Our District Newsletter - Current  April 09, 2008

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Dinner with the inbound GSE Team

A Word from Governor Liz-

Rotarians all over the world are bound together each month by the news and inspiration of our official magazine: The Rotarian.  In April we are asked to celebrate the writers, editors, photographers and reporters who make this publication possible.  Most of all, we honor the clubs and individual Rotarians who are featured in this magazine for their efforts to save and change lives.

At the same time, the thought occurred to me that we should also celebrate the publications of the clubs in our own district—the weekly bulletins and the district websites.

Every week, all year long, Rotarian writers and photographers in every club give both their talent and hours of their time to report on club meetings including fines, happy dollars, announcements, guest speakers, future events and club projects at home and abroad.

In addition, nearly every club in our district now has a website!  You can well imagine the time and talent this it takes not only to build a website but also the time and energy that it takes to maintain it!  Club news, events and basic information can change on a daily basis so kudos to the webmasters who keep their websites up to date.

I would also like to thank all of you who have contributed to the District Newsletter over the past ten months by sharing your articles and photographs with the entire district.  And thanks, in a special way to newsletter editor PDG Trisha Hunter for not only her skill, but also her patience.

Finally, in the spirit of our theme, “Rotary Shares” I encourage you to visit all of the club websites in 7780.  You can find them individually, or visit www.rotary7780.org and click on District Clubs. There is a wealth of information to be gathered and shared.

The District Conference and the Rotary Stars

Our District Conference will be held on May 2-4 at the Grand Hotel inNorth Conway.

Conference Chairman, PP Gerry Hirsch,  Program Chairman DGN Jeff Pelkey and the entire committee are working day and night to plan a Rotary and fun filled weekend.  In keeping with the fact that the clubs are the stars of Rotary, the entire program will highlight the accomplishments of our clubs this year.  The program is as follows:

Conference Schedule

 April 12, 2008

Friday, May 2, 2008

                        2:00-3:00PM          Rotary Workshop by DG                           

                        3:00 PM                Hotel registration Commences 

                                                     Rotary Workshop conducted by DG Liz                   

                        3:00-9:00 PM         District Conference registration

                                                     Silent Auction begins

                        6:30- 7:30 PM        Cocktails, cash bar                                                  

                                                     Balloons for the Foundation

                        7:30 PM                 Dinner with featured speaker, RI rep

                        9:30 PM                 Adjourn

Saturday, May 3

                         7:00-8:00 AM        Breakfast

                         8:00-10:00 AM      Registration Desk open

                         8:00-12:00 AM      Plenary and Breakout Sessions

                         8:00-6:30 PM         Silent Auction

                         12:00-1:30 PM       Lunch

                         1:30-3:00 PM         Rotary Fellowship Wine Tasting

                         3:00-5:30 PM         Free Time

                         5:30-6:30 PM         Open Bar hosted by the

                                                         Rotary Club ofNewburyport

                         6:45-10:00 PM       Dinner, Speaker, Awards, Entertainment

Sunday, May 4

                         8:00-8:45 AM         Memorial Service

                         9:00-9:45 AM         Breakfast

                         9:45-10:30 AM       Closing

                         11:00 AM              Check-out

Please check our website, www.7780.org for further details.

Dates to Remember

Wednesday, April 23.  District Conference at York County Community College

            Contact DGE Brad Jett for details : bradjett@comcast.net

Tuesday, June 24.  District Changeover Dinner at the Holiday Inn by the Bay in Portland

            Contact DG Liz at lizgcullen@yahoo.comor DGE Brad at bradjett@comcast.net

DISTRICT 7780 ASSEMBLY

MAKE YOUR CLUB STRONGER… a must-attend Rotary learning opportunity for Incoming Board Members and all Rotarians who want to MAKE DREAMS REAL!!!

