Local Rotarians from the Thornbury Clarksburg, Collingwood & Wasaga Beach Clubs participated in this year's Collingwood Pride Parade to showcase our support of Inclusion and Diversity!
Linda Wykes joined Thornbury-Clarksburg Rotary in 2001. One of the first women to join our
club, she was already well known to it as the go-to person for printing and graphic design. That
role has continued over the years but it belies the many other contributions she has made to
the club and to the community at large during that time.
club, she was already well known to it as the go-to person for printing and graphic design. That
role has continued over the years but it belies the many other contributions she has made to
the club and to the community at large during that time.
Rotarian Linda’s name has become synonymous with Riverside Press and The Review. The latter
is a voice for many community members as well as a valued source of information about what’s
going on in our community following the closure of the town’s newspaper. Not one to speak
publicly or “toot her own horn”, it was through a single one liner in the town’s News and
Notices section of The Review that members of the club became aware that Rotarian Linda had
been awarded The Blue Mountains Community Builder Award (age 26+) in April of this year.
Frequently, Rotarians have a “pet project” within Rotary. It might be water or sanitation projects, or literacy, or Youth Exchange or local projects. From the many good works that Rotary does in the world, we all have one or two that really “turn our crank”. For Thornbury-Clarksburg Rotary’s 2023-24 Club President, John Bailey, it is ShelterBox, the disaster relief organization associated with Rotary that provides shelter and basic needs in disaster areas all over the world. In fact, it was ShelterBox that attracted John to Rotary!!
...and now John has been recognized with ShelterBox Canada's All Star Award...
To support T-C Rotary’s tent, table and chair rental fundraiser, a maintenance crew is needed from time to time to repair and clean out the trailers used to deliver these items and periodically make sure the tables and chairs are cleaned for the season.
T-C Rotary recently made a donation to assist the Owen Sound Rotary Club in renovating the kitchen at Camp Presqu’ile. Many youth from TBM have enjoyed summer camp here over the past many years.
Photo shows President John (l) and Community Chair Diane Anderson (r) presenting a $5,000 cheque to Owen Sound Rotarian Bill Black (centre left) and President Rob Dors (centre right).
What a wonderful evening...full of fun and new friendships, delicious food, dynamite dancing, and great anticipation trying to unlock the cage! Our 2nd annual Kindness Gala was a big hit!! And our online Silent Auction was also a great success with bidders grabbing up over 40 amazing items. Thanks to the kindness of our community, funds raised for the Moreau Park - Kindness at Play project are growing...we will have an update soon.
Runners and walkers of every age and stage enjoyed the annual Thornbury Turkey Trot in support of the Thornbury-Clarksburg Rotary Club this past Saturday October 7th. The event attracted over 700 participants, and is a major fundraiser for the Club. Proceeds from the annual event supports the many needs of the local community along with a variety of international aid projects.
Read more and see list of winners...
Recently, we helped another group of students from BVCS benefit from the amazing program at the Hope Haven Therapeutic Riding Centre. Over the last several years, T-C Rotary has been pleased to provide the needed transportation for select students from BVCS to attend a transformative program at Hope Haven in Markdale. Hope Haven's mission is "to provide a transformative experience through our distinctly designed programs for individuals with (dis)abilities or unique needs".
The feedback from the most recent program was, as always, extremely positive. Here are a few of the comments received by the BVCS:"Hope Haven is the highlight of much more than his week. He is now confident and has friends!" (a parent)
"If it weren't for Hope Haven, we would still be struggling to get him to school. This is the most confident we have ever seen him!" (a parent)
"The best part about Hope Haven is that I now have friends!" (a student)
A message to T-C Rotary:
"On behalf of the students, families and staff of BVCS, we can't thank you enough for giving these students the opportunity to grow into more confident versions of themselves! From: Caitlin Roach, Learning Resource Teacher, BVCS.
Many thanks to Hope Haven for providing such an awesome and transformative program, and also to the staff at BVCS for making it possible for the students to include this as part of their learning program.
And many thanks to our TBM community members for helping us make a difference in young people's lives.
Recently, the T-C Rotary club donated $5,000 to support the building of new washrooms for the primary school in Cihuatlan Mexico (a small town on the Pacific Coast near Manzanillo). A large earthquake last September 19th severely damaged the existing washroom wing of the primary school. That facility was condemned with the result 
that the 195 students and staff have had to rely on two port-a-potties on loan from a local farmer since then. Replacement was needed as the farmer needed them back for his own use early this spring. One of our members spends winters in the area and is an honorary member of the nearby Rotary club of Costelegra that organized the project to build 8 new washrooms (4 for girls and 4 for boys) at a cost of $23,000 Canadian. The balance of the funds were raised locally along with another large contribution from a Rotary club in the US.
that the 195 students and staff have had to rely on two port-a-potties on loan from a local farmer since then. Replacement was needed as the farmer needed them back for his own use early this spring. One of our members spends winters in the area and is an honorary member of the nearby Rotary club of Costelegra that organized the project to build 8 new washrooms (4 for girls and 4 for boys) at a cost of $23,000 Canadian. The balance of the funds were raised locally along with another large contribution from a Rotary club in the US.The washrooms were completed in April. The school principal is happy with the completed project and is very appreciative of the Rotary Clubs who have funded this project. No longer do 200 plus students and staff have to share 2 port-a-potties that stood in the blazing sun.
Thank you to our community members for making it possible for us to help those in need beyond our borders! Our international work is an important, though smaller part, of how we distribute donations and is a key part of the Rotary International Mission to "provide service to others, promote integrity, and advance world understanding, goodwill, and peace".
T-C Rotary club was pleased recently to receive a very interesting presentation about a new program being run through Grace United Church. As presenters Diana Dolmer and Carol Clarke explained, Georgian Bay Home Share is aimed at matching up individuals in the community that are home “seekers” with others in the community who are prepared to be home “providers”. Driven especially by the local demographics and the affordability of accommodation, the basic model of Home Share seeks seniors in particular who are living alone in their homes and could use both a little income and some help around the home. The company and fellowship of such an arrangement can’t be ignored either.
There is scientific evidence that kindness actually helps us heal emotionally and physically. Repeated acts of kindness decreases pain, stress, anxiety, depression and blood pressure – while increasing happiness and lifespan. And acts of kindness are contagious; when one is the recipient, its contagion makes it easier to pay it forward!
Share your kindness-related literary or art work at #tcrcommunitykindness...we will periodically chose some of those posts for display in our Kindness Korner.
Andy Conroy
Andy Conroy
Thornbury-Clarksburg Rotary Club
President 2023-2024
.png)
