My offer still stands, if you would like me (Julie) to take your turn as the TACK reporter this Rotary year, it will only cost you a $100 BINGO sponsorship J  We are up to $400 so far J

 

President Ken was back from his hiatus and promptly started the meeting with the Pledge of Allegiance.  PP Don Lauzier led the group with God Bless America, followed by Heather Gendron and the 4 Way Test.  The surprise of the day was Denis Elie providing the invocation.

 

PE Bill Kany welcomed visiting Rotarians and guests, although there were no visiting Rotarians this week.  We did welcome Wesley Tucker  from Bonney Staffing, Emily Frechette (The Bank of Maine), Allison & Jim Cox.

 

 

Ken thanked the latest group of Rotarians for delivering yet another batch of dictionaries. 

 

PP Karen Chasse and President Ken attended the recent World Peace & Understanding dinner.  The keynote speaker was Rick King who did a phenomenal job.  One of the members of our club received special recognition at this dinner but we have to wait until he/she is present to see who that might be.

 

 

Message from President Ken:  As of this morning, 03/02/15, we only have approximately 260 items out of the 410 that we need.  This means we need approximately 150 items to have full boards with 10 items each. 

 

Please get your items in as soon as possible as the items have to be entered into the inventory system which takes time to do.  If you have items in hand please turn them in at Joe Moreshead's shop at Precision Screw on Gooch St in Biddeford or get them to Lucie Kay at York County Credit Union on Boulder Way in Biddeford.  You can also bring them to the meeting on Wednesday.  It would be helpful to email me or Lucie to let us know you have item(s) for the auction.  The auction list needs to be into the newspaper two weeks from today and there is a lot of work to do between now and then.

 

If you haven't solicited an item yet, make the call right now.  The 36 Quickie Boards air for 8 minutes and items have a minimum value of $50.  The 5 big board items air a few times in approximately 2 hours with a final bid clock of 10 minutes and have items with a minimum value of approximately $250. 

 

If you have any questions please ask me (Ken) or Lucie.

 

PP Karen Chasse announced that there would be a charitable meeting after today’s meeting.

 

Happy Birthday wishes went out and Happy Birthday Dollars were collected from Randy Forcier & Don Lauzier.  Craig Pendleton got away with it this week but hopefully he reads this and brings his wallet next week. 

Happy Anniversary wishes went out to PP Steve Morin (15 years) and Randy Forcier (8 years) and of course, Anniversary Dollars were collected.

 

 

 

  PP Don Lauzier was happy to have survived a fall off his roof.  President Ken was happy to be back from his vacation in Aruba-NOT!  Denis was happy to have participated in the very rewarding project of delivering dictionaries to the third graders.  Brad Hold gave a happy/sad dollar for having the best year ever even though his team lost in OT in the playoffs.  Earl is happy to back & we’re happy to have him back!  Jim Audifred was not happy that he froze in Florida.  Frank was happy to be heading to Florida but the weather had better be warmer.  Brian Dallaire gave 4 happy dollars for choosing the best four weeks to be away and also a dollar for the UV exposure he received at the equator.  That was enough happiness for SAA Lucie.  President Ken was the first to pay up for trying to forecast the weather in Maine from Aruba.  Karen was fined for training her dog.  Bernice’s mug shot was found in the paper once again.  Anyone who had not brought in an auction item yet had to pay up even though there was one more day until the official deadline.  If you didn’t bring in an item by our meeting on Wednesday, I would highly suggest you bring your wallet with a little bit of green.  Lucie then auctioned off a $50 GC to the fabulous restaurant known as “555” which is located in Portland.  Joe Moreshead was the lucky recipient with a winning bid of $50.

 

Today’s program was presented by Allison Cox.  Allison is a junior at Thornton Academy and works at Saco Parks & Rec Center after school program and also summer camp.  She plays tennis for a spring sport and loves horseback riding; Allison owns her own horses and rides during all of her free time as well as competes during the summer.  Allison loves to volunteer.  She teaches an autistic boy how to ride and takes him to the Special Olympics every year.  She was also a part of Big Brothers Big Sisters her freshman year.  Allison loves science and would like to be a veterinarian after college.

 

Allison came to speak to the club about the Maine Youth Leadership Program.

 

The Maine Youth Leadership Program (MLY) has been around for approximately 36 years.  The board is entirely made up of volunteers.  The 4 day seminar is held at USM on the Gorham campus.  It begins on Thursday morning through late Sunday afternoon the last week of May.

 

104+ public and private high schools are invited to send one sophomore to this seminar each year.  Guidance counselors at the schools nominate students to participate.  The organization pays for at least one student from each high school. Many schools will opt to send a second person.  This is paid for by individual sponsors or donations from clubs such as ours.

 

The most amazing part of the week for Allison was the people she met.  The things she learned and the friendships made will last her a lifetime.  The theme of the weekend Allison went to was “No Judgment.”

 

Speakers come to do presentations for the students.  Allison’s favorite speaker was Bill Pickard.  They spend 4 hours volunteering at a local non-profit and are asked to put in 100 volunteer hours to the local community when they get home.  The students can return their following years as juniors and/or seniors as Ambassadors.  Not everyone can get in – there is a selection process that takes place including writing an essay.

 

Students who are fortunate to participate with this Maine Youth Leadership Program are asked to go back to their schools and share the information they learned with the rest of the student body.

 

Thank you Allison for coming to share your amazing experience with our club!

 

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.

 

 

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.