Our Rotary club is so active and so successful, that it’s sometimes easy to forget that we are part of a worldwide organization of over 35,000 Rotary clubs located in over 190 countries across the globe. That’s more countries than are in the United Nations, by the way, and an equivalent number of Rotary clubs as there are McDonald’s restaurants.

So when our own Marty Helman traveled to Taipei last June to attend Rotary’s annual convention, it was an opportunity for her to hang out with 37,000 of those Rotarians and reacquaint herself with folks she’s met while doing Rotary business across the globe. There are the Africans who are working to end the threat of polio once and for all. The folks from Turkiye, India, and across the Middle East who are working to build peace in their home countries. And it was also the opportunity to hear plenary speaker Malala (her father is a Rotarian!) and afterward, do some sightseeing. In Marty’s case, she spent a few days in Beijing on her way to uncharted territory (for her) in Mongolia.

News flash: Next year’s Rotary convention will be held in Barcelona in late June, and all Rotarians and their families are invited to be there and take part in the adventure.

Thursday, Sept. 10, Marty will describe her experiences at the Taipei convention and, for those more interested in wildlife, her up-close-and personal adventures in Mongolia, where she rode a two-humped Bactrian camel, met a yak or three, and slept in a ger -- sort of a yurt camped out on the Gobi. She’ll also talk about the possibility of some of us joining her in Barcelona.

Be there! And don’t forget the Rotary barn. Yes, summer is coming to an end, but the Barn is rocking and rolling and will continue to do so until the end of the calendar year. Last Saturday, our neighbors made deals and steals on furniture, bric-a-brac, pictures, tools, outdoor furniture and more. We sold, sold, sold; no reasonable offer refused, and then thanks to generous donations refilled the Barn with more furniture and ephemera to sell this coming Saturday.

The Barn is open every Saturday morning from 8:30 to 11 a.m. We’re located at 66 Montgomery Road, Boothbay Harbor. Community members can bring items in good condition to be resold during that time, or call or text for a pickup: 207-619-1417. We couldn’t do it without your donations – and your patronage.

Thank you Linda Foster for assembling hygiene kits and attending the annual “Set for Success” night to distribute them. There were little kid hygiene kits with cartoon character soaps, teen girl kits and also teen boy kits. Linda has led the Rotary participation in “Set for Success” for many years and knows how to appeal to every student.

We also look forward to seeing you this Thursday and every Thursday at 6 p.m. for our weekly meeting, where we enjoy fellowship, supper, and (typically) a speaker, across the parking lot from the Barn. Not a Rotarian (yet)? Come by anyway and learn more about us. You’ll quickly discover that we’re a non-sectarian organization of neighbors from across the region who enjoy raising money to give back to the community, and enjoy hanging out with one another while we do so. Come see for yourself!