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Week in Review

Posted by Sarah Curley on Nov 07, 2018

4 way test: Brenda Pollock

Invocation: Ken Farley

Announcements: Open Meeting

50/50 Drawing: Jeremy Ray $26

Sergeant At-Arms:

Happy Dollars

Dennis- Dayton set record for voting
Brenda Pollock- Sons book launch
Happy $20 from Marty
Sabine- her road is being paved (finally!)
Jeremy Ray- 50/50 winnings
Dr. Joe – because he is always happy basically

Fines

All guys not participating in No Shave November
Everyone who didn’t vote
Everyone that voted and posted a picture of it online
Matt Simmons for thinking Lucy didn’t update us on stuff a bus
Jackson for “trying” to grow a beard

Open Meeting:

*EVERYONE BRING MONEY NEXT WEEK SO JIM CAN BUY THANKSGIVING FOR 12 FAMILIES*

Chief MacKenzie holding opiate training Nov 15^th 5pm-6:30pm at 112 College Drive, Wells
December 12^th $100 Raffle – MARK YOUR CALENDARS
Jessica Holland & Matt Early resigned
Requests:
- Approved - $250 from company B to match Sarah’s daughters winter coat donation
- Approved- $1,000 to do Biddeford girl’s hockey locker-room
- Approved- Biddeford field hockey girls championship rings

November is Rotary Foundation Month

Posted by Brian Dallaire on Nov 05, 2018

"The Rotary Foundation is not [designed] to build monuments of brick and stone. If we work upon marble, it will perish; it we work with brass, time will efface it; if we rear temples they will crumble into dust. But if we work upon immortal minds, it we imbue them with the full meaning of the spirit of Rotary ... we are engraving on those tablets something that will brighten all eternity." -- Arch C. Klumph, 1916017 President of Rotary International.

Here is how our Global Grant has made an impact on the world!

Biddeford-Saco and Amman Cosmopolitan Rotary Clubs

About two years ago, Roland Gagne, Past President of the Rotary Club of Biddeford-Saco, was appalled by the daily onslaught of newspaper photographs and TV coverage showing the plight and suffering of so many children - refugees from the horrible and ongoing conflict in Syria. You probably remember those photographs yourself. Roland decided he could no longer be just an onlooker and that he had to do something.

He reached out and made contact with the Collateral Repair Project, a nonprofit organization that operates a community center in East Amman, Jordan. Working with Jordanian Rotarians, they put together a program to assist refugee children. The project provides school supplies, uniforms, and fees to enroll about 200 students in school. It furnishes special help to at-risk children falling behind in school and to 30 teens who have been out of the formal educational system for some time. The program also developed a child-focused literacy center with books, materials, and other technology and a special teen-leader training program to encourage mentoring of younger children.

This grant ended up being $187,301 and was the first Rotary Global Grant to assist refugees in front line situations. Ten District 7780 clubs contributed to the grant and $20,000 in District Designated Funds went toward it. So, any of you who contributed to the Annual Fund supported this grant. It is a wonderful example of the tremendous work being funded by our Foundation and how one person’s idea or concern can bring about life-changing opportunities for those in need.

Terry Hayes, gubernatorial candidate

Posted by Bill Kany on Oct 31, 2018

Guest Speaker: Our guest speaker was the last in the series of gubernatorial (weird word, sounds like we are electing Gomer Pyle) candidates, Terry Hayes. Conrad got to know Terry in Augusta when she was in the legislature. One day, she apparently felt Conrad was stressed and she invited him in to make a puzzle. The puzzle apparently had 20 large pieces and Conrad was more stressed when he left Terry’s office than when he went in.

Terry Hayes was very engaging and said that the election is like an 18 month job interview and she preferred to handle her presentation to our club like a job interview, so we asked her questions. She is an independent and a clean elections candidate so we paid for her campaign. She has run a very positive campaign with no negative ads.

The following are some of her answers to our questions.

She does not support question 1. She feels our tax system needs an overhaul with the income tax going down and the sales taxes being broadened to cover more stuff.
She is running for governor because Maine needs an experienced collaborative leader. She was a guardian ad litem in the court system for years so she knows how to facilitate agreements. She said right now the executive branch is at war with the legislature and that has to stop. We have gridlock now and it is the governor who sets the tone.
She admitted she had no real qualifications to be Treasurer other than the fact that she got more votes from the House and defeated an incumbent Democrat treasurer.
She graduated from Catherine McAuley high school and Bowdoin and got her MBA from Thomas College in 2014. She was in the state house for 8 years after losing her first election and winning her second election by 9 votes. She was the assistant majority leader to Emily Cain.
She would raise the gas tax to fix roads.
She would scrap the 55% education funding mandate which has never been met and she endorses a state-wide teacher contract which would standardize and raise teacher compensation. She pointed out that a new teacher who is single with two kids qualifies for public assistance given the low starting teacher pay.
She would support $100,000,000.00 bonds to expand broad band service in Maine with the facilities being state owned but privately run.
She admitted she does not know enough about the proposal to run a power line through Maine to take a position which was refreshing. She did say that Maine has the cheapest electricity in the northeast (who knew?) She really does not know how the power line corridor would benefit Maine.

As a bit of a political junky I found Terry to be a breath of fresh air. Having said that, I am afraid that she has no chance of being elected because she has been outspent and unfortunately in many instances money wins. While Maine may be pissed off at Governor LePage’s approach, that fact remains that unemployment is incredibly low so things are probably not bad enough to create the ground swell of support needed to “throw the bums out” and elect an independent candidate like Terry. Who knows, she lost in her first shot at the State House, maybe she will take another shot at the Blaine House in 4 years.

Week in Review 10/31/2018

The following, I hope, will be my last minutes for a while. November will usher in Sarah Curley as your reporter and Sabine volunteered to take December (more on this below). I believe Dr. Joe has January and who knows from there. Enjoy.

