Spring is springing! Despite the last shots of ice and snow (possibly, a lot of snow by the time
you read this), warmer days are starting to prevail. Gray skies bring rain and more rain, which
brings mud and more mud…and green grass and flowers and fair weather frolicking....and, for
Belfast Rotary, pancake feeds and litter clean-ups and a golf fundraiser.
What a pleasure it is to get back into the swing of another busy season of our club’s activities!
I am constantly amazed by how much this club gets done to benefit the community despite the
ridiculously full calendars of most of our members. Our many accomplishments are a tribute to the spirit of Rotary and to the spirit of this club’s members.
Nonetheless, we could always use more hands helping us. As we launch into an especially active
part of our year, we need to be truly mindful of bringing in new members and including them in
the work of our club. That is the way to let us continue with our great good work.
We are very sad that member Art Hayes passed away on Saturday, March 23. He was a devoted Rotarian - keeping perfect attendance and always wearing his Rotary pin.
His daughter Kathy said that his last good day was the previous Wednesday when he was able to attend his last Rotary meeting via Zoom. Having perfect attendance was very important to Art. The only blemish in his record was several years ago when he and Sara took a cruise to the Antarctic. There were no clubs in Antarctic where he could make-up a meeting - he would have found one if there had been one!
Art wrote this for the Nairator in April of 2017:
MEET THE ROTARIAN!
Arthur Hayes
I joined the Avon-Canton (CT) Rotary Club in December 1984. I served as
President of that club in 1992-93. I transferred to the Belfast club in July 2004. My classification is Computer Technology. I have had perfect attendance since I joined except for January 2008 when I was in Antarctica, where there are no Rotary Clubs, and for several months in early 2016 when I was laid up for health reasons.
I first attended the Belfast Rotary Club in 1945 when William A. Cobb, our third president, invited me as his guest to the installation of my father, Rev. Frederick D. Hayes, as president of the club.
The highlight of my Rotary career was my involvement with the Avon-Canton club in the Rotary International project to provide three-quarters of a million dollars in medical supplies and equipment to Estonia. I was presented with a Paul Harris Fellow and a Rotary International Service Award.
My wife Sara and I (married almost 56 years) enjoy attending district conferences where we’ve made many friends, as well as attending the international conventions in Montreal and New Orleans. We have enjoyed serving as hosts for the Group Study Exchange and working with the Rotary Youth Exchange.
My hobbies include stamp and coin collecting and items of Belfast history.
After graduating from Bates College with a degree in Geology, I served four years in the Navy as an air intelligence/photo interpreter officer and 19 years in the reserves. During my active duty tour I served on the Admiral’s staff at
Guantanamo Bay, Cuba during the Cuban Missile Crisis. One of the photos that I interpreted and classified SECRET ended up on the cover of Time Magazine! Sara was evacuated with the other dependents and returned in two months. Our daughter Kathy was born there.
A celebration of life will be held on Saturday, April 13, 2024, at 2 p.m. at The First Church in Belfast, UCC. A private interment will be at Grove Cemetery at a later date. A summer celebration will be held in July at The Battery cottage.
Memorial donations can be made to the scholarship fund of the Belfast Rotary Club, P.O. Box 74, Belfast, ME 04915 or to the Hayes-Kinsel Scholarship at Bates College, 2 Andrews Road, Lewiston, ME 04240.
You can read Art's obituary here: https://waldo.villagesoup.com/obituaries/arthur-hayes/article_6c4d2d1c-f02b-11ee-9591-17cf8d2dc32d.html
New Member: Brian Sterner
At the March 27th meeting, we welcomed a new member! Brian Sterner was inducted by president Steve Norman. Brian was sponsored by his wife Beth Sterner, who is standing behind Brian.
Micaela Schweitzer-Bluhm is the Executive Director of the Maine Center for Public Interest Reporting, which publishes The Maine Monitor. Micaela spoke at the March 20th meeting of the club.
Micaela joined MCPIR/The Maine Monitor after retiring as a Senior Foreign Service officer. Micaela represented the United States around the world for 26 years, leading U.S. diplomatic teams, and advancing U.S. principles of democratic governance, most importantly, the importance of a free and vibrant press. Micaela spent most of her career in the Middle East and Southeast Europe and served as the Deputy Chief of Mission at the U.S. Embassy in Skopje, North Macedonia, and at the U.S. embassies in Zagreb, Cairo, Baghdad, Tunis and Kathmandu and at the U.S. Consulate General in Jerusalem, where she led the Public Affairs Section and was the Consulate Spokesperson for four years.
Micaela holds a Bachelor’s Degree in International Relations from Brown University and a Master’s Degree in National Security Studies from the National War College. A native of southern New England, Micaela, her husband Todd, and three children have called Maine home since 2017. When not avidly devouring news reporting, you might find her and her family sailing in Penobscot Bay, hitting the ski slopes across Maine, or hiking new paths with their two rescue dogs.
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