President Dwight Swisher called the July 17 meeting to order promptly at 6:30 p.m. and Debbie Graves provided the invocation. A delicious dinner by Chef Kim Mills was served by waiters Brian McGrath and Henry Wyatt. Guests were Chad Rosenberg, incoming Rotary District Governor for Philadelphia, Pa., Joyce Ward with Lincoln County Home Health (who has applied for Membership to the club), and Kathy Fisher from the Tidewater Rotary Club in Easton, Md.

President Dwight announced that the district still has funds available for new projects and suggested that funds might be used to augment our Set for Success initiative. He also reported that we have completed our registration with the state of Maine for the Boothbay Harbor Rotary 500 raffle. Details follow, and will be advertised in the Boothbay Register as soon as possible.

Henry Wyatt, Annual Auction Chairman Extraordinaire, provided an update on club preparations. Pick-ups were scheduled for Saturday starting at 8:30 a.m. from the Small Mall. Henry said we will receive help again this year from the Coast Guard and students in the GAP Program at the high school. He said we need paper and plastic bags for the Flea Market, Gazebo, Tool Shed, Book Tent and Children’s Tent.

Connie Jones reminded everyone that the auction set-up day breakfast on August 1 will be at the Country Club this year, with coffee available at 6 a.m. and breakfast at 6:30 a.m. She passed around a sign-up sheet for those who plan to attend and any guests. If you missed the meeting, please contact Connie so she has an accurate count for the chef.

Sergeant-at-Arms, Mike Thompson, collected many dollars from members who could not answer his Maine Fact questions. Many happy dollars also enriched this week’s contributions.

This week concluded the club introspection process with participation by Chad Rosenberg, Stephanie Blecharczyk and Mike Pollard.

Next week’s meeting will be pre-auction discussions, led by Henry Wyatt. Greeter will be Steve Demeranville, and waiters will be Ann Demeranville and Irene Fowle.

The Boothbay Harbor Rotary 500 raffle will raise funds for the club’s educational grants program. The raffle prize is a basket filled with $500 in ten and twenty dollar Maine Lottery Tickets. Only 500 raffle tickets will be sold, at $20 each. Sales will start August 1 and there will be a table for raffle sales at the Rotary Auction on Saturday, Aug. 2 at the Boothbay Town Common. After the auction, tickets will be available from most Rotarians, including Doug at Oak Street Provisions. The drawing will be held August 28 at 7 p.m. at the Watershed Tavern, 301 Adams Pond Road, Boothbay.

As promised, here’s more detail on the Boothbay Harbor Rotary’s Educational Grants: Funding grants for Class trips to Europe at $1,500 to $2,700/year; Rotary Annual Scholarship, $1,000/year; Calhoun Scholarship, $1,000 / year; BRSAF, $4,000/year, and other scholarship grants for about $2,000/year.

To learn more about Rotary and about our club and all the good things we do, visit www.boothbayharborrortary.org or like us on Facebook. Prospective members, visiting Rotarian and guest are always welcome to join us at our weekly meetings, held at The Gallery, 102 Ocean Point Road in Boothbay Harbor. Conviviality commences around 6 p.m., dinner is served promptly at 6:30 p.m., and we have a short business meeting followed by a special speaker. The evening ends at 8 p.m.