Who knew the history of the Senior Center is so fascinating? A large turnout of members was treated to an informative, interesting review of the founding of the Wells-Ogunquit Center at Moody, aka, the Senior Center. Guests included Littlefield family members Jan Kearns from South Dakota and Jyoti Goodwin-Jones from Maine. In addition, we were joined by former member Lisa Roderick, Assistant District 7780 Governor Larry Marsolais, and Kathy Chase, June Messier and Kendra Fowler of WOCAM.
Ed Smith fined himself a dollar for some promotion of a fundraising effort on the part of the Ogunquit Fire Department. At Ed’s invitation, department member Matt Pierce informed us of the availability of artwork prints at two for $100 or one for $75. The money raised will pay for a large historic mural.
Lisa Roderick again participated in the Wakefield MA club’s Polio Plus polar plunge, raising enough money to cover 1,500 vaccinations… Richard thanked Tracy and her family for meals they recently provided… Elizabeth Ford voluntarily offered up a fine for not having her badge also noting that she is the Elizabeth who did not have the pleasure of meeting Nelson Mandela. She thanked George for providing the coleslaw at the Day of Warming… Pete updated us on the Clynk account balance ($127.50) and gave us a little variation on “Roses are red…”… Tracy’s niece Chloe recently celebrated a 20th birthday… Larry Marsolais reported that District Governor John LoBosco is recovering nicely from heart surgery… Elizabeth Cutler thanked Erin for the opportunity to deliver her classification talk. She noted that she lost out to Pete in the football-squares pool when the last Ram field goal attempt failed. Joe took Vickie to lunch for Valentine’s Day… Gail enjoyed being part of the Day of Warming... John was grateful that Kerry used her influence to include him as a late addition for lunch… Kathy Chase dropped in a happy five… George used a donation from Kerry to say the meatloaf was great!
Mary’s ticket was the winner. She drew the 5 of Hearts and the 10 of Diamonds. the pot grows to $30.
In a brief club assembly session, Erin informed members that the district conference in Cape Elizabeth on June 22 is free! Actually, clubs are asked to donate funds they may have earmarked for the conference to cover expenses. Our board voted to chip in $100. Ed Smith volunteered to do his classification talk on March 15. The board endorsed the transfer of Melanie Tromblee from the Kittery club. Kerry moved to accept Melanie; Carol seconded. The motion was unanimously passed in the club vote. Reading Day at Wells Elementary School is March 1. The social with the Wells club at Cornerstone is March 7.
George introduced Kathy Chase, a founder of the Senior Center. Now with 500 members, the center’s origins date to 1997. Diana Abbott and Winnie and Paul Mason were among the first 12 people to begin work on the center’s creation. In 2002, Andy Joakim of Wonder Mountain donated an acre of land. The founders raised $125,000 in donations and secured a $250,000 block grant from the state. Using a $250,000 low interest loan from the USDA to complete the funding, construction began on $603,000 building. To cover operating expenses, doors and windows were “sold” to contributors. The center had a grand opening in 2004 and it now is celebrating its 15th anniversary. It is quite a story.
The new director of the center, Kendra Messier, told us how this role is the perfect retirement break for her. She is awed by the warmth and caring of the members for the center and each other. June Messier amused us with the story of being roped into becoming treasurer of the organization.
All in all, it was a most delightful presentation.
Judith Woodbury will be the speaker at our March 1 meeting. She’ll tell us about Dress a Girl Around the World. Sonny Perkins will speak on April 5 about a national woody-car event this summer.
