Luke Holden grew up in Cape Elizabeth, Maine – a third-generation lobsterman who started learning the trade at age 13. After attending Georgetown University and beginning an investment banking career on Wall Street, Luke was remiss to find that every lobster roll available in New York was overpriced, drowning in mayo, and diluted with celery. He craved a real Maine-style roll and simply couldn’t find one.
Luke saw an opportunity to bring a casual seafood spot, like the homegrown lobster shacks of his childhood, to New York’s culinary landscape. In 2009, Luke decided to harness his passion for excellent seafood and his family’s 40-plus years in the Maine lobster industry to open the first Luke’s Lobster in the East Village with his dad Jeff, a lobster processor, and Ben Conniff. To keep up with demand, Luke and partners opened Luke’s Lobster’s own seafood processing facility in 2012. The complete vertical integration ensures every lobster served at Luke’s is handled with care and kept pristine.
Today, Luke spends the majority of the year in Maine, where he maintains relationships with lobstermen and oversees production at Luke’s Lobster’s processing facility. He also sits on the board of the Maine Lobster Marketing Collaborative, the Island Institute, and the Tenants Harbor Fisherman’s Co-op, which he helped found. Luke’s donates a portion of its proceeds to The Ocean Foundation and the Island Institute, helping preserve Maine’s fishing communities and the sustainability of our oceans. Over the years, Luke has also been included on the Forbes’ 30 under 30, Inc's 30 under 30, Zagat’s 30 under 30, and Crain’s 40 under 40.
Last Friday, Portland Rotary was honored with a presentation from Zoe Sahloul, the president of the New England Arab American Organization (NEAAO). Despite technical difficulties, our club was able to see the ravages of past battles in Beirut, conflicts and violence that left Zoe scarred as a child. With most of the city destroyed, a majority of families took shelter in refugee camps, camps that remain intact to this day, accepting war-torn families from Syria and other regional battle zones. The videos that Zoe shared showed the gut-wrenching conditions that her family faced in the mid-90’s, with UN and local government funding inadequate to provide for the tens of thousands who were, and still are, crammed into these tent cities.
At age 20, Zoe was able to make her way to Canada and then to greater Portland, a decade later. Now, living in harmony with her husband and three children within a very accepting community in Falmouth, Zoe has turned her passions to helping those immigrants and refugees from Arab nations find hope within the New England states. In essence, her non-profit helps “bridge the gap” as both men and women look for work and a stable homelife after arriving in the United States. Working mostly with women and children, the Arab American Organization offers “sweet and highly contagious” support, with empowering programs that are based upon the results of surveys within the closed knit communities.
The NEAAO assists Arab immigrants in social integration through training for better opportunities in the workforce, as well as advocating for women’s rights to prevent domestic violence and isolation. They also allow every child to live life to its fullest by minimizing the risk of child abuse and substance use, a cause that is certainly near and dear to our hearts. With an eye toward “service above self,” Zoe and her fellow immigrants can hope for brighter times during what can often be a difficult transition.
President John Curran welcomed 42 members,1 visiting Rotarian and 7 guests to last Friday’s meeting at the Clarion.
Charlie Frair provided a moment of introspection by reading a “random act of poetry” he found on a café wall; PP Bob Traill led us in the Pledge of Allegiance; and PP Russ Burleigh guided us through “America the Beautiful.” We packed the meeting room with Rotarians and visitors, including Kevin Fakhri, a student from USM writing a paper on Rotary; Corey Hascall, Vice President of Alumni and Community Engagement at USM; Mark Crocker; Beth Craighead (Bob Traill’s daughter); Michael Fitzgibbons; Natalie West; Rob Sellig; and, Mary McCue of the Falmouth Forecaster. PP Jim Willey, PP Bob Traill, and PP John Marr all returned looking healthier than ever.....John particularly resplendent in a bright yellow sweater and elegant scarf.
President John called our attention to the article in the May edition of The Rotarian magazine, which featured a story about PP Ben Lowry’s role with a group of Rotarians from Maine and New Hampshire, who have come together to address substance use disorders. We are all deeply aware of this program due to the committed involvement of many of our members and the compelling dedication of Jesse Harvey. President John invited Ben (photo at right) to the podium to share his personal insight on the issue as it has affected his family. “This can happen to anybody. I’m a lawyer in Portland, Maine and my son was living on the streets. We lose one person every day from drug overdose.” Ben invited everyone to attend a recovery event on May 1st (see separate details in this WJ issue).
President John shared discussions and planning that have been underway to craft a new relationship with the University of Southern Maine. Accomplishments so far include using the campus center for an opioid recovery program, and the college’s maker space in partnership with the International Service Committee to manufacture prosthetic hands. PP Roxane Cole, (photo at left) who is also on the University’s Board of Visitors, talked about efforts to direct one of the Youth Service Awards toward a program at the university that is designed to help New Mainers. Roxane shared that with the closure of Catherine Macaulay High School, the $1,100 allocated as a Youth Service Award for that school was going to be donated to help New Mainers enrolled at USM become more assimilated and help with their costs. This month, MEMIC has offered to match contributions to the university’s scholarships up to $20,000.
Corey Hascall (photo at right) spoke about the need. “USM could use $1 million annually to help New Mainers who can’t afford tuition. This is a moral issue for us, as well as a practical one for the state.” President John suggested that the club’s $1,100 be rounded to $1,500, if members would contribute. On the spot, that goal was exceeded. MEMIC will match, dollar-for-dollar, the amount raised by the Club. Total results will be announced at the next meeting. For those who were not at the meeting and wish to contribute, please contact Elise Hodgkin at porlandrotary@maine.rr.com.
The weekly raffle was led by Rusty Atwood, who gave 1st VP Amy Chipman a chance to win $386, but she was unable to find a return on her investment in the deck of cards.
Gracie Johnston announced that the Community Service Committee needs five more volunteers to provide dinner at the Preble Street Soup Kitchen on Wednesday, April 24th. Please contact her if you can help (graciej1010@gmail.com). She also reported that three of her advertising clients are businesses owned by New Mainers.
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.
Invocation: David Small Program Reporter: John Marr Bits & Pieces Reporter: Ben Lowry Registration/Greeter: Marissa Fortier Sell Meal Tickets: Patty Erickson Raffle: Tom Nickerson Collect Meal Tickets: Chris Force Sgt-at-Arms: Jim Willey
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.