Paul Harris Awards Dinner

On Wednesday April 27, Copetown Woods Golf Club was the scene for the Rotary Club of Dundas Valley Sunrise’s annual Paul Harris Awards Dinner. Paul Harris, the founder of Rotary, is the name sake for the award presented to individuals who have given tangible and significant assistance towards the furtherance of better understanding and friendly relations among peoples of the world. The event, coordinated by Rotarian Bob Morrow and EmCeed by club president Bruce Eccles was both a club social and a time to honour worthy individuals.

Rotarian Ernie Romain introduced three community members for awards.  Brian Mullen, retired Director, Human Resources, Arcelor-Mittal Dofasco Inc. served as Chair of the Industry-Education Council Hamilton-Wentworth, Chair of Skills Canada-Ontario and board member of the Hamilton Community Foundation, Goodwill-Amity Hamilton, the Good Shepherd Centre and the Canadian Mental Health Association, Hamilton Branch.

John Mathioudakis, owner of Westbooke of Ancaster was a founding member of the Rotary Club of Ancaster AM, board member of the Chedoke-McMaster Children’s Hospital, the Wesley Open Golf Committee, Hamilton Health Sciences, and the Caledonia Corvairs Junior C Hockey Club, Co-chair of Mackids Invitational/Ron Joyce Mackids Invitational and the Greek Canadian Community Golf Tournament, and an assistant coach/manager of Hamilton Minor Hockey.

Paul Johnson served as Executive Director of Wesley Urban Ministries before joining the City of Hamilton as Director of Neighbourhood Development Strategies. He was Project Manager for the Hamilton Roundtable for Poverty Reduction, Chair of Hamilton’s Best Start Network and the City of Hamilton’s Human Services Planning Initiative. He continues to referee basketball at the local and provincial levels and was the play-by-play voice of the McMaster University basketball team in the 1990s.

Rotarian Paul Clifford introduced Bryan Prince, owner of the Bryan Prince Bookstore in Westdale. Bryan was honoured for his longtime efforts to promote literacy and critical discussion. In 2002 he was given a LIBRIS award from the Canadian Booksellers Association for being the best bookstore in Canada. Bryan, who recently retired from the business, backpacked throughout India last year. He thanked the club with the traditional Indian expression, “Namaste”.

Rotarian Wayne Massey introduced club member Bill Armstrong for a Paul Harris Award. Bill is a past president of the club and is chair of the Rotary Foundation Committee. He coordinates the silent auction at the June 11 Lobster Dinner and as a retired Staff Sergeant in the RCMP takes on the role of security coordinator for any of the club’s major events like the upcoming fireworks at the Dundas Driving Park where upwards of 10 000 people will be in attendance on May 22.

Rotarian Steve Deighton who was unable to attend this evening will be honoured with an award at a later date for his contribution to the Dundas Cactus Festival as chair of the event for the past three years.

The guest speaker for the Paul Harris Awards Dinner was Kevin Crouse. Kevin was a longtime member of the Rotary Club of Dundas Valley Sunrise before moving to Brantford and becoming a member of the Brantford Sunrise Rotary Club. Kevin will become a District Governor in 2013 – 2014. He spoke passionately about how a club is made up of silent warriors who make things happen in both the local and international communities they serve.