President John Curran called the meeting to order by welcoming 53 members and 4 guests. 
PP Cyrus Hagge (photo at right) gave the invocation which was a New England adaption of the Lord’s Prayer:
Our Brady who art in Foxborough
Hallowed be thy arm
Thy bowl win will come
The game will be won
In New England as it will be in Atlanta.
Give us this Sunday
Our Super Bowl win
And bless us with raining touchdown passes
Gronk’s spikes and glorious high 5’s.
For thine is the MVP
The best in the NFL
And the glory of the Patriots.
We did the Pledge of Allegiance and PP Laura Young led us in singing the Star Spangled Banner.
President John recognized Earle Leavitt for all his contributions to Portland Rotary and welcomed him into the ranks of being an Honorary Member. When asked if he wanted to say a few words, Earle did exactly that by responding with “Thank you.”
Roger Fagan (photo at left) gave a brief recap of his latest 3-H trip (Hearing, Hands and H20) to the Dominican Republic. He noted that 16 people went from Maine, Florida and Alaska and 5 different clubs were represented. Over 100 hearing patients were seen and 148 hearing aids were distributed. 80 water filters and 80 solar lights were installed and 120 patients were seen for prosthetic devices. In over 22 trips to the DR, Roger said that 2275 hearing aids have been fitted. Roger will be a featured speaker in an upcoming meeting to flush out all the details of the most recent trip.
1st VP Amy Chipman (photo at right) discussed the dinner last Saturday at the Italian Heritage Center for the federal employees that were temporarily unemployed due to the government shutdown. Unfortunately only about 20–25 people attended (probably because the shutdown was lifted the day before), but Amy said the event committee raised lots of funds and the event was a success.
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Patty Erickson (photo at left) spoke about the Rotary Sweetheart Auction coming up on February 8, 2019 at the Italian Heritage Center and telling us that volunteer sign-ups and auction donation forms were on the tables. If you have any items, please contact PP Loretta ASAP BEFORE THIS FRIDAY AT: lrowe@maine.rr.com.
Charlie Frair (photo at right) did a wrap-up of the funds raised at the Veteran’s lunch in November 2018 and noted that we needed to distribute $5,000. Five groups were nominated by different Rotarians for the funds:
Betsy Ann Ross House of Hope (nominated by Roxane Cole)
Honor Flight (nominated by Bob Trail)
K9’s on the Front Line (nominated by Mike Robinson)
Veterans Count (nominated by Joe Reagan)
Maine Veterans' Home (nominated by Charlie Frair)
Instead of choosing one group to receive the funds as in previous years, Charlie and the committee decided to give $1,000 to each of the sponsored groups. Great job Charlie and Paul Tully and all who worked on the committee and volunteered.
Chris Force took care of the weekly raffle and PP Paul T. Gore’s ticket was chosen. Paul magnanimously allowed Roger Fagan to try winning the $227 jackpot, but alas, it was not to be. He drew the Ace of Clubs.
PP Bill Blount (photo at left) told us of the Club's participation in helping the Deering High School Choral director, Dr. Peter Stickney obtain an electric keyboard for the chorus. Asking for a show of hands of those who could and would like to donate for this cause, Bill encouraged everyone who did raise their hands to contact Elise at 899-6342 or portlandrotary@maine.rr.com.
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Foundation Chair/PP Dick Hall had the pleasure of announcing that Justin Lamontagne was a Paul Harris Fellow for the second time. Congratulation Justin!
(Photo at right L-R: PP Dick Hall and Justin Lamontagne)