On Friday, we will have two Co-Directors of Portland Overdose Prevention Site (OPS) speak at our club meeting: Brittney La Shier (on left) and Lizzy Handschy (on right).
In 2017, opiate overdoses tragically took the lives of more than one person a week in Portland, and more than one person a day in Maine. We believe those deaths are preventable and that Mainers deserve innovative and effective solutions to the Opioid crisis.
Opening an Overdose Prevention Site (OPS) in Portland would be a powerful step toward significantly reducing these tragic deaths. In an OPS, trained medical professionals care directly for individuals as they use pre-obtained drugs, ensuring that the individuals use sterile supplies, and in the case of an overdose, are quickly revived with the overdose-reversal drug, Naloxone.
Operating in dozens of cities around the world, overdose prevention sites offer an affordable, effective, scientifically proven way to keep everyone in our communities safe, alive and cared for. It’s time to stop pushing people with substance use disorders out onto the streets and into the shadows. Isolation compounds addiction. Care enables recovery. Portland OPS is a new nonprofit organization dedicated to saving lives at the epicenter of Maine’s overdose epidemic, by establishing a municipally sanctioned OPS in Portland.
The Portland City Council Health and Human Services & Public Safety Committee will begin a discussion about overdose prevention sites at their May 14th meeting, at 5:30PM in City Hall.
Sometimes things just seem to fall into place. At our recent meeting, PP Bowen Depke had it all going when he got to introduce our guest speaker and his long time Cape Elizabeth friend, Luke Holden. Bowen was in remarkable humor as he introduced his friend without getting caught in a trap. Luke, you see, is from a long line of Casco Bay lobster fishers. As if that is not just the finest kind, it turns out that Luke is the fourth generation involved with lobster. His three predecessors, it turns out, all where Rotarians and Luke looks forward to following the tradition in the future. It turns out that Luke’s fish tale is a good old-fashioned Maine-boy-does-good story.
Luke is clearly well rooted in Cape Elizabeth, but has chosen to currently reside in South Portland with his wife and daughter, Poppy. He graduated from Cape Elizabeth High School where he was a hockey stand out. That skill helped him get into Georgetown University where he continued to play and became the Bulldog’s hockey team captain. Obviously, Luke is a gifted individual and upon graduating from Georgetown, he moved to New York City to become an investment banker. For many, this would be the gold ring and the story would have a happy ending. Consequently, one Sunday afternoon, at his Manhattan office anchor, he got a longing for a good lobster roll, so he took to the net – internet, that is! His search, despite being in that reputed food mecca, was in vain and he couldn’t find one that could satisfy a guy who has lived the real deal from Maine.
While his appetite may not have been satisfied, it sparked his entrepreneurial and business appetite. So, with an idea, an appetite, and $15K in savings, he set out to create a solution. He has Maine common sense, but he knew he had to have a partner. He reached out to find a marketing mind and sell them on the notion of Luke’s Lobster Shack. His father matched his $15K investment and they found a 250-square foot space in a consignment mall in the Leesburg locale of NYC and opened up selling only lobster rolls and none of the frills, other than good Maine customer service. When you’re on a shoestring budget and dangling on Big Apple high wire, you can’t take the day off to be part of the grand opening. Therefore, on that first day Luke sat at his desk wondering ow it was going, while his dad was stuck in the shack, and Luke had to wait for a report. Just like an Horatio Alger story, the Maine boy made it big time and sold out of the 250 lobster rolls and had to close early! They knew they had a great plan and soon expanded to a second shack on the Upper East Side of the City and just continued to grow. None of it is fancy, still the paper plates and the lobster-limited menu (lobster mac and cheese for the unrefined kids) along with Maine-like customer service, but they are now up to 40 shacks, with 10 in Japan and one in Singapore. They have a shack in Tenants Harbor but, ironically, Luke has yet to open a place in Portland! Thankfully, that omission will soon end and they will open up a 175-seat restaurant on the Portland Pier.
While it may be enough to sell quality lobster rolls, for Luke it’s more than just him. Holden makes sure that the lobsters come from certified lobster boats and are humanely handled all the way to the plate. It begins with the processing facility located in Saco and follows through to the plate or package. They are selling to Whole Foods, which speaks to the quality. They took about half-million pounds of lobster off of Portland boats last year and expect even more this year. They also get quality "lobstahs" from our friends in Canada. This is one of the most sumptuous good luck stories ever to come from the State of Maine. Get ready to stand in line to get into the soon-to-be-opened restaurants on the Portland Pier. For more info, click HERE.
(L-R: PP Bowen Depke, Luke Holden and President John Curran.)
President John Curran welcomed 46 members and 8 guests to last Friday’s meeting at the Jewish Community Alliance.
After an invocation presented by Dave Small, we pledged our allegiance to the (missing) American flag and PP Laura Young started us in singing a patriotic song.
Our support with the USM and MEMIC efforts to provide assistance to new Mainers paid off last week when, after a heartfelt presentation by PP Roxane Cole, our club donated $1100 from our youth service funds, which was combined with $1025 from direct member donations. We watched our generosity double with a matching gift from MEMIC, providing USM’s innovative program with $4250 from Portland Rotary Club.
