Our April 27 evening was blessed with a robust attendance of Rotarians, many of our beloved “summer” folks were welcomed back, as well as some great guest speakers.

The meeting offered much laughter and sharing of current joys and initiatives. The Rotary Barn brought in close to $4,300 last Saturday; a sum equal to our most successful summer months. And, our most acclaimed acquisition to go on sale this weekend is a magnificent “ladies leg table lamp complete with fishnet stockings, heels, and a yellow shade” all of which replicates the memorable “leg lamp” from the comedy movie, “A Christmas Story.” You don’t want to miss this one of a kind item.

Our Foundation Chair, Judi White, reminded us that it is time for our yearly donation to the Rotary Foundation. “The Rotary Foundation transforms your gifts into service projects close to home and abroad.” In 2020 we received a $10,000 Rotary District Grant focused on food security. Part of those funds started the very successful Boothbay Food Pantry Soup Project. Every other week our Chef, Amy Ronan, makes a different nutritious soup. Club members package the soup in pint containers with beautiful labels. Over 4500 pints so far.

We also used part of this District Grant to start a big vegetable garden at the Edgecomb Eddy School. The garden is still flourishing and is an integral part of the school. So successful that The Edgecomb Eddy School is now establishing a fruit orchard by the vegetable garden.

This week we will welcome Richard Hodges from ReTreeUs. ReTreeUs plants educational orchards in schools and with partner non-profits. In 2023 ReTreeUs plans to plant its 100th school orchard and the Edgecomb Eddy School will be the site of one of these orchards. All this and so much more happens because of your donation to the Rotary Foundation. You can donate online at the Rotary Foundation or Judi White will be happy to take your check.

Our speakers last week were Dr. Rachel Sipler from Bigelow Laboratory for Ocean Science and Hal Moorefield from Boothbay Region Clean Water Initiative. Rachel is a senior research scientist and Director of the Center for Water Health and Humans. She gave a comprehensive and informative talk on our changing waters. She reviewed climate changes such as increasing severity of storms, increased temperatures in both air and water. She explained how the worsening harsh storms don’t allow water to absorb into the ground and increase the runoff of pollutants and toxins. Our water color and consistency is changing ever farther out from shore. The normal algae in our waters can become a harmful algal bloom. Increased toxins and loss of good algae, increased sewage, atmospheric pollutants, increased fertilizer usage and runoff all combine to damage our clean water sources. What can we do? Get educated! Reconsider types and amounts of fertilizers used. Reconsider adding permeable pavement on driveways and paved roads that increase natural water flow. She shared that new research is being done to offer more types of permeable pavements.

Her talk was followed by Hal Moorefield from the Boothbay Region Clean Drinking Water Initiative. He spoke about how limited the public water resources are on the Peninsula. Our public water comes from Adams Pond and Knickerbocker Lakes. Protecting these two lakes and their watersheds is essential to ensuring enough safe potable water for our area. Goals again stress EDUCATION, as well as working with landowners to conserve watersheds. A recent $195,000 grant will be used to hire staff and facilitate work on land conservation. Multiple questions asked and answered gives us all hope that we are invested in protecting our clean water sources for ourselves and even more for our children!

The Rotary Barn is accepting donations of gently used furniture, household goods, boats, tools, etc. Just text or call Deb at 207-380-3550 to arrange a pick up or drop off. We are open every Saturday from 8:30-11:00 with new items weekly donated by our generous neighbors.

If you’re interested in the fun and work of Rotary, join us any Thursday around 5:45 at our clubhouse, 66 Montgomery Rd for dinner and friendship.