Hello Rotarians,

Last week, we had a last minute cancellation from Birch Bay Village. The town was doing some repair work last Wednesday, and for sanitation purposes, we had to cancel the Rotary lunch. I hope the cancellation messages were received in time and no one ended up going to Birch Bay.

It is February already, though January felt like a year instead of a month, at least for me. That means we are more than halfway through Rotary’s year, and there's still more to do until I pass the gavel to Stefanie. More service opportunities are coming; our Service Chair Josh Yarbrough is working on that and possibly more members joining the club. Whatever we are doing, I think it's great and it's happening because of all the members of this club that care for this community and live for the Rotary motto: Service Above Self.

We have received an invitation to register for the District Conference. The District Conference is taking place the first weekend of May, from May 1-3. Registration is available on the district website. This year the Conference will be at the Samoset Resort in Rockland, Maine. The conference is a time where we celebrate the success of our clubs and Youth in Rotary. This year, we will be getting more resources for conquering suicide and substance abuse disorder (emphasis on opioids). In addition to that, there is all the fun that you do not want to miss. If you are planning to go, be sure to register and let Ron Wrobel and me know you are doing so. The club has a portion of the budget set aside to cover some expenses.

I would also like to thank Mike Madell for his hard and continuous work as webmaster of the website. In the last couple of weeks, we have encountered errors with our website, and Mike has been so patient and diligent working on that, along with support from Rotary International. I can't thank them enough for fixing some of the problems encountered. There are still a few more repairs to do, but I am sure this will be resolved shortly. Thanks Mike; you rock!!

This Wednesday, our evening meeting is at Jack Russell's. See you there for cocktails and Rotary!

“Continuous improvement is better than delayed perfection”- Mark Twain

President Susy