Mayor Mark Dion Dion is a native of Lewiston, Me. He later earned a B.A. in criminology at the University of Southern Maine, a M.A. in human services administration from Antioch University New England and a J.D.from the University of Maine School of Law.
He has also completed the Senior Executive Program State and Local Government at the JFK School and the Mayoral Orientation Program at the Bloomberg Institute for Cities A Democrat, Dion was elected for three terms as Sheriff for Cumberland County, Maine, in 1998. In 2010, he successfully sought a seat in the Maine House of Representatives. He was later named Chair of both the Criminal Justice and Public Safety Committee as well as the Committee on Energy, Utilities and Technology In 2016, he was elected to the Maine Senate, where he served one term.
Dion was first elected to the Portland City Council in 2020 and won the election for Mayor on November 7th, 2023. Mark is a former member of the Portland Rotary, and will be returning to the club in the very near future!
WAVE THE FLAG: As an extension of Charlie Frair's opening “Thoughts of the Day”, Charlie shared the our Flags for Heroes video. It is a wonderful presentation of the power of this event. Click the box above to take you to our website: www.flagsforheroesmaine.com to view the video!
Bits and Pieces | by Tom Nickerson
Paul Gore kicked off the meeting with a rousing rendition of the Pledge of Allegiance. (Photo- Paul T Gore!)
Charlie Frair followed with the thought of the day – Who is your hero? Charlie reminded us to think of heroes beyond heroism and to think about those in our lives who commit everyday acts of kindness, who are mentors, the ones intent on making this a better place, and those who will walk through the fire with us.
President Dick led us in a moment of silence for Pat Knudson, a longtime member of the Casco Bay Sunrise club. He also shared that our Ron Bennet is now in the Wayland Memory Care unit and most likely will not be attending any future meetings.
Michael Ross introduced our guests: visiting Rotarian Kirk Duffy, Youth Services Awardee Sophia Chouinard and Casco Bay High School’s Director of Guidance, Michael Hale. (Photo Mike Ross)
GRANT UPDATE: President Dick updated us on the Global Grant fund raising – we need to raise $51,000 and to date have received $19,200 and a commitment for $5,000 from the Rotary Club of Coimbatore Texcity, India.
LOBSTAH! John Thompson updated the club on the Lobstah Raffle fund raiser. We are good to go this summer and volunteer opportunities will soon be announced.
BE HAPPY: The Happy Dollar moment was a huge celebration as many members shared thankfulness for high school reunions, college graduations, new children on the way, tomato planting, returning to Maine, boats in the water, and good health. (Photo - Brian Nickerson)
NO DICE: Nannette Ranger Duncanson ran the raffle. Erik Greven was chosen for a chance at $80 – but no luck. The pot grows.
YOUTH SERVICES: John Thompson introduced our Youth Services Awardee – Sophia Chouinard from Casco Bay High School. Sophia is very involved in community service projects; she plans to major in history at Oberlin in the Fall, with the goal of becoming a history teacher. Sophia’s signature project this year was to bridge the south-rural divide in Maine. She organized a student exchange between Casco Bay and Caribou High School to give students a real- life experience in both Maines. Michael Hale, the Director of Guidance, thanked us for the scholarships and let us know how much of a difference our gift means to students.(Photo - John and Sophia)
CIRCLE OF FIVE! Patty Byers and Gervin Kah ran the raffle for the 9 “Circle of Five” Paul Harris Fellow awards. The PHF awardees by circle are: 1 Juliana L’Heureux, 2 Christine Force, 3 David Small, 4 Justin Lamontagne, 5 Erik Greven, 6 Patty Byers, 7 Matt Tassey, 8 Ellen Niewoehner, and 9 Nannette Ranger Duncanson. Congratulations to everyone!
GARDEN GROWS: Amy Chipman closed the announcement portion of the meeting with a big thank you to all who helped with Cultivating Community garden project and a reminder that there in another volunteer opportunity on Saturday from 9 10 1 at the Libbytown Community garden.
Last Week's Speaker:Jared Cash, CEO/President, The Mitchell Institute
Senator George Mitchell, in following his belief that “No one should be guaranteed success…but everyone should have a fair chance to succeed,” established the Mitchell Scholarship Program in 1995 and later the Institute in 1999 to add a research component. The Institute awards scholarships to every High School in Maine and has supported 3,800 recipients since inception. Recipients now receive $10,000 for higher education. The mission is to increase the likelihood that young people from every community in Maine will aspire to, pursue, and achieve a college education. Senator Mitchell benefited from others believing in him and giving him confidence to explore college and he wants to ensure high school students in any part of the state who aspire to college will be similarly encouraged.
