Former President's Message

Membership Month:

 

            Did you know that August is Rotary Membership month?  I had no idea and I have to say that I really have a hard time getting excited about Membership (who does) until one considers the following.

 

            First and foremost, many hands make light work.  The more members we have the more we can spread the load around, and let’s face it deep, deep down we are all a little or a lot lazy, so let’s get more people involved to make life a little easier.

 

            More people in the club mean we’re all fined just a little bit less.  The Sergeants could spread the hurt around and undoubtedly have some new material with new targets to go after.

 

            New Members mean more people who might be willing to drive Sue Gajewski home after the beer festival.

 

            New members mean more people who might look wicked sharp in our orange t-shirts.

 

            New Members might actually listen to Lucie during a meeting. 

 

            New Members may also wear long Maude-like sweaters and give Sarah a run for her money or they may have their own painted toenails and vintage t-shirts to show Fausto up each week.  Hell, they might want to join Ken Farley and, as he says, the clubs of yore in having a cocktail at lunch which will certainly spice things up a little.  Heck, we may find a new member with 7 kids or one more than Sarah Neault will have.

 

            While I am only guessing, the average age or our club has got to be around 50. With some younger new members we might get the average age down so that our average does not qualify for an AARP card. 

 

            More new members might mean more people at the cool table.

 

            My guess is that Lucie will be working hard to get our club down to a more manageable size.  We have members who never come to a meeting and never participate in any activity or fundraiser.  Perhaps their schedules have changed, their job responsibilities have increased or they joined Rotary for the wrong reason to begin with and they now realize that it is not for them but they choose not to resign.  I suspect Lucie will clean them out and we will need new Rotarians to take their place.

 

            Hey, let’s face it, the more the merrier (I think I borrowed that phrase from Michelle Obama and want to give credit where credit is due).  More members mean bigger parties, more fellowship and more fun.  Let’s all see if we can all recruit a new member this year to “make our club great again” (I think Michelle Obama said that too). 

 

Board Business:

 

            There are a few things to share regarding our Board meeting on August 3.  The Board voted to accept the resignation of Justyna Cybowicz.  We voted to approve $500 through Red Ribbon in funding for the Saco Police Department’s barbeque and open house on August 13 from 10:00 AM to 1:00 PM.  And the Board voted to do our annual food drive on October 29.  We hope to collaborate with Saco Bay again but that is still in the works.  We also discussed Andy Greif’s impending departure and the indication is that we will fill his board seat for his remaining term with the more than capable Sue Gajewski, a veteran of the Board who attends the meetings anyway as our assistant secretary. 

 

            Finally, the Board agreed that we will not meet on the day before Thanksgiving or the last two Wednesdays in December.  This latitude is part of the kindler gentler Rotary that realizes that people have other things going on in their lives and if we want to retain members Rotary has to accommodate the other demands that we all have.  So mark your calendars accordingly and know that your attendance stats should improve with no meetings on those days.

 

Red Ribbon Event:

 

            As was announced at the meeting, Red Ribbon is sponsoring a nationally known speaker, Tony Hoffman, to speak to the students at Biddeford High School, Old Orchard Beach High School (they will go to BHS for the event) and Thornton Academy on September 12.  Mr. Hoffman will arrive on the 11^th and stay until the 13^th before flying out.  If anyone can help drive him around during his stay please let Jim Godbout know. 

 

            Most importantly, however, there will be a public forum at which Mr. Hoffman will speak at 6:00 PM on September 12 in the beautiful Biddeford Middle School Auditorium.  We need a strong turnout for that event.  Please plan on bringing a few friends, family members or co-workers to that event.  We want to make sure that as many people as possible hear Mr. Hoffman’s message and filling the auditorium will help to spread the word.

 

Next Week’s Speaker:

 

On another note, our speaker for August 10^th will be Devin Hamilton who is the new publisher of the Journal Tribune who will talk to us about the Journal and the future of newspapers.  It should be an interesting discussion.

 

Tribute Regarding Women:

 

Perhaps inspired by our club president, I wanted to share with you the words of Sir William Golding about woman.  Mr. Golding said: “I think women are foolish to pretend they are equal to men, they are far superior and always have been.  Whatever you give a woman, she will make greater.  If you give her sperm, she’ll give you a baby.  If you give her a house, she’ll give you a home.  If you give her groceries, she’ll give you a meal.  If you give her a smile, she’ll give you her heart.  She multiplies and enlarges what is given to her.  So, if you give her any crap, be ready to receive a ton of shit!”