Upcoming important dates:

May 17: Speaker Keith Crowley, director of educational partnerships, discusses Chewonki. Operating since  1918 on Montsweag Bay, Chewonki is a year-round educational institution which inspires transformative growth, teaches appreciation and stewardship of the natural world, and challenges people to build thriving, sustainable communities throughout their lives.

May 26: Boothbay Harbor Rotary Club Bike Program - For those seasonal workers requiring transportation to and from work the Boothbay Harbor Rotary Club will begin their annual program of lending out bikes for the season starting on Saturday, May 26 from 9 to 11:30 a.m. at the Rotary Club’s clubhouse and  barn located at 66 Montgomery Road. Bike handouts will continue every Saturday until July 7 at the same time. Additionally bikes can be pick-up at the Rotary Club’s Barn every Thursday between 5 and 6 p.m. starting May 31 until July 5. Although the Rotary Club does not charge for the use of the bikes, a $100 deposit will be required which will be fully refundable upon return of the bike undamaged. Thanks to the collaboration with the Congregational Church, lights and locks will be provided with the bikes. Please call 860-670-6471 if you have any questions. Some bikes will be available at the Congregational Church during its annual International Workers Welcome event on June 20 from 2 to 4 p.m. where all workers are welcome to attend and hear about the resources available to them during their stay

May 31:  BRHS Senior Night: Led by Ingrid Merrill and I.J. Pinkham, Rotary will have a fun evening with graduating seniors and a young speaker, Matt Brown, a BRHS graduate working in Portland as a financial advisor. If you would like to be a table host (no cost) for three graduates at your table, please contact Alice Mutch. Reservations are limited for this evening. For more info, contact Ingrid Merrill or I.J.

June 6: Celebrate Fellowship Night “How about some fun with your fellow Rotarians, partners, spouses, and friends who might become prospective Rotarians?  Missed a Rotary meeting? Come find out what’s happening in your Club. Join in for some refreshments the upcoming second Wednesday of the month. This month well meet on Wednesday, June 6, 5 p.m., at the new home of Linda and David Clapp.  Bring a refreshment if you have time.

Twenty-four BRHS students were the inspiring attraction at the May 10 Rotary meeting. They and their faculty, Ingrid Merrill and Karol Clark,  were spellbinding with each of their accounts of two trips to Germany and Costa Rica. Ingrid’s group spent 22 days in Germany. Each of 12 students experienced a vast number of cultural lifetime experiences including a concentration camp and a two week stay with a German family including their high schools. Some visited Berlin.

The most memorable experiences were well told by each student.  Jacob: Meeting new persons unattainable in this country; Ben: the opportunity to fly overseas by himself; Duyen: living with a new family and schnitzel; Maddy: fun of the fish market and a great concert; Lexi: chocolate exhibit and its machinery; Joey: conquering his fear of heights in Berlin; Gerald: Hanover and the gymnastic opportunities; Max: dinner in the dark; Eve: Seeing all her friends from the 2018 GAPP trip. All of the students were so appreciative of Rotary’s support for this experience!

The trip to Costa Rica was the sixth trip to Central America for faculty Karol Clark. The five stop flight took the 12 students to new horizons including Grenada where they experienced a heartening humanitarian enterprise, a Deaf Café,  followed by  painful scenery of vast amounts of discarded plastic wasteland and  impoverished children with no basic life sustaining basic services.

The students also experienced an array of fun and powerful experiences. Those that impressed each of the students were: Connor: the culture – both beautiful and sad; Hayden: a challenging and successful  trekking experience; Blake: the culture and the topography; Henry: the kindness of those who had nothing; Maddie: inspirations from a kindergarten; Colby:  the immense poverty stricken children who were so positive and kind; Will: the kindness of all who had such unacceptable living conditions.