Two special presentations were made during the evening. The first, made by Club President Norbert Augustine was to award Georgina Beattie of Winona with a Paul Harris Fellowship – a Paul Harris Fellow is the highest honour Rotary International presents to an individual in recognition of a significant contribution to a Rotary area of service. In this instance, Georgina was chosen for her crucial role of over 50 years in the planning and implementation of the Winona Peach Festival. The Festival has been the cornerstone of this Rotary Club’s fundraising initiatives for many years. Georgina’s knowledge, organizing skills and countless hours of dedication to the event’s steering committee and its Board have been crucial to the success and sustainability of the Festival. Georgina, members of her family and friends from the Winona Peach Festival organization were in attendance for the special occasion.

The second presentation was made by President-Elect Mike Dunne, who spoke of the work Rotary is involved with such as community service projects in support of food security programs, the Cancer Assistance Program, environmental initiatives like the Great Lakes Watershed Clean-up project, literacy programs, high school robotics teams, and financial support during times of natural disasters, and in support of victims of war. To round it off, Mike presented a cheque in the amount of $3,000 to Dr. Bob Kemp Hospice. The Club has a very close association with the hospice as Dr. Bob Kemp was a member of the Rotary Club of Hamilton East Wentworth which gave the initial pledge of $120,000 for the original hospice building in Stoney Creek and all members celebrated the ribbon cutting with the Premier of Ontario in attendance. The Club also supported Dr. Bob Kemp with funding when he proposed the idea of introducing St. Joseph’s Urgent Care facility to the community. The Hamilton East Wentworth Club merged with the Stoney Creek Club in 2021 to form the Rotary Club of Hamilton Stoney Creek and have continued the annual contributions in support of the hospice.