The Rotary Club recently held an Installation Event to welcome in the new executive. Congratulations to our new President, Marg Anderson, and a big thanks to Past-President Kelly Gingles for his hard work. Rounding out the new executive for 2015/2016 are Chad Sallenback, Secretary and Manuela Krisinger, Treasurer. Directors this year are: Coleen Taylor, Club Administration; Sean Bujtas, Projects; Art Erasmus, Rotary Foundation; Bryan Gascon, Membership; Dave Pernarowski, Public Relations; and Viv Emes, Sergeant-At-Arms.
Rotarian Brian Downie welcomes new President Marg Anderson with a Rotary pin and warm smile
From left to right Bryan Gascon, Membership; Sean Bujtas, Projects; Art Erasmus, Rotary Foundation; Kelly Gingles, Past-President; Manuela Krisinger, Treasurer; Chad Sallenback, Secretary; and incoming President Marg Anderson. Missing from the photo: Viv Emes, Sergeant-At-Arms and Dave Pernarowski, Public Relations
During the Installation Ceremony there were three community Paul Harris awards given out. This is the highest recognition that Rotary can give out to a community member to recognize their good works. The Paul Harris awards went to John Vandevelde, Lowell Holmquist, and Len Froese for their involvement in the Tuck Avenue Seniors housing expansion. A recent article in the Terrace Standard talked about the urgent need for affordable housing in Terrace and how the Tuck Avenue steering committee stepped up to address this need. As the article mentions, this volunteer group was involved with all aspects of putting the project together from "applying for seed money, communicating with an architect, and then leading a larger group of volunteers through various stages of project design and construction". Very impressive effort and much deserved award for John, Lowell, and Len. http://www.terracestandard.com/news/212603921.html
From left to right is John Vandevelde, Lowell Holmquist and Len Froese with Rotarians Art Erasmus and Dave Merritt
There were also two club Paul Harris awards handed out to John Heighington and David Oatway for their individual donations to the Rotary Foundation. The Rotary Foundation transforms donations like John and David's into projects that have a dramatic impact around the world. As the charitable arm of Rotary, the Rotary Foundation taps into a global network of Rotarians who invest their time, money, and expertise into priorities like eradicating polio and promoting peace. Foundation grants are used to challenge issues like poverty, illiteracy, and malnutrition. Thanks to John and David and every other Rotarian who contributes to such a worthy cause. Here's a link to the Rotary Foundation website: https://www.rotary.org/myrotary/en/my-rotary/rotary-foundation
During the Installation program we were also very pleased to donate $7,000 dollars to Helping Hands to help them finish their bottle sorting building. https://www.facebook.com/pages/Helping-Hands-of-Terrace/338928532862980
Accepting the cheque from Past President Kelly Gingles and Rotarian Sean Bujtas is Helping Hands directors Ron and Mavis Ramsay
This past year the Rotary Club of Terrace has given out approximately $90,000 dollars to community organizations. We are very proud of the work we are doing and very thankful we have a generous community supporting our efforts.