Fantastic morning for our weekly gathering! Thank you to Sarah Denman-Wood, SHIFT Project Manager, Workplace Sexual Harassment. Sarah gave an insightful and engaging presentation to our group this morning. #sexualharassment #rotaryinternational #rotaryclub

President Chad Mann was pleased to meet Paul Arbo, President of the Rotary Club of Grand Cayman Central. They exchanged banners at Lone Oak in Avonlea Village and enjoyed a great evening of fellowship and Prince Edward Island hospitality.

Over the course of the past 23 years, the Rotary Club of Summerside Charity Golf Classic has been a steadfast supporter of our community, raising an incredible amount of money exceeding $1,000,000. Their generous donations have gone towards various initiatives, including a notable $250,000 contribution to the Prince County Hospital. The Rotary Club of Summerside is grateful for the unwavering support of all their donors, and they cannot wait to host another successful event this coming September 13th at the Mill River Resort. 

We extend our thanks to Dr. Scott Mollins, the meeting Chair, for inviting Shona Pottinger to speak as our guest.

 

Shona Pottinger, the founder of Singing Sands Music Therapy, has been providing effective therapeutic services to a diverse clientele since 2010. Her services cater to individuals of all ages and with various conditions, such as Cerebral Palsy, Down Syndrome, Autism, Dementia, Alzheimer's, Depression, Stroke, and Global Developmental Delay. With her extensive experience and training, Shona delivers exceptional music therapy services of the highest quality.

The Summerside Rotary Club welcomed Dr. Sandy MacDonald, President and CEO of Holland College, as our guest speaker on August 8th. Rotarian and meeting chair Boyce Murphy invited Dr. MacDonald as his guest speaker.

On January 9, 2023, R. Gordon R. McInally, the President-elect of Rotary International, delivered a message to the members to inspire them to aim for possibilities that go far beyond what we currently expect. During the Rotary International Assembly held in Orlando, Florida, USA, McInally, a member of the Rotary Club of South Queensferry, West Lothian, Scotland, announced the presidential theme for 2023-24: Create Hope in the World. He encouraged members to work towards promoting peace in troubled nations, supporting those affected by conflict, and continuing the initiatives that past leaders have started.

We are pleased to announce that Jeanette Arsenault has been honored with the 2023 Paul Harris Award by the Summerside Rotary Club at the President's reception. In the photo, Jeanette is seen with Past President Randy Cannon and Rotarian Wayne Carew. We invite you to join us in congratulating Jeanette and acknowledging her dedication to the community as a hardworking volunteer and successful business leader.

The Pancake Breakfast Flippers R-L Les Chipperfield, Mayor Kutcher and Keith Tanton. Great job, guys!

Pancake Breakfast Happy customers ! Thanks everyone who attended!

Rotarian Glenna Lohnes welcomes guest speaker Andrew Clark to our August 9th breakfast meeting. Andrew is a competitive ultimate frisbee and disc golf player, Vice-President of Disc Golf PEI and the Captain of the Party Sharks Ultimate Frisbee team. 

Bike To Rotary

Bike to Rotary encourages those members who can to attend the weekly Rotary Sunrise meeting by bicycle; this initiative aims to highlight the benefits of biking to Rotary and biking in general. Biking can reduce carbon emissions, traffic congestion, and help improve lives. 

We are always happy to see the return of summer residents to PEI; Dan Gallant is one of them. This morning we had the pleasure of listening to Dan speak to us about his life's journey, which has taken him all over Canada from tip to tip. Also, Dan is a long-time proud member of the Rotary Club of Port Moody, British Columbia. He is an active volunteer in the Rotary World Help, not for profit organization; this organization gathers and sends medical, dental, optical, education, sports equipment and disaster relief supplies all over the world to those with the greatest needs. In 2012 they passed their first major milestone when the estimated value of the goods shipped passed 100 Million dollars!  

This week we were joined at our business meeting by Lauren Key and Kelly Boyd from Summerside Intermediate School.

Meeting Chairperson Glenna Lohnes invited Ken Driscoll of Higher Design Media and recently of a new technology company named Sofishtofish. Ken spoke to us about an innovative hardware/software fishing product combination called Lobtrack that is being created, designed and tested right here in PEI.

Recently at our breakfast meeting, we were joined by PEI Easter Seals Ambassador Vaeda Zo Matheson. At the same breakfast Rotarian, Bill Martin was presented with his Easter Seals National Volunteer Award. Congrats Bill and thanks for speaking with us Vaeda! 

