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: Feb 27, 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.
Rotary Night Out - This week!! Our next Rotary Night out will be February 19 starting at 5:30 PM. Mister Bagel 609 Main St, Westbrook. Prime Rib Dinner!! Members $10. Cash bar. Program Westbrook City Councilor Gary Rairdon will talk about the Westbrook Strong Foundation.
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/
New 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.
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
New 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
Altrusa Doughraiser at Uno – This week!! Monday-Thursday February 18-21, 11AM-11PM each day. Bring your coupon (or display on your phone) and UNO will donate up to 20% of your check. Dine in or takeout. 280 Maine Mall Rd, South Portland. Look for coupons at an upcoming meeting or download here: http://www.altrusaportlandgivesbooks.org/doughraier.html
New Gorham Backpack Program Doughraiser – Wednesday February 27, 2019. Uno Pizzeria & Grill, South Portland. All day each day, dine in or take out, up to 20% of your bill will be donated to support this food program. You must bring the coupon or show the coupon on your phone to donate.
Gorham Business Exchange Networking Opportunity – Wednesday March 6, 2019 5-7PM, Sebago Brewing, 616 Main St, Gorham.
President Deb Shangraw introduced our speaker by calling My Place Teen Center a “gem of our city”. MPTC CEO Donna Dwyer walked around the beautiful room we met in talking about their philosophy and pointing out photos to illustrate her talk.
Kids at MPTC are treated with dignity and respect, and they are expected to treat each other the same way. The Center is immaculate and the kids help keep it that way. This represents the culture of respecting the staff, the building and each other.
MPTC will be 21 in May. They serve from 50 to 75 kids each weekday, with lots of boys in the mix. The room can get really loue! They work with kids who have some horrendous life experiences including poverty, drug addicted households, abuse, criminal activity – generally adverse childhood experiences. They are open 5 hours a day, 5 days a week, and they feed the kids each of these days.
MPTC is unique in the area – intervening and changing lives. Some of the kids do just come to play pool and hang out, but most are there for the meal and to learn about making healthy choices.
Donna thanked us for our donation of snacks and for our ongoing support from the Club and from many of us personally. She mentioned that they have 120 volunteers who gave over 6000 volunteer hours last year.
At the end of the program, Westbrook-Gorham Rotary presented a check for $1500 to Donna to support ongoing programs at MPTC.
Congratulations to Canal School for earning the Bronze medal in the 2019 WinterKids Winter Games. This earned the school $1500. In addition, they received recognition for the Best Use of Literacy Theme. Thanks to Rotarians and friends who volunteered to read Stone Soup and helped the kids get their own "stone soup" started.
We returned to a previously used format for Club Assembly on February 5. Members and guests gathered in groups right after lunch to discuss projects and activities in areas of service – Community, Youth, International, and Vocational. At the end of the session, each group shared a few words with the whole group on topics they discussed. Here are a few highlights:
Save the date - Westbrook-Gorham Community Night at the Sea Dogs on August 19, 2019. We are selling tickets through a special link again this year. Link will be included in the Scribbler. Proceeds from sales will be benefit the Community Recovery Liaison Program and Just Love.
Food Drive - In partnership with Kiwanis and on the property of Saco Biddeford Savings Institution on Hannaford Dr. Exact date in August is to be determined. Evergreen Credit Union now has Westbrook Food Pantry in its charity program and will likely issue a challenge to the community as part of the drive.
Annual Dinner at WRVC - Tuesday March 19, will have a Youth Service focused program. Interact students have been invited to join us.
Public Relations - Remains a challenge. We have not been successful in placing stories or pictures in the AJ. It was suggested to invite local reporter Mike Kelly to meetings and programs that might be of interest to the wider community. Members are asked to share posts on Facebook related to Rotary and we will plan on periodically “boosting” posts at a nominal cost.
Road Race – Dave and Owens have completed and will submit the application as part of a new process with the City. We will have a professional timer this year (bibs, chips, etc) with automatic recording of times. No more popsicle sticks!! Volunteers will still be needed to help with check in, hand out water, manage start and finish lines, direct people, assist with awards, and take pictures.
RYLA – Process is well underway with a much earlier deadline than usual – due date March 8. Application information has been provided to the Interact Advisers, Schools and to MPTC staff. For applications contact Kathi Perkins, Dave Rolfe or Ethan Johnson.
Guatemala Service Trip – Bill Chadwick is recruiting for a service trip to Guatemala in February 2020. He hopes to bring several Rotarians, including several members of our club. Past trips have included dental work, building eco stoves, and laying concrete floors.
House – The house on Declaration Dr is progressing well, except for issues around utility connection. It is suggested that we do more to promote that project in social media, in the AJ, etc. Dale Ave has a few remaining items to be addressed, including some street paving and street side landscaping that was part of the approved plan. This provides a possible work project opportunity for club members in the spring.
House Publicity – As we approach the 61st Anniversary of the House project, it was suggested with pull a story together for possible publication in the Rotarian magazine.
Grants Management Seminars 2019 – two in-person options for District 7780. Monday February 25, 6-7:30PM, Deering Memorial Community Center, 39 Main St, South Paris or 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 Feb 27 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 February and March.
Here is the list of upcoming speakers and programs:
* 2/5 - Club Assembly
* 2/12 - Field Trip - MPTC 755 Main St Westbrook
* 2/19 - Rotary Night Out - Gay Rairdon - Westbrook Strong
* 2/26 - TBD
* 3/5 - Read Across America Literacy Program
* 3/12 - TBD
* 3/19 - Evening at WRVC - Youth Services
* 3/26 - TBD
* 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
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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