At our club meeting this week our guest speaker was Jo Cooper. Jo is the Executive Director of Friends in Action, which serves seniors throughout our county through the senior center at the General Bryant E. Moore Community & Conference Center and with transportation and age in place programs. 

We also celebrated being named the Member of the Week by the Ellsworth Area Chamber of Commerce and a very successful food drive for Loaves and Fishes Food Pantry.
 
Opening Ceremonies: President Scott Kimball called the meeting to order. Carl Lusby gave the invocation followed by the Pledge of Allegiance. Our greeter was Raymond Williams
 
Guests: Rais and Will Matherson and Beverly Day.
 
Make-Ups: Lincoln and Debbie Ehrlenbach had several makeups at clubs in Quebec.
 
Birthdays: Larry Barnes – November 13.
 
Wedding Anniversaries: Iris and Gerry Simon – November 8, 1963.
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Door Prizes: Jackie Clough, Carl Lusby, Mickie Sumpter, Charlene Churchill, and Laura Pellerano all took home a door prize.
 
50/50: Jane Langley won the $15 and donated it back to our 2nd quarter cause, Next Step Domestic Violence Project.
 
Happy Dollars Highlights: Jack Frost was happy to have attended a conference given by the Maine Community Foundation focused on serving young children, Laurie Fogelman was happy for a cardinal but confused by its behavior, Jane Langley was happy that Brian has termed out of the State Senate and only has the short session left, Iris was happy to be celebrating 54 years with Gerry. Bruce Fischer announced they have sold their house and will be hitting the road in an RV very soon and while he is leaving as Club Secretary as of December 8, he will continue as a club member. Scott Kimball reported that he has started a new adventure as a finish carpenter and is working out on the islands and commuting by ferry.
 
Rotary Business: The “First Day of School Closed” chart was passed around. The proceeds from this fundraiser go to the WHCA THAW Fund to help low income folks with heating costs.
President Scott announced that the Nominating Committee will be meeting and is looking for members to fill the positions of Vice President and Secretary. He announced that Charlene has agreed to step in as Secretary on a short-term basis.
 
Clyde Cushing reported that the Food Drive resulted in 460 pounds of food, 84 Hannaford boxes, and $1,340 for Loaves and Fishes Food Pantry. He also passed around the signup sheets for volunteer slots in December at Loaves and Fishes as that is the month we staff the pantry. He requested if anyone is interested in helping with an entry in the Ellsworth Christmas Parade they contact him.
 
Gene Pellerano noted that anyone who is interested in traveling to the Dominican Republic on the wheelchair project should contact Laura or himself. The International Committee is working on finalizing arrangements for the trip. Rotarians will be leaving on February 27 or 28 with the distribution of wheelchairs on March 1, 2, and 3. People can stay to do tourist activities or return right after the distribution.
 
Jack Frost announced that the Gifting Experience will be on Saturday, December 9 with Rotarians helping youngsters with shopping in downtown Ellsworth and then gift wrapping and lunch at Camden National Bank. Anyone interested in helping with this event should contact Jack.
 
Scott noted that the club Christmas Party will be on Tuesday, December 19 at China Hill. There will be no club meeting on Tuesday, December 26.  
 
Program: Jo Cooper, the Executive Director of Friends In Action and club member, presented an interesting talk about the organization. She noted that the organization has gone through a number of growing pains with the opening of the Senior Center at the Moore Community Center and is offering many more services there now, but also has to fund an expanded operating budget.
 
She said that their ride program has also grown, and they are working with other organizations throughout Hancock County to provide age-in-place and transportation services for seniors. Jo announced that FIA will soon be launching a program for those with Parkinson’s Disease that will be the first in Maine and is focused on minimizing the disease’s symptoms.
 
Respectfully submitted,
Charlene Churchill
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