Speakers provide input on auction, African projects

Rotarians hear auction update
    The guest speakers for the Oct. 29 meeting of the Presque Isle Rotary Club were Ray Hews and Joy Barresi-Saucier, co-chairs of the Presque Isle Rotary Club Gold Brick Committee.     In 1958, the Presque Isle Rotary Club pledged to raise $1 million to create an endowment to support indigent care at the local hospital. To meet this commitment, the Gold Brick Program was started in conjunction with the club’s annual Radio/TV Auction.
    Over time, the focus of TAMC Endowment’s has shifted from indigent care to funding the purchase of needed medical equipment for the local hospital. TAMC Endowment funds have been used for ventilators, infant warmers, life packs, defibrillators, echocardiogram equipment, linear accelerator for radiation therapy and a dual plane C arm system for the Cardiovascular Lab. This year’s funds are expected to go toward new dialysis machines for the County Dialysis Center.
    A Gold Brick pledge, $1,000 paid over up to 10 years, has come to be recognized as an excellent way to memorialize a loved one or honor an individual or business, said Hews.
    Several years ago, recognizing that a commitment of $1 million in 1958 would be equivalent to $7 million today, the Gold Brick Committee instituted the Platinum Level of Giving, which is a pledge of $10,000 or 10 Gold Bricks that can be paid over up to 10 years.
    To date, 897 Gold Bricks have been pledged, which leaves the club 103 Gold Bricks from their original commitment of 1,000. “Since this year is the 50th year of the Gold Brick Program, our goal is to complete our original commitment of 1,000 Gold Bricks during this year’s Auction. Please consider making a pledge to help us meet this goal,” said Barresi-Saucier.
    This year’s Rotary Auction was held on Wednesday through Friday, Nov. 28-30.
Rotarian hear report
on African projects
    Bob Grove-Markwood, chair of the World Community Service Committee, was the guest speaker for the Nov. 5 meeting of the Presque Isle Rotary Club.
    “Rotary shares through world community service” is the Rotary International theme for this year.  Grove-Markwood shared pictures and stories with the club from his recent trip to South Africa and Swaziland.  He visited with 19 African clubs and came away very impressed with the good work that is being done there.  “However, much more work is left to be done and our help is needed,” he said.
    Grove-Markwood also updated members on the District’s world community service project for this year, which involves providing micro-loans to young people in Swaziland to assist them with personal growth and development.  He closed his talk with a reminder that world community service projects are “made possible from the generosity of Rotarians. Please consider donations for world community service to help us make a difference in the world,” he said.
    New members, Rachel Rice and Patric Edward, were inducted into the Presque Isle club.
    Rice, of Bridgewater, is the media relations coordinator for the University of Maine at Presque Isle, where she handles news and community relations. She previously worked for four years as a reporter with the Bangor Daily News, where she earned two first-place Maine Press Association awards for her writing. Before that, she was a reporter for the Aroostook Republican and News. During her tenure there, she earned the 2003 Community Citizenship Award from the Loring Job Corps Center for her writing.
    She is a 2001 graduate of the University of Maine at Presque Isle, where she was named a Maine Association of Broadcasters scholarship recipient and a Bill and Melinda Gates Millennium Scholar. She currently is a member of the Momentum Aroostook steering committee
    She and her husband, Ray, have a son, Will.
    Edward is a native of India. He did his schooling there, and three years into an engineering program, he left India and went to United Arab Emirates (UAE) where he established an IT services business. After running his business for seven years, Patric immigrated to the U.S.A. and eventually accepted an IT services job with UM-Presque Isle.
    While an employee Edward also took classes, and eventually graduated from UMPI as the valedictorian of his graduating class. After graduation he attended UM-Orono and received his MS degree in accounting. After graduate school he joined Berry, Dunn, McNeil and Parker, a public accounting firm, at their Bangor office.
    Edward and wife Mary are happy that they could return to the County. They live in Blaine, and “do enjoy watching the windmills from their backyard.”