An extraordinary commitment to local health care: The story of 122 men

    PRESQUE ISLE – In 1958, the 122 members of the Presque Isle Rotary Club made an extraordinary commitment: to raise $1 million to create an endowment fund for the local hospital. This endeavor, called the Gold Brick Program, has funded the purchase of expensive medical technology not typically found in rural areas over the last several decades.     The annual Rotary Auction had been taking place for about 10 years before the Presque Isle Rotary Club Gold Brick Program became part of the auction. Proceeds from the first several auctions benefited the hospital, which was located in what is now City Hall on Second Street.
    Considering the club was already contributing funds to the hospital, what would spur the local Rotarians to start the Gold Brick Program and begin taking pledges during the auction?
    “The hospital was in transition,” said Edward Hews, a member of the Presque Isle Rotary Club’s board of directors in 1958. “The old hospital in what is now City Hall was closing. The Gold Brick Program started when it was decided a new hospital would be built, the Arthur R. Gould Memorial Hospital. We felt that an endowment fund was needed to keep a steady flow of funding necessary to do the job that was needed in this area for health care. The ultimate goal was $1 million.”
    This was a huge undertaking for a Rotary club in a rural area. At the time, a loaf of bread cost 19 cents. A new car could be purchased for about $2,200, and gas for that car was only 30 cents per gallon. The average American could expect to make just over $5,500 in one year. A pledge to the Gold Brick Program represented a commitment of $1,000, payable all at once or over a period of up to 10 years.
    “The achievement of getting $1 million seemed to be pretty big,” said Hews. “But, as it turned out, there was a lot of help through the years. The current Rotarians in Presque Isle and directors of the endowment fund are pretty confident, and I am too, that the goal will be reached in 2008.”
    Just as times have changed over the past 50 years, the Rotary Auction and Gold Brick Program have undergone many transitions. The location of the auction has changed several times. In the early years of the auction, the event could only be followed on the radio.
    “There weren’t a lot of television sets around then,” Hews said. “Now, the auction is televised every year on local television.”
    With only seven of the 122 members who made this impressive commitment still living, the success of the program has relied on collaboration between generations. Hews has passed his passion for the program on to his son, Ray, who has served as Gold Brick Program co-chair for the past 20 years.
    With support from the community, the goal of the 1958 Rotary Club will be reached this year. The seven living members of this group, Kenneth H. “Ken” Bonenfant, Burtt F. Brown, Wilfred “Willie” Guerette, Edward D. “Eddie” Hews, Owen H. Smith, William “Bill” Small, and John Tiernan will serve as Honorary Chairpersons for this year’s Gold Brick Program.
    “I want to thank the Presque Isle Rotary Club, on behalf of the seven remaining members of the 1958 Rotary Club, for the completion of 50 years of the Gold Brick Program,” said Hews. “We’re proud to say our group began the endowment fund for A.R. Gould Memorial Hospital.”