Locker Project Fresh Food Distribution – In this school year, produce distributions at Westbrook High School will take place the 2nd and 4th Wednesdays of each month with additional days as needed: Mar 13 & 27, Apr 10 & 24, May 8 & 22 and June 12. Any date changes will be announced in the Scribbler. Arrive around 12:45 PM depart by 2:15 PM, unless otherwise noted.
Winter Dinner at WRVC - Tuesday March 19, 2019. 6PM. Each year we have a special evening meal at the WRVC Dining Room. This year, this dinner will become our March Rotary Night Out. Register now at: https://westbrookgorhamrotary.org/event/winter-dinner-at-wrvc/
22nd Annual Gorham Business Exchange Marketplace – Saturday March 30, 2019, 10AM-3PM. Visit and support local businesses. Admission is free. There will be about 80 booths representing all kinds of businesses who provide products and services to the people and businesses of Gorham. Lots of entertainment including bounce houses and games for the kids. Food court supplied by local businesses. If you’d like to register your business as a vendor, go to: Gorham Biz Exchange 22nd Annual Marketplace
Rotary Night Out - Our next Rotary Night out will be May 21 starting at 5:30 PM. Mister Bagel 609 Main St, Westbrook. Members $10. Cash bar. Program TBD. Note: March 19 is Winter Dinner. Week of April 15 is our annual Road Race so no meeting that week.
WRVC Awards Ceremony - Thursday May 23, 2019. 7PM Westbrook HIgh School Auditorium
RYLA Registration – Sunday June 23 starting at 8:30AM. Camp Hinds, Raymond. Volunteers needed to help with registration and collecting forms as students arrive. For more information contact: Phil Giordano at Philtastic7780@gmail.com
Westbrook Strong 5K and Matt's Mile Kid's Fun Run - Saturday July 13, 2019. Riverbank Park. Run, sponsor or donate. This race is in memory of Matthew Rairdon who's life was tragically taken in November 2013. Proceeds benefit nursing scholarships. For more information: https://runsignup.com/Race/ME/Westbrook/2ndAnnualWestbrookStrong5KandMattsMileKidsFunRun
New Vision for the Village - Monday March 11, 2919, 6-8PM, at Gorham Middle School, 106 Weeks Rd, Gorham. The Gorham Village Alliance invites you to a community workshop where you will have a chance to help shape the future of Gorham's Village. All are welcome to attend this interactive discussion. Food will be provided. For more information call or text the Gorham Village Alliance at 207-233-2373.
New Westbrook Cultural Plan - Community Conversation - Wednesday March 13, 2019 ,11:30-1 Walker Library or 5:30-7PM at Westbrook-Warren Church. Join Discover Downtown Westbrook and Westbrook Arts & Culture, with help from Reinholt Consulting, for an open space convening of residents, artists, cultural organizations, business owners, local officials, and community leaders focused on exploring the future of creativity and culture in our community. RSVP by Monday March 11 5PM to info@downtownwestbrook.com
New UNO Doughraiser for Altrusa - Thursday March 14, 2019. 11AM-11:30PM. Uno Pizzeria and Grill, 280 Maine Mall Rd, South Portland. If you missed the February event, you have one more chance! Just tell your server that you are eating for Altrusa and up to 20% of your bill will be donated to help Altrusa with their philanthropic work.
New Monthly Community Meal at FBC Westbrook - Saturday March 16, 2019, 4:30-6PM, 733 Main St, Westbrook. Corned Beef Dinner. Free, but donations appreciated. Come enjoy good company and a great meal.
NewCorned Beef & Cabbage Fundraising Dinner for Lions Club - Saturday March 16, 2019, 4:30-6:30PM, American Legion Post 62, 17 Dunn St Westbrook. Benefits Lion Club work in the community.
Rolling Thunder Fundraising Dinner for Veterans – Saturday March 23, 2019 5-6:30PM, WRVC Dining Room - $5.00 per person $3.00 under 12. Home cooked food.
Bob Marley Fundraiser for Altrusa - Wednesday May 8, 2019, 7PM at Keeley’s Banquet Center, Warren Ave, Portland. More info on cost and ticket purchase to follow.
Anita Emery, daughter of Frank and Christine Emery, was our speaker on February 26, 2019. Anita was born with cerebral palsy. She was adopted at age 1.5 into a family with a skiing legacy (her grandfather is in the Maine Ski Hall of Fame!). Frank got the kids involved in skiing early and Anita started with Maine Adaptive Sports at age 8.
Maine Adaptive now has multiple programs in winter and summer. The programs are staffed by many volunteers, including her dad. This year is Anita’s first year volunteering, one day a week, and she loves it. It provides the opportunities to meet people and hear their stories.
Anita has been a competitive skier with the Maine Adaptive race team for the past six years. She learned about the team one day from a coach who suggested she give it a try. She was interested because her dad races and has shared his love of the sport. Since joining the team, she has also fallen in love with racing herself.
As a member of the team, she has the opportunity to travel. She participated in the Empire State Games at Lake Placid, New York last February and has skied in competitions in Vermont, NH and Colorado. While in Lake Placid, the team stayed at the Olympic Ski training center along with other athletes who competed in hockey, snowboarding and figure skating. At the Hartford Ski Spectacular in Colorado she has made many friends from across the country. Her team did very well last March, placing second in a group ski event. She mentioned that over 80% of the Hartford participants also go to the Paralympics.