4 Way Babble: For weeks now we have been told by Conrad that he spent tons of time lobbying in Augusta. Perhaps that is why he is such a silver tongued devil who is apparently bilingual because his introduction to the four way test was not in English. It is a wonder the Turnpike was ever widened.

Earl Goodwin: Carl Goodwin was at the meeting and updated everyone on Earl. Unfortunately, Earl had another fall and suffered some new injuries. He is not doing too well and will probably not be back.

In so many ways the success of our club can be attributed to the energy and spirit of Earl. Our club truly owes its stellar reputation to Earl and other leaders like him who worked so hard to support our communities. We all owe Earl our thanks and our prayers. It is truly difficult to see our veteran leaders move out of the club, but we should never forget what they gave to our club and to each and every one of us.

Cool Kids Table: Roland Gagne invaded the cool kids table and clearly the cool kids did not know what to do in his presence. Roland don’t get too comfortable there.

Halloween Costumes: Sarah Curley came to the meeting as Cindy Lou Who from the Grinch. Her costume as awesome and easily recognizable to most. Of course, Fausto asked her if she was a St Pauli’s Girl. Apparently they had no Dr. Seuss in Philadelphia. Lucie Kay came as an angry credit union manager and no one really knew what Don Pilon was but it was scary. Heather MacLean claimed she dressed as a school girl, and we’ll all go along with that even though I think she wore the same outfit the week before and the week before that.

President Joe: Either demonstrating his early onset dementia or his attention deficit disorder or both, Joe wowed us with his announcements. First, he did not realize it was still October and he started growing his “Movember” beard, arguably an illegal head start on the facial hair growing contest. Second, he had no idea regarding the dates of events in December, but I think these dates are accurate:

December 1^st will be the club Christmas party at Sue Gajewski’s in Casco. President Joe is trying to arrange for a quote/ unquote “drunk bus” (the expression impresses our guests) to transport us to and from Casco. Of course, Lord knows how you get home once the bus drops you off in some local parking lot but apparently that is your problem.

December 5^th we will be ringing the bell at Walmart as fill-ins for 1 and ½ hours and then that evening we will be shopping at Walmart for the families we support at Christmas. There will be no meeting at the Run of the Mill on December 5th though I have no doubt President Joe will show up. Our shopping will count as our meeting that day and Sabine will have no Tack to write.

December 11^th will be the wrapping day for the Christmas gifts in the evening with more details to come.

December 12^th will be the $100 raffle party at Duffey’s or as Joe calls it, “the 50/50 event”. There will be no meeting at the Run of the Mill on December 12^th. The event on the 12th will be from 5:00 to 7:00 PM and Sabine will have no Tack to write.

December 26^th for those of you who are paying attention is the day after Christmas and my wild guess is that we are not meeting that day so Sabine will have no Tack to write. So now I know why Sabine volunteered to write one Tack in December!

Finally, to truly demonstrate that he is losing it, Joe struggled with closing the sliding doors behind him to a point where he needed assistance from our guest speaker. Yikes!

Stuff the Bus Report: Keeping with his confused theme Joe referred to our Stuff the Bus food drive on October 27 at the Biddeford Hannaford and Market Basket. To my knowledge there were no buses involved, but more on that in a minute. Joe told everyone with great glee that his shift ended before the monsoons started (way to leave your troops in the heat of the storm Captain). Despite the bad weather, it sounded like the food drive was a success. Lucie reported that the drive collected $550.00 and 1,500 pounds of food that went to the Saco Food Pantry and an undetermined amount of food that went to the Biddeford Food Pantry. Apparently, the food trucks were able to park close to the collectors which helped a little. When things got slow at Hannaford the food truck actually plowed right into the building which facilitated a greater haul since they had direct access to the food. Lucie blamed it on the food pantry driver but the inside information is that Lucie did not understand the “Hannaford to Go” concept and thought Hannaford had a real drive through. She now knows that is not the case though she temporarily created one. We were also told that the cash will be donated to Bon Appetit and both our club and the Saco Bay Club will serve at one of the Bon Appetit events and donate the money. Nice job Lucie and everyone who braved the weather to help out. Joe ultimately thanked “Sue” for all her hard work on the food drive. I guess “Sue” is Lucie in Joe’s quickly deteriorating mind.

$100 Raffle: Karen Chasse distributed the $100 raffle tickets at the meeting. If you weren’t there Karen will undoubtedly track you down. We all got some of the many tickets Earl used to sell. Please make every effort to sell your tickets. We need to keep up the tradition of selling them all to make the $100 raffle a success. Remember, people can split tickets so they don’t have to come up with $100. When you sell a ticket, put the person’s name on the ticket and then you sign the ticket on the “Authorized signature” line. Most importantly, however, retain the stub and fill in all of the information legibly and give the stubs and the money to Karen. Sell, sell, sell. Please get the sold tickets back to Karen as soon as possible. Earl was scary but Karen, well you know.

AED Devices: Jim Godbout announced that two AED devices (Automated External Defibrillators for you non-EMTs) were donated by our club, one to MacArthur Library and one to Dyer Library. We were able to purchase them through the Biddeford School Department at the discounted price of $1,200 each. Those are great donations which could save an overstimulated library visitor’s life.

The real 50/50: Carl won the real 50/50 and donated it to Red Ribbon.

