President Ken Farley began the meeting with the Pledge of Allegiance, followed by Glory Hallelujah led by Don Lauzier (after we were scarred from Jim Audiffred’s solo). Elaine Palmitessa led us in the Four-Way Test and Joe Bassett did the invocation. Following another delicious lunch, Vice President Lucie Kay introduced Saco Bay Rotarian (and Vice President) Jeff Slaton and returning Assistant District Governor Peggy Belanger. AG Peggy thanked us for making her last three years as AG fun and she will be helping out by returning to finish off Roland’s term.
50/50 Winner – It pays to be a guest! Saco Bay Rotarian Jeff Slaton won the $30 50/50 this week.
Business After Hours (December 4, 5-7pm at ROTM) – Membership Chair Karen Chasse asked Rotarians to take the postcards on the table and invite their friends to join us for a fun event. We hope to gain new members and get the word out about Rotary. I encourage all of you to attend and network with local business leaders to make them feel welcome and consider joining this great service organization.
TAKE NOTE!!
Beginning January 1, the lunch fee will increase to $12. When we were at Captain’s Galley we paid $11 - they charged us $10 and we used the extra $1 to cover speaker/guests’ lunches. Our current meal charge is $11 leaving us without that extra $1 to cover expenses so please plan accordingly.
We want to encourage membership; therefore, the club will cover lunch for guests visiting for the first time. Please invite guests to join you! Wouldn’t it be wonderful if we filled both rooms at ROTM?
There is no meeting on Christmas Eve or New Year’s Eve
The first meeting back in January will be the joint Auction kick-off meeting so our regular meeting on Wednesday, January 7 will not take place. Our meeting will be at Saco Bay’s Club meeting on Thursday, January 8, 7:30am at Jimmy the Greeks in Old Orchard Beach.
Thank You! – Paul Deschambault passed around a thank you card for Rotarians to sign thanking Wells President Terri Hodgkins for donating 150 quilts to our club to give to the orphanage we helped in Cambodia. She has given thousands of quilts nationwide to those in need.
Ring the Bell (December 19) – We still have some open slots to ring the bell on December 19. Please sign up. President Ken will also follow-up with Interact to see if they might be available to help in the afternoon shifts.
Happy Birthday! – Ken wished the following Rotarians a Happy Birthday: Paul Deschambault (November 3), Michael Thomas (November 20), Andy Greif (November 21) and Ray Demers (November 30)
Happy Anniversary! – Ken wished the following Rotarians a Happy Rotary Anniversary: Earl Goodwin (November 1 - 43 years), Peggy Bean (November 1 - 19 years), Ron Gagnon (November 3 - 21 years), Amanda Fitzgerald (November 6 - 1 year), Michael Thomas (November 6 - 1 year), Heather Gendron (November 21 - 7 years), Josh Fearon (November 21 - 7 years) and Joe Bassett (November 30 - 31 years)
$100 Raffle Results – This year’s Winners were:
$500: Marc Bolduc (sold by Earl Goodwin); Dick and Patti Buffum (sold by Earl Goodwin); Lilly Wells (sold by Tom Wells); Dave Katon (sold by Carl Goodwin; Daniel Patry (sold by Earl Goodwin); Pop’s Tavern (sold by Earl Goodwin)
$1000: Pop’s Tavern (sold by Earl Goodwin); Eddie Hadiaris (sold by Karen Chasse); Randy Forcier and Jackson Brown (sold by Randy Forcier and Jackson Brown)
$500: Marc Bolduc (sold by Earl Goodwin); Dick and Patti Buffum (sold by Earl Goodwin); Lilly Wells (sold by Tom Wells); Dave Katon (sold by Carl Goodwin; Daniel Patry (sold by Earl Goodwin); Pop’s Tavern (sold by Earl Goodwin)
$1000: Pop’s Tavern (sold by Earl Goodwin); Eddie Hadiaris (sold by Karen Chasse); Randy Forcier and Jackson Brown (sold by Randy Forcier and Jackson Brown)
Leslie Morissette from Grahamtastic Connection (named after her son Graham who passed away from Leukemia) spoke to us about this amazing program. Grahamtastic provides seriously ill children with free technology bringing them to places they want to be, such as school, other patients, etc. Leslie brought a Vgo Robot which allows students to log into the robot while receiving treatments and attend school remotely. The robots are built in Concord, NH and cost $6,000 and $1,200 a year for access to the cloud. Prime Toyota received a plug for donating one of the three robots which are lent to students for a period of 4-5 months depending on their needs. This is a great program because it saves the schools thousands in tutoring but also allows the child being treated to remain in their social network while learning. They are currently the only non-profit in the country lending robots.
In addition, they collect laptops, iPads and tablets to remote connect for kids in treatment. Ocean Communities Federal Credit Union received a plug for their current campaign to collect used laptops for this program. Children from Westbrook and Sanford High School’s Tech programs take the devices and clean them of any information and prepare them for donation to the children in need. To date, they have helped 1,000 kids and offer the service free to users. They also train their volunteers to work with the kids and have a 14 person volunteer Board.
PROGRAM IDEA???? PLEASE CONTACT Amy Safford or Reid Scher, PROGRAM CO-CHAIRS. Remember it is the responsibility of every member to help get Programs for our meetings.
We have now exceeded our original goal of raising $700. Thanks to all!
Real-time total raised
$731.00
CLYNKed containers
13,393
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.
We are looking for sponsors of our communications- The Tack, eTack and Web-site. For just $100 you are included in all three for a year. Please contact me to sign up!
