Jessica Halsey and Colby Giberson were recently honored as the September/October 2018 Rotary Spirit Student Award (RSSA) recipients at the club’s breakfast meeting. This kicked off the RSSA program’s eighth year at the Fort Fairfield Middle/High School (FFMHS).

Each school year-quarter the Fort Fairfield Middle/High School faculty/staff provide girl and boy student nominations for the RSSA. The club’s program committee then selects recipients from amongst these identification redacted-nominee write-ups. The program’s evaluation criteria recognizes that in order to be a productive member in the community the student must be well-rounded in academics, citizenship, and personal development. Each recipient receives a recognition certificate and an iTunes gift card. 

The club, together with other local service organizations, hosted the 33rd annual Thanksgiving Day Community Dinner at the local VFW hall. Close to 200 dinners were served at the hall and/or delivered to homebound families and individuals. The Fort Fairfield High School Lady Tigers basketball team was there to help serve and put together the delivery meals.   

Early morning preps  

Most of these guys have been doing this since the begining 

Delivery desserts prepared 

All is ready 

Servers are ready

Lady Tigers ready to serve up meals and smiles a-plenty 

Delivery meals out the door

Future Rotarians already serving

....and clean-up. Thank you everyone!

The Fort Fairfield Rotary Club coordinating with other local service organizations hosted the 32nd annual Seniors/Community Thanksgiving Day dinner at the VFW Hall. With the FFHS Baking-4-A-Living class preparing the turkeys, Rotarians together with community volunteers and those from the Knights of Columbus, Frontier Fish and Game Club, FFHS Lady Tigers basketball team, and others, prepared and distributed over 115 dinners to home-bound citizens, and approximately 100 were served to those who came out to the VFW Hall to enjoy fellowship and the dinner. Hoping that everyone enjoyed a happy Thanksgiving Day. 

"Bashful" cooks? 

Another "bashful"? 

Volunteers box pies for homebound deliveries

Servers are ready 

Assembly line prepares boxed meals 

Dinners boxed 

Lady Tigers ready to serve 

Don't they look like winners

WAGM-TV Joey Prechtel interviews "talkative Lady" 

Pam Kinsey provides seasonal music 

Ginny Joles, Governor, District 7810 visited recently. Ginny congratulated the club concerning the various service projects in which it is involved and offered encouragement on future projects. Ginny also spoke concerning recent Rotary International guidelines changes that effect club operations. Working collaboratively with other clubs throughout the district was stressed in that many clubs share like-minded goals. 

Ginny takes a question from the floor 

(from left to right) Rotarians Effie Murchie, Macenzi Charette, Wayne Troicke, Veronica Plourde, Larry Plant, Ginny Joles, Carl Young, Kevin Murchie

Kaitlyn Parady, a senior, and Dylan Jandreau, a sophomore, were recognized as the September/October 2015 Rotary Spirit Student Award (RSSA) Program recipients at a recent club weekly meeting. Kaitlyn and Dylan received recognition certificates and iTunes download cards helping kick off a five year-partnership between the club and Fort Fairfield High School (FFHS) for the RSSA Program. Kaitlyn and Dylan were nominated by FFHS teachers Jacquie Martin and Kelly Koziol, respectively, and are now eligible for Rotary Spirit Student of the Year consideration at school-year’s end. 

We’re friends. We’re neighbors. We’re Rotarians, Rotary makes a difference in the community, the region, and around the world. You can make a difference. Come visit with us. Get meeting information at: http://www.fortfairfieldrotary.org/club-info/meeting-information.html

Gary Sayers, President/CEO, Our Ladakhi Sisters and Pam Sayers, Rotary Club Program Hostess.

Gary Sayers, President/CEO, Our Ladakhi Sisters (OLS), recently spoke about the OLS outreach to assist local organizations in their initiatives to improve the well-being of the women, children, and families of Ladakh, India by promoting self-sufficiency through education and training, creating job opportunities, and providing emergency assistance and temporary crisis housing. Detailed information concerning OLS’ work may be found on the organization’s website: http://www.olscharity.org/ 

The club would like to take this opportunity to thank all veterans both locally and around the world. We understand that freedom is never free and salute you for your dedicated service to our country. This writer, being a USAF veteran, provides the following sonnet written by John Gillespie Magee, an American pilot in the Royal Canadian Air Force in the Second World War. It has become the mantra of many airmen especially those who keep the skies clear over our brothers and sisters below.

“High Flight” – “Oh, I have slipped the surely bonds of earth, and danced the skies on laughter silvered wings; Sunward I’ve climbed and joined the tumbling mirth of sun-split-clouds – and done a hundred things you have not dreamed of – wheeled and soared and swung high in the sunlit silence. Hovering there I’ve chased the shouting wind along and flung my eager craft through footless halls of air. Up, up the long delirious burning blue I’ve topped the wind-swept heights with easy grace, where never lark, or even eagle flew; and, while with silent, lifting mind I’ve trod the untrespassed sanctity of space, put out my hand and touched the face of God.”

