Rotattler for November 1, 2018
 
Announcements:
 
Rotary shirts and hats are available.  See Brenda Gagne if you'd like to buy any.  Many thanks to Brenda for arranging this.
 
DON'T FORGET THE BIG CLEAN-UP OF ROUTE 236 ON SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 10TH.  (Rain date will be Sunday the 11th.)  Meet at the Central School and wear clothing that will make you more visible (i.e. neon colors, not clown costumes or bikinis).
 
We seem to be pretty organized for the Thanksgiving dinner we will be providing to the South Berwick senior citizens on Monday, November 19th.  We just need to ascertain whether the pies will again be donated by York Hospital (Norma Marshall, do you know?)
 
Thank you to Mike Lassel for representing us at the upcoming district training session on membership and the Rotary Foundation.
 
We have a new potential member.  Brandon Elsemore has attended a couple of meetings and submitted his application for board approval.  Please introduce yourself to Brandon and give him a warm welcome if you see him.  
 
Our board meets on Monday, November 19th, at the offices of Civil Consultants.
 
On that note, coming up on Thursday is our Rotary Foundation presentation and Rotarian Larry Furbish will be there to regale us with RF stories.  Seriously, this is our opportunity to support RF as a club, so please bring your checkbooks or plan to make a donation on-line to RF.  Any amount is welcome, we just like to see 100% participation from our members, if possible.
 
November 15th's speaker will be provided by Derek Ahl.
 
No meeting Thanksgiving Thursday, of course.
 
After that, we'll be well into the eating and partying phase of our Rotary year...
 
Program
 
At long last (he was unable to come last time we scheduled him), the famous Bruce Cultrera of Seacoast Helicopters was able to take us into the wild blue yonder via his NH Chronicles video and his stories about the helicopter and aeronautics business.  Bruce is a Marshwood graduate who then joined the Air Force and continued his studies at the University of New Hampshire and spent a few years in business, working mainly with aerospace defense companies.   Then he started his own business as a management consultant and dabbled in real estate, too.  It was during that time that he experienced the thrill of helicopters and has been hooked ever since.  He created Seacoast Helicopters and it has now grown to 5 helicopters, 3 planes, 14 pilots, FAA certification, licensing for various flight options, and he has expanded into Portland.  He operates basically under 5 business segments/profit centers:  1) flight training (by the way, there is a serious shortage of pilots right now, especially fixed wing pilots, so if you know people who are wondering what to do they might consider this career), 2) scenic touring (seasonal) which will hook you on helicopter flying (just ask President Richard) and Bruce promises you will not need an air bag, 3) air taxi services in case you'd like a unique and hassle-free mode of transport to your destination, 4) external load business for those who need to transport cargo to places, and 5) government contracting to very remote sites.  We ran out of time way too soon to hear more about his exciting business.  Perhaps we can invite him back?
 
Looking forward to seeing you soon!