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District 5370
Zone 24
 Chartered on
1 July 1998, District 5370 was formerly part of District 536 (and
later 5360), which at that time was one of the largest districts in
Rotary. This original district was known as District 18, when first
constituted in 1916. The first district conference was held in
Edmonton on 10-12 February 1918.
Discussions on dividing District 5360, involving all the clubs,
began in 1991, but it was not until 1998 at a district conference in
Lethbridge that the final decision to divide the District into
northern and southern halves was made. The demarcation line chosen
is 52 degrees, 45 minutes north latitude, which is approximately 60
miles south of Edmonton and 120 miles north of Calgary.
District 5370, which covers an area of 520,000 square miles, began
with 39 clubs and 1,900 members. As of 1 July 2003, the District has
grown in five years to 51 clubs and approximately 2,500 members,
representing a growth or 32 per cent in clubs and 38 per cent in
members. The District has clubs in Alberta, British Columbia,
Northwest Territories, and Saskatchewan.
Rotary has been an active force in this area since the Edmonton Club
was formed on 13 March 1916, sponsored jointly by the Rotary Clubs
of Winnipeg (1910) and Calgary (1914). In the early years extension
of new clubs proceeded slowly. For example, the next club after
Edmonton was not chartered at Camrose until 1924. In the first 50
years of Rotary only 11 clubs were formed in the area that is now
District 5370.
Rotary grew slowly, but effectively, providing many community
services. Prior to the introduction of the Hospital Services Act in
1957, many Rotary clubs participated in building medical facilities
in their towns and cities. In 1917, the Rotary Club of Edmonton
introduced a day care centre and, in 1918 started a youth emergency
shelter. In the early years the Club purchased Christmas hampers and
delivered them to needy families. They also supported the Edmonton
Eskimos football team, Hockey Edmonton, and the Commercial Grads, a
championship women’s basketball team, coached by Rotarian Percy
Page. On May 11, 1922, CJCA radio station broadcast live a meeting
of the Rotary Club of Edmonton. Later the Club assisted,
financially, both the vocalist Robert Goulet and the opera singer
Ermanno Mauro. Most recently this Club has completed Rotary
Millennium House, a residence for low income seniors. Moreover, the
District has supported seniors by forming four very active Probus
clubs since 1990.
During the 1960s, Rotary clubs were organized in many small centres;
they have made significant contributions to their communities. At
least 30 clubs have built “Rotary Parks.” In 1934, clubs in what is
now District 5370 participated in the formation of the
Waterton-Glacier International Peace Park, discussed above in
Ninety-five Years of Service. Several clubs have sponsored music
festivals and cadet corps. The Rotary Club of Camrose has sponsored
an Air Cadet Squadron since 1957. Rotary is the third largest
sponsor of cadet programs in Alberta.
Rotary clubs in Edmonton participated in the construction of Fort
Edmonton park. The park was started by the Edmonton South Rotary
Club in 1971 as a club project, but all the Edmonton Rotary clubs
contributed to a start-up fund of $200,000. Eventually the clubs
contributed $1.5 million to the park which officially opened in
1974.
Retiring local farmer Ottie Toane heard about the Fort Edmonton
project and offered the Edmonton South Club antique farm equipment
for the park. The Club accepted his offer, and asked him to show
them how to use the equipment. He refused, but said he would
operate the equipment for them. Plans were made to start a harvest
festival on the Labour Day weekend. Ollie demonstrated old-time
harvesting methods from the days of scythe and flail, through
horse-drawn binders, balers, and grinders to early-day steam-tractor
powered threshers. 
Over 44,000
people observed the first performance, which became an annual
affair.
Jack Edworthy, chair of the start-up group, asked Ottie Toane why he
was not a Rotarian. Ollie replied “Nobody asked me!” Needless to say
Ollie had a speedy proposal, approval, and induction to a Rotary
Club. He remained a dedicated Rotarian and participant in the
harvest festival for the rest of his life.
The Rotary
Club of Edmonton sponsored the Rotary Club of Fort McMurray in 1977.
Two years later, the young club obtained a lease of about 500 acres
near the airport, which it developed into an RV park with 40
serviced and powered stalls. The park now produces an annual profit
of $100,000. The Club has been very active in student exchange, as
well as RYLA and RYPEN. The Club is a good supporter of the
PolioPlus and a World Community Service medical project in Ecquador.
This very active club raised $2.5 million for constructed of Rotary
House, an assisted living complex with 40 units, now celebrating six
years of service. The Club’s Rotary Centennial Project is the
construction of a large gazebo-shelter on a major walking trail. The
Club hosted the 2001 District Conference.
The Fort McMurray club sponsored the Fort McMurray Oilsands club in
1982. This small club, now with only nine members, has supported a
music festival; raised funds to purchase two tour buses for seniors;
sent students to RYLA and RYPEN; and donated generously to the
PolioPlus program.
