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Opening Ceremonies: President Carl Lusby called the meeting to order. Raymond Williams said the invocation followed by the Pledge of Allegiance. Heidi Omlor took notes.
 
Greeter: Lincoln Ehrlenbach
 
Guests: Cara Romano.
 
Visiting Rotarians: None
 
Make-Ups: Auction Meeting on Wed, Mar 1: Scott Kimball, Jack Frost, Carl Lusby, Debbie Ehrlenbach, Mike Fisher, JoAnn Brown, and Charlene Churchill; Everybody Eats on Mon, Mar 6: Laurie Fogelman, Fred Beyer, Michael Fisher, Moira O’Neill, Tracy Shaffer and Jackie Clough.
 
Club Anniversary: None.
 
Birthdays: Larry Fernald – March 9.
 
Wedding Anniversaries: Richard and Helen Dudman – March 13, 1938 (not a typo.)
 
Rotary Minute: Jo Cooper spoke about Rotary’s focus on working for world peace and the Peace Scholars program.
 
Door Prizes: Marshall Smith won a t-shirt, Debbie Ehrlenbach won some coffee from Costa Rica and Marian Wells won a bottle of wine.
 
50/50: $14 won by new club member Fred Beyer who donated back to the cause. Happy Dollars this quarter are going to the Friends In Action Financial Aid Fund.
 
Happy Dollars Highlights: Happy people this week included Iris Simon, Gene Pellerano, Charlene Churchill, Lincoln Ehrlenbach, Debbie Ehrlenbach, Marian Wells, Scott Kimball, Carl Lusby, Dave Wells, Rod Fox, Dan Hurley, Irv Hodgkin, Jo Cooper, and Terri Smith were all happy this week with many donating for the successful wheelchair project.
 
Rotary Business: Carl Lusby spoke about club participation in the Hancock County Food Drive during the month of March. He did the drawing for this week’s special door prizes and Julie Bouchard, Carl, and Dave Wells were winners. Members get one ticket for each nonperishable food item they bring to a meeting during March.
Greeter signup for April through June was passed around. Clyde spoke about upcoming community service opportunities. He passed around a signup list for the benefit for the Aaron Johnson family at the Hancock Grammar School on Friday, April 7. He noted that we have ongoing service at Everybody Eats during March.
Scott Kimball reminded us that the auction will be on Friday, May 12 at Big Cats. The next auction meeting is on Wednesday, March 15 at 4 pm in the cafeteria at Maine Coast Memorial Hospital.
Jack Frost noted that the Paul Harris selection committee will start its work at the end of March and is looking for nominations from club members.
Carl Lusby announced that Governor Paul LePage will be our speaker on April 11. He will speak upstairs in the auditorium on issues that are important to the future of Maine and has asked for our feedback. As part of our club meeting, this event is open to club members and their guests.
 
Program: Charlene Churchill introduced our speaker Cara Romano, the Executive Director of Heart of Ellsworth. Cara told us about the organization which is a 501(c)3 successor to the downtown merchants organization Membership is open to businesses, other non-profits, families, and individuals.
She spoke about accomplishments so far such as art in empty storefronts this summer, the holiday pop-up market in December that has since filled three retail spaces and perhaps a fourth in our downtown, and the public forum series on topics that are relevant to our community.
Cara talked about the Taste of Ellsworth event coming up on June 24th in the area between the JB Atlantic building and the Grasshopper Shop building which will feature food, beverages, and music. They are also planning four art walks this summer and fall and working toward the Main Street Maine designation for Ellsworth. She also emphasized the opportunities to work on committees for the organization and do volunteer work for events.
 
Respectfully submitted,
Heidi Omlor
 
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