By Grace Oborne

With the excitement of the Rotary Club of Minden’s milestone, members of the club have created the Minden Rotary Scavenger Hunt and are inviting everyone to play.
This summer, Minden Rotary is celebrating 75 years of service to the community. The scavenger hunt is for residents, cottagers, and their families to learn about the projects that Minden Rotary has helped to complete in the community for close to eight decades.
“The idea is to celebrate 75 years of Rotary being part of helping Minden to grow and develop. Mentioned in the scavenger hunt are projects that some people aren’t even aware of. It’s just kind [of] a game, something fun for people to do for the local families that maybe aren’t aware of the work that’s been done,” said the club’s past-president Lynda Litwin.
“It’s also for some new people that have moved into town that aren’t aware of what Rotary’s done and for the cottagers.”

Seventy-five signs are located around Minden. The signs can be found at certain projects that Rotary has helped to finance and build. Signs can be found in the storefront window of a merchant as well. This is a way for the scavenger hunt to honor Rotary’s partners and businesses that have supported their fundraising events over the years.
Minden Rotary is providing everyone with a flyer to help with hints as to where you can find all 75 of the signs.
Flyers can be picked up at Molly’s Bistro Bakery, Dollo’s Foodland, Easton’s Valumart, the Minden Times office, TD Bank, CIBC, Minden municipal office, Dominion Hotel, Pharmasave, Remedy’s RX, Up River Trading, Century 21, RE/MAX Professionals North, On the Spot Variety, Suwan’s Thai Cuisine, Little Bit of Everything, Paulmac’s Pets, Godfather’s Pizza, Floyd Hall Insurance, Rising Thymes and Kawartha Dairy.
Litwin said the scavenger hunt is meant to be a fun activity for families during a few days of the summer.
“Families can break it up over a couple of days. You don’t have to do it all at once. You can do it however you want to do it. There’s no rules. It’s just an experience to share with friends and family, to discover some of the work that Rotary has done.”
Once all 75 signs have been found, the scavenger hunt is complete.
Rotary is encouraging families to fill out their flyers with their name and phone number and to bring them to the first-ever Rotaryfest to submit and be included in a draw for a chance to win a family prize.
Rotaryfest will take place on Saturday, Aug. 13 from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m., at the Minden Fairgrounds located on Bobcaygeon Road and Fleming Road.
The Minden Rotary club, along with their new president, Dave Woodcroft, came up with the idea of Rotaryfest which would be a great way to showcase community awareness.
“The significance of Rotaryfest to the community is the community awareness that we’re going to generate. I don’t think a lot of people understand how much we give. We have invited the other clubs because we want to celebrate volunteerism,” Woodcroft said.
Food and music will be available to all attendees to enjoy. There will be a corn roast while CanoeFM and live musicians play.
The club will also put together a trunk yard sale where people can come and sell their belongings out of the trunk of their vehicle. Rotary is asking for a $10 donation from anyone that wants to be a vendor in the trunk sale.

The Minden Curling Club will be open as well. Residents are encouraged to visit the curling club, see what they have planned this summer, and find out about memberships. The lounge will be opened at the curling club to provide air conditioning for the expected hot summer day. A game of bingo will be hosted at the bar of the curling club as well.
“Rotary has raised a lot of money by hosting bingo at the old arena. That’s how we raised the money for helping to build the hospital and the build of the community centre,” Woodcroft said.
As people come in for the day, Rotary encourages a voluntary donation.
“That’s up to them. It’s not required. We’re trying to make this so that anybody in the community can attend. We want everyone to have fun and enjoy themselves,” Woodcroft said.
For more information on the 75th anniversary Minden Rotary Scavenger Hunt or Rotaryfest, or to resister to be a vendor for the yard sale, email events@mindenrotary.ca.