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Russell Hampton
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Speakers
Aug 02, 2019
Aug 09, 2019
Aug 16, 2019
Rotary's Affect on Girls of Peru
Aug 23, 2019
Aug 30, 2019
Sep 06, 2019
Sep 13, 2019
Sep 20, 2019
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Executives & Directors
President
 
President Elect
 
Vice President
 
Treasurer
 
Secretary
 
Immediate Past President
 
Director Term End 2020
 
Director Term End 2020
 
Director Term End 2021
 
Director Term End 2021
 
Club Admin/Coordinator
 
Club Protection Officer
 
Community Service
 
Communications - PR External
 
Communications - WJ Bulletin Editor
 
Constitution/ByLaws Chair
 
Fund Raising Co-Chair
 
Fund Raising Co-Chair
 
Good Cheer Chair
 
International Service Chair
 
Invocation Chair
 
Meeting Day Chair
 
Membership Chair
 
Music Chair
 
New Mainers Initiative Chair
 
Program Co- Chair
 
Program Co-Chair
 
Opioid Task Force Co-Chair
 
Opioid Task Force Co-Chair
 
Rotary Foundation Chair
 
Sergeant -At-Arms
 
Web Administrator
 
Web Administrator Assistant
 
Youth Service Chair
 
Friday, August 02, 2019
Welcome to the
Rotary Club of Portland, Maine!
Portland Rotary
Service Above Self
We meet Fridays at 12:15 PM
The Clarion Hotel
1230 Congress Street
Portland, ME  04102
United States of America
DistrictSiteIcon District Site
VenueMap Venue Map
Rotary This Week
 
 
 
Portland Rotary will meet 
Friday, August 2, 2019
at the Clarion Hotel
1230 Congress Street, Portland
 
*08/02/19 Tom and Catherine Wilbur
Catherine and Tom Wilbur are best known for Wilbur’s of Maine, a chocolate candy store located on Bow Street, Freeport. They opened up the store in 1983 and ran it until they sold the company to their son, Andy and his wife in 2016.
 
In 1969 Catherine and Tom met in Okinawa when Tom’s Marine Corp Helicopter squadron was redeployed there from Vietnam and she was teaching on Kadena Air Force Base. They were married in 1970. After traveling around the U.S., they finally settled in Maine in 1979, where they both taught in the local area. Five years later, they decided to open up the candy store, which became Wilbur’s of Maine.
 
Tom joined the Freeport Rotary Club in 1988 and while new to being a Rotarian, was asked to chair their exchange student program….followed by a stint on the District exchange student committee as the outbound chair. He’s been working with the Rotary Youth Exchange program for about 12 years.
 
Besides supporting her husband’s Rotary efforts, Catherine has worked on projects with the Brunswick Chamber and the New England Retail Confectioners, among others.
 
In March/April of 2018 they both applied and were accepted to be members of the District team headed to Kakamega, Kenya…..as his Freeport Club has supported the Kakamega Orphanage for many years.
 
Though they are pretty much retired, they still travel and plan to go to Argentina in September to visit two of their past exchange students.
 
Tom is going to be speaking about the Kakamega Children’s Center in Kenya….their needs and accomplishments.
 
 
(Photo L-R: Betty (from Kenya), Catherine and Tom Wilbur in Kenya.)
07/26/19 Russell Voss, NU Brewery
Cole Smith (photo at right) introduced Russell Voss, co-founder with Chris Ventimiglia, of NU Brewery (pronounced “New”) in New Gloucester, Maine. Russell told the story of how he and Chris were each making beer at home and when Russell tried what Chris had made, Russell thought it tasted just the way beer was supposed to. When Chris showed him the medals and awards he’d won for his home brew, a partnership was soon born between the friends.
 
Russell explained that despite the IPA beer craze here in Maine and certain other parts of the country, 80% of the world drinks light lagers. Instead of starting a brewery to quench just local tastes, they decided to fill a gap in the market and make craft light lagers – something more than just the similar tasting Bud Light, Miller Lite and Coors Light that you typically see advertised.
 
After 4 years of searching for the perfect location, buying 8 acres of land, retrofitting a commercial building (at right), investing in equipment, numerous delays and missteps caused by CMP and experimenting with various brews, they opened their NU Brewery on June 22, 2019 with 7 beers, including their flagship: Craft American Light Lager. They have already added an 8th beer with 3 more coming soon. Russell remarked with pride that his partner in the business, Chris, is a genius at brewing.
 
Throughout the beer-making process Russell requires that NU Brewery demand quality from beginning to finish. He emphasized that it starts with great water they get from their own private well. Their goal is to return only water back to the land and they are scrupulous about not using plastic whenever possible – even going to the extent of using compostable 6-pack rings that when added to water become fish food.
 
