90th Anniversary Dinner was a great success!

 
On Tuesday night March 8, the 90th Anniversary dinner was well attended and much enjoyed by all.   During the reception, we enjoyed the Westbrook High School Jazz quartet. These four top high school musicians asked Willie Johnson, jazz trombonist and husband of President Christine Johnson, to sit in.  The band also led us in singing a verse of American the Beautiful just prior to dinner.
 
    
 
Chef Limoggio and the culinary arts students out did themselves with a delicious peach and mango fruit punch to accompany the wide selection of cheeses and fruits presented for the reception.  We saw Mike Foley at the punch bowl several times during the evening, so we know it was good!   As usual, the meal was superb and the students were efficient and attentive waiters.  The meal was capped off by a moist yellow sheet cake topped with a light and delicious blood orange icing and served with ice cream.  Thanks to Bill Gowen, our longest time member in attendance, for cutting the cake.
                             
 
 
Steve Rand welcomed the many invited guests including DG Sheila Rollins and her husband Merrill, DGE Marge Barker, DGN Dave Underhill and his wife Linda, Portland Club President Bowen Depke, and Sebao Lakes Club member George Bartlett.  We were also pleased to welcome Westbrook Mayor Colleen Hilton as well as City Councilor and Westbrook Historical Society President Mike Sanphy. Other guests included Bruce Dyer and two of his Interact students, in addition to the spouses of several of our members.
 
 
After dinner, DGE Marge Barker offered a Rotary moment, telling us about a young man she knows who had joined Rotary for business reasons, but stayed because of the service and the fellowship. George Bartlett spoke briefly about his memories from the formation of the Windham Club, sponsored by the Westbrook Cub in 1983.  DG Sheila Rollins then offered some remarks.  She specifically commented on and praised our commitment to youth in our community with our support of MPTC, DECA, RYLA, Interact, Scholarships, and our ongoing partnership with the WRVC in building houses.
 
                                                                                                                 
 
During the program, a District Above and Beyond Award was presented to Juilie Hamm by DG Sheila. Way to go Julie!    Also, our Club presented Bowen Depke of Portland Club with historic material found during a search of our closet  Included were programs from their 25th and 50th Anniversary events and a set of Portland Club By Laws from the 1940s.   We also presented a large box of material to Mike Sanphy, President  of the Westbrook Historical Society.  in addition to programs from our 10th, 25th, 50th, 75th and 85th Anniversaries, were a package of black and white photos from a 1948 Outing and a Secretary's log book dating from 1926 to 1969. We were pleased to offer them to their collection where we know they will be preserved.
 
We also unveiled our recently re-framed Charter.  The Charter at 90 was showing its age a bit.  With the new frame, preservation glass, and mountings, it should look just as beautiful in another 90 years. Please be sure to check it out the next time you are at the WRVC. It now hangs in the entry hall.
 
                                                  
 
President Christine then spoke to several slides covering interesting moments from our history.  Our Cub was founded on December 24, 1925 by 15 local men who met at the Westbrook Tavern,  we were officially chartered on March 8 1926 with 25 members, and a charter night dinner was held April 6 at the Congress Square Hotel in Portland.  It was quite the event with the Governor of Maine in attendance and the program broadcast on the radio.  We recognized five Rotarians who were also mayors of Westbrook, enjoyed seeing the evolution of the club through official club photos, talked about the venues where we have met over the years (see History Corner) and closed with a recognition of the many projects and activities we have undertaken over the years in support of the community.
 
In closing, President -Elect Jason Beever spoke of his family's 4 generations of history with the Wesbrook Club.  His great grandfather Clarence Carll, was an early member of the club, followed by his grandfather Arthur Andrew, then his mother Jane Beever and finally Jason himself.  He then thanked all of our speakers, guests, Chef and the students, along with all the others who made this event a great success.
 
It should be noted that during the reception and dinner, a slide show of photos past and present ran on a loop.  Thanks to Jessie Jamison of Sebago Technics and Mike Sanphy for making the slide show possible. We'll be sure to share that again at future meetings and social events during the next several months.