Melissa Sweet says she’s “been making art ever since I could hold a crayon, scissors, Etch-A–Sketch, and coloring book.” Her work is extraordinary.
Melissa has illustrated over 100 books as well as many toys, puzzles, games for eeBoo. Her work has been in magazines, on greeting cards and as drawings on her living room walls.
She has written four books: Carmine: A Little More Red, a New York Times Best Illustrated book; Tupelo Rides the Rails; Balloons Over Broadway: The True Story of the Puppeteer of Macy’s Parade, a Sibert Award winner (for informational books) and a NCTE Orbis Pictus winner (for nonfiction); her most recent book, Some Writer! The Story of E. B. White, was a New York Times Best Seller and garnered an NCTE Orbis Pictus award.
Melissa has illustrated three books by author Jen Bryant: A River of Words: The Story of William Carlos Williams; The Right Word: Roget and His Thesaurus, both garnered Caldecott Honors. A Splash of Red: The Art of Horace Pippin, was a Sibert Award and Orbis Pictus Award winner.
(Photo L-R: Megan Devlin, Charlie Frair and President Don Zillman.)
Our speakers last Friday featured home-grown club member Charlie Frair, and former member Megan Devlin, who shared with us their adventurous 100-mile hike on the Appalachian Trail. This was not a walk-in-the-park, this particular section is rated the toughest part of the entire trail. A cautionary sign at the beginning of the hike forewarned worthy trekkers to bring a 10- day supply of food and be fully equipped. “Good Hiking!”
The hike itself was 2 years in the making. Megan needed to heal from a broken arm, and Charlie, who has to take precautions due to heart/AFib issues, hired a personal trainer to prepare for the hardest physical challenge of his life. Finally, a “practice hike” was scheduled in order to test the gear, assess the backpack weight, and get a feel for it all. Everything looked easy at first, just stay on the trail. Uh-oh – they got lost in the first two hours, and endured attacks from Maine’s state bird, the mosquito. No fun! However, the duo made their way back, and was not to be deterred. The full 100-mile hike would soon follow.
The “Trail” was rough – plenty of rocks and tree roots that were often difficult to navigate. Charlie estimates he fell down once every 10 miles, not really the thing you want to be doing out in the wilderness. It’s a long day, but at the end of the hike, the work begins! Setting up their tents, collecting water and pumping it through filters, making the meals, hanging the bear bags…it’s not easy! The trail has some accommodations, including one old lodging camp named the WhiteHouse Landing. A little pricey, but a good meal, and good place to sleep. Apparently, the house dog was Charlie’s nemesis, stealing his socks. Megan and Charlie took this opportunity to mail back about 15 pounds of supplies they did not feel were essential to their expedition, and lightened the load. Camping gear is far lighter and more efficient than in the past, but a pound is a pound, and the goal is to pack right and travel light.
If you want to make friends with NOBOS and SOBOS, aka Northbound trail hikers, and Southbound trail hikers, a little bit of whiskey is an effective way to break the ice. Charlie’s Listerine bottle was actually 90 proof, and he became quite popular. Perhaps this is one of the catalysts for hikers to be given interesting nicknames as they meet each other on the trail, as real names are not used. Charlie’s call-sign was “Tiger Balm,“ which we assume was a cream for sore muscles, while Megan was known as “Chair Girl” or “Sittin’ Pretty.” Megan took it upon herself to tote along a folding chair, not something that most hikers bring along, however, she became the envy of others after a long day of hiking.
The trail is truly a community with a spiritual feeling. On a typical day, they would see 30 or more backpackers. As you can imagine, you meet all kinds of interesting characters. Not a lot of wildlife, perhaps due to the consistent traffic. They spotted 5 snakes, 2 deer, a moose across the lake, loons, and leeches. And the aforementioned mosquitos.
Unfortunately, Charlie did have an an AFib episode, and had to cut his journey short just past the half-way mark. A friend was able to meet him on a road intersection and bring him out. This left Megan with a dilemma: Keep going by herself, or wait for another opportunity? Taking stock, she decided to press on, no excuses, just do it. Not an easy decision by any means. A bad fall along the way didn’t make things easier. However, she persevered, and completed the journey. Congrats Megan!
