The Rotary Club in Boothbay Harbor hosted its annual Veterans Appreciation Dinner Nov. 13. About 80 veterans, active duty members and their families attended the meal, where over 20 Interact Club (the high school arm of Rotary) members served salad, chicken dinners, lasagna and cake. Rotary President Laurie Zimmerli emceed the evening, beginning with the pledge of allegiance and a blessing.

Former Rotary Club President Marty Helman and her husband started the Veteran Appreciation Dinners 20 years ago. “Whether they saw service, combat – in war or peace time, they’re all heroes because each of them took a hiatus from their own lives in service to our country,” she said. “There are so many remarkable stories in this room, but until we started this event, you’d never heard them.”

Vietnam veteran Dr. Barclay Shepard was in attendance and recognized for service, his upcoming memoir, “A Surgeon’s Slice of Life,” and his age. At 99, he was the oldest veteran honored at the event. Dozens of veterans stood and introduced themselves, stated their branch of service and offered details about their time in service. Jim Singer presented a slide show of area service members and spoke briefly about the success of the Veteran’s Banner Program, announcing that there are now 650 of them, up from last year’s report of 495. “It's always fun to be here. I’ve been here for all 20 years, less the COVID years,” he said.

Interact Club President Sarah Harris made announcements. “We wanted to come up here and talk to you a little bit about what Interact is and what we've done so far. Interact is a service above self organization at our high school. Throughout this year, we've done a few service projects: a pet food drive for the Community Fridge and tomorrow night we have a big fundraiser. We've partnered with the Community Resource Council to have a food drive at Community Night at Coastal Maine Botanical Gardens, for people who have lost or reduced SNAP benefits. There’s 283 homes that have been affected in our region, and so if you come, bring a can, maybe bring some money too,” she said.

Zimmerli led guests through a series of songs divided by branch of service. Army veterans sang “And Those Caissons Go Rolling Along,” Marines sang “From the Halls of Montezuma,” Coast Guard members sang "Semper Paratus,” Air Force members sang “Wild Blue Yonder,” and Navy members sang “Anchors Aweigh.” Zimmerli thanked everyone who helped pull off the event, including Hannaford for donating the beverages.