The impact of Rotary Clubs in Maine, small towns know the true merits of the blue and gold wheel.
If there was no Rotary Club, much would be missing in the community landscape in the Maine communities they serve. All the service clubs like the Elks, Masons, the American and Veterans of Foreign Wars, the snow sled, ATV and sporting clubs all add big time to make the rural areas shine. But this blog post is from personal experience with the Rotary Club I have witnessed.
In the early 1980’s I joined the local Rotary club in Houlton ME.
Money raised for so many capital fund projects directly benefits where I live in Vacationland. My local club that meets Monday noon at the Watson Hall of the Church of the Good Shepherd is part of Rotary International District 7810. Clubs from both sides of the US and Canadian border are part of my Rotary district. Here is a Rotary club finder to help you get on board the local meeting schedule.
Much of the fund raising is geared to local area youth oriented endeavors. We serve several school administrations. Maine is a sparse populated state with miles between the school districts. But funding worldwide polio plus, humanitarian aid for suffering areas on the spinning globe are part of the mix in where money is allocated.
My Rotary club celebrates 100 years of service this year!
The clubs membership hovers between 60 to 70 local members. You get out of Rotary what you put in and the individual member needs the club more than the other way around. It is all about service above self, the Rotary motto. He profits most who serves best.
An earlier Rotary club blog post outlined what projects were underwritten by local members. Our biggest fund raising of the year is the annual Rotary Auction held around Thanksgiving. But local Bingo, E-waste also add to the funding for local needs. The local club has run canoe races, put on Radio Day, manned the gates for the 4th of July entry points, and much more.
My favorite part of being a Maine Rotary member?
How so much more can be accomplished as a group rather than as an individual. You get to know the local community members more deeply working on worthwhile community projects. Rotary sees a need as a club and then attack the problem collectively.
My local community needed an outdoor bandstand for McGills Band summer concerts, for local veterans day celebrations, etc. It was used for part of the Houlton Maine Rotary 7810 annual convention when local Rotarian Leigh Cummings was 2012 district governor.
When the local soap box derby need help building its own engineer race course, the local Rotary club was involved from day one. A garage for the topside of the race track was built with money raised by the local Rotary club. The local race site is the state of Maine venue for the big event held each June to find out who represents the state in Akron Ohio’s All American Soap Box Derby national race.
Local hospital equipment funding for much needed modern technology helps all ages in the Maine community. If loved ones don’t have to travel for medical attention, if they can stay local and get the support they need for the hand up to get back on their feet. Everyone wins when the local Maine Rotary club makes it happen.
The singing a song, collecting happy dollars, the recalling stories of past lost members of Rotary that are greatly missed. All those local Rotary traditions and history are preserved and cherished.
It all makes Rotary an important part of the weekly routine living in small Maine communities. Everyone in Rotary is busy, much involved in their professions and other local service, school, municipal obligations.
You learn a lot from other members that are experts in their professions. Each week if you rotate around the tables of members who get together for the wonderful home cooked meal, so much knowledge is gathered.
The best way to now the members of the community are by working hand in hand on anything to improve the area. That’s what Rotary does and without it and other service clubs in small town Maine communities, the quality of life would suffer greatly.
Are you a member of your local Rotary club?
Why or why not? Do you make up missed meetings by visiting other clubs in your district? Were you a member and dropped out? Rotary is International. Rotary is a rock solid local group to support with your time and financial resources. Everything Rotary does benefits the local area, the state, the World we all live in.
I’m Maine REALTOR Andrew Mooers, ME Broker
207.532.6573 | [email protected] | MOOERS REALTY 69 North ST Houlton ME 04730 USA