Thanks Megan and Charlie for taking us on your trek, and we are glad you’re both home safe to tell us all about it!
Our Rotary Club meeting at the Clarion Hotel opened with President Don Zillman welcoming 45 members and one visiting guest, followed by the clever wisdom of Benjamin Franklin, read in the invocation by Past President Cyrus Hagge. Cyrus is a Ben Franklin fan. Some inspirational quotes included, “Diligence is the mother of good luck!” and “Remember, not only to say the right thing in the right place, but far more difficult still, to leave unsaid the wrong thing at the tempting moment.” An unresolved question was posed by Cyrus, about whether or not Ben Franklin would have been a New England Patriots fan?
In recognition of Ben Franklin being a true American patriot, the Rotarians sang “My Country ‘Tis of Thee,” led by Past President Bill Blount.
(Photo left: President Don, Annie Messinger, and Tom Ranello.)
President Don asked Tom Ranello to introduce Annie Messinger, the newest Portland Rotarian. Annie is a USM graduate and currently the Director of Achievement at the Maine Girls Academy - MGA - (formerly Catherine McCauley High School). We all welcomed Annie to Rotary!
Linda Varrell, the chair of the Public Relations Committee, asked for stories to submit to the District 7780 newsletter, about activities the Portland Rotarians are engaged in to support the programs sponsored by our club.
President Don explained an upcoming draft memo he will send to members regarding the recommendations of the Program Committee.
Although it was a large sum of $1,356, the weekly raffle was run by Bruce Jones, as Rusty Atwood's name was pulled for him to try and find the Queen of Hearts from the remaining cards in the deck. The amount will grow again as Rusty drew the 10 of hearts from the dwindling cards.
Fundraising Committee Meeting Friday, February 2nd, 11:00 AM Before our regular weekly meeting
Thanks to everyone’s participation, our Club has stepped up our level of activities and programs. Our focus on Childhood Hunger and Education (CHE) has helped us to expand existing efforts and develop new community project activities. In addition to our great work locally, our Hearing, Hands and H2O (3H) program has also experienced fabulous results and continued growth.
In order to maintain this pace and to continue to grow our programs, we will need to also grow our funding. It is up to our committee to make sure that the club has these resources. In this upcoming meeting, we will review and discuss the events and activities that we currently have, as well as discuss and plan events we might want/need to add.
Member Birthdays 5th - Gracie Johnston 14th - Charlie Frair 19th - Erik Greven 20th - Jesse Harvey 21st - Greg Hansel 21st - Doreen Rockstrom 23rd - Rich Campbell 24th - Eric Lusk
Date-Joined-Rotary Anniversaries 1st - David Clough - 25 years Paul Tully - 30 years 2nd - Ron Bennett - 17 years 6th - Nan Heald - 3 years Leonard Scott - 3 years 21st - Paul Gore - 32 years 26th - George Carr - 2 years
If you would like to mark your calendars, we are scheduled at the following locations through March 2018:
2018 Feb 02 - Clarion Hotel Feb 09 - Clarion Hotel Feb 16 - Holiday Inn By-the-Bay Feb 23 - Holiday Inn By-the-Bay
Mar 02 - Clarion Hotel Mar 09 - Holiday Inn By-the-Bay Mar 16 - Long Creek Youth Center Mar 23 - Holiday Inn By-the-Bay Mar 30 - Holiday Inn By-the-Bay
BlueBOLD dates are scheduled Board meeting days.
Any questions, please contact Loretta at: lrowe@maine.rr.com
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.
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.
As we receive applications for prospective members to join our Portland Rotary Club, the names of the applicants will be included in our Windjammer. Any information and/or comments you would like to share will be handled confidentially. Please contact Loretta Rowe: lrowe@maine.rr.com. Your input will be appreciated.
PROSPECT BUSINESS (Sponsor)
Xavier Botana Portland Public Schools (Don Zillman)
Kim D'Amaro The Salvation Army (Jim Willey)
Alex Kappelman Locations Real Estate Group (Ben Millick)