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Welcome to the Rotary Club of Portland, Maine!
Portland Rotary
Service Above Self
We meet Fridays at 12:15 PM
Holiday Inn By-the-Bay
88 Spring Street
Portland, ME  04101
United States
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Rotary This Week

Portland Rotary Club
will meet this Friday,
April 13, 2018, 
at the
Holiday Inn By-the-Bay
88 Spring Street, Portland

 
*04/13/18 Lee Urban, The Power of a Ukulele

What do rock ’n roll superstar Bruce Springsteen and Berkshire Hathaway CEO Warren Buffett have in common?  They love to play their ukuleles!  It seems as if more and more people - young, old, and in-between - are picking up a ukulele nowadays.  But why is that?  What is the attraction of a ukulele?

Lee Urban plays ukulele and believes passionately in the power of the ukulele to do lots of things besides making cheerful music.  As Lee will describe in his presentation, the ukulele is used by music therapists in hospitals to address children’s physical, emotional, and social needs.  A song played on a ukulele can bring back memories to those living with Alzheimer’s.  Learning to play a ukulele can enhance social skills in children and peace of mind in adults.  

Best of all, a ukulele is fun and easy to play. Anyone can learn to play a song or two in just a few minutes.  Immediately following his presentation, Lee will demonstrate a 10-minute ukulele les-son with any Rotarian who’d like to experience the joys of a ukulele.  No prior musical experience needed.  No need to know anything about music.  No need even to have a ukulele be-cause Lee will have several to share.  All you need is the desire to have some fun.
 

04/06/18 Bill Brennan, Maine Maritime Academy

At our last meeting, David Clough introduced us to his high School friend, Bill Brennan. These guys must have had a great time during their time together at Kent’s Hill Academy, because their repartee was worthy of Saturday Night live, as they threw jabs at one another.  For a while some might have wondered if MMA was going to be mixed martial arts, for the day.  However, things settled down and both gentlemen assumed their usual professional persona and we learned a great deal about the Academy.  For example, MMA is a stand-alone institution and not part of the Maine University system. Mr. Brennan’s personal story is almost as interesting as the history of the school.  One might opine that he was born into the job since he succeeded his father as President of the Academy.  

Maine Maritime was created by an act of the legislature, vigorously promoted by Senator Ralph Leavitt father of club member Bill Leavitt, and came to fruition in 1941. Proving that politics changes little over the years, it turns out that the remote location, picturesque Castine, was not the choice due to aesthetics. It seems that a local school, Eastern State Normal School, had closed down and the building needed a tenant as much as the community needed the jobs, so it was a match made in Augusta, if not heaven. Travel to the school is a bit of an exercise but worth the trip, given the beauty of the surroundings and the astounding education.

The Academy is much more than a teaching facility for sea going mariners. Every graduate of MMA goes off to sea when they gain their degree, many stay on terra firma and utilize their expertise in land based engineering jobs, think ship building and safety services. As the merchant marine service of the United States has gone through momentous changes since WWII and mid Twentieth Century, the Academy has kept pace by providing much needed mariners along with well schooled engineers and students of management. The current enrollment of the school is about 950 students with a faculty of 110. The school employs 312 in total and has a payroll of close to 18 million dollars, which includes the cost of the flagship State of Maine training vessel. We get a great bang for our buck, since the school is considered one of the best in the U.S. and highly regarded worldwide. Students are often the first in their family to gain a college degree and most of them receive some form of financial support, but it doesn’t all come from the State. The graduates are highly recruited as is proven by 90% of the graduates having a job within 90 days of getting their degree! U.S. News & World Report, as well as Brookings and others rate MMA as one of the best. The students are well mannered and disciplined with a retention rate of 82%, despite the remote location. These kids are in school for a great education not a fabulous frat party. In fact, drug testing is required since there is an association with the Coast Guard.

