Paul Drinan is the Executive Director of the nonprofit Friends of Fort Gorges (FoFoGo). Paul will be presenting a program on Friday to highlight the group's mission, trajectory, status and ways to engage with the restoration of Fort Gorges in Portland harbor. Their mission statement: "Friends of Fort Gorges is committed to the restoration and preservation of Fort Gorges and ensuring access to facilitate its educational and cultural potential. We believe in partnering with our community to fulfill this vision."
The City and the Friends of Fort Gorges have partnered to restore this historic structure and to reduce hazards at the Fort, ensuring that the Fort remains a vital public space for generations to come. The restoration will be broken into roughly three phases: a Hazard Mitigation Phase, a Preservation Phase, and a Restoration and Improvement Phase.
Work on the Hazard Mitigation phase started last October with the repair of a stairway that leads to the second story roof of the Fort. This spring, the Army Corps of Engineers will commence with their portion of the project to install a series of railings and gates throughout the fort to increase safety for the many casual visitors to the Fort. Through making these repairs, the City hopes to bring the structure up to a standard where organized groups will be able to utilize the Fort for historical tours, musical and theater performances, and other public events.
The second phase, the Preservation phase, consists of evaluation and strengthening the structure so that the Fort will be a safer place to visit and remain open to the public for years to come. Right now, when the Fort is not closed, visitors may visit the historic structure and explore it at their own risk. Funding for the Preservation phase will be provided by the Maine Historic Preservation Commission, National Trust for Historic Preservation, and the Friends of Fort Gorges.
Following the completion of phase two, the City of Portland and Friends of Fort Gorges will commence a more comprehensive Restoration and Improvement phase that will involve public input on future uses and activities at the Fort, which will guide the direction of the restoration work and potential future amenities such as an improved pier, restored indoor spaces, and restrooms.
(Photo: Bob Clark, Dajuan Eubanks, and President Laura Young.)
Rotarian Bob Clark, Chief Professional Officer at the Boys and Girls Club of Southern Maine (BGC) had the pleasure of introducing, Dajuan Eubanks, a member of the Board of the BGC. It’s easy to understand why Bob looks up to Mr. Eubanks as a role model for the kids at the Club. Mr. Eubanks is the current President of the Maine Red Claws, the development league team associated with the Legendary Boston Celtics, as well as the creator of the Blue Wave basketball instructional team. Bob made it clear that it is far more than Dajuan’s sports prominence that make him an ideal role model for the BGC. Dajuan, alternatively listens to such introductions and wonders, “are they talking about me?”
Dajuan Eubanks is more than a basketball success story, he is an inspiration. Dajuan and his three daughters live in Portland and love being in Maine. Dajuan started life in Alabama, but his father moved the family to Texas, where he expected there to be greater opportunities for the family. His father was right and his young son grew emotionally, intellectually and, especially, physically in Texas. As a freshman in high school he was 5’8” but shot up to 6’3” by the end of his sophomore year. It didn’t take much to figure that basketball was in his future. What makes the story so inspiring is that the prominence and notoriety of basketball in his life was not the all-encompassing success factor, merely a vehicle. You might think that a 6’9” man who goes on to play on the famed Harlem Globetrotters team would be high on himself and basketball, but Dajuan is a humble, unassuming man who capitalizes on success because of his forward-thinking vision. He does not deny that basketball was instrumental in the development of his character...teaching him the value of team play and dealing with disappointment while playing for Rice University in Houston, Texas. He was enjoying success with the Rice basketball team when adversity struck in his junior year and he had to put the game aside due to having life-threatening surgery that took him out of the game for the remainder of his college career. With a solid college education, he thought he would like to become a civil engineer, because he loved being outdoors. Fate, fortunately saw it differently, and after graduation he was asked to join the Harlem Globetrotters.
Dajuan soon realized that life with the Globetrotters was more than just basketball. They played games 7 days a week all around the world. He learned that he was more than a basketball player...he was expected to be an ambassador of the team, the game and “the red, white and blue.” He grew into the role and enjoyed having the opportunity to see the world of the rich and famous, but not become consumed by it. He used his world experiences with the Globetrotters as a learning experience and means to develop his self-confidence and ability to mesh with a diverse world. He likens the philosophy of the Globetrotters to Rotary because both clubs are committed to making the world a better place. His travels brought him to Maine where he met a girl from Ellsworth, who also loved and played basketball, and went on to marry and have a family. Being a family man required that Dajuan step out of basketball and parlay his contacts into a business focus. He did a short stint with an Apple affiliate and moved on to an associated company, OmniCom, which grew magnificently and got the family to Maine, as part of Pierce Promotions.
