Curtis Hillman - Paul Harris Award Winner

Curtis Hillman is a Community Champion!  He has been a badminton player and coach for over 30 years beginning his coaching career as soon as be finished high school.  He has been the coach of the BMLSS badminton team for 25 years of those 25 years the BMLSS badminton team has gone on to represent their school at OFSAA.

 

Curtis Hillman has been a badminton player and coach for over 30 years beginning his coaching career as soon as be finished high school.  He has been the coach of the BMLSS badminton team for 25 years of those 25 years the BMLSS badminton team has gone on to represent their school at OFSAA.
 
Curtis coaches 3 nights a week for kids from grade 4 to 12, beginner to competitive. He enjoys it when the club organizes events outside the regular season practices assisting in making the team a social experience as well as encouraging the love of the sport.
 
To achieve this goal, Curtis attends between 8 - 15 tournaments on weekends coaching, during the badminton season.  He and Warren Brownlee were the founding coaches of the Bracebridge Knight Hawks which has grown to be the largest and strongest community club in the Georgian Bay District.
 
Curtis has earned his level 2 coaching certification in order to be able to coach the Ontario Winter Games in March of 2018 where the team placed 4th overall the best Georgian Bay District has historically done.  He was awarded the 2010 Bracebridge Coach of the Year as well as Coach of the 2018 Ontario Winter Games.   The Ontario Winter Games team (4 players from the Bracebridge Knight Hawks team) won Bracebridge Team of the year in 2018.  In addition, Curtis volunteered as the Badminton Sport Coordinator/locally on 2 occasions when the Ontario Winter Games were hosted in Bracebridge.
 
When asked why he does it Curt says “that’s a good question.  I love the sport, love the kids, love helping the kids and passing on the love of the sport to the kids”.
 
Curtis’s coaching style is not you have to do this, but you can do this.  Payment is the expressions on the players face when they realize what they have accomplished/achievements and medals are secondary to that.
 
Curtis is also motivated in keeping badminton going int he community at the adult level as well,
organizing and recruiting new players whenever he gets the chance.
 
Curtis is personally hoping to play a bit more himself and has the Goal of attending the Masters Championships in Quebec City in 2019
 

The history of Paul Harris Fellow recognition

The Paul Harris Fellow recognition acknowledges individuals who contribute, or who have contributions made in their name, of US$1,000 to The Rotary Foundation of Rotary International.

It was established in 1957 to show appreciation for and encourage substantial contributions to what was then the Foundation’s only program, Rotary Foundation Fellowships for Advanced Study, the precursor to Ambassadorial Scholarships. 

The first Paul Harris Fellows include 1937-38 RI Director Allison G. Brush and longtime RI Treasurer Rufus F. Chapin, both for donations made in 1946. Mrs. Adan Vargas was the first woman to receive the recognition, for a gift made in 1953. Mrs. Harry L. Jones was the second, and one of only five people recognized for contributions made in 1957. 

Early Paul Harris Fellows received a certificate of recognition. In 1969, the Foundation unveiled the first Paul Harris Fellow medallion at the RI Convention in Honolulu, Hawaii, USA. Japanese metal artist Fiju Tsuda created the piece under the direction of then-past Foundation Trustee Kyozo Yuasa. Today, Paul Harris Fellows receive a certificate and pin. They are also eligible to purchase a Paul Harris Fellow medallion. 

Rotarians have a tradition of supporting the Foundation by honoring others. Ida LeTulle Taylor became a Paul Harris Fellow in 1978 when her husband, then-District Governor Vann Taylor, made a donation in her name in honor of their 34th wedding anniversary. The gift also made her the 25,000th Paul Harris Fellow. 

At the International Assembly in 1979, then-RI President-elect James Bomar challenged each Rotary club to make one non-Rotarian a Paul Harris Fellow. The Rotary Club of Pikesville, Maryland, USA, responded by making a donation in the name of Mother Teresa in 1980. The entertainer Pearl Bailey also became a Paul Harris Fellow through a joint effort of the Rotary clubs in Cape Cod, Massachusetts.  

Many other notable figures have been named as Paul Harris Fellows, including U.S. President Jimmy Carter, Russian President Boris Yeltsin, U.S. astronaut James Lovell, UN Secretary-General Javier Perez de Cuellar, and Jonas Salk.  

The number of Paul Harris Fellows reached the one million mark in 2006.