I have now been President for two months so I can really appreciate even more the efforts of my predecessor, Ken Farley.
Truth be told, at our last meeting in June the Club took so long to make fun of me that we did not really have adequate time to acknowledge and thank Ken Farley for his efforts as President of our Club. Throughout his year, Ken demonstrated his vast knowledge of Rotary and our Club. Ken knows our budget inside and out and managed it ably. He knows all about Rotary Youth Exchange and expressed his concerns about the way that program is now being run. He continued to provide an incredible amount of leadership and work for the auction to insure that it went off smoothly, including yet again writing the script for the auction.
Perhaps most impressive to me was the fact that a few key members of our Club, for a variety of reasons, had to leave during the Rotary year. They had important responsibilities like coordinating our programs or the dictionary project. Most members of our Club probably did not know that Ken ultimately took on those responsibilities in addition to his responsibilities as President.
Clearly, however, Ken's legacy is going to be bringing in 10 new members to our Club during his Rotary year. That is a very impressive number at a time when it is becoming increasingly difficult to attract new members to almost any charitable organization. Ken worked closely with his membership chair, Karen Chasse, to work to increase our membership and I am sure that he appreciates the efforts of our Club members to sponsor new members.
I am very excited that Ken has agreed to take on the role as Membership Chair as Karen transitions over to our Marketing Committee, and of course, we owe Ken a huge thank you in taking on the beer festival event and we all need to support him in that effort.
While way too late in coming, we all owe Ken a big thanks for his hard work and leadership this past Rotary year.
President Bill started the meeting off with the Pledge of Allegiance. Phew! No singing required today!! CJ Dubois-Cote led the 4 Way Test and James Audiffred led the Invocation this week.
Today President-Elect Lucie Kay announced our visitors. We had our guest speaker Dr. James Sulikowski from UNE. We also had a visiting Rotarian from Portland, Bowen.
This week’s 50/50 totaled $30!!! Dana Lane won and he donated the funds to Jim’s Drug Program.
SAA’s Joe Moreshead, Karen Chasse and Keith Jacques were up next for some fun and some fining!
We had a few happy people at Rotary… where are the rest of the happy people?!?! Joe Moreshead had a happy dollar because his son turned 30!! Mark had a happy dollar because he sent up his membership application last night (we’ll see you in 2 weeks if you pass inspection!!!) Of course Joe wanted to fine him a dollar because you’re not supposed to talk about your application. Jeremy was happy because he took his son fishing with his Spiderman Pole and he caught a fish!! Peggy was happy with an article that President Bill wrote (hmm... are we brown nosing the President??) Past President Ken was happy he helped his daughters Field Hockey team with a bottle drive. He was impressed with how many bottles they collected and the support from fellow Rotarians. Lucie was happy because she just came back from a fabulous vacation from Niagara Falls. She said there are more people there than at Disney it seems! Karen’s daughter bought her very own first car all by herself! It’s Tan Neon. CJ is happy to be going to Rockport this weekend!!!
Onto the fines…Joe fined President Bill because he said board members must do TACK (I’m not a board member!!) But Joe is buying me lunch because he can’t do TACK next week! Keith fined CJ for the 4 way test… she had to read the poster (I read the poster too!!) Karen fined Jim for asking for Coleslaw with lunch. Joe fined Bowen for buying a beer and didn’t offer to buy anyone else a beer. Karen fined Don for destroying her dreams of taking his job since he said he is NEVER RETIRING!!! Joe fined Matt because his Portfolio is on a Roller Coaster ride right now... up and down and all around! Karen fined Keith for saying “Child birth is easy or you wouldn’t keep doing it.” I think he deserved more than a $1 fine, but that’s my opinion J Joe fined everyone who isn’t voting for Donald Trump! Keith fined President Bill for not being able to decide what he wanted to lunch (he has multiple dots on his tag).
President Bill sent out a reminder about the Alzheimer Walk. He begged everyone to visit www.alz.org and donate or sign up to walk. Walk starts at 9:00am. Everyone needs to send Lucie their t-shirt size so everyone can match and no one will get lost or separated from the group while walking. You are paying for your own shirt and it will be roughly $10-$12.
Sue had a sign up going around for the golf and meeting on September 23rd. If you’re going to the meeting write your name on the list or you won’t be able to eat! She’s using the list to order food. If you missed the sign up this week, don’t worry, she will send it around for the next 3 weeks.
