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Speakers
Jul 28, 2017
Aug 04, 2017
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Executives & Directors
President
 
First Vice President
 
Second Vice President
 
Treasurer
 
Secretary
 
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
 
Fund Raising Chair
 
Good Cheer Chair
 
Invocation Chair
 
Meeting Day Chair
 
Music Committee Chair
 
Program Chair
 
Membership 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
DistrictSiteIcon District Site
VenueMap Venue Map
Rotary This Week
 
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.
2017-18 Club Rosters
 
DON'T FORGET TO PICK UP YOUR NEW 2017-18 PORTLAND ROTARY CLUB ROSTER AT THE NEXT MEETING!
 
Please review your personal information in the book and advise Loretta Rowe (lrowe@maine.rr.com) of any errors or changes.
 
Please correct the following pages/information in your book:
 
Page 18 (Classifications):
Consultant-Gov't Relations      
(Name) Clough, David
 
Page 51 (Members):
Nickerson, Thomas W.
(Email) thomas.w.nickerson@maine.edu
 
Page 58 (Members):
Stone, Andrew M.
(Email) keycarpenter@gmail.com
 
Thank you.
 
 
*07/28/17 Michael Bourque, Incoming CEO MEMIC

Longtime MEMIC Group executive Michael Bourque will take the helm of the Portland-based workers’ compensation insurance provider when its current chief executive retires later this year. Bourque, a former newspaper reporter from Maine who has worked at MEMIC for 22 years, is senior vice president of external affairs. He will replace retiring President and CEO John Leonard, a founding leader of the company.

Mike is a graduate of the University of Maine with a bachelor’s degree in Journalism. He is Accredited in Public Relations (APR) by the Public Relations Society of America and an accredited Workers’ Compensation Professional (WCP) as recognized by AMCOMP. He is also a graduate of the Maine Development Foundation’s Leadership Maine program. In 2004, he was named winner of the Edward L. Bernays Award, the top honor from the Maine Public Relations Council for career achievement in public relations. He has been named winner of the 2016 Community Leadership Award by DayOne. 

Before joining MEMIC, Mike was senior editor for the American Association of Community Colleges, based in Washington, DC. Previously, he spent five years as a journalist, working for daily newspapers in Maine and Alaska. He won writing awards from the Maine Press Association during his stint at the Journal Tribune in Biddeford, Maine. 

Mike serves on numerous boards and committees. He is the chair of the 2016 United Way of Greater Portland’s Campaign Committee and the immediate past chair of the Board of the Portland Regional Chamber of Commerce. He is immediate past-chair of the Board of Directors of the Children’s Museum and Theatre of Maine and the Southern Maine Community College Foundation. He is a former chair of the Portland Community Chamber of Commerce and is a member of the Board of Directors of the Maine Chamber. He has served as president of the Maine Public Relations Council, and Youth and Family Outreach, a social service agency that provides low cost childcare. He is a former member of the Communications Committee of the American Association of State Compensation Insurance Funds and an industry planning committee for the National Association of Mutual Insurance Companies (NAMIC).

 
07/21/17 District Governor Dave Underhill

District Governor Dave Underhill, referring to his background in broadcasting, started by telling us he would be using the District Governor’s timing module to track time as he recognizes that Rotarians' time is valuable.  

Dave used a simple banner, showing the Rotary International six areas of focus, all forming a pyramid, telling us that the pyramid supports world peace. 

• Disease prevention and treatment

• Water and sanitation.

• Maternal and child health.

• Basic education and literacy.

• Economic and community development.

• Peace and conflict prevention/resolution

Rotary is a peace organization. Rotary was part of the founding of the United Nations, and has continued working for world peace ever since.  

There were only 7 polio cases in the world last year. This has been a tremendous achievement by Rotary and others, and the efforts will continue until the work is done.

Clean water represents a challenge for people who live away from us, but Dave gave several examples of where clean water has been a challenge in several areas of New England. Rotary International and Portland Rotary continue to work on this challenge.

Maternal and child health affects many people in our district, as well as around the world. Portland Rotary, through its Childhood Health and Education (CHE) program, is working locally to address this challenge. Our program also supports the basic education and literacy focus.

District 7780 had an excellent speaker, Bob McKenzie, at the last District Conference, who talked about the devastating effect of drug addiction. Bob spoke of the impact of substance misuse disorder, now a recognized medical condition. The District decided that we need to tackle this issue. Bob will chair a new committee (Recovery Initiative), with a mandate to make things better. Each club is invited to take on one piece of the problem. Dave gave the example that Portland could extend its high school mentoring to someone in a program of recovery. The task force comprised of this committee will be collecting best practices and getting new ideas. We are invited to join the task force...we can make a difference to someone.

Dave outlined a second challenge to the club, to build our own Pyramid of Peace. Dave says that Portland Rotary is already working in most areas and asked us to do one more thing, keep track of hours and funds raised. Dave wants to report on work and dollars at the five-district conference to be held next spring and says that telling the story of hours contributed is a powerful message to the public.

The District has a variation on Public relations this year. Clubs are partnering to tell stories together to increase the effectiveness. Dave encouraged us to participate directly or through our Assistant Governor, Bill Anderson.

Portland Rotary, through President Don Zillman, has committed to a net addition of 15 members to our club. Dave encouraged us to not only invite people to meetings, but also invite them to come help with service projects. 

