Rotary President makes Leamington stop

By Deanna Bertrand

The president of Rotary International made a stop in Leamington on Sunday, June 26, helping to celebrate migrant workers in the area.

Jones, the first woman to lead Rotary International, is on a fourweek cross-country tour dubbed “Imagine Rotary Canada.”

She set off June 15 and will have stops in 11 hubs, from Vancouver Island to St. John’s, with a goal of highlighting the impact of local Rotary clubs. “Today it means more than anything for me to be able to say thank you to all of you who are here helping with our economy, spending your time making sure that the food chain in this area is something that can benefit people across the world,” she said on stage to several hundred people in attendance at the Migrant Worker Festival.

The Leamington Rotary Club was on hand along with Rotary Club of Windsor-St. Clair to install bicycle lights and bells on guest workers’ bikes.

Jones, a Windsor-Essex County native, made her way to Leamington following a stop in Windsor to promote the Rotary Clubs of Windsor-Essex and the Sleep in Heavenly Peace bed-building project, which aims to ensure no child in the community has to sleep on the floor.

Community members meet with Rotary International President Jennifer Jones at Seacliff Park on Sunday, June 26. From left are Leamington Mayor Hilda MacDonald, Rotary Leamington’s Wendy Parsons, Migrant Worker Community Program representative Martin Varela, Mexican Consul Vanessa Calva-Ruiz, Rotary President Jennifer Jones, her husband Nick Krayacich, and Rotary Windsor-St. Clair’s Debra Harshaw.

SUN photo by Deanna Bertrand

A ceremony to honour her historic position as the first female president was held at Jackson Park in Windsor Monday morning and included the planting of 40 magnolia trees.

Rotary connects 1.4 million members of more than 46,000 Rotary clubs in over 200 countries and geographical areas who

aid in helping families in need in their communities and in tackling the world’s most pressing humanitarian challenges. Visit rotary.org to learn more.