Stories

The 61^st annual Rotary Club of Terrace Auction is now history – and despite the challenges presented by COVID-19, area residents once again showed their generosity – and an eye for bargains.

Preliminary numbers released by the club after the two-day weekend auction show a total of $46,765 was bid on the 400 items donated by area businesses and agencies.

That represents just over 64% of the total retail value of the items.

Residents also donated $2,550 in cash.

The auction was live-streamed on YouTube, and was also available on Zoom – and despite a few technical glitches, Rotary Club spokesperson Brian Downie says the weekend went fairly well, thanks to the help of the many volunteers and the giving spirit of Terrace and area residents.

For the second straight year, COVID restrictions meant that spectators were not allowed in the Terrace Sportsplex to bid from the floor.

The money raised through the auction will be used to support the many community projects funded by Rotary.

This week, Rotarians heard a special presentation from Hatha Callis of  NSD Development Corporation (Progressive Ventures), who provided details about an exciting new proposal to create an inland port on the old Skeena Cellulose mill site in Terrace.

The project involves a proposed development which would see a transload train container-loading facility, built on the northern portion of the old mill site, and mixed use commercial and light industrial service center institutional properties available for development on Keith Avenue. 
The proposal is in its early stages and would require zoning approval, but Hatha explained the job-creation potential of the facility, both in terms of direct jobs and spin-offs. 

More information will be forthcoming, as the City will hold an open house and a public hearing later this month.

The 60th annual Rotary Club of Terrace TV Auction is Saturday November 7th and Sunday November 8th.  This Auction is the main fund-raiser of the Club and enables Rotarians to do great work in our community and to contribute to international Rotary projects.

Our live Auction will be at the Terrace Sportsplex and can be viewed on YouTube at https://youtu.be/Aw0-ZEiy-Ro.  Items being sold can be seen on http://auction.terracerotary.org and in the Auction Program at http://auction.terracerotary.org/Reports/Pdfs/NewspaperInsert2.aspx.

At the Club's September 15 meeting, Terrace's own Rudi Peters of Skeena Valley Apiary spoke to the club about the Bee World Project in the Hazeltons. The community was chosen because of its depressed economy and its flower source, fireweed. Each of the 10 participants received a microloan that they have a year to pay back, and in exchange they got 5 one-brood box hives, which were full of (angry!) bees, and commercial grade equipment to extract the honey. Rudi shared some fast facts about the project and bees in general:

• A couple of beehives in a community can cause an 8-fold increase in food production
• Fireweed honey is known as the "champagne" of honey and can fetch big bucks in Vancouver
• Whether it be in third world countries or right here at home, women make up the majority of the participants in the Bee World programs. 

Read the original Terrace Standard article.

There were more than a few tears at the Skeena Valley Golf and Country Club the evening of May 5, as area Rotarians gathered to hear “the King of Rotary” speak.

Rick King, past president of Rotary International from 2001-2002 and celebrated speaker, has been in 132 countries giving emotional speeches like the one he gave here in Terrace.

And while more than a few Rotarians in the room had heard him speak before, many said he never gives the same speech twice, and the room was abuzz with people thrilled to welcome him to Terrace.

“I had no idea how beautiful it is up here or I might of come sooner,” King told the crowd, before regaling the crowd with a story that weaved his eclectic personal history (think: Vegas showman, lawyer, military captain, married to a Broadway dancer) with the themes of Rotary International, specifically the theme when he was president: “Mankind is our business.”

He spoke of his humble introduction to Rotary in 1963 and how he has watched it grow into the force that it is today, working to eradicate disease in third world countries and touching lives in places like hospital rooms where equipment bears the Rotary crest.

King said he was often referred to as the “baritone barrister” because of his two past professions and ended his Terrace performance with a song, accompanied by Art Erasmus on stage and a little help from the crowd below.

This year's Rotary theme is “Engage Rotary, Change Lives”, which implores members to spend the year getting excited about Rotary, connecting with each other, and engaging new members.

The idea of asking for what you want, instead of just waiting for it to happen, is also a focus – and was the case here in Terrace.

Skeena Valley Rotary Club's president Chris Oatway spoke to the fact that she saw King present for the first time in the spring of 2011, and just decided to ask him to come to Terrace.

If you want something, ask for it, they might say yes,” she said.

And the Terrace event inspired Prince George to ask King to speak in Prince George, as well, which will be happening in the future, she said, noting that the success of the talk might encourage the two Terrace clubs to bring more speakers to the area.

Rotary Thanks You from Rotary International on Vimeo.

