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Get Ready to 'Light Up the Night' in 2020, Huntsville!

Huntsville 2020 Santa Claus Parade cancellation notice

The Rotary Club of North Muskoka regretfully announces that, due to restrictions related to the ongoing COVID-19 crisis, the Huntsville Santa Claus Parade has been postponed to 2021.

The decision is based on direction from Simcoe Muskoka District Health Unit officials and the Town of Huntsville.

However, to all the children and community members of Huntsville, and the businesses that have supported the parade in years past, we want to assure you that we are hard at work coming up with a safe alternative event for the 2020 holiday season. We are hopeful that Santa will still be able to make an appearance during this special event, too!

Find more information as it becomes available on our website, rotaryclubofnorthmuskoka.com.

Sincerely,

The Rotary Club of North Muskoka

Rotary Reaches Out for Literacy

Rotarian Amber (left), who is also the youth services librarian for Huntsville Public Library, accepts a $400 donation from President Cara – with proper physical distancing of course! – toward the library's 2020 TD Summer Reading Program initiative. The program celebrates Canadian authors, illustrators and stories, while inspiring kids, teens and adults in a lifelong love of reading. Funds helped support prizes to encourage reading at all ages this summer.
And did you know? Basic Education and Literacy is one of Rotary International's six areas of focus. Those areas of focus aim to build international relationships, improve lives, and create a better world to support our peace efforts!

Rotary Connects Around the World ... Virtually!

Rotary Club of North Muskoka joined thousands of Rotarians around the world June 20 and 21 for the first Rotary International Convention held virtually since Rotary International was founded in 1905. The ability to connect from the comfort of our homes during the COVID-19 crisis gave a moment to reflect on the purpose of Rotary as a "service above self" humanitarian service club.

Virtual sessions focused not only on the international efforts of Rotary on COVID-19, but also the responsibility to be leaders in diversity and peace abroad and at home, in addition to the humanitarian work that was already underway before the crisis struck, including clean water and hygiene projects and medical technology funding initiatives.

Mark Maloney, president for Rotary International, noted in a speech that positive change in the world will not come quickly or easily, but he encouraged clubs to take decades of building peace internationally and apply it to the communities where we live. He urged everyone to rise to this moment in history.

Rotary for Earth Day ... COVID-19 Style

We've all been indoors – a lot – these days. So we turned our weekly online meeting on April 23 into an Earth Day recognition event! Club members, instead of attending a meeting, were asked to do something Earth-friendly, whether that meant collecting trash in their area if they felt it safe to do so, heading into the garden for some one-on-one time with nature, or tying their laces for a walk outside. Club members were also asked to snap and share photos of their activities. Rotarian Amber got down to business, safely collecting waste near her home. And it looks like she had an opinion on how much she was able to find. Thanks, Amber!

How our Rotary club is coping with COVID-19

HUNTSVILLE – Life is a bit different for the Rotary Club of North Muskoka these days.

Children's Safety Village

Mike Vadlja (left), fire prevention officer, and Gary Monahan, deputy fire chief, from the Huntsville Lake of Bays Fire Department, are thanked by President Cara after sharing information about Children's Safety Villages some members of the department had visited in southern Ontario, during a club meeting in January. It was certainly a topic of interest for our club, which is focused on children and youth in northern Muskoka. Thanks for the enlightening talk, Gary and Mike!

Thank You, 2019 Huntsville Santa Claus Parade Sponsors!

The 2019 Huntsville Santa Claus Parade saw thousands of children and adults fill sidewalks along Main and King William streets to watch dozens of floats kindle the holiday spirit ... even if it was a little cold! But the parade, hosted by the Rotary Club of North Muskoka in partnership with the Huntsville-Lake of Bays Chamber of Commerce, wouldn't have been possible without our volunteers and sponsors.

How Hospice Huntsville Helps Youth

Beverly Lashbrook (left), executive director for Hospice Huntsville, and Melissa Polischuck, fund development and public relations co-ordinator, visited Rotary Club of North Muskoka president Cara and members in December to share a bit about the end-of-life care organization's programs and how club members could help.

What's The Door Youth Centre?

Marcy Hill, ministry director for The Door Youth Centre in Huntsville, visited our club this fall to talk about the youth drop-in centre and what's in store for its future, as need continues in the community.