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Welcome to the Rotary Club of Presque Isle

We've been making a difference in our community for nearly 100 years, whether it's helping to raise funds for vital regional services like a local dialysis center to championing literacy through our Thesaurus Project. If you're looking to become part of an organization that has a long-term and powerful impact on the community, please join us.

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Great Big Give Back is BACK

Tickets for PI Rotary’s Great Big Give Back available as expanded project returns with St. Patrick’s Day drawing set

Presque Isle - The Presque Isle Rotary Club’s Great Big Give Back is back – with a St. Patrick’s Day drawing set for the even more impressive Great Big Basket raffle, and the addition of a big ticket item on-line auction.

The project, initiated last fall, was postponed to the New Year after the overwhelmingly positive response and generous outpouring of support by area businesses and organizations had coordinators look to expand the effort and extend the timeline.

The relaunched Great Big Give Back will feature a Great Big Basket raffle of five impressive baskets filled with both purchased and donated gift certificates and merchandise, each valued at almost $2,000. The dollar value of items is nearly double the initially announced $1,000 gift baskets organizers had hoped to promote.

Along with the raffle, PI Rotarians have set aside 14 “big ticket” items – with a total value of more than $6,500 – that will bring a piece of the Club’s annual Rotary Auction into this pandemic-year alternative project. The overall activity will also move forward, as previously planned with two other components focused on encouraging community members to give back by both pledging to shop local and volunteering time.

Tremendous response by area businesses
and organizations to PI Rotary’s Great Big Give Back
prompts change in project timeline

Presque Isle - An overwhelmingly positive response and generous outpouring of support by area businesses and organizations to the Presque Isle Rotary Club’s 2020 Great Big Give Back has coordinators looking at expanding their efforts and extending the project timeline.

Rotarians moved forward earlier this fall with their plans to purchase $5,000 in items from businesses and organizations that donated to its largest fundraiser over the past couple of years to create five “Great Big” gift baskets, valued at $1,000 each. Club members had planned to sell tickets on the baskets through mid-November for a drawing to benefit four worthy local causes.

But, in true Aroostook County fashion, the generosity of the local community donors has yielded items valued at over $17,000 – more than three times what Rotarians set out to buy –to support the club and four designated community causes.

“We never could have anticipated this kind of response when we began work on the Great Big Give Back, but we are so incredibly grateful for the community’s generosity,” said Rachel Rice, who along with fellow Presque Isle Rotarian Chantal Pelletier, are co-chairing this year’s unique auction replacement event. “As a result, we are tweaking plans for the project to reflect this positive development and so excited for the Great Big Give Back event we’ll be hosting a little later than originally planned.”

PI Rotary puts call out for Community Service Heroes who “Give Back” to inspire others

Presque Isle - With an eye toward inspiring others to serve, by sharing the volunteerism of those who are making a difference, the Presque Isle Rotary Club is calling for the stories of Community Service Heroes.

Rotarians, this week, officially launched a social media campaign asking Aroostook County residents who know of someone – youth or adult – that is making a positive impact to post their stories on Facebook and tag the PI Rotary Club. The call for Community Service Heroes is part of the Club’s recently announced Great Big Give Back initiative, which is a COVID-19 replacement project for Rotary’s annual auction.

Club members are asking that hero stories be posted by the end of the day on September 24. Facebook posts should include the individual’s name, description of community service, and a brief reflection on what makes them a real Community Service Hero. The club will be showcasing three of the featured Community Service Heroes in a special Star-Herald newspaper insert for the Great Big Give Back in October.

PI Rotary Announces Great Big Give Back Style Auction

PI Rotary re-engineers 73^rd Auction into Great Big Give Back to support community through challenging time

Presque Isle – The impact of the global pandemic on our local community, especially area businesses, has prompted the Presque Isle Rotary Club to do something very different with its 73^rd annual auction. The Great Big Give Back will provide Rotarians and community members the opportunity to support local businesses and organizations as well as four great community causes.

Instead of the traditional solicitation of local businesses for donations that are auctioned to the highest bidder, the Presque Isle Rotary Club will buy $5,000 in items from those businesses that donated to its largest fundraiser in both 2018 and 2019. With the purchased items, Rotarians will create five Great Big gift baskets, valued at $1,000 each. Tickets for the gift baskets will be sold for $10 each, with proceeds from the raffle going to the Rotary Scholarship Fund, the United Way of Aroostook’s COVID-19 Response Fund, and the following 2021 events: the Crown of Maine Balloon Festival and the Northern Maine Fair.

