We meet at the Railway Village Lawn this Thursday May 20th at 5:30.  Come Join Us!  It will be so good to see you all.  And amazingly no masks as long as you are fully vaccinated.  We’ve been Zooming all winter, but it sure will be good to actually see you in person.  Bring your chairs, drinks, dinner, friends, etc.   We’ll catch up, have a short program, but mostly time to visit.  These last spring evenings have been so long and so beautiful.  The beautiful Railway Village lawn is just the place to enjoy them.  Thank you to the Railway Village for hosting us. 

Another successful Saturday at the Big, Grey Rotary Barn.  We’re open now every Saturday from 8:30 to 11:00.  And we’re doing pick-ups every week, so there is always new furniture, collectibles, tools and flea market items.  Thank you Deb Graves, our pick up coordinator.  You can reach Deb at 207-380-3550 if you have furniture to donate.  She’ll arrange for one of our friendly, hard-working pick up teams to come out to your home. 

Saturday’s at the barn are fun and busy, we sure could use your help. So, Come join us.  There is plenty to do and it’s a wonderful chance to visit one another.  Working last Saturday in the Flea Market with a group of Rotarians and volunteers I realized I hadn’t heard so much laughter and camaraderie in quite a while.  Rotarians are “People of Action”, but we know how to have fun at the same time.  Proceeds from sales at the Rotary Barn go towards the work of our club and benefit local and International non-profits and service agencies, like Rebuilding Together, Lifeflight of Maine, YMCA Camp Knickerbocker scholarships and Shelter Box .  Hope to see you there.

We will meet again on “Zoom” on May 27th.  In-coming President Jeff Long has a new “Zoom” account.  We used to pass the gavel on from President to President, now it’s the “Zoom” account.  My, what a difference a year makes.  So, there will be a new Zoom meeting link from Incoming President Jeff’s account.  My account is so last year.

The International Committee is meeting with the Barcelona, Spain and Portsmouth, NH Rotary Clubs on Tuesday May 18th to continue planning the Maine/Spain Rotary Exchange.  Contact John Hochstein at jhoch730@gmail.com if you would like a “Zoom” invite.

Under the direction of Judi White we have packaged almost 900 pints of delicious soup for the Boothbay Food Pantry this winter using monies from the local District 7780 grant we received last fall.  Chef Amy Ronan made the soup, then every other week Judi White and one other Rotarian would package and deliver the soup to the Boothbay Food Pantry Freezer. In collaboration with the Boothbay Food Pantry we accomplished many other projects with this District Grant too.  Thank you Judi White and John Welch for managing this $10,000.00 District Grant targeted at Food Insecurity on our peninsula.

It’s Rotary Foundation time.  Time to make your yearly donation to the Rotary Foundation.  The Rotary Foundation transforms your donations into service projects that change lives locally, like our Food Insecurity Grant,  and around the world. Please mail your check in support of the Rotary Foundation to the BBH Rotary Club, PO Box 518, BBH, ME  04538 or drop it off at the Clubhouse in a secure box provided by Foundation Chairperson, Judi White.

I look forward to seeing you in-person at the Railway Village this Thursday May 20th at 5:30.

Irene