Youth Services: Co-Chairs Bruce Clark and John Thompson, aka Hans and Franz, pumped us up about a slate of YS activities involving elementary, middle, and HS age kids. Many of our programs flow out of “CHE”, our Childhood Hunger and Education initiative.
• Summer Reading at North Deering Garden Home
• School Reading at Lyseth Elementary School, K-3 range, resumes in March /17 sessions over a 4-week period. We have a good group of readers, and we need more! We sent Lyseth $3000 to fund the reading program, that puts books into kid’s hands.
• RYLA Leadership Camp in June, for rising HS Juniors at Camp Hines in Raymond. We hope to attract at least 8 students for the program.
• Youth Service Awards, honoring students who excel in school and community work – “Service Above Self”. We work with 7 Portland area schools, $1000 scholarship for the student, plus $100 donated to the charity of their choice. A former recipient made a nice anonymous donation that covers four awards for the next year.
• Interact Clubs at the HS level, supported by Rotary International, and we provide guidance. One club in our area, 6 more are potential candidates!
Environmental: Ellen Niewoehner. Supporting a new area of focus of Rotary International, Ellen volunteered to get the program underway after serving as President in 2021. Recent events include:
• Two ocean-side cleanups, one right over the bridge with the Sunrise Club, and the other at East End Beach.
• Planting trees in Portland in the Bayside trail area, Marginal Way.
• Arranged a tour of ecomaine – very educational how recycling works
• Speakers to address the various topics of Environmental work, research, and programs.
• Building relationships with City of Portland on more clean-up projects.
Community Services: Amy Chipman. One of the main reasons we join Rotary, is to volunteer and support community programs.
• Partnered with Portland School system to provide winter boots for elementary and middle schoolers in need. We raised $2700 for the event, but only used $1300 because Lamey Wellahan was able to donate as well as provide boots at cost, saving us a lot of money. The money will be earmarked for next year’s program. We held a boot distribution event at Amanda Rowe Elementary.
• Clynk Bags are available at all meetings – grab some! Proceeds go to heating oil for Mainers in need, partnering with WCSH.
• St. Vincent DePaul’s Thanksgiving dinner. Thanks Leslie Clark for coordinating, and Sysco for the food!
• Salvation Army Bell Ringing – with some nice weather…it still gets cold! Thanks Tom Ranello for organizing the ringers.
• The Locker Project – helping HS students who are food challenged get meals. $1500 donated to support project. There are a number of volunteer opportunities surrounding this program that we will be getting into.
• Andrew Square Project, restoration project with Portland Public Works
Amy noted that we, post pandemic, sometimes struggle to get the volunteer numbers. Remind yourself of the reasons you joined Rotary, and join in the activities. It’s the best way to really get to know fellow members and build friendships.
Fundraising: Tom Ranello (Everyone is a member!)
• “Mud Auction” in April, Look for Tom Talbott and Dick Hall to execute the event, but we’ll be looking for everyone to find useful fun items to donate. Spring cleaning with a purpose!
• June Garden Party, hosted by Erik Greven. Looking for food and refreshment sponsors. Fellowship and fun, $10 per person.
• May 6, a “Concert in the Park” featuring Don Campbell band, in conjunction with City of Portland. 1pm-4p at the Pavilion, Deering Oaks. City is on board, and the goal is to bring awareness to Fentanyl epidemic in Maine. City of Portland Health Services leading the way. Big step out for us to be involved in this kind of service event. All hands- on-deck for this one.
Membership: Laura Young and Bowen Depke, aka Ying and Yang.
• 8 new members so far this year, 9th on the way, and 12 prospects.
• January 20th, New Member Meeting, everyone welcome!
• Everyone in the club is in the Membership Club, so please bring a guest to a meeting, or even better to one of our social or community events.
• Laura and Bowen want to hear from you if you have a prospect, and they will mentor you in the process of bringing on a new member.
• Retention is really important. Fellowship is key, so your presence and participation makes a huge difference in achieving a vibrant club that attracts and retains members!
• Remember, the end of every quarter, we have prizes to award our members who brought in members.
International Services: Erik Greven
• 30 years ago Roger and Liz Fagan, started fitting donated and refurbished hearing aids in India. The program shifted to the Dominican Republic, approaching 4000 recipients to date. We now are engaged in fitting prosthetic hands and undertaking clean water projects.
• We will hear more about water projects from Dave Snow in a few weeks.
• The Hands project has grown immensely. Former Rotarian John Curran was the catalyst. Joining us for the presentation was Asheesh Lanba, USM Ass’t Professor Mechanical Engineering. He demonstrated a battery actuated arm, that can be controlled with muscle impulses in the forearm.
Foundation: Patty Byers
• Annual Fund – Goal is $18,000, currently at $13,000, looking good.
• We exceeded the PolioPlus goal of $2,000 , raising over $3,400.
• Goal to add 5 new members to the PolioPlus Society this year, 2 so far. Members pledge $100 to the Polio Fund per year, you decide for how long.
• Every Rotarian, Every Year Club. What that means is that 100% of our members make a gift, any amount, to the Foundation. Currently at 48% participation, gifts from $25 to $1,000.
• Consider enrolling in
Rotary Direct, Rotary’s recurring giving program. You can schedule a monthly, quarterly or annual donation, minimum is $10, no maximum! So far, 4 of our members participate in this program.
• Paul Harris Fellows. If there is someone who has been important in your life, consider honoring them with a Paul Harris Fellow by the transferring some of your accumulated recognition points. Patty will be happy to explain how that works, and would do the paperwork for you!
Windjammer: Tom Talbott
• Our weekly reporters cover all that goes on at meetings, as well as events that might take place during the week. It is an excellent way to engage with the club, provide a service, and really get to know club members. Great opportunity for a new member to participate.
• We currently have 7 reporters, and really would like to add a couple more. We recently lost editor Bill Blount due to bad finger accident, rumors that Tom played any role in that episode are not true.
• Weekly reporters share roles, one taking Bits and Pieces (club announcements) and the other taking the Program (guest speaker). It’s not creative writing, it’s simply summarizing what was said, something that as business people, we are all capable of handling.
• We zoom and record the meetings, so even if you are away, you can still watch and write up the summary.
• More editors lighten the load!
We welcome Dr. Jacqueline Edmondson, an accomplished educator, scholar, and first-generation college student. For nearly twenty-five years, President Edmondson has fostered a student-focused model of higher education that prioritizes lasting community collaborations and inclusive excellence. Before coming to USM, President Edmondson was a full professor [in the College of Education] at Penn State University, where she has served in a number of administrative leadership roles, including, most recently, as chancellor and chief academic officer of the Greater Allegheny campus. 
Patty Byers announced that David Ertz has earned his first Paul Harris Fellow award.David received his pin with a standing ovation. Congratulations to David! (Photo)
o wit the Anniversary years: Brian Batson and Maggie McGauley/2, Dave Ertz and Megan Peabody/5, Julie Chase and Ben Millick/6, Bowen Depke/18, Liz Fagan and Alan Nye/19, Bruee Moore/22, Rich Campbell and Patricia Knudsen 23, Patty Byers/24, Ellen Niewoehner/25, John Marr 28, Mark Millar/36, Tom Sukley/37, Alan Nye/39, Doug Packard/43, and our esteemed champ, Mark Stimson/56 years!
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