The Rotary years come and go so fast and we marvel at how the new Club President adapts to the quick, but busy schedule, of each meeting....keeping us on track. Typically, the President will secure a table close to the front of the room, as the so-called “head table.” This week it was the table of the Presidents, past and present, since President Amy was surrounded by Past President (and Past District Governor) Ann Lee Hussey, our guest speaker, Christine Byrne, current President of the Portland Sunrise Club, along with our own Club Past Presidents Peter Goffin, Loretta Rowe and John Marr. President Amy welcomed the 44 members, 2 guests and 1 visiting Rotarian.
Keeping with the Presidential theme, the invocation was offered by PP Tom Talbott (photo at left), who reminded us that 18 years ago he was Club President and recalled the profound tragedy of the terrorists’ acts of 9/11, a date in time forever etched in our minds. Tom read three profound statements made by contemporary political luminaries, Mayor Rudy Giuliani, President George Bush, and President William Clinton. Each statement was poignant, but Tom left it to each of us to determine who the author was of each statement. Each fit the time, then and now, and gave no sense of politics….only the passion of the time.
We have member Rhonda Ferreira (in photo at right) to thank for taking to the keyboard and leading us in a full-throated and heart-felt rendition of “God Bless America.” PP Jim Willey led us in our “Pledge of Allegiance to the Flag of the United States of America."
Keeping with the Presidential theme, the invocation was offered by PP Tom Talbott (photo at left), who reminded us that 18 years ago he was Club President and recalled the profound tragedy of the terrorists’ acts of 9/11, a date in time forever etched in our minds. Tom read three profound statements made by contemporary political luminaries, Mayor Rudy Giuliani, President George Bush, and President William Clinton. Each statement was poignant, but Tom left it to each of us to determine who the author was of each statement. Each fit the time, then and now, and gave no sense of politics….only the passion of the time.We have member Rhonda Ferreira (in photo at right) to thank for taking to the keyboard and leading us in a full-throated and heart-felt rendition of “God Bless America.” PP Jim Willey led us in our “Pledge of Allegiance to the Flag of the United States of America."We have been rather fortunate with our scheduling at the Clarion. However, on October 25th, we will need to vacate and are looking to do some community service project in lieu of a formal meeting. Stay tuned for more details.
While you are holding dates, make sure that you remember that we will honor our Veterans eight weeks from this meeting, specifically November 8th at the Seasons Event & Conference Center at the Ramada Plaza, 155 Riverside St, Portland. Paul Tully (ptully@maine.rr.com) and Charlie Frair (cfrair47@yahoo.com) are once again hard at work pulling it all together. Please get in touch with either of these Rotarians and offer to help them in some way.
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Our Club is known for its singing and it's usually more fun when showing our fellowship and pulling together a quartet, such as we had with Dave Putnam, Mike Fortunato, PP Tom Talbott (at left in photo at left) and Ben Jackson (at center in photo at left), who led us in singing “King of The Road.” 
Dick Giles (at right in photo at right) asked our venerable and ever-honest guest speaker, Ann Lee Hussey to pull the name of one lucky person to have the opportunity to win over $800 in the weekly raffle. It came as no surprise that there was no name on the ticket, just the initials of PTG! PP Paul Gore (at left in photo at right) came ready to make his donations pay off, but he could not get to the Queen of Hearts, so the pot grows for next week..jpg)
PP John Curran has been very much involved, along with Roger and Liz Fagan, with our 3-H International projects. We will be helping in the Dominican Republic as in years past, but adding to that will be a project in Guatemala. John is also arranging for another Hands-and-Hearing project, which will also have a connection with a cataract center in south western India, likely in February 2020. The opportunities and needs are many and the principals invite you to take part.Paul Tully and Charlie Frair have done it again! This dynamic duo has found another way to focus on service to our country and initiated the “Flags for Heroes” campaign. We had over 50 Rotarians who paid $100 to honor a person in their life who has been a model of Service Above Self. We worked in partnership with the Maine Mall and had a forest of flags on display, which got great attention for the club, as well as the individuals honored. Thanks also goes out to PP Paul Gore and PP Cyrus Hagge who jumped in to help with printing, painting and storage. (See separate article this issue.)