Final Final Call for Lobster Bake - Tuesday July 10 5PM. $25 BYOB and a side or dessert to share. Always a fun time. Choose Lobster or steak. Includes corn and boiled potatoes. To sign up contact Nelsen Harmon right away at: tnelsonharmon@gmail.com
Gorham Community Night at the Ball Park - Benefit Just Love Ministries which fights human trafficking. Buy your tickets today!! Thursday, July 12, 2018. The Portland Sea Dogs, AA Affiliate of the Boston Red Sox, take on the New Hampshire Fisher Cats, AA Affiliate of the Toronto Blue Jays at 7:00 PM. Ticket $9 Gorham Night at Sea Dogs
Westbrook Community Night at the Ball Park – Benefit Recovery Liaison, a program of the Westbrook Police Dept. Wednesday, August 15, 2018. The Portland Sea Dogs take on the Trenton Thunder, AA Affiliate of the New York Yankees at 7:00 PM. Ticket $9 Westbrook Night at Sea Dogs
District Night at the Sea Dogs – Sunday August 19 at 1:00 PM. Gates open at 11:30 AM - $26. To purchase tickets: https://groupmatics.events/event/Rotarydistrict7780 Tickets purchased through this link are for the Picnic Area in Right Field. Includes buffet that runs from 11:30am until 2:00 PM - hamburgers, hot dogs, BBQ pulled chicken, baked beans, coleslaw, Coca-Cola products & Sea Dog Biscuits. Cash bar. Contact bob.wester@icloud.com with questions.
Community Food Drive - Co-Sponsored by Westbrook-Gorham Rotary and Westbrook Kiwanis. Hannaford Drive a Saco Biddeford Savings parking lot- Saturday August 18, 10AM-2PM. Contact Sarah Hutchins to volunteer.
Rotary Night Out - Tuesday August 28 5:30PM- In place of our usual lunch meeting, join us for an evening at a local establishment. Look for details soon. Friends, spouses and children welcome. Just let us know so we can plan for enough food!!
Westbrook-Gorham Rotary Annual Golf Tournament - Tuesday September 18, 2018 at Gorham Country Club.
The Locker Project - Fresh food and baked goods distribution in Westbrook. Two or three volunteer needed for each date during the summer at either Westbrook Community Center (WCC) or My Place Teen Center (MPTC). WCCarrival 4PM on dates: July 11 & Aug 8. MPTC arrival 3PM on dates: July 25 & Aug 22. Help lay out food on tables and interact with the kids to encourage them to take items. You will be a welcoming presence, making sure people know they are invited to take food. Everyone is invited to bring food home with them. If you can help on any of these dates, please contact Christine Johnson. For more information, or to donate, visit their website: mainelockerproject.org
5th Annual Westbrook Strong 5K & Matt's Mile - Saturday July, 14 - 8AM at Riverbank Park in Westbrook. Fun run. Kid's race starts at 8AM, 5K begins at 8:30. All proceeds to the Matthew Rairdon Scholarship Fund at Saint Joseph's College. Fun prizes and raffles! For more information or to sign follow this link: Westbrook Strong Run Sign Up Registration ends July 13, 2018 at 12:00pm EDT
Can Tabs for Ronald MacDonald House – Ongoing - Thank you for continuing to collect can tabs.Please bring your collection to any meeting this spring/summer. Pat and Cliff Plummer and looking forward to accepting them for Ronald McDonald House.
CLYNK for Literacy - Ongoing - Don't forget to keep filling those bags to help fund the children's books we ask our speakers to sign for the Baxter and Walker Libraries. Extra bags are always available at our meetings. If you have been working on filling a bag for a very long time (6 months or more), please consider returning it and starting a new one. Thank you for your ongoing support of this fundraiser!
Donate to our Club's Charity through Amazon Smile – Ongoing - If you order items from Amazon.com, even if not very often, you can help Westbrook Gorham Rotary Club Charities. Go to http://smile.amazon.com/. Search for our Charity and select it. You may need to login to your Amazon account before being able to finalize your selection. Then, when you shop Amazon.com (always starting from http://smile.amazon.com/) a portion of every purchase will be donated to our charity.
