The Rotary Club of Belleville Adapts to Trying Times 100^th Anniversary Celebration Moves to Social Media

The Rotary Club of Belleville has decided that some events are too important to allow the coronavirus pandemic to shut down completely, so they’re taking the Club’s 100^th Anniversary celebrations to social media on April 1.

“After more than a year of planning we were very disappointed at having to postpone our anniversary banquet.” Club President, Doug Peterson, said, “But, then we got to thinking, it’s too important a milestone to let it go by without some sort of celebration, so we decided to take it to social media.”

On the weekend, Club members received an email inviting them to participate in a ZOOM video meeting at 5:30 p.m. on April 1.

“Under the circumstances we think this will work well; we’ll be celebrating our Club’s 100 years of service to the community, staying connected with our friends, and all while practising safe social distancing.” Mr. Peterson said.

The Club’s 100^th Anniversary Committee Chair, Bill MacKay, said adapting to the situation presented by the coronavirus is typical of Rotary and the Belleville Club.

“Rotary has always been a very determined group,” Mr. MacKay said, “Once we set ourselves a goal, we are committed to successfully achieve it whether it’s at the local level and assisting physically challenged children or a world-wide project like eradicating polio.”

According to Mr. MacKay, Club members joining the celebration will be treated to a fun-fill program with guest speakers, video presentations and a formal toast to mark the occasion.

“The Anniversary Committee had a terrific program for the banquet.” Mr. MacKay said, “And we’re going to deliver as much of it as we can on Wednesday.”

The Club plans to reschedule the banquet for some time later this year.

Summing up, Mr. Peterson said, “It’s important that we recognize and honour our Club’s 100^th Anniversary on April 1, and thanks to technology we can do that and still be within the coronavirus emergency guidelines. We may be a 100-year-old club, but we can still learn new tricks.”