The past three years Dajuan has been the President of the Maine Red Claws. He declares that the job “isn’t rocket science, it’s entertainment.” He utilizes his experience with the Globetrotters and Pierce Promotions to promote the interests of the founders of the team, who are not just investors, they are fans of the team and have an expanded vision of purpose that goes beyond basketball. He pointed to how the team has embraced and made improvements to the Expo and loves their home court as an integral part of the Maine image. He is not pushing to move the team from the Expo to a new home at Thompson’s Point, but will take what the future might bring.
President Laura Young opened the meeting at the Holiday Inn By the Bay, with 51 Rotarians and 4 guests. Dave Small did a wishful spring-themed invocation after Portland had another significant snow storm on Tuesday, putting us well above the seasonal snow accumulation average. Eric Lusk lead us in the Pledge of Allegiance and Kathy Grammer played the piano, as we sang our National Anthem.
The vitality of our club was quite evident last week when three new members joined our ranks. President Laura asked the membership to consider being a mentor to the new recruits. Contact Leisa Collins at leisa.g.collins@gmail.com
Matt Tassey gave us a "Rotary Moment." Matt Joined us in 1986. Peter Barnard was Club president and Ronald Regan our nation’s president. The nuclear power plant in USSR’s Chernobyl had a melt down and the Space Shuttle Challenger exploded. Matt was asked and was proud to chair a committee to admit women in the club. Why does Matt continue to find value as a Portland Rotarian? He is inspired and humbled by the models of behavior of many Rotarians and what they manage to accomplish.
Matt also conducted the raffle and our speaker drew Paul Gore’s name for a chance to win $1,586. Paul drew the Ace of Clubs, so the pot will continue to grow until the lucky card drawer finds the elusive Queen of Hearts.
(Photo: Peter Hamblin, Sophia Mayone and Ellen Niewoehner.)
Ellen Niewoehner introduced Waynflete advisor Peter Hamblin, who introduced the Youth Service Award recipient, Sophia Mayone. Peter described Sophia’s extensive community service involvement, including starting Waynflete's participation in the Dream Factory. Apparently this apple did not fall far from the tree as Sophia’s mother Kimberly was also awarded the Waynflete Student of the Month scholarship in 1988. Congratulations, Sophia and to your proud parents, Kimberly and Mark Mayone!
Ellen also announced a Rotary Ski Day – Wednesday, March 29th. If you would like to join us, meet us at the Maine Turnpike Gray exit Park N Ride lot at 7:30 AM, or meet us at Southridge Lodge at 9 AM or at the Northpeak Lodge as noon, both at Sunday River. For more information, contact Ellen at: ellen.niewoehner@td.com.
Invocation: Julie L'Heureux Program Reporter: Dick Hall Bits & Pieces Reporter: Julie L'Heureux Registration/Greeter: Andrew Cook Sell Meal Tickets: Loretta Rowe Raffle: Jan Chapman Badge Box: Patty Erickson Collect Meal Tickets: Nick Lotfey* Song Leader: Amy Chipman Pianist: Russ Burleigh Sgt-at-Arms (Setup): Bruce Moore Sgt-at-Arms (Take Down): Mike Fortunato
.JPG)
.JPG)
President Laura Young opened the meeting at the Holiday Inn By the Bay, with 51 Rotarians and 4 guests. Dave Small did a wishful spring-themed invocation after Portland had another significant snow storm on Tuesday, putting us well above the seasonal snow accumulation average. Eric Lusk lead us in the Pledge of Allegiance and Kathy Grammer played the piano, as we sang our National Anthem.
Matt Tassey gave us a "Rotary Moment." Matt Joined us in 1986. Peter Barnard was Club president and Ronald Regan our nation’s president. The nuclear power plant in USSR’s Chernobyl had a melt down and the Space Shuttle Challenger exploded. Matt was asked and was proud to chair a committee to admit women in the club. Why does Matt continue to find value as a Portland Rotarian? He is inspired and humbled by the models of behavior of many Rotarians and what they manage to accomplish..JPG)
.JPG)