Register by April 9—Cost: $30/person

Mail registration to: John Rainone, AG, 23 Adams Road, Cape Neddick, ME 03902

jrainone@maine.rr.com, 207-646-9282 x502

Act Globally, Publicize Locally

How do you let your home community know about a Rotary project that is happening half a world away? It’s a dilemma I’ve been thinking about as I recover from jet lag from the recent Group Study Exchange trip to the Philippines. Here are some suggestions:

1. Send pictures of local Rotarians in action to your home-town paper. Digital media and today’s technology means that you can send these pictures/captions while you are still “away,” keeping local interest in the project high during your absence, and leading up to a full-scale media interview on your return.
2. “Reenact” your international project locally. Is your club building a well in an orphanage in Africa? Set up a clean-water station at your local elementary school to dedicate the project taking place on the other side of the globe, and invite Rotarians, local dignitaries as well as the school kids to join in on the fun.  Did one of your club members just return from a National Immunization Day in India? “Bring home” the criticality of this work by including a local polio survivor in your  coverage.
3.  Publicize a fundraiser that “duplicates” (as well as supports) your charitable work. The public “gets it” when Rotary or Interact clubs host a dinner to raise money for a local soup kitchen or Meals on Wheels. Or when they “kidnap” town officials and hold them “hostage” at the town dump to raise money for Safe Passage, a program that helps children who live on Guatemala City’s dump.
4. Be sure to do something “newsworthy” when a Rotarian or representative of the international project comes to your home town. Have you built a building or bought a vehicle for the international NGO? Be sure to present the Rotary decal for the new facility at a Rotary meeting with your digital camera at the ready! 

--Marty Peak Helman, PR chair

Boothbay Harbor Rotary Club

District 7780 Attendance

Sellout Crowd Enjoys Boothbay Harbor Rotary Soup Bowl Supper

More than 200 guests from the surrounding community came out to enjoy a fine meal at the 12th annual Soup Bowl Supper on March 27. This popular event is a joint benefit sponsored by the Boothbay harbor Rotary Club and the Watershed Center for the Ceramic Arts, and served to raise more than $2,000 for the two organizations.

The menu featured soups and salads contributed by local establishments and friends of the Club, served in hand-thrown pottery bowls crafted by the artisans at Watershed, which diners got to keep at the end of the evening. For many attendees, the bowls are what brings them to the Soup Bowl Supper year after year. Quite a few guests reported having entire cabinets full of bowls from past suppers!

Serving 20 tables of hungry diners can be quite the organizational challenge, but a simple solution helped make it easy and fun, while also raising additional monies. A lively auction gave tables the chance to bid for the privilege of being first in the serving line -- and the table that ended up eating first came through with a bid of $100. 

The event was concluded with a raffle for more than a dozen door prizes donated by local merchants, as well as the beautiful centerpieces on each table.

Photos available at

http://www.boothbayharborrotary.org/PhotoAlbum.cfm?AlbumID=2218

Damariscotta Rotarian Mike Hall and extended Family of Rotary members Mary, Rick and Greg Berger share a memorable moment at the “Karl’s Kids” event.

Rotary Cub of Damariscotta –Newcastle

Raises Money for “Karl’s Kids”

Members of The Rotary Club of Damariscotta-Newcastle packed up and headed to Sugarloaf in a near blizzard to host the First Annual Family Fun Ski and Silent Auction Event at Sugarloaf honoring our dearly departed Rotarian Karl Berger’s passion for supporting children’s athletics in Lincoln County.  The event raised over $5000 for needy Kids, especially from the spirited bidding on the generously donated “Silent Auction” items. 

Carol Ransom

President, The Rotary Club of Damariscotta-Newcastle

Richard Bergeron, president of Sandord/Springvale Rotary Club, and club members Shawn Sullivan and Lawrence Furbish. They and Elias Thomas joined about 50 other Rotarians from around the US & Canada to participate in the National Immunization Day in India and also to help construct a day care and computer facility in India

What’s Happening in the Hills-April ’08 by AG Patty Rice

The Rotary Club of Oxford Hills will be busy in the month of April.  They will be participating in the Big Brothers Big Sisters Bowl A Thon to help raise money for that program.  They are also hosting a dance to benefit the Special Olympics and have invited the community to participate.  They hosted some of the Youth Exchange students and held a skiathon to benefit Maine Handicap Skiing.  Good programs and good exercise go hand in hand!

