Probus Club explores Gouldville Head Start
PRESQUE ISLE — The PROBUS Club of Central Aroostook met recently at the former Gouldville School, now the site of the Aroostook County Action Program’s Head Start, for a tour.
President Dana Crory opened the meeting, introducing Ginny Joles, who in turn introduced Jason Parent. Parent is the executive director and CEO of ACAP, a social service agency serving the largest geographic county east of the Mississippi River with offices and service sites in Presque Isle, Houlton, Fort Kent and Madawaska. The program provides services in family, community, workforce development, energy and housing.
The agency serves 9,500 families, or 14,000-plus Aroostook County individuals, Parent said. ACAP collaborates with various other agencies to increase services. Volunteers are a vital part of providing those services, and new volunteers are always needed, he added.
Members toured the building, seeing the classrooms that house Head Start, Early Head Start and child care programs. Participants left with a comprehensive view of the many programs that ACAP delivers.
Following the tour, the group reconvened to the building’s conference room for the monthly business meeting.
Crory called the gathering to order. The secretary’s and treasurer’s reports were read and accepted.
Officers were elected for the next year, beginning in August. They are: vice president, Mel Fitzherbert; secretary, Lucille Hay; co-treasurers, Gerry Gallagher and Richard Barker; and programs, Dana Crory. A new president will be named at the next meeting.
Tucker Fletcher, a graduate of Mars Hill High School who will attend Northern Maine Community College in the fall, was named the 2016 Probus Scholarship recipient.
Janet Snow continued her reading from the article “You Can Thank a Woman,” which highlighted such contributions as mass produced affordable housing, brown paper bags, disposable diapers and Toll House cookies.
