President's Message 
This week's Guest Author: David Hawkins
The Moving Wheel as I See It – Part 2
The Big Wheel was parading on a float down main-street in Wellington on July 1 st – not to mention selling tasteful ribs in the park. Again the Wheel was seen at the Christmas parade with lots of candy for the young. However, the Wheel moved on the Family Day in early February. In the Community Centre the villagers would find Rotary members with other organizations giving out free soup with buns, cookies and other treats. How much fellowship took place: families meeting families, friends meeting friends and neighbors greeting neighbors on this official holiday. I nearly forgot, children were also involved in fun games which brought smiles to parent’s faces.
Before we know it Rotary members were in action when the wheel arrived in June at the Wellington 9 Hole golf course where over 70 persons swung their clubs. Following an enjoyable round of golf there was a banquet with gifts for the partakers.
There is one more item or achievement that has to be mentioned. Our club wholeheartedly decided to think outside the box by donating large sums of money to the Back-the-Build campaign in support of the construction of a new County Hospital. What a challenge at the time. To the Rotary member’s surprise over $600,000 was given by 2026. The Picton Hospital is now well over halfway to completion. Over the years the Rotary Wheel has covered hundreds of miles.
Think of it – if Wellington Rotary had not come in existence way back in 2002 the local population of Wellington would have been denied of so much. Fortunately that didn’t happen. Instead our village, I am sure, possessed a very positive attitude towards the local Rotary club and its members. What else can we do? Many members and funds help provide food for poor families and Rotary members volunteer at the local food bank weekly. Surely the Wheel is wearing out? I doubt that. By now you would think that Rotarians are resting on their laurels – but does the Wheel slow down? Dear me, no. Over the many years Rotary has spearheaded the growth of Diners and Duffers value books with the support of surrounding sister clubs. These books are sold in the 100’s. Another popular fund raiser was selling 2,000 bottles of maple syrup with the help of other local clubs.
So far I have centred on our village and county however our Rotary Wheel has travelled overseas to help some of our neighbors. We are helping young poor girls receive and education in Ghana and provide water filters to individual families in scattered villages in Laos. However the biggest project for all Rotary Clubs worldwide is the campaign called Polio Plus. This Rotary commitment to eradicate this crippling disease from all countries. Nothing seems too big for Rotary – even desiring peace. It does take a large wheel, does it not?
I expect many of you will guess that I have only covered approximately 50% of Rotary activities. As I look ahead in my 90 th year, I pray many more individuals will be attracted to join Rotary and become involved in a large number and variety of projects.
How do I close? I will ask a question which I do at nearly every meeting: What is the difference
between a dinosaur and a lump of coal?
David Hawkins – Rotarian of the Year 2025/26
A thought…
Never look back unless you want to go that way
This Week's Zoom Meeting Details:
Topic: Weekly Rotary Meeting
Time: Oct 13, 2026 07:00 AM Eastern Time (US and Canada)
Join Zoom Meeting
Meeting ID: 828 6879 3340
Passcode: rotary
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Notes from Club Forum on October 06, 2026
Past President Roger opened the meeting at 7:07 with 32 members present and one guest. Roger noted that our club ranked 19 th out of 55 clubs in the District in terms of money raised from the President’s Walk. Well done for a club of our size.
Guest Speaker:
Trudy introduced our returning guest speaker, Rotarian Steve Rutledge. For the last 17 years Steve has served the rural villagers of Laos with the most basic of needs for sustained life. Since 2009, Adopt A Village in Laos has provided over 100 villages with filtered water one family at a time, serving over 100,000 rural villagers, constructed or repaired over 2 dozen permanent water supplies, built dozens of toilet banks and 14 school construction projects. After the Beirut port explosion in 2020, he chaired the international sponsoring partner club committee (Whitby Sunrise club) and raised approximately $240,000 from 60 Canadian clubs towards a global grant to replace operating theatre equipment for Beirut’s only public hospital. Steve is also Foundation Chair, and a member of the International Committee at Whitby Sunrise, and a member of the District 7070 Water and Sanitation Committee.
Steve spoke of very challenging conditions in Laos this year. The past two years they experienced very dry weather while this year they had a month of continuous rain. Their truck was hit by a bus sliding down a mud-covered slope. Obtaining fuel for their vehicles was a constant challenge. Nevertheless, as his video illustrated, they got a lot accomplished. They built 2 dams and water tanks, installed a suspended water pipe across a major river, built toilet banks for 2 secondary schools and distributed over 1000 water filters. Steve noted the water filters are manufactured in Laos, cost $125 each and last 6-8 years for a family of 6. If someone wants to contribute to the water filters, they will be provided with a picture of the family receiving it, and the filter can have a customized label identifying the donor - 80 of the filters they distributed this year were “in memorium.” Steve was thanked by Phyo.
Club Business:
Pumpkinfest: Howard says the pumpkin-weighing team is ready to go. Volunteers should be at the school by 11-ish. Margo is looking for someone to pull the float. Dave R may be able to do it. If not, Conrad volunteered a truck and Ken could drive. Anyone who wants to decorate the float should meet at the Bottle Depot by 9 and anyone who wants to ride on the float should be at the Community Centre at 9:30. Mary, Lana and Gregor (aka the Bee) volunteered to hand out candy.
Cobourg Dinner Theatre: Roger reported that we now have 19 signed up for the dinner theatre. If we have 5 more signups every attendee will get $10 off per ticket.
Wake Up Wellington: Shawn reported that local businesses are enthusiastic and sponsors have
committed for all three major prizes, totalling $1750. Shawn plans to have a booth at Pumpkinfest, selling cotton candy and handing out “Wake Up Wellington” postcards and he could use a volunteer to help.
Correction from last week: I messed up in last week’s recitation of the YTD Bottle Depot Stars. My abject apologies! The correct list of YTD stars is as follows:
1 st place: Geoff, with 17 shifts
2 nd place: John Hatch and FOR Lari, tied with 12 shifts each
3 rd place: John Inwood and Gregor, tied with 10 shifts each
Birthdays: Mary C on Oct 7 and Lyn on Oct 9.
50/50 Draw: Norm’s ticket was drawn in absentia, but the Ace wasn’t selected. Only 9 tickets left!
Roger closed the meeting at 8:20 with the Four-Way Test.
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How to Host the 2026 Rotary Youth Exchange Student Yuna on an Excursion
