We are proud to share a new project of the new Interact Club at Gorham High School.  From November 1 through November 22, they will be collecting latex free pediatric band aids (with characters, etc.), stickers, packages of crayons, and coloring books to support the new child life services section being implemented in the Emergency Department at Maine Medical Center in Portland.  Look for their collection boxes at various locations around the Gorham community.

 

If your company would like to host a box, or you know a company that might be interested, please contact the lnteract Club President Aaron Farr immediately at aaron.farr@gorhamschools.org.   You may always drop items or cash donations at the Chalmers Insurance Group, 65A Main Street, Gorham ME or bring donations to a club meeting on or before November 22.

 

Mike Shaughnessy, President of the Friends of the Presumpscot River (FOPR), was our guest and speaker on October 25.  Founded in 1992, FOPR is an all-volunteer non-profit organization, supported primarily by membership dues and small donations. Their mission is to protect and improve the water quality, indigenous fisheries, recreational opportunities and natural character of the Presumpscot River.

 

The Presumpscot River is 25 miles long and drops in elevation by over 270 feet as it runs from Sebago Lake to Casco Bay.  The name Presumpscot originates from an Abenaki word meaning “many falls” or “many rough places”. The river was once teeming with fish including river-spawning salmon, shad and alewife, as well as land-locked salmon, brook trout and the now extinct Presumpscot Jumper. With industrialization, it became a river of dams used to generate power.  At one time, there were 10 dams. With the removal of the Smelt Hill dam in 2002, there are now 9.  All except one are owned by SAPPI.

 

One of FOPR’s areas of focus is to restore the vitality of the river by re-introducing the historic migratory sea-run fish river above Saccarappa Falls.  This has involved working with dam owners to either remove the dam or install fish ladders.  Alewife and shad are now migrating.   Once small fish are re-established, larger fish should follow.

 

Fishing and bird watching are two of the most popular forms or recreation in the United States. The work being done by FOPR will enhance these activities in our area, making for an attractive community with easy access to river-based recreation.

 

Mike Shaughnessy, President of FOPR (L) with Phil Spiller (R)

 

Come help us celebrate the Centennial of our Foundation. November 10, 2016 at the Marriott Sable Oaks, 6PM cocktails and fellowship, 6:45 dinner and program.

 

We have a unique opportunity to meet the man who will be our Rotary International President in 2018-2019.  Registration deadline is THIS Friday November 4. 

 

Follow this link to sign up: http://rotary7780.org/event/million-dollar-journey-dinner-kickoff/ .  Hope to see you there!

 

We continue to support the district-wide literacy initiative by placing our decorated book crates in places where children may gather.  Our boxes are currently active at the Gorham Rec Center and at the Stroudwater Food Pantry. We removed our box from the Westbrook Community Center temporarily when our contact there left (and the box kept being moved behind locked doors), but we will be approaching them again in the new year to try again.

 

In the meantime, for our active boxes, we need children’s books (young readers and up to age 12, also books for older/elderly readers).  With a box at the Food Pantry, we are finding that we have need of books for older readers as they are, unfortunately, part of the clientele there.

 

 

Thanks to those who have contributed bottles so far to help purchase books that we will donate for each speaker. Keep them coming!!  

 

If you need more CLYNK bags, be sure to see Christine Johnson at the next meeting or find the pre-stickered bags in our closet at WRVC.

 

Centennial Celebration – 100 Years of Rotary Foundation - Thursday November 10, 2016- Come help Rotary celebrate our Foundation’s 100^th Anniversary. Keynote Speaker: Sam Frobisher Owori of Kampala, Uganda, Nominating Committee Selection for 2018-19 Rotary International President -   Portland Marriott Sable Oaks.  $100 per person . $26.50 of each ticket will be donated to the Rotary Foundation. Sign up now at the District Website.