Due to the continued spread of the Covid virus and protecting the safety of our members, we’re postponing our first in-person meeting at the Italian Heritage Club until at least March 4. The board will meet again on 2/18 and will make a decision.
This Week's Speaker | Kathleen O'Donnell, SCORE
Kathleen has 25 years of experience as an executive coach and a business consultant. She has held executive and mid- level management positions in fields as diverse as finance, insurance, high tech, health care and education. Kathleen has a Master’s degree in Adult/Community Education from Indiana University of Penna. She and her husband have owned a business for 36 years which has enriched her skills as a volunteer SCORE mentor helping entrepreneurs achieve their business dreams. Kathleen has been a SCORE volunteer mentor since 2015 and has served the Portland Chapter as Vice Chair and Director of Client Services. She also serves as President of the Board of Directors for Community Dental, a 104 year old nonprofit serving dental needs throughout Maine.
Meeting of Feb 4 | Joe Reagan, Wreaths Across Americaby Dick Hall
Joseph Reagan, past Portland Rotary club member, is the Director of Military and Veterans Outreach for the national non-profit Wreaths Across America. Joe served eight years on active duty as an officer in the U.S. Army, including two tours to Afghanistan with the 10th Mountain Division. Justin Lamontagne shared Joe’s very impressive military biography.
Wreaths Across America (WAA) is a nonprofit founded in 2007 for the annual wreath laying ceremony at Arlington National Cemetery. It started as a family tradition of the Worcester family and has now become a program about caring for the living veterans while honoring the fallen veterans. For every $15 wreath sponsorship, $5 goes back to veterans’ programs, with a nationwide reach to all 50 states, including 4,000 participating organizations, supported by 2 million volunteers. Locally focused organizations honor on a local level, with large participation in Maine communities.
WAA developed a radio program this year of Stories of Service, Sacrifice, and Success, and also created a mobile Education Exhibit. This exhibit also serves as a welcome home center, created by the Vietnam Veterans who themselves did not get the proper welcome home they deserved.
What is a Veterans Wreath? 10 Balsam Bouquets, 10 Special Qualities
Their BELIEF in a greater good.
Their LOVE for each other
Their STRENGTH, work ethic, & character
Their HONESTY & integrity
Their HUMILITY, selflessness, & modesty
Their AMBITIONS & aspirations
Their OPTIMISM for America
Their CONCERN for the future
Their PRIDE in their duties
Their HOPES & DREAMS that didn’t always come true but left them with no regrets.
The wreaths start in a forest of Maine, with dedicated land for special groups including a newly dedicated grove for black female veterans who served. Boughs are hand harvested, for the handmade wreaths. They need to wait for the first hard frost to set the needles, and then gear up for production of 95,000 wreaths per day.
Joe was tasked with capturing video of the whole thing starting with the night before dinner. He told us that it takes 15 minutes for the trucks to leave the factory. The 3-mile long convoy included (14) tractor trailers, (25) law enforcement vehicles, with a total of 150 people.
The convoy engages and honors veterans with meetings in several communities, including speeches and stories by veterans along the way. A focus is on teaching the kids, with a special kid event in Elliot and Kittery. The trip included eight dignified transfers as well as stops with locally provided entertainment. For Joe, the special moments were connecting with people he had never met and reconnecting with those he had not seen since his service time. Monuments and powerful stories were an important part of the trip. Veterans felt so comfortable that they began sharing stories of their experiences, many of which had never been shared with anyone before. The wreath procession went to all of the Veterans Memorials, before proceeding to Arlington Cemetery. Later there were 40,000 volunteers placing wreaths on the graves with the last one being placed at the Tomb of the Unknown.
We ended with a back and forth between PP Paul Tully and Joe, as Paul has volunteered with his family for the last three years on the wreaths programs.
Bits & Pieces | by Tom Talbott Laura Young, our guest MC Past President is all about timeliness, so promptly at 12:00pm, our meeting was underway. Looking to shake things up a bit, she began by asking volunteers about updates in their life. Laura noted that one of the things she really misses about in-person meetings is the fellowship at the round tables, talking about what’s going on in your life. So that’s what we did! Brian Nickerson reported he just got back from San Diego for two weeks, where he visited the Point Loma Rotary. PP Tom Talbott noted that his coaching at USM lacrosse practices are underway. PP Bill Blount spoke of the very active Portland Rotary Tennis Club that plays Monday nights 530p-7p, as well as on Thursday’s where club members are meeting up at Sunday River Ski for a day of skiing. PP Cyrus Hagge admitted that he usually sat at the back tables so he could whisper to others without annoying the President.
Cyrus Hagge - Good times, bad times, and groundhogs.
Cyrus was on tap for the Invocation, so he shared both a story and thoughts. Personally, 2021 was a tough year, as both he and his partner Patty went through cancer treatments, fortunately both having a healthy outcome. (Cheers from the gallery!) Cyrus, with two artificial knees and one hip, is preparing for replacement of the second hip. Bionic Man! This all brought him to the notion of Groundhog Day, a Feb 2nd tradition in Punxsutawney, PA, since 1887. Cyrus shared that the ground hog coming out of its hole has nothing to do with the weather, it’s all about mating. Rascal! We have 37 days before daylights savings starts, and 45 days until spring. Finishing, Cyrus added that the “definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results.” Just ask Bill Murray.
Question of the Day.
Who was baking brownies in the background, with
unmuted conversation? Fess up. It sounded tasty!
