On June 26, President Bill Chadwick summarized and closed out our Rotary year.
 
Bill told us that Presidential training starts well before the year begins. He recounted attending PETS in March 2017 and hearing then President-Elect Ian Riseley speak about Rotary and the selection of his Rotary theme Making A Difference. Later he attended Zone Institute Conference training for future leaders held in Hartford CT.
 
At the beginning of the year, the Board participated in a Blue Sky Planning exercise to identify all the things the club would be involved in. Bill identified projects in each of Rotary’s six areas of focus, and we executed on the plan!
 
Highlights from the year include our Cuatro Cayos water project in partnership with the Los Amates club of Guatemala. The trip to Guatemala in partnership with the Celebration Florida Club and Stroudwater Christian Church built stoves, provided dental services, poured floors, and included a literacy project.  Back in Maine, the Gorham Interact Club grew to 125 members and participated in a wide variety of service projects.   We sold out of Christmas trees and wreaths, outselling previous years.  Bill offered thanks to Mike Foley who implemented an inventory system and enabled us to take credit and debit cards.
 
At our Lobster bake in 2017, we honored two 50-year members, Henry Saunders and Nelson Harmon.  We held a food drive in September, supported the Locker Project through the school year, and our golf tournament fundraiser was very successful. Foundation giving continued to rise, with a large number of new and advancing Paul Harris Fellows, in addition to a Major Donor.  We completed several projects in the area of literacy with volunteers reading in both Gorham and Westbrook schools, books donated to the library in honor of our speakers, and our ongoing book distribution at food pantries and other locations.  Our house project continued as we celebrated 60 years of partnership between Rotary and WRVC and the latest home got underway.  Finally, we grew our club membership.
 
As a result of this hard work, we received the District Governors Award.  We are also anticipating the Presidential Citation from Rotary International which will officially be announced shortly.  Thanks and congratulations to the whole club for a great year.