This week's meeting Chair Dave Anderson invited Spencer Long from the PEI Energy Corporation to discuss the ongoing and exciting transition to more sustainable forms of energy generation here in PEI. Spencer also helped us understand what is happening at the Slemon Park Megawatt Solar Farm project under construction just down the road from our meeting spot! A few of us stopped by the Solar Farm under construction (photo shown in this post).

Type caption here

Special thanks to Hon. Bloyce Thompson, for joining us during our virtual Sunrise meeting on February 8. Hon. Thompson is the Minister of Agriculture and Land, Minister of Justice and Public Safety, and Attorney General for Prince Edward Island.

We welcomed Ann Worth to our zoom meeting. Ann recently joined Cushman & Wakefield Atlantic to service the province of Prince Edward Island. Her insights as a business owner and economic developer were valuable and informative.

Rotary stayed active via Zoom during the

lockdown period.

Summerside Rotary Club fulfilling International Commitments during Global Pandemic.

The Rotary Club of Summerside heard a classification speech from one of our newest members, Keith Tanton, (right) this past week. Keith will be a great asset to the club.  Sponsoring member, Les MacLean, (left) .

One of our newest members, Zenaida Saldanha, gave her classification talk to the club. Zenaida’s journey has taken her from Mumbai to Dubai to PEI! She and her husband, Glenn, own and operate Z&G’s Specialty Fusion Cuisine Inc. in Summerside. Zenaida is an excellent addition to the club and a definite asset for the community!

The Rotary Club of Summerside - in genuine Christmas spirit - donated 10,000 masks to the Prince County Hospital. The Rotary Club also provided non-medical masks to a few local high schools, including Kinkora Regional High and Three Oaks Senior High

Dan Kutcher (left) and two others, Zenaida Saldanha and Keith Tanton, were welcomed as new members of the Rotary Club of Summerside on Tuesday, November 3rd. 

Dan was the first to give his Classification Presentation; he touched on four areas of interest: work and civil service, family, travel and his love of the outdoors. 

His life's journey to this point has been exciting and full of diverse experiences and unforgettable memories.

Thanks, Dan, and welcome to Rotary!

Also in the photo is the meeting Chairperson Al Frost (right)

May is Youth Services Month. Rotary Youth Exchange (RYE) has been around since 1927 and the The Summerside Rotary Club has participated in this program for more than 40 years. RYE allows students from all around the world to live in and experience a new culture, language and environment. The outcome is that these young people then become global citizens with a better understanding and appreciation for world we live in.  

 STRIVE is a scholarship program introduced by the Summerside Rotary Club some ten years ago.  This annual program provides local high school students with the opportunity for a $1,000 scholarship to further their education.  For the past ten years, the club has provided five scholarships annually to graduating students.

 

While many scholarships are designed to award top scholastic marks, Rotary’s Strive Scholarship program is aimed at something a bit different.  STRIVE (Students Taking a Renewed Interest in the Value of Education) focuses on students who are facing challenges outside the classroom – be it a personal tragedy, health-related issues or other unfortunate circumstances.  Regardless of the student’s GPA, the focus of this scholarship program is on the student and their commitment to STRIVE to maintain or improve their marks, thus enabling them to plan for post-secondary education, despite the obstacles they face. 

 

The Rotary Strive committee is composed of approximately 12 Rotarians with a variety of business backgrounds.  They meet with students monthly each school year from January to June. Through this process, committee members become mentors for the students and share leadership skills, resume building and interview tips and offer public speaking opportunities.  Through the process, students may gain self-confidence and experience personal growth as they plan for their post-secondary education goals.  Students will also gain a better understanding of Rotary and the importance of volunteering in their future.  

 

Thanks to Rotary’s annual Mardi Gras Curling event and its primary sponsor Provincial Auto Parts, the Summerside Rotary Club has been able to maintain the STRIVE Scholarship program, even expanding the award in recent years.  Further to a final review of the applicants, the committee will announce the 2020 scholarship recipients in early June.  The Rotary Club of Summerside is proud of the work accomplished through this program and aiding in the development of future community leaders. 

 

Since opening in 2017 the Inspire Learning Centre has become an important hub of the City’s downtown core.  This ambitious project was championed by The Summerside Rotary Club.  The success of the Inspire Learning Centre can be measured by daily visitors and by demand for space. 
The Summerside Rotary Club is pleased to begin the construction of a $1.4 million expansion to the Centre.  Construction work started this past fall and the work is expected to be completed by the summer of 2020.  This additional space will be used by tenants and further enhance the Centre’s ability to provide continued community investments in literacy, youth engagement and access to technology. 

 

T.