District
5370 offers RYLA and RYPEN programs (described elsewhere I this
history).started a unique youth program called Rotary Youth Program
of Enrichment (RYPEN). Both have had a profound effect on the
development of youth. One wrote the following about RYPEN: “You
will never know how you changed my life. I was failing at school,
but this year I graduated with Honours”. The District now operates
two RYPEN camps every year. Youth programs is a major focus of
District 5370. In addition to RYLA and RYPEN, the clubs participate
in international youth exchange, Snacks for Inner City Schools, and
scholarships. The Rotary Club of Edmonton West provides three annual
scholarships at the University of Alberta, each valued at $7,500.
Rotary International has judged the districts youth program one of
the best in North America.
The District has received other honours too. In its first and second
years of operation (1998-2000) every club in the district received a
presidential citation. In the third year, 89 per cent of the clubs
received the honour. Many individual Rotarians have been honoured.
Several District Rotarians – Maryann Bibby, Zen Moisey, Eunice
Maris, Ken Haverland, Russ Mann, Hugh Impey and Dr. Tom Greidanus -
have received the “Service Above Self Award”..
Canadian Rotarians were asked to raise $12 million for the final
drive to rid the world of polio. By 2002-03, District 5370 had
raised $1,200,000; federal government matching grants brought the
total to $1,600,000.
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Hans Granholm
THE DISTRICT
5370 HISTORY |
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May 19,
2010
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Rotary
Districts were first established in 1915, at which time the
Calgary Downtown Club was the only one in our area. In 1957,
the present District was established as District 536 without
change to the geographic boundaries of the original
District. Since there were only 30 clubs in the District at
the time, Governor Glen Peacock of Calgary initiated an
extension drive which resulted in eight new clubs receiving
their charters, setting a District record.
The Edmonton
Club was chartered in 1916. |
In 1972
Northeast British Columbia was added, increasing the area of
the District at that time to 893,065 square miles. In 1991,
the year that the number of the District was changed from
536 to 5360, Spruce Grove became the 37th addition to the 30
original District 536 clubs. In 2004-05 there was more than
one club in seven communities in District 5370: FortSt.
John, Dawson Creek, Lloydminster, Sherwood Park, St. Albert,
Fort McMurray, and Camrose with two each, Grand Prairie with
three, and not counting outlying areas, Edmonton with 15.
In 1972, the clubs in the United States, Canada, and Bermuda
were organized in zones for the purpose of electing
directors to the Board of Rotary International. Zone 22,
consisting of all Canadian clubs, cuts across the 23
Districts to which these Clubs belong. Only seven of these
Districts in 1998/99, including District 5370, have only
Canadian clubs, the remaining 16 being international in
scope.
In 2009
Rotary International embarked on a zone realignment
worldwide, resulting in Zone 22 being re-named Zone 24 and
the total number of districts is now 16. Zone 24 is
partnered with Zone 32 in Northeastern USA.
During the tenure of DG Bill Young (1977-78) the geographic
dimensions of the District prompted the first consideration
of redistricting. It was not until the early 1990s, however,
that a committee of past District Governors began to study
the matter seriously, under successive chairmen PDG Frank
Totino and PDG Alan MacLean, respectively. After careful
consideration of twelve different "redistricting scenarios",
the committee recommended splitting District 5360 along an
east-west line of demarcation across the existing District
(being the 52nd degree, 45 minute parallel of latitude,
north of Ponoka, Alberta). This recommendation was adopted
by a vote of the clubs attending the 1995 District
Conference in Lethbridge and, following a subsequent vote of
approval by the RI Board of Directors, the clubs north of
the line across the old District became members of District
5370, effective July 1, 1998; those clubs south of the line
became members of the new reconfigured District 5360. The
equitable division of assets of the former District between
the two new Districts was agreed to by vote of the clubs at
the 1997 District Conference in Banff.
We are a new District but our fine traditions continue. The
names of many Past District Governors and other district
leaders are honored in our District Awards program. In
addition, we continue our participation in the
Waterton-Glacier International Peace Park program.
Participation in sports activities transcends the District
boundaries, as evidenced in the joint curling bonspiel and
golfing events.
Now in our eleventh year as a District we have established a
strong reputation for the quality of our Community Service
and World Community Service Work as well as our support of
the Rotary Foundation. With the recent chartering of
the Parkland After Dark and Edmonton Whyte Avenue rotary
clubs, the District has grown to 60 clubs with a
membership over 2500 Rotarians. With the help of these two
new clubs, and the five Rotaract and eight Interact Clubs,
Rotarians, Rotaractors and Interactors will demonstrate our
motto "Service Above Self" in an ever-increasing number of
communities.
[Part of the above history is reproduced with
acknowledgement from the 1998-99 District 5360 Directory] |
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