This Week: Nick Lund, Maine Audubon Advocacy - Year Round Backyard Birding
Nick Lund is Maine Audubon's Advocacy and Outreach Manager. He is a 2010 graduate of the University of Maine School of Law, and formerly worked in environmental advocacy at the Sea Grant Law Center at the University of Mississippi and for the National Parks Conservation Association in Washington DC. He helps lead Maine Audubon's work to pass wildlife-protective laws in Augusta, promote renewable energy policies, and other work. He is also a writer with a regular column in the Portland Phoenix, bylines in Downeast Magazine, the Washington Post, Audubon Magazine, and has authored two books, The American Birding Association Field Guide to the Birds of Maine, and The Ultimate Biography of Earth.
Bringing Nature Home: Backyard Birding. Maine Audubon will cover ways to turn your backyard into a year-round haven for birds.
Our Meeting of June 10: Jeana Stewart - The Future of the Workplace |by Dick Hall
Jeana started by telling us that the future is now. Today is definitely a labor driven market where organizations need to offer a well-designed workspace which tells the story of the company culture. Jeana says that there is a disconnect between where people want to work and where people will work. There are several return-to-work drivers, and an important one for organizations is to rebuild the social capital which has crumbled during the work at home phase. For Gen Z, they have only worked at home so social capital needs to be built from scratch.
Employee engagement is enhanced by being back in the office and engaged employees have lower turnover. All employees are expecting significant improvement in the office environment when they return to work. Jeana told us that management is often wrong when they describe what employees want, and it is important to meet employee expectations. Offices need to be designed to accommodate the 5-day worker, the 2-day worker and the occasional worker without dedicating office space to those who rarely come to work. We were told that organizations can decrease office space by 50% and increase amenities by 50%, with the result being a 35% cost savings.
One could tell that Jeana caught the attention of the audience as there was a continuous stream of questions until time ran out. Most questions revolved around the reuse of all the excess space and employee’s health. Jeana left the future of real estate to the realtors in the room and shared her wealth of knowledge about designing to improve employee health and happiness.
Bits and Pieces | by Jake Bourdeau
President Bruce Jones started the meeting, and Paul T Gore led us in the Pledge of Allegiance.
Paul Tully gave an invocation about the value of Rotary service and how Rotarians volunteered more than 5.8 million hours during a recent survey period. Paul followed up with a story about volunteers in heaven which brought smiles to all in attendance.
Patty Byers led the raffle and the speaker picked Eric Lusk’s name out of the can. Eric picked the Two of Diamonds leaving the Queen of Hearts in the deck, and a shot at over $370, until next week.
President Bruce noted that he recently attended the Rotary International Convention in Houston to gather ideas for his term. He said the Convention offered quite the inspiration and much entertainment. The Convention was full of powerful speakers, and good education, and helped align his goals for the upcoming year. Bruce will be sharing is experiences at the Convention in a future meeting, but he did mention that one featured speaker was an 11-year old named Jean who won 2021 Time’s Kid of Year for his essay on kindness. Jean gave a 15-20 minute off the cuff speech about gathering meals, books, and toys to help out over 100,000 children in Texas.
Mike Fortunato announced that there will not be social in June or July rather we will have the social event at the Hadlock Field with some of the Sea dogs baseball team on July 15th. The Social in August will be held on the second Thursday of the month and will not change. Bill Blount mentioned that he started the Portland Rotary’s annual visit to Hadlock field after attending an event with Utica Club at Blue Sox Field about 26 years ago. Thanks Bill, we can't wait for those Sea Dog Biscuits again this year!
A Memorial for Past President Russ Burleigh will be held on July 8th at the Merrill Auditorium from approximately 4-6:30 PM. More details will follow.
Bill Blount reminded the Rotary Tennis League participants to please send your checks for the 2022/2023 season and that the funds are due by August 1 (however sooner is much preferred).
