CLUB HISTORY

Take A Look At Our Story!

On the north east shore of Lake Ontario is a peninsula that is Prince EdwardCounty, total population about 25,000, a shoreline of 800 kilometres, rural in nature with the recent addition of a flourishing viticulture.  One of three small population centres in The County is the village of Wellington, of about 2,000 inhabitants.  

In early 2002, a small group in the village began to explore the possibility of forming a Rotary Club, hoping to establish a service profile because of the area’s increasing role as a retirement destination and a growing interest in the fledgling wine industry.  After several months of meetings with members of the nearby Rotary Club of Picton (formed in 1943, providing lots of experience and guiding wisdom), the Rotary Club of Wellington received its Charter in November, 2002, with its first president, Jim Bancroft, presiding.  The evening celebrated its twenty founding members.  At the time, the new club was grateful for the support and interaction of several neighbouring clubs and this close relationship and co-operation continue.

With our motto of "Service Above Self", and our unofficial motto of "We don't just donate, We participate", we are recognized in our community as enthusiastic supporters of individuals, organizations and events, to be counted on for both financial donations and volunteer help.  A major focus for us, in our small, rural area, is assistance to our young citizens through donations for scholarships, athletic and educational competition prizes,  a Field of Dreams baseball project, providing school library books and promoting literacy, resurfacing a running track and school playground equipment.  The Storehouse Foodbank is a regular recipient of generous Rotary donations, as well as healthcare and senior care initiatives.  We also fundraise and donate to initiatives to build facilities that support  the community, such as the Millennium Trail, the Wellington & District Community Centre, and the PEC memorial hospital.

We are a community that loves to celebrate and is renowned for its ability to organize special events that attract participants from across the province and beyond.  During our mid-October Pumpkinfest, parade viewers don knitted pumpkin hats, eat homemade apple dumplings and gather at the school to watch Wellington Rotarians perform the weigh-in to determine the largest pumpkin and squash from entrants across Canada and the U.S.  As well as our Pumpkinfest parade float, we also provide a float for Canada Day and Christmas season parades. 

With a proud history of accomplishments, one of our largest projects was the rejuvenation of Wellington Beach, the only municipally owned beach in The County. Over more than five years of planning, research, securing grants, fundraising, and just plain hard work, the area was officially declared Wellington Rotary Beach in summer, 2009.  The project included 1200 feet of accessible boardwalk, 900 feet of walking paths, a picnic shelter, picnic tables, viewing benches and interpretive signs, at a total cost of about $225,000, including much sweat equity from club members, community individuals and businesses. 

Our pride in this project is reflected in our redesigned club banner.

Another one of our major donations in 2009 was to the newly built Wellington and District Community Centre, home of the championship Wellington Dukes hockey team, an indoor walking track and a centre for activities for The County.  In recognition of our pledge of $50,000, a large, mulit-purpose room in the Centre bears the name of The Rotary Club of Wellington on its door.  

Each of the five years that the Wellington Lions Club Dragon Boat races were held in Wellingon, Rotary Club of Wellington has entered a team.  Approximately $6000 was raised in 2013  to support breast cancer survivors and research.  After five years of paddling our hearts out, we finally won the Community Cup!  No small feat for our group of very enthusiastic, but, shall we say, mature, team members.

In 2011, For the first time in eighteen years, the Quebec-based Grand Tour Desjardins held its annual cycling tour outside of Quebec, visiting Prince Edward County in early August with 1,950 cyclists.  At a nearby elementary school, Rotary Club of Wellington volunteers supervised lunch areas, water bottle filling stations, washrooms and garbage clean-up, in the pouring rain.  It was a wonderful experience for Rotary members and many of us got to try our rusty French in conversation.  

We are familiar with the benefits of partnering with other clubs for projects.  During summer of 2013, Quinte Sunrise Rotary Club invited Wellington and Belleville clubs to partner in contributing to restoring a damaged dock at a local camp for children with cancer.  As a result, our clubs’ $2000 donations became $12,000, to complete a much needed facility at the camp.  As well, club members spent a day at the camp, cleaning, building and preparing for the first campers and their families.

Although we do focus on local support and activities, we also take part in international projects.  Through annual donations to the Rotary Foundation, we join Rotary Clubs around the world in supporting the eradication of Polio and AIDS.  For four years, we contributed to Pure Water for the World to purchase and install specialized biosand filters and latrines amongst 1500 families in 31 villages in the El Paraiso District of Honduras.  This project included continuous hygiene education for adults and children.  The result was a reduction in children’s absences from school for health reasons.  From 2019 to 2022, we have been enthusiastic supporters of Adopt a Village in Laos, a program headed by Rotarian Steve Rutledge of the Rotary Club of Whitby, to provide clean drinking water for 65 remote villages in Laos.   Both of these projects reflect our belief that a healthy environment and clean water for children have such a positive impact on their lives.  