The Pacific Northwest Music Festival will be held April 4-20 this year. This is the event's 48th anniversary of bringing the community together to hear some fantastic talent. While you peruse the program at the festival, keep your eyes peeled for our ad. Not only does the Rotary Club of Terrace roll up itself sleeves and complete many hands-on projects in the community throughout the year, we also raise money through events like the Great Duck Race held each August long weekend and the auction which is held every October. The club then invests these funds back into the community in the form of programs, services and equipment.

Rotary does good in our community and throughout the world. If you'd like to learn more, please email Kristine Kofoed.

February 23 marks 100 years of Rotary Clubs serving BC communities and the world. The Terrace and Terrace-Skeena Rotary Clubs partnered to produce and publish this ad in the February 22, 2013 edition of the Northern Connector. Since this is a regional newspaper, it only made sense to include the four clubs in the newspaper's distribution region.

The Rotary Club of Terrace is pleased to announce the induction of Sean Bujtas. Sean is the proud father of a 14 year old daughter and an Assistant Manager at Chances Terrace. Sean's family's passion is soccer, of which he coaches different levels. Welcome to Rotary, Sean! We're happy to have you.

Article as published in the Dec 20, 2012 edition of the Terrace Standard.

Click here to view the photo album that accompanied the article. 

In October 2012 my wife, Lesley, and I made our fourth trip to Ethiopia, Africa as Terrace Rotarians. Ethiopia is a landlocked country in east Africa with a population of 77 million people on a landmass the size of Ontario. This time we were accompanied by Rotarian Jo Ann Hildebrandt from Kitimat. Other Rotarians from the Lower Mainland and Washington State made a total group of about 40 travellers.

One purpose of the trip was to immunize children against polio, a crippling disease eliminated from the Americas about 50 years ago but is still endemic in three countries – Afghanistan, Pakistan and Nigeria. In other developing countries, including Ethiopia and India, children are still immunized to ensure that this crippling disease does not reappear.

Polio is an old disease. However, by 1910, much of the world experienced a dramatic increase in polio cases. Epidemics became regular events, primarily in cities during the summer months. These epidemics – which left thousands of children and adults paralyzed – provided the impetus for a “Great Race” towards the development of a vaccine, which was developed in the 1950s.

These vaccines have reduced the global number of polio cases per year from over 350,000 in 1985 to fewer than 300 today. And since 1985, the coordinated vaccination efforts led by Rotary International, the World Health Organization, UNICEF and the US Centers for Disease Control should result in global eradication of the disease.

Typically National Immunization Days (NID’S) are organized by national health organizations with the help of volunteer organizations like Rotary and quality control is supervised by the World Health Organization (WHO). Each vaccination doesn’t take long or cost much, as one dose of vaccine consists of two drops and costs approximately 60 cents. Immunization is done mostly by volunteers, either by going house to house – especially in rural areas – or in clinics.  Up to 2,000,000 children have been immunized on a single NID.

We’ve also been working with Ethiopian Rotarians to provide education opportunities and clean water and sanitation to communities in need. On our first trip in 2003, we met elders of the village of Lege Tafo. There was a four room school with an enrolment of 320 students. There were another 300 students in the village who could not attend school as the school was too small. The school had no clean water and no toilets. Water was carried to the school and the homes in the village from a contaminated spring, which was also the water source for the livestock.

Through funds raised through a number of Rotary clubs in British Columbia plus a grant from the Rotary Foundation, we were able to build four additional classrooms and activate a well to provide clean water to the school and toilets for the students.

By 2012, Rotary funds were further leveraged with regional government efforts in Ethiopia to a point where there is a 20-room school adjacent to the original four-room school with an enrolment of close to 1,500 students. There is clean water on the school site, and there is a library and meeting hall for the community.

While the facilities for the community and the students as shown in the photos are primitive by Canadian standards, village leaders in Lege Tafo are grateful for the life opportunities their children will have as a result of being able to go to school.

One child told us: “If I owned a pen, I would be able to go to school.” Another one about eight-years-old said: “If I work hard at school and get an education, I will not be poor like my family is.”

Art Erasmus is board chair of Coast Mountains School District 82 and a proud Rotarian since 1984. He lives in Terrace with his wife, Lesley, who has been a Rotarian since 2000.

President Lyle Harvey presents Bryan Gascon and Brian Downie with a Paul Harris Fellow recognizing both for their service above self. "Both Bryan and Brian are the very epitome of service above self and have gone above and beyond whenever they are asked to help out". This is the first Paul Fellow for Bryan Gascon, and the third for Brian Downie. Congrats to both!

