A century ago, The Great War was approaching its climax, with the Western Front battered by German forces seeking to take Paris. Dug in along miles of trenches, the American Expeditionary Force, led by American General John J. Pershing and French Marshall Ferdinand Foch, was determined to repel this advance. The fate of France, and its Allies, hung in the balance.
The month of July, 1918, would prove to be a critical turning point in World War I, albeit costly in terms of lives lost. July 18 marked the beginning of that turning point as A.E.F. Forces went “over the top” early that morning at Soissons and by the time the month was over, the German advance had been successfully blunted. Paris was safe and in three months time, an armistice would be signed and the doughboys could begin coming back from “over there.”
Many, however, did not come back. We, in Rotary, know of one local lad in particular - Harold T. Andrews - whose memory lives on via the memorial square, and flagpole, that bears our imprint. Others fell as well, 67 from Portland whose names are listed on a plaque in front of City Hall. One of the fallen was an Army officer born in Gorham, a 1912 graduate of Portland High and of West Point, Class of 1917, who led his men “over the top” on July 18, and remained behind - never to return to his home, or to his wife of nine months. A small piece of him did return, however, and in a most unusual way - and eventually made an equally unusual journey than the one that brought it home to Portland.
Portland Rotarian Rusty Atwood will identify the officer, offer “the rest of the story,” and, by extension, pay homage to many others whose service and sacrifice during “the war to end all wars” has faded into history. For those among us who travel Baxter Boulevard with any regularity, they are with us still.
(Special thanks to Past Presidents Bowen Depke and Jim Willey, along with other Rotarians whose efforts during our Centennial Celebration prompted Rusty’s interest in bringing this story to a wider audience.)
Allan Brown from MEMIC is a physical trainer by schooling, and he was the speaker at Friday’s meeting. Mr. Brown shared some of his 33-years of ergonomic experience gained from his schooling and from training workers and employers at one of Maine’s largest companies.
His message about ergonomics really touches close to home, since Maine has one of the oldest work forces (with the average worker age being close to 48 years old) and with over 85% of current jobs being considered sedentary when compared to approximately 50% of jobs in the 1950’s. For instance, Allan and others were noticing that workers in the office were having more aches, pains, or injuries than those in the warehouse. This lead to companies starting to use standup desks to help with posture and change positioning at work.
Mr. Brown also discussed comorbidity which is the coupling of multiple diseases or disorders, and which often occurs as one grows older (e.g., oh, my aching back, and my eyes are going). He also demonstrated how correct posture comes from sitting or standing properly at work, and how changing positions throughout the day will help all of us to reduce strain. He noted that those of us that stand up and walk around the office, and maybe standing occasionally throughout the day, have been shown to be healthier in the long run.
Allan compared our posture to a seven-button club, whereby the number of buttons one sees on your shirt in the mirror gets smaller (6 buttons), and smaller (5 buttons), as we crouch, slouch, or bend over. If you can align your spine vertically, all seven buttons on your shirt have a shot at showing, and this is the best posture for reducing comorbidities and strain.
He drove his points home by having Patty Erickson (photo at left) and Elise Hodgkin (photo below) demonstrate how our typical 13-pound head can really affect the musculature, and how holding one’s head in a proper position can allow certain muscles to relax. He went as far as to connect Elise’s upper back muscles to a machine that recorded the muscles' electrical pulses, and converted the readings to sound: the tighter the muscles were when she reached forward, the louder the sound became. With a little practice, Elise was able to relax those muscles using proper posture.
The long and short of Mr. Brown’s presentation is that over the years, gravity can bring you down, but there are some things you can do to counter act it. For additional information, he can be contacted at: abrown@memic.com.
(Photo L-R: 2nd VP Ellen Niewoehner, President John Curran, Allan Brown and Justin Lamontagne.)
President John Curran opened the meeting by welcoming 43 members, 2 visiting Rotarians and one guest, then introduced Past President Russ Burleigh for the invocation. Russ said the word “Triskaidekaphobia” very slowly. Then told us the meaning – from the Greek 'triskaideka,' meaning “thirteen,” and 'phobos,' meaning “fear.” It is the fear or avoidance of the number 13. Which the day is Friday the 13th of July. He continued to tell us what July means to him.