The Millennium Trail Upgrade project was a multi-year initiative headed by Rotarian Barry Davidson in 2012.  The trail is an important feature of Prince Edward County that was underused. The purpose of our project was to make the trail more suitable for walkers, joggers, cyclists, ATV’s and snowmobiles. While the Trail is 49km long, extending from Carrying Place to Picton, the initial project improved 11 km in and around Wellington, from Danforth Road to Highway 33 east of the village.  The project had the support of the Prince Edward County Department of Parks, Recreation and Culture.   The success of the initial project spurred the County to approve an Ad Hoc committee to complete the upgrade of the full 49km in PE County in 2020, with the leadership of Barry Davidson.

  

The latest and most ambitious initiative undertaken by the Club in 2017 was to embark on a fundraising campaign to help the community demonstrate its ability to provide funds for the public portion of the cost to equip a new facility to replace the current PECMH.  The initiative was spearheaded by Rotarian David Smith.  Through private donations and club fundraisers, including the annual Wellington Rotary Fundraiser Dinners, by June 2022,we were able to fulfill our pledge to donate $400,000 to the PECMHF "Back the Build" campaign. 

How does a club of 40 members  fund such a variety of interests?   Very creatively!

Our major source of income is our operation of a Bottle Depot recycling centre, in partnership with The Beer Store.   In leased space in an old feed mill, Wellington Rotary has business hours Wednesdays and Saturdays, 9:00am to 1:00pm.  We accept any containers that the Beer Store and LCBO sell and we provide a full refund for these items.  As well, we assist in unloading vehicles and sorting, although we do request that containers be sorted and counted prior to arrival.  We are fortunate to include our local wineries and restaurants, who also return their bottles to us.  Our clients are very generous and regularly commend the club for its many accomplishments and leave a donation in our plastic bucket.  There is a weekly pick up by a large Beer Store truck and we are reimbursed by the quantity that we have gathered.  It is a dependable enterprise, but requires a huge commitment of member time and energy, with four on duty each day, five during the summer.  We thank our contingent of "Friends of Rotary" from the community, who volunteer to help at the Bottle Depot.
 

A consortium of seven Quinte area Rotary clubs have produced the Annual Diners and Duffers book, a discounting coupon book featuring golf clubs, restaurants, wineries, theatres and a brewery.  When it becomes available in late March, it is a much sought after item, with a price of $35 per book providing $2500 in value.  The books are sold by Rotary members, by local businesses and through our elementary school.

Our annual Rotary Golf Tournament is a day of fun and good food, at our Wellington Golf Course.  One of the features that our golfers enjoy is the dinner that is catered entirely by Wellington Rotary members.   

Our Annual Wellington Rotary Fundraiser Dinner has become an evening to look forward to every late summer, or early fall. Typically, it is a themed evening consisting of catered dinner plus a silent auction.  We invite our wineries, cheesemakers,  a DJ or musician, and a local catering group to join us in presenting An Evening of Fine County Tastes.   We've also partnered with the Cattlemen's Association host a Country Classic Charity Roundup. It is an opportunity for wonderful exposure for the businesses and a fun evening for those who attend. 

In 2018-2019, as part of the fundraising initiative for the new hospital, we started a white-labeling project whereby Rotary Wine was sold.  In collaboration with a winery, Rotarians would pick the grapes and the wine maker would produce a white label Rotary Wine.  In the first year, white wine was produced by Lacey Estates Winery. In the next year, Rotary Red was produced by Domain Darius winery.  

Subsequently, since 2020 and 2021,  with the leadership of new Rotarians Yvonne Buys and Chris Compeau, we have produced Rotary Maple Syrup with syrup from Nyman Farms.  This initiative has been very popular within the community and has consistently raised substantial funds.

Our Success –

A major strength of our club is its highly visible energy and commitment in our community.  We have become the “go-to group” for ideas and assistance.  New members are attracted by our vitality and our enthusiasm.  With 7:07am Tuesday morning meetings, enthusiasm is a must!  A great amount of time and energy are involved in being a member of the Rotary Club of Wellington.   Our unofficial motto, “We don’t just donate, we participate!” is exemplified in the many activities that we endeavour.  Along with our service and commitment, however, we have not lost sight of the importance of camaraderie and good social times together.  At the end of each meeting, as we repeat together the Rotary Four Way Test, we add our own fifth requirement, “And is it fun!”