Rotary Log for Meeting of September 27, 2018
Another day, another meeting, always different and yet, somehow, the same-another Rotary moment in the making. President Cleo presided. Following the Pledge of Allegiance, song, Four-Way Test and Invocation, guests and visiting Rotarians were announced.
Guests included Linda Underhill, Rich Clyborne, Executive Director of the Gundalow Group, Christine Johnson, Shane Brewer and Patricia Novello. Visiting Rotarians were Daniel Hussey from the Rochester club and several Rotary dignitaries. This group included Larry Marsocais, Assistant District Governor and Andy Glazier, District Governor Elect—more on those two later. We also were honored with the presence of three Ukrainians via the Friends Forever organization. They were Taras Tymochko, Natalia Klimorg and Iryna Simonera.
Turning to announcements, Lori Gagnon (Leo’s wife) spoke about the Leadership Seacoast program and participation opportunities. Leonard Seagren introduced the Friends Forever group. Taras made a presentation about their efforts to learn about U.S. youth programs. They are also hoping to bring home best practices to war-torn Ukraine, there-by building up support for its challenged youth.
Next up, Jon Flagg, grand-poohbah-in-the-making, regaled us with another Rotary minute. Fancying himself a statistician, he informed us there were 381,000 Rotary members worldwide in 1954. Today, we number 1.2 million strong. In 1954, Rotary had clubs in 88 countries. Now, 200 countries are graced with Rotary’s presence.
How many clubs in 1954 you may ask? Well, Jon is the guy to ask—8,052. How many now? 34,282. As for our club, circa 1954—80 members. Now, 158 or 160 depending upon who you ask.
The big deal in the 1954 Rotary Log was the invitation for women to attend the annual Rotary District Conference. This was considered significant since women were not allowed to join Rotary until 1987. And that change in policy did not come without a fight. It took no less than the U.S. Supreme Court to rule on May 4, 1987 that the Rotary Club could not exclude members based upon gender. Margaret Smith was our club’s first female member. (Joan Rice was the third-ED.) The rest is history.
Next, Larry Marsocais and Andy Garcia presented a thank-you gift to past District Governor Dave Underhill. It was a very nice, customized Rotary Adirondack chair. The gift recognized his long service to Rotary and his impressive, very successful leadership of our District in 2017-2018. Congratulations and thanks to Dave for a job well done!
Up next, Tom Decker won the $49 raffle. No match. But the raffle does not end there. Troubled by the almost constant lack of matching tickets, our intrepid, newly-minted Rotary statistician pondered the situation. He suggested the match should be based on the first numbers of the tickets-- not the last. Think about that . . . think about that . . . really? A sound, effective solution, no doubt, especially if one wishes to win a $25 match.
Moving on to our guest speaker, Dave Holden gave us a brief history of bus service in Portsmouth (the old Bluebird line) and introduced Michael Williams. He is the Director of Operations for Coast, our local public transportation organization. The Virginia Tech grad held positions in public transportation organizations in Virginia and Wilmington, N.C., before coming to Portsmouth. According to Dave, Coast transportation came into being after the population of the seacoast reached a critical mass. That made Portsmouth eligible for federal funds. With those funds, the Coast public transportation was born.
Coast is a non-profit, community organization that draws its board members from the local community. In fact, apart from federal monies, the remaining funds come from the local community. The organization offers a variety of transportation services that provide freedom of mobility to seacoast residents. Currently, Coast provides 33,853 rides on average per month. There are five routes in Portsmouth and 109 total stops.
There also are programs for those that cannot ride a bus. Programs that are essentially demand response services. In Fiscal Year 2011, these services provided 620 rides per month. In 2018, 1,520 rides per month have been provided to date.
Coast also operates Portsmouth Senior Transportation, which provides rides to seniors over 62 or to people with disabilities. The service offers rides for medical appointments, shopping destinations, senior activities, volunteer jobs, etc. One problem with the service is that eligibility is determined by Americans with Disabilities Act regulations. For those that do not qualify, Coast has created a new program.
Starting October 1, Coast will offer rides to those in need of transportation to medical appointments via volunteer drivers. If volunteer drivers are not available, Coast will pick up the slack and provide rides. Volunteer diver applicants--much in need--will be given background checks and complete a brief orientation program, e.g., learn how do drive defensively. New drivers will have complete control over their volunteer time. Applicants can apply on the Coast.org website. It has a log-in page where volunteers can select and commit to needs listings.
The program has a geographic scope of a five-mile radius around Portsmouth with the exclusion of York, Maine. Volunteers must have their own auto insurance, but Coast has an umbrella policy, if needed. There is no fundraising—the costs are covered by federal and local funds, local funds coming from Portsmouth’s parking fees. Medical appointment rides are free of charge. Other types of trips come with a modest fee--$2 to $3.
Different mobility abilities are accommodated with Coast’s pool of vehicles. For those needing services, requests should be made no later than 3 or 4 pm the day before. Rides for non-emergency medical appointments should be made one week in advance.
And that’s the way it is--until next time . . ..
Respectfully submitted, Mark Lorusso
Photos by Jim Rini
