The Concert Band of Cobourg helped Cobourg Rotary Celebrate, “A Century of Service” on Tuesday, August 23, 2022 in Victoria Park.
The Rotary Club of Cobourg is celebrating 100 years of service in the community from 1921 to 2021 and throughout the concert on Tuesday, Past President of Cobourg Rotary, Blake Jones explained the benefits Cobourg Rotary has had on the community since 1921.
Along the way the Concert Band of Cobourg played music especially for the era Jones was speaking about.
Rotary International was founded in 1905 by Paul Harris in Chicago.
In March of 1921, a Special Representative – Ernest Latter of Montreal – was appointed by the International Association of Rotary Clubs to investigate the possibility of chartering a club in Cobourg, Ontario.
On August 12, 1921, the first meeting of the newly organized Rotary Club was held in the British Hotel and a remittance fee of $25.00 was made to cover the charter and affiliation fee.
There were 23 Charter Members and the Club’s first President was Alfred Leroy (Roy) Jex, a well-known building contractor.
On November 1, 1921, the official Charter was issued during the term of R.I. President Crawford C. McCullough and presented to the Club on November 29, 1921 by District Governor Hart Irving Seeley of Waverly, New York.
The Rotary Club of Cobourg became the 997th Rotary Club world-wide.
Sixty-eight years later on April 28, 1989, the first women were inducted into the Rotary Club of Cobourg. They were – Joan Chalovich, Frankie Liberty and Barb Phillips.
July 1, 2002 saw another important milestone when Gael Moore became the first female President of the Club.
As of November 2021, there were 136 members of the Rotary Club of Cobourg.
Celebrating a Century of Service
The Roaring Twenties
Our Club was Chartered in 1921 and throughout the twenties there were two major areas of focus, activities and fundraising.
The first was the care of Crippled Children, now called Easter Seals, including provision of medical services and the second involved the sponsorship of boys’ activities and camps.
In today’s dollars, funds donated would total over $46,000.
The Dirty Thirties
Even though the Depression years were difficult for everyone, Rotary continued its fundraising activities and raised in excess of $10,000 – $193,000 in 2021 dollars – for service work in the community.
The War Years – the Forties
The World was at war and Cobourg Rotarians continued their work even though many were on active service, funds were being raised for local causes.
It was said that the Rotary Carnival was the pivot of August activities for Cobourg.
The major fundraiser was a Canvass of the Town in aid of Crippled Children. The Club also raised funds for Life Guards and a boat for Victoria park and a contribution towards the new recreation centre.
Major donations given were in excess of $10,000 – $136,000 in today’s dollars
The War was also instrumental in the Club’s sponsorship of the 138 Squadron, Royal Canadian Air Cadets and that sponsorship continues to this day – 79 years later!
The Fifties
The birth of Rock n’Roll!
There were man contributions to the community during this exciting decade, but the major focus was on our local hospital.
During the 50’s the Club donated $20,430 to the Building Fund and the provision of oxygen tents.
In today’s dollars – in excess of $193,000.
The Sixties
By 1962, the Club had grown to 67 members
The focus again, was on improving our community and supporting our hospital.
There were three major donations to the community.
Build a Better Cobourg campaign
Rotary/James Cockburn Park (a five-year pledge)
These three totaled $57,500 – in excess of $401,000 in 2021 dollars
In addition to this, the Club pledged $80,000 for hospital equipment – today that would be the equivalent of $574,000.
The Seventies
The Club celebrated its 50th Anniversary on October 27, 1971 at the Greenwood Towers. The Chairman for the evening was President Peter Cortesis.
The 70’s saw a continuation of many community projects and donations – the major ones being the construction of tennis courts at Sinclair Park and Coverdale.
In 1976, a major pledge of $150,000 was made to the Cobourg Family Y and this pledge was spread out over several years.
A minimum of $220,000 was donated or pledged during the 70’s – the equivalent of $704,700 today.
