Our May 8, 2019 meeting, or as President Joe calls it, week 46, started with the Pledge of Allegiance followed by Brian Dallaire slowly enunciating the Four Way Test after an extended absence and Joe Bassett led us in prayer.
In the midst of chaos which frequently characterizes Joe’s leadership “style”, Joe announced that there were no visitors this week other than our speakers.
Joe also reminded us for the 46th time that on May 11 we would be helping with Rise Against Hunger which is a hands on event during which we will help to put together 10,000 meals. The event will be at the Saco Elks Club on the Ocean Park Road starting at 9:00. Of course, if you failed to attend that event and you’re reading this now, you missed it!
Joe also told us that the Scholarship committee is meeting on May 14 from 3:00 to 5:00 to conduct interviews of Biddeford High School and COT students and the committee is meeting on May 15 from 3:00 to 5:00 to interview TA and OOB students. Both sessions will be at Bangor Savings on Main Street in Saco. I understand the students are quite impressive so if you can make it or need more information please reach out to Heather Gendron.
It was reported that Roland Gagne is either in Hungary or he is hungry, I am not sure which.
Joe also reported the Randy Forcier tendered his resignation because of his busy work and family schedule. Joe acknowledged all of Randy’s hard work for the club including being treasurer. I believe there are still a few Rotary checks driving around in Randy’s car.
It was announced that the Saco Bay Rotary Club is continuing is magical murder mystery tour with a production called “A Pryce in Blood” which has a pirate theme. The information related to the event is below.
It was also announced that the Saco Bay Sunset Rotary Club was inquiring as to whether there are any organizations who collect previously worn suits for men so that men might be able to find a suit to use on job interviews or say to work in a bank. If anyone knows of any such effort please reach out to Bob LaPauloue at buffettbob75@gmail.com. He either loves Jimmy Buffett or he loves the Tin Tin Buffet and does not know how to spell.
The Club then considered and voted on two donation requests which could have been handled at the Committee or Board level, but what the hell. The first was to donate to a Veterans Wall that has been set up at Volk Packaging, not sure why. We voted to donate $500 from our Company B fund to support the wall which is definitely an appropriate use of those funds. The second request was for money to help find and restore grave sites scattered throughout Clifford Park. Our club has supported renovation work at Clifford Park having done a hands on project there years ago and having helped fund the gate to the park. We discussed the pros and cons of the proposal and ultimately voted not to support it. Another proposal to give a woman $350.00 to register her car was tabled until we got more information and until I could get some information.
MAY 29 will be Rotary Foundation Day which can be a lot of fun. The day is designed to encourage everyone to give to the Foundation. For everyone who brings in a donation to the Foundation (Brian Dallaire is encouraging $100 gifts) they will receive a raffle ticket. We ask members of the club to bring in their company swag such as t-shirts, coffee mugs, umbrellas, you name it. If your business does not have swag bring in a gift certificate you have laying around or go buy one to donate, but nothing too big. We will then draw raffle tickets and each winner drawn will be able to pick an item from the table full of stuff and then they can keep that item or Yankee swap with someone who has already picked something. It really is a fun meeting and everyone should plan on attending.
Do you know the definition of lucky? You leave the room to take a phone call and you are picked as the 50/50 winner – Jim Godbout.
Matt Simmons was MIA and did not let anyone know so we skipped the sergeant at arms part of the meeting.
We invite you to make a contribution in any amount to the Rotary Foundation. We have a goal to increase the rate of participation in this year's campaign.
The Rotary Foundation is a non-profit corporation that supports the efforts of Rotary International to achieve world understanding and peace through international humanitarian, educational, and cultural exchange programs. It is supported solely by voluntary contributions from Rotarians and friends of the Foundation who share its vision of a better world.
