News of The Rotary Club of Portland, Maine
January 12, 2021
The Impact of COVID-19 On Supermarkets
 
Cheryl Hinkson is the Director of Operations at Hannaford Supermarkets where she has worked for over 23 years. She oversees the operations of retail stores in the Portland market. Hinkson is a graduate of the University of Southern Maine and a board member of the My Place Teen Center.
 
She will discuss Hannaford’s response to COVID-19. 
 
(Heather Paquette, Vice President of Hannaford's Retail Operations was scheduled to speak but cannot.)
The Boy Who Sang to Himself & The Boy Who was Hungry
by Bob Martin
 
Sometimes when we talk about our Rotary projects, we focus on the metrics—the dollars, the number of whatever we helped purchase or installed or donated. A story from Liz Fagan reminds us that the value of our efforts is not really in how much we’ve done or donated, but whom we’ve touched and how their lives—and ours— have changed as a result. 
 
Over the holiday, Liz sent an email to the 3H team: “I just reconnected with that boy with the beautiful little smile that I met on my first trip to the School for the Deaf in Santiago, DR in 2012. His name is Hector. I have wondered about him every time I see his smiling face.” She attached these two pictures. 
 
In a phone call, Liz said that she remembered the day the hearing aid was fitted. “The school had a swarm of children, teachers were hovering around trying to learn as much as possible, and the school house had no chalk.” But all of that was lost on Hector.  “Once his hearing aids were activated, he spent the day in the school yard singing to himself.” She was struck by his joy at hearing himself.
 
Liz said she wasn’t sure what the cause of Hector’s hearing loss was, but she suspected it might have been a side effect of meningitis, a disease rampant in the Dominican Republic.
 
Liz learned about Hector’s current status through another connection from a trip to the Dominican Republic. “Roger taught a young woman, Maria, how to make ear molds. She married an American and now lives in Massachusetts where she works as an education technology specialist. “We corresponded at Christmas and I asked ‘what happened to Hector?’” Maria contacted the principal at the school in La Romana and learned that Hector now lives in New York with his family, but doesn’t know much more about what he’s doing.
 
Expanding the story, Liz included another comment in her email: “This is like finding Graviel years after meeting him in the batey when he was about 14 years old. Another gift.” This “gift” is a remarkable story of impact.
 
Liz met Graviel Nuel Jacobo on a dirt road in La Romana when a fellow from a Baptist mission project stopped the jeep Liz was riding in to pick up a boy with one leg using a wooden crutch. “I was accompanied by a student intern who was pretty cute,” Liz laughed. “The driver told Graviel that it was a good day to practice his English. So Graviel turned to the young lady and said, ‘how old are you?’” Liz said that eventually Graviel came to the U.S. to have an artificial leg installed.
 
We can pick up the story on the Centro de Protesis Facebook page where Graviel writes about the loss of his leg: 
 
“My father used to head to the fields at 4:30 am and would finish working at 7:00 pm, with maybe an hourlong break, Monday through Saturday. They’d cut and load each worker's cane into an oxcart and take it to a weigh station on railroad tracks nearby. Workers were paid by the weight of what they cut, so my father used to make the equivalent of $4.00 per day. His salary was not enough for us to scarcely have a meal a day. We’d usually have one meal a day and many nights, we’d go to bed without any food at all.
One day, I came home from school, and I was so hungry and asked my parents for food, but they did not have any food to give me. I began looking for food in my village since my family had none. I had boarded a train car that was used to haul cut sugarcane to the refinery when I fell onto the railroad tracks. Unable to move, I was run over by a train car and lost my entire right leg. I was six years old.”
 
Today, Graviel Nuel Jacobo is the President and Founder of The Center for Prosthetic and Physical Therapy Foundation in La Romana, Dominican Republic, an organization supported and encouraged by Portland Rotary. Link here. What was the impact of that jeep conversation on that 14-year old with the wooden crutch? 
 
Business analysts talk a lot about economic multipliers, the impact of the flow of payrolls, for example, on a community. When you listen to Liz Fagan talk about her experiences, and those of the 3H team, you realize that we also need to think about heart multipliers, the impact of reaching out and helping someone and the courageousness and fearlessness and replication those acts inspire. 
 
