If you heard gales of laughter emanating from the Rotary clubhouse last Thursday, you wouldn’t be surprised to know that our speaker, Elliot Schwartz, was describing his fascinating career and doing so with a delicious sense of humor. 

Elliot was introduced by his husband and our fellow club member, Byron Cortez, who joined our ranks after the couple moved to the region three years ago. Elliot began his talk by explaining that he has had two careers – the first for money and the second for love. The money one involved data analytics for consumer firms, including Gillette, and yes, he explained, five blades really do provide a closer shave. 

But getting excited about razor blades only goes so far, and Elliot said that he has always been interested in sports, even though as a boy he played soccer poorly, tennis slightly better, but neither very well. It was his ability to crunch numbers and provide the data to give athletes and their coaches the information needed to get the best performance out of an entire team that led him, about five years ago, to take a position with the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Committee. 

As a result, both Elliot and Byron were in Paris for a behind-the-scenes tour of the Olympics last summer. How cool is that? While Elliot was crunching numbers in real time for the gymnastics and artistic swimming and diving teams, Byron volunteered as a host at the Team USA House, a sort of après-ski venue where Americans at the games could relax and socialize.   

All this Elliot shared with a beautiful sense of humor that warmed the audience and brought us to our feet for a standing O. 

And all this came on a heartbreaking day: As we prepared for our meeting, news was coming in about the collision over Reagan National Airport and the horrific loss of lives. Elliott knew the young skaters on board the American Airlines flight because he has worked closely with the Skating Club of Boston. He shared photos and personal reminiscences of the young athletes whose lives were cut short so abruptly, their parents and their coaches. This is not the first time the skating community has experienced a tragic loss – Elliott reminded us of the 1961 crash in Brussels that killed the entire US figure skating team on their way to the World Figure Skating Championships scheduled to be held that year in Prague.   

Many thoughts were shared about the tragedy. 

Meanwhile, our upcoming schedule will be keeping us pretty busy:   

On Thursday, Feb. 6, we will learn about the MidCoast Literacy Program from speakers Nicole MacDonald and Daniel Burson.   

And the week after that, Feb. 13, the Fun Committee is promising Mardi Gras Trivia, topped off with costumes and fabulous prizes. Stay tuned for details, but remember: Laissez les bons temps rouler! 

Laurie Zimmerli has announced a barn cleanout to take place on Saturday, Feb. 15.  There will be both big and little jobs so please show up even if hauling furniture is not your thing. If past is prologue, a couple of hours – starting at 9 a.m. – will do the trick and get us ready for a new year of financially fabulous Barn sales beginning in April.  Not only that, but The Inn Along the Way will be there to take the furniture we decide we can’t sell. They picked up our leftovers last year and were able to resell stuff to raise funds for their work, which is to support elders in Damariscotta.   

Our club will be sponsoring the community lunch at Brady’s on Monday, Feb. 17 (aka Washington’s Birthday) and Judi White passed around a signup sheet seeing volunteers both to bake cookies and dessert bars and to serve. See Judi for details. 

The following Thursday, Feb. 20, we will hear from Tammy Plummer about Internet security and what we can do to keep ourselves safe.   

We’ve had a run of really good speakers recently, and this doesn’t happen in a vacuum. If you’ve got an idea for an interesting speaker, please talk with Irene Fowle, who is filling in as Speaker Czar for Charlotte Jameson, who is enjoying the weather (or not) in Florida. Also filling in for Charlotte as People Power Pusher is Foster Stroup – signup online or on paper for your choice of all the jobs that need to be done to keep our club humming. NB:  We call them jobs, but they are also opportunities to socialize and meet new people in the club.  Don’t hang back. 

Irene passed around a sheet for those interested in volunteering a morning at Partners for World Health in Westbrook. On Saturday, March 15, at 9 a.m. the group will depart for the PWH warehouse to learn how to sort and organize before spending a morning doing just that. It’s sit-down work and no experience or medical knowledge necessary – on the way home the group will stop for lunch and laughter. See Irene for details. 

Nancy Adams and Cathy Fisher are co-chairing our annual Teacher Appreciation event which will take place Friday, March 21. This is our way to thank our local teachers with pizza and prizes and this correspondent believes is one of the programs our club started doing during the pandemic lockdown. Volunteers will be in order, so mark the date. 

The District Assembly, a chance for all next year’s club officers and directors to meet their peers and learn more about their roles, is coming up Saturday, April 5. And the District Conference will be at the Colony Hotel in Kennebunkport the weekend of May 30. 

Meanwhile, it’s time for the club to think about sponsoring BRHS students to RYLA, Rotary’s extraordinary camp-based leadership program. Check out that and more with the materials in the Clubhouse. 

Do you get the idea that there’s a lot going on, and that we have fun while doing it? You’d be right! Come join us (almost) any Thursday evening at our meetings at the Rotary clubhouse, 66 Montgomery Road in Boothbay Harbor. The place is rocking and rolling by 6 p.m.; the meeting starts and dinner is served at 6:30, and we are outta there by 8. Join us! You’ll be glad you did.