Happy belated New Year. I hope that you all have a safe, healthy and fun 2016.
As an update, my father is home and doing well.
I came into my Rotary year expecting challenges. I knew that being your President would be hard work but enjoyable. I also knew that my year might have one or more personal challenges. While this may seem a bit silly to some of you, I knew based on our family dog’s age and health that I might lose him during my Rotary year. Bode actually gave my family our best Christmas present by being with us on the holiday but we lost him four days later. Bode was the center of our family for 14 years. His death has left a hole in my heart which I only hope my memories will fill. I am sure other pet owners understand.
The following is a post from my son Andy which he gave me permission to share with you. I could not have said it any better. It’s a great New Year’s resolution inspired by the unconditional love of a pet.
"As I come back to reality after an amazing Christmas/New Years with with my loved ones, family, friends and phriends I can't help but feel grateful for all the love and kindness I am surrounded by. I say this with a heavy heart as the Kany's had to say goodbye to a beloved family member over that same period. Bode was with us for 14 wonderful years and was the epitome of unconditional love and kindness. It amazes me at how easy it can be to overlook simple acts of generosity and kindness, as so much of it today is monetary or materialistic. But often times the small free things are the most powerful...Whether it be a smile from a complete stranger, taking time to talk and listen to a friend, a hug from a family member, or even just meeting you at the door every day when you get home with a tail feverishly wagging. It is something that can seem hard to practice on a daily basis. But if there is one thing Bode taught me it is that it really isn't that difficult, not at all. We are often just too lazy or selfish to cheer someone up, or listen to what they have to say, or just tell them how happy we are to see them every chance we get. So rest easy Bode, I'm sure we'll meet again and I'll have a cookie for you when we do. And to everyone else, Happy New Year and thank you for being apart of my long strange trip. And if you are looking for a good resolution this year, I have a simple one for you...Be kind."
President Bill promptly started the meeting with the Pledge of Allegiance. PP Roland Gagne flawlessly led the group in the 4 Way Test which was followed up with Jim Audiffred and the invocation. Because it was the first meeting of the month, our fellow diners at the Pub were blessed with the angelic voices of Rotarians. This was also the meeting that we toast our sister club in Bideford, England. Bill chose ale instead of wine for the toast simply because he liked it more.
Both President-Elect Lucie Kay and Vice President Jackson Brown were MIA so President Bill introduced visiting Rotarians & Guests. He was able to handle this difficult task without incident-seeing as there were no visitors at the time. Charles from the Chamber was able to slip in a little bit later so Bill announced his name after he spotted him in the crowd.
President Bill mentioned there were 5 more people being proposed for membership to our club! It’s a good thing their full names were posted at the front desk for all in attendance to see. I apologize for not having the full names to post here. I was not expecting to take the TACK minutes (Chris Indorf-you owe me) and I was apparently not fully in the TACK zone. Their first names are: Jane, Paulette, Sabine, Justina and Don. If you did see their names and have any comments, please let Bill & Bernice know as soon as possible. I’ll follow up with someone who actually knows what’s going on & we will update our website with the correct info.
President Bill also announced that the board had accepted the resignation of Jake Desrochers.
Don’t forget the joint auction kick-off meeting is scheduled for Wednesday, January 20th at Run of the Mill Pub, 12:15 p.m. Please feel free to start soliciting items early! If you have any questions about the auction, don’t hesitate to give Jackson Brown a call or any of the Rotarians who have had the pleasure of spending time at this amazing event. Please make every effort to attend this kick-off meeting. Jackson Brown & Tony LeBlanc (Saco Bay Rotary) will make sure everyone is armed with the tools they need to help make our largest fundraiser (for both clubs) a huge success. That success won’t happen without every Rotarian from both clubs rolling up their sleeves and jumping in! New Rotarians, don’t despair. The veteran Rotarians are more than happy to help shed some light & take you under their wing for participation in your first auction. It truly is a remarkable event with the end result being a significant benefit for our local communities in which we live and serve.
President Bill reminded members that we have some funds set aside to provide fuel assistance for people in our communities. The request still needs to go through our charitable committee. The form can be found on the front page of our website.
The $37.00 50/50 pot was won and then donated in its entirety to the newly established Red Ribbon committee by one of our new members, Pierre Giroux.
SAA’s Joe, Keith and Karen took the floor to collect happy dollars and then dole out the fines. Joe was on a mission because apparently he was called on the carpet at the board meeting for not contributing enough to the bottom line of the budget. He had high hopes of making up some ground. Some of the happy dollars & fines included: PP Steve Morin, took his wife to the top of Mount Washington, attended a black tie event and danced the night away. He then gave a sad dollar because someone had broken into his business that same weekend. PP Karen was happy that her daughter Julia was accepted to her first choice of colleges for nursing (UMO) and also for starting her new job and still enjoying it after a full week. The SAA couldn’t wait to fine Karen so they hit her up for brown nosing and also her pretty picture found in both the paper & electronically. Conrad was happy that he is going to be a grandfather again. CJ was happy to have lost 5 pounds during the holidays. Fausto was happy for his business, Blue Elephant Catering, being nominated for a very special award in Vegas. The award is the equivalent of the Oscars in catering. President Bill gave a nauseous dollar for PP Karen’s new “Biddeford Tiger” ID badge that she was proudly wearing. Laurie Jo was fined for causing Keith’s OCD disorder to come out when she left the shade “crooked” when trying to keep the sun out of Julie’s eyes. Unfortunately, no good deed goes unpunished. Josh, Josh and Rollie were all fined “visiting” dollars. President Bill was fined a “congrats dollar” for making it halfway through his year. I’m not sure what deal SAA Keith was making with President Bill but he said something about “Bill” and “saving money” in the same sentence. PP Karen fined all of the insurance people for only showing up to a meeting when “drinks” were served. President Bill was fined for his “fashion sense”. SAA Keith asked the crowd who was happy the holidays were over. Several people raised their hands…costing each of the “Grinchs” a buck. People in the education field were fined for having to spend time at BHS. The SAAs needed more money so they called upon President Bill to open his wallet and part with yet another buck. Sarah Neault was hit up for a “casual wear” day and Chuck for not being fined in a while. They ended the collection with a final “attitude buck” from President Bill.