Megan Peabody, a fairly new member who has jumped in with both feet, provided us with a vocational service moment on Friday, telling us about her long family history and her upbringing with “service” as the family mantra. As a high school student, Megan helped raise funds for the Shelter Box and Polio-plus programs, leading to being selected as a youth exchange student, where she worked with Safe Passage for nine months. She has since dedicated her career and free time to helping others....be it at Learning Works in Westbrook, at the Skillin Elementary School or at Lyseth School in Portland, Megan stated that “Rotary has changed my life.” It’s heartwarming to see a young person so involved!
Bob Clark(photo at right, speaking), after acknowledging his pending retirement from his leadership post at the Boy’s and Girl’s Clubs (and suggesting that this would leave him more time to give back to our club!), introduced two young people from the local “clubhouses,” who will be presenting before a panel in Augusta on May 7th, with one young person being selected from the state to perhaps be named “The National Youth of the Year.” Bob introduced Sara Dhalai (photo at right, on the far right) from the Riverton Clubhouse, who read excerpts from poems she has authored over the course of years, outlining her intimate feelings about a difficult, yet rewarding childhood. With the themes of love, memories, leadership and change pervasive in her works, she should already be seen as a strong young woman who has built a life upon which she can be very proud. Next up was the selected youth from the Portland Clubhouse, Louis Gaddas (photo at right, on far left), who began at the Boy’s Club as a very young boy, but now stood before us just weeks ahead of his high school graduation, the first in his family to ever reach such a plateau. Louis read the speech that he has prepared for Augusta, in which he digs deep into his heart with stories of his perseverance and strength. Thanks to Bob for everything he has done for our community and we look forward to his ongoing efforts within our club.
We had a visit from “Josh the Otter” on Friday. Donning the large mascot head was our own Marissa Fortier, who is working with the Michael Phelps Foundation to address the very serious issue of childhood drownings, the number one killer for children under age four in the United States. With the playful otter sharing a message of water safety, we can only hope that this little-known statistic can be greatly reduced. Our own PP Laura Young recently played out the role of Josh at Lyseth School, where she/he was apparently a huge hit!
If you are reading this newsletter prior to Wednesday evening (5/1), you still have time to get over to the Jewett Hall at SMCC for our educational session on the ongoing opioid crisis. At 5:30, after grabbing a slice of pizza, you can hear from our new District Attorney, Jonathan Sahrbeck, who has made this epidemic a huge priority. We’ll also hear from two folks in recovery, telling their own story of how substance use pulled them down and how recovery has changed their lives. Wrapping up the 90-minute program will be Zoe Brokos, who works thru the City of Portland in educating and instructing members of the public on the effects of various drugs and how to properly respond to an overdose. Narcan, which can save the life of an individual who is suffering an overdose, will be explained and anyone who wants one of the simple to use injectors will be given one on the way out the door. These types of programs are becoming more and more a part of our district-wide effort to educate the public and remove the stigma of those suffering from substance use disorder (SUD). This event is free and we would encourage people to bring friends as well as teen or college age children and grandchildren. (See separate article in this WJ issue.)
Joe Reagan spoke about our upcoming Maine Outdoor Challenge (MOC) and the need to sign up at least 17 more teams to this fun event, which is our biggest annual fundraiser. Please dig deep and ask some friends, co-workers or your boss if it would be possible to put together a team. And, as always, if you are out and about, please ask for gift certificates for our auction. For more information, contact Joe at: joergn15@gmail.com.
(Photo L-R: Tom Nickerson and PP John Marr.)
Our weekly raffle was led by Tom Nickerson, who asked our speaker to pull a name out of the holding vessel. PP John Marr’s name was drawn, but he failed to find the Queen of Hearts, allowing the pot to continue to grow.
Registration for RotaryFest 2019 is officially open!
To register, go to https://rotary7780.org/event/district-conference-1/. As you hopefully know by now, this is Governor John LoBosco's one-day, free, District Conference to be held on June 22nd at Fort Williams Park in Cape Elizabeth. Even though it will cost you nothing, we need to know if you will attend so we know how much free food to plan for and how many children will be there for the many activities we have planned for them. And we do have an alternate location lined up in the unlikely case of bad weather.
So please, register early and we look forward to seeing you at what will be a distinctive and very fun District Conference.
NOTABLE DATES FOR MEMBERS IN MAY Member Birthdays 6 - Matt Wolcott 7 - Bill Blount 12 - Mark Foster 12 - Bill Ross 13 - Tom Saturley 17 - Howie Herodes 17 - Bob Martin 17 - Tom Sukley 18 - Patty Erickson 18 - Brian McDonough 19 - Don Zillman 22 - Jon Young 23 - Nick Lotfey
Date-Joined-Rotary Anniversaries 12 years - Laura Young 13 years - Tony Manhart 27 years - Bill Blount
Invocation: Cyrus Hagge Program Reporter: Bob Martin Bits & Pieces Reporter: Bob Martin Registration/Greeter: Michelle DiSotto Sell Meal Tickets: Loretta Rowe Raffle: Bob Fowler Collect Meal Tickets:Ellen Niewoehner Sgt-at-Arms: Charlie Frair
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. Contact: Roger Fagan, drrogerfagan@gmail.com
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.
ROTARY DOUBLES TENNIS LEAGUE Winter/Spring Session 2019
As we head into the final week of Rotary Tennis, with 17 of the 18 weeks in the history books, the final outcome is still not determined. Team 1 is currently in 1st place, but with a bye week next week, their fate hangs on week 18, when team 6 could, with 2 points, tie them, or with three or four points, knock them off.
It's a going to be a photo finish, and there are lots of opportunities for spoilers to rain on various parades. Fasten your seat belts!