The month of August closed with a presentation by Sarah Potter, President of the Ogunquit Chamber of Commerce. Also joining us were Joe and Barbara Potzka, he of the Yarmouth, Massachusetts Rotary Club.

 

Bob asked for a moment of silence to honor the life and service of the late Senator John McCain.

 

Shockingly, Connie was obliged to hand over a late dollar! On a somber note, Connie offered a sad dollar to note the passing of John McCain and singer Aretha Franklin. Elizabeth Ford is one dollar less affluent for not having her badge. Last week, Bob made two trips to visit his dad in Cambridge; one trip included a stop at Jimmy’s Steer House in Arlington. Pete offered a dollar to welcome “the Cape Codders,” Joe and Barbara. His extensive Clynk report cited a balance of $292.55, the equivalent of 11.8 light-bulb burns for 24/7/365 and emission savings of 2234 auto-miles. Tracy is grateful for the cooler weather; the camera shop was nastily hot. She requests lots of fair-weather finger-crossing for the kite festival (alliteration unintended!) Visitor Joe Potzka informed us he had been here once before. Sarah Potter was happy to be at her first Ogunquit Rotary meeting!

 

Sarah held the winning ticket but drew the 10 of Hearts and the 3 of Spades. The pot contains $25.

 

Sarah has worked in interestingly varied fields including broadcasting, alumni relations and business promotion. She has been on the job heading up the Ogunquit Chamber for one year, having previously served in a similar capacity in Somersworth, New Hampshire. She has focused on tuning up the organization’s mission statement and looking for opportunities for the chamber to collaborate with other organizations. Sarah spoke of the many fine hotels and restaurants in Ogunquit as cited in the Chamber’s publications (which she left with us.) Following her formal remarks, club members had comments and questions. Connie expressed concern about the transportation needs of J1 Visa workers.  The conversation about hotels in Ogunquit brought back a memory for Pete. He reminisced on working as a bellhop at The Graham Hotel. One visitor, a young woman named Barbara who was there with her parents, caught his eye. He managed to meet her and was fortunate to ultimately share a wonderful, loving marriage with her. For those who are interested, an image of a postcard of The Graham Hotel appears below.

 

As always, comments, critiques and corrections are welcomed.

 

Happy September!

 

Ed Seppa