President Jennifer Jones has made a special plea to get club logos updated. Go to Rotary Brand Center to find the correct version.
Newsletter editor appeal for assistance: please consider helping me with this monthly newsletter especially if you are technically inclined.
Message Received from ClubRunner
We’re excited to announce that our ClubRunner Changeover Training Seriesis back for 2023! To help better prepare you for your new role and responsibilities this upcoming Rotary year, we are hosting a series of free webinars to help you brush up on your ClubRunner skills and knowledge.
Join us for these in-depth webinars starting on April 14th until April 23rd, 2023, where we'll be offering both beginner and advanced level training sessions covering various modules, by role on the club and district versions.
Club executives and site administrators that have their own ClubRunner subscription to the club version have received a copy of this email. We want to share this email with club executives that do not subscribe to ClubRunner as we are also hosting webinars specifically for clubs that use the district version to manage their club and data.
Registration Details
Click below to view our schedule and to register for individual sessions, or visit www.clubrunner.com/training. Can't attend live? Not to worry, all sessions will be recorded and shared on our Community site after the series is complete.
April has been declared *Environment Month* by Rotary International. When we look around to see what has been accomplished to save Mother Earth up to now by the different organisations and governmental bodies, we must admit that not much has been put in place and we are not thriving in the right direction. Nonetheless, it is essential for us to do our part, however big or small our actions may seem to be, we remain driven in our efforts to continue the mission for a better environmental world.
April is a special month for us all because it marks the 155th anniversary of our founder’s birth, Paul Harris. Let us pull together in strength and underline the vision of this gentleman who simply cared for humankind and wanted to take action. With his dream coming true and determination to help those who needed it, Paul succeeded in launching the greatest non-profit organisation in the world. As Rotarians, it is our pride to be part of this organization and we can celebrate this by donating whatever we can to our Rotary Foundation, including our time.
The Rotary Club of Kingston-Frontenac is sponsoring a student in rural Tanzania with a full elementary school scholarship, in cooperation with the Rotary Club of Hai-Kilimanjaro and the Saidia Agricultural and Social Care Organisation , Tanzania.
We are committed to a scholarship of $500.00 USD per year for one scholar during the full seven years of elementary school .Payment is made at the beginning of each schoolyear . It covers school fees, books, uniform, transport, and meals where needed . As this involves a multi-year club budget, special permission is obtained from the Board. The project will be reviewed for ongoing to a full high school sponsorship .
The student, chosen locally, is 6 years old Ilet Shirima, starting grade one. She lives in Kibosho at Singa Juu Village. President Peter Morrin , who travelled to Tanzania in November 2022 wrote:
"Ilet and Bright Future School
I met our sponsored student, Ilet, and she is lovely. She is attending a new private school developed by Timothy Massawe which is better than any primary school I have yet seen in TZ. The school fees of $500 USD are consistent with other schools of similar quality. The school has a student: teacher ratio of 25:1. Much better than the national norm. "
The project was presented at a Joint International Committees Meeting of the Kingston area , resulting in RC Kingston also sponsoring two scholars, one by the club and one by a member. Thank you, RC Kingston, for your participation.
Nearly a decade ago, while I was the chair of the Strengthen Rotary’s Brand Committee, we conducted in-depth research to better understand how the public viewed Rotary, our members, and our work. What we learned was that we needed to reposition the Rotary brand by focusing on clear, consistent messages and a unified visual identity.
Based on the committee’s recommendation, the Board of Directors approved new brand guidelines, which included how clubs should use the Rotary logo. Simply put, club logos should include the club name either above or below the Rotary logo, like this:
A brand is more than just a logo, but a logo is a big part of our visual identity. When the public sees it throughout their community, they begin to think of Rotary members as people of action. Using the same visual elements unites Rotary, Rotaract, and Interact and allows us, as a diverse global organization, to tell our story with one voice.
The RI Board of Directors is asking every club to update its logo to align with Rotary’s brand guidelines. We are asking you to:
Help clubs in your district understand why we all need to use the Rotary logo correctly
Show clubs how to create their own logo and use it consistently on their website, social media accounts, and other marketing materials, like banners, brochures, signs, and clothing
You can use the resources below, as well as those in the newly updated Brand Center, for assistance. I also encourage you to contact your Rotary Public Image Coordinator Mary Lou Harrison from Toronto Sunrise and their team for additional guidance and support. They are eager to help.
