Just a reminder that we will not be at Run of the Mill tomorrow for our meeting.  We will meet at the Deep Brook Golf Course on Route 5 in Saco just over the Turnpike on the left.  Anyone who is golfing should plan on being at the course by 2:30.  We will pick up teams at that time, play nine and then the meeting will start at around 5:00.  The cost for the meal will be the same and the cost for golf is $19.00 excluding cart.  See you there tomorrow. 

 

Bill

 

President’s Message.  I want to thank Bernice again for inviting Melissa Cilley, the Executive Director of the Susan L. Curtis Foundation, to speak at our meeting on September 9.  We have all heard of the foundation, but it was very interesting to learn about or to be reminded about what the foundation does.  There can be no question that Ms. Cilley attends meetings like ours in an effort to raise money to help the kids served by the foundation's summer camp.     What impressed me, however, is that the Susan L. Curtis Foundation can truly show that it has changed lives.  They work with school systems to identify disadvantaged youths who could possibly benefit from two weeks of a type of summer camp that does way more than expose children to the great outdoors.  The camp helps kids discover themselves.  They take kids from challenging environments who are destined to live a life of poverty and state assistance and/or addiction and turn their lives around.  They know from years of existence that they have many success stories and many children who, with the foundation's help, have succeeded even with difficult if not non-existent home lives. 

               The information we received from Ms. Cilley’s talk and through the thoughtful questions from the club made me wonder if we are doing the right thing by contributing so much money to college scholarships.  Are we helping those students?  Of course we are, but are we changing their lives?  I would say that we may be changing the lives of some of the students who go onto YCCC, but I would imagine that most, if not all, of the gifted students who are the beneficiaries of our college scholarships would be able to attend college even without our $4,000.00.  But what could that money do for an 8 year old with no role models, no regular meals and no real chance? 

               I am not necessarily endorsing any changes, but I am hoping that hearing about kids turning around their lives through a program like the Susan L. Curtis Foundation will at least prompt us to reflect on how we spend the funds we raise every year.  We should be willing to change if the change makes sense to the lives of young people in our communities.  We should not do things simply because it is the way we have always done them. 

 

 

 

You missed a great meeting this week. Our guest was Governor Paul Lepage; more on him later. President Bill opened the meeting on time. Everybody was squeezed, I mean greeted by our own Jeremy Ray and Chris Indorf at the door.

 

Bill made a number of announcements about the Beer Festival slated for September 26th. This is hoping to be a premier event for our club and as such we need as many hands on deck as possible. Ken Farley has also sent out requests for volunteers. I think this is going to be a great event.

 

Bill also mentioned that our t-shirts were handed out at the start of the meeting, if you ordered one and have not yet received it please let Peggy Bean know so that she makes sure you do receive it. Bill handed the floor to Lucy Kay who spoke about the Alzheimer's walk scheduled for 09/19; you will be reading this after the event. The great news is that Lucy proudly announced that we had raised $3,500.00 for the event.

 

Frank Dumais took the floor next and said " we are moving forward with our dictionary program for our third graders." Frank then went on to confuse Sarah C with Sarah N when he mentioned that we are giving the teachers homework this year. Sarah N is developing a questionnaire that we will hand out to teachers when we hand out the dictionaries. They will be asked to fill out a questionnaire regarding the effectiveness of our dictionary program-- should we be doing something else still with an over arching goal of it being centered around literacy goals, continue with the dictionaries, etc..., etc....  And Frank D, don't worry- I get confused when I look at the two Sarahs at the same time too.

 

Bill then handed out standard SBS SWAG to me me me me and Karen Chase and Sarah Curley for winning the so you think you know Ken Farley contest. Not braggin but I think we blew everybody out of the water even though we only answered a couple of questions correctly. Happy to say we did it even though Fausto scooted early from our table and then was envious of our victorious spoils. He was upset that Sarah C won something and then didn’t even sit with us.

 

Lunch was served and SAA's went into action.

 

CHris E won the 50/50 and donated it back to the club; nice guy award for him.

 

When I asked for happy dollars Chris was also first with a Jackson, no not brown- he wasn't there, Chris is the proud father of his new baby girl Elissa- congrats from all Chris!! Don L gave a deuce, one for ??? and the other for his Rob Caldwell doppelganger- sorry Don- I didn't remember his name. Lucy was happy for the Alzheimer's Walk, Karen C for her daughters 10 straight conversion points in volley ball as TA swamped Windham 3 to 1. Can't remember the rest- sorry. Fines followed: Jeremy Ray for continuing the war on women ( aren't you a democrat ) for letting me know that he would " let the women wash the glasses for the beer fest". Shame on you. Jeremy returned the volley by proxy as Chris E fined me for saying that Jeremy and he were just educators "c'mon guys- it can't be that hard- I could do 181 days on my head :-) Bill K a buck for slamming credit unions, Lucy Kay a buck for promoting credit unions- can't we all just get along??? Frank D for looking at Sarah C but talking about Sarah N, Brian D for sending the same Bill K Tack message 4 times. I think the arctic ice flows may have had some impact on your thought process- and Brian you are leaving again to go South. When I die I want to come back as Brian Dallaire, I kid you not.

 

OK, I can't remember anything else. You see, Kany had this stupid idea of making all of the directors responsible for a months worth of Tack reporting. He said do what you want i.e., get someone to do it for you or do it yourself. I couldn't get anybody to take notes this week so next week I will take Kany's money. I expect the rest of you to beat him up at Deep Brook ( beat him up = on the scorecard only ) you could even do some side bets and tithe the money to the club.