The Eighties
Many projects were initiated for the good of the community during the 80’s.
· Donation to the Restoration of Victoria Hall
· Cobourg Creek Trail
· Rotary Floral Clock in Victoria Park
· Playground equipment on Burnham Street
· Highway 401 signs
· Donegan Park facilities
A minimum of $232,000 was donated which totals $545,900 in today’s dollars.
The Nineties
Projects in the 90’s continued unabated
Every year during this decade, the Rotary Club of Cobourg had a project on the go – two of which were considered major projects
· Donation to the Marie Dressler House
· Donation to the Market Building
· Victoria Park Bandshell sound system
· Cobourg Waterfront Walk – on the north side of the Marina
· Gordon King Library
· Northumberland Art Gallery
· Habitat for Humanity Duplex
· Purchase of Dragon Boat
A total of $288,000 was pledged or donated which is equivalent of $465,600 in 2021 dollars
The New Century – 2000
Remember Y2K? – What a panic – what a fiasco!
But the Rotary Club kept marching on without missing a beat
Projects including
· five year pledge to Northumberland Hills Hospital – “Caring for Generations” campaign
· Northumberland Hills Hospital – donation for new MRI machine
· Rotary Harbourfront Park and Tribute to Dr. Bob and Ann Scott
· Waterfall Parkette on Albert Street (to commemorate Rotary International 100th year)
· purchase of new van for Golden Plough Lodge
· trailer for Concert Band of Cobourg
A total of $890,000 was pledged or donation during the first decade of the 21st century. This amounts to $1,184,000 in 2021 dollars.
2010 – 2020
The Club has grown to 136 members and the work continues during this last decade of our first 100 years
· defibrillators to the Cobourg Police Department
· chairlift for Centennial Pool
· pledge for new Cobourg Community Centre
· new five year pledge for Northumberland Hills Hospital for new equipment
· sponsorship of Syrian Refugee family in 2017
· five year pledge for Ed’s House Hospice
A final $961,000 has been pledged or donated to complete our Century of Service
2021 – The 100th Anniversary year
In 2020, the COVID-19 Pandemic impacted the world with devastating results. Early in 2021, The Rotary Club of Cobourg, led by Rotarian Gord Ley rallied to form a COVID-19 Vaccination team of volunteers – the Orange Army – that would help to get the local community fully vaccinated.
Over 600 volunteers, but Rotarians and friends of Rotary, in cooperation with the local Health Unit and hospital have ensured the vaccination of well over 60,000 people .
A fantastic achieve and one that has been recognized by receiving the YMCA Peace Medal for 2021.
While this report focussed on projects and dollar amounts for those projects, it does not adequately cover the thousands of both volunteer hours and “sweat equity” hours that go in to ensuring the success of Rotary endeavours.
The Club has participated in countless international projects over the years with financial and/or volunteer hours. Some of the countries including Cambodia, Malawi, Honduras, Guatemala, Peru, Jamaica, Dominican Republic, Burkina Faso and Tanzania.
The Rotary Club of Cobourg has also bee incredibly supportive of the “End Polio Now” campaign since 1988 and has raised in excess of $700,000 U.S. dollars toward to the goal of completely eradicating the scourge of Polio from the world.
All in all, an incredible record to celebrate a Century of Service.
The play list for the evening included:
HM Jollies
Gershwin in Concert
Marching Songs of WW2
Tribute to Elvis
Sinatra in Cobourg
Flintstones
ABBA
Colonel Bogey
Final Countdown
Robin Hood
Viva La Vida
Skyfall
Imagine
Ukranian National Anthem
O’Canada
As an added treat, members of Cobourg Rotary handed out cookies to the appreciative audience in honour of the 100th anniversary.
Author: Pete Fisher
Has been a photojournalist for over 30-years and have been honoured to win numerous awards for photography and writing over the years. Best selling author for the book Highway of Heroes - True Patriot Love
