‘It’s been very difficult’: Rotary Club of Caledonia disbands

About 50 guests gathered to share stories, memories and laughs, while recognizing the club’s achievements.

Sponsored by the Rotary Club of Dunnville, Rotary Caledonia received its charter on May 13, 1995, with 30 members.

Valerie Bailey-Phillips, the club’s final president, said its biggest achievement is the Rotary Riverside Trail, a 5.7-kilometre linear trail that runs parallel to the Grand River between Caledonia and the village of York. Built in stages and funded by a 1999 Rotary lottery campaign, it became part of the Trans Canada Trail in 2000.

Bailey-Phillips noted Rotary Caledonia supported the installation of field lighting at McKinnon Park Secondary School and donated to several Haldimand food banks.

The club also supported Rotary International’s efforts to eradicate polio.

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• Dec 31, 1969
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• Dec 31, 1969
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With just three members returning after the pandemic, the club made the difficult decision to disband. Bailey-Phillips said it tried to attract new members through events like wine-and-cheese parties and by shifting its meeting times, but all efforts fell short.

“I think since COVID, it’s been very difficult,” she said. “New people coming into Caledonia, they’re still geared up to working elsewhere. They shop there as well, and they don’t get around to doing things here.”

In its last major charitable act, the club presented $30,000 to Haldimand-Norfolk Community Senior Support Services (HNCSSS).

Leila Thompson, the organization’s program manager, said the money will help fund a new wheelchair-accessible van. She noted Haldimand has no municipally funded transportation services, which creates barriers for seniors requiring transportation to medical appointments in Hamilton and Niagara. Each van costs about $125,000.

“This (donation) will certainly go a long way to help us toward our goal,” said Thompson.

Rotary Caledonia also supported student exchanges and academic bursaries. The service club will present one final bursary to a McKinnon Park Secondary School student in June.

During the club’s final meeting, signs, banners and other memorabilia were sold in a charity auction, raising over $700 for HNCSSS. Items included two wooden Rotary wheels, acquired from a long-disbanded Cayuga club.

Caledonia’s Kinsmen Club (also known the Kin Club) disbanded in 2015, but its name lives on in town through the Kinsmen Hall and Kinsmen Park.

Megan Conway, CEO of Volunteer Canada, said that while the national organization doesn’t track service club closures, each loss leaves a significant impact on local communities.

She also said clubs face a tough task in attracting and retaining members. 

“We developed an entire volunteering structure based on the values and the approach to how we lived from the 1960s,” Conway said in an interview.

She noted that in previous years, there were many two-parent households that allowed for one parent to devote a significant portion of their free time to volunteering. But today’s parents have less time to donate outside of their home and work hours, Conway said.

“We are less connected and less involved today than we were 50 years ago and that’s a real problem for us societally. Our lives today are so much more complex. We haven’t really modernized how we think about volunteerism.”

Marilyn Robertson, a recently retired Caledonia family doctor, joined Rotary Caledonia after moving to the community in the 1990s. On April 25, she was recognized as one of the club’s final members.

Robertson juggled volunteer and professional duties along with five children when she joined in 2002. That often meant bringing her husband and kids along to meetings.

“When you’re in Rotary it’s not just you, it’s your whole family,” she said.

Robertson wanted to start an Early Act Club at St. Patrick’s School, to help children aged five to 13 become more involved in the community. The club became a reality in 2009 and continues today.

Before the emergence of smartphones and tablets, Robertson noted Rotary distributed dictionaries to Grade 2 and 3 students. The club also started a series of little libraries, with more than 20 locations still operating in Caledonia.

Pam Milroy, another of the group’s final three members, said she’s most proud of Rotary International’s Gift of Life campaign, an effort that provided life-saving heart surgeries and antibiotics to children in developing countries.

To close its final meeting, the club presented seven Paul Harris Fellow awards, recognizing substantial contributions to the service club and community. Awards were presented to Rob Phillips, Dave Ferguson, Vickie Peart, Ian Thompson, Pam Aylan-Parker, Craig Peters and Shelly DeSantis.