Today was the 2015 Biddeford Saco Rotary Club Awards day. This is our Club's opportunity to recognize the contributions people outside our Club have made to our community or the world and at the same time we recognize the efforts of Club members throughout this last year.
If you think about it, we simply do not thank people enough for all the good things they do. Time and time again we take the efforts of others for granted. This is one day when we break that bad habit and say thank you to some who have gone above and beyond in helping others.
Each year we give out four distinguished awards. They include our Private Sector, Public Sector, Humanitarian and Vocational Service Awards.
Private Sector Award Winner
Today, it is difficult to pick up a newspaper and not find an article criticizing Obamacare or the high cost of healthcare. The reality is, however, that the United States continues to have the premier healthcare system in the world. What separates the quality of healthcare in this country from everywhere else is the quality of our medical personnel. It is not only their skill and knowledge that make them superior, but it is also the level to which they truly care about making people better.
Our private sector award winner this year is described as a person who deals with patients in stressful situations and instinctively knows how to put them and their loved ones at ease. Our recipient's healthcare philosophy: "Treat your patient the way you would want someone you love to be treated." As an RN and an EMT, our award winner does just that every single day.
The examples of this individual going above and beyond to truly care for people are too numerous to recount. The Rotarian who nominated this person told me that outside of work two months ago this person saw a roadside emergency, pulled over and helped save a person in cardiac arrest and then wanted to acknowledgment for doing so. He is a fantastic example of someone who truly takes pride in helping others.
The 2013 SMHC Care Giver of the Year is our 2015 Private Sector Award Winner –
Leon Chick.
Public Sector Award Winner
In the last year, we have heard so many bad things about first responders -- Ferguson, Missouri, Baltimore and recently even a Texas pool party. Countless bad allegations against police officers can be disconcerting, but such stories certainly make us value the quality of our local first responders.
Question, when was the last time you heard about a public servant doing his or her job for over four decades? This year's public sector award winner is an individual who has made one of our local police departments look good since the 70's. He has been the friendly face of the Saco P.D. forever, and, during that time, he has truly made our communities safer, and, quite frankly, a friendlier place in which to live.
In addition to years as a police officer, this individual has been a very active as a volunteer in our communities including his work as a Mason and he is just an all-around good person.
He is already a Paul Harris Award winner. Our public sector award winner is Saco Police Officer Michael Tremblay.
Humanitarian Award Winner
This year's humanitarian award winner is an individual who has consistently seen needs and taken action to address those needs. As a Rotarian, this person has been a leader in many hands-on projects designed to address accessibility at so many levels, while working to complete projects that improve our communities. Over the last 26 years, this person has also been integral to the success of our auction.
But perhaps most impressive is this person's efforts to make sure that all of our veterans are properly honored and remembered. He saw a need to create a ceremony to honor those who have sacrificed for our country and created daily ceremonies to remember those individuals, which ceremonies help the family and friends of those veterans to recognize their loved one a last time.
Finally, I feel that is person is a true cornerstone of the Saco Bay Rotary Club.
This year's humanitarian award winner is Saco Bay Rotarian, Dennis Robillard.
Vocational Service Award Winner
It is not easy to change careers. It is not easy to be successful in business and then transition to education. This year's vocational service award winner has done just that.
Educationally, the trend over the last 20 plus years has been to push our high school students into college, even if they really didn't want to go there.
In recent years, there has been a resurgence in the recognition of the value and importance of vocational education for our young people and an acknowledgment that a four year college education is not for everyone. There is a renewed recognition of the value of the trades and the fact that young men and women can make an excellent living with a foundation built on vocational education.
This year's vocational award winner is part of the wave of educators who want to help students get as far ahead as they can on whatever track they choose.
This individual has worked to design vocational classes that challenge the students and give them post-secondary credit toward a degree. His students are not only learning a great deal, but they are saving money by earning college credits which can be huge in this day of expensive college educations.
This year's Vocational Service Award winner is Ken Crepeau.
Goodwin Outstanding Service Award Winner
In 2007, our Club created the Goodwin Outstanding Service Award to recognize the contributions to our Club by Earl and Carl Goodwin. Those two gentlemen have done so much for our Club and contributed so much to our communities that it only made sense to create an award in their honor. This is really our Club's version of a lifetime achievement award centered around what a Club member has done for Rotary.
This year's Goodwin winner has not been in Rotary very long relative to the Goodwins, but, during this person's time in the Club, this member has quietly done all that has been asked of the person and then some. This person is always there willing to do all that needs to be done in a thoughtful and thorough manner.
Since the departure of Dave Lowe, this person has taken over charitable giving and has insured that all requests receive a complete and objective review.
Whether hosting social events at his home, storing auction items at his plant, calmly dealing with auction chaos or volunteering at countless other events, this individual, with a wry smile and unassuming demeanor, gets the job done year in and year out.
If you have not guessed it, the 2015 Goodwin Outstanding Service Award goes to Jim McAllister.
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