"What is the Hatter with me? Would you like a little more tea?"

Actually, good hospitality abounded at the "Mad Hatter Tea" graciously hosted by St. Andrews Village for the Wednesday, October 21 annual meeting of the St. Andrews Auxiliary. The event opened with an invocation by Linda Redman, and a delicious lunch offering of chowder, sandwiches, crunchy greens and assorted mini desserts preceded the business meeting that included board elections, marked a large turnover of committee chairs, and concluded with a "just for fun" hat competition.

A review of the past year's activities reminded the membership in attendance that in 2015 the organization's "giving" amounted to over $52,000 to various local health related organizations including Lincoln County Health, the Boothbay Region Ambulance Service (BRAS), Lifeflight of Maine, and the Boothbay Region Community Resources (BRCR) program, Food for Thought.

Scholarship money is also given yearly and applications are considered as received. In 2015, $18,400 was granted to 10 different individuals entering or already engaged in providing health care services in the region. A separate scholarship of over $2,700 was awarded from the Fran Hale Scholarship Investment Fund to one deserving applicant.

This year, Scott Shott, VP Development, Marketing & Community Relations for LCH, was on hand to accept a check in the amount $43,180 which is to be distributed among several services here on the peninsula including $10,300 to fund a ceiling lift for the new Zimmerli Pavilion, $1,618 to the Gregory Wing for the purchase of two special lift chairs, and $3,300 for a new washer and dryer at the Village. Urgent Care will receive $8,749 for a Blood Pressure, Pulse and Oxygen monitor, and $4,000 for a Slit Lamp for eye exams. Home Health and Hospice will receive a new laptop computer for $1,713 and $1,000 was given to fund a Patient Care Account that covers the cost of miscellaneous items that a patient might not be able to afford.

Also, of the total, $2,500 will go to the Community Paramedicine Program, a cooperative effort between LCH and the region's ambulance services that helps bring down the number of ER visits for patients with chronic illnesses by providing in-home monitoring. And, as in the past, $10,000 of the award will go to the Tufts Medical School Program which brings young medical students to our region to study rural medicine in the hope they will return to practice here in Maine.

An additional $2,000 has been earmarked for Lifeflight of Maine, which provides life supporting emergency airlifts to medical care when all else fails.

This year, 293 volunteers gave a total of 9,381 hours in volunteer service. These hours were divided between the Thrift Shop, one-on-one volunteering at the Village or on the St. Andrews campus and/or serving in a board or administrative position.

Before turning the meeting over to incoming president, Carol Ostermann, outgoing president, Carole Zalucky, thanked the 2013 - 2015 Board for their energy, optimism and hard work, and the membership for its continuing loyalty and contributions to the organization. Special thanks went out to the St. Andrews Village Executive Director, Loriman Looke, and his staff, for the wonderful support the Auxiliary has received over the years, to Ann Kelley for organizing the luncheon event and to Brenda Donovan for having the vision and energy to give life to the "Tea" with a mad collection of beautiful table decorations that would have done Alice and the Mad Hatter proud!

Before the final drop of the gavel, Loriman Looke, with appropriate panache, awarded gift certificates from the St. Andrews Thrift Store to three lucky "mad hat" wearers for their imaginative millinery designs.