Last Friday at the Clarion, President Amy Chipman (photo at left) opened the meeting by welcoming 47 members, 3 visiting Rotarians and 4 guests. Paul Tully read an invocation prepared by Charlie Frair, who could not make our meeting. It was a poem by Woody Guthrie, entitled “My Peace,” which was very eye-opening. John Thompson led us in the Pledge of Allegiance and everyone sang “My Country ‘Tis of Thee.”Because is was the first Friday of the month, President Amy read the anniversaries (with Matt Tassey’s 33 years topping the list) and the August birthdays, followed by a fine a cappella version of “Happy Birthday.”
Terri St. Angelo (photo at right) took to the podium to give us a quick overview of the Cornhole Tournament that took place just the evening prior at North Yarmouth Academy. We hosted 30 two-person teams, with 7 “pro” teams, seeking a cash prize of at least $500 and 23 “recreational” teams playing for fun and glory. We also hosted about 20 guests, who showed up for the cookout and to cheer on the players. The pro winners were a team called “Lunch Money” and the recreational winners were our own Justin Lamontagne and his wife Marycelina, who took home some fun prizes. There were also three raffles to help with the fundraising efforts for the event, which looks to have taken in about $4000. The “beach fun bag” raffle was won by Gracie Johnston.
Dick Giles (photo at left) discussed an idea set forth by his “home away from home” club in Palm Beach, Florida, wherein the club hosts one of their weekly meetings every few months in the evening, rather than lunchtime, offering a great opportunity to bring spouses or prospective members to a meeting to get a feel for what Rotary is all about. By a show of hands, the idea seemed to obtain strong support within our membership.
Two Rotary banners were exchanged, first a banner from the Palm Beach Club, from the immediate past-president Richard Zaretsky (right in photo at right), and then one from an in-law of PP Larry Gross (right in photo at left) from the Yeugil, England Club.
We are excited to be working with Jennifer Cook from Portland High School, who will be a mentoring coordinator and has offered to begin a “Rotaract Club” within the local high school.
The weekly raffle was handled by Bob Fowler, with Mark Millar’s name being dawn to find the Queen of Hearts, which would have paid out $739 if he had been able to find it, but he drew a black card instead.
We heard again from Paul Tully on our upcoming fundraiser “Flags for Heroes.” With 100 flags expected to grace the rotunda at the Maine Mall for one week, beginning on 9/11, we have a unique opportunity to pay tribute to the heroes in our lives. Be they first responders, teachers, veterans or someone we merely admire, for a donation of just $100, a plaque bearing his or her name will be placed at the base of the flag, where it will stay for the week and then given to the named individual. For just $35, one can purchase a flag that can be used over and over again, so there are optional ways to help out. When Paul asked for 20 hands to be raised by those willing to kick in $50 to purchase the flags, seemingly the entire room offered, once again showing the spirit of our Club and its generous members. For more information, contact Paul at: ptully@maine.rr.com or Charlie Frair at: cfrair47@yahoo.com.