serve at other municipal facilities such as Lion’s Head Arena), Rotarians are ‘Smart Serve’ certified to responsibly tend these bars and serve alcoholic beverages, so if you or your organization are interested in having a bar for a public community or private event sometime in 2023, please contact our bar manager, Bob Spearing!
- Although we were unable to hold our ‘Green Dinner No Dinner Fundraiser’ for St. Patrick’s Day this past year due to licensing restrictions, Rotarians were overwhelmed by the remarkably generous support from the local community, with many individuals and businesses making donations towards our ongoing scholarships program for awards to graduating students of our local Bruce Peninsula District High School! These donations were greatly appreciated by all Rotarians and go towards supporting worthy local graduates in their pursuit of post-secondary studies!
- Rotarians supported several local community events by renting, setting up and taking down open-sided tents/canopies. If you or your group have an event coming up in 2023 where a tent/canopy may be useful, please contact any Rotarian for further information!
- Our Rotary Club participated in Rotary District 6330 annual campaign to ‘End Polio Now’ through the fundraising sale of boxes of tulip bulbs. These bulbs were sold and planted in the fall and will bloom in spring gardens with beautiful red and yellow tulips! The goal of this fundraising project is to provide vaccinations to help eradicate polio world-wide.
- Rotarians participated in the clean-up of a section of County Road 9 this past summer, along with students from Bruce Peninsula District School.
- Rotarians were proud to attend and participate in the graduation ceremony for Bruce Peninsula District High School on June 29th when Rotary awarded five scholarships worth a total of $4,500 to graduating students in support of their post-secondary studies at universities, community colleges and in trades programs. For many years, Rotary has helped graduates pursue their post-secondary plans through the on-going scholarships program with Bruce Peninsula District School. Rotary also contributes ‘in Memoriam’ donations towards the Keith Hopkinson Memorial Scholarship Fund in honour of past Rotarians, Friends of Rotary and those who have made contributions to the community through the Rotary Club.
- Rotary sponsored two musical events in 2022 – the RPR Concert and Silent Auction Fundraiser on October 15th for the Golden Dawn Redecorating Project, and the ‘Jingle and Mingle’ Concert on December 11th for the Rotary Hall Improvements Fundraiser.
- Rotary sponsored the Lion’s Head Santa Claus Parade held on December 3rd. After the Parade, children and parents had an opportunity to meet with Santa back at Rotary Hall where they received treat bags (made possible by very generous community donations), after which Santa moved on to stop by local stores before visiting seniors at Golden Dawn. Seniors also received treat bags from Santa! In addition to the many sponsors of our Santa Claus Parade named in the Rotary article in the last issue of Bruce Peninsula Press, Rotary also wishes to thank Dawn and Barry Hepburn (formerly Hepburn Masonry and Contracting) for their generous donation.
- Rotary made donations towards many groups, projects and initiatives in support of the local community in the past year. These include donations to Lion’s Head Skating Club, area food banks (see photo), flower baskets for the terrace gardens of Golden Dawn Seniors Home (as well as sponsoring birthday celebrations at Golden Dawn for the month of November), contributions towards the Lion’s Head Lighthouse fundraiser, the Rotary Hall Improvement fundraiser, and Royal Canadian Legions (towards wreathes for Remembrance Day ceremonies held at cenotaphs in Lion’s Head and Tobermory).
- Rotary also contributes towards international projects through Rotary Foundation and the ongoing ‘Polio Plus’ campaign.