Pilot Flight Officer Magee died on December 11, 1941 when his Spitfire collided with another plane over England and Magee, only 19 years of age, crashed to his death.

Recognition ceremonies for Kaley Norsworthy and Nathan Boulier kicked off the Rotary Spirit Student Award (RSSA) program’s fourth-year partnership with Fort Fairfield High School as Kaley and Nathan were selected as the September/October 2014 RSSA recipients. Kaley, a freshman, and Nathan, a sophomore, were nominated by faculty members Sharon Daigle-Gerrish and Darlene Ouellettee, respectively.

The overnight snow storm did not deter many Fort Fairfield residents from coming out to the 30th annual Community/Seniors Thanksgiving Day dinner. The dinner was held at the local VFW Hall and in addition to Rotarians many volunteers from local service organizations such as the Knights of Columbus and Lions Club, as well as the Fort Fairfield High School Lady Tigers Basketball team, also braved the elements to arrive early and stay late to prepare and serve the full Thanksgiving Day meal. The menu included baked turkey, mashed potatoes and dressing, all smothered in gravy, with peas, squash, cranberry jelly, a bread roll and a choice of pumpkin or apple pie for dessert.

In addition to the volunteers serving tables, about a dozen volunteer drivers delivered over 100 meals to those who were home-bound and could not come out to enjoy the meal and neighborly fellowship. We would like to give a big “shout out” to the Fort Fairfield Public Works Department who were up early plowing the local roads which made it possible for the home-bound deliveries to be completed safely. All-in-all approximately 200 prepared meals were provided to the community.

Early preparations in the kitchen               Lady Tigers looking good and ready to serve

                                                               All smiles and ready to enjoy dinner

Lady Tigers serving                                      and enjoying dinner

Even WAGM-TV's Tyler Michalowski can't pass up a great dinner

The Fort Fairfield Rotary Club, Knights of Columbus, Fish and Game Club, and VFW came together with local businesses once again to provide a free Seniors & Community Thanksgiving Day dinner. A holiday tradition in Fort Fairfield for close to 30 years the event provided a free turkey dinner with all the fixings to Fort Fairfield senior citizens, residents who were homebound, and citizens who otherwise might not have had a holiday dinner to enjoy.

With the Fort Fairfield High School girls’ basketball team and other volunteers acting as servers, more than 75 citizens attended the dinner and enjoyed the fellowship and holiday music at the local VFW Hall, while close to 90 who are homebound and cannot come out had dinner delivered to their homes by volunteer drivers, many of whom have been volunteering for most of their lives. Leftover prepared-dinners were donated and delivered to the Homeless Services of Aroostook shelter in Presque Isle.

Click here to see photos

The Fort Fairfield Rotary Club together with the Knights of Columbus, other local service organizations, and community volunteers continued a holiday tradition and provided the 26th Annual Seniors/Community Thanksgiving Day Dinner at the VFW Hall.

With holiday music provided by “Dan and Friends”, the Fort Fairfield High School Girls Basketball Team acting as hostesses and servers, and community volunteers serving as drivers approximately 175 Thanksgiving Day dinners were provided to community seniors as well as homebound citizens who might not otherwise have had a Thanksgiving Day dinner to enjoy. Surplus prepared dinners were donated and delivered to the Homeless Shelter of Aroostook.

A big THANK YOU goes out to all those that made this holiday tradition such a success.

(Click here to view photos)

(Left to right) Leigh Cummings, Rotary District 7810 Immediate-Past President, joins Fort Fairfield Rotarians Kerri Watson-Blaisdell, Dale Ames, and Carl Young at a recent Rotary Training Seminar.

The seminar was conducted by District 7810 representatives, and concentrated on membership and retention, The Rotary Foundation (TRF) and Future Vision, and public relations. Within the membership segment fellowship, mentorship, and engagement were stressed. Future Vision was introduced during the TRF segment and included an update on Rotary’s Polio Eradication project which is nearing its planet-wide eradication goal. The importance of public relations was stressed as being an integral part of all Rotary club activities in order to keep the community and Rotarians knowledgeable with respect to club activities.

Pam Scheppele (right), President, Jefferson Cary Foundation (JCF), Mary Harrigan (left), Executive Director JCF, and Dr. Shawn Laferrier, Medical Director – Radiology Department, Cary Medical Center recently visited the Fort Fairfield Rotary Club providing information and a presentation on the new Women’s Imaging Center at the Cary Medical Center facility.

Dr. Laferrier noted that in addition to new state-of-the-art equipment the facility takes a new approach to the patient-staff/facility interface that radically reduces the stress and anxiety that typically accompanies patient visits. The facility has been expanded to provide for easier check-in as well as providing a much more comfortable at-home environment. Additionally, the new state-of-the-art equipment reduces radiation exposure, provides clearer digital imaging, and makes it possible to provide almost real-time patient feedback.