Jim Godbout announced that the Red Ribbon committee recently met with the local schools. Karen took part in taking some extensive minutes that will be shared. Jim said they developed a plan of action. They left the educations with a homework project to help develop young mentors. There will be a core group in each of the schools. They talked about “addiction” in general, not just drug addiction. There was great momentum. We are going to be the driver for this program and are working on creating branding. The board voted to make The Red Ribbon committee a standing committee within our club. A press release will be coming. This committee has raised an astounding $16,590.00 in such a short time!!
House Project: Demolition was expected to wrap up on Saturday, 01/09. The board voted to approve an agreement with the City of Biddeford (with a couple of changes). They also voted to approve having the roof done before any more damage is done to the inside of the building. The City will be deeding the property to us. President Bill will be working on clearing up the title.
Bill’s New Year’s resolution is to dress like Matt Simmons (full suit) every day.
President Bill said that one of the things he wanted to do this year was to focus on where we spend the money that we raise through our various fundraisers. We have great committees that do a great job spending the funds but he believes that as a group we don’t really know the whole picture. We currently allocate $21k towards scholarships each year. Perhaps we go back to our original $1k scholarship – just something for the club to consider. The Past President’s fund currently has a balance of $188k. This money has not been touched. The goal is to get that fund to $300k. Most of the scholarship money comes from the sale of the house & general fundraising. A great discussion ensured with various members voicing their opinions/suggestions. In the end President Bill said that he would have both the Past President’s committee & the Scholarship committee meet together to discuss and then make a recommendation to the club.
PP Steve Morin was the recipient of President Bill’s “Thanks” today for all of the work he has been putting in to get the 10th annual wine tasting event up and running.
PP Steve took the floor to update everyone on this exciting event happening on 01/30/16 at the Pepperell Mill Campus’ new function room. This is an excellent location from what we hear. Steve is in need of HELP to SELL TICKETS! An account with Event Brite has been established so people can purchase their tickets right on line. There is an additional charge of $2.50 to get tickets this way.
Why not save your friends and family money and have them buy tickets directly from their favorite Rotarian. Steve has more than enough tickets that he will be more than happy to share. Tickets will not be sold at the door. He is also in need of silent auction items and wine table sponsors. Table sponsors have been in the $100 range. If you or your company would be willing to sponsor, please get in touch with Steve Morin. If Mother Nature doesn’t cooperate on the 30th, then 02/06 has been set for the snow date.
President Bill convinced three of our newest members to introduce themselves to the other club members in what was once known as a “classification talk”.
First up was Pierre Giroux. Pierre owns the Saco Veterinary Clinic on North Street. He grew up in Northern NH on a dairy farm, attended UNH for his undergrad program and Ohio State University for Vet School. He’s been working locally for the past 6 years. Pierre is happily married with 3 children (15 year old daughter, 13 year old son and a 9 year old daughter). Pierre found that he had more free time and truly enjoys volunteering and helping in the community.
Next up was Mark Nahorney. Mark is the Director of Community Relations at UNE where he also spent a number of years as the Dean of Students. Mark is currently the president of the Biddeford City Theater. Mark is a transplant from CT. He married his high school sweetheart and has 3 grown children and a grandson. Mark said that he had attended Rotary events in the past but didn’t really know what we were about or who we were. He likes the community building & actions we do as citizens-making a difference. Mark mentioned that it took him 5 years to complete is undergrad program, attended Boston University and ran a 250 seat pub.
Our final speaker was Conrad Welzel. Conrad started by thanking Jim Godbout for getting him involved with Rotary. He has been in the area for 40 years and actually met his wife in a bar in OOB. He has a daughter and a granddaughter. He has spent the last 25 years working for the Maine Turnpike Authority. He is the government relations person. He works on special projects right now which allows him more free time. He worked at Burger King in Saco when it first opened. YMCA for several years (don’t blame him if your kids still can’t swim ), did some construction work where he met Carl Goodwin. Likes to swim, hike and canoe. His favorite thing is “good eating”. He expects to retire in 2-5 years and thought this was a great opportunity to get back into the community.
Thank you gentlemen for your bravery in standing in front of this group of Rotarians! I apologize if I changed any of your history. We can always set the record straight next week. Great job by everyone!!
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 let Sarah Neault know if you are available to serve as the Tack Reporter on October 14 and October 21. Thanks.
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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