News of The Rotary Club of Portland, Maine September 10, 2020
Remembering
We all remember where we were when we heard the news. Maybe watching the morning news shows, or on our way to work, or in class. It wasn’t an event you just heard about. We all saw it happen. Planes racing into towers. The raging fires. The collapse. The story of a plane crash in Pennsylvania. A day forever known by its date: 9/11.
This Friday, September 11 coincides with the opening of our Flags for Heroes display at Maine Mall. Due to the limitations imposed by the COVID-19 pandemic, we cannot meet at the Mall as had been planned. Instead, our meeting program will be a sharing of our individual stories of 9/11. Bowen Depke will host the discussion. Please let him know ahead of the meeting if you would like to speak.
Bruce Jones Named 2022-23 President
John Curran, Past-President of Rotary and Chair of the Nominating Committee announced that Bruce Jones has been selected to fill the role of Second Vice-President following the resignation of Gracie Johnston. Jones will assume the duties of club president in 2022. During his 18 years as a Rotarian, Bruce held roles as Sergeant-at-Arms, chair of the Membership and Invocation Committees, and has been active on several other committees and fundraising efforts.
A native of Newton, Massachusetts, Bruce spent his formative years competing with his three brothers. After graduating from the University of New Hampshire, he began his career in marketing and public relations withAnheuser-Busch in Tampa, Florida. After 5 years, he returned to Boston to work in the commercial furniture business in sales, management and business development roles. During a 10-year break from the furniture world, Jones worked for LL Bean as a training developer, and Dale Carnegie Training of Maine as Vice-President of Sales.
Bruce has been active with local Chambers of Commerce, the Advisory Board of the Casco Bay YMCA, the Long Creek Development Center and served as Vice-President of MEREDA (Maine Real Estate Developers Association).
Recently retired after 15 years with Creative Office Pavilion, he now enjoys all things Maine, including hiking, fly fishing, skiing, tennis and a new-found passion for pickle ball. Last June, Bruce and his wife, Sue, celebrated 38 years of marriage. Their two adult children, Ben and Emily, are married and live in the Portland area.
“I am excited about the opportunity to take a leadership role with Portland Rotary,” Bruce said. “And engage my passion to give back and build a strong club of engaged members.”
Reflections of Jesse Harvey
By Ben Lowry
By now, most of the Portland Rotary Club members know that Jesse Harvey passed away on Monday, September 7th of an apparent overdose. Bob Martin, our Windjammer editor-in-chief, asked me to write a brief reflection of Jesse rather than simply re-state the news as was printed on the front page of Wednesday’s Press Herald.
Jesse came into my life at a time when I needed him most. I had known him as a member of the club and was impressed that this very young man seemed so focused on service. When I was his age, I was focused on my career, my sports, dating. Jesse was laser focused on helping those in need, those in our state who were struggling with substance use issues. I watched as Jesse spread his gospel of hope and recovery, thinking highly of him but not really jumping in with both feet.
That all changed over a span of just a few months as I watched in horror as my then 19-year-old son plummeted into the abyss of drug addiction. The attitude of “this can’t ever happen to me” was quickly cast aside for the stark reality of waking each and every night wondering if my baby boy was alive or dead. It was only then that I began to reach out for a lifeline, someone with experience and a kind heart. My savior was Jesse Harvey. We spoke often and he began to educate me, sharing his own story of substance use, with his relapses and failed interventions mirroring those of my son. I quickly signed up for the Rotary sponsored recovery coach class, taught by Jesse every Saturday morning for 8 weeks. As the class of 12 eager folks listened, Jesse gave us not only an education but clear insight into what goes in the mind and body of someone who is struggling with addiction. Jesse went “off script” during much of the course, telling us stories that put a face on our studies. And, through his caring and intelligent teachings, our class began to see how the difficult process plays out.
