Biddeford and Saco Rotary - Newsletter

Have an announcement? Send your Rotary news to Helene.plourde@kennebunksavings.com. Notices received by noon on Monday will be included in the TACK for that week.

WEEK IN REVIEW

06/02/2010

We were honored to have the Biddeford High School Interact Club attend our meeting today. Our other honored guest was the Rev. Shirley Bowen, Rector & Director of Christ Episcopal Church and Seeds of Hope Neighborhood Center.

President Steve called the meeting to order promptly at 12:15. We were served a buffet lunch and as usual my table was served last. We were not sure what was happening as my table mates started complaining about hunger pains and low sugar levels. SAA Karen was sitting at the next table so we asked "what gives, we got hungry people here" and her response was "I don't no (know??)" that's when I spied Julie Villemaire giving permission for people to got to the buffet line. I asked who died and left her in charge. Furthermore I quizzed the SAA about someone usurping her authority and she said that it was ok- I guess the year is fast winding down while Julie is winding up. I think next year is going to be fun with Julie as our steward.

Special guests were President Steve's wife; Nick "I wanna be Rotarian like my grand dad George Wandell" and a few others that I did not catch their names. Our first event was the introduction of our vesting Interact students. For those of you who missed the meeting don't believe half the garbage you see about high school seniors - these kids were the best! Ms Shaw who is our Interact Champion at Biddeford High School introduced the outgoing 2010 and incoming 2011 officers. After giving the students their Rotary pendants that they will wear at graduation the officers in turn introduced all of the other students and gave them their pendants.The 2010 officers are Jen Vadnais, Travis Vigneault, Stephanie Duval, Renaie Leblond. The incoming officers for 2011 will be Marina Morin (as in the apple doesn't fall far from the tree does it President Steve? ), Megan Crepeau, Laura Letellier, Alyssa Drapeau and Maria Curit. Our other Interact students in attendance were Emily Bernard, Sam Butler, Nicole Cartier, Kendra Charette, Gavin Cote, Kelsey Doherty, Kaitlyn Dutremble, Chris Foss, Valerie Gikas, Vanessa Gikas, Alycia Gelinas, Tasha Harper, Kaylie Lachance, Danielle Laverriere, Autumn Linteau, Sarah Martel, Jaclyn McCurry, Aimee Michaud, Stephanie Poirier, Mia Shea and Nick Simpson.

Each student was asked to stand up, introduce themselves and let us know what their future educational plans were and will they continue with community service. It was great to see every student is pursuing some post secondary education and will still stay involved with their community- our collective Rotarian hats are off to them as we wish them the best of luck as they pursue their futures.

The Reverend Shirley Brown started her presentation with a power point presentation of her programs with special emphasis on the Seeds of Hope Neighborhood Center. It is amazing the amount of work that her organization is doing. They are currently involved with the "Go Greene" program which was started in response to the two brothers who were shot by Rory Holland in Biddeford last year. These kids are removing graffiti and cleaning up neighborhoods. The center also has a computer lab with folks who help consumers / clients use the computers to look for work, apply for jobs, learn how to access the internet, etc..., etc...

The Seeds of Hope program also serves breakfast daily. They are serving over 400 folks a month with 30 new families showing up every month. Seeds also has their "In a Pinch" program that provides basic necessities like toilet paper and cleaning supplies and other items that can not be purchased with food stamps. The program also has a lending library.

And lastly, the Reverend has a number of request for us. First, spread the word about the program. While the Reverend is an Episcopalian she said that they are accepting of everyone regardless of religious affiliation, etc..., etc.... The program is also looking for volunteers in a number of capacities. For example they are establishing a program where the clients participate in mock interviews. Skilled volunteers would interview folks so that they get used to the interview process and hopefully can help them then land a job.

The Reverend's church has been selected as a Jubilee Center whose primary mission is twofold. First there is "Mercy" with its emphasis on providing immediate assistance. Second is Justice with the goal of interrupting the cycle of dependence and crisis so that the need for Mercy is minimized. The Reverend Shirley Bowen is doing some great work in our community.

Because of the depth of today's program Karen Chasse did not get to do her thing even though the meeting ended early at 1:20PM.

Respectfully Submitted

Jimmy Olson a/k/a Joe Moreshead

Thanks Joe for taking the notes. Keep up the good work and you just might get that cape to go with your hat!!

Saw many of you today at the Chamber Golf tourney at Dutch Elm. What are the odds of Bill "sonny" Kany winning his own firm's 50/50 of $400!!?? Pretty good, eh Bill?? And PP Earl's secret recipe for choosing raffle tickets won him almost $300 in the other 50/50. Congrats guys!

Special Announcement:

For those of you who will be at tomorrow's meeting, I'm sure Pres. Steve will share that PP Jim Pastorelli's wife Vernita passed away this past Sunday. It was just 2 weeks ago that Jim joined us at the Past President's Luncheon and beaming with joy gave a Happy $ for the 61 years of marriage he and Vernita shared. Our deepest condolences to Jim and his family for their loss. Visiting hours will be from 4 - 7 p.m. at Bibber Memorial Chapel in Kennebunk.

Helene, Ye Editor

Neil’s Motors, Inc.

Quickprint Color Center

Saco Biddeford Savings Bank

Southern Maine Medical Center