TheBethel Club held another successful Country Breakfast with lots of members helping to serve up a good meal.  They are saddened by the loss of a special Rotarian and charter member, John Head, who passed away recently from cancer.  John was very instrumental in the chartering of the Rotary Clubs of Oxford Hills, Bridgton-Lake Region, and the Fryeburg Area.  He will be greatly missed by the entire Bethel community and beyond.

The Rumford Club has found a temporary meeting place at the Hope Association, 85 Lincoln Avenue, in Rumford.  Members will also be participating in the Bowl for Kids Sake to raise money for that program.  They will be hosting the Group Study Exchange team and are planning some joint events with the area Clubs. 

The Bridgton-Lake Region Club held an afternoon tea and invited potential new members to attend and learn more about what Rotary does in the community and the world, emphasizing specific projects completed by their Club.  Several guests attended along with numerous members.  The club is ramping up for their annual Taste of the Lakes Dinner/Auction to be held on Friday, May 30^th at Bridgton Academy.  Tickets are available for $30.  The event includes a wonderful array of food, a silent auction with hundreds of items donated.  There will be entertainment and the evening highlight is their live auction.  This year their proceeds will go to help heating oil needs in the Lake Region communities.  For more info contact Cathy Fitzgerald at cathyxom@msn.com.

The Fryeburg Area Club will be participating in their annual Bowl A Thon in April.  They are working on getting several members to attend the District Assembly on April 23^rd to learn more about Rotary.  Club members will also be hosting the Group Study Exchange team from the Philippines from May 2-6 and will be bringing them to the District Conference in No. Conway.

READY TO SERVE—The Bethel Rotary Club held its annual spring Country Breakfast March 2 at Gould Academy. Among the Rotarian servers were, from left: Dan Johnson, Mike Steven, Dean Walker, Cynthia Moran Laux, Bob Laux and Joe Arizzi.

DGE’S CORNER

Northeast Multi-District P.E.T.S   March 13 –15, 2008

It was just several weeks ago that District 7780 was represented at NorthEast Multi-District P.E.T.S. by thirty-seven of our incoming club presidents. Presidents Elect Training Seminar, held each year in Nashua, NH is two days of Rotary education, team building and fellowship geared towards preparing incoming presidents for a successful Rotary year. There were over 550 attendees including president-elects, discussion leaders, past, current and incoming governors, past RI directors, volunteers and invited speakers mixing and mingling throughout the course of this exciting event. On Friday evening, members of District 7780 gathered at a private cocktail reception (thank-you DGN Jeff Pelkey and Julia for all of your hard work in the preparation of that great food and beverage to wash it down.)  The value of P.E.T.S. is immeasurable – it is not just the great speeches or the Rotary training by some of the best discussion leaders in the Northeast, but an opportunity to network and share ideas with Rotarians from all over New England. By the completion of P.E.T.S., it is understood that when Rotarians share their vocations, their ideas, their knowledge, their time and their money, we in District 7780 can “Make Dreams Real” in 2008-2009.

P.S. Don’t forget the District Assembly on Wednesday, April 23rd. Hope to see you all there!!

Thomas to serve for The Rotary Foundation

Elias Thomas III, past District Governor for Rotary International District 7780, has been appointed to serve a three-year term as Zone Challenge Coordinator for Zone 31 (Eastern United States).  “This position was established to provide additional leadership and foster fundraising activities at the district and club level toward the achievement of Rotary’s US $100 Million Challenge” from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, according to Robert  S. Scott, chair of the Board of Trustees of The Rotary Foundation of Rotary International.

A new partnership has been forged between Rotary International and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.  The purpose of this new alliance is to provide US$200 million toward Rotary’s goal of a polio-free world.  This challenge grant is one of the largest ever given by the Gates Foundation and represents a tremendous validation of Rotary’s goal-oriented, business model approach to polio eradication.  Rotary’s challenge will be to match dollar-for-dollar over a three-year period. In this worldwide campaign, Rotary has worked alongside the World Health Organization, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the United Nations. 

Most recently, Thomas led a team of fifty-four Rotarians and Friends of Rotary from seven countries to India to participate in a National Immunization Day against polio.  Together with some 250,000 other volunteers throughout all of India, the team Thomas assembled successfully immunized some 172 million children under the age of five years – and primarily on one day!  On Sunday, February 10, all of the volunteers, many of whom are Rotarians who traveled from around the world to lend their support to this effort, spread out into the cities and tiny villages to ensure that all children under five years in age received the “two drops of life”.  The vaccine is live polio virus and is administered orally.

