Home Page | Rotary Club of Salmon Arm Shuswap

Shuswap Rotary presented five members of the club with Paul Harris Fellowship Awards at the induction meeting on June 23, 2020. Three more Paul Harris Fellowship Awards have been also awarded this summer.

Janice Ross Fred Goodman Dave Woolliams

Eddie Turner

Five of the awards were based on their personal contributions to the Rotary Foundation. Janice Ross received a 'Paul Harris Fellow +1' which means it was her second PHF recognition. Fred Goodman received a 'Paul Harris Fellow +7' which means it was his 8th recognition. Dave Woolliams received a 'Paul Harris Fellow + 6', Dr. Eddie Turner received a 'Paul Harris Fellow +2', and Ralph Owens (not pictured) received a 'Paul Harris Fellow +3.

The other three PHFs were identified by a committee based on their significant contributions to the club and Rotary. The club presented PHFs are for Rob McKibbon, Mark Ellis, and John Hansen.

Rob McKibbon has just stepped down as RYE director after 6 years and after hosting a multitude of exchange students. Exchange students were very lucky to have Rob and Lynn as their host parents because they each got treated like a combination of family and royalty. He and his wife Lynn have been tireless supporters of Rotary and the youth exchange program since he joined Rotary in 2011. Rob served as president of the club in 2014-15 and he maintains our club Facebook page. He has also been a huge supporter of our fundraising auction acting as its MC the past few years. Rob has a valuable special ability to get generous auction supporters and donors to help make our auctions a huge success.

Mark Ellis has been highly involved in our Barani project in Kenya. He is passionate about helping the children who benefit from our Barani project. He travelled with 5 other club members in 2017 to visit Barani school and our sponsored students. He has also chaired the Barani committee. As fundraising chair he has overseen several very successful auctions which have enabled our club to be very generous in offering services locally and internationally. Mark has also served as president of the club.

John Hansen has served as our club president this year after helping out in a big way with this position in the previous two years. John has done an incredible job in transitioning and guiding us through this new world that we are now experiencing.John has served on the Barani committee and works tirelessly behind the scenes in many capacities as well as to help make our auctions a success, and gives our auctions some class by appearing in a tuxedo every year!

Congratulations and many thanks to all 8 Paul Harris Fellowship recipients for their contributions to Rotary.

Feeding Kenyan Students

Shuswap Rotary sponsors 20 Kenyan secondary students at various secondary schools. These students were sent home from their boarding schools at the start of the pandemic, and will miss the entire Term 2 before they can hopefully return to school September 1. These are students from poor families who would not go to school without help. They have sponsorship guidelines that must be met to ensure continued sponsorship. Shuswap Rotary decided to use the money we have set aside for Term 2 fees to support these students in this difficult time. We are providing maize flour and beans, two staples of the Kenyan diet. The photos show some of our students as they are receiving this assistance in May.

Update - we have also distributed food in June, photos of this are in the Photo Albums, located on the upper right side of this web page. Click on 2020 Barani Food Distribution.

Safe House Rotary Donation

Shuswap Rotary is presenting a cheque to S.A.F.E Society for help during the COVID-19 pandemic. The need has increased significantly and the funds were greatly appreciated. Shown in the photo, left to right are Paige Hilland and Jane Shirley (SAFE Society) and Sherry Gilroy (Shuswap Rotary).

Zoom Meetings Announcement

In light of the Covid-19 virus and the restriction on meetings and close contact we will be initiating virtual meetings using the video conferencing application " Zoom." The application really works very well, is simple to use and will allow us to continue on with fellowship and to conduct our normal business.

You will see at the end of this message instructions on how to join this video conference. Before you click on the link you should download the Zoom app (no charge) to your computer. See the link at the top of the bar on the left of your screen. Second, go into your computers settings and ensure that your microphone is on ( not muted) and your camera is on. If you are unsure how to do this, Kathy Dunfield has volunteered to help anyone over the phone. Kathy's number is

250-832-5579.

