HOULTON, Maine — The Houlton Rotary Club met on Monday, Dec. 12, for its regular luncheon meeting. The guest of honor was Marie Carmichael from the Houlton Parks and Recreation Department. Carmichael received a check from the club for $15,000 to benefit the new cross country ski and snowshoe program.
The new Winter Sports Trailer will be packed with skis, poles and boots as well as snowshoes. A variety of sizes will be available to be used by children in the recreation program. This year week end trips will be taken to trails that already exist such as the trails in Linneus and at the Baptist Church on Military Street. The goal in the future is to have trails groomed in town by the recreation department, perhaps along the river.
The club elected new officers for next year. Julie Delano will be president with Nathan Bodenstab as vice president. Paul Callnan will continue as treasurer and Debbie Clark will continue as secretary. The office of Sergeant-At-Arms needs to be filled to complete the slate of officers. Moose Karnes and Becky Day were reelected to the board of directors.
The club then enjoyed a holiday celebration and auction. Marguerite Lawlor won the Head and Tails coin toss. A variety of handmade items and locally sold items were auctioned off. Members enjoyed the auction banter of Andy Mooers and Scott White as they took turns “selling” donations to raise funds towards Rotary projects.
Some featured items were a hand made cribbage board, fresh homemade peanut butter fudge, a serving dish fashioned from a wine bottle, special books about Rotary and a local church, old framed maps of the area, a framed photo of the Rotary float in the 1921 parade, assorted boxes of chocolates, maple sugar candy, hand painted rocks by Melvin, a book by the warden Guay who will be speaking at Rotary next week, and several bags of Fitzpatrick potatoes.