Paul Harris Fellow
Foundation Chair Patty Byers was proud to announce our latest Paul Harris Fellow, PP Matt Tassey. Matt has distinguished himself as five-time recipient, demonstrating his deep commitment to building peace and understanding in the world through his support of the Rotary Foundation. We thank you Matt! (Applause, applause) Matt was on zoom, but unavailable for comment. Rumor is that he was eating brownies.
A Capella Announcement
Bill Blount piped up that the Music Committee has been relatively dormant as of late, obviously due to our club not meeting in-person. Bill’s goal is to gradually reinstate it, and you’ve noticed that we’ve had solo performances of a patriotic song from Bill, Kathy Grammar, and PP Don Lowry. Bill appealed to the members to step up and be a solo singer at the beginning of a meetings. Reach out to Bill or Bruce Jones if you want the honor! (Group singing on zoom just doesn’t fly,)
Hands On
A couple weeks back, PP Amy Chipman told us how she had picked up 100 pairs of mittens knitted by Joan Steinburg. Joan, wife of our late Rotarian Russ Burleigh, has been doing this for many years, with a lot of love and a lot of yarn donated from club members. Amy delivered the mittens to Sylvie Montello, the Community Coordinator for the Portland Schools, and also the coordinator for our reading programs at the Lyseth School. Sylvie has seen to it that these beautiful mittens were distributed to students at Lyseth, Presumpscot, and Reiche schools.
Your contribution to The Rotary Foundation supports Rotarian-led service projects that provide clean water, promote peace, develop communities, save mothers and children – and one day soon will finally eradicate polio.
Every Rotarian, Every Year promotes every Rotarian making a contribution - of any amount, to the Annual Fund each year. One of our Portland Rotary goals this year is to be a 100% "EREY" club, and we are asking that each member give at least $25 to the Annual Fund.
Can you imagine how many more lives will be changed if we, along with all the other 35,000 Rotary Clubs world-wide, achieve 100% participation? If you haven’t yet made your donation, please consider doing so today.
Send a check payable to The Rotary Foundation to Alice Alexander, P.O. Box 1755 Portland, ME 04104-1755 or go to MyRotary.org and hit the Donate button to get started.
Speaker Schedule
February 18 | Nate Stevens, Boulos Company
February 25 | Club Assembly
March 4 | Katrina Venhuizen, ecomaine
March 11 | Jack Carr, Maine's Maritime History
President-Elect Bruce Jones will turn over the reins to thesePast President's to guest host the following meetings:March 4th: Amy Chipman • March 25th: Tom Talbott • April 1st: Bill Blount • April 22nd: Larry Gross • April 29th: John Marr • May 20th: Bowen Depke May 27th: Ellen Niewoehner • June 17th: Roxane Cole • June 24: Ben Lowry
Club Executives
President-Elect Bruce Jones
1st VPDick Hall
2nd VP Patty Byers
Treasurer Howie Herodes
SecretaryMichelle DiSotto
Board of DirectorsEllen Niewoehner, Mark Foster, Bob Clark, Roger Fagan, John Thompson
Sergeant-At-Arms Dave Putnam
Club Administrator Alice Alexander
The Windjammer
is published online by
The Rotary Club of Portland, Maine.
Contributing Editors
Bill Blount, Jake Bourdeau, Dick Hall,
Erik Jorgensen, Julie L’Heureux, Ben Lowry,
Tom Nickerson, Tom Talbott, Laura Young
3rd Q Program Chair:Justin Lamontagne
4th Q Program Chair:Roxane Cole
Managing Editor Tom Talbott
Co-ProductionAlice Alexander
Last week we welcomed a new advertiser, North43Bistro, South Portland. Salute!
consultant. She has held executive and mid- level management positions in fields as diverse as finance, insurance, high tech, health care and education. Kathleen has a Master’s degree in Adult/Community Education from Indiana University of Penna. She and her husband have owned a business for 36 years which has enriched her skills as a volunteer SCORE mentor helping entrepreneurs achieve their business dreams. Kathleen has been a SCORE volunteer mentor since 2015 and has served the Portland Chapter as Vice Chair and Director of Client Services. She also serves as President of the Board of Directors for Community Dental, a 104 year old nonprofit serving dental needs throughout Maine.
Outreach for the national non-profit Wreaths Across America
updates in their life. Laura noted that one of the things she really misses about in-person meetings is the fellowship at the round tables, talking about what’s going on in your life. So that’s what we did! Brian Nickerson reported he just got back from San Diego for two weeks, where he visited the Point Loma Rotary. PP Tom Talbott noted that his coaching at USM lacrosse practices are underway. PP Bill Blount spoke of the very active Portland Rotary Tennis Club that plays Monday nights 530p-7p, as well as on Thursday’s where club members are meeting up at Sunday River Ski for a day of skiing. PP Cyrus Hagge admitted that he usually sat at the back tables so he could whisper to others without annoying the President.
both having a healthy outcome. (Cheers from the gallery!) Cyrus, with two artificial knees and one hip, is preparing for replacement of the second hip. Bionic Man! This all brought him to the notion of Groundhog Day, a Feb 2nd tradition in Punxsutawney, PA, since 1887. Cyrus shared that the ground hog coming out of its hole has nothing to do with the weather, it’s all about mating. Rascal! We have 37 days before daylights savings starts, and 45 days until spring. Finishing, Cyrus added that the “definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results.” Just ask Bill Murray.
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