Russell said that he and Chris received nothing but support from the local town in going through the planning process. He said that it takes a lot of work to make a successful business and he was often asked during the arduous process why he didn’t just give up. Russell smiled when he said that “grit is important.”
 
Russell ended by inviting everyone to come to the newly opened tasting room to try out their offerings and I, for one, plan to take him up on his invitation.
 
For more information, go to: nubrewery.com
 
 
(Photo: President Amy Chipman and Russell Voss.)
07/26/19 Bits & Pieces
President Amy Chipman, though on vacation, opened our meeting by welcoming 39 members, two guests and 2 visiting Rotarians (though we call these two visiting Rotarians our summertime Portland Rotarians). Gracie Johnston (photo at right) led us in the invocation, with four prayers that had a slant towards beer and complimented the speaker’s topic for the day. PP Alan Nye led us in the Pledge of Allegiance. PP Bill Blount, back from a trip out west, led us in the patriotic song ‘God Bless America.’

President Amy read a thank you letter from the Williston Immanuel United Church for our Club’s $500 donation. They plan to use the funds to help the immigrants with bus and phone services, finding housing, helping with job interview skills, and working their way through our complex systems.

Liliana France wrote a thank you to the Club for sending her to RYLA in Raymond, Maine. Liliana appreciates the hard work needed to make the RYLA camp happen.

Gracie Johnston, Community Service Chair, pointed out that nine (9) volunteers helped last week at Preble Street Soup Kitchen. The Club is also reaching out to the Portland Sunrise Club for volunteers to start in August.

Mike Reed has retired as the Fund Raising Chair, due to family obligations. Patty Erickson and Kris Rosado have stepped in to co-chair the committee. President Amy said because we're losing the Maine Outdoor Challenge as a major fundraiser event, the committee is trying to figure out other ways to make up for the loss of that event's revenue to the Club. PP Jim Willey pointed out that we have the “Flags for Heroes” and the “Cornhole Tournament” fundraisers, at a minimum, but they will be slow at picking up momentum. Feel free to reach out to Patty (perickson@bathsavings.com) or Kris (krisrosado67@gmail.com), if you have any ideas.

PP Bill Blount gave a spontaneous “Rotary Minute.” Bill joined Rotary in 1988, with Portland as his second club. PP Jim Willey sponsored Bill into the Club, and he was not sure if he belonged until he started the Rotary tennis league.

Brian McDonough ran the weekly raffle that was up to $717, and PP Jim Willey was selected for the Kodak moment. Jim selected a red card, but not the Queen of Hearts, allowing the pot to grow another week. (Photo L-R: PP Jim Willey and Brian McDonough.)

Dave Putnam provided the Club a summary of the various activities and services Club members are involved with at the Long Creek Youth Development Center. Many of the club members’ activities revolve around monthly visits of sharing time, food, cheer, playing games, and mentoring the kids in the Cedars Unit, which Dave said is the high risk unit. Some of the volunteers from the Club include Kirk Duffy, Katie Brown, Joe Reagan, Erik Greven and his wife, PP John Marr, PP Don Lowry, PP John Curran, PP Jim Willey and his wife Barbara, 2nd VP Ellen Niewoehner, Dick Giles, George Crockett, and John Thompson, among others. Sometimes the monthly visit is as basic as pizza and bingo, but it can be a welcome change from the pretty tough experiences these kids are coming from. One hope is that with some mentoring and examples of normal life and consistency, the kids may stay out of trouble with the law once outside the Center’s gates. Dave also told us about a new concept for Long Creek, which is to set up a nearby transitional facility with 4-5 young men at a time. The intent is to better transition them from the facility into society at large. 

The Friends of Long Creek Youth Community Development Center is a 503(c) organization. PP Jim Willey and several other Club members are on the board. While each individual’s needs are different when they leave the center, donations to the organization help with introducing the youth back into society and may include assistance with work clothing, tools, life needs, and general living/housing.    

At the end of his presentation, Dave told us about the once-per-week mentoring services that several of the members (such as PP Jim and Barbara Willey, PP Tom Talbott, Mike Fortunato, Dave Putnam, and PP John Marr) provide to the kids at Long Creek. Not only does Jim and Barbara Willey mentor, but they also make an effort to stay in touch with the young men once they leave the center. Mike Fortunato has been helping a youth that was recently released from Long Creek to find and settle into a home and a new job. Dave said the help Mike Fortunato provides is inspiring to him.

Patty Erickson spoke about the highlights and plans for this year’s "Cornhole Tournament" and BBQ, scheduled to start on Thursday August 1, 2019 at 5 pm at North Yarmouth Academy (Hockey Rink Field). Join the recreational league (teams of 2 for $100) or the competitive league (teams of 2 for $200) for chances to win various prize packages worth up to $500. Beer will be sold, and the BBQ cost is only $5 perperson. You can donate, play, eat, and/or volunteer for the event. Please contact Terry St. Angelo (tsaint@maine.rr.com)or Patty (perickson@bathsavings.com) for more information. The funds raised will go to the Portland Rotary local service projects, and the Boys and Girls Club Scholarship Fund at North Yarmouth Academy. For more information, click HERE.
 
