Last Friday, our group was lucky enough to hear from Charlie Roscoe, a longtime CPA in Portland who, after his formal retirement in 1995, has begun on a journey to help others in Maine and well beyond, with his most recent travels and passions taking him to Uganda (which actually has the highest percentage of Rotarians, per capita, in the world). After mentoring and befriending a Ugandan refugee named Bosco Oringa, who attended Portland High School and the University of New England, where he received a master’s degree in pubic policy, Charlie's fascination with Bosco’s plight brought him, in 2008, to the equatorial nation that sits just below Lake Victoria in central Africa. It was during this visit in search of Bosco’s mother that Charlie observed the conditions that awaited the thousands of refugees who flooded across the northern border of South Sudan into the small villages just south of the equator. 

With an obvious need to educate these tens of thousands of young people, Charlie came back to the states and set up a 501(c)(3) and began collecting monies, mostly from his golfing buddies. What was once a fledgling dream has become a glorious reality, with 236 children attending the kindergarten and another 537 students in the primary school. With UN help and lots of volunteers in the local communities, the budget of $45,000 per year is barely able to keep up with the needs of these voracious students, most of whom attend classes of over 80 children. Now, with electricity going in to power limited computers and tablets, 2000 children are on waiting lists for this powerful and, oftentimes, life-saving school. 

Charlie is living the Rotary motto of “Service Above Self” and has forever altered the lives of thousands of young people in an area of the world that so needs this type of help.  It is worth mentioning that they did find Bosco’s mother and after a seven-year delay, they live happily together in Houston. A warm story for a brisk Spring day!

(Photo L-R:  1st VP Amy Chipman, Charlie Roscoe and President John Curran.)

President John called the meeting to order by welcoming 35 members and 6 guests. Past President Cyrus Hagge gave the invocation, which reviewed the Red Sox’s opening loss and calculated that the pitcher, Chris Sale, was awarded a $145 million-dollar contract extension that during a typical season will earn him $6,019 per pitch. He then lamented that he was in the wrong business. Cyrus gave us a rendition of the poem “Casey at the Bat” with that familiar ending:

Oh, somewhere in this favored land the sun is shining bright,
The band is playing somewhere, and somewhere hearts are light;
And somewhere men are laughing, and somewhere children shout,
But there is no joy in Mudville—mighty Casey has struck out.

After the Pledge of Allegiance and the singing of a patriotic song, we had the introduction of visiting Rotarians and guests. Our speaker, Charlie Roscoe, then presented us with a Uganda club banner and informed us that Uganda has the highest number of Rotarians per capita than anywhere else in the world. Who knew?

Derek Pierce, principal of Casco Bay High School, introduced our Youth Service Award recipient, Mouna Adbelkader, as an excellent choice and who has done outstanding volunteer work in her school and the community. Her proud father, Mohamed Adbelkader, was beaming with pride. 

(Photo L-R: President John Curran, Principal Derek Pierce, Mohamed Adbelkader, Mouna Adbelkader, and Katie Brown.) 
 

John Thompson (photo at left) spoke about the excellent progress in starting an Interact Club at Baxter Academy. He said that the first meeting was held on Wednesday and 14 students attended, along with a faculty advisor. What a great start! John then spoke about the Next Generation Interact Conference that was held at Oxford Hills Comprehensive High School on Saturday (March 23rd) and all the interesting and informative breakout programs that were offered.

President John read us a letter from Principal Gregg Palmer, Deering High School, thanking us for our donation of an electric piano to the school.

First Vice President Amy Chipman (photo at right) then reminded us to attend the District Training Assembly on Saturday April 6th at York County Community College. All are welcome! The registration of $20 will be reimbursed to members who attend.
 

(Photo L-R: Gracie Johnston, PP Bill Blount and 1st VP Amy Chipman.)

PP Bill Blount, 1st VP Amy Chipman and Gracie Johnston had us all singing and smiling with their side-stepping shuffle and enthusiasm in leading us in song with “Singing in the Rain.”

PP Larry Gross conducted the raffle of $328 and PP Roxane Cole pulled the 7 of Hearts, leaving the jackpot to grow larger next week. 

(Photo at right: PP Roxane Cole, President John Curran and PP Larry Gross.)
 

NOTABLE DATES FOR MEMBERS IN APRIL

Member Birthdays
   4 - Merle Hallett
   4 - Mark Stimson
   7 - Ben Jackson
 10 - John Houghton
 16 - Bob Fowler
 19 - David Clough
 24 - Bob Traill
 27 - Mike Robinson
    
Date-Joined-Rotary Anniversaries
  2 years - Abdulahi Ali
  3 years - Tiel Duncan
  3 years - Patty Erickson
  3 years - Jennifer Frederick
  3 years - Matt Wolcott
  7 years - Jan Chapman
  9 years - David Smith
10 years - Kris Rosado
15 years - Dave Seddon
26 years - Mike Reed
28 years - Roxane Cole
32 years - Loretta Rowe
35 years - Dick Hall
46 years - John Houghton  
                  
CONGRATULATIONS TO ALL!

If you would like to mark your calendars,
we are scheduled at the following locations
through June 2019:

2019
Apr    5 - The Clarion
Apr  12 - TBD
Apr  19 - The Clarion
Apr  26 - TBD

May   3 - TBD
May 10 - The Clarion
May 17 - The Clarion
May 24 - The Clarion
May 31 - The Clarion

Jun   7 - The Clarion
Jun 14 - The Clarion
Jun 21 - The Clarion
Jun 28 - The Clarion

Blue BOLD dates are scheduled Board meeting days.

Any questions, please contact Loretta at: lrowe@maine.rr.com