This is it, the last week to get your auction items in. The hard deadline is February 26, 2016 so please, please double you efforts and get your items in by Friday. I am sure that the people who will then deal with the processing of the inventory will appreciate it.
At the beginning of my year we solicited proposals for community projects. After considering the couple we received we decided to help out the Community Bicycle Center with its trails in the back of its Granite Street property which should be a fun hands-on event. We are targeting the date of May 21 to do the project so please mark your calendar now. Andy has promised that gas power tools will be required which should be the only draw we need.
President Bill Kany led us in the Pledge of Allegiance followed by the 4-way test led by Andy Greif and the invocation led by Rob Moody. President Bill introduced Past District Governor Ron Drouin who is still a member of our club. He was DG at the time Canada was part of our District. He introduced his fellow Colleague (running for State District) Steve Martin. Steve was given the floor and all he was brief with his sales pitch, “Vote for me!”
President-Elect Lucie welcomed guests Adam (who knows what his last name was based on her pronunciation) and Naomi Harris. The 50/50 was won by Chris Indorf who donated 100% of it to the Red Ribbon Committee Fund.
Thank You! – Bill thanked the following people this week:
• Everyone who have submitted their Auction items
• Joe Moreshead as collecting these Auction items is a huge amount of work
• Julie Villemaire for cataloging all the items as they come in.
• Heather MacLean organized the badge box for us.
Auction – Jackson reminded everyone the deadline for items is this Friday, February 26th. We are 170 items short!! TRY YOUR BEST! If you need more slips, see Jackson. If you know you have an item secured but don’t have it in hand, email Jackson. Also, we still have about 10 more Quickie Board sponsors. Bill began selling them at the meeting and was quite successful. The next auction meeting is March 9 at 7:30am at SBSI in Saco (enter under green awning out back) – all welcome to attend.
Rotary House – The house is weather tight and the BRCOT kids are ready to begin some work. The first project is fixing the bowing floors, interior partitions for electricians and HVAC, new screen porch to bring it up to code. They will be learning how to remodel which is a great life skill. We can help by heading Jim’s plea to help with the clean-up this Saturday, February 27 at 9am.
Community Project on May 21st – We will be working at the Community Bike Center to clear and open up the brush so we can create a mountain biking path.
Charitable Fund – President Bill read a thank you note from a Mom who requested oil to keep her family warm. It’s always nice to hear words of thanks from those we have helped.
Clifford Park Project – Dana Peck with BHS’ Class of 1967 (aka Club 67) and the Heart of Biddeford have been working together to replace the iron gates that once stood at Clifford Park on Pool Street. The cost is about $2,000 with the donated labor of Dana and Joel Smith. Club 67 enjoys lunch together once a month and remembers Clifford Park when it was a hub of activity and great gathering spot. They are donating $1,000 and Rotary is donating the other $1,000. Others have also contributed, such as Saco Bay Trails, Community Bike Center and more so the extra funds will be used to enhance and revitalize the park. Dana showed a rendering of the gate which will replace the current chain link fence and thanked us for our donation. See the attached letter from Catherine Glynn who was unable to attend the meeting.
The good news is that we are at around 300 auction items. The bad news is that we still need 110 more items and today is the deadline. If you have items please get them to Joe Moreshead's office today. We also need 5 more Quickie Board sponsors so if you have not yet done anything for the auction or if you can stretch and get your business or your employer's business to do a Quickie Board sponsorship for $175.00, please do so.
As President, I do appreciate all of your hard work and we are almost through the solicitation phase of the auction, so please don't wait, get your items in as soon as you can.
Speaker – Mayor Alan Casavant of the City of Biddeford provided us with an update on the current projects and challenged us to speak up publicly and emphasize the positive.
When Alan became Mayor he wanted to create an environment where investors felt safe. We have created this system where we are business-friendly by meeting with everyone involved (construction, etc.) and the results are outstanding! Many of our local businesses are receiving public Accolades (i.e. Biscuits and Company, Elements) and our Downtown today versus five years ago is booming. We are now realizing our vacancy rate decreasing on storefront which is exciting.
What many people don’t know is there is no power in the Mayor role. Mayor Casavant’s enormous salaries job (I said that, not him) is the to be face of government. He has to advocate for the City the best he can so one of the main goals moving forward is to work with the Chamber to joint market the cities. When we were younger, it was always Biddeford/Saco and economically-viable. As an added step to solidify this relationship, both City Councils will be meeting on a regular basis so we maintain the partnership. This will be in writing so it continues to occur after the Mayor’s term.