The visiting non-Rotarian, Jo Courney, was from Cabot Cheese, giving us cheese samples and told us about a Reward Volunteers program. Record the time you spend volunteering in your local community. When you log your time, you can win prizes like New England Vacations, cash for the nonprofit you volunteer with, and so many more. A fun cheese box auction brought in $50 and the winner was….Paul Gore!
Past President Loretta Rowe was making a first appearance from her medical leave. She handed out the new roster books, asked us to review our personal information for accuracy, and to contact her if anything needed correcting. She smiled (tearfully) as everyone stood and applauded her return to the club. We are so happy to see her smiling face again.
President John Curran gave recognition to the rest of the new board members, then to 'Rotarians in the News': Jesse Harvey for his work on recovery homes that was published in the Bangor News and for his interview on a local radio station and Bob Fowler for his work for Milestone Recovery.
Jesse Harvey, Co-chair of the newly-formed Opioid Task Force for Recovery, was about to announce the progress of the committee, when Gracie Johnston, his Co-chair, suddenly appeared on queue to support his announcement. Together they described how the whole Opioid Task Force committee worked on a grant to District and received the $5000 award for their "Train the Trainer" program for Portland Recovery. This program will provide training, 30 hrs. of recovery coach courses and development of a curriculum for recovery coaches and Rotarians for training more trainers in the area. The goal is to offer classes and workshops for schools and organizations to help recognize the needs and support the recovery efforts.
Jan Chapman gave an update on the Summer Reading program. The first week was a very hot day with a handful of participants, but the second week doubled with excitement building for the summer. For more information, contact Jan: janchapman1966@gmail.com.
Mike Fortunato told us that the Long Creek BBQ is Tuesday July 17th. He will give us an update after the event.
Brian McDonough handled the weekly raffle and the speaker pulled Linda Varrell's name from the holding vessel of tickets, giving her a chance to find the Queen of Hearts, but it did not appear.
Past President Kris Rosado announced that the "Maine Outdoor Challenge" raised $27,805 for Portland Rotary. The next fundraiser, the "Cornhole Championship," has had some changes as the Maine Girls' Academy is closing and will not be our partner. We will now partner with the Boys and Girls Club/NYA Scholarship. Cornhole boards will be made and a date will be announced on when help for those is needed. (see separate article)
We are in need of 6-8 Volunteers to help assemble cornhole boxes. You don't need to be an expert carpenter, but must be comfortable with using basic power tools, like drills, hammers and paint brushes.
The First Annual Maine Cornhole Championship will be held at NYA on Thursday, August 23rd, from 4-7 PM. We anticipate 64 teams which means we need 32 sets of cornhole boxes.
Russ Voss has offered his new brewery on Route 100 in New Gloucester to be used as our manufacturing facility, and he feels confident we can knock out 30-40 sets in one day. Ben Delcourt is also helping coordinate the construction of the boxes. Their plan is for them and a few friends to precut and prepare all of the pieces on a Saturday, and then have a work party on Sunday to assemble and finish the boxes. A date has not been set, so right now we are trying to get an idea of who might be able and willing to help.
Please reply to Kris at krisrosado67@gmail.com if you might be able to help, and we will let you know once we have a date. Hint, the Event is August 23rd, so there are not many weekends left!!
WHAT: A 2-hour work detail to assemble crutches and other mobility aids for shipment in August. It is an opportunity to meet, work alongside, and share ideas with other Rotarians. GUARANTEED TO BE FUN. Light refreshments will be available.
DATE AND WHEN: Thursday July 26th, 5 - 7 (??) PM
WHERE: Warehouse at 20 Gooch St., Biddeford, just off Route 1 downtown (Near the waste plant site)
Dennis Robillard and the Saco Bay Sunset Club are planning to ship another container of mobility aids to Africa in August. They need help packaging and bundling equipment for easy and proper loading. They are a small Club that does a lot. We need another 10-15 people from local Rotary Clubs to help.