Karen “Can’t Say No” Chasse: Matt Simmonds apparently had an emergency stock buy or something so he had to leave the meeting and Karen filled in as sergeant at arms (though Joe announced your humble Tack reporter as the fill in). Karen solicited happy dollars and got the following:

Sabine was happy that she volunteered to write the Tack in December during which we will have one real meeting (I still swear she had inside information).
Bill Patterson got back from visiting Texas where he participated in Pints for Polio or at least he thinks he did. Ken Farley has been supporting that cause for a long time.
Mark Nahorney happily announced that Biddeford Main Street came in third in a national contest and garnered $150,000 to help restore the City Hall clock tower.
Denis Elie was happy his son’s new truck was under warranty and he saw a bunch of deer on the first day of the season (he was hunting at the Gray Animal Farm) but he did shoot any…… yet.
Fausto was happy that he has remained calm in the face of mean girls at Saco Middle School. Not sure why Fausto is attending Saco Middle School when he lives in Biddeford, but that is another story. Apparently the mean girls bother him more than they bother Sophia.
Julie V. was happy her son-in-law was back from Japan.
Conrad was happy his friend, Terry Hayes was here. I don’t know if you noticed, but Conrad was “friends” with all of our gubernatorial candidates. He’s improving his odds of getting a cushy job in the executive branch no matter who wins.

Karen then started in on a few fines which was fairly impressive given the notice she was given. In fact, she was arguably better prepared than our real sergeant. She fined Roland for his illegal parking job, apparently there was no “no parking” sign behind the huge construction trucks so Roland parked there. Roland there are no “no parking” signs in the middle of the Turnpike but I am guessing you are not going to park there. She fined President Joe for getting a head start on his beard and for not knowing what the hell was going on. She also fined Joe for thanking Sue for doing such a great job with the food drive. Of course, “Sue” would be Lucie. She fined Sarah for her awesome Cindy Lou Who costume. She pointed out that Conrad claimed to be Alan Caron’s friend and he dropped out of the race. She fined Sabine for her upside down name tag which Sabine said made it easier for Sabine to read. She fined Lucie for having a Porsche as a loaner car (with New Hampshire plates I might add). Nice job Karen.

Wine Tasting Committee

Calling all Rotarians,

On 11-7-18 after the Rotary Meeting we will have a Wine Tasting Committee Meeting for about 15 minutes.

Anybody interested in joining the Committee is welcome along with their ideas.

Thanks, Conrad

Week in Review 10/24/2018

Posted by Bill Kany on Oct 24, 2018

The following is my summary of the meeting on the 24^th of October. Since there were about 17 Rotarians in attendance at the meeting I am really hoping some of you will read this to learn what is happening at the club. It was kind of nice, we each sat at our own table. It will go without saying that we had greeters, we did the Pledge of Allegiance and the 4 Way Test and all were done well. I should note that Don Pilon read the name of our one visiting Rotarian and did a fine job pronouncing “Slayton” because Heather had spelled it out phonetically for him.

Joe was Lost: President Joe could not find his agenda (Lucie had it) and could not keep track of time apparently because of his enthralling conversation with Don Pilon so the speaker got short changed.

Polio Plus Guy: October is apparently Polio Plus month (who knew) and Jeff Slayton, past president of the Saco Bay Club or Jeff Slayter as Joe calls him, made a special visit to our club and Joe forgot to mention him until the end of the meeting. Let’s just assume Jeff would have given us some amazing facts about the eradication of polio and asked us to do our part to support Polio Plus.

Sound Effects: Joe Bassett did his prayer with the accompaniment of construction noises on the second floor of the building or God farted during the prayer. He does work in mysterious ways.

Random Presidential Announcement: President Joe announced that one of our members, Nicole Carroll, gave birth to her fifth child (she now can either run a farm or have her own basketball team) named Matthew Brandon. I guess Mom and Matt are doing fine.

Lucie Kay: Lucie Kay survived her fifth root canal of the year on her remaining tooth. She was still under the influence of valium.

Where have all the Rotarians Gone?: President Joe commented on the sad showing at the beer festival by club members. By my count there were about 20 Rotarians there out of 70 and I have no idea how many Rotarians sold tickets. Ken Farley’s committee of one worked hard on the event, but the club’s support was woefully deficient.

When I graduated from college I was inducted into an honor society, Phi Beta Kappa. I wasn’t expected to do anything but I got a pin and a sash to wear at graduation which I forgot to wear. It was a nice honor but nothing more than that. While it is an honor to be a member of Rotary it is so much more than that. It’s a commitment to the community and to the club. While it would be nice to see more people at meetings, it would be even nicer to see more people get involved. It is easy to predict who will work on projects because it is the same Rotarians all the time: Karen Chasse, Julie Villemaire, Jim Godbout, Sue Gajewski, heck you know who does all the work, and that is simply not right. You don’t have to do everything but you really need to do something if you want to be a Rotarian. If you want to honor I will give you my Phi Beta Kappa pin, I’m not using it, but if you truly want to be a Rotarian please get involved.

Speaking of Getting Involved: Very soon you will be receiving an envelope with some $100 raffle tickets in it. Please sell them or buy them or both. Our $100.00 raffle is our second largest fundraiser. Created by Earl Goodwin, we have netted $14,000.00 each year to support our charitable giving. Unfortunately, Earl is still recovering so we all need to step up to sell the 70-90 tickets that Earl usually sells. Please don’t assume that the next Rotarian will pick up an extra few tickets. Get your friends and family to split a ticket or two, sell one to your co-workers, stand outside a Gamblers Anonymous Meeting, I don’t care. Your buyers have great odds of winning and they are supporting great causes. I know that some of our members neither sell any tickets or buy any, but yet some of those same people ask our club to support their causes each year. I really don’t think you want to hear what I think of that hypocrisy. Please, let’s all do our share

Karen Chasse (there’s one of those names again) did announce that we should pencil in December 12 from 5:00 to 7:00 at Duffy’s in Old Orchard Beach for the raffle party. That will be our meeting that day so come after work, have a drink and see if you or one of your buyers will win. With Earl not selling all the winners this year, some of the rest of us might stand a chance.

50/50: Dr. Joe won the 50/50 and donated his whopping $17.00 to Polio Plus and then President Joe forgot.(there was a theme to this meeting).

Club Christmas Party!: It has been confirmed that the club Christmas party will be held on December 1 at Sue Gajewski’s house in Casco. President Joe is looking into renting a bus. So at this point start decorating your best lamp shade to wear at the party and set aside December 1 to party upta Casco.