I was by far the oldest in the class, and certainly the only one with a child going through these struggles, but we all shared and learned and grew as people, with Jesse as our mentor. It was during a lunch break on one of those Saturdays that I got yet another call that my son had “slipped” and was in the ER after an overdose. I went back in to collect my books before heading to the hospital and, as I wept and told the class the news, Jesse asked us all hold hands and send positive thoughts to my son and my family. Now, two years later, with my son in recovery, it was Jesse who needed those thoughts, those prayers, as his relapse pulled him down into that dark tunnel, that place where his heart stopped beating.
It tears me apart to think that the world will be without Jesse, a young man who touched so many lives. I know that our club will focus our attention, as we have for several years, on the ever-growing problem of substance use disorder, but now we can dedicate our efforts to Jesse, a very special young man who gave so much to so many.
Goodbye my friend…and thank you.
A Musical Interlude
by Juliana L'Heureux
Laura Russell, Director of Maine’s Royal River Chorus, shared the story of this regional women’s a capella performing group, with the assistance of chorus member Rhonda Williams. Introduced by Nannette Duncanson, Russell provided video clips taken of past performances and conducted a quick tutorial on harmony.
The Royal River Chorus is a nonprofit, self-funded, award-winning group that performs a capella musical arrangements in barbershop style. They are regional affiliates of Sweet Adelines, which includes hundreds of other quartets and choruses in this international performing organization. Sweet Adelines started in 1945 as a small group of women who loved to sing. Since then, the organization has evolved to span the globe, connecting nearly 21,000 singers in song. Since the COVID-19 has impacted their local and international performances, they have been conducting rehearsals online and sharing videos to continue educating the singers about four-part barbershop style. Chorus members do not need a background in singing barbershop. In fact, everyone is into “friendly learning” and the group looks forward to helping and supporting each other. Russell said the organization’s mission is to elevate women singers worldwide through education, performance, and competition in barbershop harmony and a cappella music.
Barbershop is performed in four-part harmony, identified as Base, Lead, Baritone and Tenor. Base creates the important barbershop style; Lead sings the melody, Baritone sings the “funky” notes and Tenor provides harmony. Russell presented a short rehearsal video where the Royal River Chorus sang “Love Letters Straight from The Heart.”
The Royal River Chorus also actively competes, and the group has won several awards. Russell also performs as a member of the Millennium Magic Chorus, a regional group in Massachusetts that performs in international concerts. Their first-place award-winning performance at the international Sweet Adelines competition in New Orleans was fun to watch on video because the chorus created an original mini-musical in barbershop style. Some Millennium Magic Chorus performances are posted on the internet. See thislink here for more information. In response to a question about how copyright is secured for their songs, Rhonda Williams noted all the group’s music is purchased and is performed in compliance with Sweet Adeline user policies. Check the website here for more information about how to support the Royal River Singers.
Bits & Pieces | by Erik Jorgensen
Portland Rotary’s Friday virtual luncheon was called to order by President Ellen, and in the minutes leading up to its start, we enjoyed the usual Zoom Chatter and glimpses into our members’ lives. We learned, for example, that Bruce Moore and Jan Chapman were on Mount Desert Island, gearing up for a visit to the Abby Aldrich Rockefeller Garden in Seal Harbor, one of Maine’s most historic and amazing landscapes.
Back in greater Portland, Ben Lowry, one of our tennis league legends, was championing “Pickle Ball” the new tennis-like craze with paddles and plastic balls that is played every morning on short courts at Deering Oaks. Everyone is welcome to thwack the plastic.
We were joined by Todd Breton of the Sugarland, Texas Rotary club. Todd is taking a virtual national tour, hoping to attend an online Rotary meeting in every state this year. We’re sorry you could not enjoy a lobster or visit Portland Head light, but we hope you had a nice visit to Maine!
We were joined by our former administrator, “Rotary Ruth”! Ruth is a familiar figure in our club who provided support for the organization during a time when the club had both a full-time administrator and an actual office in Portland.
