By Steve Blake
Special to The Record
The Rotary Club of the Boundary in Stanstead has donated to a lot of money to non-profit causes in its 88 years of existence. But the club emptied its bank account Saturday by giving to several organizations. Its dwindling membership has led the club to throw in the towel.
“It’s sad that it’s got to go,” President Jim Thompson said Saturday, “it’s been here for so long. But it’s hard to get people.”
The club’s major fundraiser – its bi-monthly book sales – will continue for now.
The Boundary Rotary Club was the first of the international benevolent organization to be truly international when it formed in 1935. It welcomed members from Quebec and Vermont. At times the membership rose to 40, Rotarian Alan Smith said in an interview in 2017. In the end, the membership was down to eight.
The reasons are many, 60-year member Raymond Fluet suggested. The five-time president said it hurt when the Canada-US border was closed due to COVID. That meant that the Americans couldn’t go to the meetings. And younger people don’t seem to be as interested, he said. They’re busy with their kids – they have time constraints.
