Our sincere appreciation goes out to Abe Furth, of Orono Brewing Company, for an unforgettable evening. His remarkable story of turning vision into reality was truly inspiring. Thank you Abe!
What do you think of when you hear the word, “Rotary?”
If you live or work in the greater Old Town area, you are likely familiar with the Rotary Club of Old Town. Because of all it does in the community, Rotary can mean many things to many individuals. But when I think of Rotary, it means family.
The Rotary Club of Old Town is the kind of family everyone wishes they were part of. They always have the backs of their family members, supporting them through tough times and celebrating their accomplishments. This Rotary family works together to support and champion the entire community, helping out wherever there is a need.
Over the past few weeks, we:
If you live or work in the greater Old Town area, you are likely familiar with the Rotary Club of Old Town. Because of all it does in the community, Rotary can mean many things to many individuals. But when I think of Rotary, it means family.
The Rotary Club of Old Town is the kind of family everyone wishes they were part of. They always have the backs of their family members, supporting them through tough times and celebrating their accomplishments. This Rotary family works together to support and champion the entire community, helping out wherever there is a need.
Over the past few weeks, we:
- Built eleven raised beds on Perkins Avenue for a community garden
- Revamped the interior of the snack shack at the KC Little League field
- Delivered boxes of food to elementary schools in RSU 34, Milford, and Greenbush
- Relocated some of the eight handicap ramps we lend
- Volunteered dozens of hours at the Caring Community Cupboard
- Rallied around the family of a club member who recently passed
Through it all, we expressed laughter and love, expertise and strength.
This past February marked my 25th anniversary of joining the Rotary Club of Old Town. From my first visit, I felt the love. I was 29 and had moved to Maine five years earlier leaving behind a very large, very loud, very loving extended Italian family. I found a new home in Rotary. A new family with members eerily similar to my biological family. There was the joker, the listener, the hugger, the complainer, the tech guru, the “git ‘er done” person, the organizer, the task master, the clown... and so many more. When I joined, they sorely needed a talker. I fit the bill nicely. I never would have guessed that 25 years later, I’d still be part of this amazing group.
What part do you play in your family? We always have room in ours for anyone willing to join our family and support our community. So, drop by some Thursday evening for social time at 5:30 PM and dinner at 6:00 PM. We meet in the downstairs of the Elks lodge on 4th Street near the boat launch.
We’d love to grow our family to include new and diverse members, with varied backgrounds and opinions, who are of one mind when it comes to service—Service Above Self.
Yours in Service,
This past February marked my 25th anniversary of joining the Rotary Club of Old Town. From my first visit, I felt the love. I was 29 and had moved to Maine five years earlier leaving behind a very large, very loud, very loving extended Italian family. I found a new home in Rotary. A new family with members eerily similar to my biological family. There was the joker, the listener, the hugger, the complainer, the tech guru, the “git ‘er done” person, the organizer, the task master, the clown... and so many more. When I joined, they sorely needed a talker. I fit the bill nicely. I never would have guessed that 25 years later, I’d still be part of this amazing group.
What part do you play in your family? We always have room in ours for anyone willing to join our family and support our community. So, drop by some Thursday evening for social time at 5:30 PM and dinner at 6:00 PM. We meet in the downstairs of the Elks lodge on 4th Street near the boat launch.
We’d love to grow our family to include new and diverse members, with varied backgrounds and opinions, who are of one mind when it comes to service—Service Above Self.
Yours in Service,
Corina Larsen
*This article was originally written for the Community Connections.
Thank you District Governor, Dino Marzaro, for spending time with our club. We are so happy you were able to visit Old Town and see the projects we have completed over the years!
We had our Installation dinner at the end of June to recognize the incoming President for the upcoming Rotary year. We also celebrated the current President for their outstanding leadership. Macie, thank you for your incredible leadership, you have so much to be proud of over the last year and we appreciate you so much! Chris, we are looking forward to your year as President and are excited for all that we will accomplish together! Congratulations to the Paul Harris Fellow recipients as well as the President’s Award recipients. Cheers to another amazing year!