The Foundation was created in 1917 by Rotary International's sixth president, Arch C. Klumph, as an endowment fund for Rotary "to do good in the world." It has grown from an initial contribution of US$26.50 to more than US$1billion. It has one of the largest and most Donating to Rotary means clean water and sanitation. Health and hope in areas that were once ravaged by diseases like polio. Economic development and new opportunities. Your financial help makes all this happen, and more.prestigious international fellowship programs in the world.
Donating to Rotary means clean water and sanitation. Health and hope in areas that were once ravaged by diseases like polio. Economic development and new opportunities. Your financial help makes all this happen, and more.
It's quite easy. Make your checks our to the club or even better yet, you may contribute on line directly on the RI website. (link is found on our website home page).
MAY 29 will be Rotary Foundation Day which can be a lot of fun. The day is designed to encourage everyone to give to the Foundation. For everyone who brings in a donation to the Foundation (Brian Dallaire is encouraging $100 gifts) they will receive a raffle ticket. We ask members of the club to bring in their company swag such as t-shirts, coffee mugs, umbrellas, you name it. If your business does not have swag bring in a gift certificate you have laying around or go buy one to donate, but nothing too big. We will then draw raffle tickets and each winner drawn will be able to pick an item from the table full of stuff and then they can keep that item or Yankee swap with someone who has already picked something. It really is a fun meeting and everyone should plan on attending.
If you are not able to make it on the 29th, please make you contributions either to me or Sue G. by May 29, 2019 so they may be recorded for President Joes year.
As an added benefit, the club will match your contributions up to $100, accelerating your achieving year-after-year total contributions towards the $1,000 mark with the recognition as a Paul Harris Fellow.
Conrad Welzel then introduced our speakers and of course Conrad had some spiritual connection to the ecology school because it called him to Maine in a dream 40 years ago or something like that, I was not listening. Did Conrad even do the introduction?
In any event Drew Dumsch and Bryan Matluk from The Ecology School came in to talk to us about the new campus they are building on the old Merrill farm known as River Bend Farm off the Simpson Road in Saco. They are in the midst of a $2.9 Million capital campaign and they have raised $1.8 Million so far. They will be building 3 interconnected buildings that will serve as dorms and a new dining commons. The school will be the greenest school in the country generating all of its own energy by solar on site with no combustion systems. All water for the school will come from wells and will be circulated back into the ground through a large septic system. The plans for the school and the site are incredibly impressive. Some information about The Ecology School is set out below including a reference to their website. I believe they hope to have the school open by 2020.
All proceeds from this event go to the Rotary Club of Saco Bay Foundation that supports charitable causes in our local OOB, Biddeford and Saco communities.
Prizes will be awarded for the person who Guesses the Murderer as well as
Best Actor, and Best Costume.
If more than one person guesses the correct murderer, all the winning names will be put into a hat and the final winner will be drawn.
The story this year is entitled “A Pryce in Blood” and has a Pirate Theme.
The best costume contest is for everyone, not just the actors or staff; so if you’d like to try to win the prize be sure to wear your best pirate outfit for the evening.
Tickets are $45.00, nonrefundable, and must be prepaid by to May 15th. If you leave a voice message, or email us, please make sure to provide your name and a phone number or email contact info in your message.
Sign up is available now at www.sacobayrotary.org under upcoming events.
We finally voted on a slate officers at last week’s meeting. One of the highlights was that Alicia G was nominated for a director’s position on the Board and she accepted. I am proud to announce that we have a slate officers for the 2019/2020 Rotary Year. The list is as follows:
President: Fausto Pifferrer
President Elect: Don Pilon
Vice President: open
Treasurer: Sue Gajewski
Secretary: Julie Villemaire
Past President / Board Joe Moreshead
Directors:
Heather Gendron
Conrad Welzel
CJ Cote Dubois
Alicia Girard
Haley Thompson
Thank you to all, especially the folks who have stepped up to assume stewardship of our great club. We still need a Vice President though. It is my goal to have someone in the role before my term ends this summer. The strength of our club is us, it is us who determines the future of this club. Think about serving for a year, think about your commitment to service- maybe this is a way of achieving your own personal goals developing leadership skills, communication skills, building a network of friends and peers all while stewarding a great organization and getting a firsthand view of how important this club is to our local community, statewide, nationwide and global communities as well. It all starts here in the Biddeford Saco Rotary Club.