Banner’s Up: Alicia Girard and President Joe unveiled our new portable, non-felt banner that we can set up at Rotary event to trumpet what Rotary is about. Alicia designed the banner which looks fantastic and cost the club less than $200.00. It focuses on the theme of “Together we Connect”, a common Lego saying. Nice work Alicia and good job Joe.

Sergeant at Arms: Joe has started using the same introduction each week for Matt which is like Joe using the same prayer each week. Let’s try and keep it fresh. Matt claimed to be over his Irish jet lag, but I’m not sure because he had very little which could be attributed to the small crowd.

He did, however, collect some happy dollars.

Karen Chasse was happy because Saco and Biddeford Savings featured her as a huge community service person.
Dr. Joe was happy he did not win Mega Millions …. Really? I guess the 50/50 was enough.
Julie Villemaire hit 7 out of 8 green lights on the way to work. I guess it is the little things that make her happy. Of course, she ran the one red light and got a ticket.
Joe Bassett has a granddaughter singing at Radio City Music Hall. How do you get there, practice, practice, practice.
Heather McLean was wearing Andrew Benintendi’s shirt which could explain why he cooled off at Fenway on the 24^th, he was literally cold without his shirt.
Conrad Welzel purchased a rainbow wig. I am not making this stuff up.
President Joe gave an announcement dollar because November is Movember when men are not supposed to shave to show their support for prostate and testicular cancer research and for mental health and suicide prevention. Joe said the club will have a facial hair contest with the ugliest facial hair winning $100 to donate to a cause of your choosing and the best getting $100 to donate as well. Women can participate as well but no one will be judging them, that is not allowed.
Lucie Kay gave the most sincere (she has no sincerity at all) happy dollar for the upcoming food drive.
Roland and Lucie, who have been having an on again off / again affair for years paid a dollar each so they did not have to tell their dirty little secrets.

I am sure Matt fined someone for something but they were not worth writing down.

Alan Caron, independent gubernatorial candidate

Posted by Bill Kany on Oct 24, 2018

Conrad Welzel, who apparently went from turnpike toll taker to lobbyist in the same year (a meteoric rise), introduced Alan Caron, independent gubernatorial candidate. Conrad first met Alan when Alan led the opposition to the widening of the Turnpike. Of course, when I heard that I immediately stopped listening. I would hope Mr. Caron would now concede that widening the turnpike was a good thing, but who knows?

Alan Caron is an interesting individual whose self-funded campaign frankly has no chance, but that does not mean he does not have good ideas. He believes that people who disagree should still be respectful to one another and it is hard to argue with that though I think anyone who suggests that is an idiot.

Alan said his campaigning has given him a Phd in all that is Maine as he has traveled the state. He feels that opponents need to listen to each other and have affection for one another. I believe that is the same philosophy followed by Mike Tyson. Actually, we can learn a great deal from our opponents, and we can like each other even if we disagree on substantive points. The is truly a cornerstone of the legal profession. So far Mr. Caron seems like a good guy.

He grew up in Waterville in a poor family with many challenges. He dropped out of high school. He developed two successful businesses and has done a lot of volunteering in his life. He feels the best way to build our economy is not to focus on the past and hope that the mills and farms will come back. Instead, we need to look to the future and build our economy from the bottom up. He feels we need to plan for sustainable prosperity. We need to grow new jobs and not try to steal jobs from other states. He cited LL Bean, Poland Spring, Stonewall Kitchen and Toms of Maine as examples of companies that have grown jobs. But he feels that the biggest job creators in Maine are the small businesses who need the incentives to create more jobs. Don’t give tax breaks and low interest loans to big businesses and hope that they create jobs, tie the incentives to job creation.

Mr. Caron mentioned that 35 years ago a bunch of people moved to Maine hoping to become organic farmers. Some succeeded and some didn’t, but they collaborated and formed the Maine Organic Farmers and Growers which is one of the more powerful groups in this state. It started the Common Ground Fair. Those organic farmers put Maine on the map for growing quality products which attracted national chefs to Maine. Those chefs started Maine’s restaurant boom which has made Maine a foody destination. That foody component of our economy has spawned 80 microbreweries. This growth came from the bottom up.

Mr. Caron described himself as an incurable optimist who has the courage to promote new ideas. He observed that the partisan system is broken because it focuses more on each party blocking the other as opposed to trying to get things done. All of that is why he ran as an independent.

While it is clear that Mr. Caron has no chance of being elected governor, we can only hope that his opponents do take the time to listen to him and learn from him because he has some great ideas which deserve our attention.

My Plan for Sustainable Prosperity

Below is the outline to my Sustainable Economy Plan for Maine.

GROW A NEW ECONOMY FROM THE BOTTOM UP
PUT THE FULL RESOURCES OF GOVERNMENT BEHIND GROWING JOBS RATHER THAN ATTRACTING THEM
 Focus on innovators, entrepreneurs and risk-takers.
 Make smaller-scale manufacturing and exports a high priority.
 Build a ‘seed-to-success’ system to nurture and accelerate small business growth.
 Award no tax breaks to companies that do not create or sustain good jobs.

FIX OUR ELECTIONS
CREATE AN OPEN PRIMARY IN JUNE
 Allow all candidates and all voters to participate in one primary election, with the top two candidates going to the November election.

BUILD A TWENTY FIRST CENTURY GOVERNMENT
SHRINK STATE GOVERNMENT BY TEN PERCENT
 Flatten state management layers, introduce new technology and increase efficiency
 Reduce the size of the legislature to 100 members and restrict the number of bills that any member can submit to the number of years they have served.

FOCUS ON SCHOOLS THAT WORK
BRING PRACTICAL EDUCATION BACK INTO ALL SCHOOLS
 Increase the state’s share of education funding to 55%, with all new dollars going into the classroom.
 Expand early childhood education.

