Rotary Club of Saco Bay
Rotary Club of Saco Bay

Service Above Self

We meet In Person
Thursdays at 7:30 AM
Birdies Tavern and Grill
168 Saco Ave
Old Orchard Beach, ME 04064
United States of America
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Events
Bon Appetite Night of Service - April 18th
 
A team of Saco Bay Rotarians joined in a night of service on Friday, April 18th at the Bon Appetite Community Meal Program in Biddeford. The team helped with serving the meal, interacting with guests, and all the kitchen dishwashing tasks.  Special thanks to Rotarian Tony DeBarros for coordinating the monthly event! And thanks to Rotarians Mike Collard, Dan Cote, Bill Doran, Carmen Gawronski, Doc Hammond, Larry Littlefield, Curt Scammon, and Todd Rodriquez for their time and service!
 
  
2025 Chilli Cookoff and Social - April 17th
 
Great turnout for the Chilli Cookoff on Thursday, April 17th at the River Winds Farm in Saco! Participants were from the Biddeford-Saco Rotary Club, Saco Bay Rotary Club, and the Sunset Bay Rotary Club. The judge for the event was Chef Hermann from the Lost Fire in Cape Porpoise. And the top winners were.....
 
1st Place - $200 Gift Certificate to the Lost Fire - John Gallo - Saco Bay Rotary Club
2nd Place - $100 Gift Certificate to the Lost Fire - Lucie Hatch - Saco Bay Rotary Club
 
Congrats to John and Lucie!!
 
Special thanks to Rotarians Conrad Welzel (BS Rotary), Jeff Slayton (Saco Bay), and Dennis Robillard (Sunset Bay) for their planning and coordination of this fun fellowship event!
 
    
Mary's Walk 2025 - April 13th
Despite the cold rainy weather, hundred of walkers showed up to join in the 27th year of Mary's Walk to raise funds for the Maine Cancer Foundation. Several Rotarians from the Saco Bay Rotary Club assisted the Saco Police Department by helping with traffic enforcement at the closed cross-streets along the Main Street & Elm Street walking route. A great day of service for the club!
 
Rotarians Dave LePauloue and Carmen Gawronski
Live Auction A Success
A fun time was had by all at the 2025 Saco Bay Rotary Club Live Auction held on Saturday, April 12th at the Biddeford-Saco Elks Club. Special thanks to David Arenstam, Phil Smith, Dru Laduke, Phil Hatch, Dan Letellier, and all those that spent time and effort over the past several months planning, soliciting sponsors and items, storinga nd cataloging all the items, and ensuring the event was a success! We look forward to sharing the total fundraising financials shortly.
 
 
    
2025 Saco Bay Rotary Auction Extravaganza
 
The Saco Bay Rotary Club Auction Extravaganza wrapped up its online auction on Thursday, April 10th with over 126 items sold!! The Live and Ticket Auction event is scheduled for Saturday, April 12th beginning at 5pm at the Biddeford Saco Elk's Club located at 68 Ocean Park Road in Saco. The Live event will feature over 25 additional items, a DJ will be playing your favorite tunes, appetizers served, and cash bar available.  Please come out and have some fun and support the Saco Bay Rotary Club.  We would like to thank all of this year's Sponsors and those that donated items for the auctions.
 
April 2025 Students of the Month
 
Congratulations to the April 2025 Saco Bay Rotary Club Students of the Month!! At the April 10th weekly meeting, the following students, who were nominated by teachers and faculty, were honored for their outstanding contributions to their high schools and each student shared their accomplishments and future goals with the Rotarians.
 
  • Xavier De La Torre - Biddeford High School
  • Ransom Randall - Old Orchard Beach High School
Each student was presented with a certificate and a $50 gift card sponsored by Maine Community Bank.
 
Congratulations to these well-deserving students!
 
 
   
 
 
Guest Speaker - York County Manager - Greg Zinser
 
York County Manager Greg Zinser was the guest speaker at the April 3rd weekly meeting and shared the mission of the First County Foundation (www.yorkcountryfcf.org) and the $40+ million project which includes two state of the art facilitites under construction in Alfred. We look forward to seeing these completed facilities in the future in action as they help to address the substance use disorder crisis in our state and county and the need for advanced training facilities for our first responders.
 
  
Saco Meals Program Sponsorship
A team of Saco Bay Rotarians helped to serve over 100 meals on March 31st at the Saco Meals Program. Thanks to Joanne Landry, Phil & Lucie Hatch, and Jen Sirois for their time and service!! Rotarian Dave LePauloue also led the Thornton Academy Alumni team in preparing the meal. #ServiceAboveSelf
 
  
Welcome New Member - Todd Rodriquez
On March 27, 2025 we welcomed our newest member, Todd Rodriquez, as he was inducted into the Saco Bay Rotary Club by President Dan Lettelier and his sponsor, Rotarian Dan Cote. We look forward to Todd's contributions to our growing club. Congrats Todd!
 
