‘They have all changed lives': Rotary Club gala honours community champions
Five residents were honoured last Thursday during the Niagara-on-the-Lake Rotary Club's annual Paul Harris Fellow Awards Dinner — one of Rotary's highest honours for service to the community.
The gala dinner, a club tradition for more than 25 years, drew a full house to Navy Hall on May 15 and recognized Rotarians Betty Disero, Greg Fedoryn and Martin Quick, along with NOTL residents Dr. Richard Merritt and Julia Buxton-Cox.
'They all amplify service above self,' said Jeannie Manning, the club's social media and marketing chair.
'They have all changed lives — and I don't think they know that they have.'
While the number of nominees per year can change, they are always residents of the Niagara region and demonstrate one of the club's core principles.
'What we're looking for, always, is service above self, because that's a rotary objective for all of us,' said Carol Lipsett, past president and treasurer.
The award is named after the founder of the first Rotary Club, formed in Chicago in 1905.
Recipients have varying backgrounds, Lipsett said, and not all are Rotarians, such as Merritt and Buxton-Cox.
'But that's the whole point. It's to acknowledge our community — where we have people doing wonderful things,' she said.
Merritt has practiced medicine in Niagara for more than 40 years, founded and chaired two non-governmental organizations and worked with the Friends of Fort George and the Niagara Historic Foundation.
He was recognized as 2017's Living Landmark by the Niagara Foundation and co-chaired and led the construction of the Landscape of Nations with Indigenous leaders.
Buxton-Cox volunteered at Pleasant Manor and Newark Neighbours and started the Farmworker Hub in March 2021, serving more than 1,500 seasonal farm workers in 2024 with services and supplies.
Rotarian Disero joined in 2014 when she was elected to council. In 2018, she became the town's first female lord mayor and steered NOTL through the COVID-19 pandemic. During her time as lord mayor, Disero continued to help in committees and fundraisers and still does today.
Having joined the Rotary Club and the Shaw Guild in 2017, Rotarian Fedoryn was hosting chair at the Shaw and served as an executive committee member. He was the secretary and president of the Rotary club and oversaw the updating of the club's constitution, bylaws and governance policies.
Quick has been a Rotarian for more than 25 years, was club president in 2015-2016 and continues to serve as a house captain during the Holiday House Tour. Quick secured a grant of $120,000 for Wells of Hope in Guatemala and coordinated the El Carrizal Water Project.
Among the political leaders in attendance at the awards dinner was MP Tony Baldinelli.
'It's an honour to be asked to participate,' said Baldinelli. 'I'm not a member of Rotary, but I participated in several of the Paul Harris Award recognition evenings and Rotary events.'
Baldinelli loves the Rotary's objective, he said.
'Service above self. That encapsulates not only the commitment of these people — these individuals being recognized tonight — but of what Rotary stands for and all those who participate.'
paigeseburn@niagaranow.com
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