DG Dave asked our members to consider joining him and others, by adding a bequest to Rotary Foundation, saying it’s a way to have our good work continue after we are gone. Anyone interested can contact Dick Hall, Foundation Chair, Amy Chipman, the retiring Foundation Chair, or President Don Zillman.

Dave has asked Portland Rotary to plant 150 trees in the next year supplied by District 7780. Rotary is tied together as a social network to take action and make a difference. Rotarians see problems as opportunities and challenges, which we can overcome together.

Q&A: Gracie Johnston shared that the Portland Rotary Community Service Committee is already planning to work on the substance abuse issues. President Don asked how we can help other clubs, and Dave suggested we could offer partnering, offer talents in water projects, and invite other clubs to work together on common projects. When goaded by the audience on the membership competition between Portland and Portsmouth during 2016-17, Dave committed to staying neutral, like Switzerland, this year. Joking aside, he said that Past President Bowen Depke’s challenge was good for both clubs and he appreciated the continued growth.

(Photo L-R: Assistant Governor Bill Anderson, President Don Zillman, District Governor Dave Underhill and Linda Underhill.)

07/21/17 Bits & Pieces

President Don Zillman welcomed 55 members, 3 guests and 1 visiting Rotarian, then congratulated Ben Lowry who was inducted into the Maine Baseball Hall of Fame at the 47th annual Induction Ceremony and Banquet held on Sunday, July 16, at the Holiday Inn By-the-Bay. Ben was recognized for his three-time all-state selection at Falmouth High School and he compiled a .426 career batting average at Colby College in Waterville. Past President Russ Burleigh provided our invocation; we pledged our Allegiance to the American Flag; and sang a patriotic song, accompanied on the keyboard by Russ. 


President Don relayed a message from Mary Finnegan, a former Portland Rotarian now living in Apache Junction, Arizona, where summer heat has reached 104 degrees F!


There was a request for volunteers to help at Preble Street Soup Kitchen on Wednesday, July 26th....please contact Gracie Johnston at gracie.johnston@wcsh6.com. Gracie recently returned from a humanitarian mission to help children in Cambodia, where she worked with the Sharing Foundation, an international aid organization with headquarters in Massachusetts. The Sharing Foundation’s mission is to help meet the physical, emotional, educational and medical needs of orphaned and seriously disadvantaged children in Cambodia. 



Among the guests of Portland Rotarians was Eli Small, who was introduced by his father Rotarian Dave Small. They accompanied two visitors from Montagu South Africa, who were helping to teach dance and music at the Center Day Camp on the shores of Big Sebago Lake. 

A Rotary banner exchange was conducted between Portland Rotary and the Montagu South Africa Club that helped to sponsor the 2 international guests.
 



Peter Goffin introduced Peter Moore, who was returning as a Portland Rotarian. Peter Goffin has now brought 20 members into Rotary.
 



Mike Fortunato spoke about the successful outdoor hamburger and hot dog cookout the Rotarian volunteers helped to host at the Cedar Unit at Long Creek Youth Development Center in Portland. Volunteers are welcome to help with this program by contacting Mike at michael.k.fortunato@gmail.com (a short orientation and background check are all the Rotarian volunteers need, after contacting Mike).
 



Dr. Roger Fagan gave a reminder to Rotarians to continue helping to collect used hearing aids for the 3H (Hearing, Hands and H2O) international project in the Dominican Republic. Dick Giles also told us of a slide presentation that was created by another 3-H participant about the project. To view the presentation, visit: https://drive.google.com/file/d/0Bxgkpb1Et6wVUkV1QzlWdTFreTg/view  
For more
information, visit: http://www.portlandrotary.org/Stories/light-up-their-lives
 



Jennifer Frederick conducted the weekly raffle, where the pot was over $500, but Julie L’Heureux, whose name was drawn by our District Governor, drew the 5 of Hearts. The Queen remains waiting in the dwindling deck of cards. 
 

Multi-district Rotary Red Sox Day at Fenway

Red Sox and Rotary together on September 13!

Join 200 Rotarians and friends from around New England to root for our hometown heroes – our Boston Red Sox, when they play the Oakland Athletics at historic Fenway Park. 200 seats in the left field grandstand, in Sections 29-31, have been blocked out for us. This event will sell out, so call your friends and purchase your tickets today. Meet new friends; chat about baseball and Rotary; have a wonderful time; and cheer on our beloved Red Sox. Hopefully they will still be in first place, on their way to the playoffs and on their way to another World Series banner!

Game date:     September 13, 2017 @ 7:10 PM 

Deadline to purchase:     August 18, 2017 @ 11:59 

Seat block location:     left field grandstand, Sections 29-31

Purchase at:     https://groupmatics.events/event/Rotaryinternational

After you purchase your tickets, please send a quick note to DGN Andy Glazier at andyglzr@gmail.com. Based on the level of interest and response to this offer, we will then explore transportation options. If you have any questions, please also contact Andy Glazier (email above). Thank you!

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


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

This Week's Duty Assignments

Invocation:  Kathy Grammer
Program Reporter:  John Marr
Bits & Pieces Reporter:  Bill Blount
Registration/Greeter: Chris Thomas
Sell Meal Tickets:  Patty Erickson
Raffle:  Bruce Jones
Badge Box:  Jean Murachanian
Collect Meal Tickets: Ellen Niewoehner 
*
Song Leader:  Amy Chipman
Pianist:  Kathy Grammer
Sgt-at-Arms (Setup):  Peter Noyes
Sgt-at-Arms (Take Down):  Howie Herodes

*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  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.