Presque Isle Rotary Club Prepares for its 72nd Annual Auction

Aroostook County – Now into its 72^nd year, the Presque Isle Rotary Auction continues to adjust with the changing times. The auction will now take place entirely online. Over 400 items valued at over $40, 000 have been donated by local businesses and will be auctioned off courtesy of Gregg Auctions online at www.greggauctions.com. Bidding is now open and is set to close on Friday, Nov. 8, 2019 at 8 p.m . While the auction format may have changed, the spirit behind the auction remains the same. Proceeds from this year’s auction will benefit the Nordic Heritage Ski Center, Quoggy Jo Ski Center, Presque Isle Youth Hockey, and the Presque Isle Rotary Club Scholarship Fund.

Going Places Network Announcement

Going Places Network announces major boost to

The PI Loop with gift of new bus, state-of-the-art technology and community challenge match

PRESQUE ISLE – Community members will have a brand new metro bus to ride on with state of the art technology to track its location and connect to the outside world while on board when The PI Loop fixed bus route launches in the Star City this October. A generous gift of more than $270,000 from Presque Isle native and philanthropist Mary Smith also includes a $50,000 challenge match to the Rotary and Kiwanis Club selected 2019 community project to raise funds for installation of bus shelters.

“The Going Places Network has been planning to address transportation needs in Presque Isle for about a year. Thanks to Mrs. Smith's generous gift, The PI Loop will now contain state of the art technology, a metro bus that will allow for a comfortable experience for all riders, and a fixed loop service that will be rolling through the City before the snow falls,” said Jamie Chandler of ACAP, who along with LeRae Kinney of MSAD 1, co-chair the Going Places Network.

Presque Isle Rotary and Kiwanis choose Going Places as Community Project

PRESQUE ISLE – Two local civic organizations have chosen Going Places Network’s “The PI Loop” as their Annual Community Project, which means the new bus route that is scheduled to begin in October will receive a boost of support and publicity in the coming months leading up to the Rotary Auction in November.

71st Annual Auction Wrap Up

Aroostook County - The Presque Isle Rotary Club continued its seven decade tradition of supporting local non-profit organizations by recently dispersing funds raised during the 71^st Annual Rotary Auction to their Auction Partners.

Last November, nearly 500 items valued at more than $50,000, donated from businesses and organizations across Aroostook County and beyond, were auctioned off live on WAGM-TV and online by Gregg Auctions. The online component was new this year in an effort to bring the auction into the 21^st Century. As technology and the way society consumes media changes, the auction needs to continue to adapt. The auction has been the organizations largest fundraiser for decades, and the goal is to keep it going.

12th Annual Aroostook River Fun Run

In a sure sign that spring is finally arriving, the annual Aroostook River Fun Run will take place Saturday, May 18. This event offers a fun opportunity for individuals and families to get outside and enjoy the Aroostook River and the area around it.

The Aroostook River Fun Run began 12 years ago as a partnership between the Presque Isle and Washburn Rotary Clubs to celebrate the tremendous resource that connects the two communities, the Aroostook River. That collaboration grew over the years to also include the Kiwanis Club of Presque Isle, Northern Light AR Gould Hospital and the Presque Isle Fish & Game Club. The event itself also grew to include more than just the traditional river race for paddlers in canoes and kayaks, with the addition of both a bike course and a 5K run/walk option.

Local Organizations Encourage Acts of Kindness

Aroostook organizations encourage kind acts for Jan. 5 Day of Service for Maine Citizens

PRESQUE ISLE – Responding to a call for statewide Day of Service for Maine Citizens on January 5, four Aroostook County civic-minded organizations are encouraging people to give back in their communities with acts of kindness. The Maine Commission for Community Service is coordinating the day at the request of Governor-elect Janet Mills, who officially takes office earlier in the week.

United Way of Aroostook, Aroostook County Action Program, Presque Isle Rotary and Presque Isle Kiwanis are hoping a Day of Service for Maine Citizens will cause people to be mindful of how their small acts of kindness can have big impacts, and also set the stage for an entire year of giving in 2019. Giving can take on many forms, but for this January 5, it’s the small things that count as far as Sherry Locke, Executive Director of United Way and past president of Presque Isle Kiwanis, is concerned.

Service Above Self

We meet Mondays at 12:00 PM
University of Maine at Presque Isle Campus Center St. John Room

181 Main Street
PO Box 641
Presque Isle, ME 04769
United States

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In 2014, the Presque Isle Rotary Club added a satellite club to offer our current and new members another option to attend a meeting. The meeting takes place Thursday morning at 7 AM at Governor's Restaurant in Presque Isle. Stop by to attend a meeting and learn more about Rotary.