September 22, 2011: Rotary Log (exchange student)

This past Thursday brought clouds, cool temperatures, and rain showers as we welcomed the Fall season. The PCC kitchen warmed members up with a classic fall meal of pork tenderloin with mashed potatoes and green beans.

Today we welcomed one guest and a few visiting Rotarians: Patty Carter was our guest and George and Patty Rice of the Oxford Hills, ME club joined our meeting on their “week-long Rotary tour”, as they called it.

Last week there was an urgent note that our moose remained unnamed. Well there is breaking news today! Our moose has a name: ACE !

Club members were reminded to check their profiles on Clubrunner and to look out for an email that would be coming soon as an update.

Rick Page and Dave Underhill kicked off our meeting with a conversation with Portsmouth High School graduate Sam Allen who talked about his celebrity status in the southern city of Pirahna, Brazil with a population of approximately 120,000. Sam provided some insight on the differences between American and Brazilian high schools. Brazilian students spend three years in high school and students stay in the same classroom throughout the day. The teachers are responsible for rotating from class to class. Sam is adapting to the Brazilian culture and the language barrier. He has found out that “Portuguese is nothing like Spanish.”  To our surprise, Sam spoke about his maid service where they make his bed every day. Why does Sam have maid service? “Because it is cheap,” he says.  Good luck upon your return Sam!

Marie Brownell motivated members with a call to action today speaking about Rotoract. Rotaract is a stepping stone for 18-30 year olds between Interact and Rotary. It offers this age group the opportunity to serve their communities without the full commitment of Rotary. There are two types of Rotaract, college based and community based. Marie talked about the successful University of New England Rotoract where there is a waiting list to join.

Marie invited a few members to speak and update the club about similar programs. Tawnee Walling provided a summary of Interact, Ben Wheeler informed the club about RYLA, Rick Page spoke about Youth Exchange, and Neal Oulette educated the club on Friends Forever and somehow avoided a $1 penalty from Marie.

Most importantly, how can the members of our club help?  It starts with becoming a mentor to future Rotarians who would like to serve their communities. It provides future members with professional development and an example of what “service above self” really means.

Marie hopes to attain the goal to use the Exeter, Hampton, and both Portsmouth clubs to build a community based Rotaract. She needs our help as well as future Rotarians.

To wrap up the meeting, the 50/50 raffle was held and Marie drew the ticket of Neal Oulette. Congrats Neal and thank you for extending the additional winnings another week. 

In honor of our friend Sam in Brazil, adios amigos!