Tony Cameron, CEO of the Maine Tourism Association, will address Portland Rotary on June 4. Cameron was named CEO in March of 2020 after serving nearly five years as the Director of Marketing & Communications. He previously served as the Executive Director of the Ellsworth Area Chamber of Commerce and the Boothbay Harbor Region Chamber of Commerce, as well as the Director of Marketing and Membership Sales for the Bar Harbor Chamber of Commerce. He has over 15 years of destination marketing and association management experience. Before his career in tourism, Tony worked for the Portland Sea Dogs.
Maine Tourism Association, a private nonprofit membership organization with over 1,600 members, has been promoting business and leisure travel to Maine since 1921, when it was called the Maine Publicity Bureau. The Maine Legislature chartered the Bureau in 1938 to ensure it continued to promote tourism through the publication and distribution of travel information. In 1999, the organization was renamed the Maine Tourism Association to better reflect its mission.
Cameron lives in his hometown of Brunswick and is a graduate of Saint Joseph’s College with a BS in Marketing.
Bits and Pieces | by Juliana L'Heureux
President Ellen Niewoehner convened the meeting of 35 Rotarians and guests.
Bruce Jones shared a motivational invocation about “Living a Life That Matters” and learning how to choose a life that matters.
Wayne Morphew was introduced as a visiting Rotarian from the Rotary Club of Kennebunk. Wayne is in the process of transferring his membership to Portland Rotary.
President Ellen reminded everyone of our outdoor meeting at Fort Williams in Cape Elizabeth on June 18th. Please bring a guest and register at the club website. The meeting will start at 11:30 am. Our reservation for the pavilion ends at 1 pm. Members are invited to come early and socialize. The event will include a project to rid the park of invasive species. Please bring garden gloves and tools.
Bruce Moore and Jan Chapman joined President Ellen in the Community Service project helping to clean up the Cultivating Community’s Boyd Street garden.
Dick Hall shared that Portland Rotary donated a $100 gift card from O’Donal’s Nursery to the online District 7780 Conference’s Silent Auction fundraiser. DGE Dick Hall reported the District Conference is scheduled on the evening of June 4 (6:30 PM- 8 PM) and the morning of June 5 (9AM-11:30 AM).
President Ellen shared notes of appreciation and thanks from the Milestone Recovery program for the contribution from the club’s Recovery Task Force. She also noted the letter of thanks from the Roots Foundation in Rwanda for donations supporting hungry families.
Erik Greven reported on the 50 water filters and 100 filter replacements sent to the Dominican Republic’s batey El Salado for use by the sugar cane workers and families. David Small worked with local people in the DR who helped train the recipients in how to use and maintain the water filters. Dr. Roger Fagan presented an update on the training he is providing via Zoom to fit hearing aids for children and patients at the hospital in La Romana, Dominican Republic. The situation in India was reported by John Curran, who described the COVID crises in the country as “really deteriorating.” As a result, the donations previously designated for eye surgery and joint replacement will be combined and used toward the purchase of oxygen. The Rotary Club of Coimbatore Texcity, India, is looking to secure a $50,000 grant from the Rotary Foundation and other contributors, to provide more oxygen. Please consider a personal donation by contributing to Breathing Life in Coimbatore via the Portland Rotary Charitable Fund.
Isabella Rodrigues was presented with a Youth Service Award Scholarship of $1,000 by David Putnam after being nominated by Kevin J. Stilphen, director of the Portland Arts and Technology High School (PATHS).
Isabella is a member of the Volunteer Club at Cape Elizabeth High School, where she organized conferences with SafeBae, working to bring awareness to sexual violence and assault among teens. She participated in The March for Our Lives, focused on gun reform, she also lobbied at the Maine State House for this cause. She performs with the Maine Academy of Modern Music; is captain of the Speech and Debate Team and participates in the Sailing Team and Varsity Girls Hockey.
Isabella thanked the Club for this scholarship and the accompanying donation, which she designated to Full Plates, Full Potential.
"I want to quit my job and start a brewery..."
Justin Lamontagne provided a warm introduction to Kelly Dorsey who, along with her husband, Ian, co-founded Mast Landing Brewery in 2015. After a short career in financial advising, Ian came home one day not long after their son Tommy was born and announced that he had quit his job and wanted to start a brewery. After picking up her jaw from the floor, Kelly, a banking executive, patiently listened to Ian and began to understand why he seemed so passionate about this huge step. “I made him draw up a spreadsheet for me so I could understand how we would meet our expenses,” she said. The business began with a lease through Justin of a 12,000 square foot facility in Westbrook, where they began with a one-barrel system. Within two years, they had outgrown the property and increased to a seven-barrel process along with a fermentation system in a new 20,000 square foot building at 920 Maine Street, where the business currently resides.
By 2019, the company had taken off, with a new thirty-barrel system, and the ability to offer expanded benefits to their employees, paying 100% of all health care coverage. Distribution began to many eastern states and the awards began piling up at beer festivals and in national trade journals, including a feature story in Forbes. But, with 2020, came unforeseen changes to our world as Covid-19 forced an about-face in most every business model. With one-half of all sales coming from on-site purchases, Mast Landing looked for help from the Maine Brewer’s Guild, which provided guidance on the handling of on-line sales and the purchase of a food truck which hit the road with a full menu. And, this past winter, an “igloo city” was hatched in Westbrook, allowing customers to take shelter from the cold in pods while enjoying fresh beer and warm food.
Having survived and even thrived during the pandemic, Mast Landing, which is named after the Freeport neighborhood where the Dorsey’s live, is poised for the grand opening of their Freeport brewery and tasting room in late June. With an 11,000 square foot space and a five-barrel system, the brewery will now join with three other breweries in a “beer cluster’ in Freeport.
Now included on many lists as one of the fastest growing companies in Maine, the 8th largest brewery in the state is continuing its meteoric rise, one pint at a time. This fascinating story of risk, family and ingenuity is a perfect Maine tale and one that we were glad to hear from Kelly at our Friday meeting.
Portland Rotary on June 4. Cameron was named CEO in March of 2020 after serving nearly five years as the Director of Marketing & Communications. He previously served as the Executive Director of the Ellsworth Area Chamber of Commerce and the Boothbay Harbor Region Chamber of Commerce, as well as the Director of Marketing and Membership Sales for the Bar Harbor Chamber of Commerce. He has over 15 years of destination marketing and association management experience. Before his career in tourism, Tony worked for the Portland Sea Dogs. 