Amy Chipman noted that the wild polio virus has now been eradicated from Africa! This extraordinary accomplishment is due in large part to Rotary International’s Polio Plus program, which joined efforts by the Gates Foundation and others to wipe this disease from the entire African continent – and almost the entire world. It continues to be endemic only two countries in the Middle East, and the goal of total elimination is growing nearer.
Roger and Liz Fagan brought some sobering news to us about the state of the pandemic in the Dominican Republic. There, the Hospital in La Romana, which has been our partner for different projects (most notably Hearts for Hearing) reports that they are overrun with COVID-19 patients and are desperately seeking help. They are totally out of PPE and are short on numerous other basic medical supplies. The Fagans contacted Partners for World Health, but the costs to ship large quantities of supplies have become prohibitive. Roger and Liz passed along a note from El Buen Samaritano that details over $250,000 in required equipment, including a generator, HVAC system, ventilators, and 37 pallets of related medical equipment and drugs. If you have connections to a “Good Samaritan” to help the work of this “Good Samaritan,” please let Roger and Liz know.
In related news closer to home, Dick Hall noted that an anonymous Rotarian benefactor has purchased half a million face masks for use by organizations that need them, and 100,000 of them are allocated for greater Portland to arrive on October 6. Dick is interested in receiving ideas about how to allocate them.
Patty Erickson announced that the Flags for Heroes project is rolling along. 36 flags have been committed to so far and those, along with a $2,500 sponsorship have brought in more than $5,400 as of Friday. Still plenty of room to sponsor flags for display at the Maine Mall starting September 11. You can also participate in setting up the display after hours at the mall on September 10. It’s not too late to get involved: see Charlie Frair if you want to sponsor a flag for $100 or help with setup.
Ann Lee Hussey of the Portland Sunrise Club shares their Purple4Polio fundraiser: 25 purple crocus bulbs for $10. Each $10 will be matched 2:1 by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation to deliver $30 toward the eradication of polio. Detailshere.
Finally, Bill Blount announced that the Rotary Tennis league is about to start up for the Fall – marking its 29th season of indoor doubles tennis. The pandemic has resulted in some personnel changes for 2020-21, but the league has some new recruits and is off and running. See Bill for more information on the league, or if you think you might be interested in participating in a future season.
A Moment of Reflection
“It’s a mercy that time runs in one direction only, that we see the past but darkly and the future not at all. But we all have an inkling of what lies ahead, for against the ruins of the ages it is apparent that our time is nothing more than the passing of a shadow and that our lives… run like sparks through the stubble.
The tenacity of our physical remains, their unwillingness to fully disappear, is at odds with whatever spark provides our animation, for the whereabouts of that after death is a mystery yet to be unpicked. What is this world, really? We’re told we have infinite choice and yet there’s so much that occurs beyond the perimeters of our command. We do not know why we’re set down here and though we may choose the moment when we leave, not a single one of us can shift the position we’ve been assigned in time, nor bring back those we love once they have ceased to breathe.”
-Olivia Laing, To The River: A Journey Beneath the Surface
Speaker Schedule
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
that Bruce Jones has been selected to fill the role of Second Vice-President following the resignation of Gracie Johnston. Jones will assume the duties of club president in 2022. During his 18 years as a Rotarian, Bruce held roles as Sergeant-at-Arms, chair of the Membership and Invocation Committees, and has been active on several other committees and fundraising efforts.
Harvey passed away on Monday, September 7th of an apparent overdose. Bob Martin, our Windjammer editor-in-chief, asked me to write a brief reflection of Jesse rather than simply re-state the news as was printed on the front page of Wednesday’s Press Herald. 
women’s a capella performing group, with the assistance of chorus member Rhonda Williams. Introduced by Nannette Duncanson, Russell provided video clips taken of past performances and conducted a quick tutorial on harmony. 