Bits and Pieces | by Jake Bourdeau
 
  • President Ellen Niewoehner kicked off the Zoom meeting of 39 participants on January 8, 2021 wishing the club a Happy New Year, and noting that she was eager to hear the speaker today in light of what was going on in the country. 
  • In lieu of the invocation, Elise Hodgkin recommended that we all pray for our country. 
  • President Ellen welcomed Maggie McGauley, guest of Bruce Jones and a recruiter at Maine Medical Center who is considering membership; Brian Battson, proposed new member; Lori Allen and Lynn Ellis, colleagues of the speaker Craig Freshley; and, visiting Rotarian Kirk Duffy.  
Masks:
 
The second installment of face masks, donated by Ted Rossi, a Rotarian from Connecticut, will arrive on January 12, and Dick Hall will be present at Hadlock Field to help with the distribution.  The donation of one million masks by Rossi and his family foundation aims to support needs throughout New England, and this allotment of 5,000 masks to Portland Rotary will be distributed to the following recipients:
-  Immigrant Community
-  A Maine Veterans Home   
-  The Boys and Girls Club
-  Portland Recovery Community
-  Maine Immigrant Rights
-  Ronald McDonald House 
-  Maine Medical Center
 
Laura Young noted that a documentary film crew will follow the mask delivery truck, supporting press events and interviewing mask recipients. The film crew is scheduled to interview members of the Maine Immigrant Rights community during this round of mask distribution.   
 
Rotary Recovery Forum January 14th at 6:30 
Dave Underhill invited members to attend a live Rotary forum on Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) and recovery.  The forum is scheduled for Thursday January 14th, 2021 at 6:30 PM. The topics for discussion include community responses to ACEs, and will be presented by multiple speakers who have completed training on the topic. The forum fits with the Portland Rotary’s recovery task force. For more information, contact President Ellen or Jan Chapman. 
 
The link to the forum is here.  (Meeting ID: 987 3123 5303 Passcode: 017129)
 
Past President Mark Maloney to Speak
 
The Rotary Club of South Portland/Cape Elizabeth is hosting former Rotary International President Mark Maloney at their meeting Wednesday, January 13. The link is here. (Meeting ID: 899 6836 1342Passcode: 797349)
  
We don’t have to agree…just understand.”
 
by Tom Talbott
 
On our first meeting of the new year 2021, we welcomed a uniquely timed presentation from Craig Freshley, founder, guide and visionary of the Make Shift Coffee House. As a professional facilitator of meetings for all kinds of groups and venues, Craig had grown increasingly concerned by the growing political divide in this country. “We are becoming increasingly mean to each other in politics, disrespectful on both sides of the aisle,” he said. 
 
With supportive evidence from the Pew Research Center, Craig showed several color-coded slides that represented how the blue and red, aka Democrats and Republicans, have grown farther and farther apart, and more partisan in their voting. Craig also cited reports from public relations and marketing group, Weber Shandwick, on how civility in the workplace has been impacted by new attitudes. See link here
 
Craig was inspired to take his skills and start a format to inspire conversation across the aisle. This would be a makeshift style meeting where individuals from both parties, or more specifically, individuals who have diametrically opposite opinions on politically charged issues, can come together, talk, eat, and “hang out.” 
 
The first meeting was January 14th, 2017, at Curtis Memorial Library in Brunswick. Craig put forth the following guidelines. “We don’t have to agree. You can walk out the door with the same beliefs you came in with. This is not about trying to change minds. It is about trying to understand each other.”
 
Sounds simple. Not so. Craig continued. “You’ll be asked questions - How can you think that?’ How could you vote for that person? The difference is that we’re not looking for your theories, or even so-called facts, or science. We want to hear what you think, based on your experiences. How were you raised? What happened in your life that leads you to believe what you do? Your theories can be argued, but no one can argue with your story, or your experiences.”
 
To help break down barriers, the meeting provides good food and live music. The meetings are primarily coordinated with a sponsoring business or host, who typically chooses the subject or theme of the day. 
Craig proudly pointed out that his Advisory Board is co-chaired by the head of the Maine Republican Party, Demi Kouzounas, and the head of the Democratic Party, Kathleen Marra. He then noted a Lewiston councilman, Bruce Noddin, who shared a story on YouTube about how he bonded with a political rival through the coffee house, forging a friendship that could never have been predicted. 
 
