Chris Busby is the founding editor and publisher of Mainer, a free monthly news and arts magazine produced by the Mainer News Cooperative.
He is the former editor of the Casco Bay Weekly, formerly known as the Bollard. He is a graduate of Penn State University and earned a master’s degree in environmental education from the Audubon Expedition Institute. He and his family live in Woolwich.
President Ellen Niewoehner welcomed 32 members and guests to another Zoom meeting on April 16, 2021. Dave Small provided the invocation reading Ralph Waldo Emerson’s Spring Time Prayer.
Guests and visiting Rotarians included:
Claudia Frost who is the nominee for the District Governor;
Nicholas Gagnon; and
Grace Smith, a local AmeriCorps volunteer who is being considered by Portland Rotary for a Rotary Global Grant Scholarship. Grace, while driving south to North Carolina, gave us some insight into why she is planning to attend Cambridge University. She plans to help people in a more holistically and interdisciplinary manner than what she initially learned while earning her neuroscience degree at Duke University. Grace discussed some of her experiences while working in ICUs, working with foster children, and with victims of domestic violence. Grace also works with survivors of the Rwanda genocide, and an organization the survivors founded to help each other.
Fundraising Update: Charlie Frair introduced Portland Rotary’s latest fundraiser which is a 50/50 raffle to raise money for our international service projects. Charlie said that everyone in the club received 5 numbers via email, and each member should sell a ticket number for $20 each. So far, $1,300 has been raised. Checks can be sent to Elise Hodgkin, or contributions can be made by credit card directly on the Portland Rotary webpage. In addition to the payment, you must send Charlie the name and contact for each number sold. The drawing will be held on April 30th, 2021 when President Ellen will draw the winning ticket.
Bob Martin shared a Rotary International video highlighting the amazing progress that has been achieved since the beginning of Rotary’s efforts in fighting Polio. Members of the WHO, CDC (Dr. Fauci), and other well-connected people provided recognition and encouragement for Rotarians to keep up the good work.
President Ellen extended gratitude to the members who volunteered at the Boyd Street Community Garden with Cultivating Community. President Ellen recognized a small group including Bruce Moore, Jan Chapman, Dick Hall, and Tom Ranello. They were able to fight back the raspberry bushes, and they plan to meet up again in May. Please consider joining them. Photo left to right: Bruce Moore, Ellen Niewoehner, Dick Hall, Yannick Biziman (host), Jan Chapman, Tom Ranello, Rowen Gorman (host).
President Ellen shared highlights from the recent District Presidents meeting which largely focused on when and how to return to in person meetings. Ultimately, it will be up to each individual club to set the schedule for returning to in-person meetings. The Board will continue to monitor and discuss the situation. The virtual District Conference to be held on June 4th and 5th, and stay tuned for speakers and programs.
Erik Greven presented a video of the food disbursement in Rwanda purchased with the $1,500 the club raised for the cause. The video showed a small group of volunteers distributing various bulk food items to many people. Erik noted how amazing it is that a little bit of our money can go a long way in Rwanda. This happened because club member Michel Kanyambo brought this need to our attention.
Dick Hall discussed purchasing and wearing vaccination bracelets which are meant to foster public conversations about getting the COVID-19 Vaccine(s).
Give a Salute To Boots2Roots
By Tom Talbott
Our club welcomed Bill Benson to the main stage of Zoom, who shared with us the genesis and growing success of the Boots2Roots Veterans program, a nonprofit that helps former members of the military find meaningful employment in Maine.
In 2014, after 24 years of active duty with the U.S. Army, Colonel Benson, his wife and three children chose to settle in Maine. Benson and his wife started New England Treads, a manufacturing company specializing in custom wood products. In 2019, the couple sold the company to another military couple, and Bill transitioned to his current role. This combined two of his passions – working with military personnel, and as a business person, trying to solve the problem of a work force shortage in Maine.
Benson shared the story of Colonel Dave Hickey, a 20-year U.S. Air Force veteran and Maine native. Armed with a Master’s Degree, and strong military leadership experience, he still found the transition more difficult than expected. His applications for jobs yielded little results, and he was dogged with questions of PTSD. Without a job, you can’t rent an apartment, or secure a mortgage. Hickey thought, “if a veteran like me with a strong resume and roots in Maine has these issues, how can any veteran coming to Maine ever be able come here and put down roots? Think of all the great people we’ll be losing.”