This year, my Imagine Impact tour will highlight how Rotary members are creating positive, lasting change while it also introduces Rotary to new audiences and potential partners. This is where I need your help. Think of how much more impact these stories will have when they’re shared with one global voice!
Let’s continue to help our clubs attract the next generation of people of action as we increase our impact around the world.
Curling Canada presents the Rotary Club of Kingston member, Ken Thompson, with the Ray Kingsmith Award. Please click on link to view this story.
Curling Canada remet le prix Ray Kingsmith au member du Clkub Rotary de Kingston, Ken Thompson. Veuillez cliquer sur le lien pour voire cette histoire.
Two members of the Kemptville Rotary club, John and Cora Beking, hosted a special event during a Tuesday night meeting at the Grenville Mutual Building. An El Salvador themed meal of rice topped with a sunny side up fresh egg, homemade refried beans, cheese filled papusas, and a dessert called cholado, was served to members and guests while John and Cora gave a presentation on their latest mission to El Salvador. This was their eighth mission, where they went to work on projects with people living in these communities to create and build partnerships, as well as long lasting friendships. Rosie and Trevor were their hosts during their mission in El Salvador and have worked on a few of these missions with them.
Together with a team of members from different Rotary clubs from Gananoque, Cornwall, Ottawa, Kingston who were part of this trip, their main mission was to attend a Project Fair where, depending on the community that hosts, you can either visit a large community centre and go from table to table, or sit and have the people present you a 5 minute presentation on their project. The Rotary members then pick a “Project from the heart”. John and Cora chose a stove project, since they began their first mission when they met a gentleman named Gustavo who runs a stove factory. The first model of stoves were made from concrete and were smokeless, but required a good amount of wood. Cora and John delivered 60 of these stoves by boat and trained the women in the village on how to use them. During this trip, they were able to assist in the building of a newer, more permanent version of stoves using brick and mortar with a larger flat metal surface. The temperature of this newer model can go up to 1400 degrees, where it becomes smokeless. As an additional fun touch, Cora added a rotary pin in the mortar. Most families were able to not only cook more efficiently, but also use these stoves to make baked goods to sell. The stoves sell for $100 US, and two of the major benefits of these newer models is that they burn roughly 40% less wood than the original units and don’t take as long to heat up.
Here is an overview of the district conference 2023 program ! Click on the link to get to it. Program - Programme
If you haven't registered yet, don't forget, until February 28th you can register at the price of $300 CAD. After that day the price will go up to $350 CAD ! Register here
You can also book your hotel room in the same hotel as the district conference downtown Montreal at the price of $199 CAD + tax per room per night. You won’t find such a good price downtown Montreal in a hotel like the Westin (270 Saint-Antoine Street West, Montreal H2Y 0A3)
We also negotiated the parking at $28 CAD instead of $39 CAD normal price. Book hotel here
A D7040-wide endeavour to promote urban biodiversity is underway! It starts with two projects this Spring: Lawns and Lights.
1. Lawns (Bee Friendly No Mow May)
Homeowners are fiercely proud of their immaculate emerald green “weed-free” lawns. I too, am proud of my green lawn. I love it when kids (now grandkids) rough and tumble on the lawn. To be honest, it is nice too, when the neighbors feel the grass is greener on my side of the fence.
Beyond the concept of the perfect (monoculture turfgrass) suburban lawn is a much more troubling environmental issue: Monoculture lawns mean less biodiversity. Lawns are often maintained using chemicals (fertilizers) that leach into ecosystems, our homes and lakes, and rivers. For many decades, companies (selling turfgrass and mechanical and chemical products to maintain lawns) advertised lawns, emphasizing this beauty, coupled with solid family and community values: Over time, “perfect” lawns became a part of social status. Thus comes the narrative that the picture-perfect suburban home (North America’s white picket fence, eh?) is incomplete without a neatly manicured lawn. Lawns are also very much a colonial heritage. Remember, before fossil-fueled mowers, trimmers, and blowers were invented, the work was done by slaves, minimum-wage labor, or exhausted owners with push-blade mowers and oversized rusty clippers. A colonial mindset, I’d wager.