Our speaker than posted a slide with six “Lessons Learned”.
  1. Every person has a good reason for what they believe.
  2. It’s harder for me to hate you when I’ve heard your story.
  3. It’s not us vs. them. It’s just us. We’re on the same team.
  4. To avoid war with each other, we have to talk to each other.
  5. I’m allowed to honor your beliefs without changing my beliefs.
  6. Demonstrate respect, always, for practical reasons.
 
Detailing each point, Craig noted that he understands that people act and say things they truly believe. So, while it can be hard to talk to someone with a different point of view, we have to talk, he said. “We get nowhere by refusing to talk. Making peace is a courageous endeavor.” 
 
We moved to Q&A. (Questions and Answers are paraphrased.)
 
Kirk Duffy: “Are some theories accelerating the divide, are they part of the problem?” Freshley responded frankly that some theories are meant to mislead, and the internet spreads them like wild fire. But more importantly, the question should be asked – “Why do you believe in that theory? What experience would inspire you to take up that view point?”
 
Michel Kanyambo: “I am an immigrant, disappointed at recent events. Is America still a good example of democracy? Is this the beginning of decline of U.S. power? How can that be restored?” Craig expressed his personal opinion that in his mind the American reputation has suffered. He added that he did not have a simple answer to this question.
 
John Marr: “I’m not a Facebook guy, but was sucked into the vortex recently. Instead of conversations, we’re having arguments. How do you deal with people at the coffee house who spew mistruths? Craig replied that this happens more and more. At one time, his response would have been, “I can’t be productive with you if we can’t agree on facts.” His new approach is to admit, “We simply cannot agree on the facts. I believe this, you believe that. Let’s try and make a solution that honors both. It’s the only way around the log jam.”
 
Leslie Clark: “I find myself in online conversations with people who have different opinions. I am apt to say, if that is what you believe that’s fine, but please unfriend me. However, that is unsatisfying.” Craig understood. “It’s hard to stay at the table when you disagree, particularly hard when it involves family, friends. It hurts. I am not judging anyone who walks away, blocks or unfriends. It is up to you where that line is drawn. I am encouraging you to work through the issues. Staying mad and withdrawing is easy, but try to stay at the table to make peace.”
 
Mark Millar: “How do we know…is it opinion or fact?” Craig agreed with the dilemma. “There seems to be an intention of misinformation. Anyone can be a photographer, a videographer, a journalist, and put it out there for consumption. A real problem.
 
Brian Batson: “I served on Portland City Council, where issues are local, not partisan based. Can you envision moving the needle on a state legislative scale?” Craig reflected that it does start with getting people talking, and to that end, he continues to reach out to party chairs on both sides of the aisle to meet. Going back to the principles of the coffee house, it starts by better understanding each other. 
 
At this point, we were over budget on the clock, so we collectively thanked Craig for his time and giving us all plenty to think about. Odds are good that at some point in the future, we’ll be having a Make Shift Coffee House date on our calendar!
 
For more information, the link to the coffee house is here. If you are interested in his newsletter, the link is here.
Moment of Reflection
 
Presidents
 
The president of shame has his own flag
the president of lies quotes the voice
of God
as last counted
the president of loyalty recommends
blindness to the blind
oh oh
applause like the heels of the hanged
he walks on eyes
until they break
then he rides
there is no president of grief
it is a kingdom
ancient absolute with no colors
its ruler is never seen
prayers look for him
also empty flags like skins
silence the messenger runs through the vast lands
with a black mouth
open
silence the climber falls from the cliffs
with a black mouth like 
a call
there is only one subject
but he is repeated
tirelessly
 
—W.S. Merwin
 
From The Carrier of Ladders, copyright 1967
Speaker Schedule

January 15 | Cheryl Hinkson, Hannaford
January 22 | Steve Hewins, Hospitality Maine
January 29 | Sarah Hansen, Greater Portland Landmarks
February 5 | Joey Spitz, Kinotek Software
February 12| TBD
February 19 | Karen Nason, Ghost Karen’s Kitchen
February 26 | Peter Vigue, Cianbro
March 5 | Caroline Croft Estay & Nona Yehia, Vertical Harvest
March 12 | Brian Corcoran, Shamrock Sports
March 19 | Stefanie Trice Gill, IntWork LLC
The Windjammer
is published online every week by
The Rotary Club of Portland, Maine.
 
Contributing Editors
Jake Bourdeau
Dick Hall
Erik Jorgensen
Julie L’Heureux
Ben Lowry
John Marr
Tom Talbott
 
Managing Editor
Bob Martin
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