Whaddya do when winter seems interminable?  Throw a party, of course,  And the result was a green-gold-purple Mardi Gras extravaganza at Rotary last week, starring Jeff Long’s Fat Tuesday trivia and Doug Lockwood’s signature jambalaya. 

Jeff did more than bring on the trivia, he also mail-ordered King Cakes from Gambino’s Bakery, a proud purveyor of that sugary Mardi Gras tradition.  There’s a little plastic baby baked into each one of Gambino’s cakes; tradition is vague whether the finder of the baby has good luck for the year or needs to bring next year’s cake. Whichever, the lucky prize winners were Judy DeGraw and Irene Fowle. 

It was certainly appropriate that Irene win that baby – she and her krewe (New Orleans’ spelling for “crew”) had decked the halls with Mardi Gras finery and the place looked great. Costumes were pretty, umm, fabulous as well, ranging from Doug Lockwood’s Ugandan shirt in all the appropriate colors, to the hat that Mike Thompson dug out from the Rotary District trip way back in 2013 when this correspondent was District Governor. 

The trivia contest was won by the Grande Cru krewe, and we noticed that Mike Thompson was NOT sitting at that table.  How could that be??? 

As many of the readers of this column know, this correspondent spends as much time on the road on Rotary business as I do at home ...and in fact I just returned from Istanbul and the graduation of the first class of Peace Fellows at the new Rotary Peace Center located in the Middle East.  This is a big deal - Rotary is the only NGO to have a plan for peace and to be actively working to get there.  What could be more meaningful in today's crazy world?  This Thursday, February 19, I'll bring the club up-to-date on what Rotary is doing to build peace, and what our club can do to help deliver the message. 

The barn cleanout is scheduled a few days later on Feb.  21.  We’ll clear and dump and salvage and make ready for new donations.  Need I remind you that pickups will start again in March and the barn open for business the first Saturday in April? 

Looking ahead, our high school Interact club will be taking over the clubhouse on Thursday March 12 and cheffing up a spaghetti fundraiser to support all their activities and charities.  If past is prologue, a yummy dinner will be available to either eat in or takeaway.  Nothing could be finer!  

Interested in Rotary and all the good work we do in the community?  Speak to any club member or just show up on a Thursday at our clubhouse, 66 Montgomery Avenue, Boothbay Harbor.  The fun is underway by 6:00 pm; dinner is served at 6:30 and our program begins by the time dessert is served.  Come by and join us – you’ll be glad you did.