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Speakers
Jul 07, 2017
Jul 14, 2017
Jul 21, 2017
Jul 28, 2017
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Executives & Directors
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Immediate Past President
 
Sergeant-at-Arms
 
Director Term End 2018
 
Director Term End 2018
 
Director Term End 2019
 
Director Term End 2019
 
Community Service Chair
 
International Service Chair
 
Vocational Service Chair
 
Youth Service Chair
 
Rotary Foundation Chair
 
Club Protection Officer
 
Vision Champion
 
Communications-WJ Bulletin Ed
 
Communications-PR External
 
Constitution/ByLaws Chair
 
Invocation Chair
 
Meeting Day Chair
 
Music Committee Chair
 
Program Chair
 
Membership Co-Chair
 
Web Administrator
 
Administrative Coordinator
 
Welcome to the Rotary Club of Portland, Maine!
Portland Rotary
Service Above Self
We meet Fridays at 12:15 PM
Holiday Inn By-the-Bay
88 Spring Street
Portland, ME  04101
United States
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Rotary This Week
HAPPY  INDEPENDENCE  DAY!
– 
Portland Rotary
meets this week at the
Holiday Inn By-the-Bay
88 Spring Street, Portland
                                
Cost of Lunch Increase
NOTICE
The cost of lunch
at our weekly meetings
has increased to $17.00 per person.
*07/07/17 Mike Vail, President of Hannaford

Mike Vail became the President of Hannaford Supermarkets in 2015 and is responsible for all company operations, including strategy, financial performance, product assortment, pricing, customer service, marketing and people. In his role, he serves as a member of the Delhaize America Leadership Team.

Mr. Vail has more than 30 years of experience in retail, beginning his career at Hannaford as a high school student in Maine. Since, he has assumed positions of increasing responsibility and scope.

Prior to leading Hannaford, Mr. Vail served as chief merchant and supply chain officer for Delhaize America, responsible for the delivery of  best-in-class supply chain and merchandising, developing private brand strategies and managing national vendor relationships. He previously held leadership roles, including President, Senior Vice President of Retail Operations and Chief Diversity Officer, and Vice President at Sweetbay (previously Kash ‘n Karry), a Florida-based Delhaize America supermarket retailer.

Mr. Vail began his professional career at Hannaford as a retail management trainee in 1985, going on to become a Store Manager, District Operations Manager, Category Manager and Director of Deli Merchandising.

Mr. Vail currently serves on the Board of Directors for the United Way of Greater Portland; as an ambassador for the Good Shepherd Food Bank in Maine; as member of the Advisory Board of Directors for the University of Tampa School of Entrepreneurship; and on the Leadership Committee of “Let’s Go!”

Mr. Vail earned his BS degree from Colby College. He currently resides in Maine with his wife. He has three grown girls.

06/30/17 Charlie Therrien, President Mercy Hospital

(L-R: Charlie Therrien, President Laura Young and Dave Small.) 

Dave Small introduced Charlie Therrien, President of Mercy Hospital in Portland. Dave was on the search committee that helped interview the candidates who applied last year for the Mercy Hospital leadership position. Therrien came to the forefront because of his experience in Maine and his work in both the non-profit and for-profit healthcare sectors. During his talk, Charlie provided an update on the hospital and spoke about current federal and state-level issues impacting healthcare.

Mercy Hospital is a community hospital in Portland, founded in 1918 by the Roman Catholic Diocese of Portland and the Sisters of Mercy. There are 1600 employees who work in the system. The hospital is part of Eastern Maine Healthcare Systems (EMHS). Next year marks the 100th anniversary of Mercy Hospital.

“Mercy Hospital is recognized by our patients as having cared for generations of families, who have strong ties to the hospital,” he said, “It’s no secret that healthcare today is changing at the state and national levels. Mercy has seen its share of changes in recent years. Thankfully, these changes have allowed Mercy to reorganize into a more efficient hospital that continues to put the patients first.”

The hospital has gone through a remarkable turnaround and is now projected to break even financially—a sharp contrast from the financial losses of the previous couple of fiscal years. This puts Mercy in a positive position to initiate a capital campaign for the purpose of consolidating operations at their Fore River waterfront campus within the next 3-5 years. Mercy’s goal is to efficiently maintain and increase service offerings while placing a greater emphasis on healthy communities through the promotion of preventative services and primary care.

Despite the recent news on EMHS’s bond rating, Mercy’s care delivery and ability to implement its goals is not impacted. In fact, Mercy is among the hospitals that are changing how health care is delivered through moving from episodic care for treatment and reimbursement, to a modern care model where patients are assigned to the right providers to receive a full continuum of care. The goal is to keep people healthier.

