The Rotary Clubs of Oshawa and Oshawa- Parkwood hosted over 100 Rotarians and guests from more than 10 Rotary Clubs in Rotary International District 7070. Rotarians and their guests who came from Etobicoke in the west, to Trenton in the East, and everywhere in between at the “revived” Rotary Friendship Day, on Monday, September 25, 2017 on the grounds near the reflecting pool at Parkwood, to help celebrate the 100th Anniversary of Parkwood Estate. Here is what happened....
Rotary Friendship Day in Oshawa was attended by Rotary International Past President Wilf Wilkinson, Past District Governors Michael Bell, Brian Thompson, and Ted Morrison, Assistant Governor Beth Selby and many current Rotary Club Presidents in the District, at the noon hour Rotary Club of Oshawa regular weekly meeting, co-hosted by the Rotary Club of Oshawa-Parkwood.
Past Rotary International President Wilf was at the last Rotary Friendship Day in 1971 when he was the District Governor and he remembered sitting and chatting with Colonel Sam for 20 minutes inside Parkwood. Little did he know that would be the last Rotary Friendship Day as Colonel Sam passed away in 1972, in his 101st year.
The guest speaker at the noon luncheon was Samantha George, Curator of Parkwood Estate, who told of many stories of Parkwood and its family and staff, here at the former home of the late Colonel R. S. “Sam” McLaughlin. In 1989, Parkwood was officially designated a National Historic Site and R.S. McLaughlin was named a person of significance to Canadian heritage by Parks Canada. The dual designation of both Sam McLaughlin as an individual and Parkwood as a landmark make this site a rich and unique property and the source of tremendous pride to everyone in Oshawa.
The proceeds from the first annual revived Rotary Friendship Day in Oshawa will be going the Annual Programs Fund of The Rotary Foundation. The Rotary Foundation transforms donations into service projects that change lives both close to home and around the world. During the past 100 years, the Foundation has spent $3 billion on life-changing, sustainable projects, the most notable of which is the PolioPlus campaign, Rotary's effort to eradicate polio from the world.”
L to R: Past District Governor and Oshawa-Parkwood Rotary Club President Ted Morrison; Deputy Mayor of Oshawa Bob Chapman; Oshawa Rotary Club President Ron Dick; Rotary International District 7070 Governor Neil Phillips; and City of Oshawa Mayor and Rotarian John Henry at Parkwood Estate for Rotary Friendship Day in Oshawa , September 25, 2017
More photos can be seen on the District website under the Photos tab and also on the District Facebook Page. Enjoy .
For many years, starting in 1948-49 and running through the 1950's and '60's, during his life time Colonel Sam McLaughlin, founder of GM Canada and an honourary member of the Rotary Club of Oshawa, invited the Rotarians of District 7070 out for an annual Friendship Day to his home, Parkwood Estate.
In it's heyday, the Rotary Friendship Day was attended by over 350 Rotarians from all of the clubs in our District then called 707. The day included lunch , and sometimes dinner at the Rotary Club of Oshawa, followed by tours of the General Motors Plant plant in Oshawa, golf at the Oshawa Golf and Curling Club, lawn bowling , tours of Windfields Farm (the home of Northern Dancer) , and the Canadian Automotive Museum and then back to Parkwood for cocktails where Rotarians were met and hosted by Colonel Sam and before, her death, his wife Adelaide McLaughlin, at Parkwood Estate.
Following Colonel McLaughlin’s death in 1972, this Rotary tradition was lost. With the 100th anniversary of Parkwood Estate, the Rotary Clubs of Oshawa and Oshawa-Parkwood took on this joint club endeavour and hosted their fellow Rotarians of District 7070 and their guests to revive a great tradition and build on it for years to come.
It was a great opportunity for Rotarians and guests to see old friends, meet new friends, and share their ideas of Rotary service to others in their communities and throughout the world with their fellow Rotarians and to see the Parkwood Estate, a national historic treasure, right here in Oshawa.
For photos, be sure to visit our Rotary District 7070 Facebook page and also here in the photo albums of the Rotary District 7070 website.
More About Colonel Sam Mclaughlin
Honours and awards
McLaughlin was appointed honorary lieutenant-colonel of the 34th Ontario Regiment in 1921 and held this position until 1931, at which time he was appointed honorary colonel of same unit, later designated as The Ontario Regiment (RCAC), a reserve armoured regiment based in Oshawa. Affectionately known as "Colonel Sam", McLaughlin served as honorary colonel until 1967, thereby becoming the longest continuously-serving colonel in the history of the Canadian Forces.
In 1967, McLaughlin was appointed a Companion of the Order of Canada.
Philanthropy
In 1951, he established the McLaughlin Foundation which, from 1953 to 2003, donated nearly $200 million to the University of Toronto and other causes, including the McLaughlin Planetarium at the Royal Ontario Museum.
