As is our usual custom we began our evening with cocktails, snacks and lots of conversation. At 6:30 p.m., the bell was rung, we sang a few songs, recited the Pledge of Allegiance and sat down to a delicious meal of beef stroganoff expertly prepared by Chef Kim.

The formal portion of the meeting began with the introduction of guests including a visiting Rotarian from Loveland, Colo., and Jason Guest who will soon become a member of the club. Attendance was a bit lighter than usual likely due to the many activities we are all cramming into our short summer.

Announcements included discussion of plans for our major fundraiser, an auction on the Boothbay Common scheduled, as always, for the first Saturday in August. It is bound to be as exciting as ever if how many treasures we have stored all over town is any judge. We will have all of the usual events including a flea market, tool table, 5000-plus books for sale, a silent auction, a collectables boutique and the main auction. For many residents and visitors this event is the highlight of their Boothbay summer.

It was then our extreme pleasure to witness the award of 11 years of perfect attendance to Billy Dodge. What a remarkable feat rewarded by a rousing round of applause.

Our speakers were Pauline Dion, president and Ed Roberts, board member of the new Boothbay Sea and Science Center. Pauline grew up in Maine away from the coast but has loved the ocean since she first saw it. This love drew her to college in Newport, R.I. but her first job had her working with children in the Berkshires.

Pauline got back to the coast as soon as she could and was the chair of the Boothbay Harbor Yacht Club tennis and sailing programs. While at the Yacht Club, Pauline noticed that there were excellent and active sailing programs for children over age 8, but none for their younger brothers and sisters. This need and her two key interests, the sea and children, caused Pauline to create the Boothbay Sea and Science Center. The Boothbay program is modeled after a similar and very successful program in Stonington, Conn.

While this program is brand new they do have one sonar and one turnabout. Three more turnabouts are on the way. In addition they will soon be working with the local schools to fill out the science portion of their offering.

It will be a year-round program and is actively supported by Hodgdon Yachts. Please take a look at www.boothbayseaandsciencecenter.org for more information. After some Q&A the meeting was concluded.

For more information about our club, please visit www.boothbayharborrotary.org or www.facebook.com/bbhrotaryclub.