A huge turnout of Rotarians, friends and family honoured Sunrise Rotarians Ron Ross and Geoff Yule on June 27. Ross was the recipient of Rotary International’s Distinguished Service Award, while Yule received the Queen Elizabeth Diamond Jubilee Medal from the Government of Canada.
Ron Ross was cited for his 35 years of service to Rotary during which he served as District Governor to District 5080 encompassing parts of Western Washington, Northern Idaho, and this part of British Columbia. During that time, Ross dedicated himself to serving youth exchange as its co-ordinator, serving on numerous District 5080 committees such as Foundation Chair, Grants Chair, GSE chair, and World Community Service Chair. He has chaired and led many seminars and conference sessions at District and Zone events. In addition, he led a Rotary Group Study Exchange team to Bolivia and hosted teams from Australia, Chile, India, Philippines, and Britain.
Perhaps Ron Ross and his wife Elaine are most noted for their work in Honduras with the Tegucigalpa market children project, its mobile library, and its educational programs, which now supports 3000 students. He has been instrumental in acquiring funds from at least seven major Rotary districts in order to sponsor more Market Children and related programs in Tegucigalpa.
Geoff Yule was introduced by former Rotary Interact member, Chelan Padmoroff. She and her sister Sierra nominated Yule for the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee award because the announcement indicated the Government was looking for “individuals with dedicated service to their peers, their community, and Canada.” The two sisters immediately thought of their wonderful training and community service under the wise leadership of Rotarian Geoff Yule, and so they applied for the medal to honour his service to young people.
Yule was cited for his work with Rotary Interact students and youth exchange over the past 15 years. He has thrown himself into projects for the Interact students that saw the Interact students travel to Honduras, Bolivia, and South Africa to carry out humanitarian projects. In her remarks, Padmoroff stated that Geoff Yule “recognizes the importance of investing time in youth and takes the time to motivate youth in making positive change, both within the community and worldwide.”
Both Ron Ross and Geoff Yule were given standing ovations by their fellow Rotarians and received words of congratulations from Ann Harvey, Assistant to MP Alex Atamanenko; Katrine Conroy, MLA; and Gord Turner, Castlegar Deputy Mayor.