Once each year we come together to share best practices and welcome new club board members, officers and committee chairs to their roles. It’s coming up fast: join us this Saturday, April 8 between 8:00 AM and 12:30 PM for our District Assembly, University of Southern Maine, 96 Falmouth Street, Portland.
Here are some W’s:
Who should come? Everyone! This event is open to all District 7780 Rotary members. At only $25, it’s a bargain of fellowship and learning...PLUS the Portland Rotary Club will pay for you to attend....just let Elise know ASAP (portlandrotary@maine.rr.com).
If you’re new to Rotary, or if you’re a veteran who wants to keep learning, join us! If you are a Club President, President-Elect, Club Secretary, Club Treasurer, Foundation chair, Club Protection Officer, Webmaster, Communication team member, Facebook guru – whatever your role is or will be – it’s for you! Community service, international service, Youth and all other areas of Rotary service will be showcased.
Attorney General Janet Trafton Mills grew up in Farmington, Maine. She earned a B.A. degree from the University of Massachusetts Boston, and a J.D. degree from the University of Maine School of Law, where she was an editor of the Maine Law Review.
Ms. Mills was an Assistant Attorney General from 1976 to 1980, when she was elected District Attorney for Androscoggin, Franklin and Oxford Counties, a position to which she was re-elected three times, with the distinction of being the first woman District Attorney in New England.
From 1995 through 2008, Ms. Mills practiced law in Skowhegan with her brother, S. Peter Mills, in the firm Wright and Mills, P.A.. Ms. Mills was elected to the House of Representatives in 2002, representing the towns of Farmington and Industry. In 2008 she was elected by the legislature to be Maine’s 55th Attorney General, the first woman Attorney General in Maine.
In December 2012, after a change in party control in the legislature, Ms. Mills was again elected Attorney General, and 2014, re-elected to her second consecutive term. The Attorney General is Maine’s chief law enforcement officer and represents the state in legal matters ranging from child support enforcement, civil rights and consumer protection to the prosecution of homicides, felony drug cases and major frauds. The Attorney General is also a member of the Baxter Park Authority, overseeing the 209,000 wilderness acres of the Baxter State Park. She serves on the Criminal Law, Substance Abuse and the Energy & Environment Committees of the National Association of Attorneys General, and was recently appointed Co-Chair of the NAAG Tobacco Committee.
In years past, Ms. Mills co-founded the Maine Women’s Lobby and was an active member of a number of organizations, including the Margaret Chase Smith Foundation Board. Ms. Mills was married for 29 years to Stanley Kuklinski, who passed away in September 2014. She lives in Farmington and has five stepdaughters and three grandsons.
Joining us was one of Portland’s well known business leaders, Steve Hewins. Starting Hewins Travel in his small Portland apartment, Steve grew Hewins Travel into the largest travel agency in the state. “Sending people away is what I did. Now I want to bring them here. Let’s import money, not export it.” Hence his new endeavor: Bring a full-fledged Convention Center (CC) to Portland, Maine.
Talking numbers: Nationally, business conventions account for 130 billion of a 900-billion-dollar travel/tourism industry. Maine’s tourism business topped 6 billion dollars in 2016, but that was primarily tourism, not business. Can we bring the convention business successfully to Maine? Steve thinks we can.
Portland is the 104th Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA) in the U.S. Of these 104 markets, Portland is 1 of 7 MSA’s that do not have a CC. Those other six have plausible reasons. For example, New Haven, CT sits between Boston, Hartford, and NYC. Lakeland, FL sits just outside Orlando, which is ranked #2 in business convention business. Portland has no good excuses!
Steve noted that a CC in Portland is in line with a sound economic strategy. By identifying industry that is already strong in Maine, we are well positioned to bring in convention business. Specifically - Agriculture/ Food Production, Aquaculture/Research, Biopharmaceuticals, and Knowledge Workers, aka Information and Data Technology.
The “big box” CC’s are fading and being replaced with fresh new designs. CC’s today need to be attractive and a vibrant focal point. The setting needs to create interaction. Attendees want to do more than fly in and sit inside a box....they want to get out and see the community. Restaurants, entertainment, and retail stores need to be accessible and contemporary...they also need to be tech and media savvy. Wi-Fi is a must!
Right now, the largest room in Portland holds 600 people. The vision for a Portland CC would be a facility of 150-200,000 square feet, that could host 5,000 people....projected costs, $100 million. A feasibility study will run approx $150k, and take a deep dive into costs and benefits. Steve pointed out that Portland has a busy summer tourist business, but conventions can add significant economic boosts in spring and fall.
Where would it located? Commercial Street is too congested. Not Bayside or Thompson’s Point. Steve feels that the only place is downtown, ideally along the Spring Street corridor. Steve pointed out several opportunities....one, right across from the Holiday Inn By-the-Bay, former site of the YWCA. The former Portland Press Herald building is another. The proximity to the newly renovated Cross Arena is an attraction, noting how Cedar Rapids had tied in successfully with its local arena.
In summary, Steve sees a vibrant Portland CC as a “pipeline to the future.” Portland is growing – witness three new hotels presently being built. The opportunity for growth for a year-round economy is with the business community. If we build it, they will come.
(Photo L-R: President Laura Young, Steve Hewins and PP Roxane Cole.)
