06/19/15 Bits & Pieces

Tom Nickerson opened the meeting with an invocation, and Russ Burleigh led us in a rendition “God Bless America.”

President Kris welcomed 52 members with 8 non-Rotarian guests. 

Incoming President Bowen Depke earned the right to draw a winning card for the $286 raffle, but was unable to pull the Queen. Tough draw with 51 cards in the deck!  

Amy Chipman gave us an update on a decision by the Service and Memorial Fund Trustees. With a remaining budget of $2000, the Trustees voted to provide $1250 to Long Creek Youth Development Center. This money will primarily be used to assist individuals who have been in the system transition back into the community. An example would be assistance on first month’s apartment rental. Accepting for Long Creek was Mike Fortunato. A second provision of $750 was given to the Boys and Girls Club of Southern Maine, to support a program named “Teen Cooking On A Budget.” The course provides training on how to shop and cook for yourself and family when funds are tight.

Harold Crabill reminded us that we have to pay attention to our club calendars! There will be no club meeting on July 3rd due to the holiday weekend. The following week, we will not meet on Friday the 10th. Instead, the club meeting will be on Thursday the 9th, aboard Casco Bay Lines! Our Jewell Island Cruise has a 6pm departure time. This is open to everybody – club members, family members, friends.  Music, heavy hors d'oeuvres, and lots of fun. The Jewell stop is in part to remember our late friend Bob Patten, who spearheaded the clean up/rehabbing of the island in 1992. Ticket price $40 per person – for reservations, contact Loretta Rowe:  lrowe@maine.rr.com

Glenn Nerbak had news from RYLA – Rotary Youth Leadership Awards. Our club will sponsor 3 Portland High students, and 1 Waynflete student to the upcoming Camp RYLA, at the Grizzly Creek Ranch in Portola, CA. The students will participate in a wide variety of leadership training that they can bring back to the community. We look forward to hearing their report.

(Photo: Glenn Nerbak, 3 PHS Students and Laura                 Young.)

2nd VP Laura Young introduced 4 students who had just returned from “Odyssey of the Mind,” an international student program based around creative problem solving held at Michigan State University this past May. Students range from kindergarten through college, believing our students were in 6th-7th grade. They competed in various categories, from building mechanical devices from raw materials, to presenting their interpretations of famous books. Your humble B&P editor tried real hard to follow along with what our 4 students were saying about their experience. With a nod to our guest, “Hey Cutler,” our first student provided a heavily detailed, but somewhat elusive accounting of what he did while at the event. The second student, a young lady, had a sudden case of the giggles, replaced by the third who read from the second student’s notes. (The fourth student, probably mortified, did not speak.) All in all, it seemed like they had a great time. Gotta love that age group!