Mr. Therrien stated that healthcare costs are tough on small businesses. While the implementation of the Affordable Care Act allowed hospitals and other healthcare providers to innovate and make strides in promoting healthier outcomes and reducing some costs, premiums and deductibles remain a challenge from the patient and provider perspective. In some case, even patients who have insurance are unable to pay for their care. This causes costs to be shifted to other payers, adding to the increasing health care costs overall.

During Q&A, one question was asked about single-payer healthcare systems like those in Canada? Charlie explained that healthcare consumers in the U.S expect to receive the services they request right away, while the Canadian system regulates the volume of procedures, which can mean significant waiting times for elective procedures. Also, much of the cost of healthcare is picked up by the government/tax payers in a single-payer system. Significant differences  must be considered when comparing one system to the other.
 

06/30/17 Bits & Pieces

President Laura Young opened the meeting by welcoming 59 members, 3 visiting Rotarians and 7 guests. Dave Small gave a creative invocation where he used puns from a garden plot to promote action in our society, such as: squash the...., lettuce (let us....), turnip (turn up to....), and thyme (time to....). Meredith Small led us in the Pledge of Allegiance and we all sang the National Anthem with Kathy Grammer on the keyboard.


President Laura thanked those responsible for setting up and helping run the meeting smoothly. She gave thanks to more chairs and board members for their efforts throughout the year, including: Kris Rosado, Rusty Atwood, Roger Fagan, Tom Nickerson, Janelle LoSciuto, Linda Varrell, Jan Chapman, Bruce Moore, Kathy Grammer, Scott Blakeslee, Bowen Depke, and George Carr. Laura also thanked Elise Hodgkins for helping her get through the year. 


2nd VP John Curran introduced International guests at the meeting with consideration of expanding the Portland Rotary International outreach to Kosovo. John brought a member from the Kosovo Rotary Club, a 3D printer designer, and a representative of the Yarmouth Rotary Club to foster additional discussion.

A visiting Rotarian from Allen, Texas also attended the meeting, and exchanged club banners.


Charlie Frair provided us with an entertaining Rotary moment. He started by saying he was part of the West Bay Club in Camden for 12 years, and now Portland Rotary for 12 years. So why is Charlie a Rotarian? Three main reasons:

1) Because of each of us and the lasting relationships that are built at Rotary. 

2) The environment, culture and atmosphere that he and the Club are committed to. No matter your political leaning, race, color, or heritage, Rotary welcomes you to participate, and Charlie is proud to be a part of it. 

3) He believes Rotary is like a trim tab. When one looks at the diagram of a ship from bow to stern, ending with the rudder, it is often the rudder that can be so big that it does not actually turn the ship, but rather keeps it going in a straight line. But, if you put a trim tab on the tip of the rudder, the trim tab can start the ship turning in the right direction. Charlie believes Rotary is like the trim tab. which turns our us in a better direction. 


Lionel Nima, a relatively new member, was to be married this very Friday afternoon at City Hall. President-elect Don Zillman and President Laura were planning to attend the wedding on behalf of the Club. The Club donated a gift certificate and signed a wedding card for the happy couple. Congratulations to the happy couple! (Ed update: photo at left of the newlyweds - Pistis Yombe and Lionel Nima!
 



Patty Erickson
ran the weekly raffle that had a pot of $484. The speaker drew Jack Carr’s name from the holding vessel, but Jack’s luck ran out soon after being picked, as the Queen stayed hidden in the deck. Better luck next week. 


Reminding us of the two contests she initiated when she took office in July 2016.....Who could bring the most guests to our meetings and who could bring in the most new members to our Club.....President Laura announced the winners: “most guests” goes to Rusty Atwood with 11, followed by Andreea Paine with 10. Tied for bringing in the “most new members” were Jim Willey and President Laura Young. Congratulations on those notable accomplishments! 


Russ Burleigh noted that when he asked for 5 minutes to be set aside at the meeting for the “Musical Moment,” he jokingly told President Laura impeachment was not on the table. The musical moment was more of a tribute and thank you to President Laura for her accomplished year as president of the Portland Rotary. Russ had a Power Point presentation and thanked President Laura for being the 103rd President of Portland Rotary. Some of her accomplishments included hosting speakers such as Janet Mills, Governor Paul LePage, Bill Green (WCSH6), and Stu Kestenbaum (MECA). Her tenacity really showed in her continued support of childhood hunger and education (CHE), including time spent reading to children and helping with food service.

Russ completed the presentation noting that he gave President Laura a nickname during her tenure: PrezLY – at which point Russ flicked to a picture of Elvis Presley with President Laura’s head on it. The musical moment and tribute ended with everyone singing “Can’t Help Falling in Love With You.” Congratulations and a hardy “Thank You, President Laura, for all you have done for Portland Rotary!” 

What better way to end the Rotary year then with a celebratory toast to a good 2016-17 and looking forward to an even-better 2017-18, toasted with the great beer samplings of Russell Voss' new business venture: NU Brewery. Yum!

(The question was raised, can we do this every meeting?)
 