Gracie Johnston said that WPOR radio station is promoting the event on the air and gave us a listen to a spot on a recorder. 

PP Bill Blount and PP Dick Hall (Photo at right) selected the Paul Harris Fellow (PHF) award winners for the year from the unselected members in each of the eight "Circles of Five." The selected Rotarians to receive a PHF include the following:  
Circle 1 – Dick Giles 
Circle 2 – Peggy Westcott
Circle 4 – Charlie Frair
Circle 5 – Nan Heald
Circle 6 – Tom Nickerson
Circle 7 – Matt Tassey
Circle 8 – Ellen Neiwoehner
 
Following the selection, Bill and Dick talked about the various memberships in the "Circles of Five," and how one can join or start a team. By making a $200 donation each year to the Rotary Foundation for a 5-year time span (total $1000), members of a circle will earn a PHF. There are many ways to join, so please contact Dick (dickhall7780@gmail.com) or Bill (wblount1@gmail.com) for more information.

(Editor's note: PP Jim Willey gets the gold star for having his name mentioned the most times (EIGHT) in this edition of the WJ in connection with his providing 'Service Above Self!' 
 
August Birthdays & Rotary Anniversaries

NOTABLE DATES FOR MEMBERS IN AUGUST
Member Birthdays
Aug 01 - Mike Anderson
        03 - Julie Chase
        05 - Bowen Depke
        05 - Mike Fortunato
        09 - Bruce Moore
        10 - Roger Fagan
        10 - Chris Thomas
        11 - Eileen Skinner
        12 - Max Chikuta
        12 - Elise Hodgkin
        13 - Ron Bennett
        13 - Chris Force
        16 - Bruce Jones
        17 - Dick Hall
        19 - David Ertz
        29 - Jan Chapman
        30 - Scott Blakeslee
        
Date-Joined-Rotary Anniversaries
     4 years - Katie Brown
     4 years - Max Chikuta
   12 years - Eric Lusk
   24 years - Ben Lowry
   25 years - Bob Spohr
   33 years - Matt Tassey
  
CONGRATULATIONS TO ALL!

Volunteer Opportunities

Following is a list of our Club's volunteer projects. If you know of other opportunities, please contact Loretta: lrowe@maine.rr.com

 
Project
When
Who to Contact
Preble Street
Resource Center
Soup Kitchen
4th Wednesday ea month
3:30-6:30 pm
Contact Gracie Johnston
Game Night
Long Creek
Youth Center
 
3rd Tuesday ea month
Mike Fortunato
or Jim Willey
This Week's Duty Assignments
Invocation:  Charlie Frair
Program Reporter:  Dick Hall
Bits & Pieces Reporter:  Ben Lowry
Photographer: Julie L'Heureux
Registration/Greeter:  David Ertz
Sell Meal Tickets: Jake Bourdeau
Raffle:  Bob Fowler

Collect Meal Tickets:  Tara Ouellette
Sgt-at-Arms:  Mike Fortunato
Rotary Meeting Locations

If you would like to mark your calendars,
we are scheduled at the following locations
through
 2019:

2019
Aug 02 - The Clarion
Aug 09 - HADLOCK FIELD - Sea Dogs
Aug 16 - The Clarion
Aug 23 - The Clarion
Aug 30 - 
NO MEETING - Observance Labor Day

Sep 06 - The Clarion
Sep 13 - The Clarion

Sep 20 - The Clarion
Sep 27 - The Clarion

Oct 04 - The Clarion
Oct 11 - The Clarion

Oct 18 - The Clarion
Oct 25 - TBD

Nov 01 - The Clarion
Nov 08 - The Clarion

Nov 15 - The Clarion
Nov 22 - The Clarion
Nov 29 - NO MEETING - Thanksgiving 

Dec 06 - The Clarion
Dec 13 - The Clarion

Dec 20 - The Clarion
Dec 27 - NO MEETING - Christmas

Blue BOLD dates are scheduled Board meeting days.

Any questions, please contact Loretta at: lrowe@maine.rr.com
 

Ongoing Item Donations Needed
The following items are needed on an on-going basis. Please feel free to bring them to a meeting where we will collect and distribute them to the appropriate projects.
 
Crutches4Africa - Crutches, canes, folding walkers and wheelchairs to be shipped to Africa. Contact: Erik Greven at: egrev95@gmail.com
 
Toiletries for the Shelters - Collect those tiny bottles of toiletries you are paying for during your next hotel visit and bring them home for members of our society who find themselves staying at a shelter and in need of personal hygiene products.