About the Lewiston/Niagara-on-the-Lake Rotary Club

Chartered April 20, 1938

A Brief History

There are only a few bi-national Rotary Clubs in the world, and the Rotary Club of Niagara-on-the-Lake/Lewiston is one of them.  The club was founded in 1938 and is comprised on members from both Canada and the United States.  The bi-national nature of the club epitomizes Rotary’s international fellowship at work right at the club level.

Dinner meetings are held every Wednesday, half the year in Canada, and half the year in the USA.   The Presidency is alternated, one year from Canada, the following year from the US.  Speakers from both nations provide lively and thought provoking programs.

Local and Regional Projects & Initiatives

• Donations to Libraries and Historical Societies in both Lewiston and NOTL
• Lifeline projects on both sides of the border
• Donations to the Casey House
• Providing a tennis hitting board at a park in NOTL
• Providing a Polycom system to aid the doctors at Children’s Hospital in Buffalo help desperately ill children in the third world
• Providing a coffee cart for patents, staff and family members at Mt. St. Mary’s Hospital
• Provide Rotary Awards for academic achievement at local high schools and for many years we assisted  an Interact group at Lewiston-Porter High School.
• Annually sponsor student participation in the Rotary Youth Leadership Exchange program.
• Helped beautify a section of Route 104 outside of Lewiston.
• Fund a Rotary Garden in the Village of Lewiston.

International Projects and Initiatives

• Supported  Group Study Exchanges of young professionals from India and the Netherlands.
• Supported Rotary Ambassadorial Fellowships to allow postgraduate studies in Mauritius.
• Provided a truck to a medical mission in Chiapas.
• Provided potable water in the third world by funding wells.
• Provided funding and housing so a child from Belarus could have life saving cardiac surgery in Toronto.
• Provided vitamins, clothing and educational aid to a blind kindergarten in Minsk.
• Supported the efforts of Rotary International to eradicate polio worldwide.
• Spearheaded an effort to provide hundreds of wheelchairs to unfortunate children in Central America.
• Provide specialized food packs especially designed to feed starving victims.

How do we raise funds for these donations?

• Host an Annual Shaw Festival Garden Party and Theatre Performance in Niagara-on-the-Lake.
• Host an Annual Pancake Breakfast held on Victoria Day weekend in NOTL.
• In past years, provide a food tent in Lewiston during the Annual Art Festival
• Relay for Life food tent in Lewiston, NY
• A food tent at the Lord Mayor’s May Day Community Event in Fort George,  Niagara-on-the-Lake
• Our newest and biggest fund raising project is the sponsoring of ART OF RIBS 2010 in Lewiston, NY.

The aim of Rotary is to continue its message of service wherever and whenever it is needed and spread goodwill and understanding not only in our local towns and regions in which we live but also throughout the world.

For further information about the Lewiston/Niagara-on-the-Lake Rotary Club, go to our website at www.lewiston-notl-rotary.org

If you are interested in membership or would like to be our guest at an upcoming meeting, contact Ron Danielewicz at nwebiz@aol.com or call 1.716.870.1307.

Rotary Motto “Service Above Self”