So, in 2016, Hickey and John Manganello, created a board, and with a lot of word-of-mouth and pro-bono legal assistance, co-founded Boots2Roots. The program consists of two parts:
Transition coaching – resume and interview coaching, translating military experience into skills so that civilian hiring managers can see their value.
Networking, specific to Maine. “We’re often only 1 or 2 people away from knowing a key person in a business,” Benson said. B2R has built and grown connections throughout the state, adding more with each new hire of a B2R candidate.
Another important benefit to veterans is access to B2R mentors who counsel on the art of transition. Mentors are often veterans who have been through the same challenges, but other mentors are business people who volunteer to coach a veteran on job interview skills.
There are national organizations that do similar work as B2R, but because Maine does not have any military bases, the networking quality for Maine-based veterans is limited. B2R is Maine-centric, which is really important to military personnel originally from the state who want to remain in the state. Think about what that does for our Maine economy - keeping highly trained and skilled personnel in our ranks. It is that premise that generates corporate sponsors and grants from Maine entities. Some companies see the direct benefit by hiring personnel, while others are supportive for the mere fact that it not only helps our veterans, but it helps our state.
Each veteran in the B2R program is referred to as a “teammate”, and there have been 117 “hires” so far in 2021, half of the number in all of 2020. A “good connection” is defined as being hired and retained for at least 1 year of service, to which B2R has a 93% success rate. B2R also has a goal of getting a teammate hired within 60 days of joining the program, and so far, the average runs 90%.
Q&A followed. Katie Brown asked about hiring for temporary work, and Benson said that while that does occur, it is not too often. The majority of veterans are looking for employment strong enough to support a family. Dick Hall asked if there were concerns about mental or physical disabilities. Benson said that there is a segment who need additional assistance, but 98% of the veterans he has worked with are highly motivated and capable individuals.
Justin Lamontagne was surprised to hear there were no charges or fees. Benson was quick to point out that B2R is not a recruiting firm, or a typical placement company. There is no fee to the veteran, or cost to the hiring business. The goal is to find the right fit that produces the best outcome, not trying to shoehorn someone into a job to collect a fee or commission. The latter creates pressure, and that would change the entire relationship of the way B2R interacts with both the veterans and the businesses. Corporate sponsors and individual donations cover the operating costs.
Cole Smith inquired about the types of jobs being filled. Benson said that teammates have been employed by over 80 different Maine businesses so far in all types of roles and responsibilities. Veterans coming into B2R typically have 10-25 years of military service, and are roughly between the ages of 30-45. The goal is not lower entry-level jobs, but ones that put real skills to work. If he were to pin it down, Benson said the largest job segments are in IT and Project Management, but jobs include training, teaching, finance, medical, as well as welders, police officers, One great example – the new Athletic Director of Colby College is a B2R “alum.”
For more information, visit the Boots2Roots websitehere.
Moment of Reflection
Spring
By Elfriede Jelinek
Translated by Michael Hofmann
april breath
of boyish red
the tongue crushes
strawberry dreams
hack away wound
and wound the fountain
and on the mouth
perspiration white
from someone's neck
a little tooth
has bit the finger
of the bride the
tabby yellow and sere
howls
the red boy
from the gable flies
an animal hearkens
in his white throat
his juice runs down
pigeon thighs
a pale sweet spike
still sticks
in woman white
lard
an april breath
of boyish red
Recipient of the 2004 Nobel Prize for Literature, Elfriede Jelinek is an Austrian poet, playwright, and novelist. Born to a Catholic-Viennese mother and a Jewish-Czech father in Mürzzuschlag, Styria, Jelinek grew up in Vienna and lost many members of her family to the Holocaust.
Speaker Schedule
April 23 | Chris Busby, The Mainer (formerly The Bollard)
April 30 | Austin Williams, Roux Institute
May 7 | Eliah Thanhauser, North Spore Mushrooms
May 14 | Glenn Cummings, University of Southern Maine
May 21 | Ian Dorsey, Mast Landing Brewery
May 28 | NO MEETING
June 4 | Dory Waxman, City of Portland New Charter
June 11 | Wade Merritt, Maine International Trade Center
June 18 | Picnic, Fort Williams Park, Cape Elizabeth
Grace, while driving south to North Carolina, gave us some insight into why she is planning to attend Cambridge University. She plans to help people in a more holistically and interdisciplinary manner than what she initially learned while earning her neuroscience degree at Duke University. Grace discussed some of her experiences while working in ICUs, working with foster children, and with victims of domestic violence. Grace also works with survivors of the Rwanda genocide, and an organization the survivors founded to help each other. 
