The deadline for submitting items for the auction is Friday February 27, 2015.  At this point I would guess that we have somewhere between 75 and 80 items, which leaves us over 330 items short.  For those of you who have solicited items and turned them in, thank you.  For those of you who have solicited items and you still have them or you need to pick them up, please, please get them turned in as soon as possible.  As I mentioned at the meeting on the 18th,  this is our biggest fundraiser and it’s success depends on everyone soliciting some items for the auction.  In addition, when the items trickle in late it puts too much pressure on Julie Villemaire and the other auction volunteers who need to input all of the items, it does not let us publicize what we have ahead of time, and it does not give us the greatest amount of time to acknowledge our donors.  So if you have solicited some items please stretch and solicit one or two more.  If you have items on your desk please turn them in and if you are not sure where to take them please call me.  If you haven’t solicited any items yet please do so as soon as possible.  Again, if everyone in both clubs just solicits 3 items we are there.  Thank you all for your anticipated help.　

 

 

 

President Ken was extremely happy with the recent number of new members inducted into the club.  This was a great advancement for us & he asked that we keep the momentum going.  Keep spreading the word about the work that Rotarians do & invite potential new members as your guest.  The club will pick up the meal expense for your guests first visit.

 

Mark your calendars for the 7^th Annual BINGO fundraiser.  The proceeds benefit the RI Polio Plus program as well as our local charitable giving program.  Saturday, May 16, 2015, at the Rochambeau Club in Biddeford.    More information will come as we get closer to the date.

 

TACK Reporters:  LET’S MAKE A DEAL!  If you haven’t had your turn as the TACK reporter this Rotary year, Julie has volunteered to take over your duty in exchange for a $100 sponsorship to the BINGO fundraiser!  We give out $1,400 in prize money.  If we can secure sponsorships for the prize money then the majority of what we make we get to keep.  Expenses are very minimal with this program.

 

Special THANK YOU to one of our newest members, Sarah Curley, for representing our club at the Winterfest in Biddeford last weekend.

 

Special THANK  YOU to the Rotarians who helped tag and deliver the dictionaries to the third grade students.  There is still one school left waiting for delivery.

 

President Ken announced that the board had recently accepted the resignations of two of our members, Lucas Homitz (busy dental practice) and Pris Farrell (health reasons).

President Ken sent out a big THANK YOU to Brad Holt & UNE for hosting a fellowship night for our club during an exciting hockey game.  There were just shy of 60 Rotarians & family members in attendance.  One of our local kids scored the only goal for UNE & PP Steve Morin walked away with one of the game pucks-not sure if he got hit with it or not.  I couldn’t tell from the safety of the enclosed room I was observing the game from!  This was really a fun night & there is a possibility that it could turn into an annual event.

 

Dictionary Project: 

Due to the recent snowstorms and school cancellations, a couple of the schools had to be rescheduled for delivery of the dictionaries.  President Ken will e-mail the Rotarians involved with the new dates. 

 

During the next meeting (02/04), we will also be utilizing the first room that we started in.  The idea is to have Rotarians that need to leave early sit in that area.  The room that we are in today, will have an area set up for the speaker.  Please allow the Rotarians who are staying for the entire meeting to sit close to the speaker so they can hear better & see the visuals.

 

Parking:

Please make every effort to park down in the back parking area if you are physically able to.  There are some members of our club who have a hard time with all of the stairs and/or hill in the back.  It would be easier for them to park in the available spaces in the front of the building. 

 

Front Desk Duty:

Just a reminder that if you are signed up for Front Desk Duty, that means that you are responsible to help set up and take down the Rotary supplies for the meeting.  If someone is sitting in our “storage area”, the items can be bundled together & set aside & the staff at the restaurant will take care of putting them away.

 

TACK Reporters:

Please check the list for TACK reporters to see when President Ken signed you up.  If you are on the list and are unable to make the meeting it is your responsibility to find a replacement or let President Ken know so he can help find a replacement.  Once you type the minutes, please e-mail them to Julie Villemaire (villemaire@maine.rr.com) & Brian Dallaire (bdallaire@usa.net) & they will take care of the rest.

 

We have not had a lot of requests this year for the charitable fund.  If you know of someone who might be in need of our help please don’t hesitate to direct them to us.  There is a request form on our website that they can complete.  If you have any questions about a possible request please contact Jim McAllister & he’ll be able to offer his guidance.

 

Michael Thomas is in the real estate business with Keller Williams.  He has been with them for 3 years.  He is a 2004 graduate of Thornton Academy and went on to SMCC to get an Associates degree in business.  Michael has been in the sales industry for 10 years.  With a little prompting, he mentioned that Paul Deschambault was his favorite neighbor.  Michael deals primarily with residential properties – both with buyers and sellers in the York/Cumberland county areas.  He is still taking referrals and would appreciate any business we’d like to send his way.

 

Sarah Curley is with Liberty Mutual in South Portland.  She has been in the sales industry for 6 years with one year in insurance.  She deals with personal lines, home & life insurance.  She went to UNH and received a degree in Community Development.  She is very excited to be in Rotary & get involved in the community.  She has a yellow lab for a pet and enjoys being outdoors. She also volunteers with the Mustang Rescue.  She was just inducted as a member and has already represented the club at the recent Winterfest held in downtown Biddeford.

 

Matt Simmons is with Edwards Jones. His office is located in Biddeford across from Daly Brothers.  Matt is originally from upstate New York.  Matt has a Masters degree in secondary education.  He ran a school of nursing for a while.  He also worked at Noble High School in their Alternative Ed program.  Matt is in the financial advisory industry for personal reasons. He likes the education and helping others aspect of it all.  His focus is to help people with their income throughout their retirement not just to get to retirement.  He has a full service firm. He has been married for 10 years and has an 8 year old son.  He spends a lot of weekends working; however, Sunday’s are the designated family day.  Next Tuesday (02/17) is a retirement seminar.  The first Monday of every month the “coffee club” is held at the Pantry Café.  Matt teaches adult ed and is the chairman of the ambassador committee for the Chamber of Commerce.  Matt is here to help make a difference in people’s lives.