Anita at Lake Placid NY
The Stowe VT AIG Disable Sports USA event she competed in last March is an invitational. The invited athletes attended race camp, participated in events at night, and met other attendees and guests. She was excited to have been invited to return again this year. She is also looking forward to heading to Winter Park CO for Nationals, her first time competing at that level.
She continues her training in the off season by going to the gym regularly and doing her work-outs in her ski boots! This extra effort has really helped her skiing as she has continued to improve. At age 22, she hopes to make the Paralympics and is focused on her training with that goal in mind.
To achieve her goal, she is looking for sponsors. If you have questions about sponsoring or would like to help, please contact Anita at: anitaemery91@gmail.com.
On February 26, Foundation Chair Steve Rand was pleased to present a Paul Harris Fellow to Phil Spiller. This recognizes cumulative giving to the Rotary Foundation of $1000. Thank you Phil for your support of our Foundation!
When you choose to donate to the Rotary Foundation, you can direct your giving in any of the following ways:
Annual Fund – Your donation is divided between the World Fund which supports Global Grants and District Designated Funds. DDF are funds returned to Districts to be spend for District Grants.
Polio Plus – Support Rotary’s efforts to finally eradicate this dreaded disease from the world. Donations from Rotary are double matched by the Gates Foundation.
Area of Focus – Specify your donation to any of the six areas of focus: Basic Education & Literacy, Disease Prevention & Eradication, Maternal & Child Health, Economic Development, Clean Water & Sanitation or Peace
Specific Global Grant – With a Grant number, you can directly provide support to any approved Global Grant
In addition, you can create a named endowment with a donation of $25,000 or more to an area of focus, the world fund, SHARE fund or Rotary Peace Centers.
If you have questions or need help with your donation, please contact Foundation Chair Steve Rand. Remember, Westbrook-Gorham Rotary will match your donation to the Rotary Foundation in your name up to $100 this Rotary year, and will add one time extra $25 when you sign up online for Rotary Direct.
Grants Management Seminars 2019 – Monday March 18, 6-7:30PM, Southern Maine Community College, 29 Sewall St Room 102, Brunswick.
District Interact Assembly - Saturday March 23, 2019 - Oxford Hills High School. Interested Rotarians are welcome to attend. More details to follow. Snow Day March 30, 2019.
Wrap-A-Smile Quilt-a-thon - Saturday March 30, 9AM to 4PM, Boothbay Harbor Rotary Club House, 66 Montgomery Rd, Boothbay Harbor. Join Rotarians & friends in creating fun quilts that will be donated to Wrap-a-Smile, the charity started in our District which over the past 15 years has sent over 25,000 quilts to comfort children undergoing Rotaplast and other Rotary sponsored surgeries around the world. Novice quilter? No problem! This is a great time to learn the basics! Bring your own sewing machine and materials; irons/ironing boards and some supplies will be provided. Plus, we can always share! RSVP and learn details from Ann Dermanville, Wrap-a-Smile chair, quilts7780@gmail.com.
District Training Assembly - Saturday April 6, 2019. 8AM-1PM. York County Community College
Rotary Leadership Institute – Saturday April 20, 8Am-3:30PM, York County Community College, 112 College Dr, Wells. Parts I, II, III and Graduate available. Recommended for all Rotarians, but especially those considering leadership positions. If you 'd like to attend, the club may pay the registration fee. Talk to club President. For more information and to register: www.rlinea.org
Rotary Fest (AKA District Conference) - Friday-Saturday June 21-22, 2019 - Fort Williams, Park Cape Elizabeth. Friday service project and cook out for volunteers. Saturday packed with fun and educational events for adults and kids, and another service project opportunity. DG John and the Planning Committee are working hard to make this a free event for all. Watch for more details.
District Changeover - Tuesday June 25. Camp Hinds. More details to come.
The Locker Project - Fresh food and baked goods distribution in Westbrook. In this school year, produce distributions at Westbrook High School will take place the 2nd and 4th Wednesdays of each month. Next opportunity March 13 arrive by 12:45 for set up. 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
Children's Books for Pantries - We continue to supply new and gently used children's books to food pantries about every two weeks. We have been fortunate to obtain a regular supply of used books from Goodwill Buy the Pound. We also periodically obtain new books from a couple of sources at little cost. However, the need is always greater than the supply. If you, a family member, friend or colleague have children or grandchildren who have outgrown their books, we'd love to have them to share with children who will love them. All ages from babies to young teens. We can also always use large print books for older readers. Bring to any club meeting or contact Christine Johnson for pick up.
Can Tabs for Ronald MacDonald House - Thank you for continuing to collect can tabs.It's and easy way to help a wonderful organization! Just keep a small plastic bag or small jar in your kitchen, on the counter or in a drawer. As you go to toss your returnable can into your CLYNK bag, simply twist off the tab first.
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.
If you have an idea for a speaker or program, please contact Christine Johnson at cejinmaine@gmail.com or Phil Spiller at pdsflynavy@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 March, April and May.
Here is the list of upcoming speakers and programs:
* 3/5 - Read Across America Literacy Program
Cathryn Falwell - Illustrator & Author
* 3/12 - TBD
* 3/19 - Evening at WRVC - Youth Services
* 3/26 - Rebecca Hobbs Exec Director - Through These Doors
* 4/2 - Club Assembly
* 4/9 - Sheila Rollins - Rotaract in Puerto Rico
* 4/16 - No lunch meeting. See you at the Road Race on 4/15
* 4/23 - TBD
* 4/30 - Eliza Kenigsberg - Community Career Coordinator GHS
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 know when you have participated in any of these activities at info@westbrookgorhamrotary.org
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