President's Message- for April 4, 2016

 

    Let’s hear it for the power of teamwork.  Our 27th Annual TV Auction grossed just over $51,000 if everyone pays for the items they bid on during the auction.  It is always nice when a plan comes together and it is not an accident that our auction is successful each year.  

 

    I was counting and over half of our club was at the auction working in some capacity yesterday.  That is absolutely awesome and I want to thank everyone who showed up and worked.

 

    At the outset I have to thank Jackson for chairing the event.  For all those who have chaired it, you always wonder what is going to go wrong, but due to many incredibly dedicated and committed people, the event succeeds year after year.  I talked to the Time Warner people and they assure us that we are the poster child of the well run auction.  They do a few other TV auctions around the state but ours is by far the best run, most fun and successful TV auction that they have seen.  They beg other organizations to use our model though apparently none do.

 

    I have to also thank Julie Villemaire who, as I am typing this, is still doing Pick and Pay at the Community Center.  Her commitment to the whole process is really unbelievable and it is her organizational skills that make the whole thing happen.  She keeps the inventory straight; has a system to makes check out as smooth as possible; and organizes the items so that we seldom, if ever, lose anything.  We all owe Julie a huge round of applause at our next meeting.

 

    Lucie Kay and group made sure we were well fed all day.  Laurie Jo and CJ tore out most of their hair when our phone operators failed to show up or failed to show up on time, but thanks to Rotarians stepping up our phone lines remained open and we did not really miss a beat.

 

    Three unsung heroes of the auction are Ken Farley, Rollie Eon and Karen Chasse.  Ken prepares the script every year which is a huge amount of work.  Furthermore, this year Ken had to use his contacts to make sure that we were live streaming on the internet when that connection was not made before the auction started.  Rollie was our floor director all day keeping us on time and on task.  Trust me, without him we would not come close to finishing the auction on time.  Karen made sure that the event was publicized and that the Courier ad was clear and accurate.  All three people deserve our thanks.

 

    Our on air people make the auction fun and keep it moving.  In addition all of the Rotarians who set up or tore down the auction, you are truly a well-oiled machine.  

 

    I also want to thank some of our newer Rotarians who took the time to work at the auction.  Conrad Welzel and Don Pilon displayed our inventory all day and we all know it is all about the presentation.  Sabine McElrath and Naomme Paris helped out.  I believe Sabine did a stint on the phones which is never easy and Naomme was making those follow up calls to make sure the bids were real.  Heather McLean ran bids for a good part of the day despite the impact that a TV camera can have on one’s appearance!  Jeremy Ray jumped in as a new auctioneer which is a tough job, and if you don’t believe me try it.  Paulette Bonneau was on the phones as well as starting in one of our videos.

 

    I also have to thank the tabulation crew from our club.  Jim McAllister, Rob Moody, Brian Dallaire and Chuck Hennessey worked to help give us the fastest board summaries ever.  A special thanks to George Wandel who is not in the club anymore but he showed up with his nephew to again help with tabulation even though George really wasn’t feeling well.  It is that kind of dedication that makes the auction work. Brian also assisted with checkout which helped when the lines got long.  

 

    At the end of the day, it is clear that our club does well more than its share in making the auction a success.  Thanks to all of your efforts, big and small, because it is the sum of all of those parts that raises such big money to support all that we do as a club.  

 

    Time to start planning for the 28th annual auction.  Bernice, what is taking you so long to get started?

Great job everyone!

 

Bill