I hope that you will join us and I know that you will be pleasantly surprised at how good this video conference can be. In these troubling times it is really nice to hear and see from our friends.

John Hansen is inviting you to a scheduled Zoom meeting.

Topic: Regular Rotary Meeting
Time: Jun 9, 2020 06:30 PM Pacific Time (US and Canada)
        Every week on Tue, until Aug 4, 2020, 9 occurrence(s)
        Jun 9, 2020 06:30 PM
        Jun 16, 2020 06:30 PM
        Jun 23, 2020 06:30 PM
        Jun 30, 2020 06:30 PM
        Jul 7, 2020 06:30 PM
        Jul 14, 2020 06:30 PM
        Jul 21, 2020 06:30 PM
        Jul 28, 2020 06:30 PM
        Aug 4, 2020 06:30 PM
Please download and import the following iCalendar (.ics) files to your calendar system.
Weekly: https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/tZUof--gqDgiGdbW-yyDpBY53b0xNQmS28ik/ics?icsToken=98tyKuGpqzMsEtKWuBqFRpwcGYqgM_zwpnZHjadfq1L8GgRDQDqjZeASKpxOHeuC

Join Zoom Meeting
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/81586863832?pwd=Z2ZiaWw1QTJ4Z053Z3kvQ09CakRlQT09

Meeting ID: 815 8686 3832
Password: 237347
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Meeting ID: 815 8686 3832
Password: 237347
Find your local number: https://us02web.zoom.us/u/kde0JwSSiG

All Meetings Cancelled

In light of the recent Covid-19 virus outbreak around the world, our regular Rotary meetings are cancelled until further notice. This cancellation is to ensure that as a club we are following the guidelines for social distancing announce by our health officials. As soon as we have received an "all clear" from our health officials we will resume our regular meeting schedule. In the meantime I urge all members to watch your email and Facebook (if you have an account) for updates. I have included an excerpt from Rotary President, Mark Maloney letter to us.

"As Rotary’s president and president-elect, we have been thinking of these issues very seriously in regard to upcoming Rotary events. As you may be aware, we have made the difficult decision to cancel two Rotary Presidential Conferences honoring our relationship with the United Nations- one in Paris, another in Rome. In the near term, we recommend that Rotary districts and clubs cancel or postpone meetings or events following the advice of national and local health officials."

We hope that Rotarians will keep in regular contact with each other. Members are asked to check email and the website for information. Take care of yourselves!

from our President, John Hansen

Recent Speakers

March 3, 2020 - Pam Seely from Canadian Mental Health Association receives a cheque to support the purchase of a new van.

February 25, 2020 - Social Dinner at Yan's Restaurant

February 18, 2020 - Rob Van Varseveld (right, with Chair MJ Berezan)

Guest speakers Rob Van Varseveld (above right, with Chair MJ Berezan) and Duncan Moore, Larch Hills Nordic Club made a presentation about a lightning project for the Larch Hills skiing area. The goal is to have 6 kilometers of lighted trails. The Larch Hills club wants to build this project using a four phases approach. The first phase will cost $190,000.00 (most expensive) and so far, the club has raised $100,000.00 – the entire cost of the four phases is $600,000. Lighted trails will enhance skier safety, support people who can only ski during the evenings and encourage more people to ski.

February 4, 2020

Mike Boudreau – filled us in on what’s new with Techbrew Robotics – a local Vision Guided Robotics Company. We learned about the latest project, robotic mushroom picking harvesting. We enjoyed a very interesting presentation of local high tech! Mike is shown on the right, with acting president MJ Berezan on the left.

Feb 18, 2020 - Doug and Jacquie Everett from Chase Rotary

Doug (left) and Jacquie Everett visited our club to advertise the Chase Rotary Auction.

January 21, 2020 - Habitat for Humanity in Salmon Arm

Right to left, Bill Miller, Rex Landis and Acting Chair, Mark Ellis

Bill Miller, Executive Director and Rex Landis, Procurement & Donations Coordinator, for Habitat for Humanity spoke to the club about the goals and work that Habitat for Humanity does. They outlined plans for building a 22 unit seniors' housing complex on 10th Avenue NE in Salmon Arm to begin construction this summer.

