2021-02-21-Rotateller (Feb 21, 2021)

Rota Teller

February 21, 2021

Daniel Geleyn

Dear Rotary friends, it has been three months since our last Rota Teller, how time flies.

As expected, the winter months have seen us dealing with the continuing challenge of the pandemic. Despite our individual isolation, I'm thankful for the continued vibrancy of our club. Just the fact that we have been able to continue to meet weekly has been a great source of encouragement for me and, I hope, for all of you as well.

Our club continues to live by its reputation as "the fun club" with a great line-up of interesting speakers and lively discussion at our meetings. We even had an outing at the skating rink at the Springer Market Square in December, thanks to Arja, and a great games night on December 23, thanks to Aggie.

We have not held a MaxSold auction since November but we look forward to start again with the weather getting a bit warmer so please let us know if you have items to donate. Frankly, we needed a bit of a break after the many successful auctions in a row we had in the summer/fall, but we will soon be ready to fire it up again.

And the good news, we are now seeing the light at the end of the tunnel as the delivery of vaccinations to Canada is gaining speed. In fact, we as Rotarians now have the opportunity to have a significant impact on our community by participating in the mass vaccination efforts in the city. Thanks you to Mike Moore for taking the lead in Kingston for this initiative and for Aggie for coordinating our club's efforts. More to come on that front.

On a sad note, we were sad to learn of the passing of Shirley Lindsay, Gord's wife of more than 70 years. I know that Gord knows that we are here to support him in this difficult time. Thank you to Fred and Aggie who have already provided some personal help.

More good news, we held our first new member induction on Zoom when we introduced Josie Grady as our newest member. Josie already gave us her classification brief where it was great to meet her parents at the same time. Welcome aboard Josie. And.... as recently announced, Trevor Dagalis will also be joining our club shortly and we look forward to his classification talk. Trevor comes with a wealth of Rotary experience and will be a great addition to our club.

I know that some members continue to miss the opportunities for us to meet in person at our regular meeting. But things are looking up with the vaccinations not too far on the horizon now. I also look forward to seeing everyone in person again, but we certainly don't want to jump the gun here.

We have also been more active on our social media (Facebook and Instagram), thanks to our newest member Josie. Check it out and "Like and Share" our posts to give them more exposure.

Finally, let's all hope for a quick return to the old normal. In the mean time, I look forward to seeing many of you at a Rotary event in town, maybe our Great Lakes and Waterways clean-up event on April 24, the mass vaccinations in Kingston, or one of our MaxSold where we often need help.

Kingston Town Crier Chris Whyman officially designates the year of Rotary Centennial in Kingston on Feb. 15 with the help of Rotarians at City Hall. Photo by Daniel Geleyn

Zoom Meetings:

We continue to meet on Zoom for now at our regular Wednesday evening time but members are welcome to gather in small groups at other times while providing our services, to meet as committees, or just for social reasons as long as you continue to be careful and meet the public health guidance. Please invite friends and family to join us on Zoom.

Community Service:

Our Community Service Committee continues to do a great job at supporting local organizations, thanks in large part to our continued funding by Play! Gaming and Entertainment. Look for our next opportunity to help hands-on with the mass vaccination efforts in Kingston or the Great Lakes Watershed Cleanup day on April 24.

Don't miss this event on April 24, where all Rotary Clubs and many other community organizations, will be participating in this Earth Day event for the environment.

International Service:

Despite not being able to travel this year, Peter Morrin is continuing to monitor the progress of our projects in Tanzania while always looking for partnering opportunities.

The Food Sharing Project presents the David Perry Award to Rotary in Kingston at their Annual General Meeting on Dec. 15, 2020.

Youth Services:

Aggie is getting engaged with local schools to determine who will be awarded our annual scholarships. RYLA is also coming fast and Aggie will be looking for candidates for this great program. Please let Aggie know if you have any ideas on how to support youth or if you'd like to help in that area.

Ways and Means:

We continue to raise funds with Play! Gaming and Entertainment despite the fact that there are no live bingo sessions, thanks to our social media team of Anne and Josie. Our MaxSold auctions were also great success which allowed us to make up for the cancellation of our Cabaret Night, thanks largely to Anne, Russ and many others. We also beat our own record in the Cash Calendar sales this year, thanks to the coordination by Mike Moore and Jennifer Hunter and by some of our top sellers.

Despite moving to Toronto, our Ways and Means Director, Tom Sanderson, has remained engaged and is now running our 50/50 again which has been great fun and raised additional funds for the club.

Last but not least, our members are still encouraged to contribute any funds they would normally be spending on dinners at our regular meeting venue. This is an invaluable contribution to our club and the causes it supports, Thank You!

Arja and a few of our members at the Springer Market Square on Dec. 18, 2020. Thanks for organizing this outing Arja. Photo by Daniel Geleyn

Mike, Vicki, and Catherine actually skating! I (Daniel) preferred to stay on my two feet behind the camera. Photo by Daniel Geleyn

Membership:

It was great to induct one new member in January (Josie) and have another one joining soon (Trevor). I continue to encourage you to invite a friend or more to join us any time at one of our meetings.

Rotary Foundation:

The Foundation is another great vehicle for Rotary to do good in the world. In fact, our club has been taking advantage of some Foundation funds for some of our projects. Consider using Rotary Direct to contribute on a regular basis automatically. Please consider what you can afford to give and donate early instead of waiting until the end of the year.