Already, Thomas is making plans to assemble at least one if not two more teams to return to India – one of four endemic countries for polio – after the beginning of the year in 2009. 

Group Study Exchange – It’s Really About Community Service

Before you read this, the inbound Group Study Exchange team will be visiting us here in northern New England, sharing our way of life, our professional know-how, and yes, our Rotary dreams. This is the “half” of Group Study Exchange that most Rotarians see – and it is a fabulous half, but there is another half. That second half is the opportunity we have each year to nominate young professionals in our community to travel on these exchanges.

Every year the GSE memo comes out: Who in your community is 25 to 40 years old, a non-Rotarian, who would benefit from an experience in international living? And every year too many of us (including me until recently!) think, “Forget GSE! If I knew such a person, I’d ask them to join the club!” But it’s useful to think again: The best GSE team members are still building their careers and their families, and will probably good club recruits … a decade from now. In the meantime, they – and your community – might benefit incredibly from their participation in GSE.

Consider team member Juliette, an RN and 2008 team member who spent a month in Greater Manila. She now has a real understanding of the lifestyle, the training, and the working conditions of the Filipino doctors she works with here in Boothbay Harbor, and she also has witnessed the stresses and economic realities that led them to choose to immigrate to North America. This knowledge will enhance her working relationships, and benefit both her – and our community – throughout her nursing career.

So don’t wait for next year’s GSE memo: Partner with a major employer in your community whose organization might benefit from a more international workforce. Describe to that administrator the GSE experience, and explain that if he/she is willing to work out the “time off” for the right young professional, Rotary will manage the rest! Explain that this year our Rotary District partnered with the Philippines; next year it will be with Poland, and the year after that who knows? But that the opportunity is real, and that the international savvy will last a lifetime.

Marty Peak Helman

2007-08 GSE Team Leader

Boothbay Harbor Rotary Club

Ogunquit Rotary Makes A Difference!

On February 10th, 2008, five members of the Ogunquit Rotary Club: Lawrence Boyle, Tracy Smith, Lucas Sevigney , Richard Littlefiled and President Ben Oliver travelled to La Romana, The Dominican Republic. They were accompanied by Lawrence Boyle’s wife Victoria  and Jonathan Sevigney  a member of the Wells Rotary Club and brother  of Lucas. The purpose of the trip was to establish a relationship with Club Rotario  De La Romana Incorporado the host partner in a Rotary Foundation Matching Grant and to work in the construction and placement of bio-sand water filters in the barrios and bateys in the La Romana area. Clubs funding the $25,000.00 grant are the Rotary Club of Calais, Maine (District 7810), the Rotary Club of Machias, Maine (7780), the Rotary Club of St. Stephen, New Brunswick Canada  and the Rotary Club of Ogunquit, Maine (7780).   

Moises Sifran, the administrator of The Good Samaritan Hospital was our host for our five day “ hands on” visit and what a knowledgeable and gracious host he was. We had a very busy schedule. Along with helping to construct and place water filters, we met on three occasions with the La Romana Rotary Club Incorporado and once with the Club Rotario De La Rio Dulces. We visited the Good Samaritan Hospital  several  times. We also visited a medical clinic at one batey and an orphanage near the hospital. Before we left Maine we received donations from our fellow Rotarians and  local friends,  and we purchased ourselves medicines, clothing, toys, medical and dental  supplies,  and school supplies which we distributed to the hospital and to the children of the bateyes and orphanage.

The five days we all spent together in true “service above self” were incredible. Though troubled by the conditions of the bateyes and the ongoing needs of the hospital, we worked joyously with all the people and the tasks before us. We bonded and went through withdrawal from each other when we came home.  We established a fantastic relationship with our host partner Rotarians which will endure forever.  All seven of us cannot wait to do even more. We will be hosting, along with Bob Chagrasulis and the Calais Club, our friends from La Romana next August. It is our hope to continue working on projects in La Romana for many years to come.

Water Filters