ASSINIBOIA — It’s the age people are eligible for old age security benefits and it’s the number of years the Assiniboia Rotary Club has been a service club in Assiniboia.
The year was 1959 when a group of local businessmen wished to serve their community in a way that would also enable them to contribute to worldwide projects. Charles Lindsay was a charter member of the Rotary Club of Assiniboia, and he remained a member until his passing.
Through the years, some of the members who took on the role of president included Marlow Ross, Wilf Harvey, Ross Jack, Bill Goulden, Ellis Compton, Harvey Fender, Walter Pederson, KO Bender, Terry Graham, Wayne Sather, Vic Keep, Irvin Bender, Tom Often and many more.
The club’s focus was on four avenues of service which included community, international, vocational and club.
Leanne Pituley, who currently serves as club secretary and past president, has been a member for three decades. She says two members who have been involved in the club for longer than her are Tom Mountain and Mike Broda.
Rotary International had its beginnings in Chicago, Ill. in 1905 when Paul Harris and other professionals met with the idea of each member being of a different professional background and rotating meetings at each other’s places of business which is represented by the Rotary Wheel. The reason for meeting was mainly fellowship. Other clubs developed and as of today there are 1.4 million Rotarians in more than 200 countries worldwide.
As of 1989 women were accepted as members. The motto of Rotary is Service Above Self.
Assiniboia’s Rotary Club has experienced fluctuations in membership, sometimes having more than 20 members while other times having as low as eight members. Currently, the club has 13 active members, says Pituley.
The focus on the community service club is youth. For many years, Assiniboia Rotarians have sponsored an exchange program with students allowed to choose from a short-term exchange to another country, where they are paired with another student, spending four to eight weeks in each other’s home.
Other students, if they chose, could experience a year-long exchange to a foreign country where they were hosted in family homes. Assiniboia’s first year-long exchange was Allison Lewis in 1977. Many students continued to experience the world through this opportunity provided by their community Rotary Club.
Assiniboia students travelled to such places as Australia, New Zealand, Denmark, Germany, Switzerland and Brazil. The community embraced returning exchange students from these experiences, attending the high school and becoming well-known people around town.
Assiniboia currently is hosting German student Matilda Wilksen.
Barb (Giroux) McInnis recounts her exchange experience.
“I went to Germany for a month and a German student lived with us for a month. This was the summer of ‘83 This was amazing to go and experience a different country, culture and lifestyle. It was all paid for and I had the opportunity to live with another family. While Stephanie was here, we travelled a bit and she enjoyed the swim club. It is much easier to travel there, so I saw all parts of Germany and a few other countries. I had to put together a presentation about Assiniboia, Saskatchewan and Canada to deliver to the German Rotary Club. This enabled me to work on public speaking and some great English skills.”
Pituley, club spokesperson, says, “The club takes part in other student programs offered by our local Rotary district such as Adventures in Agriculture, Adventure in Technology, Rotary Youth Leadership Awards and Model United Nations. Each of these programs offers a learning opportunity to the student as well as skills they bring home to share with the rest of the students in their school.”
The Assiniboia Rotary Club has also committed to enhancing its home community by erecting a clock in Central Park on Main Street. This service club has also made donations towards dugouts at the baseball diamonds and funded gazebos at Centennial Park and the Assiniboia Museum.
“A large donation was made to the playground equipment in Centennial Park. A trophy case at the new Southland Centre was donated and we contributed to a screen room and artificial turf at the Assiniboia Child Care. New bike stands have been placed in the local parks. Funding was given to the new family centre located in the old library for accessible washrooms and in appreciation, the building was named in our honour as the Rotary Club of Assiniboia Family Centre,” added Pituley.
The club was proud to recently donate to the new Golden South Daycare. With a matching grant from Rotary International, they were able to present them with $3,000 for the purchase of new child-sized tables and chairs.
“Some fundraising efforts include a yearly Christmas party with a dinner theatre where we usually partner with the local Popcorn Productions. The annual carol festival is held with food and cash donations given to the local food bank. Each Mother’s Day we hold a raffle with prizes of gift cards to local businesses. From October to April, we have a trivia night at Nash’s restaurant. We have also held trivia night at the Limerick Bar with some of the funds given to the Limerick Day Care. Barbecues are held in co-operation with other community groups, such as the Arts Council’s Artist Retreat.”
Alas, even with this remarkable list outlining community involvement, donations and service, it seems that the club’s exposure is sometimes not enough and they still feel that the community doesn’t always know who the Rotary Club is.
For anyone wanting more information on Rotary, call Jeanne Woolhouse, the current president at 306-642-4096. New members are always welcome.
Mayor Sharon Schauenberg, on behalf of the Town of Assiniboia says, “Happy 65th anniversary to the Rotary Club of Assiniboia. We sincerely appreciate and celebrate all of your outstanding accomplishments. Thank you for your generous financial contributions to numerous organizations within our community. Your dedication to serving our community is truly commendable.”
Pituley affirms that plans are being made to celebrate their 65th anniversary in Assiniboia later this fall and will include past and present Rotarians. The club would appreciate if you could let them know if you are interested in joining their celebration of this milestone anniversary.
