The beat goes on. Most of us in Belfast Rotary are sufficiently advanced in years to remember
that old Sonny & Cher song. In fact, most of us probably remember Sonny & Cher, back when they were a pair!
Anyway, the beat for the Belfast Rotary Club keeps going on. We do our usual routine stuff: the
Wednesday meetings, the speakers, community service events, fundraisers, Harbor Fest. The
usual stuff is actually a lot. Every year, it is an impressive list of accomplishments. We can
rightfully be proud of what we do and what we contribute to the community in just a typical
year.
This year, however, we have reached a couple of extraordinary goals: 1) completing a Strategic
Plan to be implemented over the next few years, and 2) identifying and agreeing on a Legacy
Project to commemorate 100 years of Belfast Rotary. More than a year ago, we identified those
steps as something we wanted to accomplish in the coming year. Well, we did it!
Many club members worked hard and skillfully over the past year to get to this point. Special
thanks are due to Sue Beemer and Greg Morin (chairs of the Strategic Plan Committee) and to
Jason Trundy and Bobby Cormier (who headed up the Legacy Project Committee). All of
them—plus other club members!—put in lots of time and labor and thought on those duties.
I am pleased and extremely optimistic about the guidance of the Strategic Plan (still needing
final approval) to mold Belfast Rotary into what we want it to be for the next several years and
the Legacy Project (much-needed playground equipment for City Park) to be a focus for the club
during the 100 year anniversary and to be a long-lasting benefit to families spending time at the
beautiful City Park.
So the beat for Belfast Rotary does keep going on, in a remarkably positive way!
We are all so happy to recommence our spring pancake breakfast on April 14! We stepped up our game by offering blueberry pancakes this year. All the proceeds from the breakfast will go towards our Feed the Hungry project.
It was wonderful to have so many Belfast Rotarians helping out, along with former Rotarians, spouses and even a member from the West Bay Club.
At our meeting on April 3, a total of $20,000 was donated to food pantries located in Waldo County. Many of the recipients joined us at the meeting to accept the awards and tell us a little about who they serve.
The following organizations received donations:
Greater Bay Area Ministerium
Jackson Food Pantry
Searsport Congregational-Methodist Food Pantry
Northport Food Pantry
No Greater Love Food Pantry
Belfast Soup Kitchen
Little River Food Pantry
Islesboro Food Pantry
Liberty Area Food Pantry
Crossroads Food Pantry (Morrill)
Palermo Food Pantry
Unity Regional Food Pantry
Neighborhood's Cupboard (Winterport)
Beacon of Hope on the Hill (Belfast)
Game Loft
Waldo County Technical Center
Waldo CAP
GMAB for RSU 71
Speakers Matthew Mank and Joy Asuncion of Honor Flight Maine
Our speaker on April 22 were Matthew Mank and Joy Asuncion of Honor Flight Maine. They gave us a history of the program and spoke movingly how the program honors veterans by taking them to Washington DC.
Honor Flight Maine is a non-profit, all-volunteer organization that provides Maine Veterans with free guided group trips to Washington, D.C. to tour, experience and reflect at their memorials.
Each Honor Flight trip is carefully planned to provide a meaningful and fulfilling experience for the Veterans and guardians who accompany them. Itineraries combine VIP touring and entertainment balanced with quieter time for thought. Veterans experience camaraderie, bonding, and even healing.
They serve Maine Veterans of all branches, ranks, and eras of service. Whether the Veteran served overseas or stateside, wartime or peacetime, they are eligible for an Honor Flight. Veterans are selected based on their age with the eldest Veterans going first. Those Veterans living with a life-limiting disease (those who their doctor will affirm as likely having less than a year to be with us) are placed at the top of the list.
Honor Flight Maine trips are provided at absolutely no expense to the Veteran. All costs are covered by Honor Flight Maine. This is our way of honoring our heroes.
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