District Governor Kevin Crouse, April 2014

DG Kevin’s April Message

April 8, 2014, was a banner day for Rotary.  130 Rotarians attended the St. Catharines luncheon at Johnny Rocco’s restaurant at noon to hear a presentation on the value of technology in making the world a better place and featured three Rotary clubs from St. Catharine’s – St. Catharines South, the Lakeshore and the Downtown club.  Presidents Rachel Delaney, Marlene Mader and Cathy Smith were instrumental in putting this celebration together – an inspiring example of co-operation between three excellent clubs.

That evening, at Queen’s Landing, the Rotary Club of Niagara-on-the-Lake celebrated their twenty-year anniversary with a gala evening at this lakeside retreat.  The evening featured multiple Paul Harris awards, great food and outstanding fellowship.  Pictured above are some of the Paul Harris award winners, President Bill Charnetski, Assistant Governor Ian McEwan and District Governor Kevin Crouse.  The evening was particularly meaningful, because it was held at the location of the club’s Charter Night that, twenty years ago, featured PDGs Robb McLeod, Charles Fogel, and John Rydzik and a keynote address by PDG Lloyd Kirkpatrick.

Another outstanding event this week was the announcement of the Rotary Club of Waterdown’s $2.2 million project – the building of an outdoor Ice Loop in Memorial Park. Set to open this fall, this loop will be 290 metres long and 4.5 metres wide and will wind through a small woodlot that already has three ball diamonds, a skateboard park, splash pad, soccer field and a playground, with massive amounts of parking. It is the first one in the Hamilton area. The impetus for the ice loop came from 99 year-old Patrick McNally of McNally International, who came to his fellow Rotarians in 2011 with a $1 million gift to build the rink for youth and families.

Yours in Rotary,

Kevin Crouse

District Governor

Best of Friends District 7090