Opening Ceremonies: President Scott Kimball called the meeting to order at 6:15 PM at China Hill. Laurie Fogelman led the Invocation and we said the Pledge of Allegiance.
Fred Beyer was our Greeter for the evening, Cindy Shoppe was Sergeant at Arms and Tracy Shaffer took meeting notes.
Make-ups: Club Secretary Charlene noted make ups earned by David Wells (Camden West Bay Club visit) and Debbie and Lincoln Ehrlenbach (Summit Planning Meeting).
Guests: Kat Taylor, Mark Rich (Prospective Member) and Guests and family members for our HCTC student awards program.
Club Anniversaries: Congratulations to Ray Williams (40 Years)
Door Prizes: Laurie and Tony will be super organized this year with the calendars they each won. Mark won a bottle of wine and one of our HCTC guests walked away with a chair from China Hill which was on sale since they are replacing them with new (and softer) seating.
Rotary Minute: Jo and Rob both commented on his request to Rotary members made last week for information on being a selectman since he was recently elected as one in Winter Harbor. Jo noted that she had reached out with information she has gained from her service as a selectman. It was a great example of making good Rotary connections that can help with community service and leadership opportunities outside of our club. Our thanks to Jo and Rob for their service.
50/50 - $15 was awarded to Rob who donated it back to our quarterly cause. This quarter our club is giving our Happy Dollars to help buy school supplies for the Dominican Republic Wheel Chair project.
Happy Dollars Highlights: Among those giving happy or sad dollars toward our cause this evening: Marshall, Terri, Jo, Laurie, Charlene, Dave, Rob, Guest Andrew, Rob, Tracy, Carl, Iris, Fred, Rodney, Scott, Guest Student Makayla.
Key Notes from Happy Dollars:
- Attend – The upcoming Gilbert and Sullivan production, “HMS Pinafore” in Feb. at The Grand. Marshall and Terri are both in the production and Terri will have a solo!
- Congrats – Jo announced that Friends in Action has obtained a wheel chair accessible van for senior transportation and will pick it up this Thursday.
- Congrats – Laurie announced that Moira has accepted a position in New Hampshire in the state’s Child Advocacy program.
- Attend – Tracy announced plans for next week’s initial 2018 Auction meeting, Tuesday at 1 PM in the hospital board room.
Rotary Business:
- President Scott presented Marian Wells with her Paul Harris plus 2 pin and gave David Wells his Paul Harris plus 4 pin. These are awarded by the Rotary Foundation for giving an incremental $1,000 to assist the foundation in the good works it does across the globe.
- Community Service Chair Clyde advised Rotarians that the next club service project would be the March Everybody Eats! program. Program sign up will be routed in February during club meetings.
- President Scott advised that the club is currently entertaining Paul Harris nominations for outstanding and engaged community members. Please advise him if you have recommendations for this honor.
- President Scott mentioned again that auction planning was starting next week.
Program:
The meeting program was led by Vocational co-chair Fred Beyer who, along with President Scott, honored two students from the Hancock County Technical Center (HCTC). Students Emmitt Smith (Biomedical) and Makayla Gray (Diesel) were presented with a recognition certificate, T-shirt and $25 in Chamber Bucks for being selected as outstanding students from their respective programs for the 2017-18 school year. The evening included remarks from biomedical instructor Sarah Petroulis and diesel instructor Andrew Trowbridge. Community members Kat Taylor and Jonah Rounseville were able to give the students tips and vocational insights from the fields focused in biomedical and heavy equipment operations and technology, respectively.
The evening concluded with pictures of the student presentations and presentations of our Ellsworth Rotary Speaker’s mugs for the two community speakers. Meeting was adjourned at 7:15 PM.
Respectfully submitted by Tracy Shaffer
