Boothbay Harbor Rotary Club

Wed, 05/24/2017 - 10:30am

Our upcoming May 25 meeting is an opportunity to orient newer members by reporting on our committees or Rotary events that occurred this Rotary year. Suggestions for future changes to the events and committees are requested.

On June 1, Rotary will host a celebratory evening with 40 graduating seniors and Dick Reed, local young entrepreneur, former coach, and owner of The Thistle Inn as well as young speaker, Ogy Nikolic, a former Rotary Exchange student who lived in a country called Yugoslavia, which some probably never heard of because the country fell apart in early 1990s. He lived through a 3.5-year war there. Ogy came to the U.S. as a Rotary exchange student. Ogy received Saco Bay Rotary Scholarship to attend Southern Maine Community College and George J. Mitchell Peace Scholarship to attend the Cork Institute of Technology in Ireland. For the past 10 years, he has owned an international digital marketing agency that specializes in the most competitive online marketplaces and mobile app development. His community service passion includes helping high school students with filling out college applications and participating in the Rotary youth exchange program. Reservations are limited for this evening — please contact Alice Mutch at (410) 353-3861.

Terry Hodskins, guest speaker

Years ago the Boothbay Harbor Rotary Club donated monies to a project, the idea of one person, Terry Hodskins. Since then, the project, Wrap A Smile, has gone viral.

Terry reported on the development of this effort which currently has sent over 22,000 handmade quilts from 50 states and other countries to children who are undergoing surgery of facial deformities through a Rotary program called Rotaplast. This program started at a California Rotary Club and is now in 22 countries and has performed thousands of surgeries to grateful children. The impact has been enormous for children, some of whom were shunned by local cultures and left on the roadside.

Terry was spirited to start this project when she learned that these children were being wrapped following surgery in the only material available, plastic CHUX. Since then, Terry has organized efforts to produce 22,781 handmade quilts — enough to cover six football fields. These gifts have been coveted by children who are now experiencing life as it should be, thanks to Terry’s Wrap a Smile and to Rotaplast.

Club business

President Tony enthusiastically welcomed back Mike Pollard, Margi Spratt, and Henry Wyatt.

Important announcements were:

Vote on the slate of officers for 2017-2018 Rotary year was unanimously approved by the body: Congratulations to: past president – Tony Curulla; president – Jonathan Tindal; president-elect – Alice Neily Mutch; Rick Elder – vice president; Jean Huber – secretary; treasurer – Brian McGrath; members of the board of directors: Tory Paxson, Fleet Davies, Debbie Graves, Bob Goodrich, Joy Ward and Mike Thompson.

It is with great admiration that the club appreciates the outstanding service of outgoing board directors, John Welsh, Doug Roberts, and past president Ham Meserve.

Seth Hedgcock and Doug Roberts announced that Rotary will have available 71 new bikes for international workers who are employed in the Boothbay region. The Bike Committee will be assembling an additional 37 bikes and they ask for two things: help assemble these additional bikes and/or be part of the distribution team. They need three people  to work any Saturday from 10 a.m.-2 p.m. starting May 27through July 8. Contact (207) 633-2069 Seth or (207) 615-2279 Doug to sign yourself up.

Margi Spratt, chair of the August 5 Rotary Auction, is requesting Rotarians to solicit corporations to be a visible participant by being identified as a sponsor. Contact Margi at (502) 542-9218 with ideas or questions.