News of The Rotary Club of Portland, Maine August 25, 2020
Laura Russell Promotes Harmony
Laura Russell is the Director of the Royal River Chorus of Sweet Adelines International, a membership organization of women of wide-ranging ages, backgrounds and professions united by a love of singing. The Chorus is dedicated to the promotion of women's barbershop harmony through education and quality performance. Its members aspire to achieve musical excellence while creating a spirit of unity, enthusiasm, and fun. Russell will share the story of the Chorus and provide video of its performances.
Russell is an experienced real estate sales associate in the Portland office of Coldwell Banker Realty. The mother of three grown children, and two fur babies, Laura enjoys singing in the Royal River Chorus and Millennium Magic Chorus. She has helped these organizations in a variety of leadership roles. Additionally, she enjoys recreational boating in the Boothbay Harbor region during the summer months. Laura earned her bachelor's degree from Wheaton College in Norton, Massachusetts, and previously worked in education and the food industry.
Ballpark Copes With COVID
by Erik Jorgensen
Friday’s Rotary meeting offered proof positive that the members of our club continue to exist in three dimensions beyond the Zoom Screen. It was our annual outing to Hadlock Field, and though it was made slightly surreal by the absence of professional baseball this year, the visit offered a great chance to catch up in person, indulge in ballpark food and learn what was happening with the Sea Dogs.
Our speaker was Emma Tiedemann, the team’s lead broadcaster. She is one of just four female broadcasters in the minors, and with a similar small number serving in the major leagues, she has been something of a trailblazer. Tiedemann arrived in Portland in March, and her first day of work was when the team’s offices shut down due to COVID. Since then it’s been one thing after another, including, most notably, the cancellation of the entire season of minor league baseball early in the summer. So without access to a microphone, she fills her days with everything from managing the team’s website to helping to spruce up Hadlock field. Throughout the pandemic, the Sea Dogs have managed to retain their staff, including game day personnel. In the absence of baseball, Hadlock continues to offer a range of promotions, including dinners on the field and a widely publicized golf experience, where players drive balls from tees in the sky boxes to delineated areas on the field.
Tiedemann’s career started when she was a teenager, broadcasting Division 3 college games alongside her grandfather. She then moved on to college, where, as a student at Missouri, she got significant experience up to and including calling the Cotton Bowl, all while working on her degree in secondary education and a minor in history. As a commentator, she gradually specialized in baseball and has worked the booth for the Saint Paul Saints, the Medford Oregon Rogues and the Mat-Su Minors, a collegiate league team in Palmer, Alaska. Immediately before starting in Portland, she directed broadcasting for the Lexington Legends, a single-A level affiliate of the Kansas City Royals in Kentucky. That stint garnered her recognition as 2019’s South Atlantic League Media Relations Director of the Year.
When looking last fall to make her next move (occasioned, perhaps, by the presence of the Legends on last year’s minor league team closure list), she was surprised to find an opening with the Sea Dogs, whom she says have one of the top reputations as an organization anywhere in the Minor Leagues. Broadcasters, she noted, sometimes follow a similar arc as players, moving from single A to double A (like the Sea Dogs) to Triple A and on up to the majors if they are good enough. She said that she was very excited to be in Portland “where I get to drive past an ocean on my way to work!” She has enjoyed being here, despite the strangeness of the year. A native of Texas, she did indicate that snow is problematic for her, so we’ll have to see if her rosy opinion survives a Maine winter.
We will likely not get to hear Tiedemann’s voice on the radio before next spring, but we were all grateful that she took the time to join us and answer many questions. It was good to see everyone.
Bits & Pieces | Juliana L'Heureux
Rotarians met in a refreshing outdoor face-to face-picnic meeting at the annual Hadlock Field outing and enjoyed seeing everyone in person on a beautiful sunny day at the ballpark. Picnic tables were placed at appropriate distances on the outdoor dining pavilion. Everyone followed COVID-19 protection protocols by wearing masks and maintaining social distancing except when members were with guests or family members. As in past meetings, the picnic lunch was delicious. This year, the traditional menu was served on disposable serving dishes and presented to each member in individual paper bags by the Hadlock Grill’s staff. (Top image: Ellen Niewoehner, guest Richard L'Heureux, Bill Blount, Justin Lamontagne, Juliana L'Heureux.)
