Lisa Morin, Director of Philanthropy for the Center for Grieving Children, will share the story of the Center’s work. The Center was founded in 1987 by Maine resident Bill Hemmens following the death of his sister. In trying to find help and support for his niece, Bill recognized that children need peers and caring adults to support them through their grief, because death profoundly affects every aspect of their lives. Today, the Center for Grieving Children, operating from Portland and Sanford, serves more than 4,000 grieving children, teens, families, and young adults annually. Since its founding, the Center has served more than 66,000 children, teens, and their families.
The Center’s mission is to provide loving support to grieving children, teens, families and the community through peer support, outreach and education. Services are offered at no charge, for as long as people need them. These services encourage the safe expression of grief and loss, and foster each individual’s resilience and emotional well-being.
In her role as Director of Philanthropy, Morin is responsible for planning, coordinating, and implementing a major gifts donor program to meet the Center's philanthropic goals. Working alongside with the Executive Director, Board of Directors and Development Team, the focus of Lisa's work is to identify, maintain and expand supporters while engaging them in meaningful opportunities.
Prior to joining the Center, Lisa held leadership development positions with the Alzheimer’s Association, Thornton Academy, and Counseling Services, Inc. Lisa lives in southern Maine with her husband Jerry and daughter Sydney. She enjoys spending time with family, holds her friends dearly, and loves opportunities to learn something new. “I am honored and thrilled to be part of a wonderful team making a significant difference for families in Maine.”
Bits and Pieces | by Tom Talbott
Ellen Niewoehner welcomed a small audience of 29 members, and we would soon learn of tech glitch preventing many from entering. Zoom connectivity issues plagued the February 19 meeting, creating disruptions that prevented some from signing in, and abruptly shutting the meeting down. But as the issues settled, we were able to proceed.
Bruce Jones provided the Invocation with the observation that “the Rotary Motto is ‘Service Above Self,’ and it is through our service that we help build good will and peace in the world.” Bruce credited a Rotary Club from British Columbia for this timely message: In these difficult times, may we not divide, but warmly abide within a strong fellowship built on relationships of respectful courtesy as we serve our community. May we rise in devoted adherence to the service of Rotary.”
Mark Stimson, our longest tenured Portland Rotarian (1967) took a bad fall and is currently in a skilled nursing facility in Saco. Due to COVID, he is unable to see visitors, including his wife Connie. A difficult time for all, but we can try to brighten his day with cards. Deliver a note to him at: Seal Rock Health Care, 88 Harbor Drive, Saco, ME 04072. Tom Ranello was the one to relay this news, and he reminded us that on April 4th, Mark will be 95. Let’s send some cheer his way.
Zoom Hygiene
Make sure you have upgraded to the latest version of the Zoom software appropriate to your computer, phone, or other device. The company is making significant changes to user security and you'll need to have the latest version installed to benefit from the software. The Zoom website has excellent tutorials and other guidance available in the Support tab at the top right of the screen on the Zoom home page.
Ghosts Beat Back Gremlins! | by John Marr
It’s said, “if you can make it in New York, you can make it anywhere!" Can you imagine combining that pluck with true Mainuh, Yankee ingenuity? We saw that mighty combination at work at this week’s meeting when it came to the presentation of our guest speaker, Karen Nason, founder of Station Square Restaurant at the old Depot in Gorham, which she transformed into a Grand Central Station look-a-like, including the iconic clock along with a baby grand piano. Nason grew up in Gorham and never lost the love of home but was of such intense energy and imagination that she had to push the norms and try to conquer not only New York, but New Jersey as well.
