President's Night saw three (3) Presidents front and center -- Doug Peterson, President in 2019/2020, Tim McKinney, President in 2020/2021 and Darrell Smith, President in 2021/2022. Doug Peterson was first up to the microphone and his year started in July 2019, before any of us really knew about COVID, but half way through his year, that changed and Rotary Meetings pivoted to a virtual platform. As Doug said, the best part of Rotary is fellowship so it is a pleasure for Rotarians and guests to gather in person and celebrate in style. Having to meet via Zoom and continue the important work that Rotary does was challenging, but a testament to the Club and Rotary overall. It took the leadership of many to maintain a focus and remain engaged so thank you to everyone for staying the course.
Next up was Tim McKinney, President as of July 2020 until the end of June 2021, all during COVID. There were no get-togethers and that included Rotary International Conferences. Tim was set to go to Hawaii, but that didn't happen. Little did Tim know that all meetings would be via Zoom. He was very thankful for his wife Judy's support during his year as Rotary President. Even though the meetings were not in-person, it took a lot of time to organize and co-ordinate by telephone, conference calls and Zoom so he considered himself lucky to have had Judy in his corner. Although the year was challenging, the speaker lineup was inspiring and proved that Rotary's theme of opening opportunities rang true with the work being carried on locally and around the world.
Darrell Smith thanked Doug and Tim and as his presidency year comes to a close at the end of June, he will continue on as President for the 2022/2023 Rotary Year, the first time in the history of the Rotary Club of Belleville that a President has served for two consecutive years. The last two years has taught us to be flexible during the difficult days of COVID, changing how work was done dramatically. When we thought things were returning to normal, COVID proved otherwise. Now able to meet in a hybrid structure, the Club has operated and flourished. Rotarians have risen to the challenge to support so many people and projects in the local and global communities. Significant efforts were made and overall the scale of impact has grown and created a greater appreciation personally for Darrell, but also collectively as a Club. President Darrell listed the accomplishments over the past year including RLK, a return to Camp Merrywood, being involved as a community champion of the environment through Rotary Loves Trees and the Great Lakes Cleanup. A presentation on Polio Plus and the immunization efforts brought home the important and crucial work that Rotary does. Darrell thanked Program Chair Tracy Bray for the lineup and diversity of speakers that were able to present to our Club. He also thanked the Board for their commitment and continued engagement as well as the support of his family and in particular his wife Carmen. Darrell thanked everyone for all their hard work and passion for others and to quote Gandhi "be the change you wish to see in the world".