WASHINGTON EVENING ROTARY CLUB

 

The Washington (evening) Rotary Club met Thursday night at the Washington Yacht & Country Club in the upper deck overlooking Broad Creek. President David McLawhorn called the meeting to order and welcomed guests. Following the Pledge of Allegiance, Bartow Houston led in the singing of America The Beautiful and Russell Smith offered a prayer and blessing for the upcoming meal.

Following the delicious meal, President McLawhorn called upon Bartow to introduce our guest speaker and his long time friend, Ray Midgett. Prior to retiring to Washington, Midgett was a science teacher and later an information tech specialist. His love of history lead him to explore the maritime history of Washington, and along with some dedicated friends, lead to the founding of the Historic Port of Washington Project. To draw focus to the project, the group commissioned a 10-foot painting of the Washington waterfront as it would have appeared around 1900.

Midgett showed a picture of the painting on a large projection screen. He then thrilled and captivated his audience by going west to east showing a blow-up of small sections of the painting and describing the buildings or land area and telling what was located at the spot then and today.

He went on the say that the organization has an office and exhibit area setup at 132 S. Market St. and it is open to the public on Saturdays from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. Midgett concluded his program by saying that they would appreciate any help from volunteers, donations of maritime artifacts and tax-deductible financial contributions either large or small would be welcomed.

President McLawhorn thanked Midgett for his informative program and presented him with a highly coveted Rotary pen.

The meeting concluded with the Rotarians reciting the Four Way Test of the things we think, say and do.