Jared talked about some of the trends and challenges the Institute is noticing. A top concern is that public perception of the worthiness of higher education as decreased to 40% in 2024 from 80% in 2010. Many students struggle to complete college due to financial hardships and mental health concerns. Maine’s college completion rate is stagnant and trails New England states and is below the national average. While approximately 50% of Maine students complete college in 6 years, Mitchell scholars have a 90% completion rate. Mitchell scholars are a diverse mix of first generation college students, low income, and working students. The Institute values students who have part time jobs in high school. Another interesting trend is that fewer scholars are choosing a career in education/teaching. Early on teaching was the top career choice of scholars.
Jared shared that the Institute has a goal to increase the number of scholarships by 50% in three years. They are currently awarding 175 scholarships annually and plan to move to 200 next year. One of the best results the Institute is seeing that 90% of the scholars plan to live in or return to Maine. Supporting Maine’s talent growth is an excellent benefit to the program.
Second Notice: Mark Dion is the mayor of Portland. His application to rejoin the club is sponsored by Dick Hall and Tom Ranello. Mark has previously served as Cumberland County Sheriff 2002-2010, in the Maine legislature 2013-2015, in the Maine Senate 2016-2020, and Portland City Council 2020-2023. After this publication, his application will be voted on by the Board of Directors.
If any Portland Rotarian would like to offer a comment on a proposal, please send it to our Club President, dickhall7780@gmail.com. It will be shared with the Board of Directors prior to a vote on the application.
Speaker Schedule
June 14- Carolyn Nishon. Executive Director Portland Symphony Orchestra
June 21 - Mike Roughton, Exec. Dir. Association of Maine Manufacturers
June 28 -Dick Hall, Year in Review, Office Changeover
July 5- No Meeting, 4th of July Holiday Weekend
July 12- President Patty Byers
July 19- Portland Sea Dogs- Annual Picnic Lunch at Hadlock Field
July 21 - Sunday - Hadlock Field Presentation "Flags For Heroes"
Club Executives
President Dick Hall President Elect Patty Byers Vice President John Thompson TreasurerDick Hall Secretary Tom Nickerson Board of Directors Bruce Jones,
Ben Millick, Quinn Slayton, Zachary Newell,
David Ertz, Maggie McGauley Sergeant-At-ArmsJake Bourdeau
The Windjammer is published online by
The Rotary Club of Portland, Maine.
Contributing Editors
Jake Bourdeau, Larry Gross,
Erik Jorgensen, Julie L’Heureux,
Ben Lowry, Zach Newell, Bruce Moore,
Tom Nickerson, Dave Patterson,
Tom Talbott, Laura Young
Program Chair Doreen Rockstrom
4th Quarter Chair Roxane Cole Managing Editor Tom Talbott
Mayor Mark Dion Dion is a native of Lewiston, Me. He later earned a B.A. in criminology at the University of Southern Maine, a M.A. in human services administration from Antioch University New England and a J.D.from the University of Maine School of Law. 
Paul Gore kicked off the meeting with a rousing rendition of the Pledge of Allegiance. (Photo- Paul T Gore!)
Michael Ross introduced our guests: visiting Rotarian Kirk Duffy, Youth Services Awardee Sophia Chouinard and Casco Bay High School’s Director of Guidance, Michael Hale. (Photo Mike Ross)
BE HAPPY: The Happy Dollar moment was a huge celebration as many members shared thankfulness for high school reunions, college graduations, new children on the way, tomato planting, returning to Maine, boats in the water, and good health. (Photo - Brian Nickerson)
CIRCLE OF FIVE! Patty Byers and Gervin Kah ran the raffle for the 9 “Circle of Five” Paul Harris Fellow awards. The PHF awardees by circle are: 1 Juliana L’Heureux, 2 Christine Force, 3 David Small, 4 Justin Lamontagne, 5 Erik Greven, 6 Patty Byers, 7 Matt Tassey, 8 Ellen Niewoehner, and 9 Nannette Ranger Duncanson. Congratulations to everyone!
Senator George Mitchell, in following his belief that “No one should be guaranteed success…but everyone should have a fair chance to succeed,” established the Mitchell Scholarship Program in 1995 and later the Institute in 1999 to add a research component. The Institute awards scholarships to every High School in Maine and has supported 3,800 recipients since inception. Recipients now receive $10,000 for higher education. The mission is to increase the likelihood that young people from every community in Maine will aspire to, pursue, and achieve a college education. Senator Mitchell benefited from others believing in him and giving him confidence to explore college and he wants to ensure high school students in any part of the state who aspire to college will be similarly encouraged.
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