President Laura Young began the meeting at the Holiday Inn By-the-Bay welcoming 54 Rotarians and 2 guests. Tom Nickerson offered us the invocation with the ‘Serenity Prayer.’ Andy Stone led us in the ‘Pledge of Allegiance,’ and Kathy Grammer played the keyboard as we sang ‘America the Beautiful.’
President Laura thanked all whose efforts made our meeting possible. Laura mentioned the get well card for Elise Hodgkin, who was off her feet, as one of those feet had foot surgery. Elise is doing fine and will be back with us as soon as she can.
2017-18 Rotary year: Laura reminded us to complete and return the previously emailed “Committee Preference Sheets” to Loretta Rowe by this coming Saturday (4/8) to let the leadership of the Club know where you would like to help out for the coming year.
Laura mentioned that Ben Lowry is in the news as an inductee to Maine’s Baseball Hall of Fame.
Terri St. Angelo conducted the raffle and our speaker drew Bill Blount’s name for a chance to win $1700. Bill drew the eight of diamonds, so the pot will continue to grow until the lucky card drawer finds the elusive Queen of Hearts. Only 10 cards to go!
Gracie Johnston led us in song and seeing that the opening day of major league baseball is upon us, we sang the old standby, “Take Me Out to the Ballgame,” where Gracie donned a Sea Dogs hat, then switched to a Boston Red Sox hat on the second chorus.
Kathy Grammer accompanied us on the keyboard, wearing a NY Yankees hat.
Ogy Nikolic provided an interesting ‘Rotary Moment,’ focusing on four topics:
1. How he heard about Rotary....in Serbia he thought it was a scam, too good to be true.
2. How he first got involved....as a Rotary Exchange student to Saco, Maine in 1997.
3. Benefits of Rotary....it helped him distinguish himself to college recruiters and enhanced his leadership skills.
4. What he hopes to accomplish....give back and help others.
Standing in for Amy Chipman, Dick Hall announced that an eighth ‘Circle-of-Five’ is forming in our Club for making contributions to the Rotary Foundation. Making up four of the five circle members are Ellen Niewoehner,Bruce Moore, Mike Fortunato and Tom Ranello, with ONE opening remaining to round out the circle. Contact Amy Chipman if you would like to participate or would like additional information: amy.chipman@rbc.com. Excitement for this Friday: a drawing will be made for one member each of the existing seven "Circles of Five" to win a Paul Harris Fellow!
Laura pointed out that we need your help......lately we have not been making our 50-person minimum lunch guarantee at our meetings, despite the fact that attendance has surpassed 50 on many occasions. She appealed to the non-diners to help defer the club’s expenses, as we have to pay the difference and the funds could be better used in our service projects.
On Wednesday, March 29th, a group of Rotarians and friends were on the mountain at Sunday River, getting in the last of the skiing opportunities for this winter. It looks like they were all having a great time!
(L to R: Erik Greven, Paul Tully, Ellen Niewoehner, Paul Tully's son (Matt) and daughter (Lauren), Mark Fuller, Paul Gore and Amy Chipman.)
A great gathering at the Allagash Brewing Company last week with over 40 Rotarians and guests! This annual event could not happen without the generosity of a long-time community supporter and recipient of last year's Paul Harris Fellow award, Rob Tod. A warm thank you goes to Charli, our Allagash host, and the "pouring" team. A full array of delicious cheeses and meats, along with Maine's own 'Plucked' Salsa, kept our lively guests fed while enjoying 1 of 5 beers on tap.
(Left: President Laura Young and Bruce Moore.)
The evening highlights, including our raffle proceeds recipient, was United Way's "Summer Feed and Read Program."
(Right: Katie Camplin, Kathy Grammer and PP Bowen Depke.)
Katie Camplin from United Way attended to thank all the Rotarians for their contribution and continued support for this program, specifically the books that make the reading program happen. We raised $1,027 from registration and Allagash-inspired raffle tickets.
(Left: President-elect Don Zillman, PP Dick Hall and Amy Chipman.)
We hope to see everyone at this and other future "Friend Raiser" series events.
Special shout-out of thanks to Dave Seddon and Rob Chatfield for continuing this great tradition.
Invocation: Alan Nye Program Reporter: Alan Nye Bits & Pieces Reporter: Julie L'Heureux Registration/Greeter: Jerry Angier Sell Meal Tickets: Katie Brown Raffle: Patty Erickson Badge Box: Ben Delcourt Collect Meal Tickets: Rusty Atwood * Song Leader: Bill Blount Pianist: Russ Burleigh Sgt-at-Arms (Setup): Charlie Frair Sgt-at-Arms (Take Down): Jake Bourdeau
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) Abdullahi Ali Gateway Community Service (Andreea Paine)
Attorney General Janet Trafton Mills grew up in Farmington, Maine. She earned a B.A. degree from the University of Massachusetts Boston, and a J.D. degree from the University of Maine School of Law, where she was an editor of the Maine Law Review..JPG)
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Ogy Nikolic provided an interesting ‘Rotary Moment,’ focusing on four topics: 
Standing in for Amy Chipman, Dick Hall announced that an eighth ‘Circle-of-Five’ is forming in our Club for making contributions to the Rotary Foundation. Making up four of the five circle members are Ellen Niewoehner, Bruce Moore, Mike Fortunato and Tom Ranello, with ONE opening remaining to round out the circle. Contact Amy Chipman if you would like to participate or would like additional information: 
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