The following is my presentation of the awards last Wednesday, June 22. I have not included the awards for the people who were not able to make the meeting. Awards Day is our Club's opportunity to recognize the contributions people both in our Club and outside our Club have made to our community or the world. As you know I have tried to make it a habit to thank Club Members all year for things they have done for the club or in the community. The Awards Day really just takes the thanks to a much higher level. If you think about it, the Biddeford Saco Rotary Club is over 95 years old. Members of our club have been the who’s who of community leaders and our club has done things like Rotary Park, the Ferry Road bike path, helped fund the Truslow Center, I can go on and on. The bottom line is that receiving an award from our Club is high praise indeed and should be considered as such.
We all know that we take the acts of kindness by others for granted every day. We just assume that first responders are going to be there to help us until you see that video of the Boston Marathon bombings and you realize that the only people running toward the blast are wearing uniforms. Awards Day is our opportunity to break the bad habit of taking people for granted and say thank you to some who have gone above and beyond in helping others.
Each year we give out four distinguished awards. They include our Private Sector, Public Sector, Humanitarian and Vocational Service Awards. The Private Sector Award winner was not present on June 22 so I will skip that award.
Public Sector Award
The next award will be our Public Sector Award. To remind you of the description: The Public Sector Award is awarded to a citizen who, in the course of their employment or funding, serves the public with government and/or public monies. Recipients are usually employed by a government agency, hold a political office, or have their good works publicly funded in the course of their employment.
We are living in a world today in which civility in the world of government has gone away. Just look at our Presidential election and down to our recent state elections as examples of incredible mudslinging indicative of an error in which we simply cannot all get along. One cannot be a true Democrat or Republican unless you are at one polar extreme or the other. Gridlock now mars almost every level of government.
This year’s Public Sector Award winner is someone who has always worked to bring civility and common sense to government no matter what level he has worked at. Through extremely challenging meetings involving incredibly difficult and sensitive issues our recipient worked to keep his council above the fray.
At the same time this individual saw a significant need in the community to address drug misuse and addiction and created a task force to begin to address those serious issues at a time when action was so critical.
This individual has always acted with the best interests of the citizens of Biddeford in mind. This year’s BS Rotary Public Sector Award winner is Mayor Alan Casavant.
Humanitarian Award Winner
Our Humanitarian Award is given to someone whose life has been defined by his or her good deeds. The award is described as follows: The Humanitarian Award is awarded to a citizen, private or public, who has done exceptional work to further the good of humanity in the community.
This year's Humanitarian Award winner is an individual who has made it a habit to get involved. Every time I turn around I find out that this person has been involved in a project or a cause either quietly or at the head of the pack.
Specifically, how many of us have been reading stories in the paper over the last two years about the ever increasing problem of drug addiction and drug overdose deaths. How many of us watched 60 Minutes and said wow opiate addiction is out of control, that’s terrible, someone should do something about it.
This individual heard the same stories and watched as people died all around him and said enough. This person literally stood up and challenged this club to help him do something about the drug problem. The person inspired and led the creation of our Red Ribbon Committee by refusing to accept anything less than action.
By all of his actions this individual has made our communities and our club better and I have no doubt that he will not rest until his wife tells him to. I am proud to give this year’s Humanitarian Award to Jim Godbout.
Vocational Service Award
The Biddeford Saco Rotary Club Vocational Service Award description is as follows: The Vocational Service Award is awarded to a citizen, private or public, who has done exceptional work to promote vocational education and vocational programs.
This award is given to individuals who have recognized the importance of promoting the trades and the need for a skilled workforce. They have also been people who know that four years of college are not for everyone and we must strive to encourage the pursuit of the interests and strengths of all students.
This year’s recipient is not just someone that recognized a need, this year’s recipient went out to the business community and asked what do you need? What can we do to help area businesses? What skills are you looking for? This year’s recipient recognizes that not all young people want to or are capable of going on to 4 year colleges and that it is essential to meet the needs of all students and not just those heading to the Ivies.
This year’s recipient is actually a cutting edge organization that has created the first in the country machinist education program for high school students who may want a career in manufacturing. This organization has a commitment to helping students find their career path through the development of internships with local businesses which give students a chance to see if that business or profession is for them.
This year’s Vocational Award winner is an often overlooked gem of an asset in our community which has truly demonstrated its commitment to vocational education. The winner this year is Thornton Academy.
Paul Harris Awards
We also have the privilege today of giving out Rotary’s Paul Harris Awards which award is arguably the highest honor bestowed by Rotary. Named after one of Rotary’s founders, the Paul Harris Award signifies that the recipient has truly worked to promote the ideals of Rotary while helping our club be the best it can be..
We are happy to give out three Paul Harris Awards this year. I will give them out in no particular order. Because two of the winners were not at the meeting I will only mention the one Paul Harris Award that was given out.
The next Paul Harris winner is another club member who came into the club and hit the ground running. Everything that she does for the club she does well with an energy and a sense of pride. She is incredibly conscientious in everything she does and seems to be at every event. She has worked very hard to revitalize our Interact Club and I have no doubt that given some time and more support from our club, the Biddeford High School Interact Club will be one of the best in the district. I am proud to give the next Paul Harris Award to Sarah Neault.
Goodwin Outstanding Service Award
In 2007, our Club created the Goodwin Outstanding Service Award to recognize the contributions to our Club by Earl and Carl Goodwin. Those two gentlemen have done so much for our Club and contributed so much to our communities that it only made sense to create an award in their honor. This is really our Club's version of a lifetime achievement award centered around what a Club member has done for Rotary. This is our 10th Annual Goodwin Outstanding Service Award bestowed.
This year’s recipient is a past president who is and has been involved in so many efforts it is difficult to list them all. This Rotarian really could be referred to as Father Christmas for all of his efforts to make Christmas a little better for the less fortunate, but I think his efforts to help the people of Lac Megantic which effort captivated and motivated the entire District really made him a Rotary MVP.
This year’s Goodwin Outstanding Service Award winner is Paul Deschambault.
I should note that Paul is on the Awards Committee and we purportedly voted to give the award to another member of the club but we had voted before he arrived to give it to him. He had no idea.
Service Above Self
After the Goodwin Award, Rotarian of the Year and perhaps equal to Paul Harris Awards, it is my opinion that Service Above Self Awards are really the highest awards our club can award. After all it is the underlying moto of Rotary and it is a phrase that really captures the essence of the recognition. I will always remember seeing a Service Above Self Award hanging from my father’s wall of fame and another hanging in Alan Nelson’s office and thinking how cool would it be to get one of those. So this year I did not give out any Presidential Awards. All of my highest thank you’s are Service Above Self Awards. I should note that I included an original haiku on each of the plagues. As most of you probably know haikus are a form of poetry in a 5/7/5 meter. They don’t rhyme and don’t involve the word Nantucket. While I am not an accomplished poet, they are all unique and the sentiments are what count. I will give these out in no particular order. I did not include in the list those members of the club who were not at the meeting.
Karen Chasse
Ken Farley
Sue Gajewski
Joe Moreshead
Julie Villemaire
Lucie Kay
Rotarian of the Year
Our awards culminate in the President’s choice for the Rotarian who stood head and shoulders above the rest. I could have printed this plague a long time ago. This person does not take no for an answer, is constantly moving forward, is constantly thinking of others and is generous to a fault. He has made of club and each of us better by responding to his challenge and following his example. I will be ever indebted to him for all he has done in my year.
The 2016 Rotarian of the Year is Jim Godbout.
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