EXPAND ACCESS TO COLLEGES AND TECH TRAINING
ESTABLISH A TWO-YEAR FREE HIGHER EDUCATION PROGRAM
 Support forgivable loans that will be reduced for every year that a students stays and works in Maine

MAKE HEALTH CARE MORE AFFORDABLE AND AVAILABLE
PUSH FOR MORE TRANSPARENCY IN HEALTH CARE PRICING
 Reward consumers who save money
 Expand Medicare and Medicaid

COMMIT TO ENERGY INDEPENDENCE IN THIRTY YEARS
REDUCE THE FIVE BILLION DOLLARS WE EXPORT EACH YEAR TO OIL AND GAS COMPANIES
 Focus on solar and offshore wind
 Decentralize energy production
 Reinvest the savings in job creation, education and health care

BUILD TOMORROW’S INFRASTRUCTURE
SUPPORT A HUNDRED MILLION DOLLAR BOND FOR BROADBAND DEVELOPMENT NEXT YEAR AND AGAIN IN FIVE YEARS

MAKE MAINE A WELCOMING STATE
CREATE A WELCOME CENTER FOR EVERYONE WHO COMES TO MAINE, FROM AROUND THE COUNTRY AND THE WORLD

Celebration of Suds 2018

Posted by Julie Villemaire on Oct 20, 2018

Week in Review 10/17/2018

Posted by Bill Kany on Oct 17, 2018

These are my version of the minutes for our meeting on October 17, 2018 which took place at Run of the Mill, a fine example of a rustic brew pub in an old mill with lots of new white PVC piping protruding through the ceilings. As Jim Godbout said, wait until they start flushing! We’ll have the ambiance of a sewerage treatment plant.

Greeters: We were greeted by Heather Gendron and Keith Jacques who is practicing for his retirement job as a Walmart greeter. It will take him awhile to learn the job so thank goodness he has a little time.

Four Way Test: Karen Chasse did an impeccable job leading us in the 4-way test. I should note that I believe I have become a Pavlovian Rotarian. As long as the leaders of the 4-way test say First, Second, etc. I recite the 4 way test just fine but when a leader goes rogue and says one, two, three, etc. I screw it all up and I have notices the Paul Deschambault starts to drool. So let’s stick with First, Second, etc. Thanks.

District Governor In the House: District Governor, John Lobosco was in attendance to give our club and Jackson the RI Presidential Award for the 2017-2018 year or what I like to call the: “If your club can fog a mirror you get one of these award”. Congrats Jackson, we’re still breathing.

Up Tempo Meeting: Joe Bassett did his prayer with musical accompaniment from the restaurants PA system. I felt like I was in a Southern Baptist Church and I was waiting for Joe to break into a dance and to ask for several AMENS. It didn’t happen ………… yet.

Lucie Kay: Joe announced that Lucie Kay was having root canal to save her remaining tooth. Apparently if you give Lucie enough valium she’ll go anywhere.

Stuff the Bus: In Lucie’s valium aided absence, Joe announced that we will be doing a food drive at the Biddeford Hannaford and at Market Basket on October 27^th from 9:00 to 2:00. Sing up sheets were circulated and I am sure they will make their rounds again next week. We are doing this in conjunction with Saco Bay, Saco Bay will be in Saco and perhaps OOB on the same day collecting food and donations. This is our opportunity to help out the local food pantries at a time of year when demand goes up substantially. If you have not have a chance to sign up please do so and dress warmly on the 27^th (Heather M) because it can get a little chilly out there. This is a great chance to help the community, enjoy some fellowship and increase the visibility of Rotary.

Bucking Xmas Tradition: For years we have donated gifts to families in need at Christmas and we have delivered them in the traditional black garbage bags. Nothing says Merry Christmas like a fully stuffed Glad bag. Sabine feels that our Christmas garbage bag tradition has to go so she displayed a white cloth draw string bag that said “Property of S. Claus, North Pole”. I am not sure, but I think she stole it from you know who. The Democrats are asking that the FBI investigate the matter. In the meantime, Sabine has suggested that we use the white cloth bags for delivering our Christmas packages. Another tradition thrown in the dumpster.

50/50: Keith Jacques sold the 50/50 tickets and miraculously he won the $30.00 and donated the money to the Red Ribbon Committee.

Sergeant at Arms: Matt claimed to be jet lagged from his trip to Ireland where he apparently contributed to the delinquency of a minor by letting his 11 year old son drink in the local pubs until all hours. What could possibly go wrong? Being jet lagged, Matt claimed he was not prepared so he relied heavily on happy dollars. I can just imagine Matt in school. He clearly did not rely on the old standards like “my dog ate my homework.” He used things like: I was jamming with Springsteen all night last night and just didn’t get my geography homework done.” “I stopped and pulled a man from a burning car so my senior year coloring book is not quite done yet.” “How can you expect me to finish my senior year fun with phonics when I was campaigning for Dukakis?” He has all the excuses and he has used them for a while.

In any event here are some of the happy dollars he collected.

Karen Chasse just got back from visiting her sister in Texas where everything is bigger.
Mark Nahorney gave a shameless plug dollar for the It’s Our Time events on Main Street in Biddeford on October 20 and encouraged people to go to the Heart of Biddeford website and Vote Your Main Street to help Biddeford win a national contest. You can vote daily if you want.
Joe went to DC to celebrate his son’s 29^th birthday. D.C., really, and what 29 year old wants Mom and Dad at his 29^th? Joe’s I guess.
Ken Farley gave a happy dollar for the outstanding Biddeford High School Field Hockey team that beat TA in the playoffs and is moving on in its undefeated season.
Sue Gajewski was happy because her husband has had great success in a pancreatic cancer trial which he has been in for 3 years. Chuck is beating the odds and we are all cheering for him.
District Governor John was happy to be with us and happy to give Jackson the award.
Ken Farley was again happy that the beer festival would soon be over.
I was happy to have made my first witnessed hole in hole for which I happened to win a car! I have been playing golf since I was about 9 years old. My grandmother taught me to play and I could not help but thinking of her almost as soon as I discovered by ball in the hole (there was a mound in from of the green so we did not see the ball go in the hole). They say the odds of making a hole in one are about 12,500 to 1. Based how long I have been playing I would say I was due.
Matt did welcome Sara Brouillard back after an extended absence. It was nice to have her back.