The highlight of every sea going student is the time they spend on the schools ship, The State of Maine, which travels the globe and is well recognized wherever it travels. This is not a pleasure cruise, by any measure. The students are put through rigorous paces and must take care to keep the ship in shape and functioning to the highest of maritime standards. The ship uses about $900,000 on its tour but it’s money well spent as proven by success of the alumni and the distinction of being rated the number one Public College in the U. S. by Money Magazine.
 

 

 

04/06/18 Bits & Pieces

President Don Zillman began the meeting with Charlie Frair giving the unique and comical invocation about the surprise return of a Bunny. We did the Pledge and Bill Blount led us in a patriotic song. President Don welcomed 1 visiting guest and 47 Rotarians – with a special note about Kerck Kelsey – a former Rotarian with our club and Past President of the Boston Rotary Club. 


Present-elect John Curran presented an excellent slide show and discussion about two clinics helped in the Dominican Republic by our 3H project and he focused on various individuals helped by advances in prosthetic hands. It was a moving presentation about the impact this project makes on individuals who so desperately need our assistance.


Gracie Johnston and Jessie Harvey took the podium and spoke about the Recovery Initiative and helping those with a substance abuse disorder. They discussed ways for Rotarians to participate in the Recovery Coach Academy and noted that classes are starting in mid-May.


Past President Ben Lowry spoke from his table and reminded us about a club trip to the Allagash Brewery on April 25th from 6:00 to 8:00 p.m. The cost is $30.00 ($35.00 at the door). This is a fun social event and opportunity to invite new prospective members.



President Don noted that our trees from Rotary International are due to arrive on April 20/21 and all those who purchased them should be ready to pick them up. He also noted that Lyseth School has a celebration on April 24th at 9:30 am to thank folks who participated in the reading to students.



Past President Kris Rosado
is gearing up for our major fundraiser: "The Maine Outdoor Challenge" and invited all interested in volunteering to attend a meeting on April 11th at the Boys & Girls Club in Portland. Contact Kris for more details.


The raffle was conducted by Matt Wolcott and Eric Greven was chosen and graciously missed pulling out the Queen of Hearts, leaving the pot of $362 to grow until our next meeting. 



Rusty Atwood reminded us that Lee Urban will be our speaker on the 13th and he’ll be discussing and showing the 'Power of the Ukulele.'
 

2018 Maine Outdoor Challenge
This Week's Duty Assignments

Invocation:  Peggy Wescott
Program Reporter:  Dick Hall
Bits & Pieces Reporter:  Bob Martin
Registration/Greeter:   Jerry Angier
Sell Meal Tickets:  Patty Erickson
Raffle:  Deb Lavoie
Collect Meal Tickets: Matt Tassey
Sgt-at-Arms (Setup):  TBD
Sgt-at-Arms (Take Down): TBD

Rotary Meeting Locations

If you would like to mark your calendars,
we are scheduled at the following locations
through June 2018:

2018 
Apr 13 - Holiday Inn By-the-Bay
Apr 20 - Holiday Inn By-the-Bay
Apr 27 - TBD

May 04 - Holiday Inn By-the-Bay
May 11 - Clarion Hotel

May 18 - Clarion Hotel
May 25 - Holiday Inn By-the-Bay

Jun 01 - Holiday Inn By-the-Bay
Jun 08 - Holiday Inn By-the-Bay

Jun 15 - Holiday Inn By-the-Bay
Jun 22 - Clarion Hotel
Jun 29 - TBD


Blue BOLD dates are scheduled Board meeting days.

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

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
 

                          When
Project              Who to Contact


Preble Street        4th Wednesday ea month
Resource Ctr        3:30-6:30 pm
Soup Kitchen        Gracie Johnston
                           gracie.johnston@wcsh6.com


Game Night         3rd Tuesday ea month
Long Creek          Mike Fortunato
Youth Center        michael.k.fortunato@gmail.com
                           or Jim Willey
                           jimandbarbarawilley@gmail.com                       

 

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.
 
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.
 
Prospective Rotarians

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)                                                                           

Kim D'Amaro               The Salvation Army
(Jim Willey)


Thank you.