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President Don Zillman opened the meeting by welcoming 56 members and 3 guests. Kathy Grammer provided us with our invocation, thanking all those who assisted in getting our power restored after the recent storm-related outage (including CMP workers, fire, police and others that assisted). After the Pledge of Allegiance, Kathy also led us in singing "God Bless America."
President Don told us of the passing of long-time member Austin Harris (photo at left) and we honored him with a moment of silence. Past President Bob Traill then spoke eloquently of his and Past President Jim Willey's recent visit with Austin and the bestowing on him of his 6th Paul Harris Fellow recognition. Bob spoke of how upbeat Austin was for the visit, trading Rotary stories and having a chocolate chip cookie.
Gracie Johnston spoke about the upcoming volunteer opportunity at St. Vincent de Paul soup kitchen for the Thanksgiving meal on Wednesday, November 22nd. We have lots of volunteers, but more are always helpful and will make the job go easier. Pleaswe contact Gracie at: gracie.johnston@wcsh6.com or 939-0315.
Paul Tully brought us up to date on the annual Veterans’ Appreciation Lunch (November 10th). Over $11,000 has been raised for the event and 225 veterans and friends have registered to attend, but we are hoping that number will rise to 300 for this very special event. Over 60 Rotarians have volunteered to help and Paul asks that volunteers report by 10:30 that morning. He reminds us that arriving early is on-time; arriving on-time means being late; and being late is inexcusable. If you just plan to attend the meeting, please be there by 11:30, as you’ll need to have time to go through the “check-in” process.
Dr. Roger Fagan urged all Rotarians to check the outstanding hearing aid boxes in the local communities and get the units to Roger. This is especially important as some hearing aids destined for the Dominican Republic were recently stolen, so the need is even greater. Roger also noted another volunteer opportunity for Rotarians, as indicated by a flyer left on the tables, outlining help needed to load a container bound for Africa containing needed crutches and medical equipment that have been donated. This effort is on November 18th and teams of help are needed at 9:30 to work for 2 hours and at 10:30 to work until 12:30. The location is 20 Gooch Street, Biddeford and the contact person is Dennis Robillard (486-0043).
Steve Mortimer indicated the Visioning Survey results are being tabulated and will be discussed at a Club Assembly scheduled for December 8th. Eric Greven reminded us that on November 17th, there will be a shoe drive for the Preble Street Resource Center — bring your gently used or new shoes or boots to the meeting for the benefit of the less fortunate in our city.
Ben Millick reminded us that the next Portland Rotary Happy Hour is at Foulmouth Brewing located at 15 Ocean Street, South Portland. It is scheduled for Wednesday, November 15th at 5:30. Come and join fellow Rotarians for a fun and informative event.
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The weekly Rotary Raffle conducted by Deb Lavoie was up to $1,042. With his name being picked, Past President Bob Traill graciously picked the 6 of Hearts – leaving the sum to be even larger next week. Sorry Bob!