This Week's Meeting: Visit to the Salvation Army's Adult Rehabilitation Center
Tom Ranello announced that we have an away game this week, with our meeting scheduled at the Salvation Army's Adult Rehabilitation
Center.
We are guests of the Salvation Army, so there is no charge for our lunch, thanks to the generosity of members of the Salvation Army Board.
The Center's address is technically 88 Preble Street, but we will enter the building right at the corner of Preble Street and Lancaster Street.
See photo! Parking is available on Lancaster and Oxford Streets - car pooling is encouraged.
Bob Traill (posthumously), Mark Stimson, and Liz and Roger Fagan will be honored by the Salvation Army in a special ceremony, the rarely given "Others Award". This is a huge honor being bestowed upon our Club members and we encourage everyone to attend.
Seating is limited so please RSVP early and include any guests. Arriving early is highly encouraged to allow time to park and enter the building.
John Thompson reported that our Lobster Raffle is going extremely well, aided by some amazing weather and cruise tourists from around the world who love Rotary! The lobster raffle is being supported in partnership with Luke’s Lobster who will be supplying and shipping the lobsters to the winner - Eight 1.5lb lobsters!
Luke's "Lift All Boats Projects" is a lobstering mentoring program helping Maine students without traditional access to the working waterfront an entry point into Maine’s heritage lobster industry. Our tie-in with them has been very well received by the tourists - another great selling point!
Unless you are an "Under A Rock Lobster" you know by now that it takes volunteers to help sell tickets down at 6 Commercial Street next to Summer Feet Cycling in the Old Port over the next 9 weeks sales period. The prize drawing will be on Nov 8th. Please help our team!
Sign-Up for Volunteer Time at the booth. Here's how you do it!
2. If you have any issues or questions on the Sign Up, you can email Dick Hall, and he can register for you. Click here for Dick Hall's email.
3. Another option - Sign up at our Club Meetings.
Time: 8:30 – 12 noon. Booth setup: 8:30 followed by selling tickets from 9 – 12 noon, although you can stay longer if you want.
Ben Lowry, Laura Young, Bowen Depke, and Bill Millikin helping the claws!
Bits and Pieces | by Juliana L'Heureux
Meeting was called to order by President Patty Byers. Bruce Jones led the Pledge of Allegiance.
HIKE! Tom Talbott presented the Message of the Day – A Football season meditation analogy for Rotarians. Although the Thought for the Day is not necessarily an “invocation, there are “prayers for football” to support good sportsmanship and respect for our opponents. A prayer for teamwork fits Rotarians. In short, “Help us to understand that together we are stronger, and our combined efforts will lead us to victory. Thank you for this opportunity to play together, knowing that our collective spirit is greater than the sum of our individual talents. Amen”
GUESTS: Jim Vicenzi welcomed Rotary guests. District Governor Bob MacKenzie is guest speaker. Fran Bagdasarian is the Assistant District Governor and a member and Past President of the South Portland-Cape Elizabeth Club. Mary Van der Merwe is Jan Chapman’s South African sister who is in Maine for a visit. Jan’s family hosted Mary 58 years ago, in 1966 when she was an exchange student. (Photo Below!) Rotary note- Jan’s late brother John Chapman, an honorary Brunswick Rotarian, will be honored on Friday, September 13 at 4 PM at the Brunswick Naval Aviation Museum, in the Brunswick Landing (formerly the Naval base) when a memorial bench dedication. John was a Brunswick Rotarian for 50 years, the club’s treasurer and a retired U.S. Navy Reserve Captain. John exemplified “Service Above Self.” The museum is located in the former naval base chapel.
RIGHT DAY WRONG CARD: Bill Milliken led the raffle for a $250 prize. Jim Willey’s name was drawn but he did not retrieve the winning Queen of Hearts.
HAPPY DOLLARS: President Patty contributed to express gratitude for a pause in fighting in Gaza that allowed over 187,000 children to receive polio vaccine. All Rotary Happy Dollars are donated to PolioPlus to help eradicate the disease.
INTERNATIONAL ACCLAIM! Dick Hall received a Rotary Citation for the years 2023-2024, from Rotary International President Gordon M. McInally, for his dedication to help Rotary create hope in the world.
NEW MAINERS: Tim Donnellon leads the New Mainer Task Force. Volunteers are requested to help families transitioning into the community and to assist at community clinics for refugees and asylum seekers, scheduled at the Portland Library. Tom is supporting this committee because he has been helping a family who walked to the US border, from Brazil. They immigrated to Brazil from Angola. Legal assistance and language translations especially in French, Spanish and Portuguese are helpful. Contact Tim for more information.
PUBLIC SPEAKING: Mary Pat Donnellon is requesting about 5-7 volunteers for two hours on September 26, from 5-7 pm to help people who have disabilities to receive public speaking training. This program needs “one-on-one” volunteers. Contact Mary Pat Donnellon for information. (Photo)
THE BBB: Zach Newell- Community Services “Backpacks and Best Buddies” is in the process of loading up the pack packs for distribution to area students. Zach will access the talents on his son’s high school soccer team by asking them to volunteer to stuff the backpacks.
