This weekend I got to participate in a sport that I had never done before. Now mind you, I had not trained properly and that was my own fault. Furthermore, I did not hydrate adequately throughout the ordeal. It was grueling and not for the faint of heart. A short time into my first game I was a ball of sweat, and after a game or two I was so mentally taxed that I had no idea whether I would make it through the series of games required to complete the event. Add to all of that the brutal opponents who were absolutely ruthless and cutthroat and I can tell you I felt like a Roman gladiator.
I don’t know if any of you saw the Red Sox / Yankees game on May 6th, but in the bottom of the 9th David Ortiz came up with the bases loaded with one out and a single run would tie the game. The home plate umpire called a clear ball a strike. The call was so bad the Big Papi erupted and John Farrell was thrown out of the game. But that was not the third strike so Papi climbed back into the batter’s box and took what looked like ball 4 only to be called out on strikes. Instead of walking to tie the game he was walking back to the dugout. He immediately returned to the field and unleashed a tongue lashing on the umpire that I am certain could not be repeated on national television. Well, my opponents this past weekend were equally as brutal on the officials. Any slip up by the officials was met with immediate requests for their heads. Now I am not usually sympathetic to referees, but in this case I really thought they were being excessively tortured.
Now as the games progressed, I, like a marathon runner, had to seek out my way inner self to keep going. While hard to get in the zone with all the smack talk from the roller derby queen and her minions, I knew I had to make it to the end. Exhausted and disgusted with defeat after defeat, I was totally relieved when the last game was over and I could crawl to my truck for the slow ride home.
Frankly, I will stick with golf and skiing. I swear that was my one and only shot at BINGO. I will leave that game to those extreme daubing athletes who have way more mental stamina than I do.
Let’s all thank Julie and her committee for another successful fundraiser, let’s all extend our sympathies to Joe Moreshead and Earl Goodwin who were thoroughly abused by the players, and let’s all have a new found appreciation for Bingo players everywhere.
President Bill called the meeting to order promptly at 12:15. I gave the invocation while Heather G read the 4 way test. Sarah Curley won the 50/50 and genenrously donated back to the club and specifically the Red Ribbon Committee; I think it was $28.00
Bill announced Bingo was happening Saturday. As you read this we have already had the game, had some fun and raised some money for Rotary. Julie V pulled off another successful Bingo event. This is our eighth year and I bet we have raised close to $30,000.00 in that time.
The BRCOT House project is going great. May 21st is the day for our hands on project at the Community Bike Center. When we are done with the tree chipper from CBC we will haul it over to the BRCOT house and chip up some trees and branches that have been cleared from the lot. We can thank Rob Moody for the clean to date.
Keith Jaques and I tried to fine everybody at the club as SAA’s. As always we used laser precision to slice and dice our illustrious leader President Bill.
We had a fantastic program presented by Rick LaRiviere, president of the Saco Salmon Restoration Alliance & Hatchery aka Saco River Salmon Club. Rick shared with us a video on removing the two dams known as the Bradbury and Springs dams. These are the dams on Elm Street that can be seen when going by Gooch Street and next to Koi, the Chinese restaurant. To see more about this project please visit their website at http://www.sacosalmon.com/index.html . At their website you will find the presentation and links to other informative sights. You can also email Rick at sacosalar@gmail.com They are always looking for volunteers and people to champion their efforts.
After watching Rick’s 20 minute presentation I am convinced that the dams should go. They were built in the 1940’s for the last of the log drives on the mighty Saco. They dams do not produce electricity and have hindered the shad, alewives, salmon and American Eel’s ability to go upstream for spawning. The removal of the dams also offer economic benefit by removing a number of places off of the federal FEMA flood maps costing thousands in mandatory Federal Flood Insurance, much improved fishing, less flooding, less bank erosion and just a much cleaner river. The water will be allowed to flow freely allowing it to be much more oxygenated allowing for overall greater aquatic life.
You really need to check out Rick’s webpage and learn the other benefits of this project. There are a number of organizations who have signed on to see this project through.
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 remember it is up to the TACK coordinator to ensure that someone is taking the minutes each week during your assigned month. If you aren’t able to take the minutes yourself, please reach out to fellow members for volunteers. Please forward the minutes to Julie Villemaire and Brian Dallaire so they can get them posted for the rest of the members.
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.
Energy: Saved enough energy to light 36.9 lightbulbs—24 hours a day—for a year.
Emissions: Saved the emissions equivalent of driving a car 6,994 miles.
Volume: Diverted enough containers to fill 256.4 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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