I want to start by saying thank you to the club for entrusting me with the role of President as we
journey into our club’s 100th year!! Reaching 100 years is no small accomplishment. It is my hope, that over the coming year, each of us will take the opportunity to reflect on the past 100 years, while also looking ahead at the numerous opportunities that lay ahead for our club. With our Legacy Project and Strategic Planning process in full swing, the coming year and beyond will be an exciting time for our club.
As I stated at our annual dinner, I’m proud to be a member of a club with so many wonderful people,
doing such great work to make our community a better place. As we tackle our projects and move into the challenges of the coming year, please know that we will only be successful if we work together to accomplish our goals. Let’s have fun, grow our club, have great fellowship, spread the good word about our work and continue to make a difference in our community!!
Highlights of the Annual Meeting of the Club on June 26
Waldo County High Sheriff Jason Trundy has been elected president of the Belfast Rotary Club. Inducted at the Club’s June 26 annual meeting, Sheriff Trundy takes the reins of the 70-member Club during its 100th year of providing service to the Belfast community. The Club’s centennial plans include construction of a $200,000 accessible playground at City Park, in cooperation with the City of Belfast.
“This is a legacy project,” said Trundy. “It will be something for the entire community to enjoy for many years to come.”
Silent and live auctions at the Club’s annual dinner raised nearly $4,000 for the playground legacy project.
Also honored at the annual dinner were Dorothy Havey, Executive Director of the Belfast Area Chamber of Commerce, and her husband, David McCurdy. The two Club members were named “Rotarians of the Year” in recognition of their continuing service to the Club and the community.
Outgoing Club president Steve Norman, director of the Belfast Free Library, was presented with a Rotary International Paul Harris Fellow award, acknowledging his service to others and the Club’s gift in his name to the Rotary International Foundation for its humanitarian efforts. During his year-long tenure, Norman oversaw the Club’s strategic plan and added ten new members, making it one of the largest and most active Rotary groups in the area.
Paul Harris Fellows
Belfast Rotary Club
Strategic Plan Approved
The Board of Directors approved the Belfast Rotary Club Strategic Plan at their June 10th meeting. A year long project, this plan was a result of hard work by the steering committee, four sub-committees and input from club members through a membership survey and many conversations. At the June 19th meeting of the club, Sue Beemer and Greg Morin presented the plan and took feedback.
Many thanks to all the members who worked on this. In the next weeks, committees will be charged and the plan's implementation will begin. We have goals to reach in the next three years!
“Glow,” an original oil painting by Belfast artist Jerri Finch, has been selected as the graphic for Belfast Rotary Club’s 2024 Belfast Harbor Fest. The painting, completed in 2022, is a stunning study of sea, sky and clouds, with a brilliant sun on the horizon. It is painted in shades of blue, orange, white, yellow and gray, in a flowing style that appears to move with wind and tide.
Finch has donated the original of her “Glow” painting valued at $1,500, for the highest bidder at the Evening by the Bay live auction to take home.
Finch, a Belfast resident since 1981, was born and raised in New Jersey and trained as a sculptor and visual artist. After decades creating multiple-piece corporate commission art works and intricate, technically demanding airbrushed fabric paintings, she delved deeply into the intimacy of oils and smaller canvases. Her work is in private, public and corporate collections in Massachusetts, Maryland, Pennsylvania, Delaware, Vermont, and Hamilton, Bermuda. In Maine, her work can be seen at Maine Public Utilities in Augusta, University of Maine in Orono, Great Eastern Mussel Farm, Belfast and Eastport public schools, Northern Light Eastern Maine Medical Center, and Waldo County General Hospital.
Finch’s work graced the Belfast waterfront at her Finch Gallery until 2019. It is now on display at The Hoot in Northport. Her studio is near Belfast and is open by appointment; for details visit jerrifinch.com.
CELEBRATE!
July Birthdays:
Donna Kelley - July 7
Jill Goodwin - July 12
Kristine Wentworth - July 22
July Rotary Anniversaries:
Bobby Cormier - 2 years Belfast, 14 years at previous club
Greg Morin - 5 years Belfast, 6 years at previous club
Robyn Goff - 5 years
Syrena Gatewood - 13 years
Brian Beaulieu - 21 years
Dave Crabiel - 24 years
Larry Theye - 27 years
BELFAST ROTARY PROGRAMS
July 2024
July 3, 2024 “McKenna and Her Camera: The Midcoast Art Scene, 1987-2008” Kevin Johnson, Penobscot Marine Museum Archivist
July 10, 2024 Belfast Soup Kitchen: Program and Services Update
Cherie Merrill, Executive Director
July 17, 2024 Waldo County Bounty
Mattie John Bamman
July 24, 2024 “Belfast Rotary and the P.I.G. Playground”
Megan Pinette, President, Belfast Museum and Historical Society
July 31, 2024 TBD
For more information about any of the speakers listed above, contact Marjorie Crowley.
Club Information
Welcome To Our Club
Service Above Self
Wednesdays at 12:00 PM
Waldo County Shrine Club
20 Northport Avenue
Belfast, ME 04915 United States of America
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