Tom and Catherine Wilbur

Posted on Oct 17, 2018

Dr. Joe Boyle introduced our speakers, Tom and Catherine Wilbur who I believe are from the Freeport Club. They are friends of Joe’ he met while chairing the Rotary Youth Exchange for the District back when the district included parts of Quebec and the glaciers were still receding.

Tom and Catherine came in to tell us about the efforts of the Freeport and Bethel Rotary Clubs to support the Kakamego Child Care Center and associated programs in Kakamego, Kenya located in the western part of Kenya. They described Kakamego as having about 500,000 people but it is very rural, kind of like Banger but it has 25,000 people. They were also impressed with the modernization efforts in Kenya thanks to Chinese investments. They went from 15% paved roads to 65% paved road in just 10 years which is a higher percentage of paved roads than Aroostook County. They also have high speed rail in Kenya.

The Kakamega Child Care Center originated as an orphanage for children of AIDS victims. The Freeport Rotary Club began supporting the facility in 2002 and by 2005 they had built a building that houses 48 children. The program supports about 400 kids.

The program is also promoting self-sufficiency through home based programs that provide families with seeds, fertilizer, and agricultural training. I can only imagine how much fertilizer our club could supply them. The children in the sponsored homes get school uniforms and books along with a mattress, blanket and a solar lamp (many areas of Kenya still do not have electricity). It costs $450.00 to sponsor a home for a year. All of this is done in coordination with the Kakamega Rotary Club.

The Bethel and Freeport Rotary Clubs have sponsored what they refer to as 26 Strong Young Women, apparently the weak ones are not worthy. These young women receive agricultural training, along with health and entrepreneurial education. They receive seeds and fertilizer to grow crops for their families and to sell. Some have been successful enough to purchase pigs, chickens and even cows which traditionally are only owned by men in Kenya (so much to say, but I will hold my pen).

Some of the young women were widowed and some were married but their husbands worked elsewhere to help support their families. The program seems very successful in promoting self-sufficiency and a sense of pride and accomplishment while promoting their self-image. The program is also providing materials to help families build homes.

The Freeport and Bethel Clubs will be pursuing a Global Grant and they are letting us know about their efforts, The Wilbur’s were a fun and interesting couple. I thought they were going to come to blows over who was going to do what part of the presentation, but they got the message out in the end. The bigger message was the Rotary is clearly international, helping individuals, one person and one small farm at a time.

World Polio Day Oct 24

Week in Review 10/10/2018

Posted by Sabine McElrath on Oct 10, 2018

12:15 Pledge of Allegience
Sue Gajewski led us in reciting 4 way test Joe Moreshead gave the invocation

President Joe Moreshead passed around a thank you letter from Thornton Academy thanking us for the saplings we donated this spring.

Ken Farley made announcement about Celebration of Suds to be held on 20 October.
- Please promote it on social media
- Set up time will start at 1:30
- Will be getting pizzas delivered from Portland Pie
- Need silent auction items still
- Will need 6 large coolers

Lucie Kay gave an update on the food drive scheduled for 27 October.
- It will be held from 9 to 2.
- Need volunteers
- Joint effort with Saco Bay Rotary Club

Joe announced that starting 1 January 2019, the 1st Wednesday meeting of each month will be held in an area school.

There is still space in the Tack fro those looking to advertise. 2 spots are available at $100 each. See Don or Brian Dallaire.

No Sargeant at Arms since Matt Simmonds is on holiday, but Joe solicited some happy dollars:

- Adam moving to new house on Friday.
- Bill Patterson heading to Corpus Christi
- Joe M. heading to DC.
- Laura Warner - son scored winning soccer goal
- Kristen Lane - daughter lost her first tooth
- Dr. Joe - had great visit with his family in Maryland.

Peggy Bean won $20 in the 50/50

New member, Sherry Norton, was inducted.

Dr. Joe introduced our guest speaker Hayden Anderson, Executive Director of the Maine Humanities Council.

Hayden began his presentation reminiscing about his grandfather who was a Rotarian in Amsterdam NY. He would sometimes bring young Hayden to meetings in noisy rooms much like our setting today.

The Maine Humanities Council is one of 56 councils in states and territories of the United States.

The mission of the council (as per their website) is to "use the humanities— literature, history, philosophy, and culture — as a tool for positive change in Maine communities. Our programs and grants encourage critical thinking and conversations across social, economic, and cultural boundaries."

They do this thru various initiatives; partnerships with public libraries in 85 towns across Maine, as well as working with Adult Education programs in the state.

They support local efforts through grants. Annually the spend about $200,000 in grants; but the median grant amount is only about $1000.

They are starting a Veterans Book Group here in Biddeford. It will start November 1st and be held at the Seeds of Hope Neighborhood Center on South St.

The council is also evaluating how to prepare for Maine's becentenial in 2020; seeking answers to the question, "How can history inform the future of Maine?"

Meeting adjourned at 1:15.

President Joe's Message 10/29/2018

Posted by Joe Moreshead on Oct 29, 2018

So I would rather be lucky than good. For example last Saturday at “Stuff the Bus” I was totally aware of the N’oreaster coming and thought “this is gonna suck” . The rain didn’t come until 10:00ish. By time my shift was done at 11:00 Paul D and his wife Carole would have to deal with the crappy weather joined by Tony Leblanc. I can’t wait to hear how the rest of the day went in the wind and rain.

