Meeting number 2 down and a few more to go. I thought today’s meeting went pretty well. We even had Turkey on the menu. Every past president I have talked to has said they had such a good time as president of the club. I was always a little hesitant to let anybody offer up my name for the position. I can say after a few weeks in I am glad they did. Ask me in a few months how I feel, I think it will still be fun. I have always enjoyed building things and was never satisfied with the status quo; I hate maintenance of an organization, a necessary evil to a certain extent. Part of our mission statement at my company deals with our commitment to continuous improvement in our process and people. We actually measure those metrics.
I hope we can share the same passion and commitment to continuously improve our club as past presidents and members have. We are off to a great start- thank you! I am looking forward to sharing with all of you how many actual service hours we provide over the year- a real measure of success; not how many meetings you were at. If we have 75 members and each member gives 16 hours a year in service work, that is 1200 hours. We can do a lot in 1200 hours! Think “Earl the Pearl Goodwin” selling over 70 raffle tickets- how many hours did that take him? Jim Godbout’s beach extravaganza on the 28th, how many hours is he and all of the other volunteers putting in? I want to know, so doesn’t Julie our secretary. I want to be able to show people what we really do. So let’s figure out a way to record those hours. The base line metric is 1200 hours- the challenge is now!
I had a member email me today apologizing for not having been to the last few meetings and with the intention of missing a few more; work and family sometimes can get in the way of Rotary. I told her the same message I have been telling you- let’s focus on service and not attendance. What she doesn’t realize is that I am going to ask her to put together our first in service meeting project for 09/19.
The project will be to make birthday parties in a bag for the shelters and food pantries. After listening today to Elaine Fournier from Open Hearts / Open Hands, she even mentioned that she gives new items as birthday gifts to children. One thing Elaine did not mention is that the building she is housed in also houses the Saco Food Pantry. Elaine’s organization is an addition that was added to the food pantry. It was built by Rotarians like Carl Goodwin and others.
In closing, if any of you have some kids clothes you want to finally get rid of than bring them to the meeting and I will make sure that the items get to Elaine. If you have a “crappy” bike bring that too. We can throw it in the back of my truck and deliver it to Bronwyn.
President Joe Moreshead led us in the Pledge of Allegiance followed by the 4-way test led by our visiting Saco Bay Rotarian Elaine Fournier. Famous Actor Mark Nahorney led us in the invocation. President-Elect Fausto Pifferrer introduced visiting Rotarian Haley Thompson who will be transferring from the Belleville Illinois Rotary Club and Assistant District Governor Bob Wester. The 50/50 was won by Laura Warner.
The SAA Matt Simmons made his way to the front of the room with his usual cheery disposition excited to start the fining process.
Happy Dollars – SAA Matt accepted happy dollars from:
· Laura Warner for her winnings.
· Tim Keene announced he brought Needhams for Alicia Girard’s birthday but she didn’t seem to share them as they never made their way around the room.
· Alicia Girard gave her happy birthday dollar before she was fined.
· Chuck Hennessey thanks Susan Gajewski for making him drive her to a meeting.
· Jeremy Ray was happy that his wife, Suzanne, is coming home after a week alone with the kids.
· Rae Smith was thoroughly enjoying her vacation.
· Karen Chasse gave a sad dollar for the theft of her wallet this morning which also meant Jeremy Ray’s school credit card would be cancelled.
· Ray Demers was happy the crime occurred in Biddeford, not Saco.
· Bob Wester was happy to be at our meeting as our AG. He announced that RI is hosting a Sea Dogs Game similar to the one we just held on August 19th if we would like to attend. It is $26 and all you can eat – see the District newsletter for more information.
· Fausto Pifferrer was happy his deck is almost complete and he finally had his property surveyed so the fighting with the neighbors has ended.
· Sue Gajewski loved the TACK was useful and included a President’s Message, minutes and a funny recap by Bill Kany.
Fines– Then SAA Matt handed out fines to:
· President Joe for no flag last week, a to-do list that Matt is sure his wife did for him and we are three weeks into his presidency and there haven’t been any fundraisers yet.
· Bill Kany was fined for his wealth of “helpers” to do the TACK and calling us all the “peanut gallery”.
· Heather MacLean for not knowing the price of things in her store and complaining that her graduation outfit was not cute. In which Matt responded, “Why? Cause it wasn’t skin tight black?”
· Jackson Brown for being a special guest star in a real estate commercial. Those pearly whites are being put to good use.
· Fausto Pifferrer for her photo of wood art. No more needs to be said. You don’t understand? Become his friend on Facebook if you dare to weather the speedy photos.
· Ray Demers for his cop cars side swiping vehicles. Biddeford sounds better now, doesn’t it Ray?
· Sarah Curley’s dress was confusing to Matt. He couldn’t determine if it is was designed by SpongeBob Square Pants or Jimmy Hendrix.
· Jim Godbout for his photo on Facebook with the kids and his balls.
· Business After Hours: August 2, 5-7pm at Run of the Mill. Two drink tickets for beer or wine will be provided, along with some hors d’ouvres. Please bring potential new Rotarians to get to know us and talk about our good work in the community.
