Opening Ceremonies: President Gene Pellerano called the meeting to order.
Greeter: Laura Pellerano
Invocation was read by Rotarian Mary Thomas and we said the Pledge of Allegiance.
Sergeant at Arms: Tony and Julie Bouchard
Guests: Grace Robinson and Lori Googins
Club Anniversaries: Ken Huitt 3 Years on March 8th. Congratulations!
Door Prizes: The luck winners were Carl Lusby, Debbie Ehrlenbach and Rebecca Greenlaw.
50/50: Lori Googins
3rd Quarter Happy Dollars: This quarter all happy dollars will go towards the Rotary Scholarship Fund for students at Ellsworth High School and Hancock County Technical Center.
The following Rotarians gave Happy Dollars: Lori Googins, Grace Robinson, Rebecca Greenlaw, Marian Wells, Benedetta Pellerano, Debbie Ehrlenbach and Gene Pellerano.
Those who are on Zoom and give Happy Dollars, please send in your donation by mail to the Club at: Rotary Club of Ellsworth, PO Box 741, Ellsworth, ME 04605.
Rotary Business:
Rotary Each One Bring One: For each potential member you bring to a Rotary meeting (whether in person or via zoom) or a Rotary community service project in the month of March, you will be entered to win an amazing prize!
Rotary Facebook Spotlight: Contact JoAnn Brown to sign up for the Rotary Spotlight on our Social Media pages. You send her a picture of yourself with information on why you join Rotary and it will be posted online.
EHS Honor’s Banquet: The Honor’s Banquet is set for April 12th at China Hill. We will be honoring the top 30 Students from EHS. An email was sent out asking club members to sign up to help host a student. Please contact Debbie Ehrlenbach.
Make-Ups and Community Service Hours: Please let Jodie Cushing and Marian Wells know if you do any community service or makeups throughout the week.
Blood Drive: The Blood Drive is the 2nd and 4th Tuesdays of each month. Max Dietshe thanks everyone for their continued help. Please sign up for March!
Loaves and Fishes Food Pantry: The pantry is looking for volunteers to help out at the Pantry. Please call them to sign up to help.
Reminder to pay your dues: You can send in a check or pay online using PayPal at: https://www.paypal.com/donate/?hosted_button_id=ASTE82C8NAFK8
Guest Speaker: Rotarian Lincoln Ehrlenbach shared a presentation of photos and information about the History of our Club. Below is his speech.
The first regular meeting of the Rotary Club of Ellsworth was held February 20, 1950. The club was sponsored by the Rotary Club of Bangor. The charter night celebration was held at the Lucerne Inn, April 22, 1950. There were 206 people in attendance, and the admission price for the entire evening was $5, which included dinner and dancing.
June 23, 1951 was the first ladies Night. Grindstone Inn, Winter Harbor was the location, with 20 couples attending. The cost was $2.50 per person and the entertainment was a magic show. Over the years the club held ladies’ night at different location around Hancock County with different entertainment. Other fun activities were fashion shows, variety shows, Lobster Bakes, cookouts, progressive dinners, and snowmobile rides. The club took several field trips over the years to different locations in eastern Maine. The club would host and visit other rotary club over the years.
In 1952 was the beginning of the Father and Son night. Later becoming known as offspring night. (I attended many of these nights with my father and grandfather.)
During the Christmas season the Rotary would erect a large electric Star with white lights and at Easter a large 9 Ft electric Cross with white lights on Bridge Hill.
The club held its first fund-raising auction to benefit a youth center project in April 1952. In 1953 the Rotarians helped install the floor at Ellsworth City Hall and the Rotary Auction began and has grown into an annual event.
During the summer of 1955 the club started the Little League program at Whitney Field. In 1960 the club bought a 10 aces field by Boggy Brook off Rt 1A for $600 and put another $1000 into fixing it for a suitable ball field, later the Little League Field became to be known as the Fred DeMeyer Field, an honor to the man who had done so much to make the field possible. Later in 1974 the DeMeyer Little League Field was transferred to the City of Ellsworth Recreation Committee. (My brother and I played 4 years of Little League on this field.)
Christmas 1959 was the beginning of Rotarians buying gifts for children. These gifts were to be distributed to needy families of the area by the Ellsworth Lions Club.
The first Honors Banquet was held in 1960 at the Hancock House, Colonial Cleaves was the guest speaker. The dinner was for the National Honor Society Students.
On July 20, 1962, the Board of Directors voted to sponsor the Blue Berry Pancake Breakfast. The date of the breakfast was August 18th. The YMCA put on the breakfast and the club backed it financially. The guest of honor was Aunt Jemima. The breakfast has been held in different location throughout Ellsworth over the years. City Hall Lawn, Reny’s Parking Lot, City Hall Parking lot, RF Jordan Parking lot, Knowlton Park, and the Down East Family YMCA Parking Lot.
In 1967 the first rotary scholarship was given out to a local high school student, since then thousands of dollars been given to deserving students annually at the honors banquet.