Volunteer Opportunities
Following is a list of our Club's volunteer projects. If you know of other opportunities, please contact Loretta: lrowe@maine.rr.com
 

                          When
Project              Who to Contact


The Locker           July 24th Monday
Project                 12:00-1:00 pm
at Reiche              2-3 volunteers
Elementary           Steve Phillips
School                  email below
volunteer@mainelockerproject.org


Preble Street        4th Wednesday ea month
Resource Ctr        4-6:30 pm
Soup Kitchen        Gracie Johnston
                           gracie.johnson@wcsh6.com


Game Night         3rd Tuesday ea month
Long Creek          Mike Fortunato
Youth Center        michael.k.fortunato@gmail.com
                           or Jim Willey
                           jimandbarbarawilley@gmail.com

Birthdays and Rotary Anniversaries

NOTABLE DATES FOR MEMBERS IN JULY:

Member Birthdays
  3rd - Mark Millar
  5th - Ben Millick
11th - Alan Levenson
11th - Charlie Whittier
12th - Tom Nickerson
14th - Jack Carr
14th - Jennifer Frederick
16th - Julie L'Heureux
19th - John Marr
23rd - Peter Noyes
29th - Mike Reed
30th - Terri St Angelo
31st - John Curran

Date-Joined-Rotary Anniversaries
47 years - Freem Etheridge
43 years - Bill Reynolds

38 years - Alan Levenson
10 years - Rob Chatfield
  7 years - Mike Fortunato
  6 years - Steve Stromsky
  3 years - Jerry Angier
  3 years - Tom Nickerson
  3 years - Alex St. Hilaire
  1 year  - Tom Saturley
 


CONGRATULATIONS TO ALL!

Photo Corner & Rotarians in the News
 

The trip to Fort Gorges - the boat ride over:

 

 

Left: Stan/Lili Brown        

 

 

Right: Jim/Barbara Willey    

 

 

 

Left: Kathy Grammer and
her friend, John. 

 

 

 

 

Right: Patti/Dave Erickson  

 

 

 

Left: Dick Giles with his
grandchildren, Rowan and Quinn.

 

 

 

 

THE FORT

 

 

 

 

 

 

Learning the history of the fort.

 

 

 


 
 
RYLA Students: 3 Portland HS students who attended RYLA (Rotary Youth Leadership Award) camp last week. Nasteho, Aisha and Safa chatted nonstop on the way home about their amazing experience at RYLA, the new friends they had made and what they learned about leadership. They are eager to put into practice the skills they learned in the PHS Interact Club.

 
This Week's Duty Assignments

Invocation:  Peggy Wescott
Program Reporter:  Julie L'Heureux
Bits & Pieces Reporter:  Tom Talbott
Registration/Greeter: Jan Chapman
Sell Meal Tickets:  Loretta Rowe
Raffle:  Jerry Angier
Badge Box:  Jake Bourdeau
Collect Meal Tickets: Matt Tassey 
*
Song Leader:  Meredith Small
Pianist:  Russ Burleigh
Sgt-at-Arms (Setup):  Jerry Angier
Sgt-at-Arms (Take Down):  Mac Collins

*if hotel staff is unavailable

 

Rotary Meeting Locations

If you would like to mark your calendars,
we are scheduled at the following locations
through September 2017:

2017
Jul    7 - Holiday Inn By-the-Bay
Jul  14 - Holiday Inn By-the-Bay

Jul  21 - Holiday Inn By-the-Bay
Jul  28 - Holiday Inn By-the-Bay

Aug  4  - Hadlock Field
Aug 11 - The Clarion
Aug 18 - Holiday Inn By-the-Bay
Aug 25 - Holiday Inn By-the-Bay

Sep   1 - Holiday Inn By-the-Bay
Sep   8 - Holiday Inn By-the-Bay

Sep 15 - The Clarion
Sep 22 - TBD
Sep 29 - The Clarion

Blue BOLD dates are scheduled Board meeting days.

Any questions, please contact Loretta at: lrowe@maine.rr.com

 

Item Donations Needed
The following items are needed on an on-going basis. Please feel free to bring them to a meeting where we will collect and distribute them.
 
Crutches4Africa - Crutches, canes, folding walkers and wheelchairs to be shipped to Africa.
 
Toiletries for the Shelters - Collect those tiny bottles of toiletries you are paying for during your next hotel visit and bring them home for members of our society who find themselves staying at a shelter and in need of personal hygiene products.
Prospective Rotarians

As we receive applications for prospective members to join our Portland Rotary Club, the names of the applicants will be included in our Windjammer. Any information and/or comments you would like to share will be handled confidentially. Please contact Loretta Rowe: lrowe@maine.rr.com. Your input will be appreciated.

PROSPECT                 BUSINESS
(Sponsor)                                                                           
Eileen Skinner          Retired CEO
(David Small)             Mercy Hospital

Thank you.