CLEAN UP: Jim Vicenzi is leading an environmental stewardship clean up on September 20, to volunteer with the Maine Island Trail Association. Check with Jim for information, and you can email Jim here! (Photo)
UP AND COMING: • Jake Bourdeau tells us the September 19th club social and cornhole tournament will be hosted by President Patty Byers at her home. Bring your own food to share!
• Pat Knudsen’s memorial is schedule for Saturday September 7, at the Audubon Center in Falmouth. She was a member of the Satellite Club.
• District Rotary Recovery Conference is scheduled for September 28, at Noble High School.
Last Week's Meeting: District Governor Bob McKenzie | by Larry Gross
Doreen Rockstrom introduced current Rotary District 7780 Governor and Chief of Police for Kennebunk, Robert (Bob) McKenzie. Doreen related how Bob was instrumental in pulling together Rotarians from Clubs across the District to create a Recovery Task Force that led to our Club receiving a District grant to conduct recovery coach training. (Photo- Bob wearing his official "Faces of Bob in Rotary" shirt, a gift from his club!)
Bob introduced himself to the Club to his lifetime commitment to public service, first as an EMT, the firefighting medic, and for nearly four decades as a Kennebunk police officer and as Chief of the Department for the past 17 years.
Bob spoke movingly about his introduction to the tragedy that substance use disorder (SUD) does to individuals and families, whether in traffic accidents, criminal offices or suicides. He was trained to be a drug recognition expert. He described how through his police work he came to recognize SUD as a family disease because of the impact SUD has on the extended family of its sufferers. Bob noted that that 90% of the people he has arrested for substance abuse related offenses are good people trapped in a disease state they cannot escape. He has been dedicated to as a Rotarian and police official to education on SUD and helping to build empathy for “good people” who may have been introduced to opiates as a post-surgical prescription, or recreational dalliance and then become addicted.
Bob shared his own family’s experience with the effects of alcohol and drug use and told us about the struggles and successes they have had on their journey to recovery. He told us “There is hope in recovery”, using his family's experience as an illustration. He explained that he got involved with Rotary’s recovery training and support efforts because we are giving hope. Across the District, Rotary clubs are engaged in several efforts to destigmatize SUD and build community resources to support recovery. He told us about collaborations with Portland Rotarians Niki Curtis, Jan Chapman and Bruce Moore, and Doreen Rockstrom to distribute Journey magazines throughout or community. He spoke of District Clubs’ efforts to purchase and distribute medication destruction bags for left over opioid prescriptions so these drugs are not left around for unintended access by children or others.
Bob then went on to describe efforts he has begun as District Governor to build Rotary brand awareness and publicity to attract new members to our Clubs And projects. He recommended that Clubs seize on District-wide publicity efforts on television, social media and print to publicize their activities and projects and build community partnerships. In response to a Club member question about Narcan, an emergency nonprescription intervention that blocks opiate impact on breathing, Bob noted that by saving lives, Narcan gives people an opportunity to get into recovery. He closed by sharing the enormous challenge of combatting the flood of fentanyl into Maine. It is being mixed into many “street drugs” such as fake prescription capsules, heroin, and even marijuana. Users have no idea that they are about to ingest this poison. Therefore, prevention and recovery efforts are key strategies to protect the community, support families and addicts and build empathy for their struggles. (Photo: Niki Curtis, Bob McKenzie, Doreen Rockstrom)
Happy September Birthdays! Maggie McGauley 8th, Joe Gray 15th, Gervin Kah 17th, Carmen Poff 18th, Don Mackenzie 19th, Liz Fagan 20th, Mark Shinners 23rd, Mary Pat Donnellon 27th, and Quinn Slayton 29th! Happy Rotarian Anniversaries: Andi Summers and Carmen Poff - 1 year, John Thompson-7, Justin Lamontagne-13, Mac Collins-15, Charlie Friar-19, Bill Ross-32, Doug Packard-37, Peter Goffin-41, and an extra cheer for Jim Willey, 42!
Speaker Schedule
September 19 - Social at Patty Byers House! Bring food to share. Cornhole!
September 20 - No Meeting
September 27 - Margo Walsh - United Recovery Fund
October 4 - Patty Byers and Laura Young - Club Visioning Update
October 11 - Brooke Haley - Maine Paid Family and Medical Leave Act
October 17 - Thursday Night Social Event
October 18 - No Meeting
October 25 - Cary Tyson - Portland Downtown
Club Executives
President Patty Byers President Elect John Thompson Vice President Justin Lamontagne TreasurerDick Hall Secretary Tom Nickerson Board of Directors Dick Hall, Quinn Slayton, Zachary Newell, David Ertz,