Opening Ceremonies: President Debbie Ehrlenbach called the meeting to order.
Invocation was read by: Nancy Mayo and we all said the Pledge of Allegiance.
Sergeant at Arms: Tony and Julie Bouchard
Setting up Zoom: Michael Houlsen
Guests: Brielle Johnson, John Shoppe, Grace Robinson
Wedding Anniversaries: Kelly Scott Brown on 10/10, Jack and Brenda Frost on 10/10, Stephanie and Stephen Baillargeon on 10/14
Club Anniversaries: Marshall Smith 25 Years, Carol Yancey 2 Years, Barbara Clark 1 year and Kelly Brown 1 year.
ROTARY BUSINESS:
Membership - We are happy to welcome back Laurie Fogelman and Mary Beth Harman as club members!
Pancake Breakfasts Thank You - Lincoln Ehrlenbach and Dave Wells were given recognition for all their hard work and leadership with both Pancake Breakfasts! They both received the "Spirit of Service" Pin. "The best way to find yourself is to lose yourself in the service of others." - Mahatma Gandhi.
YMCA Trunk or Treat - This year we will once again be participating in the YMCA’s Trunk or Treat on 10/28 from 4:00pm-6:00pm. Our theme this year is Monster Ball. If you want to help pass out candy come dressed as your favorite monster! Please donate candy and bring to the meeting.
Thank You Card – Jordan Berry sent a Thank You Card to the club for his scholarship.
Rotary Apparel for Sale – Rotary Sweatshirts are $30, Rotary T-Shirts are $10 and Rotary Hats are $10. Contact Dave Wells.
Partners Program Update – We have 39 partners who have donated to the club for a total of $9,850.00! The list of Partners can be seen at the club meetings and on the club website.
Ellsworth Yellow Tulip Project – Ellsworth Rotarians donated 246 tulips to this project, the tulips will be split between the Ellsworth schools.
Rotary Blood Drives are the 2nd and 4th Tuesday of each month at the Elks Lodge in Ellsworth. Please sign up to help. Shifts are from 11:00am to 2:00pm and 2:00pm to 5:00pm.
Partner Program: To date 36 businesses have donated $10,000 to the program. Rotarian letters will be emailed in October and those donations go directly to the Ellsworth Maine Rotary Club Foundation earmarked for scholarships.
Polio Walk on October 21st: Tricia Quirk and Lincoln Ehrlenbach are leading the charge on this year’s Walk for Polio, which will be held on October 21st. We are meeting at Knowlton park at 9:30am for pictures and donuts/coffee. The Walk will start at 10:00am. After the walk please join us Fogtown Brewery for lunch and drinks.
There will be a pizza party after the walk at Fogtown Brewing. A sign-up sheet is available and members can contact Tricia to get a T-shirt prior.
2023-24 Rotary Passport- This was emailed to all members. Please check it out!
Nominating Committee: The committee is looking for future officers for Secretary, Vice President and President Elect. Any Rotarians who are interested in holding any of the officer positions, please let Debbie Ehrlenbach know.
Door Prizes: The lucky winners were: Julie Bouchard, Rebecca Greenlaw, Fred Beyer and Laurie Fogelman.
$50/50: $17 to Julie Clark, who generously donated back to our fundraising this quarter for Healthy Acadia.
Happy Dollars: 2nd Quarter Happy Dollars will go towards: The Club’s Prosthetics Project to the Centro De Protesis of the Dominican Republic. All these funds will bring us close to our goal of $5,400 for nine leg socket adapters, thus providing the “Gift of Walking.”
The following individuals gave Happy Dollars: Julie Clark, Mark Remick, Peter Farragher, Jane Langley, Dave Wells, Marian Wells, JoAnn Rodick, Clyde Cushing, Julie Bouchard, Laurie Fogelman, Carl Lusby, Nancy Mayo, Laura Pellerano, Robert Thomas and Debbie Ehrlenbach.
CLUB ASSEMBLY:
Community Service Update:
Blood Drive - 09/11/2023, 09/26/2023, and 10/10/2023 - 12 club members volunteered for a total of 36 hours
Peanut Butter and Jelly Drive the month of September. Items collected given to Bangor Savings Bank.