I want to thank Lucie K and Dave Lapaulo from Saco Bay for pulling this off. I had a blast hanging out with Lucie and Lucie. It was cool to say “ hey Lucie” and both would respond. Of course I am talking about Lucie Kay and Lucie Hatch. Phil Hatch was there too. Phil and Lucie have been in Rotary forever. I wonder how many husband / wife couples are in Rotary? I can’t believe that CJ Cote Dubois showed up. After all, every development in town has her face plastered all over the place. Andrea and I drove through the new development right after the bridge on Route 5 in Saco and every lot had a CJ sign on it. Kathy Shea and Conrad worked the other door without the benefit of a vestibule or covered area like us. They got really wet. However, Conrad had the whole foul weather gear outfit from the boots to the waterproof pants and coat. I watched Kathy push a cart full of canned goods across the parking lot in the rain- she looked a little washed up and still had an appointment at 11:00- that is dedication!

For all of those that volunteered thanks. Our little effort netted some food, cash and most of all fellowship and camaraderie. My biggest thrill was to see the reactions of the people that donated food or money. They left Market Basket feeling good- that they too had made a difference. You could see it in their face faces, their smiles, their eyes; I think it is pretty powerful medicine for the soul.

I guess that is one of the main reasons I belong to Rotary. I really like the positive feedback from people when we engage them. Whether it is fellow Rotarians or the people we connect with through service there is always this positive vibe happening.

So that is another service project in the bag for our club. I think it is safe to say that the “Stuff the Bus” project was far more successful than our beer fest. Had you been at the meeting last week and joined the 15 or so Rotarians there was a lively discussion about it. Maybe this is our last festival, maybe we combine it with the wine tasting, maybe we try and get more volunteers to help, to show up, maybe a lot of things.

Ken worked really hard on the fest we owe him a big thank you. I can’t point fingers because then I have 4 pointing back at me. However, I could feel and hear the frustration from folks who did work or attend the event. I hope to have a report on the fest this Wednesday at our meeting.

Our next project is our second largest fundraiser and will require everybody’s participation. I am talking about the $100.00 raffle. We have talked about this being Earl the Pearl’s raffle after all he would always sell 70+ tickets out of the 250 we print. We need to come together this year and sell Earl’s tickets.

That means that each of us will get extra thickets this year to sell. The good news is that Earl’s tickets should be an easy sell. We will need to contact those people associated with a particular ticket number and see if they will buy it aging this year. It won’t be a cold call whereas they have a history of buying a particular ticket number.

Karen should have tickets available this week or next. The drawing will be December 12^th at Duffy’s from 5:00 to 7:00. We will serve light hors d’oeuvres and have a cash bar available. The raffle drawing is also going to serve as our regular Wednesday meeting.

Hope to see you this Wednesday.

Regards,

Joe

President Joe's Agenda for the Year

Posted by Joe Moreshead on Jul 11, 2018

HI,

First, thank you all for making my first meeting great. I really am honored to hold the position. I get to follow some fantastic folks who have served as great stewards of our great club.

I wanted to write an article for the TACK because sitting outside on the deck for our first meeting was not really conducive to giving some words about what I would like to see us accomplish over the next 12 months.

Our motto this year is “ Be the Inspiration”. I will make sure to put the banner out this week. So, what are some of the goals we need to accomplish so we can “Be the Inspiration”- more meetings; not really. One of my biggest goals is to not waste your time. You are willing to give one of the most precious possessions you own, your time. I recognize that fact and will do my best to utilize your time to the fullest.

Seriously, as president elect everybody feels that they can give me their advice regarding what is wrong with the club and I have to agree with them on some issues. Even little ones like the check in sheet that we use to check in members every week, it was not working for everybody so it was reformatted and updated; you can thank Julie, our Secretary. People are not crazy about our meeting space, the food, the acoustics, the temperature, the number of meetings we have, etc. Until someone can come up with a better venue we will be at Run of the Mill for a while. I secretly fantasize that a nice hotel with a great restaurant will open with a beautiful dining room, perfect for hosting meetings. A guy can dream.

With respect to meetings, we will still have some 50 or so. I will do my best to be there every week however, I don’t expect you to. I will be proposing a new focus on service work instead of attendance. In order to do that I will need help with a lot of ad hoc committees for the in meeting service projects I want to propose. For example, I want to make a “birthday party in a bag” geared towards children, for the local food pantries. The bags will have everything for a child to have a birthday party. It will include, cake and frosting mix, table cloths, candles, etc. My vision is that 3 to 4 people will go shopping for the items on a Wednesday meeting day instead of coming to the meeting. The following week the club will assemble the bags at lunch- that will be the “program”.

I plan on having at least 3 in service meetings such as the birthday bags, hygiene kits for some of the shelters, writing cards and letters to service men and women serving. Help me think of some more.

Another project will be field trip meetings. I have already contacted the 3 principals in the local elementary schools, just realized I did not contact St. James… I told the principals that we have 20 to 30 volunteers that would love to show up at their schools on a Wednesday from 12:15 to 1:30 to participate in a project. We could read to the kids, have lunch with them, rearrange furniture, etc. . One principal has already emailed me and is very excited about the idea.

We will still have a club assembly meeting the first Wednesday of the month. The meeting will be a briefing on what happened at the Board meeting earlier in the day, a classification talk or two, charitable fund committee discussion and vote and any other issues that need to be dealt with.

In order to accomplish all of the things we want and keep people informed it is going to take communication. Bill Kany has agreed to take over the TACK this year. He has 12 volunteers who will each be responsible for the month. The TACK, Facebook and other social media will be important this year as we tackle our ambitious meeting schedule and goals. We have also added all of our past presidents to our email list so that they get the TACK and can be aware of the club happenings.

