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Club News
It’s that time again, time to recognize a member who goes above and beyond in everything she does. Our recipient for the month of March has been a member of the Club since June 2005 – almost 20 years. Since joining Rotary, she has contributed to many Club initiatives.
 
Since she has been involved in so many activities, President Karen wanted to use bullet points to try and cover them all.
  • She uses her medical training in the international area, travelling to Africa to provide medical care in remote villages
  • She uses her Rotary and medical contacts to secure funds to build hospitals in the villages she has visited, as well as others she has not
  • She has been a steadfast guardian of the International Service committee funds ensuring that the monies are spent across the globe in areas where they are most needed and can generate the biggest return in improved education, healthcare, sanitation, housing, etc., often doubling and tripling the funds through government and other matching programs
  • She has spearheaded two District grants to build medical facilities in Kenya
  • Locally, she was a leader in the former “Rotary Trumps AIDS” walk, raising funds and walking the route to increase awareness
  • She shows up to every event as a participant – Rotary Winter Games, Community Paul Harris Fellows, Wiggle Waggle Walk, Kids Against Hunger, Tree Planting, RLK Golf, Porchfest, etc.
  • She joined the RCB Board in July 2024
Everyone knows who President Karen is talking about. Put your hands together as we recognize Dr. Ruth Mathieson.
Dave Allen, Rotarian and CEO of the YMCA Central Eastern Ontario updated the Rotary Club of Belleville on the Centre for Life project.  Currently in a $9 million fundraising campaign of which Rotary has donated $100,000, the largest donation the Club has done in a single donation in their 105-year history.  Mr. Allen advised that the building is coming along and once all due diligence has been done by the Municipality and a building permit issued, the construction team is ready to go.  Todate $6.7 million has been raised so the shovel goal of $6 million has been reached.  Dave walked the members through an on-screen tour of the building, including all the features, very impressive and welcoming with excitement building every day.  Thank you to the Rotary Club of Belleville for their generous support of this project.
 
Past President of the Rotary Club of Belleville and Co-Chair of the Centre for Life project, Kristin Crowe passed on her thanks and that of the rest of the team to the Rotary Club for their significant contribution by the Club and by individuals.  Kristin acknowledged other Rotarians on the team of the project and recognized how the project will build good will and friendships in the community, always a goal of the Rotary Club.  An amazing opportunity to accept the Rotary Club's cheque recognizing their contribution over three years.
 
President Karen Baker recognized what a great job the YMCA does in empowering youth both physically, psychologically and intellectually.  They offer a lot of services, a lot of programs, a lot of initiatives that directly affect youth in the community.  The Rotary's name will appear in the waiting and reception area of the Community Services of Belleville and District space when the facility opens in 2026.
President Karen was pleased to introduce one of the newest members of the Rotary Club of Belleville, Blake Reid.  As a Club, efforts have been made to beat the drum when it comes to the Rotary Club of Belleville, attracting new members and telling our story of the work done in the community.  Interesting that Blake applied on-line, independently.  Well done!  Blake early on was involved with Touch-A-Truck and has already signed up to join the committee for Rotary Loves Kids!.  Sponsored by Rotarian Jared Bellemare under the classification of Construction Management, Blake joins a worldwide organization of 46,000 Rotary Clubs, a fellowship that gives him a warm welcome where ever he goes.  Presented with a red badge, a Rotary History Book, a Roster and Rotary Pin and a recommendation that he will get out of Rotary what he puts in, chosen as a leader and a person who will live up to the Rotary Motto of Service Above Self.  Welcome Blake to the Rotary Club of Belleville. 

Quinte Rotary Music Festival - Celebrating 55 Years of Excellence

John Chisholm welcomed everyone to the Rotary Club of Belleville lunch meeting on March 13th to share the excitement about this year's Quinte Rotary Music Festival.  We are so blessed with the talent we have in our community. The purpose of the Music Festival is to help young people develop their musical talent, and offer the opportunity to perform publicly. Awards are offered to encourage participants to continue in musical studies and performances.

Special thanks go to the parents, teachers, family and friends who have continued to encourage and support them in their study of music.

In addition to providing each participant with individual feedback on their performance, the adjudicators may provide a mini - "workshop" with many of the participants throughout the different categories.

We hope you all return! It's a pleasure to see many of the same students competing year after year and to watch their progress as they become more confident and take on more complex pieces.

The dates for our 55th Music Festival have been set as: March 31-April 4, 2025, and the evening of April 4, will feature our Trophy competitions. On May 16th, awards will be presented at the Concert of Stars.

The students, music teachers, parents and volunteers are an integral part of a successful Festival. At the core is all the work done by the Music Festival Committee.  John shared what some of the committee members are responsible for.  When Michael Summers joined Rotary in 2009, he gravitated towards the Rotary Music Festival where children in the community would be able to participate and see their musical talents not only recognized, but enhanced.  With Michael's IT background and expertise, he looks after the program scheduling and collecting stats on the different music classes, the demographics of the participants and number of participants.  Michael is proud of the effect the Festival is having on the community and pleased to see that the numbers are starting to rebound following COVID.  Helping one person grow is worth it all!  Judy McKnight's involvement goes back a number of years when her late husband, Bob was part of the Music Festival Committee.  Judy is the organizer behind the scene, reaching out to adjudicators, preparing the syllabus, meeting with teachers to look at the music classes, getting the on-line registration ready to go, preparing site kits for the adjudicators and to be the person where inquiries are directed as well as gathering feedback and suggestions.  Mark Musca looks after named awards, in honour of someone.  He also looks after all the trophies.  This committee is a well oiled machine with three (3) Clubs working together with a sense of satisfaction for encouraging local talent.  Real happiness is in helping others. 

