Rotary in France (vs. Thunder Bay)

Justine Bertrand° New member since February

2011°© 2011 Alsace, France

‘The following is a brief but hopefully informative and humoristic update of my time here in France. I want you all to know that there is absolutely no place in the world like Port Arthur Rotary and you should all be so proud to be members of such an amazing club. Even though I am only a new member, I miss Rotary in Canada very much and can’t wait to rejoin you in January.’

Cordialement and YIR,Justine Bertrand

Words of Wisdom

Where am I ???

Cernay Area

This piece of land is litterally the beginning of the white wine route in Alsace (which is180km in total); If anyone happens to be visiting France before X-mas and would like a tour, contact me. I actually highly recommend a team-building get-away to the area!

The bird to the right is called a ‘cigogne’ and is about 2-3 feet in height. They are famously known in Alsace, especially inCernay and spend their summers resting in Africa.

This emblem is the logo for Cernay and is also included on the Rotary Flag. The fish represent trout which are very popluar in the region and absolutely delicious! I was able to catch 8 (2kg) on a recent fishing trip in a pond the size of a 400m track.

I am hoping to visit all of these clubs before the end of December. The Thann-Cernay club is currently my home club and is the flag circled at the top. We have received a lot of great feedback about the Port Arthur Rotary flag and what it represents.

Clubs in the Région

Getting to know members

François is the beloved President of the Thann-Cernay Rotary Club. It doesn’t get anymore French than this! He is very ‘gentil et sympa’ as they say in French and does a wonderful job leading the club.

Lucien is a very active member of the Mulhouse Rhin club who went out of his way to ensure that I could take part in various Rotary events both within and outside of meetings.

Parcours de Sante: A running trail with obstacles used to promote

fitness for adolescents and adults Grape harvest:

chance to get to know French wines/connaisseurs Hiking in the Vosges:

a mountain range in Alsace to raise proceeds for the local ski team

Rallye in Mulhouse: a national race car event where Rotarians have a

booth to sell pop & frites

List of Rotary Events Attended

Structure of the meetings (i.e. announcements, main speaker, time to network)

Friendly smiles, good humour and a French version of Bob Tomilson & David Sillman

The president is overworked and underpaid but does a fantastic job!!! (Miss you Kevin)

A desire to retain consistent membership and encourage young and friendly faces to join the best club in the world.

Some Similarities

Lunches/dinners last at least 2 hrs and there’s never any gaurantee when anything will end

Not very many women and not very many younger members (i.e. > 50 yrs)… boy do these guys have it all wrong

No singing of the national anthem… this might be a bit too time consuming

No happy dollars as the French may become unhappy to give away a well earned Euro

Some Differences

In case you had any doubt Laurie Tulloch that I caught eight trout,…Voila!

Evidence of Trout Fishing

Au Revoir et A bientôt!!!