OLD ORCHARD BEACH — There is a new local option for those interested in becoming a Rotarian and can’t make meetings during the work day.

The Rotary Club of Saco Bay Sunset, which is in the preliminary stages, meets every Thursday at 5:30 p.m. at the Dunegrass Country Club in the Augusta room.

Saco Bay Rotarian Dennis Robillard, who, along with fellow Rotarian Israel Collins, is starting the group, said at an open house last week that meetings will be about an hour long. The Sunset Rotary Club meetings will not include a meal, to help keep costs down, he said.

Robillard said he and Collins are starting the group to give more people the opportunity to become Rotarians.

“We’ve designed this so people can come on their way home from work,” he said.

Rotary International is a service group that began in Chicago in 1905. Today, it has 1.2 million members who belong to 30,000 clubs all over the world. Rotary’s six areas of focus are: maternal and child health, basic education and literacy, economic and community development, peace and conflict prevention and resolution, disease prevention and treatment, and water and sanitation.

Robillard said the evening club won’t be official until there are 20 charter members. Members will pay $50 initiation fee and $90 semi-annual dues. Members will also occasionally support fundraising activities.

Robillard said that Rotary has become like a second family to him. There’s “instant camaraderie” among members, he said. In addition, said Robillard, being a Rotarian is a great way to give back to the community.

Rotary International, along with its partners, has reduced polio cases by 99 percent since its first vaccination project in 1979, according to the Rotary International website.

Locally, Rotarians have been part of many projects, including organizing a lobster bake for a bike trek, organizing and fundraising an upgrade project for a local food pantry and clothing exchange program and building a gazebo in a park.

“We’ve got a saying: ‘If you want something done, ask a Rotarian,’” said Robillard.

Long-time Rotarian Al Carrigan recalled the first project the Saco Bay Rotary Club worked on, which was a gazebo at Thornton Academy. Other projects Rotarians have been a part of include Rotary Park in Biddeford, which transformed a former land fill into a recreational area and the “hands-on” building of the Saco Heath boardwalk, he said.

“Anywhere you look around, you’ll see these projects,” he said.

For more information on the Rotary Club of Saco Bay Sunset, go online to http:// sacobaysunsetrotary.org.

— Staff Writer Liz Gotthelf can be contacted at 282-1535, ext. 325 or [email protected].