What has been interesting is the number of companies who have never been to Biddeford or are totally unaware of what we have to offer. We have been off the grid for too long and need to market ourselves in the positive light we actual live in. People who come here always see the area as better than those we grew up here.
Some of the great things we have accomplished:
• The Mills – With Doug Sanford’s vision, this project has been transformational! 100% of the apartments are at capacity.
• Lofts by the Falls – Gangbusters!
• Industrial Parks – 96% capacity. Recently purchased the Pate property to increase that capacity and welcome new businesses into Biddeford.
• RiverWalk
• Lincoln Street Mill – there has been some changes but it will happen – just modified. We will have a stand-alone hotel, a restaurant, etc. Tim Harrington is working with banks for financing.
Challenges:
• Infrastructure -
o Traffic concerns - we need to do our best to make traffic flow work. But these things NEED to be done.
o Dredging - Must be done as it can contribute a lot to the economy.
o Waterhouse Field (Jeremy and Chris have revolutionized the way our schools are running)
o Clock Tower on City Hall
• Drug Issue – Mayor Casavant praised our Red Ribbon Committee and UNE staff.
• Parking – Having a parking garage is a necessity to accommodate this growth. It has been done in Lewiston and created excessive growth for the business. A year and a half to complete and the 200-300 spaces would already be leased! If we want maximum Mill development, we need to partner with the businesses.
• Education – Despite the communities mirroring each other demographically, the State currently contributes $10.2 million to Biddeford Schools and $20.1 million for Sanford Schools. This is based on home valuation (coast homes).
• Uncivil Behavior – This is not acceptable as grown adults - we should not be attacking or ridiculing each other and as a community we should not remain silent when it happens. As Mayor Casavant described, “We eat our young here.” It’s important to recognize that negative press does effect everything we do. Investors were calling and asking, “What is going on in your town.” He challenged us to speak up publicly and emphasize the positive (a letter to the editor, a Facebook post, etc.). Jim Godbout added, “We are leaders in our community! People look up to us and we need to speak up.”
Details about the auction were reviewed by Jackson and Tony. April 3rd is this year’s auction from noon to 9PM at the Martin Community Center in Biddeford. Next meeting is next Tuesday the 26th at 8AM and SBSI in the community room on the first floor. Enter from rear parking area. Deadline to donate items is 2/26. Goal is 410 items.
If you have a company or individual that would like to donate a service of some type but doesn’t have the time or energy to make a gift certificate (if they don’t already have some), then Julie Villemaire can produce a gift certificate for them. The certificates have an embossed seal along with Julie’s signature on them so the business owner/individual will know they are originals and not copies. They can view the certificate ahead of time for their approval if they would feel more at ease.
Bid Numbers: Auction participants should call ahead to receive a Bid Number so they are all set for the day of the auction. We typically have over 500 people bidding. Bid Numbers help make the whole process much more efficient. The more numbers we can hand out ahead of time, the less phone calls Julie receives prior to the auction and the less phone calls the Pic N Pay area receives the actual day of the auction. If you had a Bid Number last year, you will be all set for this year. Julie will be sending a mass e-mail out to last year’s bidders to remind them of the upcoming auction as well as to give them their number for this year’s auction. If you did not have a Bid Number last year, please get in touch with Julie at villemaire@maine.rr.com so she can add you to the e-mail list when the time comes. Reminders will be sent out as we get closer to the event. Always remember to “Bid High, Bid Often!”
Inventory Slips: Please be sure to fill out the inventory slips as completely as possible! Attached is a sample slip for your reference. If you have any questions please don’t be afraid to ask. Out of 10 slips received so far, only 4 of them had complete information.
Below is the final (I think) 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.
The below list of nominations were read. No nominations were heard from the floor. Paul Dechambault made a motion to accept the slate of nominations, Jeremy Ray seconded the motion and the club voted unanimous.
Peggy Bean needs more volunteers! Please remember it is up to the TACK coordinator to ensure that someone is taking the minutes each week during your assigned month. If you aren’t able to take the minutes yourself, please reach out to fellow members for volunteers. Please forward the minutes to Julie Villemaire and Brian Dallaire so they can get them posted for the rest of the members.
Invocation: Joe Bassett
PROGRAM IDEA???? PLEASE CONTACT Brian Dallaire, PROGRAM CHAIR or a member of the Program Committee. Remember it is the responsibility of every member to help get Programs for our meetings.
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.
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