They also announced that a Habitat for Humanity Restore store will open in the spring at Cenetoka Mall. It will sell new and gently used furniture and building supplies. The funds from these stores are used for their housing projects.

January 7, 2020 - President Elect MJ Berezan and member Gudrun Malmqvist

Gudrun Malmqvist, a member since September 2018, was born in Kilifi, Kenya, close to our sponsored school in Barani. She lived in parts of Africa before coming to Salmon Arm in 2010 with her husband and children. Gudrun (right) is shown here with President Elect, MJ Berezan.

For more information about previous speakers, click "Read More" below.

President John Hansen in La Paz, Mexico

Our Co-President, John Hansen, is currently in La Paz, Mexico. He has been sharing pictures and information about our club projects, especially Barani School in Kenya, and the Brain Bikes here in the Shuswap. He sends these pictures.

John is in the back row, in the brown plaid shirt.

John is receiving a club banner from the La Paz Rotary Club.

Spelling Bee

Despite the early morning wake-up call, the Mad Hatters, Shuswap Rotary team at the Literacy Alliance of the Shuswap Sociey (LASS) ate a great breakfast and had a hilarious time spelling on Wednesday, May 8. The 8 team members are shown, from the left: Sherry Gilroy, MJ Berezan, Barb Hay, Kathy Dunfield, Sue Ackerman, Bev Wice, Pam Wenzel and Lynne Gulliford. Shuswap Rotary contributed $600 to the registration and the team members contributed over $400. The event raised over $11,000 for literacy activities in the Shuswap, from Books for Babies to Cyber Seniors Computer Tutoring and many other programs.

Annual RJ Haney Cleanup

A huge thank you to everyone that turned out for the Haney Clean-up. It was a smashing success. We had lots of help from the scouts and cadets, just amazing. The army Rangers sent 30,the air cadets 10 and the scout 10. All told, there was 145 registered volunteers. Three cheers for Panago Pizza, Shuswap Rotary and Steve Genn who arranged for the pizza, wings and salad. Steve ordered for 90 but it was a generous 90 and all were fed. Susan at Haney said that the clean-up exceeded her expectations. She was thrilled. Thank you Sherry for organizing the cadets & scouts.

A job well done everyone. For more photos, click Read More.

Guillermo Hernandez Arrives From Spain

Our new exchange student, Guillermo Hernandez arrived safely Thursday night (August 23) from Alicanté, Spain. He is a charming boy and it’s been a pleasure getting to know him. 15 years old with a birthday on Dec 28th. He will be attending SASS in grade 11. His English is fairly good and he likes to eat anything. He plays the drums & piano. He rows back at home and likes soccer & basketball.

Barani Dancers WIN National Competition

At Barani Primary School in Kenya 24 girls, aged 7 to 9, have been singing and dancing their way through various levels of school music festival competitions and winning each to reach the National finals in August 2018. As part of their school music program they learn to perform tribal based songs which include dancing and acting out traditional stories. These girls, who have never travelled farther than they can walk from their simple mud homes near the city of Mombasa, now find themselves travelling 700 km with 2 teachers to compete in the country’s top educational music festival.

In a country where most families and schools do not have funds to pay for travel and costumes, these girls received financial assistance from generous individual Rotarians and Friends of Rotary which made going to Regional finals and National finals possible. These young girls, through their winning performances, are gaining confidence, self respect and self esteem which are foundations for future leaders in Kenya, one of the aims of Shuswap Rotary through its Kenyan projects.
Shuswap Rotary provides 550 lunches daily for needy students at Barani Primary School. It also sponsors 20 students to complete Grades 9 to 12 in a country where there is no government funding of secondary schools.

Please Donate

Posted by Mike Boudreau on Jan 04, 2014

Please support our International Humanitarian Projects

Make a Donation

To make a Donation and for information on projects please go to our Donations Web Page at the following link:

www.shuswaprotary.ca