GORE BAY—On a night when two great local service organizations got together to share in a Christmas dinner celebration, two Gore Bay residents were recognized with very prestigious awards.
The Gore Bay Rotary Club and Gore Bay-Western Manitoulin Lions Club held a joint Christmas dinner at the Manitoulin Island Country Club (MICC) on Wednesday of last week. On this special evening, the Rotary Club bestowed Paul Harris Fellow awards to both Walter Maskel and Betsy Clark; the highest honours that Rotary can give.
Jack Clark, president of the Gore Bay Rotary Club, explained that, “Paul Harris was the founder of Rotary. He was a lawyer from Evaston, Illinois, and was one of four people that first established the Rotary Club, which is now made up of over 1.3 million members—with more than 35,000 clubs worldwide.”
“The Paul Harris Fellow Award is presented to people who do outstanding work in their community,” said Mr. Clark. “The first person we are awarding this evening is Walter Maskel. Walter has been, and continues to be, a legend in the amateur theatre scene, not only in Northern Ontario but for the entire province.”
“I could go on for a long time about the list of personal accomplishments and the accomplishments of all the individuals under his tutelage, but this award is not about his personal accomplishments but rather what he has done and continues to do for the community,” said Mr. Clark. “This award is about what he means to the community. Firstly, as this is a Rotary award, I need to speak to what a great help he has been to the Rotary Club, particularly with our dinner theatres. He has been very patient with us and extremely flexible to make these work so well. He has also helped Rotary out with other events including being master of ceremonies at variety nights.”
“One can only understand the level of effort which he puts in to make each production a success once you have lived through it,” continued Mr. Clark. “There are countless hours put in selecting the appropriate play, casting the actors and actresses (because there is not a long line of people lining up for casting calls), building and assembling the sets, setting up the theatre and working through all the authorizations to perform a particular play—and that is all before the real work starts as director.”
Mr. Clark pointed out that “individual actors and actresses spend countless hours honing their individual craft but Walter spends that much time on each and every one of the performers. The fact that Gore Bay is one of the very few places in the province where one can see a different performance on back to back nights speaks to the quality of theatrics which we have come to expect. The summer theatre package is a major draw for tourists through the summer.”
“Walter has also provided an opportunity for children and young adults to become exposed to theatre in a way that normally only exists in large urban centres and not always in those environments either,” said Mr. Clark. “His children’s plays have involved numerous children in the community and have allowed them an experience which will serve them well going forward.”
“While Walter has a deep passion for theatre and loves what he does, a big part of why he does it lies in his belief of community and the need to give back to the community if it is to be successful. In this regard, Walter is a true leader in our community and very deserving of this recognition,” said Mr. Clark.
“The second award is being presented to a person that is very special to me,” said Mr. Clark. “I personally think that just putting up with Jack and all his crazy ideas is more than enough justification for this award but allow me to talk a little on what she has meant for Gore Bay.”
“Betsy has been a tremendous supporter of Rotary,” said Mr. Clark. “As the spouse of a Rotarian, she has worked every Rotary function that I have and for the most part is much more valuable than I am. When it comes to assigning jobs she always gets picked before I do. She has dutifully followed me to conventions all over the province and had been a perfect host to district governors and other Rotary visitors.”
Mr. Clark said his wife, “has served two terms on council heading numerous committees including public works and the museum committee. She continues to help in this regard as a citizen volunteer, currently serving as chair of the library board and on the POA board. On the 125th anniversary committee she spearheaded one of the largest and most successful parades we have seen in Gore Bay.”
Ms. Clark has served two terms as president of the curling club and numerous years heading the kitchen committee “which is a much bigger and tougher job than the presidency,” said Mr. Clark. “She is active in the church as a member of the choir, on the pastoral care committee, was selected to sit on the committee to select the new minister and recently co-chaired the fowl supper. For years she was the organizer for the officials for minor hockey, yes, I got all the credit but she did all the work.”
“In years gone by, she was active in the school as a chaperone and as a tutor,” continued Mr. Clark. “Like Walter, Betsy believes that good things do not just happen in small towns, you have to go out and make them happen. For these reasons, we (Rotary) felt she, too, is a very deserving candidate for this award.”
Both Kevin Smith of the Rotary Club and Steve Gumb, president of the Lions Club, welcomed everyone to the dinner and wished everyone a very Merry Christmas.
“When we first talked about having this dinner, everyone immediately said it was a wonderful idea,” said Mr. Clark. “Our two service clubs do a lot of work in Gore Bay. I would like to thank those people that organized this dinner, and hope we will work together going forward. We all struggle with club membership and it makes sense to work together. On behalf of everyone here, I would like to thank Myrna Thomas and her staff for a wonderful meal.”
Mr. Clark, also a Gore Bay councillor, added, “on behalf of the town of Gore Bay I would like to thank both clubs for the outstanding work that you do. Good things don’t happen without a lot of hard work and our two clubs are a great example of that.”
