Rotary inducts members

    The Presque Isle Rotary Club inducted two new members April 4 — Derik Smith, a fourth generation Rotarian, and Randy Campbell, formerly of Portland and Hodgdon — during its regular luncheon meeting at the Northeastland Hotel.
    The program was the Alliance for Maine’s Future and the speaker was the group’s executive director Tony Payne.
    The Alliance is a statewide, non-profit, non partisan grassroots association, dedicated specifically to electing a majority of legislators that believe that the economy is a non-partisan issue. Payne outlined challenges facing Maine and the business community such as the personal tax burden being at 13.5 percent in Maine, with the next lowest being New York at 12.9 percent when the national average is 10.6 percent. He talked about the difficulty in recruiting business people into the Legislature and how important it is for employers to look to their employees to serve and support them in their absences if elected.
    Payne also discussed the high cost of health care and a failing economy in Maine losing private sector jobs in retail, construction, manufacturing and financial services. He encouraged business leaders to get involved in civic engagements, meet their lawmakers and look for fair and factual information about those in office.
    For additional information, visit www.allianceformaine.org The group can also be reached by calling 620-7060 or e-mail at info@allianceformaine.org.
    There will be no meeting on April 16 as it is a holiday — Patriot’s Day — for New England.
    The “mystery Rotarian” was Charlie Beck and his favorite charity is The Skating Club of Maine and they will have $50 sent in his name from the PI Rotary.