About

The Rotary Club of Brighton received its charter and inducted charter members on June 14, 1989 at a gala held at the Little Lake Pavilion. The Club was sponsored by the Colborne Rotary Club. Each person at the meeting received a commemorative sculpture created by Colborne Rotary president Gord Hoselton, a renowned sculptor. The President for the 1989/90 Rotary Year was Bob Briden and Al Ronneberger was appointed Honorary Past-President. The new club met Mondays at The Gables restaurant in Brighton.

Brighton Rotary sponsors:

Brighton Area Community Care, Meals on Wheels, Coats for Kids, Sports Programs, Fundraising, Community Projects, Youth Programs, Polio Charities and Research, Applefest activities, Winterfest, Canada Day celebrations and many more . . .


Over the years Brighton Rotarians have given back in many significant ways - here are just a few examples:

• Brighton did not have a medical centre and like many small Towns there was a strong need for medical services because the private doctor practices could not serve the needs of the community. The idea of a Brighton Health Services Centre was born at a Brighton Rotary Directors meeting and then carried to reality with the help of a number of Rotarians who were benefactors. The official opening of the centre was on October 19, 2004. The facility continues to serve the needs of Brighton with the assistance of several Rotarians who sit as Directors of the centre. Rotary provided leadership and formed partnerships with others to achieve overall project success.
  -- Partnerships leverage strengths --


• The Club was instrumental in working as part of a District 7070 project that resulted in the donation of a refurbished Ambulance that was donated to a Rotary Club in Mexico along with supplies to meet paramedic standards.


• The importance of the youth of our community is of utmost importance. Thus Rotarians donate many hours to run Camp Enterprise as an educational program to expose grade twelve students to the free enterprise system, business and career alternatives. Another educational program is run annually for grade eight students based on the economic value of staying school.


• Thanks to the efforts of three local Rotarians, the Rotary Club of Brighton sponsored a new Probus Club in Brighton in 2003. It became an instant success with over 150 Brightonians applying for membership.


• Brighton Rotary, through the partnership and generosity of several local firms built the light house and ‘Welcome to Brighton’ signs on the main Toronto/Montreal Highway 401 at the exit to Highway 30 leading to Brighton.


• The Youth Exchange Program has always been a high priority item for the club and it sponsors a minimum of one inbound and one outbound student annually.
  
    Students reap many rewards from an exchange experience, including:
  • Serving as an ambassador for their country and community
  • Benefiting from immersion in another culture while adapting to a new way of life
  • Making lifelong friends, not only within the host country but also with other students from around the world
  • Learning about the practices and accomplishments of people in other countries
  • Returning home with a greater sense of the world and a deeper understanding of themselves and their culture
  • Assuming leadership roles shaped by lessons from the experience
  • Building memories that will be with them forever

Brighton Rotary 2009/2010 Achievements:

• During the summer months Rotarians were very busy with the annual street dance; we welcomed our exchange student from Mexico and said bon voyage to our out bound exchange student; and, in August we again hosted the Inter-Club Barbeque, with Rotarians from seven neighbouring clubs and were honoured to have past RI President Wilf Wilkinson in attendance.


• We entered the fall once again co-sponsoring the Quinte Sail Ability program which assists disabled persons to learn to sail independently in small boats; our annual Golf Tournament was held in September to raise money for the shelter box program which contributed to aid in the disaster relief effort in Haiti; once again we had our food booth at the annual Brighton Applefest street fair which brought over 20,000 visitors to our town; in October it was the President’s wine and cheese party; November saw the kick off of our annual Christmas ham sale fundraiser - proceeds of that campaign are used for our Coats for Kids program; in December our barbeque was rolled out for the Santa Claus parade; and, in late December club members and spouses enjoyed our annual Christmas Assembly.


• We started the new year co-sponsoring a dental health project in Guatemala; in February we continued our support for the Batawa Ski Hill ski patrol; and, March saw the commencement of the Duffers and Diners Coupon Book fundraiser project.


• In April our new radio station in Brighton, 100.9 FM, offered us a free series of radio ads to promote the Club and the work of Rotary around the world; also in April the completion of the installation of lights on the Brighton signs on the Highway 401 exits for Brighton; May was a busy month assisting with Camp Enterprise at Trent University; help and participation in Trenton Kiwanis Fishing Derby; and, using our barbeque at the Brighton Children’s Centre yard sale fundraiser.


• On May 14th, 2010, we were honoured to welcome past RI President Wilf Wilkinson as the guest speaker at our regular Friday morning meeting, invitations were sent to former members of the club. At the meeting our Rotary Club presented a cheque for $10,000.00 to East Northumberland Secondary School in support of their campaign to install a new track and sports field. Also in the month of May, Club members presented a program to Grade 8 classes in our local public schools known as the Economics of Staying in School.


• The month of June began with a Brighton Rotary team in the 3rd annual Relay for Life Cancer fundraiser in Brighton. On June 17th, the Rotary barbeque provided food for the Spring Valley Public School annual Fun Fair and then on June 26th, our local Dragon boat club held its first competition in Brighton on the bay. Finally on June 29th, 2010, the Rotary Club of Brighton presented three 'Service Above Self' awards to graduating students at the East Northumberland Secondary School graduation ceremonies.


• Throughout the 2009/2010 Rotary year, our club continued its sponsorship of the Sand Parents Program which matches senior citizens with toddlers and pre-schoolers for story time on a regular basis. This program encourages a love of books and early literacy in young children. Our Club provided the seed money and volunteers to get the program going the previous year. Financial grants from other agencies have made this a very viable and ongoing program.

Brighton Rotary 2010/2011 Achievements:

Our greatest achievement was in the growth of the club, a lot of new members joined last year.

In addition, we did the following:


• Applefest Pie Baking
• Northumberland Services For Women
• Coast Guard Auxiliary
• Brighton Winterfest
• Brighton Legion Poppy Fund
• United Church Christmas Hampers
• Coats For Kids
• Brighton Minor Hockey
• Cancer Relay For Life
• Big Brothers/Big Sisters
• Quinte Sailability
• Salvation Army -Good Food Box Program
• 5 Counties Children
• ENSS Student First Aid Training
• Camp Enterprise – entrepreneur camp for students
• Junior Achievement
• Education Nepal
• Health Outreach Guatemala

Another major achievments was the TSN / Kraft celebration bar-b-q when we served several thousand hotdogs and burgers.

Also the student exchange program. We sponsored one student last year. Our student went to Sweden and we hosted a student from Brazil.