McLaughlin was a major contributor to Queen's University at Kingston, Ontario. The university's Mechanical Engineering Department is housed in McLaughlin Hall, which was his donation in 1948. McLaughlin Hall in Queen's University's John Deutsch University Centre is also named for him. His wife, Adelaide McLaughlin, was honoured in 1957 by Queen's, which named the women's residence Adelaide Hall for her.
In 1947 McLaughlin and his wife donated land for a Boy Scout camp on the outskirts of Oshawa. The camp was named "Camp Samac".
McLaughlin donated $1 million to the 1968 library building at the University of Guelph, which bears his name.
He provided partial funding to build a college at York University in Toronto. Opened in 1968, it was named McLaughlin College in his honour.
McLaughlin Hall at St. Andrew's College in Aurora, Ontario, which he unveiled in 1971 at age 99, is named after him in recognition of his contributions to the school.
He endowed the Regimental Foundation of The Ontario Regiment (RCAC) and quietly paid the salaries of some of the regiment's soldiers during times of severely curtailed government funding.
McLaughlin House at the Lester B. Pearson United World College of the Pacific also bears his name.
Thoroughbred horse racing
In his youth, McLaughlin competed in cycling and yachting, and he was an equestrian show jumping champion at competitions in Canada and the United States. His love of horses led to the establishment of Parkwood Stable, a thoroughbred horse racing and breeding farm located a few miles north of Oshawa, Ontario.
McLaughlin's horses won numerous races in Canada and in the U.S.; his horses won important races including the 1942 Peter Pan Stakes at Belmont Park. A three-time winner of Canada's most prestigious race, the Queen's Plate, in 1934 his future Hall of Fame colt Horometer won both the Queen's Plate and the Breeders' Stakes. In 1950, the nearly eighty-year-old McLaughlin retired from racing, selling his Parkwood Stable to E. P. Taylor, under whom it would become known as Windfields Farm (the home and resting place of Northern Dancer).
A long-time director of the Ontario Jockey Club, McLaughlin was inducted into Canada's Sports Hall of Fame in 1963 and the Canadian Horse Racing Hall of Fame in 1977.
See Parkwood Estate
More About Colonel Sam Mclaughlin
Honours and awards
McLaughlin was appointed honorary lieutenant-colonel of the 34th Ontario Regiment in 1921 and held this position until 1931, at which time he was appointed honorary colonel of the same unit, later designated as The Ontario Regiment (RCAC), a reserve armoured regiment based in Oshawa. Affectionately known as "Colonel Sam", McLaughlin served as honorary colonel until 1967, thereby becoming the longest continuously-serving colonel in the history of the Canadian Forces.
In 1967, McLaughlin was appointed a Companion of the Order of Canada.
Philanthropy
In 1951, he established the McLaughlin Foundation which, from 1953 to 2003, donated nearly $200 million to the University of Toronto and other causes, including the McLaughlin Planetarium at the Royal Ontario Museum.
McLaughlin was a major contributor to Queen's University at Kingston, Ontario. The university's Mechanical Engineering Department is housed in McLaughlin Hall, which was his donation in 1948. McLaughlin Hall in Queen's University's John Deutsch University Centre is also named for him. His wife, Adelaide McLaughlin, was honoured in 1957 by Queen's, which named the women's residence Adelaide Hall for her.
In 1947 McLaughlin and his wife donated land for a Boy Scout camp on the outskirts of Oshawa. The camp was named "Camp Samac".
McLaughlin donated $1 million to the 1968 library building at the University of Guelph, which bears his name.
He provided partial funding to build a college at York University in Toronto. Opened in 1968, it was named McLaughlin College in his honour.
McLaughlin Hall at St. Andrew's College in Aurora, Ontario, which he unveiled in 1971 at age 99, is named after him in recognition of his contributions to the school.
He endowed the Regimental Foundation of The Ontario Regiment (RCAC) and quietly paid the salaries of some of the regiment's soldiers during times of severely curtailed government funding.
McLaughlin House at the Lester B. Pearson United World College of the Pacific also bears his name.
Thoroughbred horse racing
In his youth, McLaughlin competed in cycling and yachting, and he was an equestrian show jumping champion at competitions in Canada and the United States. His love of horses led to the establishment of Parkwood Stable, a thoroughbred horse racing and breeding farm located a few miles north of Oshawa, Ontario.
McLaughlin's horses won numerous races in Canada and in the U.S.; his horses won important races including the 1942 Peter Pan Stakes at Belmont Park. A three-time winner of Canada's most prestigious race, the Queen's Plate, in 1934 his future Hall of Fame colt Horometer won both the Queen's Plate and the Breeders' Stakes. In 1950, the nearly eighty-year-old McLaughlin retired from racing, selling his Parkwood Stable to E. P. Taylor, under whom it would become known as Windfields Farm.
A long-time director of the Ontario Jockey Club, McLaughlin was inducted into Canada's Sports Hall of Fame in 1963 and the Canadian Horse Racing Hall of Fame in 1977.