HOULTON, Maine — The Houlton Rotary Club met for its Monday luncheon meeting on Monday, April 8. The results of the Bingo fundraiser for supporting the Rotary Youth Exchange for this summer were announced. It was reported that $4,012 were raised from this year’s event.
Rotarian Richard Hammond was the guest speaker and his topic was the Putnam House senior center in Houlton. Hammond thanked the club for their past donations to the center and for helping obtain a new heat exchanger for the building.
Hammond mentioned that Aroostook County has some of the oldest demographics in the state. He referred to these folks as forgotten people. The center is a place for these folks to frequent.
In 2016, a group of folks got together and founded the Putnam House. Several of the original movers and shakers have moved away or are not able to help out anymore. He specifically mentioned Rev. Dennis Ashley who Hammond is replacing and also Jennifer and Torrey Sylvester and Zach Abbotoni. Hammond invited the Rotarians to think of people who could serve on the Board of Directors.
In 2017, the center received its non-profit status. The building at 48 Court St. is leased from Gary Hagan who gave them a lease arrangement with an option to buy. A lot of contractors worked on the building and Hammond credited Jessie Chase in particular for excellent work. The architectural plan was donated by Bob Kervin and other donation came from Pine Tree Waste, S. W. Collins, Sherwin Williams, Ross’ Sheet Metal and McPartland’s Plumbing.
The original plan had been to renovate the Putnam house across from McDonalds on North Street, but estimates were proving too expensive to follow codes. The 48 Court St. location is convenient to downtown and has side street parking. The Putnam’s have been very generous so the name Putnam House remained.
Hammond praised the volunteers who keep the kitchen running. Those volunteers include Jo Holmes, Roberta Johnson and Jennifer Hogan. He described the refrigerator as overly full, but food donations are always welcome. Bob Anderson organized bridge games at select times with two-four tables of the game being played and there is also cribbage events. There are Open Days for games too. A donation jar is always set out and sometimes there is a charge for lunch. At Thanksgiving, 40 people were served dinner.
Hammond described Putnam House as a “blank canvas” in that the energy created there comes from the folks who are involved. It can be whatever it wants to be. The board is working on a Code of Conduct borrowed from other such centers.
The age invited to be involved begins at 50. Hammond explained what the center is not. It is not a restaurant, a club, a day care, a hospital or a nursing home. It is a fun place to go to, is clean, and has a keyboard and a guitar for music. Hammond is an ambassador for recruitment and invited everyone to the Open House in April, the date is to be announced soon.