1988 Tobie Nathanson 1989 Robert Melville 1990 A. William Kany, Jr. 1991 Myra Van Fleet 1992 Conrad Crepeau 1993 Dennis Flaherty 1994 David Lowe 1995 Robert Provencher 1996 Andy Michaud 1997 Edward Caron 1998 Ester Emmons 1999 Rene Fredette 2000 John Wasileski 2001 Carrie Shaw 2002 Alan Nelson 2003 Joe Grondin 2004 Lou Chantigny 2005 Curtis & Sonya Gerry 2006 Wayne A. Sherman 2007 Kevin Savage 2008 Robert H. Begin 2009 Roland Eon
2010 Robert Nichols
2011 William Douglas Sanford
2012 John Andrews
2013 Paul Remmes
2014 Leo P. Menard, Jr.
2015 Leon Chick
2016 Andy Greif
2017 The Esther Residence
2018 Laurie Bruce
Public Sector:
1988 Joan Susi 1989 Clayton Cartmill 1990 Dennis Dutremble 1991 Robert G.Dodge 1992 Debra Choroszy 1993 Ellen Dunton 1994 Bryce Milne 1995 Dr. Thomas H. Reynolds 1996 Rebecca Dyer 1997 Donna Dion 1998 Tom Lizotte 1999 William Soucy 2000 Roland “Ron” Michaud 2001 Carl J. Stasio, Jr. 2002 Dick Tryon 2003 Gen. Wallace H. Nutting 2004 William Johnson 2005 Mark Johnston 2006 Renee S. O’Neil
2007 Sherry Sabo 2008 Eric Cote 2009 Carl Walsh
2010 Senator Barry Hobbins
2011 Chief John Duross
2012 Jerry Lapierre
2013 Roger Beaupre
2014 Carlton D. Pendleton
2015 Michael Tremblay
2016 Alan Casavant
2017 Bill Paterson
2018 Robert F. MacKenzie
Humanitarian:
1988 Richard Nason 1989 Dr. Andre Fortier 1990 1991 1992 Agnes Flaherty 1993 1994 Dr. Francis J. Kleeman 1995 Donald W. Charland 1996 Rita Riley, Dick Lagarde 1997 David Beattie 1998 Roger Coulombe 1999 Tony Gatti 2000 Ruth Anderson 2001 James Audiffred 2002 Mary’s Walk 2003 Roland Gagne 2004 Thomas Haley 2005 Leon Tranchemontagne 2006 Father Reynald Labarre 2007 David & Carolyn Flood 2008 Andy Greif 2009 Burton Howe
2010 Julie Villemaire
2011 Rick LaChance
2012 David Lowe
2013 Phillip Dennison
2014 Paul Deschambault
2015 Dennis P. Robillard
2016 James Godbout
2017 Jim McAllister
2018 Reverend Shirley Brown
Vocational Service Award:
2000 Carl Goodwin 2001 A. William Kany, Jr. 2002 Ron Gagnon 2003 Steven Foran 2004 Frank Paul 2005 Wayne Hapgood 2006 Dr. John Fitzsimmons 2007 Arthur R. Willey 2008 James McAllister 2009 James Godbout
Our Club is in first place of 10 Rotary Clubs who participate in this program!
Total Raised: $2,503.50
Containers CLYNKed: 45,514
Energy: Saved enough energy to light 63.4 lightbulbs—24 hours a day—for a year.
Emissions: Saved the emissions equivalent of driving a car 11,999 miles.
Volume: Diverted enough containers to fill 460.4 lobster traps.
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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