HOULTON, Maine — The Houlton Rotary Club met for its noon luncheon meeting on Monday, May 13, at Watson Hall. There was a new member induction done for Mark Lunn.
Lunn is the new pastor of the First Baptist Church of Houlton on Court Street. He has been an active member of the communities of Westfield and Hodgdon. Lunn’s sponsor is Rotarian Craig Bean.
The program of the day was organized by Rotarian Otis Smith and featured the celebration of the Rotary Literacy Committee. The club was educated and entertained by a group of Houlton Elementary and Southside School students who have been partnering with members of the Houlton Rotary Club for about three years.
The students, Bentlee Sirois, Colby Tapley, J. D. Beck, Alison Fagnant, and Elly Malone and their teachers, Janet Murakami, Emily Lee, and Lisa Kirk (absent was Lauren Fitzpatrick) thanked the Rotarians for their efforts involving various projects. The students explained that the Rotarians who volunteered, Craig Bean, Paul and Cindy Callnan, made reading interesting and fun.
Students described the “Read Across America: mini-mural showing favorite books about famous Houlton citizens. There was also a pictorial overview of tornadoes in the United States. The teachers in attendance encouraged the Rotarians who have not yet volunteered in the school to consider a one-time effort to see how rewarding it can be.
Adult Education Director and Rotarian Joe Fagnant told the gathering about an opportunity to become a New Books New Readers facilitator with an expanding adult literacy effort in the community. Rotarian Tracy Rockwell reported on a planned summer reading program at both Cary Library and the Houlton Higher Education Center. She also included a recap of the amount of children’s books passed out during this past year that totaled close to fifteen hundred books.
