New Rotary Corner - Lakeshore Advance & Exeter Times - Nov. 20, 2013

Rotary Corner

Editor: Rotary President - Bruce Shaw

Rotary Club of Grand Bend Website

www.grandbendrotary.com

Hi. My name is Bruce Shaw, and I am this year's President of Grand Bend Rotary. In this, the

first article that is to appear as a regular feature, I want to share with you, briefly, some of the

things we do for the community and some of the projects we are planning while helping you

understand what it means to be a Rotarian.

I joined Rotary about five years ago on an invitation by members who thought I could contribute

in some small way to the Club. I have been involved in many community organisations for about

45 years and have learned a great deal about the heart of our extended community. I know what

it means to serve and contribute, but I also know how to have fun while giving and sharing ideas,

projects and dreams. Rotary has offered me an opportunity to give back to others what others

have done for me. The Rotary Club of Grand Bend is unique in that our objectives are not to

promote business and advance some sort of elitist agenda, but simply to serve.

The charities and the communities of north Lambton and south Huron have benefitted from the

work of Rotary to the tune of $1,000,000 over the last 20 years. We have done everything from

helping boys and girls through our educational programs to building and  improving hiking trails,

renovating a beach and supplying seats to the Huron Country Playhouse. On a larger scale, we have

organised, loaded and sent 30 containers (and those are huge containers) full of school supplies

and equipment for Haiti and South Africa.

There are 47 of us, both men and women, who meet weekly at the Colonial Hotel in Grand Bend

- let me make it perfectly clear that no one is expected to make every meeting, although we do

have one guy who hasn't missed a meeting in 52 years - I couldn't do that in two life-times. Our

meetings start with dinner at 6.30 and end by 8.00 p.m.. We inform each other what we are doing,

laugh a lot and plan our next objectives - and there's always more than one.

If you want to join in the fun, help others and feel good about yourself, come on out to a meeting

and get a feel for what life is like as a Rotarian.