· Joint Meeting with District Governor: We will have a joint meeting with Saco Bay and the Sunset Club on August 23rd, 6pm at Duffy’s. The District Governor John Labrosco will be the speaker and will be heavy hors oeuvres and cash bar for $15 per person.
· Red Ribbon Cruise for a Cause: Randy Forcier noted this year’s cruise of Casco Bay will support our Red Ribbon Committee. Last year they supported Waterhouse Field donating over $3,000. It is also August 23rd from 6:30-9:30pm. Tickets are $40 each and includes the cruise, pizza, cash bar and the band Hello Newman.
· Annual Kinney Shores Black Party to support Red Ribbon Committee: Jim announced they will hold this major fundraiser again on Saturday, July 28th and will need Rotarians to help starting at 1pm. Last year we raised over $4,000 for Red Ribbon! Bring your family and after party at Jim’s house!
· Budget: President Joe announced we are taking $150,000 and placing it in 3 CDs for 6, 12, and 18 months to make some money on our current funds.
· Paul Harris Fellows: Brian Dallaire presented Lucie Kay with a Plus One (sapphire) Paul Harris pin and Chuck Hennessey with a Plus Two (sapphire) Paul Harris pin (now you see why Sue needed a ride? We’ve missed you Chuck!)
· Thank You: President Joe announced a $50 donation to Red Ribbon given by Past President Helene Plourde in honor of the Goodwin Brothers. He also passed around thank you notes from scholarship recipient Madison Lachance, Biddeford’s Odyssey of the Mind team and the YMCA.
Okay, so we have a new Rotary theme this year, “Be the Inspiration”, with what appears to be a tidal wave on an orange background. I believe the tidal wave is actually a copy of Judy Jetsons’ hairdo. I will return to “Be the Inspiration” in a bit but I would be remiss in not reviewing some recent Rotary themes which led up to “Be the Inspiration”.
Looking back over the years we have had some interesting Rotary themes. In my year as President it was “Be a Gift to the World”. WTF! The RI president was clearly paid off by Amazon to come up with that one. I have to confess that I wrapped myself up and attempted to mail myself to a supermodel’s house in an attempt to live up to the theme, but I was arrested trying to climb into the mailbox. So much for being a good Rotarian.
In 2014-15 it was “Light up Rotary”. I think they pulled Debby Boone out of retirement to sing at the International Convention and the image was of a terrorist lighting a fuse. Nice.
Clearly the RI President in 2011-12 was a surgeon when he or she came up with “Reach Within to Embrace Humanity” or to take out your gallbladder.
Then you have the RI President in 2005-06 who clearly was going to get his theme in late so he came up with the novel saying of “Service above Self.” Uh, I’m wondering if it sounded at all familiar when he threw it out there.
The RI President in 2003-04 owned a prosthetics company and came up with “Lend a Hand”.
In 2001-02 the RI President fancied himself a secret agent when he used the phrase “Mankind is our Business”. His name was Richard King and he introduced himself as “King, Richard King” and preferred his Manhattans shaken and not stirred.
In 1998-99 the them was “Follow your Rotary Dream”. A few of our members tried that and were arrested for stalking.
Apparently, Mr. Rogers was RI President in 2007-08 when the theme was “Rotary Shares”. I like the way he said that.
Now you may not remember this but last year the theme was “Rotary Serving Humanity”. They tried “Rotary Serving Inanimate Objects” but it just wouldn’t catch on.
So here we are with “Be the Inspiration”. That is daunting to say the least. It is not “Be an Inspiration. We have to be THE inspiration. That is a lot of pressure and I am not sure I can do it. Clearly, Joe is going to give it his best shot, and I have to admit a little thrill going up my leg like my good pal, Chris Matthews, but still being THE inspiration is a tall order. We will have to wait and see if we are inspired and if we can be the inspiration.
I would have gone with a 2018-19 theme of “Attendance Doesn’t Count Anymore” below a picture of an empty chair, but no one asked me.
If inspiration happens the peanut gallery will be sure to let you know.
Elaine is a Saco Bay Rotarian and Paul Harris Fellow who runs Open Hands, Open Hearts which is a free clothing store for infants to age 18. They have been serving families since 2008 and thanked our club for our partnership with Saco Bay to build their current building. They are open Monday through Friday from 9:30-11:30am and the last Tuesday of each month from 5-7pm. They serve local communities one child at a time.
Participants from all over York County register their first visit – name, address, phone, kid’s names and dates of birth but no financials are collected. A comment section is maintained and the items they “shop for” are logged. They accept donations of all items and sort by size, gender and season. They also maintain a shoe department of new shoes thanks to their golf tournament fundraiser and take full advantage of clearance sales as the seasons change. They provide some news toys for families who need birthday presents as well.
To date, they have helped over 3,000 kids in York County. Last year they gave out 11,000 items to 102 new families with 230 revisits. Their oncome was $12,292.91 and expenses were $10,370. If you would like to help, please consider playing in or sponsoring their Golf Scramble fundraiser on September 22 at Deep Brook Golf Course. It includes breakfast, lunch and prizes are $25 to area restaurants.
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.
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