In 1968 the club sponsored the Bar Harbor Rotary Club and later in 2008 the club sponsor the Ellsworth Rotary Noontime Club.
The State of Maine Fireman’s Convention was held in Ellsworth in September 1975. As its part of the affair, the Ellsworth Rotary served 1100 people at the Pancake Breakfast held at the Dr. C. C. Knowlton School.
Phil Eaton was our first Paul Harris Fellow in 1977, since then our club has awarded 118 Paul Harris Fellows, 29 Multi – Paul Harris Fellows, 4 Benefactors, and 3 certificates of appreciation to businesses in the community for a total monetary giving of over 207 thousand dollars.
By 1977 the Ellsworth Rotary Club had contributed more than $30,000 to the Little League Program. During the 1980’s, in addition to its annual auction, blueberry pancake breakfast and honors banquet, the club had a 50/50 raffle and a drawing for flowers every week. The game of choice for many Rotarians was bowling and golf and the annual boat cruise sailed every August.
In November 1981 the first hunter’s breakfast was held at the Knowlton School. The next month the club supported the Red Cross blood drive.
In June 1984, the club held a work bee at the Riverside Park Project. Later that year in September, the State Firemen’s Convention was held in Ellsworth, again the club put on a Blueberry Pancake Breakfast.
In October 1985, planning for JUMP – The Community Playground Project – was under way and by June the project was complete. In later years a new Community playground replaced the old one at Knowlton Park and adult exercise equipment added. Several thousands of dollars have been raised and donated to this project by Rotary. Today you can visit the park, sit on the Ellsworth Rotary Club Granite Bench and watch the young and old enjoy the park.
In 1987, money was raised and given to have the cannon and flagpole in place on Bridge Hill before Memorial Day weekend.
Women were not allowed to join Rotary until 1987. Prior to 1987, the wives played a very important role in supporting their husbands and were called Rotary Anns. They helped at the auction and pancake breakfast.
In 1992 Carolyn “Cookie” Patten was our first women president, since then our club has had many out-standing women presidents over the years.
Happy Dollars were started by the club in December 1993 as a fund raiser and continues today. The first joint auction with YMCA was also held in that year.
In 1994 and 1995, the Kid Care ID and Loaves and Fishes were added to the group’s service projects. During 1995 and 1996, The Ellsworth Rotary Club donated $10,000 to the YMCA during their major campaign. The Pancake Breakfast took their show on the road and served pancakes to the 5th Armored division at the Cole Museum in Bangor.
In 2000 the club celebrated its 50th anniversary at the Union River Lobster Pot and the club received a 50-year certificate from Rotary International.
For the Rotary Centennial Project, the club built a garden and dedicated a granite monument in memory of Rotarian Lee Pittle at the parking lot at Indian Point. Every spring the club participates in a clean-up project at Indian Point.
In 2006 the gifting experience was started, an opportunity for low-income children to receive resources and shop for gifts for their family at Christmas time. That same year the club started the HCTC recognition night. A student from each technical program is recognized for outstanding performance.
Ellsworth Rotary Club applied for a 501(C) 3 and was granted the status in December 2006. This status allows donors to contribute to the Ellsworth Rotary Club Foundation and receive a tax deduction. Since 2006 the Foundation has distributed funds to student scholarships, wheelchair projects and local projects in the community.
In 2010 the club celebrated its 60th anniversary at the Lucerne Inn. All living Past Presidents, and active club members were invited. The evening included awarding two Paul Harris Fellow Awards and the reading of the 60 years of history of the club. Everyone who attended received a 60th anniversary coffee mug.
In 2015 the club started to raise money and apply for Rotary District Grants to purchase wheelchairs and distribute them to third world countries in the Western Hemisphere.
The Ellsworth Club is part of District 7790, this district includes Central Maine and the Province of Quebec, which gives the club an international flavor at district events.
Over the years, several Ellsworth Rotarians have served at the district level. Most notable was Malcolm Noyes served a District Governor 1962-1963 and Lincoln Ehrlenbach served as District Governor 2017-2018.
Over the years we have enjoyed many hours of fellowship and many, many laughs. During these past 72 years we have had many interesting (and some uninteresting speakers). The club has moved from restaurant to restaurant in Ellsworth and finally found a home at China Hill.
The Rotary Club of Ellsworth has given out hundreds of thousands of dollars to area non-profits and student scholarships.
As I was going through the records of the club, I was amazed at all the wonderful things the club has done over the years. The Rotary Club of Ellsworth is making a different in and around our community and the world.
A lot of the Club History that was read this evening is taken from my father, Howard L Ehrlenbach’s original documentation of the first 30 years. Additionally, many thanks to Iris Simon, who followed up to write the 60-year history. Thank you to Ashley Johnson for helping with creating the slideshow which as I mentioned was presented at our 60th anniversary.
Respectfully submitted by Rotarian Ashley Johnson