President Ellen Niewoehner welcomed the 40 members who attended. Several Rotarians introduced their guests. Juliana L’Heureux read Lou Gehrig’s “Luckiest Man Farewell Speech”, given on July 4, 1939, in Yankee Stadium. Gehrig's 274-word speech, given by a man who likely knew he was dying from a degenerative disease, expressed optimism and gratitude, and endures as one of the most iconic speeches in sports history, as reported in 2014, in Newsday, by Steve Marcus. Following the invocation, Rotarians turned to face the American flag unfurled in Hadlock Field and sang the Star-Spangled Banner. (Image: Justin Lamontagne and Dick Hall)
President Ellen presented Dick Giles and John Marr with their Paul Harris plus 7 award pins and extended gratitude for their extraordinary generosity on behalf of supporting Rotary and the Rotary Foundation. “Although the recognitions had been announced at a prior Zoom meeting, it was special to be able to present their pins in person,” said President Ellen.
Patty Erickson reported on the Flags for Community Heroes progress. “The project is up and running,” she said. Members will receive personal calls to request support for Flags for Community Heroes. Sponsorships are available at this link. Charlie Friar requested volunteers to help set up the flag exhibit to meet at the South Portland Maine Mall at 9 PM, on September 10, the evening before the September 11 opening. Contact Patty Erickson or Charlie Frair for more information. To sponsor a flag in honor of a Community Hero go here.
Ben Delcourt convinced MEMIC to join the Flags for Community Heroes project as a sponsor. Thanks to Ben’s diligence, MEMIC contributed $2,500. The firm will recognize six employees as community heroes.
Laura Young and Dick Hall share newsof the Rotary Zone Conference to be held online September 23–25, 7pm to 8:30pm. Rotary International Zones 28 & 32 is a four country, two language, compilation of Rotarians in Bermuda, Canada, France and United States. The sessions will focus on leadership, Rotary Foundation, and club innovation. Speakers include 2021 RI President-Elect Shekhar Mehta, 2022 RI President-designate Jennifer Jones, local Rotarians Mike McGovern, and Marty Helman. Initially designed as a training program for District Governors, the event is open to all Rotarians and will be particularly useful for club leaders. Link to program information is here. Registration information is here. There is no charge for members.
A Moment of Reflection
SOMETIMES
Sometimes if you move carefully
through the forest,
breathing
like the ones
in the old stories,
who could cross
a shimmering bed of leaves
without a sound,
you come to a place
whose only task
is to trouble you
with tiny
but frightening requests,
conceived out of nowhere
but in this place
beginning to lead everywhere.
Requests to stop what
you are doing right now,
and
to stop what you
are becoming
while you do it,
questions
that can make
or unmake
a life,
questions
that have patiently
waited for you,
questions
that have no right
to go away.
by David Whyte
Speaker Schedule
August 28 | Laura Russell
September 4 | No Meeting
September 11 | Flags for Heroes
September 18 | Kevin Hancock on his new book
September 25 | Earle Shettleworth on John Calvin Stevenson
October 2 | Jonathan Sahrbeck, Cumberland County DA
membership organization of women of wide-ranging ages, backgrounds and professions united by a love of singing. The Chorus is dedicated to the promotion of women's barbershop harmony through education and quality performance. Its members aspire to achieve musical excellence while creating a spirit of unity, enthusiasm, and fun. Russell will share the story of the Chorus and provide video of its performances.
introduced their guests. Juliana L’Heureux read Lou Gehrig’s “Luckiest Man Farewell Speech”, given on July 4, 1939, in Yankee Stadium. Gehrig's 274-word speech, given by a man who likely knew he was dying from a degenerative disease, expressed optimism and gratitude, and endures as one of the most iconic speeches in sports history, as reported in 2014, in Newsday, by Steve Marcus. Following the invocation, Rotarians turned to face the American flag unfurled in Hadlock Field and sang the Star-Spangled Banner. (Image: Justin Lamontagne and Dick Hall)
