Local Rotarians gathered last week to celebrate 50 years of service to the Squamish community.
The club received its charter on Sept. 8, 1966. Fifty years later, members met at the Squamish Valley Golf and Country Club to look back at the work they have done.
“The point was to feel good about having been involved,” said club co-president Ian David, who described the night as “a soup to nuts, everything our club’s been involved with” event.
The event also featured guests including MLA Jordan Sturdy and Mayor Patricia Heintzman.
While the evening was mostly about the club’s accomplishments, the club drew some attention to the work of long-time member Don Patrick.
“He’s been a consistent volunteer in just about everything we’ve done,” Davis said. “He doesn’t look for recognition… but he’s very well deserving of it.”
Patrick has been involved from the early years, and he was able to provide some of the history of the club for the more recent members. During his talk, he outlined the process of how the community opened up in the 1960s because of new transportation links, how it started at the Paradise Valley Resort and how the club began fundraising from the outset. He also talked about the various social functions over the years, which often attracted politicians and sports celebrities as speakers.
When the club started, it was formed by 22 local businessmen, with Bob Bishop as first president. The first women joined club in 1991, with Linda Carney becoming the first female president in 1998.
Membership has remained steady at about 60 to 70 for at least the last decade.
At the anniversary event, other Rotary members spoke about the general work of Rotary in the community and around the world, such as the breakfast program or the Rotary Beef BBQ at Loggers Sports.
As well as volunteering for many community events over the years, the club has also been involved in projects including fundraising for facilities like the first outdoor pool and the skateboard park at Brennan Park, the hospital and the local hospice society and international aid projects such as the plan to eradicate polio. Many are aimed at supporting young people and the elderly.
“We try to fill some holes,” member Brian Finley said. “That’s what service clubs do.”
There have been other projects over the years like the Rotary Clock, which has become a fixture in downtown Squamish.
“There’s two versions of the Rotary Clock,” Finley said. “The old one’s been replaced.”
Davis also spoke about Rotary’s Peace Scholar from the area, Julia Smith, who was chosen to do a masters in peace and conflict resolution and is now teaching the same at SFU.
“She got sent off to Bradford in the U.K.,” he said. “She stayed on to do her PhD.”
As far as upcoming projects, Rotary is helping to support this Sunday’s Ride Away Stigma event for mental health as well as the Shoreline Cleanup project on Sept. 22. It is also taking part in the Downtown Business Improvement Association’s Pumpkin Patch in the Park event on Oct. 22.
