Kimberley’s Rotary Club operates on a spirit of friendliness and volunteerism, and every year or so, the Club honours Kimberley citizens who embody those values in their lives.
Rotary honours these citizens as Paul Harris Community Fellows, an award named for Rotary founder, Paul Harris.
Recent honourees over the past few years in Kimberley have included former Mayor Jim Ogilvie, former City Councillor and everyone’s favourite sports announcer Bob McWhinnie, Heather Smith from the Food Bank, Carol Fergus from the Arts Council and Jeany Irvin, who ran KIOTAC for years. All of these people were chosen for their efforts on behalf of, and contributions to, Kimberley.
This year, the Kimberley Rotary Club has chosen two worthy recipients, Jack Ratcliffe and Shirley Rossi.
Jack Ratcliffe, has been a City Councillor for many years, and has also given many volunteer hours to the Kimberley Public Library Board, the Kimberley Air Cadet Squadron and more.
Shirley Rossi is a Kimberley super-volunteer. She has put in hours — and cooked — for all kinds of Kimberley organizations from the Dynamiters to Marysville Daze and more. In recent years, Shirley has worked tirelessly for Kimberley Summer Theatre.
At a ceremony on February at Centre 64, the Kimberley Rotary Club will honour Jack Ratcilffe and Shirley Rossi for their years of dedicated volunteering. They both will receive the lifetime honour of becoming Paul Harris Fellows.
“Paul Harris and three friends founded the first Rotary Club in Chicago 109 years ago,” said Kimberley Rotarian Graham Mann. “Paul’s goal was to create an oasis of friendship in a city of strangers, with those who shared his values. Over time the philosophy of Rotary developed and matured, and Rotary ideals expanded to include service, vocational ethics and international understanding.
Paul Harris envisioned a world where conflict would ultimately melt away – a world where personal connections and acceptance of differences would lead to eventual peace. Working together in a spirit of friendship for the common good of the community, both home and abroad, was the vision of Paul Harris. Today his vision is followed at over 34,000 Rotary Clubs in more than 200 countries around the world. Jack Ratcliffe and Shirley Rossi understand Paul Harris’s vision.”
Contact any Kimberley Rotarian if you would like to attend the ceremony.