Join us for another fantastic year at the Rotary Club of Old Town's Annual Charity Auction!
We were recently joined by Board of Director members of the Black Bear Mutual Aid Fund! Thank you, Tamra, Em, and Mikayla for sharing the work that you and your organization are doing for the University of Maine community. Your passion and drive for community care is inspirational! 
To donate, get involved, and learn more about Black Bear Mutual Aid Fund, check out their website here: https://www.blackbearmutualaid.org
The Interact Club has been meeting the 1st and 3rd Friday of every month! If there is a young person you know who would like to meet new friends, learn leadership skills, and contribute towards their community, let us know, or stop by one of our meetings! 
Interact has an ongoing fundraiser at Mahan's Redemption Center to raise money for their projects. Please consider donating towards their efforts by dropping your bottles off and letting them know they are for the Old Town Area Interact Club. We thank you for your support of our community leaders!
In Loving Memory of
David Wollstadt
In honor of our recent successful Hunter’s Breakfast, we would like to highlight the heart behind the event. David Wollstadt, who was a member of the Rotary Club of Old Town for almost 20 years, sadly passed away earlier this year. During his time in Rotary, he greatly contributed to the Old Town Community. Dave was the driving force behind Hunter’s Breakfast. Below is the dedication which was featured in the Hunter’s Breakfast newspaper this year as well some words about Dave from Rotarians.
David was an active member of the Rotary Club of Old Town for over 20 years, and the force behind our successful Hunter’s Breakfast fundraising. This publication was his idea, and he carried it out in grand fashion-creating all of the layout, keeping all of us on task with soliciting businesses, finding new businesses for us to approach for support, and personally obtaining dozens of ads. Thanks to Dave, we raised over 100 thousand dollars for our community and world. And thanks to Dave, we have many wonderful memories of friendship and service. We miss you, Dave.
A few words from our Rotarians…
It was the mid 1990’s and I was chair of the Hunter’s Breakfast. At that time, our breakfast handout was actually a booklet you could slip into an oversized pocket, in a field coat, or cargo pants. The contents were mostly stories or tips on hunting, hunter safety, recipes, and hunting lore. Dave was putting the book together (with minimal help from me) on our dining room table. He wasn’t a member yet, but he lent his knowledge and experience to the task, one at which he was very good, and he’s helped like that ever since. - Ben Smith
Sometimes Dave had a way of smiling at you. He’d tilt his head forward and look at you over his glasses. There was a slight smile at his mouth, and a faint twinkle in his eyes. Over the years I came to interpret that look to mean that whatever I’d just said or done probably hadn’t been my finest moment. I doubt that those who knew him thought him hesitant to verbally express an opinion, but he was often kind enough to let you off with a gentle look rather than a harsh word. - Ben Smith
David was a devoted and hard working Old Town Rotarian, producing many of our publications. I valued his journalistic ethic, giving equal time to opposing viewpoints when inviting guest speakers. In addition, as Becca would toast "he was the world's greatest dad.." engaging her in our Rotary family. - Pat Cummings
One of the things I enjoyed most about Dave was his dry sense of humor. During “happy dollars” he would often come out with a short clip that would have everybody laughing. I would also like to mention his dedication to Becca. He brought her to all Rotary functions including field trips. - Stan Peterson
He was a great worker and did a fine job at what he did. The Penobscot Times was great when he did that; the Hunters Breakfast booklet, and the Community Connections newspaper was great also. Sad to see him go and sad for his daughter Becca. - Joe Cyr
I enjoyed my conversations with Dave. He was very knowledgeable and he always made me feel welcome at Rotary when I first joined. - Steven Lane
Dave and I had many discussions… from Old Town that we both love dearly, to education of children, to how to spend money wisely, to what Rotary means to us. He told me that he rejoined Rotary because of the way we welcomed his daughter, Becca. I will miss Dave and I am missing Becca too. - Linda Bryant
Thank you to everyone who joined the Rotary Club of Old Town bright and early Saturday morning for Hunter’s Breakfast! 
