By Marty Helman

Rotary had a wonderful, feel-good meeting last Thursday, highlighted by high school activities and care for our own members.

President Jeff was absent on a well-deserved vacation; president-elect Bruce Harris wielded the gavel and kept the meeting running on time. He introduced our two speakers:

Suzie Edwards -- high school sophomore, Interactor, swimmer, singer, and instigator of the annual “Fill the Boats with Love” fundraiser – spoke first. She was moved at age nine to “do something” after she saw a homeless person inadequately clothed on the streets. With the help of her proud father, Suzie established the “Fill the Boats” event, which is now in its seventh year, and only growing.

In 2019, the last time it took place, the fundraiser collected over 600 pounds of food, $2500 in cash, and boats overloaded with blankets, toys, bedding and clothing. This year, Suzie hopes that the event will turn out to be even bigger, and she looks forward to welcoming us to Brady’s on Sunday afternoon from noon to 5:00 pm to drop our donations off or stay to participate. There will be lots of door prizes, singing and karaoke, and the opportunity to fill the boats with donations for the BRES Clothing Closet, Midcoast Humane and the Food Pantry.

Our keynote speaker was vice principal Alan Crocker, who wears almost as many hats as does Suzie. He is vice principal at BRHS, athletic director, and responsible for graduation activities each year. He started off his talk by saying that the last time he spoke at Rotary he was about Suzie’s age, when he spoke about the high school’s then-new wrestling program. Later in his high school career, he qualified for an all-star trip to a wrestling match in Nebraska. Rotary was one of the local organizations that made that trip financially possible for him, he said, and he apologized for being several decades late in coming to say thank you.

Alan spoke about the two teachers who had the most influence on him. Not surprisingly, the first was his mother, who taught at BRHS for 25 years. The second was our own IJ Pinkham. “Coach Pinkham was an amazing math teacher,” he said, “the perfect combination of cool and professional.” He said that it’s serendipitous that his own job is a combination of the work of these two mentors – he is assistant principal and responsible for the graduation program, like his mom, and teaches math and is the school athletic director, roles IJ has filled.

Alan emphasized that our graduation ceremonies are traditional and create great team-building through shared experiences. He spoke of the Grand March, which is a 120-year-old tradition. He believes BRHS is the last high school in the country to maintain this tradition, which was once ubiquitous. He thanked Rotary for helping out with the cost of tuxedos to help keep this tradition accessible to all senior, and he also thanked Rotary for our annual HS dinner, which kicks off graduation week. “I’m a Seahawk through and through,” he ended.

Earlier in the evening, both Marty Helman and Bill Prince thanked Rotary for being so supportive during recent family events. We also celebrated that Becky Welsh is now home, and that Bob Pike is pulling through and will (eventually) be coming home. All agreed that there’s no place to heal like home.

Interested in learning more about Rotary? We meet (almost) every Thursday at the Rotary building at 66 Montgomery Avenue, for a speaker or just social time, and the meetings can also be enjoyed via Zoom. Check us out online or speak to a local Rotarian about joining us.