Additional information concerning the facility may be obtained by contacting Pam Scheppele at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or 1-888-377-9373.

Dr. Shawn answers a question during his presentation. The thermometer chart at left reflects that the JCF is well on its way to reaching its Capital Improvement Program’s financial goal to complete the Women’s Imaging Center at Cary Medical Center.

The Fort Fairfield Rotary Club has chosen Desiraie Rediker and Joshua Wortman as its inaugural Fort Fairfield High School Rotary Spirit Student Award recipients.

Desiraie, a sophomore, and Joshua, a senior, were nominated for the award by the Fort Fairfield High School faculty and staff with the award recipients chosen by the club’s selection committee from amongst multiple nominees. Both recipients demonstrate an exemplary work ethic with respect to their studies and serve as positive roll models amongst their peers.

At a recent Fort Fairfield Rotary Club recognition breakfast where the award recipients received achievement certificates, Desiraie was accompanied by parents Brett and Rebecca Tarbox, while Joshua was accompanied by parents Roland and Tammy Wortman. Each recipient’s photo will now be placed on the school bulletin board and website, and they are automatically in the running for the Rotary Spirit Student of the Year who will receive a $300 cash award.

The student award program seeks to recognize student achievement throughout the school year, across grades 9 through 12. The program selection criteria cover academics, citizenship, and personal development. The inaugural student winners were selected for the award period Sept/Oct 2011. Winners will also be selected for the periods Nov/Dec 2011, Jan/Feb 2012, and Mar/Apr 2012. At the school-year end the Rotary Spirit Student of the Year will be chosen from amongst the eight period-award recipients.

Front row: Brett Tarbox, Rebecca Tarbox, Desiraie Rediker, Janet Kelle – Rotary Club President
Back row: James Smith – FFHS Faculty Nominator, Tracy Copeland – Rotary Spirit Student Award Program Chair, Mark Jenkins – FFHS Principal, Stephanie Beaulieu – Rotary Club Event Hostess

Front row: Roland Wortman, Tammy Wortman, Joshua Wortman, Janet Kelle – Rotary Club President
Back row: Robert Helstrom – FFHS Faculty Nominator, Tracy Copeland – Rotary Spirit Student Award Program Chair, Mark Jenkins – FFHS Principal, Stephanie Beaulieu – Rotary Club Event Hostess

The Fort Fairfield Rotary Club, Knights of Columbus, and VFW together with many other local service organizations once again came together to provide a community Thanksgiving Day dinner. A holiday tradition in Fort Fairfield for over 25 years the event provides a turkey dinner with all the fixings to Fort Fairfield senior citizens who otherwise might not have a holiday dinner to enjoy.

With turkeys provided by the Friends Helping Friends organization, Students Baking a Living doing the roasting, Harvest Market, Hillside IGA and others providing veggies and condiments, the Fort Fairfield High School Girls Basketball Team serving as hostesses and servers, seasonal music provided by Dan and Friends, and local Rotarians and KC members working together to provide the behind the scenes preparations activities, a true sense of the Thanksgiving spirit was enjoyed by all.

More than 75 citizens attended the dinner and enjoyed the fellowship and entertainment at the VFW Hall, while 96 who could not come out had dinner delivered to their homes by nine volunteer drivers. Leftover prepared dinners were donated and delivered to the Homeless Shelter of Aroostook.

 (Click here to view pictures)

The Fort Fairfield Rotary Club hosted Frank Bemis and Gina LeBlanc-Eggert, Presque Isle Rotary Club members, along with Dr. Norma Desjardins as a guest speaker during a recent meeting.  The Presque Isle Rotary Club’s 64th Rotary Auction is November 29, 30 and December 1st and the St. Apollonia Dental Clinic is the club's 2011 Special Project recipient. Therefore, the Presque Isle Rotary Club pledged to raise at least $25,000 towards this effort to benefit many community children in The County.  Dr. Norma Desjardins, Clinic Director, provided a presentation which included the clinic vision and mission statements, the abundant need, and clinic sustainability plan.

St. Apollonia Dental Clinic is a nonprofit organization which seeks to aid those most in need of dental services; particularly, Aroostook County children and adolescents who have no access to dental care. The primary goal is to provide a dental home which consists of ongoing quality dental preventive and restorative services and to educate patients and their parents, guardians, or caregivers on continued dental care. The clinic seeks to reach out to the most vulnerable, dentally needy Aroostook County population.


Janet Kelle(left), Fort Fairfield Rotary Club President, Gina LeBlanc-Eggert, Presque Isle Rotary Club member, Dr. Norma Desjardins, Clinic Director, Frank Bemis, Presque Isle Rotary Club member.