Jo-Anne Wheeler's position as Provincial Liaison for the Quinte Rotary Music Festival with the Ontario Music Festival takes local talent to the next level.  Provincial Festivals happen across most provinces in Canada with currently 45 music festivals who are members of the OMFA in Ontario, many of which are sponsored by Rotary, Kiwanis or Lions Clubs.  The OMFA shares the mutual objective of providing performance and competition opportunities for youg artists with professional adjudicators offering assessment, helpful critiques and workshops.  At every level in the festival movement, besides developing friendships, competitors also learn a great deal about music from each other.  This year, the OMFA Provincial finals will be held in the Kitchener-Waterloo region from June 9th to 14th.  Local participants who receive a mark of 85 or higher and adjudicated are recommended for the provincial competition.  Jo-Anne is very proud of the outstanding results obtained by local competitors including honourable mention, honourable mention with distinction, 1st places, 3rd places.  A little plug for the Quinte Rotary Music Festival -- anyone wishing to be a music sponsor can do so with a donation of $50 and their name of support will be included in the program.

John encouraged Rotarians to get involved in volunteering the week of the Festival here in Belleville, March 31st to April 4th.  All hands are needed on deck.  Peter Coy will be reaching out to everyone.  Please help where you can.  John also feels all Rotarians should attend the Concert of the Stars at Maranatha Church on May 16th.  See talent at its best.

 

Past President Peter Malone stepped up to the plate to introduce Janeen Halliwell and Paul Fleming, who were presenting their classification talks, having joined the Rotary Club of Belleville in the Fall of 2020.  Can that be?  Receive a Paul Harris Fellow before the inaugeration step?  It seems so.  Janeen and Paul were sponsored by Kristin Crowe and there's been no doubt that they have fit in like a glove so kudos to Kristin for that sponsorship! The connection behind Kristin and Janeen goes back a little when these two powerhouses met at an event.  Shortly after Paul and Janeen met, Paul qualified as the "real deal" according to today's introducer. So here is a little background on each of them.
 
Pre-People Minded Business, Paul touched the puck on a lot of things including corn detasseling, working for an easy listening radio station CKSY and City TV as a field newsman, attended Ryerson, got his MBA at Mercer Management Consulting and started work at Gateway ISI, but the lure of starting his own company building airplanes won out until the recession closed that opportunity.  Paul was involved in Scouts as Chief Scout, a head server, a young Rotarian, a voluntary professor in Lithuania, Chair of Humber Business School Degree Program and is pretty sure he has helped with a flood somewhere.  Paul hit some bad spots in his life and his health suffered.  Little did he know he would meet a beautiful lady that brought him some fresh employment opportunities, including becoming a partner and business strategist with People Minded Business in 2021 along with joining the Rotary Club of Belleville.  The people he has met!  And the connections he has made!  His latest venture is learning to sail.
 
Pre-People Minded Business, Janeen lived a life of service and adventure through an organization called PEACE that stands for protection, education, animals and a wide variety of volunteer opportunities.  Trained as an emergency response person, Janeen was on-site during Hurricane Katrina in 2005, stayed in her home, raised $11,000 for local aid and became the centre for relief.  In 2018 Janeen was involved with We Move Forward (WMF) and arranged speakers for an International Women's Day Conference.  Being good at logistics, Janeen secured her first job at 33 years old in 2016 in Tanzania in quality management through an organization called Canada-Africa Community Health Alliance.  In her spare time, she learned to love to sail and has 9000 sea miles under her belt.  Janeen loves this community and was involved with PorchFest early on.
 
Paul and Janeen were both presenters at the Creative Problem Solving Institutes 2015 Conference in Buffalo, New York where they met in an elevator.  They are part of an international tribe of 80+ innovators, artists and creative problem solvers who meet annually.  People Minded Business are experts in strategic planning, service co-design, organizational design, are awesome facilitators and assist with mergers and amalgamations.  They have worked with over 100 Ontario non-profits since Janeen started full-time in 2015.  Through the Rotary Club of Belleville, Janeen and Paul have found their people and the best way to their new community.  Thank you to Kristin Crowe for inviting them to join the Rotary Club of Belleville in 2020.  Janeen and Paul were thanked by Tracy Bray.
Club Secretary Jo-Anne Wheeler announced that the current Board of Directors of the Rotary Club of Belleville approved the slate of executives and directors for the 2025-2026 Rotary Year.  This approval was given at the February 18, 2025 Board Meeting.
 
The following have agreed to accept a position on the Board of Directors for the Rotary Club of Belleville for the 2025 - 2026 Rotary Year:
  • President - Tracey Vandervoort
  • President Elect - Hazzem Koudsi
  • Past President - Karen Baker
  • Club Secretary - Jo-Anne Wheeler
  • Club Treasurer - Andrew Kole
  • Director - Jared Bellemare
  • Director - Tracy Bray
  • Director - Heather Hall
  • Director - Janeen Halliwell
  • Director - Ruth Mathieson
  • Director - Collin Myers
  • Director - Carmela Ruberto
  • Director - Brenda Snider
The position of Vice President has not been proposed or filled at this time.
Rotarian Kim McKinney, Chair of the Rotary Youth Exchange program for the Rotary Club of Belleville invites everyone to a presentation at the evening meeting at Capers on November 28th at 5:30 p.m.  Heather Murray will be speaking.  All are welcome to join Kim, Peter Malone, Karen Baker and Liv Ahinas, the Rotarians behind the quote "are you ready for the greatest year of your life?".
Rotary Club of Belleville
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Quinte Rotary Music Festival