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.
WRVC Awards Ceremony - Thursday May 23, 2019. 7PM Westbrook HIgh School Auditorium
Rotary Fest - Saturday June 22, 2019 9AM-5PM. Fort Williams Park, South Portland. Free!! Rain location The Point, 345 Clark's Pond Pkwy, South Portland. Please register to to make sure we have enough food and craft materials: https://rotary7780.org/event/district-conference-1/
Westbrook-Gorham Rotary Club Changeover - Tuesday June 25, 2019. Join us at our regular lunch meeting when we thank Deb Shangraw for her service this year and welcome Mike Foley.
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: 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. Help lay out food on tables and interact with the kids to encourage them to take items. 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
THIS WEEK!!Westbrook Community Clean Up Day - Saturday May 4, 2019, 9AM-1PM. Meet at Riverbank Park or 192 Brown St, Westbrook. Bring closed toed shoes, water and a few friends. The city will provide gloves, bags and safety vests. For more information 591-8145 or email recycling@westbrook.me.us. Come anytime, work for an hour or more. Teams and individuals welcome. If you are interested in joining a Rotary team, contact Christine Johnson cejinmaine@gmail.com
THIS WEEK!! Fundraising Dinner – for the Chris Broderick Memorial Scholarship Fund. Saturday May 4, 2019, 5-6:30PM. $8, $4 under 12. WRVC Dining Room. Home cooked food, raffles. Chris Broderick taught CDL at WRVC and was a member of Rolling Thunder. Ron Welton, CDL instructor, chooses a worthy student to receive the $500 annual scholarship. FMI-207-892-5333 or rtmaine2@yahoo.com
THIS WEEK!! Relay for Life at Gorham High School - Sunday May 5, 2019, 7AM- 7PM, GHS Track. American Cancer Society fundraiser put on by GHS Interact Club. Help them by donating at this link: GHS Interact Relay for Life - Donate Today You can also come down to support the kids that day or bring a check to our April 30 meeting and we will take it to the event for you.
New Crutches4Africa Container load - Saturday May 11, 2019 9AM-1PM 30 Gooch St, Biddeford ME.. Come help at this ongoing District project where we'll be loading our 9th container in preparation for shipment. We are expecting David Talbot, founder of C4A, to join us that day.
New Friends of the Walker Memorial Library Annual Book Sale - Saturday, June 1, 2019. If you have books to donate, please drop them off at the library front desk befoe June 1.. Books should be in good condition. Or come on down on June 1 to browse and purchase.e
Purses with Purpose – Thursday June 6, 2019 ,11:30AM-2PM - $50 at Woodlands Club Falmouth, 39 Woods Rd Falmouth. Fundraiser for Ronald McDonald House Portland. To donate auction items or to purchase tickets: https://rmhcmaine.org/events/pwp/pwpportland/
Maine Cancer Foundation Twilight 5K – Thursday June 6, 2019 – Sponsor Mike Foley as he runs for this fundraiser. To support on line: Maine Cancer Foundation Twilight 5K- Support Mike Foley Maine Cancer Foundation was started in 1976 by a group of concerned citizens eager to do more for Maine in the fight against cancer. We lead a state-wide effort to foster and grow the most promising and effective cancer-fighting efforts available to the people of Maine through a combination of grant-based financial support and coalition building.
RYLA Registration Volunteers – 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
New The Locker Project Summer Food Distribution - Every Wednesday during the summer from June 26 through August 21, 4:00-5:30PM. Westbrook Community Center 426 Bridge St alternate weeks with FBC 733 Main St. If you can help on any of these dates, please contact Christine Johnson.
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
On Tuesday May 14, 2019 Alicia Milne Development Director of RMH Portland will be our speaker. If you have been saving aluminum can tabs, please bring them to that meeting. If you cannot attend on May 14, please bring to a meeting between now and then.
Also, we hope you will bring an item from their Wish List for May 14. This wish lists includes their Top 5 Needs:
Hand soap (refill jugs)
Trash Bags (4-gallon)
Bleach (packets or jugs)
Dish Detergent (for dishwasher)
Clorox Wipes
For a complete list of items, go to https://rmhcmaine.org/wish-list/ You can also go to amazon.com/smile to search the RMHC Maine Registry and have items shipped directly to the House.
