The following text may have been generated by Optical Character Recognition, with varying degrees of accuracy. Reader beware!

Wednesday, May 29, 1996 ROTARY PARK SUPPLEMENT Page 19 v Æ ' : V, Sgfix^SfcïtSrâst .% "VV.'ÎÏA-'.v '.*.* XXfc\\C- '\y > » . v.vv, .x') 1 \XV. >.'.->.j^ ,\;. >«#ÂASX^»^."*K%5»:,S6' . :%8$ Vw;î 1 > v'» ,Vx $'>>, S. „.»', ,* ♦ *v ♦ x I x $ >,'v>^ v * T V^W'iNxUy.^v .7 Rotary Club Helped Build More Than Just One Community Park The Rotary Park was the first Bowmanville park project to be undertaken by the Rotary Club, but it was by no means the only one. To mark the 50th anniversary of the Bowmanville Rotary Club, the membership began working in 1964 towards the development of the Soper Creek Park, site of the historic Cream of Barley Mill. The first step was the purchase of the park in 1964. And, between the fall of 1964 and the completion of the park in 1974, the members spent hundreds of hours working at the site with chainsaws, bulldozers, front end loaders and other equipment. equipment. A local initiative grant helped the club hire workers to further advance the project. project. On December 1, 1973, the deed to the Soper Creek property was turned over to the town. The total cost of the park was .$73,278.39. Rotary International was founded by Paul Harris, in Chicago. The date was February 23rd, 1905. But it wouldn't be until 1923 that Bowmanville had its own branch of the international service organization. The Bowmanville Club was organized in the last two months of 1923, under a committee committee of Bowmanville men headed by Tom Holgate. Charter Night was held at the Bowman House on March 6th, 1924, at which time a club consisting of 17 members was founded. One of the objectives of Rotary International is to have a wide cross section section of the business community represented represented in the club. Membership in the early Bowmanville Rotary Club certainly met that criteria. A banker, baker, engineer, coal dealer, publisher, miller and motion picture theatre owner were among the businesses and professions represented on the roster. The group lost no time in raising funds for projects to benefit the community. The first was at the Fall Fair in 1924, when Ern Rehder's blanket booth netted $44. In both 1924 and 1925, the club staged an operetta, splitting the profits with The United States Touring Company. In January of 1925, they sponsored Bowmanville's first Scout troop. And, in fact, support for Scouting organizations was to become a tradition for the Bowmanville Rotary Club. As time went on, there were few community community projects which did not receive some measure of support from the Rotary Club. Just a few examples of charitable work in which the Bowmanville Rotary Club has been active are: •The creation of a new library in Bowmanville in 1957, when the old Post Office building became available. The Rotary Club worked to renovate the ground floor of the building for use as a library. • A donation of $9,000 towards the cost of a Handi-Transit Van. •The development of the Soper Creek Park in Bowmanville which was completed completed in 1973 as a project celebrating the 50th anniversary of the local club. •The funding of the chapel at Memorial Hospital Bowmanville, a commitment of $15,000. •Annual support for Rotary's special children through the Easter Seals program and other special fund-raising efforts This photo shows charter members of the Bowmanville Rotary Club, 1923. From left are: Fred Vanstone, George Chase, Dr. Jim Devitt, at a celebration of the club's 25th anniversary in 1949. Each of these George James and Dave Morrison, men was among the 23 local businessmen who founded the club in «Support For tïïë Bowmanville Museum, including a donation of $5,000 to refurbish the museum's belvedere. •A pledge to the Skate 88 arena fundraising fundraising campaign. •an annual tree-planting program which saw over 75,000 seedlings planted at locations locations around the municipality over a three- year period. Rotary's efforts in the community also include honoring the achievements of local citizens through the Paul Harris Awards and the sponsorship of exchange students. The club presents annual awards to high school students One of the objectives of Rotary is international service. In Bowmanville and area, the club has made a number of contributions, contributions, including support for drilling wells in India and working on the Polio Plus program which aims to eliminate polio from the world by the year 2005. In short, the club has a tradition of close to 75 years of service in the local community community and in the world. In this spirit of generosity and "service above self," Rotary Park is a lasting tribute tribute to an organization which has made this community a better place to live. Rotarians are no strangers to rolling up their sleeves and making sure important work gets done in the community. This photo shows volunteers at work at the site of the Soper Creek Park, on Bowmanville's east end. The 17-acre park was the club's 50th anniversary gift to the municipality. municipality. It had been developed by the club over the previous ten years. The planting of thousands of trees in the municipality was a more recent Bowmanville Rotary club project. Assisted by Scouts and school children, club members planted 17,500 trees in Clarington during 1991 alone.