Welcome
Our Past Service Projects
Shanfield Shores Park
We have a partnership with the Parks Department of the City of Windsor since 1977 to improve the Ganatchio Trail, which includes an east-west trail that parallels Riverside Drive East, a north-south trail beginning just west of Sand Point Beach and the pavilion and totem pole on the waterfront at Sand Point Beach. This partnership was expanded to include Peche Island and associated lands in 1999.
We committed $50,000 over ten years toward the acquisition and development of the lands. When the city finalized the purchase and in recognition of Mr. Henry Shanfield's advocacy over many years to maintain Peche Island as undeveloped parkland to protect the ecological habitat for the many species that live there the shoreline land was named "Shanfield Shores Park".
For several years there was no development or improvement at Shanfield Shores until June 2003 when the Rotary Gazebo was opened and dedicated to Nijola Giedriunas, our Club President who had passed away. Four benches on the pathway lead to the gazebo which shows the Rotary Four Way Test, six new trees were planted and a memorial stone installed.
Since 2003 park improvements have continued with shoreline restoration, concrete walkways, installation of 12 more benches, landscaping and a park sign that also recognizes the donations of money, labour and material to the Nijola Fund by 127 individuals, groups and businesses. With completion of the park the Rotary Club of Windsor St.Clair will have contributed in excess of $100,000 toward the improvements.
The Ganatchio Trail
The Rotary Club of Windsor-St.Clair in 1977 took on a challenge that would change the landscape of our City and Essex County forever. Presented with all the facts, our Rotary Club saw the vision, and understood what a wonderful opportunity that was being placed before them, thus voted 100% to support the project. It was a very proud moment in our Club's history. It offers Windsorites the opportunity to walk, jog, in-line roller blade, and cycle a winding asphalt pathway, and encourages regular exercise and a healthy lifestyle.
The trail was given the name "Ganatchio Trail" by the Parks and Recreation Dept. The word "Ganatchio" is the name that was given to the body of water that we know today as Lake St. Clair, by the first Native Americans that frequented this area.
In the spring of 1983 the trail stretched 3 kilometers along Riverside Dr. from Little River to Tecumseh. Over the next four years, the trail linked Little River to Lauzon Road and then from Lauzon Rd. Eastward to Isabelle and Wyandotte, now expanding the Trail to 5.3 kilometers. In 1991, the trail took a turn South when The Little River Corridor was opened to the public. This is a 3.3 kilometer extension to the Trail, beginning just South of Sandpoint Beach and running South through the 200 acre Little River Corridor to Tecumseh Rd., linking the Trail to the Forest Glade sub-division. This section features Windsor's first Carolinian Arboretum, a naturalized arboretum with many varieties of distinctive wild flowers, trees, and plants, which thrive in Windsor's mild climate. It also includes a pond, a toboggan hill, and offers a unique walking, jogging, in-line skating, and cycling path that follows the natural course of Little River. The Trail was sculptured using fill from the Detroit River when the City Marina was being built.
In spring of 1984 a Totem-Pole standing in front of the pavilion at Sand Point Beach was erected and dedicated as a tribute to the history of the Native Americans who frequented this area. This Totem, carved by a Nootkon Indian Sculptor "Wikinanish", contains within its design, working from the bottom up, a beaver, a porcupine, a turtle, another beaver, a bear, an inverted deer in the grasp of a wolf, a snake and a hawk. These images represent local Cree, Ojibway, Mohawk, Cayuga, Seneca, Oneida, and other tribes who frequented this area in years past primarily for hunting. The huge 50 foot red cedar log, donated to our Rotary club by Western Forest Products, was shipped across the country from British Columbia to Windsor courtesy of the Canadian Pacific Railway, and was carved over a period of twenty two weeks in the hallway of St. Vincent de Paul School. This completed the design concept of the Ganatchio Park Facilities Building.
To date, the Rotary Club of Windsor St. Clair has contributed over $325,000.00 to the Ganatchio Trail development and its extensions. This project has spanned nearly three decades, and is still a work in progress.
The Best Fire Wagon in Namibia
The Town of Tecumseh approached the Rotary Club of Windsor-St. Clair in the spring of 2003 with an idea to really improve fire and rescue services in their "twin city" of Tsumeb, Namibia. A proper fire truck would be the catalyst for many other positive initiatives in that northern Namibian mining town of 22,500 people. Tecumseh had a surplus fire truck that needed an engine. They asked if our Club would provide the engine and help get the truck to Namibia.
Boundry-Free Playground Project in Lacasse Park, Tecumseh, Ontario
The concept of a completely boundary-free playground emerged in 2003, one designed so that all children, regardless of their level of physical or sensory development, could play together in the spirit of friendship and understanding. Construction began in August 2004.
This Rotary Centennial Playground fulfilled a community need, not otherwise met. Club members worked together to conceptualize the design, raise the necessary funds, and work with the Town of Tecumseh staff to see it through to fruition. As well, many Rotarians noted that they had never been so proud as the day we celebrated the grand opening of the playground and welcomed hundreds of children, with varying levels of physical and sensory development, to play together in the area we had created.
Teamwork was essential for a project of this magnitude. Our team for this project consisted of a number of groups and organizations. The design of the playground was a joint endeavor by Rotarians, the Town of Tecumseh, Little Tikes, and the Town of Tecumseh Accessibility Committee. Because of the funding required for such a project, Rotarians partnered with the Town of Tecumseh and with the Ontario Trillium Foundation. Rotarians also worked with members of Easter Seals for the grand opening of the playground in October 2004.