 

Our guest, Governor Paul Lepage showed up promptly on time at 1:00. I introduced him. I make no bones about that fact that I am a supporter of most of the Governor's agenda. Instead of me writing notes I would rather add the Journal Tribune's article that was published on September 17th. It is a pretty good article and covers the majority of points that the Governor made. The Governor and our club got above the fold coverage on the front page of our local paper!

 

 

By NATHAN LYNCH

Special to the Journal Tribune

 

 

 

 

SACO — Gov. Paul LePage previewed a series of town hall meetings he plans to give for the rest of his term at a meeting of the Biddeford-Saco Rotary Club on Wednesday, signaling a shift in his tactics in presenting his wide-ranging agenda directly to the public.

 

He spoke specifically about mitigating the supply of heroin and educating students about drug addiction in his prepared remarks, but also answered questions on a number of issues including the Efficiency Maine trust, the Land for Maine’s Future program, and his effort to lower the state’s income tax.

LePage began by addressing what he sees as a shortfall in resources for law enforcement to combat opioid trafficking. In the past, LePage’s efforts have courted controversy from Democrats, who suggest that his policies put law enforcement and incarceration ahead of treatment options. He noted that Maine has funded millions of dollars for treatment, while law enforcement and education have lagged behind.

 

“Every single day in Maine people (are) dying of drug overdoses, particularly heroin,” LePage said. “Three babies are born daily addicted or affected by drugs. … We need you, the public, to tell your legislators to please address the education of drugs and law enforcement of drugs. When I took office we were spending $57 million a year (on treatment); this past year we spent $76 million. We are twice the national average on GDP for drug treatment and four times as much as New Hampshire. When it’s coming in the boatload and pickup trucks full, there’s nothing we can do to stop it from being circulated.”

While the governor’s efforts focused on law enforcement, many of the questions he fielded from the Rotary Club members were about what the community could do.

Director Joe Morsehead, who helped arrange Gov. LePage’s presence at the event, asked if the governor had considered a Gloucester, Massachusetts program that fast-tracks addicts to treatment options with a combination of public and private money, rather than putting them through the criminal justice system.

Superintendent of Schools Jeremy Ray asked about support for the children of addicts. “Our children are living in homes where parents are addicted,” he said, “and that’s a whole other battle than saying no to drugs.”

 

The governor responded that Maine already makes an effort to prioritize treatment over incarceration – and said his efforts would focus on traffickers rather than the addicts themselves and that he has made an effort through DHHS to make sure children are in safe environments.

 

“Society through local communities has to get behind us. We need to understand and work at this problem,” LePage said.

 

William Kany, President of the Biddeford-Saco Rotary Club, said that the Rotary Club’s effort would be to pilot an effort to educate children about addiction on a local level. He added that the environment was a good setting for the governor to talk freely about the issues that mattered to him.

“It was good to hear him talk about (heroin intervention) … in a format like this,” Kany said.

 

LePage also put his sights on the Efficiency Maine trust, which he described as a “sacred cow” for the Legislature, and touched on his decision to withhold Land for Maine’s Future bonds.

 

“We’ve been trying to get them to look at more useful programs that will help,” LePage said of Efficiency Maine. The governor last week decided to withhold $2 million from the conservation program because the legislature has blocked his effort to use proceeds from timber harvesting on state lands to fund a program that would help rural Maine residents upgrade their heating systems.

 

“They go out and identify land they want to put into conservation. I agree with that. But once they identify it, they overpay for the properties … and they’re taking the property off the tax rolls and then they come to me and tell me to sell bonds to pay for it. You and I are paying for this,” LePage said, explaining that his decision to withhold the bonds comes after the Legislature has blocked his timber harvesting effort for three years straight.

 

In addition, LePage also made his case for a 5 percent income tax – saying it would put more money in the hands of taxpayers and grow the economy “twice as fast” – as well as his effort to leverage future liquor revenues against debt service.

 

When one audience member pointed out these efforts, LePage had a suggestion for the audience.

 

“It’s no big secret,” Gov. LePage said. “Just don’t read newspapers.”

 

In honor of World Polio Day, which is recognized on October 24th, Rotary District 7780 and Seacoast Rotary Club of Portsmouth, NH are sponsoring “Bridge the Gap to End Polio” on October 24, 2015 at 9 AM.

FMI click the link below:

 

 

 

                                                                                       

                                                 

Imagine buying a house for only $32,500, qualifying for an $8,000 tax credit and helping students receive scholarships all at the same time.  It may sound too good to be true but it is all part of the Biddeford-Saco Rotary Club’s House Project.  Each year for the last thirty years, the students at the Biddeford Regional Center of Technology (BRCOT) build an energy efficient modular home and all the proceeds from the sale benefit scholarships for Saco, Biddeford and Old Orchard Beach High School seniors.

 

“The Biddeford-Saco Rotary Club currently gives $21,000 a year out in scholarships to local high school students who continue their education,” stated President Bill Kany.  “The Rotary House Project is a substantial fundraiser to support these scholarships while helping the students at the Biddeford Regional Center of Technology to learn valuable skills.” 

 

This year’s house is 1,008 square feet (24’ x 42’) and features two bedrooms, one bath and is well insulated with an energy recovery ventilation system.  The buyer is responsible for relocation (approximately $10-$20,000 depending on distance of the move), appliances, foundation, septic, flooring, paint and heating options. 

 

For more information, contact Rotarian Carl Goodwin at 207-590-4644.