News of The Rotary Club of Portland, Maine July 28, 2020
Banks, COVID, and PPP
 
     David Cyr, the 13th president of Skowhegan Bank will speak Friday on the challenges of administering the Paycheck Protection Program. He has more than 30 years of banking experience and has been with the bank since 2005.
 
     Prior to joining Skowhegan, Cyr worked in a variety of leadership roles at several institutions, including several years at the Finance Authority of Maine (FAME) supporting the state’s efforts to bank loans to businesses that needed outside support to obtain financing.
 
     Cyr grew up in Aroostook County and earned his bachelor’s degree in public accounting from Husson University. He is a member of the board of directors of Good Will-Hinckley and the Maine Academy of Natural Sciences.
Changing the World
by Ben Lowry
 
     With an introduction from Jan Chapman, our Zoom meeting welcomed Peter Monro and Peter Dugas, both local leaders with Citizen’s Climate Lobby, a national group focused upon working with representatives in Washington to provide a roadmap for the earth’s growing issues as they pertain to environmental changes.  Rotary International has named climate change as an area of focus and some of the issues were addressed in The Rotarian Magazine in the April 2019 edition, with the CLL, founded by a Rotarian thirteen years ago, confirming that their efforts meet our trustworthy Four Way Test.
 
     The focus of the work performed by CLL is a bi-partisan bill, HR 763, which sets out a “carbon fee and dividend” program that would place a fee, based upon carbon emissions, and provide dividend checks to all Americans.  This program, which has been accepted in Canada and proved popular with the citizenry as well as Prime Minister Trudeau, has gained traction in Washington thanks to the efforts of volunteers like our speakers, who travel to our capital twice annually to lobby legislators.  The lobbying efforts are seen as the strongest in the nation, over and above such powerful lobbies as the NRA, with over 300 leaders called upon each June and October with growing support from both sides of the aisle with each passing trip.
 
     Peter Dugas briefly introduced us to a fascinating, interactive simulator, the En-ROADS Climate Model, that allows the user to tweak the model to see changes in yearly earth temperatures, over the course of the next 80 years, based upon our expected usage of fossil fuels, renewables, etc.  While we can certainly expect our temperatures to rise during this period, a rise of just 2.0 degrees as compared with 5+ degrees, which can be shaped by increased or decreased usage, would be a game changer and one that CLL hopes to attain with the passage of this potentially life-altering legislation.
 
     Questions from the audience raised the issue of “the unknown unknowns” which, Dugas stated, could alter the model but not significantly.  He also defended the model as it is based upon data collected over the past thirty years and has proven a reliable predictor. Maine’s legislators firmly support the bill and we can only wait and see if and when this bill may be enacted into law, providing an opportunity for every US citizen, as well as the corporations that would face a carbon fee, to move forward in a combined effort to seek relief from some of the inevitable climate change issues that we cannot ignore as we move forward in an ever-warming world.
 
Bits & Pieces Juliana L'Heureux
 
President-Elect Bob Martin called the meeting of 34 participants on Zoom to order at noon. President Ellen Niewoehner was away visiting family.
  • Bruce Jones opened the program with words of inspiration from the poet S.C. Lourie:
“Go into this week with the attitude that your peace, your health of mind, and your heart means more than getting everything else done. That your smile matters. That feeling rested matters. That holding the hands of your loved ones matter.
So pause lots, function at a pace that doesn’t pull you apart. Honour the things that make you feel good inside, the things that make you feel alive. Give time to those things this week.
Make time the gift it is, by giving it to what really matters to you.”
  • Meeting guests included Susan Young, wife of Jon Young; Evan Mitchell, guest of Bruce Moore; Allison Monro, guest of Jan Chapman, and daughter of speaker Peter Monro.
  • Kirk Duffy rejoined the Club as a summer member. “Now that I’m here,” he said. “Maine can start tearing up the roads.”
  • Erik Greven won the envy prize with his perch aboard his boat in Northeast Harbor.
  • Three members are resigning from the Club due to job changes. Gracie Johnston resigned to accept a position in Waterville; Kris Rosado is moving to Bryant Pond; and, Bob Fowler, recently named Portland’s Director of Public Health.  We will miss all of them.
  • Elizabeth Fagan is leading an international program to provide kids with books. Thanks to everyone supporting the All Hands Hold Books initiative.  Liz is working to get books off shelves and into the hands of children for language and literacy education. The program started with donations to the Psycho-Social Research Center in Kosovo and coordinated with the Kosovo National Library. Now the program has evolved to include 18 countries. The effort is now focusing to include local organizations with interest from Long Creek, through the help of Mike Fortunato, the Boys and Girls Club, with assistance from Bob Clark, with others to follow. Contact Liz for more information.
  • Charlie Frair reminded us of the Flags for Heroes project. Each flag represents a donation of $100 and is dedicated to the hero who will be named in the signage.  The flags will be displayed at the Maine Mall in South Portland beginning on September 11.  Our goal is to dedicate 100 flags.  This project was very popular last year, so we are looking forward to another successful display.  More information to come on how to secure and pay for sponsorships.
Buy Me Some Peanuts...
 
    The Portland Seadogs will welcome the Club to the outdoor gathering facility at Hadlock Field on August 21. Pre-registration is required and can be accomplished on the club website. Since the Seadogs are bringing in staff to accommodate our meeting, the cost of the ballpark lunch will be $26. which can be paid by check on the day of the meeting, or in advance by credit card on the Club website. There is a limit of 50 persons at the meeting, so early registration is highly recommended. So far, only 20 people have registered. We need a minimum of 40.
 
A Moment of Reflection 
 
Perhaps the World Ends Here
 
The world begins at a kitchen table.
No matter what, we must eat to live.
The gifts of earth are brought and prepared, set on the table.
So it has been since creation, and it will go on.
We chase chickens or dogs away from it.
Babies teethe at the corners. They scrape their knees under it.
It is here that children are given instructions on what it means to be human.
We make men at it, we make women.
At this table we gossip, recall enemies and the ghosts of lovers.
Our dreams drink coffee with us as they put their arms around our children. They laugh with us at our poor falling-down selves and as we put ourselves back together once again at the table.
This table has been a house in the rain, an umbrella in the sun.
Wars have begun and ended at this table. It is a place to hide in the shadow of terror.
A place to celebrate the terrible victory.
We have given birth on this table, and have prepared our parents for burial here.
At this table we sing with joy, with sorrow. We pray of suffering and remorse.
We give thanks.
Perhaps the world will end at the kitchen table, while we are laughing and crying, eating of the last sweet bite.

–Joy Harjo
Speaker Schedule
 
July 31 | David Cyr, Skowhegan Savings on PPP Loans
August 7 | District Governor Peggy Belanger
August 14 | Dr. Sue Goodfellow, Director of Energy & Environmental Readiness, US Navy
August 21 | Portland Sea Dogs
August 28 | Musical Program with Nannette Duncanson
September 4 | No Meeting
September 11 | Flags for Heroes
September 18 | Kevin Hancock on his new book
September 25 | Earle Shettleworth on John Calvin Stevenson
October 2 | Jonathan Sahrbeck, Cumberland County DA
 
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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