Avalon Rotary looking to connect at meet and greet October 28

By Local Journalism Initiative Reporter Tyler Waugh

Members of the Avalon Northeast Rotary Club have helped identify and address needs in CBS and Paradise for 37 years, and now they’re looking for more like-minded people to help them make a difference.

Don Sword, a charter member of Avalon Rotary and district vice governor, said an open house October 28 at the Manuels River Interpretation Centre is all about connecting with the community and being available to people looking to learn more about the group’s work.

“We have a strong history of service in our communities and we are very proud of that and we want to give people the opportunity to learn more about what we do and how they can get involved as we move forward and grow for the future,” Sword said, adding the event will be a meet and greet with a short presentation as well. “Helping the community is what it’s all about, and so we also want to hear from the community about what they see as needs right now and bring it to our attention.”

Sword said the club’s initial focus was on improving the public places in its communities, starting with the Topsail Beach Rotary Park – a $750,000 project that was combined with government money, corporate sponsorship and a lot of sweat equity.

“That was a big project for us, and we chose that one because it’s a central location to both our communities and filled a need,” said Sword. “The communities have changed a lot since we were established, they were maybe a fifth of the size and there was a lack of facilities. There were precious few sporting facilities – Paradise probably more so than CBS – and as a new club we wanted to put our mark, so we became a bricks and mortar club for the first 25 years.”

Next was the $3.5 million Rotary Paradise Youth Community Centre, which was turned over to the Town of Paradise. The last big project was development of the Manuels River Hibernia Interpretation Centre, which was then handed over to a non-profit society at the time.

The club has since shifted focus to filling service gaps.

“We adapted and became a little more hands on. The world has changed a little bit, and younger people are looking for things they can get done now, and we needed to change a little bit too,” Sword said.

The first service project brought in by Avalon Rotary was graduating scholarships for the two high schools in CBS, something that continues today, said Sword. Youth has remained a focus of the club with job and career fairs, and also through the Junior Rotary Club called Interact.

Rotarians meet weekly every Wednesday evening – currently at Shenanigans Restaurant – but Sword said the club has adapted worldwide to make meeting requirements less prescriptive and providing flexibility to times, locations, and online attendance.

“We no longer enforce meeting attendance, it’s obviously encouraged, and every other week meetings take place virtually online,” he said, adding that sometimes meetings take the form of gathering for a community initiative. “It’s about service, but it’s also about building a sense of belonging and purpose.”

The open house takes place downstairs at the Manuels River Centre starting at 7 p.m. and running through to 8:30 p.m.