President Rebecca Greenlaw called the meeting to order at 6:00 pm with opening remarks and the pledge of allegiance.
Rebecca thanked Clyde for taking care of Sergeant at Arms duties, Debbie for taking minutes, Michael for managing Zoom and everyone for help set up and take down the room.
Upcoming events:
YMCA Sheriff’s Cup March 7 8 & 9, contact the YMCA if you would like to volunteer
Craft and Yard Sale April 26 EEMS
Received a thank you card from Alice Grindle from Eagles Nest
Door prizes were won by Shelly Van Camp, Debbie Ehrlenbach and Ray Williams
50-50 won by JoAnn Rodick $6
Happy dollars this quarter go to Skills USA – Happy Dollars were given by Gene Pellerano, Carl Lusby, Debbie Ehrlebach, Peter Farragher, Lincoln Ehrlenbach.
Special dates – it was 75 years ago on February 20, 1950 that the Rotary club of Ellsworth held its first meeting – it was 120 years ago on February 23rd that Rotary International was started.
Bar Harbor Rotarian Scott Hammond and his wife Debbie lost their home in a fire on Sunday. Please reach out to them with support.
Club Assembly:
Debbie provided the Treasurer report on behalf of Rhonda. (Full report can be emailed to club members if asked) We are behind $831 in tip collection. The club pays $50 weekly to cover the tip for the wait staff. Also, meal count is down and currently $534 more has been spent on meals than collected/purchased by club members. The club is obligated to purchase 12 meals each week.
Debbie presented the cost of having the credit card machine. Currently the cost is $60 per month to rent the machine, a cost of 2.5% fee on transactions and .10 per transaction. Usage of the machine is down with only 11 transactions for the months of December and January. Offering a credit card option at the two breakfasts only provided revenues of $105 in August and $77 in September. After much discussion a motion duly made by Tricia and seconded by Rebecca - “The club will discontinue use of a credit card machine. If members wish to pay for a meal using a credit card, they can pay at the front desk at China Hill for a cost of $15.” The motion passed.
75th Legacy Project DeMeyer Field Project update provided by Debbie and Peter. Opening day for Little League is May 3rd. First 2 weeks of March RF Jordan will restart work. The week of March 24th assembly of the playground and following will be the fence. Pickets (410) have been ordered. HCTC students and staff will be volunteering with the assembly of the playground and fence. Details Custom Builders will oversee the construction of the playground and fence. All Rotarians are asked to volunteer. All dates are subject to weather; however, we will update everyone on dates and times to volunteer. A 20X40 pavilion will be constructed, with the generosity of Hammond Lumber donating the materials. We are working with the City of Ellsworth on logistics. The pavilion will replace the tent that is set up each year by Wallace Events used for a place to get under shade and sit down to eat.
Rebecca presented the Public Relations report on behalf of Ashley Johnson. Weekly updates on Club Website and Social Media such as speakers, events. Take weekly meeting minutes with photos. Sent out the weekly club newsletter to membership. Email weekly guest speaker bio & Zoom Link to membership.
Designed Paul Harris Fellow Recognition Ceremony Invites and Programs. (April 22nd event). Sent out Press Releases for all community events. All seen in the local papers, Ellsworth Chamber and heard on 97.7 Radio. Channels 2,5, & 7 have started coming for interviews at our project over the last two years.
Updated Partner List on the Website: We have a total of 23 partners.
We encourage all members to Create a My Rotary Account on Rotary.org. This is a great opportunity to learn more about Rotary International, the Foundation, the District we are a part of and what our club is working on for this year and so much more!
We also encourage all club members to have ClubRunner Mobile. This is a wonderful tool allowing membership directory data to be available at your fingertips as well as other club information such as weekly newsletters, upcoming events, guest speakers and meetings. It is a great companion to our ClubRunner website.
Clyde Cushing provided the Club Service Report with a summary of speakers and fellowship activities. A fellowship activity in April at the Bowling Alley in Ellsworth is planned. PJ Keenan, Cara Romano and Families First Community Center are a few of the upcoming speakers. Also planned is Paul Harris Fellow Night April 22nd, Honors Banquet and a Rotary Learning Night. Currently there are 7 open nights for speakers. If anyone would enjoy participating at Sargeant at Arms or Zoom technology, please let him know.
Gene and Laura Pellerano presented the Vocational and Youth Services report. The Honors Banquet is Tuesday, April 15th. The next HCTC Recognition night is Tuesday, May 6th.
Student Scholarships Application forms are due to be turned into their guidance office on March 7th. Students competing for 6 different types of scholarships for a total of 13 awards.
Interact: Katie is trying new meeting times during focused learning time, due to many conflicts with afternoon meetings, she is hoping to get more students involved.
We have restarted the children’s literacy program at the YMCA Moore Center. They have identified Wednesday mornings for toddlers and Friday mornings for preschoolers. We will schedule reading times in March.
JoAnn Rodick presented the Membership report. Several members have prospective members who have attended some meetings or plan to attend meetings. Started a Ladies Night the 3rd Thursday of each month starting at 4:30. Three gatherings held so far and greatly enjoyed by all attending. Next gathering will be March 19th 4:30 at Black Moon on Main Street Ellsworth. If interested in attending a committee meeting let her know.
Kelly Brown presented on the International Committee. The committee in Rotary plays a pivotal role in promoting global understanding and goodwill. Its primary responsibilities include developing and implementing charitable projects that address needs in communities outside of the club’s own country. This involves conducting needs assessments, planning and evaluating the effectiveness of these initiatives. The committee collaborates with other Rotary clubs, organizations and volunteers to maximize the impact of its projects. It works closely with the club’s foundation chair to align efforts with the Rotary Foundation’s goals and to promote educational opportunities sponsored by the district. The committee with Ellsworth Rotary, Marian and David Wells, Kelly Brown and Ray Williams met after the pancake breakfast to explore potential new projects. After hearing Lincoln Ehrlenbach speak about Every Rotarian Every Year (EREY) and the importance of strengthening the Rotary Foundation’s Annual Fund – especially given the lower contributions this year – we decided to refocus our priorities. Rather than launching a new initiative while existing essential programs remain underfunded, we agreed that our responsibility is to first support the Foundation that makes our work possible. We encourage all members to support this effort!
Kelly Brown donated $50 to EREY and encouraged other members to donate as well.
Lincoln Ehrlenbach provided a Foundation update. To date the club has raised $3,008 for polio, exceeding its goal of $2000. Thank you to Tricia for all her efforts. The club has raised $2,100 for the annual fund to date. The annual fund goal is $6,000. A reminder to Rotarians that 50% of what is donated to the annual fund comes back to the District in three years and is used to give District Grants. This club was awarded $5,000 in grants last year. The other 50% of annual fund donations support RI projects. A video was shown which shares some of the projects those funds were used to fund. Please consider a donation to the annual fund (EREY). Tricia reminded everyone that you can sign up for Rotary Direct and give monthly. Any amount helps.
Lincoln presented Tricia with a Paul Harris Fellow +2 and thanked her for her continued support.
A note that $150 was contributed by Rotarians at tonight’s meeting for the annual fund.
Our speaker next week will be PJ Keenan. She will be talking about the Rainbow Girls.
Respectfully submitted by Debbie Ehrlenbach
