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Event held in celebration of Rotary Foundation's 100th birthday

Local clubs from Abbotsford and Mission on hand at Reach Gallery Museum
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Leslie McConnell and Andrea Lingren view a pediatric iron lung used for patients with polo. This unit was on display at Rotary 100th anniversary celebrations on Tuesday night at The Reach Gallery Museum.

The Rotary Foundation’s 100th anniversary was celebrated with a special event at The Reach Gallery Museum on Tuesday night.

On hand were members from the Abbotsford, Sumas-Matsqui and Abbotsford-Sumas Rotary Clubs, as well as the Mission Rotary Club, the Mission Mid-day Rotary Club, and the Fraser Valley Rotaract Club.

They celebrated Rotary’s rich history of “Doing Good in the World” – from the battle against the polio virus to establishing Rotary Peace Centres.

Highlights of the evening include hearing from Rotary district governor Scott Dudley and meeting the “Juvenile Iron Lung,” which was on display in the gallery and loaned by the Vancouver General Hospital School of Nursing Alumnae Association.

These medical devices were used heavily during the polio scare of the 19040s and ’50s in Canada and throughout the world to help children survive polio and put them on the road to recovery.

Sara Lawson, Rotary Club of Abbotsford president, said polio is close to being eradicated thank to the help of thousands of Rotarians and funding from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and the federal government.

“It is very likely that eradication will happen in the next few years. What an amazing feat, and legacy for the Rotary Foundation,” Lawson said.

Also at the celebration, the Paul Harris Fellow Award was presented to Andrew Franklin, former publisher of the Abbotsford News and a past president of the Rotary Club of Abbotsford, in recognition of the significant efforts he made toward the End Polio Now campaign and his long-standing commitment to Rotary’s humanitarian efforts.

Special guests and dignitaries on hand for the celebration were presidents of all the local Rotary Clubs; Abbotsford Mayor Henry Braun; city councillors Patricia Ross, Kelly Chahal, Brenda Falk and Dave Loewen; Abbotsford MLAs Mike de Jong and Darryl Plecas; and Mission Mayor Randy Hawes.