The Rotary Club of Summerside's True Rotarian Award for 2009 was recently presented to John McCarthy. In photo, from left-right, District Governor David Muise, Rotarian Ralph Thompson, Club President Heather Matheson, True Rotarian John McCarthy, and Assistant District Governor Bob Moffatt.

The Rotary Club of Summerside annually designates  a Paul Ha rris Fellow to recognize a person whose life demonstrates a shared purpose with the objectives and mission of the Rotary Foundation to build world understanding and peace. During the joint Chamber/Rotary Lobster Luncheon on July 15, 2009, Dave Poirier was selected to receive this recognition because the Rotary Club of Summerside believes that his life exemplifies the humanitarian and educational objectives of The Rotary Foundation.

The Rotary Celebration Garden is an opportunity to recognize someone or something important in your life and support the community projects of the Rotary Club of Summerside.

Our guest speaker was Dr. Don Clark,  who is involved with FAME. The organization gathers and ships medical equipment all over the world and also sends out short-term medical missions.  Our Club is presently working with Rotarian Dr. Marvin Clark on sending a container of medical equipment to Haiti.  Dr. Don Clark gave a presentation on the country, which is the third poorest in the world.   This spring, a surgical team is going to Haiti on a medical mission.  Dr. Don Clark, who has been there on medical missions in the past, as well as Dr. Paul Schaefer of Summerside will be part of the medical team.  During his presentation, Dr. Don Clark showed pictures of the town they will be working in (the "town" has a population of 275,000).  The pictures show the poverty, pollution and deforestation that shape the area. Dr. Clark was thanked by Antoine Richard.

The Rotary Club of Summerside is very fortunate to have a diverse membership with many dedicated Rotarians. This year's recipient of the True Rotarian Award is no exception.