Rotarian Heidi Omlor as our guest speaker and we inducted a new member, Ruth Moore! Welcome to the club Ruth! We also presented checks to Comfort Cases and to Acadian Youth Sports.
Opening Ceremonies: President Jo Cooper called the meeting to order. Invocation by Ray Williams and we said the Pledge of Allegiance.
Greeter: Dom Efter
Well Wisher: Tricia Quirk
Sargent at Arms: Julie and Tony Bouchard
Guests: Busch Moore, John Shoppe
Birthdays: Jane Langley 8/15
Vocational Minute: Tricia Quirk
Door Prizes: Lucky Winners were Linda Fuller, Heidi Omlor, Ashley Johnson, Tracy Shaffer
50/50: $16 to Scott Kimball
Happy Dollars Highlights: Scott Kimball, Jackie Sinclair, Carl Lusby, Terri Stephens, Laurie Fogelman, Laura Pellerano, Danny Ray, Irv Hodgkin, Jane Langley, Dave Wells, Fred Beyer, Tracy Shaffer. All dollars will go towards Polio Plus this quarter.
Rotary Business:
- New Member Induction: Ruth Moore. Welcome to the club Ruth!
- Membership Director Marian Wells announced Membership Night will be October 29th
- Rotarian Allegra Pellerano will be attending RYLA in September.
- President Jo Cooper gave a brief history of the Rotary Foundation.
- Pancake Breakfast Wrap-Up Meeting – August 20th
- Community Support Director Cindy Shoppe presented check to Comfort Cases and to Acadian Youth Sports.
- Autumn Gold Pancake Breakfast will be Saturday, September 28th from 7:30am – 10:30am at EEMS in Ellsworth. $7 Adults and Children under 12 $3
Program/Speaker:
Rotarian Heidi Omlor was our guest speaker this week. Heidi is currently working on a PhD in Holocaust and Genocide Studies. She recently traveled to France, Spain, and Portugal as part of her studies.
Heidi shared photos about her trip to Portugal and the story of Sousa Mendes. He was one of the great heroes of the Second World War. As the Portuguese consul stationed in Bordeaux, France, he found himself confronted in May and June of 1940 with the reality of many thousands of refugees outside the Portuguese consulate attempting to escape the horrors of the Nazi war machine. These persons were in desperate need of visas to get out of France, and a Portuguese visa would allow them safe passage through Spain to Lisbon, the capital of Portugal, where they could find liberty to travel to other parts of the globe.
Sousa Mendes issued thousands of visas during that time, with the period of highest intensity lasting around twelve days, from June 12-23, 1940. This heroic feat was characterized by the Holocaust historian Yehuda Bauer as “perhaps the largest rescue action by a single individual during the Holocaust.”
For his act of defiance Sousa Mendes was severely punished by Salazar, stripped of his diplomatic position and forbidden from earning a living. He had fifteen children, who were themselves blacklisted and prevented from attending university or finding meaningful work. In this way what was once an illustrious and well-respected family – one of the great families of Portugal – was crushed and destroyed. The family’s ancestral home, known as “Casa do Passal,” was repossessed by the bank and eventually sold to cover debts.
Before his death in 1954, Sousa Mendes asked his children to clear his name and have the honor of the family restored. His sons and daughters, along with their children – now scattered all over the globe – have fought for decades to have his deeds posthumously recognized.
Respectfully submitted by Ashley Johnson