On Tuesday April 23, 2019, the Rotary Club of Westbrook-Gorham was pleased to induct Aaron Paiton into membership. Aaron is a graduate of Hebron Academy and University of Southern Maine. He is currently an Underwriter at MEMIC and lives in Gorham. He was sponsored by Ethan Johnson.
PE Mike Foley (R), standing in for President Deb Shangraw, and Secretary Christine Johnson (L), along with Ethan Johnson (second from L) presented Aaron with his certificate of membership, pin and name badge. Congratulations Aaron and welcome!
Ethan Johnson introduced Aaron Paiton to present his classification talk. Ethan introduced Aaron as a former track start at the University of Southern Maine (USM) in decathlon and an “up and comer” at MEMIC, the largest workers compensation insurer in Maine.
Aaron grew up in Minot ME where his family has lived for three or four generations. His parents remain active in that community. He attended Hebron Academy, a private school that he told us set him up for success in college because it required him to be self-motivated and manage his own time. He graduated from USM in 2015 with a degree in Small Business & Entrepreneurship.
Since the insurance industry has a strong presence in the Portland area, he applied to pretty much every insurance company in the area while taking a summer job as a ski instructor. Fortunately, he was offered an opportunity at MEMIC. MEMIC got its start in 1993 at time when workers comp was out of control and insurers were leaving the state. Largely thanks to MEMIC, fast forward 26 years to a stable and affordable market in 2019. About 65% of workers compensation coverage in Maine is written by MEMIC and they consistently give back about 15% of premiums at the end of each year.
As an underwriter, Aaron’s is responsible for profitability, sales, and customer service. With thin margins, the challenge is to set premiums high enough to be profitable, but low enough to not be punitive. He is responsible for bringing in new business while maintaining and managing relationships with specific agencies like Chalmers Insurance Group. He told us that rates are down despite the fact that medical costs and wages keep rising. The is partly due to a focus on safety by both employers and insurers. Another contributing factor is auditing to verify worker classifications are correct.
Aaron has an older sister in Manchester NH, a younger sister in California and he is uncle to three. He has a camp on Weld Lake near Mount Blue which is perfect for his hobbies that including hunting and fishing. He is currently dating Molly, a teacher at Hollis Elementary.
At the end of his presentation, we asked Aaron to sign a children's book for the Baxter Library in Gorham.
Rotary Fest (AKA District Conference) - Friday-Saturday June 21-22, 2019 - Fort Williams, Park Cape Elizabeth. Free!! Friday service project and cook out for volunteers. Saturday packed with fun and educational events for adults and kids, and another service project opportunity. Rain location The Point, 345 Clark's Pond Pkwy, South Portland. Register at https://rotary7780.org/event/district-conference-1/
District Changeover - Tuesday June 25, 2019, 5PM at Camp Hinds, Raymond. More details to come.
For listing of all District-wide events, visit: https://rotary7780.org/events/calendar
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 McDonald 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 May, June and July.
Here is the list of upcoming speakers and programs:
* 4/30 - Eliza Kenigsberg - Community Career Coordinator GHS
* 5/7 - TBD
* 5/14 - Alicia Milne - Dev Director Ronald McDonald House
.png)
.jpg)
.png)
.jpg)
.jpg?_=636922006981614681)
Since the insurance industry has a strong presence in the Portland area, he applied to pretty much every insurance company in the area while taking a summer job as a ski instructor. Fortunately, he was offered an opportunity at MEMIC. MEMIC got its start in 1993 at time when workers comp was out of control and insurers were leaving the state. Largely thanks to MEMIC, fast forward 26 years to a stable and affordable market in 2019. About 65% of workers compensation coverage in Maine is written by MEMIC and they consistently give back about 15% of premiums at the end of each year.
At the end of his presentation, we asked Aaron to sign a children's book for the Baxter Library in Gorham..png?_=636922006981614681)
.jpg)
.png)
.jpg?_=636922006981614681)