Service Above Self: Strength in humility

By Kitt Brand on October 28, 2025.

When someone strong and silent speaks, people listen. Such a one is Gail Halderman. Folks in Medicine Hat know him as the former owner of the New Holland dealership and as Fleet Manager at Murray Chevrolet and Cadillac.

His special skill? Helping business people make their operations more efficient and profitable. Whether it is working with Rotary Club of Medicine Hat, the Southeast Alberta Chamber of Commerce, Farm Equipment Dealers Foundation, Big Brothers Big Sisters, Halo, Food Bank, Youth Entrepreneurship 2025, or Salvation Army, Gail quietly gets the job done.

This summer he concentrated his efforts on RAYEC 2025, the weeklong summer camp focused on helping youth ages 13-15 learn essential skills like developing a business plan, designing a marketing strategy, and managing finances with real money. Their training culminates in a Business Day when campers operate their fully actualized businesses and sell to family, friends, and camp visitors.

So, when strong and silent Gail Halderman speaks, we listen. The setting was the BMO Centre hosting the Rotary International Convention in Calgary this past June. Gail and his wife Diane had been exploring the House of Friendship.

That’s a vast exhibit space presenting Rotary projects from around the world, actually a fraction of the efforts by 1,400,000 Rotarians from 200 countries. Some projects attack human trafficking, others, malaria, some provide sanitation and fresh water, some education for women and girls, some maternal health, some prosthetics for amputees, some Shelter Boxes for displaced refugees.

The Rotary clubs of Medicine Hat featured humanitarian projects by Canadians, Swedes, Estonians, and others to help Ukrainians furnish a rehabilitation wing and provide mental health camps for children and youth.

Gail’s quiet observation was, “There is so much need in the world. How can we do it all?”

The answer has been evident in his actions: Do as much as you can, wherever you can, whenever you can, for as long as you can. His moral code is the Four Way Test: Of the things we think, say, and do, is it the truth? Is it fair to all concerned? Will it build goodwill and better friendships? Will it be beneficial to all concerned?

As club treasurer, Gail manages the flow of funds to local, regional, Canadian, and international projects, and he does it with relentless cheer and encouragement.

Those are the same qualities with which he addresses the vicissitudes of everyday life. Whatever the circumstance, Gail meets it with a quiet, positive spirit. In his project management he scrutinized the use of funds in Ukraine.

The Swedish Rotary co-ordinators handling money in Europe earned an A+ ranking by Rotary International for accountability of Rotary and personal contributions to the projects in Ukraine.

When Gail and Diane are not the dream grandparents supporting the grandkids at hockey games across provinces, they are coming up with fundraising ideas.

Gail’s innovations are always tasty, witness his 2020 and 2021 Ribfests. These fundraisers supply the money for projects in the community. This year’s treat is a campaign in partnership with Lobster Mobsters.

Friends, family, and others order online from a vast selection of fish and seafood on the Lobster Mobsters website. The Club then is credited with 15% of the sales. The target time is late October through November to help folks stock up on luscious holiday delights.

Get your fish and seafood imaginations in gear. Text Gail at 403-548-0341 to find out how you can take part.