This year the Rotary Club is quietly marking 99 years of service in Smiths Falls and looking forward to their 100th anniversary next year. Gerald Reilly, President of the Rotary Club of Smiths Falls, met with council during Monday night’s Committee of the Whole meeting to discuss the service club’s 2022 celebration.
The Rotary Club’s motto is Service Above Self. “In May of 2022, we will be celebrating one hundred years of service and kicking off the next one hundred years of service,” explained Reilly. To mark this milestone, Rotary wishes “to give to the community a lasting legacy that we hope you would consider. Rotary would like to purchase and plant blue and gold tulips in the garden nodes of the Beckwith and Main St intersection.”
The tulip bulbs would be planted this fall.
The Rotary Club would also like to hang four anniversary banners on the lampposts in the Main and Beckwith intersection “hopefully for the duration of the anniversary year.”
Councillor Dwyer applauded the idea, noting that planting flowers “is one of those little things a community can do that can add such brightness. I’m grateful to Rotary for wanting to take this on.”
Council directed staff to look into this request.
Councillor McKenna added “any group that is turning one hundred and has done the kind of work Rotary has done deserves some kind of recognition. I look forward to staff’s feedback on this.”
Happy 99th anniversary to the Rotary Club!
Article by Janelle Labelle
