News of The Rotary Club of Portland, Maine
July 3, 2021
The Year Ahead: Serve to Change Lives
 
Bob Martin became the 108th President of the Rotary Club of Portland, Maine on July 1, and will outline the challenges facing Portland Rotary in the year ahead on July 9.
 
Bob first joined Rotary in 1987 as a member of the Rotary Club of Hartford, CT when he was an advertising executive at The Hartford Courant newspaper. His membership was influenced by his grandfather, a Rotarian in Brunswick, MD  for almost 50 years. As he moved to different places in his career, Bob has been a member of clubs in Chapel Hill, NC, Farmington, Kennebunk, and Portland, Maine. He was introduced as a member of Portland Rotary in 1990 by Bo Martin (no relation). He moved to North Carolina in 1993, and after relocating back to the Portland area, returned to the club in 2011, sponsored by David Clough.
 
Bob is the Managing Partner of Strategic Equity Partners LLC, a strategy apothecary that provides unique solutions for firms determined to grow. A recognized leader in the world of innovation, Bob became widely known throughout the state as the President of the Maine Technology Institute. His volunteer work includes membership on a variety of boards including the Maine Center for Entrepreneurs (MCE); Cutler Institute Data Advisory Board; Maine Medical Center Ambassador Council; Maine International Trade Center Foreign Direct Investment Board, the advisory boards of the University of Southern Maine Schools of Engineering and Business, and, the Maine Innovation Economy Advisory Board. He was the founding board chair for the Friends School of Portland. He also works as a mentor with new ventures for the Greater Portland Immigrant Welcome Center and for the TopGun and Cultivator programs at MCE. 
 
Bob’s work background includes senior leadership roles at The Washington Post, The Hartford Courant, and Dai Nippon Ink & Chemicals, where he was CEO of a major biochemical subsidiary. Bob also worked with Eliot Cutler on the formation of the Maine Center for Graduate Professional Studies for the University of Maine System. His consulting work has included projects in pharmaceuticals, publishing, manufacturing, healthcare, aquaculture, and food production.
 
Bob studied at The George Washington University (where he was a classmate of David Clough), and earned his MBA at the Kenan-Flagler Business School at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. An inveterate writer, Bob is an alum of the Bread Loaf Writers Conference and recently completed a novel, which is in the process of presentation to major publishers. He is a veteran of the U.S. Army. Bob and his wife Barbara reside in Brunswick. Their daughter, Grace, lives in Keene, NH.
Loretta Rowe Memorial Dedicated 
A granite bench in memory of Loretta Rowe was officially dedicated on June 23 with a ribbon cutting and a memorial program in Rotary Grove attended by 29 Rotarians and friends. Dave Putnam gave a moving tribute describing Loretta’s dedication to Rotary.  “Rotary was her family,” he said.  “I was moved to tears,” said President Ellen Niewoehner. In addition to remembering Loretta, the occasion provided the opportunity for members to visit together on a beautiful late afternoon along the waterfront.
 
To locate Rotary Grove and visit the Loretta Rowe Memorial Bench, just walk along the Eastern Trail to Fish Point. Thanks to Mike Fortunato for leading the purchase for the granite memorial bench.  A purple crocus garden was planted in the Grove last fall to draw attention to Rotary’s campaign to end Polio.  
A Note from Roger and Liz Fagan 
 
Dear Portland Rotarians,
 
Liz and I lost our son Nathan in May of this year.
Losing a child affects your mind, heart, and soul and this has been a dark time for us.
 
We want to thank all of our Rotarian friends who reached out to us with food, flowers, cards and offers of emotional support. 
 
We have continued our international service in the Dominican Republic, Kosovo and Turkey and found that helping others is a pathway to healing ourselves.
 
We are proud to be involved in the work of Rotary and thankful to have you as our dear friends. 
 
 
Roger and Liz Fagan
 
Nathan Lessard’s obituary can be found here.
 
 
Bits and Pieces | by Julie L'Heureux
 
Congratulations to President Ellen Niewoehner for successfully leading the Portland Rotary though a COVID challenging year! Thank you and appreciation were extended to everyone who helped and supported “Service Above Self” during the year of “Rotary Opens Opportunities.” Certainly, the Rotary year 2020-2021, was a year to remember the opportunities shared through weekly ZOOM meetings, while participating in excellent and informative programs. Ellen thanked Elise Hodgkin for her administrative support, especially during the last few weeks of the Rotary year when she volunteered her time. A new administrative coordinator will be introduced in July. Ellen sent Elise flowers for her retirement, on behalf of the Club.  
 
