News of The Rotary Club of Portland, Maine September 23, 2020
Historian to Discuss John Calvin Stevens, The Artist
Earle Shettleworth, Jr. was drawn to history as the result of watching the destruction of Portland’s Union Station in 1961, an event which drove him to help create the Greater Portland Landmarks. There isn’t a state or regional historical commission on which he has not served or led. Upon his retirement, he was the longest actively serving State Historic Preservation Officer in the nation. Though retired from government, he remains the state historian, and has lectured and written extensively on Maine history and architecture.
A Portland native, Earle graduated from Deering High School, earned his BA in Art History from Colby College, an MA in Architectural History from Boston University, and holds an LHD awarded by Bowdoin College.
This Friday, Shettleworth will talk about the art of John Calvin Stevens, one of the founders of the Rotary Club of Portland. John Calvin Stevens is remembered today as Maine's leading late 19th-early 20th century architect. Less well known is his work as an accomplished artist who created landscapes and seascapes of the Portland area through his life. Shettleworth’s illustrated lecture will trace Stevens's work from his childhood sketches to the many canvases that he painted between 1900 and 1920 as a member of the Brunshun artists group, and his role in the creation of the Portland Museum of Art and the Portland School of Art, now the Maine College of Art(MECA).
Bits and Pieces | byJake Bourdeau
While waiting for everyone to arrive, the Zoom meeting started with discussions about holding a service event with Cultivating Community on Monday September 28th, and possibly another event in October. Amy Chipman will investigate and respond back to the Community Service Committee.
Bob Traill and Charlie Friar were recognized with an article and photograph in the Scarborough Leader for the recent Flags for Heroes event. Cyrus Hagge commented that Charlie ran it like clockwork this year. Charlie Frair acknowledged that Bob Traill is humble about his military service in World War II, and he let us know that Bob was happy to help the club however he could: including being in the photo. Many thanks to Bob Trail for contributing to the forwarding of the club and these projects. President Ellen Niewoehner shared that Bob sent her a handwritten letter thanking the Club for his Paul Harris Fellow award and combining that with the Flags for Heroes event. Bob wrote it was one of the most memorable days in his 40 years in Rotary.
Cyrus Hagge delivered the invocation, reading a Shel Silverstein poem in honor of the season:
I raked the leaves on our front lawn;
It took all afternoon.
I started it ‘round past one
and said “I’ll be done soon.”
But once I saw how more leaves fell
Each time I made a pile,
I quickly saw this outdoor chore
Was going to take a while.
And so I did what my dad said
A winner does to win:
I studied that great pile of leaves,
And then I jumped right in.
Guests included Ruth Fletcher (“Rotary Ruth), and Kirk Duffy. Kirk was wearing a down jacket, recovering from leaving a window open overnight. He said he was staying until November this year, so I suspect he will probably be wearing that coat routinely until then.
President Ellen noted that she attended a district Presidents meeting where discussion topics ranged from community service, fundraising, and ways to increase membership. Some of the ideas discussed that are being implemented by other clubs include virtual auctions, and golf tournaments. She also noted the difficulty the pandemic presents for holding social events in person.
President Ellen and Mike Fortunato described the planned activities for Trivia Night at the Italian Heritage Center on Thursday, September 24 at 5 pm, which will be held outdoors under a large tent that holds up to 50 people with socially distancing. A mask is required when not sitting at the table and eating. Hors d’oeuvres will be served individually, and a cash bar will be ready for you. The event will consist of 5 rounds of 10 questions each. Winners will receive prizes donated by Paul T. Gore. Please sign up in advance and bring a guest or two, share some fellowship, and test your trivia skills. This is an event designed to bring potential members.
