Boothbay Harbor Rotary Club

Mon, 01/11/2021 - 10:30am

We had a fun meeting last Thursday, our first of 2021. Twenty-five Rotarians shared their news and holiday adventures. It’s always good to see you and hear your voices. Although Zoom doesn’t compare to meeting in person it does keep us connected. We still laugh together and at one another, share news and stories and keep the business of this busy club going. Even in this Pandemic we are contributing to our community in so many ways.

Laurie Z was at the Rotary Barn last week cleaning up. There is a lot of furniture there that is “past its sell date.” She announced there will be a barn clean up and dump run on Saturday, Jan. 16 at 9 a.m. Please email her if you can help.

Bruce Harris called in from his car. He was waiting while one of his daughters was taking dance lessons in Portland. Ah, I remember well those days of driving children to events. Before COVID-19 though I could wait in a warm indoor space.

Mike Pollard called from Washington, D.C. He had just received his first COVID-19 vaccine. Patty Seybold said the staff at the Boothbay Region Health Center will be vaccinated soon. Our club just reimbursed the Boothbay Region Ambulance Service for a new refrigerator and a new notebook for charting vaccinations. The EMS services in Maine will be playing an important role in the vaccine roll out. We should be proud to be able to support this effort. Scott Lash, the BRAS director, was so thankful.

We received a wonderful thank you note from the Boothbay Food Pantry. They especially thanked us for the soups we’ve been providing as part of the current “Food Insecurity” grant. Thank you grant chairman John Welch for submitting the grant’s six-month evaluation. Judi White is looking for volunteers to help package soup. Amy Ronan is making the soup, Judi is packaging it with only one other volunteer at a time, “Quality time with Judi.” If you can help, email Judi.

Join us this Thursday at 6 p.m. One of our new “Under 35” members, Ivan deGroote, will give a 15-minute “Classification” talk. He has had a very interesting life in his “Under 35” years. Ivan is a graduate of Boothbay Region High School.

We took a trip to Tianjtin,China last Thursday and got to meet Judi White’s daughter, Caroline Remley. Caroline met us at 6:30 a.m. her time as she was walking to work. We got a quick view of Tianjtin, China, one of the top 25 most populous cities in the world. Oh, her temperature was -15C, which is 5F. Then, after taking off our shoes, we entered the school where she has worked for the last four years. Her school is a Reggio School, the curriculum is similar to Montessori. The classrooms were bright and cheerful and encouraged creative play and learning. The children are local children.. They attend school from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. Caroline said the children are like “Hobbits.” They eat all day, first breakfast, second breakfast, snack, pre-lunch, lunch, snack. You get the idea. She said China has revised its one child policy and is now encouraging families to have two children.

Caroline moved to China with her son for one year as an adventure. Four years later she is still enjoying the culture and her life in Tianjtin, China. She invited us all to come visit once we can travel again. Or, maybe I said that.

In two weeks Judy deGraw’s daughter will be joining us. She has written books and teaches in New York about the history of television. I’ll tell you more next week.

Just wanted to share a list of all the “Thank You” notes we received this month. A sign of all we are doing, even in this pandemic: Boothbay Region Food Pantry, Boothbay Region Student Aid Fund, Lonnie Hackett - Health Learners - Zambia, Harbor Peer and Wellness Center, Boothbay Region Health Center, Friends of Thai Daughters, District 7780 E Club, and  Shelter Box.

Hope to see you Thursday.