The Burlington Lakeshore Rotary Club was chartered on Oct 27^th, 1972 at the Estaminet Restaurant (now Emma’s Back Porch). This is where the Club would meet until a brief foray at the Holiday Inn and finally to their present location at the Art Gallery of Burlington.

 

Some members of the early Club still recall pushing wheelbarrows of gravel to be used in construction of the Art Centre’s green space under the watchful eye of Club members John Harkness architect and Norm Groves.

 

The first  or “charter” members of the Rotary Club of Burlington Lakeshore (RCBL) included John Morris the Club’s first President (who would later become the District governor of District 7080), Jim Singleton and Orie Gilmore from the Board of Education and Ken Skerrett who subsequently became Halton Police Chief. 

 

These men represented a core group of Past Presidents of the Burlington Rotary Club and as such they were able to launch the new club with a running start. Jim Bridle, a lawyer and one of the Charter members in 1972 continues as a member of today’s Club having served as President on two occasions.

 

The new Club was invited to participate in the established fund raiser of the Burlington Rotary Club the Lobster Fest and the fledgling club went forward from there to establish its own brand of fund raisers such as the Cadillac Car Raffle and the Rotary Auction while offering the public some relaxation at the Pancake Fiesta at the Royal Botanical Gardens Rock chapel location for many years.