Terrace Rotary members Brian Downey, Art Erasmus and Lyle Harvey were on hand to help cut the ribbon at Caledonia Senior Secondary School's new rock climbing wall last Friday, November 23. Terrace Rotary donated monies toward the wall along with the Terrace Skeena Rotary Club, McElhanney, the City of Terrace, and Rona to name a few.

Sponsors are being thanked with a "Sponsor Climbing Day:"

Thank you for being involved in the project here at Caledonia. Each donation was an important part in moving forward. What started out as a five sheet of plywood bouldering wall ended up as a full climbing wall with lead climbing potential. The total cost has well surpassed $30k.

We would like to thank our community sponsors by providing an allotted time for you to bring family down to try the wall. Please adhere to the time and allow time to fill out waiver forms as well as get suited up in a harness and shoes. Children need to bring a clean pair of runners to use on the wall. Climbing times may be limited to one climb per person until everyone in your group has climbed and you are within your time allotment.

The date for this event is Saturday, December 1 from 10am to noon.

 -Ben Mattheis

November 12, 2012 Terrace Standard

DESPITE A power failure, the Rotary Club of Terrace broke its record for money made for local and international projects at the 52nd annual Rotary Auction Nov. 3rd and 4th.

“It went very, very well,” said chairman Brian Downie. “People were very supportive bidding on all of the items.”

And they had lots of choice with 455 items. After expenses are taken out, the club gets about $42,000. That’s thanks to almost 300 businesses that helped out.

“Some pretty loyal donors that are very keen to participate and then the last couple of years, we’ve been online so we can really do a much better job profiling the businesses,” he said.

Almost 8,000 internet bids came in and there was really strong pre-bidding so almost every item had some bids on it to start, said Downie. A power outage didn’t stop the bidding either as people came down to the Inn of the West so they wouldn’t miss anything and kept on bidding. The Salvation Army provided its mobile kitchen for power. In the auction rooms, there was lighting for the cameras, the phone and server, he said.

In the back room, the people had flashlights.

“It was fun. It was a unique experience,” said Downie.

Chris Simms was inducted into the Terrace Rotary on Monday. Chris is currently employed by Northern Health where he is the Health Services Administrator for Terrace, Stewart and Atlin. Prior to joining Northern Health, he was the Director of Regional Operations for the BC Cancer Agency's Vancouver Cancer Centre, and prior to that as the Centers Research Operations Manager. 

Chris is married and has three children and although his personal time is centered around his young family, he does find the time for community service, golf, tennis and reading.

Welcome Chris! 

Terrace Rotary Club donates $5,000 to the Terrace Whiskey Jacks Archers to purchase and install 860' of fencing around the perimeter of the grounds. The grand opening of their new facility will take place next spring and will allow the club to increase its membership and hold competitive events.

Archery has always been a sport in which people with physical challenges can excel and compete on an equal footing. A great example and role model is Kevin Evans from Kootenay Archers who lost his arm in an oil drilling accident – now he's the current Canadian National 3-D Champion! In fact, the club will ensure future facilities are completely accessible.

The club is currently open SUNDAY afternoons from 1 to 2:30pm for youth members and families and 2:30 to 4 pm or later for adult members. Their indoor season starts October 31 and extends to the end of April every year and we meet at the THORNHILL COMMUNITY CENTRE in Thornhill. Please bring indoor shoes.

Pictured from left to right: Scott Trent, Kaleb Wacholtz, John Sandhals, Rotarian Chris Cain, Terry Unrau, Dr. Jaco Fourie, John Vandamme and Tom Logan.

Terrace Rotary Club donates $5,000 to the Terrace Green Thumb Society for the installation of nine hydrants in the Terrace Community Garden on Evergreen St. The improved irrigation system will make life easier for the 60 families and organizations who have plots there. Pictured from left to right, Don Krause, Terrace Rotary President Lyle Harvey, and Barbara and Ellery Tetz.

And the winners are...

Thank you to everyone who bought tickets, to the retailers who allowed Rotarians to sell tickets in front of their stores, and to the local car dealerships. This year, Rotarians sold over $60,000 in tickets with proceeds used to fund worthy community projects.

1st prize winner - Angela Percival from New Aiyansh chose a new Honda Civic worth $25,000

2nd prize winner - Elaine Miller from Kitsumkalum won return airfare for two to Vancouver courtesy of Hawkair

3rd prize winner - Sorasak Phungam won a $500 gift card from Safeway

4th prize winner - Jacques Pelletier won a $500 gift card from Canadian Tire

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Terrace, BC  July 24, 2012

Members of the Rotary Club of Terrace recently welcomed Lyle Harvey as its President for the 2012-2013 year. At the Club’s annual installation meeting, Lyle accepted the President’s gavel from outgoing President John Heighington. This will be Lyle’s second term as President as he was the President for the 1993-1994 year.

