Last Thursday’s meeting started out with a somber minute of silence followed by raucous laughter as we remembered our beloved club curmudgeon, Bob Pike.

Bob joined the club in 1984, and remained active and a weekly presence for almost four decades until health issues prevailed earlier this year. Even so, he remained hopeful until the end – Judy deGraw visited him at the veteran’s home the day before he died, and said he was talking about coming home even then. Robin Reed reported that he was one of the few people “allowed” to join Bob at the Curmudgeons’ Table, and several members remembered Bob’s skill and wit as sergeant-at-arms, a job he held “for about a millennium,” as well as his class act as club president, the year the original Scout Hall was built. Mike Thompson remembered Bob from when he worked at Leavitt’s Garage, and others knew him from Grover’s Hardware. Alice said that Bob groused at her for months to become a Rotarian, and after she joined the club, Bob groused at her because she was a Rotarian. All remembered the 90th birthday party Judy orchestrated for Bob here at the Rotary building. And the list of memories goes on and on.

On a somber note, we have lost four members in as many months: Frank Helman, Jim Botti, Tom Hagen and now Bob Pike. The list includes two past club presidents and about 80 combined years of membership. Enough is enough, already, people!

We had lots of visitors at the meeting: Vicki Haugen, who soon won’t be a visitor any more, numerous spouses, and Celeste Herbert, The Rotary Foundation’s Major Gifts Officer for Northeast US. She spoke passionately (and briefly!) about the gifts large and small that it takes from all of us to end polio and fight disease, build sanitation systems, fight illiteracy, and create peace. Celeste thanked us all for our donations to The Rotary Foundation – which collectively reached $435 million last year in worldwide giving, all dedicated to these causes and more.

We also heard rave reviews from and about the just-returned travelers on our exchange to Barcelona. We look forward to hearing more about their adventures in Spain in the near future.

Our keynote speaker for the evening was Sarah Timm, education director at the Maine Maritime Museum. She talked about the museum’s modest beginnings – “People kept giving a local research group stuff” and eventually, land was donated on the old Percy & Small Shipyard which led to the current campus. She talked about current and upcoming exhibits, which include:

• “Fakes and Forgeries.” All museums have them, whether they care to admit it or not; Sarah said the question was how to guard against them and what to do when they are found.
• “Women Behind the Lens.” A collection of photographs, mostly dating from the turn of the (previous) century, when women were discovering camera and camera companies were trying to increase their business.
• “Sea Change.” This collection of sculpture inspired by the Gulf of Maine is presented in consortium with Bigelow Labs.

Additionally, shipyard tours, which up to now have been fair-weather dependent, will move inside for the winter on a trial basis.

Next up was Connie Hartley, volunteer program manager at the museum. She said that there are currently over 275 volunteers at the museum, doing everything from landscaping to cataloging to leading tours. No experience necessary; no maritime knowledge necessary, and lots of benefits in terms of getting to meet people and doing something that provides satisfaction.

This week (Oct. 6) we will celebrate Octoberfest with prizes, raffles, games and, oh yes, beer. Karen Pritchard had the rest of us in stitches as she explained that the prizes “you would not believe,” and warned that “you have to be present to win.” Karen then raffled off an Octoberfest apron – bravely modeled by President Bruce – and after fierce bidding it went for $35 to Daren Graves. Is he taking over the cooking, or is this a gift for Deb? Anyway, I think we can expect a big crowd next week!

Want to join in on the fun? Talk to any Rotarian of just show up, Thursdays by 6 p.m., at the Rotary building at 66 Montgomery Road. And don’t forget our flea market and furniture sales each Saturday morning starting at 8:30 a.m. at the Big Rotary Barn, across the parking lot at the same address. Meanwhile, check us out on the web: www.boothbayharborrotary.org. You’ll be glad you did!