Service: Volunteer efforts of people such as Rev. Canon E. Lloyd Lake have improved city ..... 60-year member called epitome of a Rotarian

Published Wednesday February 23rd, 2011

SAINT JOHN - Its lofty motto of "Service Above Self" has inspired the men and women of Rotary International to literally change their world ever since it was established in 1905 as the world's first service club. And locally, it's been much the same story. The volunteer efforts of members of Saint John Rotary Club - chartered in 1914 and one of the country's oldest - have changed the face of the city for the better thanks to the efforts of dedicated souls such as Rev. Canon E. Lloyd Lake. Lake has had a hand in most of the club's more noteworthy projects, such as the Rotary Boys and Girls Club, the Teen Resource Centre, the Rotary Boys Choir, the Rotary Admiral Beatty seniors' complex and the pedway project at the Saint John Regional Hospital. At 92, the Anglican clergyman not only attends the club's weekly meetings at the Boys and Girls Club at 12:15 p.m. on Mondays, but is - as he has been for some six decades - an active participant in Rotary's service to community. The recipient of no fewer than five Paul Harris Fellowships, given for exceptional service to Rotary, the club's honorary chaplain and historian is highly revered by club members. Both club president Margo Buchanan and longtime member Charlie Swanton see him as the embodiment of Rotary's "Service Above Self" motto. "He is just a delightful person," Buchanan said. "He is so full of life and interested in everything - the community, Rotary, everybody's well-being. He attends almost every meeting and is a dedicated Rotarian. He always participates in events, wants to be included on committees and reminds us of what we're all about." "I can't say enough good things about Lloyd," Swanton said. "He's always there. It doesn't matter if he is selling Rotary fruit cakes, car draw tickets or anything else Rotary does. He is the epitome of a Rotarian. Lloyd Lake is like a fellow that doesn't grow old." Lake, for his part, humbly accepts the accolades. "I don't know if I'm the epitome of (Service Above Self), but I try," he said, before spending yet another afternoon working on updating the local Rotary Club's history. "I'm preparing an extension of a history I wrote entitled 75 Years of Service, printed in 1989," he said. Lake sees the Rotary Boys and Girls Club as being the most notable of all local Rotary Club projects, especially the mammoth effort it took to rebuild the club after vandals burned it to the ground on Oct. 25, 1974. The new club opened its doors on April 17, 1976. "I enjoy Rotary because, for me, it is an extension of the church," said Lake, who has served as chaplain at the local jail. "It is the life of the church going out into the community, through Rotary, to help the people who need help," he said. "A community needs to have a charitable heart to construct buildings that need to be in place for the benefit of the people of that community, such as the re-establishment of the Admiral Beatty Hotel for the benefit of seniors and the extension of the pedway (at the Regional) to assist people who need an easy approach to health care." During his time as volunteer manager of the former Rotary Senior Citizen Housing project on Turnbull Court, in the city's north end, Lake developed a small community garden for the comfort and pleasure of area residents. Last Nov. 2, he fought back tears as a stone marker was unveiled dedicating the refurbished area in his name. While he's given up some of his ties to the community in recent years, he continues to fight for the preservation of trees on his street, Manawagonish Road. He continues his involvement with the Fortnightly Club, serves as chaplain and past president of the Jervis Bay Legion and, on Sundays, puts in a busy day for someone his age. He assists the rector of the Church of the Good Shepherd in the 8 a.m. service before making his way uptown, to historic Trinity Church, where he also assists in the 10:30 a.m. service.  

While the Saint John Rotary Club has no specific events lined up to mark worldwide Rotary International Day today, its members are now part of a global army of do-gooders.

Today, its ranks include 1.2 million volunteers in 33,000 clubs who work locally, regionally and internationally to combat hunger, improve health and sanitation, provide education and job training, promote peace, and eradicate polio under the motto Service Above Self.

Rotary has managed to reduce the number of cases of polio by an astounding 99 per cent since 1988 and, in recent weeks, redoubled its effort to snuff it out entirely by launching the "This Close" campaign with the support of a wide array of public figures.