Laura Young spoke about a District-wide project created from a Rotarian in Connecticut who has donated 800,000 surgical masks for front line workers and essential organizations. In our District, which ranges from Portsmouth to Rumford, 100,000 masks have been allotted for distribution. The shipments are slated for October 5th to 7th and the masks will be transported to nine (9) locations. Peggy Belanger, District Governor, will speak at Portland City Hall on October 6th about the donation and the event activities. Other speakers include Portland Mayor Kate Snyder, and a hospital administrator from the mid-coast. Please forward names of organizations that may need the masks and fit the requirements for donation. President Ellen will also touch base with the Community Services Committee to help with selecting organizations. The current list includes fire and police departments, nursing homes, Maine veterans organizations, schoolteachers, and Preble Street.
A memorial for Jesse Harvey will be held 6 pm Saturday, September 26th at Fort Allen Park. Everyone is welcome.
President Ellen noted the Community Service Committee will meet next Friday at 11 am to discuss and solicit ideas for new and existing projects including: ringing bells socially distanced from the Kettle this holiday season, providing box lunches and dinners for those in need, and helpingCultivating Community.
The Veterans Luncheon is unfortunately cancelled for this year due to the Pandemic, so Paul Tully recommended using our list of veteran contacts to try something different this year. Stay tuned!
Four-Way Test: A Model for National Discourse
by Juliana L’Heureux
Paul Stebbins, a motivational speaker and former CEO, presented an excellent program about the group FixUS from his Florida home. Stebbins left the corporate world to focus on educating people about the harmful impact of America’s growing national debt and the consequences of extreme political polarization. He complimented Rotarians on the values in the Four-Way Test and suggested they could be models for the nation. Currently, Paul leads other executives and former legislators in bipartisan efforts to help resolve policy issues concerning tax reform and deficit reduction.
FixUS is a group of Americans united in their shared concern over the divided state of our country. He said healing partisan divisions is a national priority and essential to facing the defining challenges of the 21st century. Stebbins said the national debt symbolizes a broken political system whereby extreme partisanship prevents compromise with the political process focused on short-term fixes, rather than long term solutions, to looming problems like improving the nation’s infrastructure, taxes, immigration reforms, and the stability of Social Security, Medicare and affordable health care coverage. FixUS is engaged in a national listening tour made achievable with the use of ZOOM and other technologies. The tour seeks to hear from ordinary Americans about their frustrations with nation’s deep and widening partisan divide. These frustrations have created mistrust towards institutional experts and those perceived to be elites. Consequently, Stebbins said many Americans feel like they are politically “homeless.”
While specific solutions to the national divide are difficult to achieve, Stebbins said most Americans are willing to work together to keep the conversations going. FixUS seeks to better understand and draw attention to the root causes of our nation’s divisions, distrust and dysfunction to build support for the changes necessary to help the nation regain a sense of aspirations, values, and beliefs.
“There is more that unites us than divides us,” Stebbins said, but warned here are no “silver bullet” solutions. FixUS will coordinate conversations by hosting virtual deliberations and develop a crowd-sourced agenda. President Ellen Niewoehner invited Stebbins to return at a future date and he agreed to do so. Check the websiteFixUSfor more information.
A Moment of Reflection
September Tomatoes
The whiskey stink of rot has settled
in the garden, and a burst of fruit flies rises
when I touch the dying tomato plants.
Still, the claws of tiny yellow blossoms
flail in the air as I pull the vines up by the roots
and toss them in the compost.
It feels cruel. Something in me isn’t ready
to let go of summer so easily. To destroy
what I’ve carefully cultivated all these months.
Those pale flowers might still have time to fruit.
My great-grandmother sang with the girls of her village
as they pulled the flax. Songs so old
and so tied to the season that the very sound
seemed to turn the weather.
–Karina Borowicz
Speaker Schedule
September 25 | Earle Shettleworth on John Calvin Stevenson
October 2 | Jonathan Sahrbeck, Cumberland County DA
destruction of Portland’s Union Station in 1961, an event which drove him to help create the Greater Portland Landmarks. There isn’t a state or regional historical commission on which he has not served or led. Upon his retirement, he was the longest actively serving State Historic Preservation Officer in the nation. Though retired from government, he remains the state historian, and has lectured and written extensively on Maine history and architecture.