This is a quick hands-on project that many of you have asked for. PLEASE LET TONY WAGNER KNOW YOUR AVAILABILITY AS SOON AS YOU CAN.
You can contact Tony at his cell 799-7997 or Dennis at 468-0443. This project helps meet the District goal of expanding inter-club collaboration.
The new Club Rosters are out for 2018-19. Please be sure to pick yours up at the next Rotary meeting....there is a book with your name on it. Once you have it, please check your personal information to be sure everything is correct. If you find an error or know of a change, please contact Loretta (lrowe@maine.rr.com) and it will be published in the next Windjammer for you to correct in your own book.
Changes to date:
Jake Bourdeau, change work address to: 120 Exchange St., #300, P. 04101
Summer Reading Tuesdays and Thursdays Program 11:15-12:00 pm North Deering July 5 thru August 9 Gardens Contact Jan Chapman or Laura Young on Tuesdays jchapman1966@gmail.com lyoung@mainecf.org
Invocation: Charlie Frair Program Reporter: Terri St. Angelo Bits & Pieces Reporter: John Marr Registration/Greeter: Stephanie Joyce Sell Meal Tickets: Jennifer Frederick Raffle: Jerry Angier Collect Meal Tickets: Mike Robinson Sgt-at-Arms (Setup): Dave Putnam Sgt-at-Arms (Take Down): Jim Willey
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 to the appropriate projects.
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.
A century ago, The Great War was approaching its climax, with the Western Front battered by German forces seeking to take Paris. Dug in along miles of trenches, the American Expeditionary Force, led by American General John J. Pershing and French Marshall Ferdinand Foch, was determined to repel this advance. The fate of France, and its Allies, hung in the balance.
He drove his points home by having Patty Erickson (photo at left) and Elise Hodgkin (photo below) demonstrate how our typical 13-pound head can really affect the musculature, and how holding one’s head in a proper position can allow certain muscles to relax. 
He went as far as to connect Elise’s upper back muscles to a machine that recorded the muscles' electrical pulses, and converted the readings to sound: the tighter the muscles were when she reached forward, the louder the sound became. With a little practice, Elise was able to relax those muscles using proper posture..JPG)
The visiting non-Rotarian, Jo Courney, was from Cabot Cheese, giving us cheese samples and told us about a Reward Volunteers program. Record the time you spend volunteering in your local community. When you log your time, you can win prizes like New England Vacations, cash for the nonprofit you volunteer with, and so many more. A fun cheese box auction brought in $50 and the winner was….Paul Gore!
Past President Loretta Rowe was making a first appearance from her medical leave. She handed out the new roster books, asked us to review our personal information for accuracy, and to contact her if anything needed correcting. She smiled (tearfully) as everyone stood and applauded her return to the club. We are so happy to see her smiling face again. 
Jesse Harvey, Co-chair of the newly-formed Opioid Task Force for Recovery, was about to announce the progress of the committee, when Gracie Johnston, his Co-chair, suddenly appeared on queue to support his announcement. Together they described how the whole Opioid Task Force committee worked on a grant to District and received the $5000 award for their "Train the Trainer" program for Portland Recovery. This program will provide training, 30 hrs. of recovery coach courses and development of a curriculum for recovery coaches and Rotarians for training more trainers in the area. The goal is to offer classes and workshops for schools and organizations to help recognize the needs and support the recovery efforts..JPG)
Jan Chapman gave an update on the Summer Reading program. The first week was a very hot day with a handful of participants, but the second week doubled with excitement building for the summer. For more information, contact Jan: .JPG)
Past President Kris Rosado announced that the "Maine Outdoor Challenge" raised $27,805 for Portland Rotary. The next fundraiser, the "Cornhole Championship," has had some changes as the Maine Girls' Academy is closing and will not be our partner. We will now partner with the Boys and Girls Club/NYA Scholarship. Cornhole boards will be made and a date will be announced on when help for those is needed. (see separate article)