I have not planned any new fundraisers. If you have an idea let’s hear about. I have picked the following people for committees, if I am wrong and you are not interested please let me. My goal with most of the committees is to leave it up to the chair to recruit members. The list is as follows and is not complete:

TACK Bill Kany

Charitable Giving Jim McAllister

Scholarship Heather G and Fausto

Front Desk Heather M

Foundation Brian D

Website Brian D

Past President Keith J

Awards Bill Kany

Stuff the Bus Lucie K

Alzheimer Walk Sue G

Beer Fest Ken F

Wine Fest Conrad, ?

$100 raffle Karen / Earl

Prom / Dance Bernice

Program Chair Conrad W

Youth Protection Officer Chief Ray Demers

Youth Service Paulette B

In closing, 2018/2019 will be a good year to be a part of Rotary; to be the inspiration for people we interact with. I know people get a chuckle when I say my prayer “ Dear Lord, you give us so much yet expect so little in return. Let us live through your example.” I am not overly religious but, I do realize how lucky I am, how fortunate I am. I have been given so much. And as a result I have a deep need to want to give back; I know you feel the same way. Isn’t that why you joined Rotary.

Regards,

Joe

Front Desk Duty Roster

Posted by Heather MacLean on Aug 10, 2017

Oct. 17: Don Pilon and Mark Nahorney

Oct. 24:

Oct. 31: Kristen Lane

November 7: Haley Thompson

14: heather MacLean

21: no meeting

28:

December 5:

12: heather MacLean and Alicia Girard

19:

26: no meeting

Red Ribbon Committee

Posted by Jim Godbout on Feb 17, 2016

Below is the final copy of the Mission - Vision Statement and Guiding Principles of the Red Ribbon Committee as primarily authored by Andy Grief. We have also revised the Red Ribbon logo to address Rotary requirements. I thought it was important to share this with all of you.

Mission – Vision – Guiding Principles

Red Ribbon Committee

Rotary Club of Biddeford-Saco

Mission Statement

The Red Ribbon Committee of the Biddeford-Saco Rotary Club exists to mobilize the community to encourage healthy and thriving behaviors without the influences of illegal drugs and other misused substances.

Vision Statement

As a result of the efforts of the Red Ribbon Committee, members of the Biddeford, Saco, and Old Orchard Beach communities will lead healthier lives free of the harmful influences of misused substances.

Guiding Principles

Rotary has the power to effect positive change through its leadership and resources.
Rotary believes in the necessity of primary, secondary and tertiary prevention efforts.
Rotary believes in the importance of information to effect positive change.
Rotary believes in the power of positive experiences to effect positive outcomes.
Rotary believes in the power of people sharing their personal stories to effect change.
Rotary believes in the power of caring mentoring relationships to empower people.

**************************************

For more info, follow us on facebook:

https://www.facebook.com/search/top/?q=red%20ribbon%20committee%20of%20biddefordsaco%20rotary%20club

Club History

Active Biddeford Saco Paul Harris Fellows

Audiffred (+1)	James	May-96
Barnett	Bronwyn	May-18
Bassett	Joseph	Jun-18
Bean	Peggy	Apr-97
Boyle (+3)	Lawrence	Jan-98
Brown	Jackson	May-09
Chasse	Karen	Jun-06
Dallaire (+8)	Brian	Dec-02
DeFrancesco	Frank	May-07
Demers	Raynald	Jun-18
Deschambault (+1)	Paul	3-Jun
Drouin (+6)	Ronald	16-Jun
Dumais	Frank	Jun-03
Kay (+1)	Lucie	Jun-10
Early(+1)	Matthew	May-02
Elie (+3)	Denis	Jun-03
Ellis	Joshua	May-18
Eon (+1)	Roland	May-96
Farley	Kenneth	May-08
Fearon	Joshua	May-15
Gagne (+8)	Roland	May-03
Gagnon	Ronald	Feb-01
Gajewski	Susan	Jun-14
Gendron	Heather	May-11
Godbout (+2)	Jim	May-09
Goodwin (+6)	Carl	Apr-90
Goodwin (+1)	Earl	Jan-84
Hennessey (+2)	Charles	May-92
Jacques	Keith	Feb-01
Kany (+1)	A. William	May-92
Kany (+1)	Bill	May-94
Lane (+1)	Dana	Jun-05
Lowe	David	May-91
MacLean	Heather	Feb-06
McAllister (+2)	Jim	Jun-10
Moreshead (+2)	Joseph	May-08
Morin	Steve	May-07
Neault	Sarah	Jun-16
Nelson	Alan	Oct-99
Palmitessa	Elaine	May-15
Pifferrer	Fausto	Jun-16
Plourde (+1)	Helene	May-96
Simmons	Matthew	May-18
Thompson	Haley	May-12
Tuller	Mark	Jun-98
Villemaire (+1)	Julie	Jun-06
Wells	Thomas	Jun-95
Welzel	Conrad	May-17
Wood	Bernice	Jun-10

CLYNK Update

Posted by Julie Villemaire on Oct 01, 2013

Total Raised:
$2,428.20

Containers CLYNKed:
44,239

Environmental Impact:

Energy: Saved enough energy to light 58.8 lightbulbs—24 hours a day—for a year.
Emissions: Saved the emissions equivalent of driving a car 11,131 miles.
Volume: Diverted enough containers to fill 424.8 lobster traps.

Fill up those green bags. If you need more bags and/or labels, just let Julie Villemaire know and she can hook you up…no charge!

Simple fill with returnables and drop off at any Hannaford.

Alternately, if you already have a CLYNK account of your own, you can designate you funds as a donation. Hit the Donate button and search for Rotary and you'll find our account.

Welcome to our Club! Rotary District 7780 -- Club Number 6294 -- Est. 1920

Service Above Self

Joe Moreshead

My Plan for Sustainable Prosperity

Environmental Impact:

Fill up those green bags. If you need more bags and/or labels, just let Julie Villemaire know and she can hook you up…no charge!

Rotary International Links