Mike Fortunato, our proud son of Brooklyn, found Karen and her Kitchen and saw a terrific story and pitched it to Rusty Atwood, Program Chair, who introduced Karen Nason to the club after President Ellen and the ever-industrious, Ms. Hodgkin, navigated the labyrinthian debacle of a Zoom system gone haywire and arranged for the show to go on. Despite Karen’s pitch time being cut in half, this energetic woman got a lifetime before us in short order, as a cook would do. Karen told us that she came back to Maine to care for her mother who was seriously ill. She left behind a successful culinary operation that she started in both NY and NJ. She created the Brooklyn Benny thin crust pizza in the Burrough and crossed the river to Hoboken, New Jersey. As if running an eatery wasn’t enough while in Jersey she ran for Mayor of Hoboken, why we’re yet to know. She was doing great and enjoyed life among the friendly millions of greater NYC. When Nason returned, she brought a bit of Gotham to Gorham and transformed the old depot into a magnificent wine bar in 2019. Dates are important because no sooner did she get things going great and the pandemic struck and the chimeric Karen went to work and morphed her Grand space into six kitchens and collaborated to create Ghosts, which brings the foods of multiple chefs to the curb or your dooryard, depending on your choice of safe dining.
While Grand Central is doing horribly, GhostKitchensMaine.com is doing fabulous and Karen and her culinary cohorts are happy cooks making a decent living while others are either out of business or trying to survive. Sure, all the survivors are offering take out but it’s how you create flare along with convenience that makes the Ghost different. It’s simply elegant, they put the whole package at your fingertips and onto your table. The Ghost concept can be traced back to Domino’s Pizza and has been picked up by Guy Fieri has opened up about a dozen ghost-like restaurants of sorts. For Nason, the concept allowed her the financial benefit of cutting back on serving and staff while remaining able to reinvent, which is the motivation that drives this woman. She is not interested in usurping the turf of the Portland restaurants and is concentrating on Gorham and the fringes where she can get to quickly and easily.
Karen’s innovative thinking, as well as willingness to take on risk, and confidence that she will wrestle it into submission is bound to bring her continued success. Her effervescent personality transcends the food and captivates all those within her sphere. People are always going to be eating but don’t always want to be cooking, hence the delivery of good food will be all the more inviting as people continue to work from home or are too tired when they get there. However, most of us still want a bit of entertainment in our life going beyond the challenges of a COVID crisis and she is doing a Dine at the Movies Night where tables will be at least six feet apart and the choice of foods will be brought into the theater and it will be like Netflix at home but better. The ideas are endless, and Karen gets up every day determined to find something new and make up for anything that has been lost. Karen may miss the electric excitement of New York, but is now growing in Gorham, realizing to succeed you can’t go back, only forward. Consequently, I recommend that you get out of her way and get in her parade to march with the Ghosts! The Brooklyn Benny pizza, however, is the real deal, try it, you’ll love it.
Moment of Reflection
When I Have Fears That I May Cease to Be
By John Keats
When I have fears that I may cease to be
Before my pen has gleaned my teeming brain,
Before high-pilèd books, in charactery,
Hold like rich garners the full ripened grain;
When I behold, upon the night’s starred face,
Huge cloudy symbols of a high romance,
And think that I may never live to trace
Their shadows with the magic hand of chance;
And when I feel, fair creature of an hour,
That I shall never look upon thee more,
Never have relish in the faery power
Of unreflecting love—then on the shore
Of the wide world I stand alone, and think
Till love and fame to nothingness do sink.
February 23 marks the 200th anniversary of the death
of John Keats. He was 25.
Speaker Schedule
February 26 | Lisa Morin, Center for Grieving Children
March 5 | Caroline Croft Estay & Nona Yehia, Vertical Harvest
March 12 | Brian Corcoran, Shamrock Sports
March 19 | Stefanie Trice Gill, IntWork LLC
March 26 | Hannah Pingree, Maine Climate Plan
April 2 | Brit Vitalius, Southern Maine Landlord Association
April 9 | Mark Burnett, Cannabis Industry / Higher Grounds
will share the story of the Center’s work. The Center was founded in 1987 by Maine resident Bill Hemmens following the death of his sister. In trying to find help and support for his niece, Bill recognized that children need peers and caring adults to support them through their grief, because death profoundly affects every aspect of their lives. Today, the Center for Grieving Children, operating from Portland and Sanford, serves more than 4,000 grieving children, teens, families, and young adults annually. Since its founding, the Center has served more than 66,000 children, teens, and their families.