Past President Ken Farley gave a quick update on the upcoming new fundraiser, “Celebration of Suds at the Falls”, which is being held on Saturday, September 26. We were able to get the Courier to discount ad space! There are 19 tickets already sold. We need roughly 300 sold to break even. Don’t forget to take a poster and hang it anywhere!!!! A volunteer page will be going around at Wednesday’s meeting. Make sure you sign up to volunteer! Who wouldn’t want to drink beer and wine?!?!?!
Don talked to the group about the Forklift for the Food Pantry. They found a used Forklift and were able to finance $3,000! Rotary donated a total of $600 - $500 from Rotary and $100 donated by a Rotarian (I’m sorry Don was speaking so fast I couldn’t keep up L ) The Forklift was donated on Thursday at 1pm and the Journal Tribune was there to document it!!
Bowen from the Portland Rotary Group came to discuss their Centennial Gala!!! It’s going to be on Saturday, September 12th at the Holiday Inn By the Bay. Cocktails at 5:30 and Dinner is at 6:30. There will be music and dancing from 8:30 -10:30. Its $100 per person and you MUST RSVP by August 31st. Check out the invitation at the end of the TACK!
Frank Dumais would like to have a dictionary meeting on September 9th after the meeting.
There was a Charitable Meeting after today’s meeting.
Jim (It wasn’t Jim McAllister) talked about Drug Abuse. He wants to wage the war against drugs and would like Rotary’s Help. Prescription drugs are where drug addiction all starts. He is looking for financial and volunteer help to fight the battle. Karen Chasse is working with Project Alliance on a video to help fight this battle. Bowen also said that Falmouth and Westbrook are working on a similar group. President Bill is going to talk to Tony Wagner to move this forward ASAP.
Today we had Dr. James Sulikowski – a Professor at UNE come as our guest speaker. James brought him as the guest, and apparently he has seen him naked… it got a little awkward for a few minutes. Dr. James Sulikowski did a great job in his presentation, but I will NEVER swim in the ocean again! He told us how UNE is teaching students about Marine Entrepreneurship, Conservation and Restoration, Ocean Studies, and Sustainable Ecological Aquaculture. The Seafood Industry is a $2 billion industry (I’m in the wrong profession!). In the Sustainable Ecological program, they study blue fish Tuna, Scallops, and Munk Fish – which is the poor man’s lobster and you can only eat the tail. If anyone sees a big red ball floating by the Dam, call UNE because their Receiver is floating away!
Dr. James Sulikowski then started talking about Sharks. The Gulf of Maine has 8 species of Sharks within 10 miles from the beaches (GGRREEEAAATTTT!) The Spiny Dogfish shark is the smallest shark we have. They are typically used for Fish n Chips in Europe! Next up is the Blue Shark. They’re scavengers and eats just about anything! They like to hang out off the shore. The Common Thresher Shark was interesting. They use their long tails to stun schools of fish. When the fish fall he gobbles them up! The Thresher Shark apparently tastes delicious and is sold in the grocery store. Next Shark in our area is the Mako Shark. They are the fastest sharks and they LOVE eating Blue Fish. They are very aggressive, and Dr. Sulikowski said they are yummy and taste like steak (I’ll take his word for it!). The next Shark we have is the Porbeagle. They have a white patch on their fin. They are also fast and love to eat fish. They can get to be as big as 9 feet! The good Doctor then told us about Sand Tigger sharks. They are proposed to be threatened. They are super slow swimmers but like the Canadians, they like to hang off the Pier in OOB. Of course we have the famous Great White Shark! They are going to coming around more often because the Seal Population is increasing like crazy! The last shark we have is the Basking Shark. They can grow to be 30 feet long!!! They LOVE to hang out by the shore and you can see them coming very close starting in June. They don’t have teeth they have sandpaper!
Dr. James Sulikowski tried to but our minds to rest by telling us that we have a better chance of getting bit on the Subway in New York City than getting bit by a Shark – I didn’t find this comforting one bit!!
Sharks can live to be 75 years old!! They only have a handful of babies in their life time and they only have one baby at a time. Apparently Sharks can get pregnant with multiples but the first Shark to grow teeth... um… eats his brothers and sisters... eww!
UNE tags sharks with removable tags that float to the top and give up to date information! Each tag is between $4,000 and $5,000!
Thank you to this year's Board of Directors for your leadership of our club: (front row, l-r) Laurie Jo Ready, Treasurer; Bernice Wood, Secretary; Bill Kany, President; Lucie Kay, President-Elect; Jackson Brown, Vice President: (back row, l-r) Susan Gajewski, Asst. Treasurer; Peggy Bean, Asst. Secretary; Andy Grief, Director; Joe Moreshead, Director; Rob Moody, Director; and Ken Farley, Past President.
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.
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.
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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