Rotary Foundation Chair Patty Byers announced that there are 20 days left in Fiscal year and that if you want your foundation gift to be counted this year to please donate soon. She let us know that the club has been very generous and noted that she is still striving for 100% of the club member participation in the coming year.
Take Me Out To The Ball Game!
Murderer's Row it's not, but it is Rotary Row, with Mike Fortunato, Larry Gross, Rusty Atwood, and Gervin Kah, taking in some Sea Dogs action at Hadlock Field. This was Gervin's first baseball game! Batter up! Hey, reminder that on July 15, we will have our club meeting at Hadlock Field, and get the inside scoop on the Sea Dogs prospects for the pennant.
Celebrate Russ Burleigh
There will be a celebration of the life and legacy of Russ Burleigh, Friday, July 8th, 4p-630p at the Merrill Auditorium, Portland. Raise a glass to celebrate his remarkable imprint on our local performing arts community and beyond. There will be featured performances by Ray Cornils on the mighty Kotzschmar Organ, members of the Kotzschmar Festival Brass, and Maeve Hoglund, soprano. Following the program and brief remarks, guests will be invited on-stage for a reception. Hors d'oevres, wine, and beer will be served. Masks are required except when eating and drinking. The venue needs a headcount to prepare, so please Register no later than June 28th with this link.
Speaker Schedule
June 24 | Timothy Brosnihan, Victoria Mansion
July 15 | Road Trip to Hadlock Field!
President-Elect Bruce Jones will turn over the bell to these Past Presidents to guest host the following meetings: June 17th: Roxane Cole • June 29th: Ben Lowry
Club Executives President-Elect Bruce Jones 1st VP Dick Hall 2nd VP Patty Byers Treasurer Howie Herodes Secretary Michelle DiSotto Board of Directors Ellen 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
4th Q Program Chair: Roxane Cole Managing Editor Tom Talbott Co-Production Alice Alexander
Nick Lund is Maine Audubon's Advocacy and Outreach Manager. He is a 2010 graduate of the University of Maine School of Law, and formerly worked in environmental advocacy at the Sea Grant Law Center at the University of Mississippi and for the National Parks Conservation Association in Washington DC. He helps lead Maine Audubon's work to pass wildlife-protective laws in Augusta, promote renewable energy policies, and other work. He is also a writer with a regular column in the Portland Phoenix, bylines in Downeast Magazine, the Washington Post, Audubon Magazine, and has authored two books, The American Birding Association Field Guide to the Birds of Maine, and The Ultimate Biography of Earth.
Jeana started by telling us that the future is now. Today is definitely a labor driven market where organizations need to offer a well-designed workspace which tells the story of the company culture. Jeana says that there is a disconnect between where people want to work and where people will work. There are several return-to-work drivers, and an important one for organizations is to rebuild the social capital which has crumbled during the work at home phase. For Gen Z, they have only worked at home so social capital needs to be built from scratch.
President Bruce noted that he recently attended the Rotary International Convention in Houston to gather ideas for his term. He said the Convention offered quite the inspiration and much entertainment. The Convention was full of powerful speakers, and good education, and helped align his goals for the upcoming year. Bruce will be sharing is experiences at the Convention in a future meeting, but he did mention that one featured speaker was an 11-year old named Jean who won 2021 Time’s Kid of Year for his essay on kindness. Jean gave a 15-20 minute off the cuff speech about gathering meals, books, and toys to help out over 100,000 children in Texas.
Mike Fortunato announced that there will not be social in June or July rather we will have the social event at the Hadlock Field with some of the Sea dogs baseball team on July 15th. The Social in August will be held on the second Thursday of the month and will not change. Bill Blount mentioned that he started the Portland Rotary’s annual visit to Hadlock field after attending an event with Utica Club at Blue Sox Field about 26 years ago. Thanks Bill, we can't wait for those Sea Dog Biscuits again this year!
Rotary Foundation Chair