We served about 400 meals this year which was a huge success! Thank you to Old Town and surrounding community members for sharing a meal with us, we hope you had fun!
Thank you so much to the Boy Scouts again this year for showing up the day before and the day of! Having your help makes the entire process so much easier and we could not appreciate it more!
Lastly, thank you to the Rotarians who work so hard to make this day happen every year!
Save the date! The Rotary Club of Old Town's annual Hunter's Breakfast will be Saturday, October 28th from 5AM to 9AM at the Old Town Elks, on Fourth Street in Old Town! Please message us or contact a Rotarian if you would like to purchase a ticket! We hope to see you there!
The Rotary Club of Old Town and the Interact Club had a great time at Riverfest this year! Thank you to everyone who purchased a chicken dinner
and to those of you who made a tie dye t-shirt!
We wouldn’t be able to do what we do without your support!
and to those of you who made a tie dye t-shirt! We wouldn’t be able to do what we do without your support!
Last Friday we were visited by the District Governor of Area 9, Tina Chapman!
The meeting was held at a place that is very special to the Rotary Club of Old Town, Sarah’s House. Thank you to Sarah’s House for being such amazing hosts!
We were also joined by the Bangor Rotary Club as well as the Bangor Breakfast Rotary Club. It was wonderful meeting new faces and spending time with people who care so much about Rotary.
Thank you, Tina for your dedication to Rotary, we cannot wait to see all that you do this year!
Another fantastic day and turnout for the Rotary Club of Old Town Charity Golf Tournament! As always, huge thank you to Hidden Meadows Golf Course for your partnership!
Thank you to the community members who sponsored holes and prizes. The money that was raised will go towards our charitable activities throughout the year. We really appreciate your generosity and support to the Old Town community! 
Another thank you to the teams who participated. We hope you had a fun day and look forward to seeing you on the course next year!
Last but not least… thank you to the Rotarians who work so hard to make a difference in our community.
Tonight at our weekly Rotary meeting(August 10th), we had our FIRST Open House! The Open House was held at Governor’s and each Rotarian had the chance to invite a guest to the meeting. The hope is to help show members of the community what we do and hopefully some guests will think about becoming members or volunteers that can help us make a difference!
Check out what we have been up to these last couple of weeks!
On August 17th, we were joined by Dora Zuniga to speak about Project Amigo. Project Amigo is a non profit that helps children in Colima, Mexico to be able to go to school. A really cool fact about Project Amigo is that it was started by a Rotarian which means Rotary values are at the core of how they serve the children. If you want more information about this organization or would like to support them, here is a link to their website! https://www.projectamigo.org/
Last week, we made a special Rotary field trip to The Caring Community Cupboard which is operated by our very own Rotarian, Linda Bryant. The Caring Community Cupboard is a food pantry that provides food to families in Old Town and beyond. We had the honor of hearing from the Vice Presidents of the pantry who work so hard to make such a difference in the lives of our community members. Thank you for your dedication and kindness! The pantry is located at 354 Main Street in Old Town.
In case you saw some community members in the park August 7th, this was one of the many projects to come from the Interact Club. Our young adults are volunteering to make our city a better place!
Yesterday kicked off Interact’s first project by painting benches in the Old Town park. Stay tuned for their next projects that are in the works! Special thanks to EJ Roach who is seen handing off the supplies for this project. Thank you EJ!
We’re very excited to introduce our youth into bettering their own community as they decide their own projects, learn about leadership, and have the ability to voice their minds on what they want their community to be like. It’s just one small project but they can take pride in the fact that small things add up, and can make a difference!
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Old Town, ME 04468
United States of America