President's Message November 2020
Early winter has arrived. We’ve had our first snow, although it was only an inch or so. The trees are half bare, and the snow on them is spectacular. Winter in Maine has its own unique beauty, and I’m constantly reminded of how lucky we are to live in such a beautiful and friendly place.
Our weekly hybrid meetings are going well. We have had several speakers give their presentations from the Shrine Club, and it works well. There's still plenty of room at the Shrine Club if anyone wants to attend there; proper precautions are being observed (masks, social distancing) and catered lunch is available by reservation. And if you’re a Zoom attendee, please remember to send any happy dollars, sad dollars, announcement dollars, Blue Cup donations, and fines that you owe to Jill (Shrine Club attendees donate there). And, as always, thank you to Larry for continuing to find interesting speakers week after week.
On October 17 we had our annual e-Waste event. The weather added some excitement; it was raining hard until mid-morning, and the wind was pretty fierce. Fortunately, Bob Richards let us use a couple of bays in the new Belfast Public Works facility; that gave people a place to dry off and somewhere to set up a table of donuts and pizza. Despite the weather, we had a good turnout, and we took in $3,630 in donations. Thanks to Doug for all his hard work in arranging this event in unusual circumstances.
Plans for the 100 Fund during this COVID-19 time have been set. Marjorie came up with an excellent plan to do the distribution of boots, coats, and toys without direct contact and without Reny’s usual early bird sale. The parents of each child will get two gift cards, one to Colburn’s for boots and one to Reny’s for coats and toys. We will try to get these gift cards out to the families before Thanksgiving, to give the parents plenty of time to do the shopping. Lee has been arranging the financing, which is split between a donation from the Charitable Trust, donations from our members and friends, and some saved rainy-day funds. Please remember to send any donations for the 100 Fund to Jill (116 Union Street, Belfast 04915).
Our PR Committee has been meeting and has come up with some interesting ideas for promoting our club. Of immediate interest, we can publicize the good work that the 100 Fund does and let the community know about this. Ideas include taking a video of our Santas and Elves marching down Main Street and a Santa or two heading into Colburn’s or Reny’s. These latter two would also be good exposure for Colburn’s and Reny’s and would be a nice way of saying “thank you” to them.
Have a wonderful month, Happy Thanksgiving, and be well.
Yours in friendship and service,
Richard
