The Reminder is making its archives back to 2003 available on our website. Please note that, due to technical limitations, archive articles are presented without the usual formatting.
Members of the Rotary Club of Flin Flon took part in a celebration of community spirit Thursday evening. About 60 Rotarians and guests attended the club's dinner meeting at RJ's Motel, where Rotary District Governor Wayne Claypool praised the group of volunteers for their efforts. "The Rotary Club of Flin Flon is an example for all the clubs in our district," said Claypool, whose district covers Manitoba, northwestern Ontario and most of Saskatchewan. "Certainly the projects that they do for the community are outstanding. I had the opportunity to visit a number of the projects and I'm just totally impressed by the amount of work that 48 members can do and the difference they can make." The resident of Estevan, Saskatchewan, singled out the Rotary Wheel, Rotary Park and Rotary Court as projects that he is particularly impressed with. Past-president Scott Davidson, who welcomed George Fontaine as the new president, also addressed the crowd. See 'You' P.# Con't from P.# "I think you should all be proud as Rotarians this evening," he said from the podium. "I think the things we did accomplish this year were terrific." Awards were presented to a handful of Rotarians for their efforts this past year. Ted Hewitt was named Rotarian of the Year. The President's Awards went to Nazir Ahmad and Doug O'Brien. Betty Kendall and George Fontaine received Paul Harris Fellowship awards. Also, one new member, Tim Smith, was officially welcomed to the club. In an interview following the dinner, District Governor Claypool spoke about a challenge facing Rotary and other service clubs Ñ maintaining members. "I think certainly, membership is always an issue when you're trying to do the kind of work that Rotary clubs do," he said. "Maintaining a younger membership is a real challenge, as everybody has a busy life and family is important, and that has to be a priority as well. But I'm certainly encouraged by what I see in the Flin Flon Rotary Club." Claypool is optimistic about other Rotary clubs as well. "I think that the values that Rotary puts around family life as well as service in the community is what's probably going to hold it sort of above some of the other service clubs," he said. "All service clubs do great work, but in some cases, they impose on family life, and in Rotary, we're trying to accommodate the family as part of Rotary." A Rotarian for the past 22 years, Claypool said the camaraderie among members is what keeps he and others involved with the Rotary movement. "I think that the fellowship is the greatest part of Rotary," he said. "Worldwide, we're a very large organization, but at the club level, we're small and everybody knows everybody, and so fellowship is extremely important as part of a service organization."
