I hope your week is off to a great start! As many of you already know, the Board recently made the difficult decision about this year’s July 4th Pancake Breakfast & Seafood Festival. We hope you will plan to be with us on July 4th, 2022!
We also made the decision to host an in person annual meeting, outdoors at Art Waves. Thank you, Liz! More information will follow soon. In the meantime, please mark your calendar for Wednesday, July 7th at 5 p.m. I hope to see you there as I pass the gavel to Lisa Horsch Clark!
This Wednesday, May 12th at Noon we will be joined by our friend Tommy Parham, from the YMCA. Please watch your email for Zoom details! Widely well known – the YMCA is an organization known by a single letter. The Y is a powerful association of men, women and children of all ages and from all walks of life joined together by a shared passion: to strengthen the foundations of the greater Mount Desert Island community.
With a commitment to nurturing the potential of kids, promoting healthy living and fostering a sense of social responsibility, the Y ensures that every individual has access to the essentials needed to learn, grow and thrive. Though the world may be unpredictable, one thing remains certain—the Y is dedicated to building healthy, confident, secure and connected children, families and communities.
And our local Y has a very long history on MDI. In September of 1899, several men including John S. Kennedy, George R. Dorr, and Edward Mears asked the State of Maine to allow them to create a Young Men's Christian Association (YMCA) in Bar Harbor. On April 6, 1900, the first official meeting of the Bar Harbor YMCA Board of Directors convened. Mr. M.K. Jesup was appointed President, Mr. Prescott Keyes was appointed Vice President, and Mr. Edward Mears was appointed Treasurer. Mr. A.H. Lynam was appointed Secretary.
Image of a "Middler Bible Club" circa 1902-1903 at the Bar Harbor YMCA (now the MDI YMCA). Courtesy MDI YMCA.
Finally, a reminder that we would like to share member news. Since we are not able to be together in person, many life events can pass without support or celebration. If you have news about yourself (or a fellow Rotarian) that you wish to share, please email me. Martha and I will make sure it is shared in the next Bulletin.