Fill a Seat at the Grand - collected food at each club meeting and took food to the Grand. 3 club members volunteered for a total of 41 hours
District Project - Window Dressers – St. Joseph’s Catholic Church – Sept 16-22. 6 club members volunteered for a total of 34 hours.
Literacy - 1 club member for 12hours and 30 minutes.
Hospital - 1 club member for 25 hours
Autumn Gold Pancake Breakfast - September 30th 7 -10 at EEMS. 39 club members over 2 days volunteered for a total of 167 hours.
Autumn Gold Face Painting Children’s Carnival – 1 club member for 6.5 hours.
Autumn Gold Boat Rides on Union River – 1 club member for 6 hours.
Next Step 30th Anniversary Fundraiser - Cook at Timber Tina's on
Saturday October 7th. 13 Club members for a total of 65 hours.
First Quarter – July through September - 832 hours
International Update: The Autumn Gold Pancake Breakfast was provided to the community on September 30th at the EEMS. A total count of 331 guests and Rotarians attended the breakfast and based upon initial numbers almost $3,000 was raised for prosthetics. This money added to $295 from our club, plus $610 donations currently in the club’s foundation account equals a total of $3,905.
The Rotary Club of Portland, Maine has made application with the IRS for a 501c,3 not for profit charity in support of the Centro De Protesis of the Dominican Republic. This will allow for direct funding of the Centro De Protesis.
Club Service Report: All upcoming speakers are listed on our club’s website along with upcoming events. If anyone has any speaker ideas, please let Jane or Jack know.
Foundation Report: The 2023-2024 goal for the annual fund is $8,000, as of October 7, 2023 the club has contributed $1,445 to the annual fund. The 2023-2024 goal for polio is $2,000. To date, the club has contributed $331 for polio. Please consider donating to the annual fund and to Polio! Every dollar makes a difference.
Treasurer’s Report: As of September 30th there is $40,706.00 in our bank account. $24, 891.00 net profit. We are doing well. If you would like a complete copy of the report, please contact Rhonda Parker.
Secretary’s Report: We admitted two new re-joining Rotarians to our club in September, (Mary Beth Harmon and Laurie Fogelman) bringing our total membership to 62, which includes: 6 honorary, 5 corporate and 51 active (which includes 3 family) memberships.
2. Average attendance for the four weeks of September was 28, or 56%. The average attendance including makeups was 80%.
Vocational Report: EHS Interact club, Last Month Laura, Debbie and Gene met with the new faculty advisor, Tessa Byard. During that meeting we discussed the Activities fair and we were elated to hear 34 students signed up as interested, most were Freshmen and Sophomores, only 2 were upper class, Junior/senior. Ashley has renewed the interact brochure and will print it once we a have a meeting time. Seems most likely Interact Club meetings will be late morning meeting someday during the week. We may be asking Rotarians to attend a early Rotary meeting in the spring so we can have a joint meeting with interact after school, all Committee members in favor of working closer with interact club.
2. Students We had 2 students at the Pancake Breakfast and have supplied Tessa and the guidance department a list of future events we could use student help for community service. We also invited interact club members to join our polio walk on Saturday Oct 21, at Knowlton park at 9:30 for coffee and donuts and the walk. Jodie suggested we Invite Interact students to join us at Trunk or treat on Sat Oct 28.
3. HCTC Recognition nights:
Dinner 1: December 5, 2023: Health Occupations, Automotive, Cybersecurity, Biomedical
Dinner 2: February 6, 2024: Welding, Multimedia, ECE, Law enforcement
Dinner 3: April 23 (@HCTC), 2024: Culinary, Diesel, Business & Hospitality
Membership Report: Membership Night: November 6, 2023. China Hill, with appetizer menu and mini cheesecakes for dessert
Rotary Passport has been emailed to all members and shared at Rotary meeting.
Facebook Spotlight: Tricia is coordinating this program with JoAnn’s assistance. We are still asking folks to submit photos and bios.
Rotary Activity with Lori Googins: Lori provided a group activity after the club assembly. Everyone was divided into 7 different groups to all solve two Rotary Puzzles. Each table was missing pieces to both puzzles. Rotarians worked together going around each table to find the missing puzzles from their group. Everyone worked great as a team! Thank you Lori for the great group discussion and activity!
Respectfully submitted by Ashley Johnson
