The Stettler Rotary is looking for some volunteers.
Currently sitting around 20 members, the Rotary Club of Stettler is down from 40 members during the early 200s according to current club president Dennis McIntosh.
"It is very much a problem," said McIntosh. "It's a problem across the board, basically."
McIntosh notes that a decrease in members isn't just a Stettler problem, but a problem being seen across Rotary across North America and Europe.
The Stettler Rotary has been involved in fundraising for a number of projects in the community, including the Spray Park which was built in the early 2000s. Other projects the Rotary Club has been involved with include the completion of the lobby at the Stettler Rec. Centre, funding towards the running track at Wm. E. Hay School, and a variety of scholarships just to name a few.
McIntosh notes that the Stettler Spray Park is nearing the end of its service life and recently had a pipe burst underground, so the service club has been in talks with the town to take it on as a project to get it revamped.
"We don't know the entire scope of the project yet," said McIntosh.
However, projects like the Spray Park revamp are made more challenging with fewer active members; McIntosh added that when the project was initially developed in the 2000s a lot more members meant a lot more doors were knocked on at local businesses to raise funds for the project.
"It's very hard to keep that same level of fundraising to do these same projects," said McIntosh.
Rotary is open to anyone in the community 18 and older and meets at the Stettler United Church every Monday from Noon until 1 p.m. with lunch provided.
According to McIntosh, the meetings are usually used to discuss project ideas or feature a guest speaker usually from another service group or program. He notes that sometimes groups, like the schools, are looking for funding for this or that while other times groups are looking for volunteer manpower.
"99 per cent of the time we vote to support them," said McIntosh.
McIntosh says that there is no minimum amount to being a Rotarian, but he finds that the "more time you put into something, the more you will get out of it."
Stettler's Rotary club has seen some attrition over the last year; when McIntosh started his term as president, there were 23 members but between retirements and people not having the time or moving, three have left the organization.
Ideally, McIntosh would like to see growth within the organization; while he would love to see five new members join the organization in the short term, he would be happy to see one or two new members per year going forward.
As for why Rotary, given the other service clubs around Stettler, for McIntosh it comes down to history and camaraderie.
The Stettler Rotary organization celebrated 100 years in 2024 and has members from all walks of life, including accountants, sign makers, electricians, business leaders and town councillors.
"They're very successful in their respective fields," said McIntosh.
"There is all these wonderful connections you can make in Rotary ... there's a wide network of people you can fall back on when you need assistance. Without even thinking Rotarians are going to drop everything and come right away."
And, that sense of fellowship extends beyond Stettler.
McIntosh noted that he was recently in Ontario visiting family. While he had some downtime, he decided to attend a local Rotary meeting. When he identified himself as a Rotarian he was welcomed with open arms; McIntosh and the Ontario Rotarians shared lunch, and ideas, and discussed various projects they each had underway.
"You're always welcome to walk into one of these clubs as well," said McIntosh.
For more information, check out the Rotary Club of Stettler at portal.clubrunner.ca/978 or on Facebook.