February and March 2025 Students of the Month
Congratulations to the February and March 2025 Saco Bay Rotary Club Students of the Month!! The following students who were nominated by teachers and faculty, were honored at the March 13, 2025 weekly Rotary meeting for their outstanding contributions to their high schools and each student shared their accomplishments with the Rotarians.
 
- Brady Plante, OOB High School
- Colby Thomas, OOB High School
- Dominick Tremblay, Biddeford High School
- Emily Labbe, Biddeford High School
- Matteo Patino, Thornton Academy
 
Each student was presented with a certificate and a $50 gift card sponsored by Maine Community Bank.
 
Congratulations to all!
 
 
March Madness NCAA Bracket Fundraiser
 
 
It's March Madness Time!! The Saco Bay Rotary Club has started a pool on CBSSports.com. Join in the fun! This pool will be a 50/50 fundraiser and the entry fee is $20 which includes TWO brackets per person. Payout will go to the top overall point leader. Download the CBSSports.com app on your phone or access via your computer. If you are interested in joining, please email us at cgawronski@aol.com and we will send you an online invite with the pool link to get you started. The entry fee can be paid via Venmo. SELECTION SUNDAY is March 16th at 6pm when the 68-team field will be announced and brackets will be available after selections completed. First tip off is March 18th.
 
Thanks for supporting the Saco Bay Rotary Club.
 
 
Welcome & Congrats to our New Members
 
Our club is growing! President Dan Letellier led the induction of four new members over the past few months. We welcome our new Rotarians and look forward to their contributions as they share in our commitment of Service Above Self! 
 
Introducing Rotarians: Tony Alaimo, Bill Doran, Chris Bedard, and Shawn Decoteaux
 
Bon Appetite Community Meal
Addressing food insecurity is one of the core service pillars for the Saco Bay Rotary Club and a team of Rotarians volunteer at the Bon Appetite Community Meal Program in Biddeford the 3rd Friday of each month. We were happy to be able to donate $500 this year  to Bon Appetite. On average, 75 Bon Appetite guests are served each night (Monday-Friday). The Rotarians help out by serving the guests in the dining hall, assisting in the kitchen, and handling all the dishwashing duties. #ServiceAboveSelf
 
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May Students of the Month

Today’s honorees were

Lucas Gerrish of Biddeford High School and Regional Center of Technology, accompanied by teacher, Roger Foreman, and mom Leah.
DMark Marar of Old Orchard Beach High School, accompanied by teacher, Paul Santamore and dad, Slavik.
Happy Birthday

Ed Boucher

 
 
 
Happy 90th Birthday to our Local Poet, Ed Boucher. 
 
Ed proudly served in the Marine Corps.  In honor of Ed's Service, The Rotary Club of Saco Bay is donating a tile to the wall of Heroes at Volk Packaging in Biddeford Maine.
 
Thank you for your service and thank you to all of our Veterans,  
RYLA

We welcomed RYLA Students at our last meeting!

Ed Boucher

Our Latest Paul Harris Fellow

Congratulations to Ed Boucher.  
 
Ed has been in the Rotary Club of Saco Bay for over 16 years.  He served as the Head of our Charitable Giving Committee and he is a Proud Veteran. For many years, Ed has also been our unofficial Poet Laureate of our Club. He has honored many of our club’s Presidents and members, with original poems. We are blessed to have Ed as a member and are grateful for the service he has given. 
 
Jeff Slaton honored Ed by awarding him with a Paul Harris Fellow. In addition, David Arenstam created and read a poem for Ed. 

Congratulations to Ed!  Our club and  community are a better place because of you. 

Thank you
 
(Click "Read More" for the Poem)
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Dan Letellier
Congratulations To Dan Letellier on earning a Paul Harris Fellow!  
 
July President's Message

Jeff Slaton at the Rotary International Conference in Melbourne Australia

Bring on Summer…

A great BIG shout out to Shannon for a fun Rotary year. Thank you.

Well a new Rotary year is upon us and I am very optimistic it will be a fabulous. So far it has been a very nice year, having just returned from the Rotary International Conference in Melbourne, Australia. At a date in the future, I will be your speaker and share some of the awesome photos and videos.

I had the pleasure of meeting RI President, Gordon McInally for the second time in Melbourne, AU and he had the pleasure of watching me lose in a doubles match against Brazil on center court. So sad…

That’s okay, it was an incredible experience to have an opportunity to play at one of the world’s top tennis centers. I had a great time meeting new friends from all over the world.

I look forward to our continued success in all our humanitarian efforts both at home and abroad.

Enjoy your Summer and the sun should be out soon…

Jeff Slaton
President Rotary Club of Saco Bay 2023-24
Past President 2016-17
District 7780 Annual Giving Chair 2022-25

 
 
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Mission
It is the mission of our club to encourage and foster the ideal of service as a basis of worthwile enterprise; to encourage and foster the development of aquaintenance as an opportunity for service; to encourage the highest ethical standards in business and professions; to recognize the worthiness of all occupations as a means to serve society; to apply the ideal of service in each Rotarian's personal, business, and community life; and to advance international understanding, goodwill and peace through world fellowship of business and professional persons united in the ideal of service above self.
Club Commitments
 
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