Ellen extended particular thanks to President-Elect Bob Martin, who was “Rotary behind the scenes” during the past year.  Bob begins his President’s year July 1.
 
Dick Hall begins leadership as District Governor for 7780, in July.  Dick is a 5th generation Maine native who has strong family connections to Rotary.
  
President Ellen extended thanks to everyone who participated in the four avenues of Rotary service during the pandemic, especially noting Tom Ranello, community services chair, who organized birthday tributes to two military veteran members: Mark Stimson, when he turned 95; and Bob Traill for his 99th birthday.
 
Sarah Riggott gave an update about the new Satellite Club, focused on Education & Children’s Issues. Club member Megan Peabody is a leader in this e-club. Anyone  interested  in  quality  education  and  programs  that  support  children  are welcome. Please share this information with friends and colleagues who may be interested. Zoom meetings are held  on the 2nd and 4th Tuesday of each month at 8:00 pm EDT. Contact Megan Peabody for the link.
 
Paul Tully provided the invocation and spoke about the vision of Paul Harris who founded Rotary International in 1905.  In 1915, the Portland Rotary was founded.  A few years later, the Great Influenza pandemic (1918-2020) changed how the club conducted business. “How to Handle the Meeting during a Pandemic,” was a guide to help Rotary clubs to survive.  Paul’s invocation message was a quote from Becoming, Michelle Obama’s autobiography: “Success is not about how much money you make. It’s about the difference you make in people’s lives.” 
 
Amy Chipman gave a Rotary Foundation report.  She thanked everyone for their generous contributions to the campaign to end polio and to help the club reach its annual Foundation goal.  This year, four Portland Rotarians achieved the distinction of becoming Major Donors to the Foundation. John Marr, Dick Hall, Mike Reed and Kerck Kelsey (posthumously). Each contributed $10,000 to earn this designation. 
 
President Ellen thanked everyone who helped to make the June 18 picnic meeting at Fort Williams an enjoyable outing.  
 
At the meeting’s end, President Ellen handed the virtual gavel to incoming president Bob Martin, who thanked Ellen for her confident leadership during a pandemic year where she presided over only one in-person meeting. He noted that give or take a meeting or two, this was the 5,000th meeting of the Rotary Club of Portland, and he looked forward with humility and excitement to continuing its long and impactful heritage.
 
 
 
Dory Waxman – Common Threads | by Erik Jorgensen
 
Dory Waxman, a longstanding fixture on the civic landscape of Portland, both for her work in elected office and her work as a businesswoman and activist, spoke June 25.  Dory is on the Portland Charter Commission (possibly the hottest political post in town) but came to talk about her nonprofit, Common Threads.
 
Dory is an unusual person in today’s American industrial landscape – she manufactures clothing. She founded and owned Casco Bay Wool Works for 13 years, then opened Old Port Wool and Textile – a Portland showroom and factory. Later, she worked with her son Ben as he opened a new company, American Roots. This quickly exposed a dearth of well-trained sewing workers, which led her to develop a program to teach technical sewing.  
 
This resulted in a new nonprofit, Common Threads, an organization which teaches technical sewing and specializes in working with new Mainers. To date, the program has trained 187 people in this modern version of an ancient art.  As Dory noted, “stronger than any thread is the fabric we weave as students and teachers and new citizens.” 
Demand for these skills is high.  The program initially interviewed more than 600 people before admitting the first 187 for the program. In addition to teaching sewing skills, the program has developed business incubators for people wanting to get into the textile industry.  Dory stepped back from direct management in February, and the new Co-Directors are a Congolese fashion designer and an experienced teacher. It’s a wrap-around program - training runs 280 hours and the program provides health care, daycare, transportation and housing assistance to make it possible for participants to flourish as they get trained. 
 
Today the staff runs the school, there is a solid board and the program is maturing. Graduates are prepped in resumes and interviews and then employers come in and meet the students. Everyone, so far, has been hired on the spot—into jobs that pay living wages. Graduates are now making high-end backpacks, sails, shoes (yes, those are still made in Maine) as well as clothing. 
 
Moment of Reflection
 
 
Speaker Schedule
 
July 9 | Bob Martin, A New Year Begins
July 16 | Georges Budagu Makoko, Publisher, Amjambo Africa
July 23 | Jeff Sanders, CEO, Maine Medical Center
July 30 | Peter Vigue, Chairman, Cianbro
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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