There were ghouls and ghosties and plenty of treats at last week’s Rotary meeting. Someone came up with the brilliant notion of pushing the tables together so we could all eat dinner together, which we did, and someone else came up with the brilliant notion of keeping the turpentine club open, which ditto. The costumes ranged from weird to fantastic, with the high honors – by acclamation, no vote required -- going to a cross-dressing Frankenstein and bride, courtesy of Rick and Judi. Runner-up, also be acclamation, was Nancy’s ball-and-chain apparatus. Someone mentioned that the scary thing was that Nancy had a jail outfit in her home, and she explained that it was left over from a time when … never mind.

The evening included Trick or Trivia, appropriately gross feelie boxes, of course fabulous prizes, and Halloween cookies courtesy of Charlotte. And oh, yes, Vicki decked us out with fake Halloween nametags. Anyway, a great time was had by all.

Next week, Thursday, Nov. 8, will be our annual Veterans Appreciation Night. We’re expecting a full house – and if you are a veteran, active duty service member or Blue Star family member and haven’t yet RSVPed, please call Tom Marston at 207-619-1417 to do so. There’s no cost, but we need numbers to plan dinner appropriately. We also invite all veterans who are comfortable doing so to wear military-appropriate paraphernalia.

Irene Fowle is organizing set-up at the Clubhouse on Thursday morning Nov. 8 at 10 a.m.; Mike Thompson will MC the evening; Monica and Tom Churchill will lead us in singing—boisterously -- the service songs; every vet present will be asked to share a word or two about their service, and our guest speakers will be Navy veteran Mike Fritz and his grandson Trevor, who will share their experiences during a recent Honor Flight trip to Washington, D.C. It will be a grand event - and a wonderful opportunity to thank all our local veterans and active duty members for their service to our country.

This correspondent just returned from the usual Saturday morning gig at the Rotary barn. Our selling season is quickly winding down, so if you have a pickup, please contact Tom at the phone number in the previous paragraph, or email rotarybarnpickup@gmail.com. Please note that the last pickup for the year will be the weekend prior to Thanksgiving, and the last Saturday barn sale day will be Saturday Dec. 14. After that, all Rotarians will take a well-deserved rest, and make plans to reopen the barn in April.

Interested in Rotary and all the good we do in the community and around the world? Our barn sales may be almost over for the season, but the good times and fellowship continue to go strong. Ask any Rotarian – or join us at our meetings (almost) every Thursday at the Rotary clubhouse, 66 Montgomery Road in Boothbay Harbor. The place is rocking and rolling by 6 p.m.; dinner is served and the meeting gets underway by 6:30, and we are outta there by 8. Join us! You’ll be glad you did.