  “Rotary’s main objective is “Service Above Self” -- in our community and abroad,” Lyle said. “I’m honoured to serve as President and look forward to continuing Rotary’s work in building community capacity around health, education, and alleviating poverty.”

Last year, the Rotary Club of Terrace raised over $50,000 through its two main fundraising events - the sales of tickets for the Great Duck Race held during River Boat Days and the Rotary Auction held every fall. This money was used to fund community programs and projects like the Terrace Hospice Society, Terrace Community Band and Bread of Life Soup Kitchen.

Past President John Heighington is proud of our Club’s work over the past year. “Last year Rotary members did an outstanding job not only by raising money for the community, but also by rolling up their sleeves and doing the work on the Howe Trail upgrade and cleaning up the highway on the Adopt a Highway program on a semi-annual basis. This is how we give back to our community.”

Other projects and programs funded during the 2011/2012 year include the Royal Air Cadets, Big Brothers/Big Sisters, REM Theatre Alive Society, Grade 5 Forestry Week, an $1800 Scholarship awarded to Caledonia High School graduate Selena Kunar, Rotary Youth Leadership Awards and summer camp, the Pacific Northwest Music Festival, Terrace Dry Grad Committee and Salvation Army Hamper program just to name a few.

Terrace Rotary members are currently selling tickets for the Great Duck Race that takes place on August 6 at 1pm at Ferry Island. Tickets sell for $20 each and 1^st prize is a choice of one of 7 new vehicles. All proceeds are used to help fund local community projects.

The club, established in 1954, meets every Monday at noon at the Bavarian Inn. Interested in learning more about Rotary or membership? Contact any Rotarian or visit www.terracerotary.org. 

Terrace Rotarians were treated to a discussion on men's health by Dr. David Bowering, Chief Medical Health Officer, at the July 16 Rotary meeting. Dr. Bowering shared several statistics which supported the statement that mortality rates for men are highest in northern BC and that men are three times more likely to be killed in a motor vehicle accident in the north when compared to men living in south or central BC.

Dr. Bowering stated that many men live in a state of denial about their health - sometimes waiting too long to get help. If you'd like to know more about the state of men's health in Northern BC, be sure to read Dr. Bowerings report, Where are the men? Chief Medical Health Officer's Report on the state of men and boys in Northern BC. There's also a new website specifically created for men and their health issues. It can be found at http://men.northernhealth.ca/

Terrace Rotary is pleased to announce the induction of Chadd Novich to the club. Chadd and his family moved to Terrace in April 2011 and he and his wife, Lisa, a member of the Rotary Club of Terrace-Skeena Valley, have helped with several Rotary projects so far including RYLA, the Howe Creek Trail Upgrade, and multiple highway cleanup projects. 

Pictured from right to left: President Lyle Harvey, Chadd Novich and David Oatway.

Members from the Terrace and Terrace-Skeena Valley Rotary Clubs banded together on Saturday, June 2, 2012 to upgrade the Howe Creek Trail. Several yards of gravel were spread on the trail and drainage pipes were installed to prevent the trail from washing out during heavy rains.

A big thank you to all the volunteers who helped with this project, including the young women from Caledonia High School Rugby team who donated a few hours (and muscles) during their Saturday to help out. Kudos to Terrace Rotary member David Oatway for organizing this project.

Edited June 5, 2012 to include David Oatway's comments:

Thanks to everyone who helped to complete this project.  The City is very appreciative.  We loaded, moved and spread 5 loads (65,000 kg) of gravel, built 3 retaining walls and installed 4 small culverts in 5 hours with 40 workers.  To put that in perspective that was roughly 30,000 shovelfuls of gravel, 1000 wheelbarrow trips, 165 km traveled by wheebarrow or 12 km each for the 14 wheelbarrow pushers and we consumed 54 L of water and 96 slices of pizza. 

Click here to view more pictures of the upgrade on Facebook.

Click here to read the May 11, 2011 Terrace Standard article, Howe Creek Trail opens.

Maybe you’ve seen a need in your own community and wondered how you could help. Maybe you want to use your professional skills to help others — or even learn new skills. Maybe you’re seeking connections with other service-minded professionals in your community or abroad.

Whatever your reason, joining Rotary can help you achieve these goals, and so much more. Read on for more reasons why you should join Rotary.