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Russell Hampton
ClubRunner
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Speakers
Apr 26, 2019
Building a Lobster Restaurant Business
May 03, 2019
May 10, 2019
Development Along Downtown Waterfront
May 17, 2019
Program Presented by Members Joined July 1, 2018-Current
May 24, 2019
May 31, 2019
Finding Health After Cancer
Jun 07, 2019
Jun 14, 2019
Jun 21, 2019
Clean Up/Prep for RotaryFest 2019 Conference
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Executives & Directors
President
 
First Vice President
 
Second Vice President
 
Treasurer
 
Secretary
 
Immediate Past President
 
Sergeant-at-Arms
 
Director Term End 2019
 
Director Term End 2019
 
Director Term End 2020
 
Director Term End 2020
 
Community Service Chair
 
International Service Chair
 
Vocational Service Co-Chair
 
Vocational Service Co-Chair
 
Youth Service Chair
 
Rotary Foundation Chair
 
Club Protection Officer
 
Communications-WJ Bulletin Ed
 
Communications-PR External
 
Constitution/ByLaws Chair
 
Fund Raising Chair
 
Good Cheer Co-Chair
 
Invocation Chair
 
Meeting Day Chair
 
Program Chair
 
Membership Chair
 
Web Administrator
 
Administrative Coordinator
 
New Mainers Initiative
 
Opioid Task Force Co-Chair
 
Opioid Task Force Co-Chair
 
Friday, April 26, 2019
Welcome to the
Rotary Club of Portland, Maine!
Portland Rotary
Service Above Self
We meet Fridays at 12:15 PM
The Clarion Hotel
1230 Congress Street
Portland, ME  04102
United States of America
DistrictSiteIcon District Site
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Rotary This Week
 
 
 
Portland Rotary
will meet April 26, 2019
at the Jewish Community Alliance
 1342 Congress Street, Portland
*04/26/19 Luke Holden, Luke's Lobster

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.

04/19/19 Zoe Sahloul, President New England Arab American Organization

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.

 

 

(Photo: President John Curran and Zoe Sahloul.)

04/19/19 Bits & Pieces

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.

Opioid Task Force Symposium
Hosted by the Portland Rotary Club, there will be a special symposium:
 
Event: "Recognizing and Responding to an Opiate/Heroin Overdose
When and time: Wednesday, May 1, from 5:30-7:00 p.m.
Where: Jewett Auditorium, Southern Maine Community College, 77 Fort Road, South Portland.
 
> Learn about the Opiate epidemic and substance use disorder.
> Learn how to recognize the signs of an overdose.
> Learn how to perform first aid, including administering Naloxone (the drug that reverses the effects of opioids).
> Help reduce the stigma of Substance Use Disorder.
 
For questions or more information, please contact Ben Lowry at ben@lowrylegal.com or call 207-228-5653.
 
RotaryFest 2019

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.
 

Volunteer Opportunities

Following is a list of our Club's volunteer projects. If you know of other opportunities, please contact Loretta: lrowe@maine.rr.com

 
Project
When
Who to Contact
Preble Street
Resource Center
Soup Kitchen
4th Wednesday ea month
3:30-6:30 pm
Contact Gracie Johnston
Game Night
Long Creek
Youth Center
 
3rd Tuesday ea month
Mike Fortunato
michaelk.fortunato@gmail.com
or Jim Willey
This Week's Duty Assignments
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
Rotary Meeting Locations

If you would like to mark your calendars,
we are scheduled at the following locations
through
June 2019:

2019
Apr  26 - Jewish Community Alliance

May   3 - Italian Heritage Center
May 10 - The Clarion
May 17 - The Clarion
May 24 - NO MEETING DUE TO HOLIDAY WEEKEND
May 31 - The Clarion

Jun   7 - The Clarion
Jun 14 - The Clarion
Jun 21 - The Clarion
Jun 28 - The Clarion

Blue BOLD dates are scheduled Board meeting days.

Any questions, please contact Loretta at: lrowe@maine.rr.com
 

Ongoing Item Donations Needed
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.