Last Thursday we were enchanted by Lynn Chadwick from Pittston, Maine, the home of Doom Forest Distillery and Chadwick's Maple Craft Spirits. Lynn is a teacher turned distiller. Chadwick, Master Distiller, shared her journey of starting a distillery in Pittston after discovering in her 20s that she was allergic to drinking rye or barley! So not being one to give up she turned her family cabin and barn into a distillery! Now a family run business she and her family distill everything from Blueberry Vodka to Maple Whiskey. Her samples were superb. She shares this business is both hard work and fun.

Chadwick's Craft Spirits is a product that's completely handmade in the most tranquil and beautiful of surroundings in our distillery in Pittston. Triple Distilled Maple Craft Spirits are made in small batches to control quality. The time intensive, natural process is the epitome of handmade. The Chadwick Family collects all the sap from the family's own maple trees and carefully boils it down into maple syrup.  Many of the ingredients are literally hand-measured and carefully combined.  It is a tedious and time-consuming process as each batch is aged to perfection. Their tasting room is open most Saturdays from 3 to 8 p.m. to sample products and have a cocktail.

A large crowd welcomed new member Graham Hurst tonight as his first real membership greeting and his official pin was donned. Then, Judy White shared with us all the concern that polio is again on the increase and in the spirit of our Rotary history of support, we are encouraging anyone who can give more now, it is needed.

We enjoyed a scrumptious vegetable dish made by Chef Amy Ronan with kale, beets and other treats from “Veggies to Table.” The veggies shared this week were a gift from an oversupply. 

Our club was happy to donate $1,000 to support the Recovery Conference to be held in North Berwick on Sept. 28 and we have four free tickets to the day's conference for anyone that would like to attend!

This week we welcome Dan Gardner from the Boothbay Region Ambulance Service. We are so fortunate to have these compassionate and highly trained medical professionals right here in Boothbay. Come hear about the Ambulance Service and thank them for being there when we need them.

Our many projects are made possible because of your generous donations of gently used household goods that are sold every Saturday morning from April to December 8:30 to 11 at the Big Gray Rotary Barn. We currently need small household goods, lamps, dishes, pots, rugs,towels and art. Just email rotarybarnpickup@gmail.com for pickup or drop off plans.

The Boothbay Harbor Rotary Club meets every Thursday at 6 p.m. at our Clubhouse, 66 Montgomery Road, Boothbay Harbor for congeniality, dinner, and a speaker or other special program. Join us, and learn about all we do! You’ll be glad you came.