News of The Rotary Club of Portland, Maine | May 11, 2020
Nate Wildes To Speak May 15
Nate Wildes is Executive Director of Live+Work in Maine. Nate is focused on increasing awareness about the career opportunities and quality of life experienced by those who live and work in Maine. A 2012 University of Maine graduate, Nate pursued other employment outside of the state before returning to Maine. Nate is also co-founder of Flight Deck Brewing on Brunswick Landing (the re-developed Brunswick Naval Air Station) and has been involved in other startup enterprises.
Waynflete Student Receives Youth Service Award
Dax Penney, a junior at Waynflete, received the club’s Youth Service Award from Ellen Niewoehner, after being introduced by school advisor Ben Mini. Nominated by the school’s faculty and leadership, Penney is known as the “Prince of Pi” around campus for his work creating a low-cost computer for Portland’s resettled refugee community. Penney learned about the Raspberry Pi, a compact, low-cost device which uses open-source components and microcontrollers, at a Waynflete summer camp when he was a sixth grader.
At the time, Penney was involved with the Catholic Charities initiative, the Backpack Project, which raised funds to purchase school supplies for New Mainers. Challenged by his mother to put his computer skills to use to help others, he launched a project to create a portable computer for less than $150 with appropriate open-source software to help the large group of African refugee families temporarily housed in the Expo. To raise funds, Penney set up the “Peace of Pi,” and created a GoFundMe page (link here). He received enough to build a prototype and was able to give his first computer to a refugee from Angola recently.
Penney plans to attend college on an ROTC scholarship and pursue an Army commission after graduation. Upon receiving the award, Penney said, “service to the community and state and nation is essential, undervalued, and sometimes under-communicated. We must maintain the vision of America where anyone can come. As a community, we can make that happen.”
Bits & Pieces
Our May 8 meeting drew 34 members together from living rooms, kitchens, and offices via Zoom. Gracie Johnston led our Moment of Reflection with a reading from a letter in the Florida Village News by Barry Evans.
“For a small amount of perspective at this moment, imagine you were born in 1900. Many would think that was a pretty simple time of life. Then on your 14th birthday, World War I starts, it ends on your 18th birthday, and 22 million people perish in that war, including many of your friends who volunteered to defend freedom in Europe.
Later in the year, a Spanish Flu epidemic hits the planet and runs until your 20th birthday. Fifty million people die from it in those two years. Yes, 50 million. On your 29th birthday, the Great Depression begins. Unemployment hits 25%, the World GDP drops 27%. That runs until you are 38. The country nearly collapses along with the world economy. If you were lucky, you had a job that paid $300 a year, a dollar a day.
When you turn 39, World War II starts. You aren’t even over the hill, but don’t try to catch your breath. If you lived in London, England or most of continental Europe, bombing of your neighborhood, or invasion of your country by foreign soldiers along with their tank and artillery, was a daily event. Between your 39th and 45th birthdays, 75 million people perish in the war.
At 50, the Korean War starts. 5 million perish. At 55 the Vietnam War begins and doesn’t end for 20 years. Four million people perish in that conflict. On your 62nd birthday there is the Cuban Missile Crisis, a tipping point in the Cold War. Life on our planet, as we know it, could have ended. Sensible leaders prevented that from happening.
In 2020, we have the COVID-19 pandemic. Thousands have died; it feels pretty dangerous; and it is. Now think of everyone on the planet born in 1900. How do you think they survived all of the above? When you were a kid in 1965, you didn’t think your 65-year-old grandparents understood how hard school was, and how mean that kid in your class was. Yet they survived through everything listed above. Perspective is an amazing art. Refined as time goes on, and very enlightening. So, let’s try and keep things in perspective. Let’s be smart, we are all in this together.Let’s help each other out, and we will get through all of this.”
The Rotary Youth Leadership Award (RYLA) Camp is now tentatively scheduled for the Labor Day Weekend.
President Amy Chipman shared thanks from Margo Walsh, head of MaineWorks, for the club’s contribution to the Maine Recovery Fund.
Katie Spotz, the endurance athlete who spoke last year will engage in a 140-mile nonstop run across Maine to raise money for Run4Water, a faith-based charity focused on improving access to water. If you are interested in contributing, please contact Amy.
Joe Reagan announced his family’s pending move to Colorado Springs in mid-June. “I have enjoyed being a part of Rotary,” he said.
On a ramble in Harpswell, Erik Jorgenson found a reminder of George Crockett. The sticker marks George’s run for the Legislature.
Important Zoom information for Mac users: Please make sure to upgrade your Zoom app to the latest version—Release 5.0.1—before May 30. If you do not, you will be forced to upgrade when you attempt to sign on after that date, which will delay your efforts to join a meeting. This upgrade provides enhanced encryption security and safeguards. To check updates, click on zoom.us when your app is open (at the top of your screen), and select “check for updates.” Windows users should also check for updates.
Important dataon risk-avoidance from the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth on the physics of COVID-19 viral particle transmission at thislink.
Chamber Head Issues “Pay It Forward” Challenge
Quincy Hentzel, chief executive of the Greater Portland Chamber of Commerce, called the current pandemic an unprecedented challenge for the community and its small businesses, but expressed appreciation for the technologies that allowed everyone to connect through virtual events. She said the Chamber was fixated on supporting its members through the crisis. “No one has a blueprint on how to do this best,” she said. “This is our first go-around, and we’re trying to help everyone reopen safely.”
Hentzel said that the Chamber has joined forces with several organizations across the state focused on helping small businesses. “We’ve launched a ‘Pay It Forward’ strategy,” she said. “Everyone should make a point to rally around our small businesses.” She said that curbside delivery offers opportunities to continue to support restaurants, which are hurting, or small shops. “Order something from a restaurant and post it on Facebook that you’re going out to help. That will encourage others.”
Hentzel said that the Chamber was also working with the state’s Department of Economic and Community Development to survey members and gauge reactions to the state’s reopening plan. “There are no shortages of opinions,” she said. That statement proved prescient as members engaged in a spirited “Q&A” with Hentzel. “I think there will be silver linings here,” she said. “We just have to look for them.”
Speaker Schedule
May 22 | Casey Gilbert, Executive Director, Portland Downtown District
May 29 | Devin McNeil, Owner of Flowfold
June 6 | Julie Butcher Pezzino, Executive Director, Children’s Museum of Maine
News of The Rotary Club of Portland, Maine | May 11, 2020
A 2012 University of Maine graduate, Nate pursued other employment outside of the state before returning to Maine. Nate is also co-founder of Flight Deck Brewing on Brunswick Landing (the re-developed Brunswick Naval Air Station) and has been involved in other startup enterprises.
Penney learned about the Raspberry Pi, a compact, low-cost device which uses open-source components and microcontrollers, at a Waynflete summer camp when he was a sixth grader.
reminder of George Crockett. The sticker marks George’s run for the Legislature.
