Good News! And a pleasant surprise, just what we all need now. Our club has been selected by local Hannaford leadership as the benefitting non-profit in the Community Bag Program. Thank you, Hannaford.

For the month of March 2021, BBH Rotary Club will receive a $1 donation from each purchase of the $2.50 reusable community bag at our local Hannaford store. So, now is your chance, buy a reusable bag for your family, your friends, for birthdays, even Christmas. Nothing says “I Love You” like a gift offered in a reusable Hannaford bag. But, remember, this offer is only good for the month of March 2021.

We’ll continue our “Meet the Family” series this week and travel to the Green Mountains in Vermont and meet my favorite daughter, Kaitlyn Fowle. She is the director of ski patrol for Bolton Valley Resort, a family run resort with the highest base elevation ski area in Vermont, 3,150 feet. Kaitlyn is one of the two female ski patrol directors out of 22 in Vermont, forging a path for women in the outdoors and having a lot of fun along the way. So, join us and meet Kaitlyn.

Thank you Mike Thompson. The water pressure tank at the clubhouse was leaking air causing the pump to frequently recycle. Last week he and Doug Harley diagnosed the problem and this week Mike replaced the tank. I know we all miss meeting at our clubhouse. This would be the week of our annual Valentine’s Day Party. We’d be dressed in red, eating delicious prime rib or baked stuffed fish in a beautifully decorated Valentine themed clubhouse. Remember, last year we did Member Trivia. Lots of laughter trying to guess crazy and absurd things about our upright, respectable members. Thanks to members like Mike and Doug the clubhouse will still be there when we can safely return.

Deborah Bronk, director and CEO of our neighbor, Bigelow Labs, was our speaker last week. She gave a very interesting talk about her own research project in the Antarctic and a quick glimpse of the life of an Antarctic researcher. Her presentation generated many questions about the Antarctic, the Arctic, the current research climate, climate change and how it might affect local fisheries. Deborah is very optimistic about the future of Bigelow Laboratory, which just received an almost $900,000 grant to explore how kelp agriculture can remediate climate change.