In 2017-2018 Westbrook-Gorham Rotary raised $409 in the Polio Plus cannisters that we place on the tables for each of our lunch meetings. These dollars are double matched by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. This multiplies our donation to over $1200 this year. Thank you for your generosity throughout the year.
To date in 2018, there have been 11 cases in two countries - 3 in Pakistan and 8 in Afghanistan. The last case in Nigeria was in August 2016. Unfortunately, this is slightly higher year-to-date than 2017. During the 2018 International Convention held in Toronto Canada, Prime Minister Justine Trudeau highlighted Canada’s continued commitment to working towards a world without polio and their recent pledge of C$100 million toward global polio eradication.
Since Rotary launched its Polio Plus program in 1985, the efforts of millions of Rotarians worldwide have helped reduce polio cases by 99.9%. Polio Plus has become the largest internationally-coordinated public health initiative in history.
Over 100 people gathered on Long Point Rd in Standish on Saturday June 23 to celebrate the 90th Birthday of Henry Saunders, a 51 year member of Westbrook-Gorham Rotary. Family and friends from Rotary, University of Maine, Maine Medical among other organizations, enjoyed a summer lunch of sandwiches salads, and of course, birthday cake. The weather held just long enough to allow the cake to be cut.
Congratulations to Henry for reaching this birthday milestone. We wish him many more.
L-R: Cliff & Pat Plummer, Ellen & Walt Stinson,
Karen Marie Reilly, Julie Carmichael , Dan Willett
Maine Audubon Volunteer John Grew was our guest and speaker on June 19. John is originally from New Jersey and recently moved to Maine from Indiana when he retired from Indiana University. He had vacationed in the Boothbay region for over 25 years and had long wanted to retire to Maine. He and his wife love the natural beauty of the state and outdoor activities like hiking, biking and kayaking. Volunteering with Maine Audubon allows him to support our environment and natural resources that make these activities so enjoyable here.
Maine Audubon was founded in 1843. There are now seven chapters across the state, each governed by separate boards and serving the needs of their region. They connect people to nature using a science-based approach to conservation, education, and advocacy. They work to conserve Maine wildlife and wildlife habitat. However, 96% of land in Maine is privately owned, largely because of the huge tracts of land owned by the lumber industry. This can present a challenge to conservation.
They have three core areas of engagement. Education – with staff naturalists they conduct summer camps and school programs. Conservation Projects – citizen habitat monitoring; partner with government; partner with landowners, foresters and volunteers. Policy and Advocacy – environmental policy advocacy in Augusta and DC, collaboration with Maine environmental coalitions.
Citizen science allows volunteers to get into the field on a project. These are opportunities for volunteers to collect valuable data useful for wildlife conservation efforts. Annually, about 2000 people volunteer on projects across the state. One example is the Annual Loon Count which involves 900+ volunteers and detects trends in the health of Maine’s loon population. This year was the 35th annual count.
For more information on volunteer opportunities, go to: maineaudubon.org/citizen-science
If you have an idea for a speaker or program, please contact Christine Johnson at cejinmaine@gmail.com. We are also interested in ideas for periodic evening meetings, service projects in lieu of meetings, or in-meeting service projects
We are now scheduling programs for August and September.
Here is the list of upcoming speakers and programs:
* 7/3 - No Meeting -Happy Independence Day
* 7/10 - No Lunch Meeting - Evening Event
See you at the Lobster Bake
* 7/17 - John Lobosco - District Governor Visit - Be the Inspiration
Rotary is about fellowship, as well as service to our community. Even if you must miss a meeting, you can remain engaged by attending Rotary-sponsored events of our club or other clubs like fundraisers, by selling Christmas Trees, by volunteering at our Golf Tournament or our Road Race, or by attending District events or training. Just let our Secretary Mike Foley know when you have participated in any of these activities at mfoley@me.com
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