President Amy convened the meeting at the Clarion and welcomed 45 members, 4 visiting Rotarians and 3 guests.
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Paul Tully (photo at left) gave an historic invocation in recognition of the 50th anniversary of the successful U.S. moon landing of Apollo 11. Commander Neil Armstrong and lunar module pilot Buzz Aldrin formed the American crew that landed the Apollo Lunar Module Eagle on July 20, 1969, while the third astronaut, Michael Collins, orbited above in the command module. The moon landing occurred in a divisive year, during the unpopular Vietnam War that was causing national dissent and there was racial strife and assassinations. Moreover, the Cold War continued and many wondered about the growing cost of the space program. Events had progressed quickly in just a little over 8 years since Alan Shepard had become the first American to fly into space, followed quickly by President John Kennedy's challenge to put a man on the moon before the decade was out. The Apollo 11’s successful mission to the moon brought the world together in the spirit of mankind for one short week in the middle of a hot July summer. A half a billion people watched while Armstrong and Aldrin explored walking on the moon, where they left a plaque with the inscription, "Here men from the planet Earth first set foot upon the Moon, July 1969 A.D. We came in peace for all mankind." We are still searching for that peace. Fast forward to 1985, Rotary International launched the Polio Plus program. It was the first initiative to tackle global polio eradication through the mass vaccination of children. Rotary has contributed more than $1.7 billion and countless volunteer hours to immunize more than 2.5 billion children in 122 countries. In addition, Rotary's advocacy has played a role in decisions by donor governments to contribute more than $7.2 billion to the effort. That's five times more children than the numbers of people in the world that watched the moon landing. Hopefully, we will some day place a plaque similar to the one on the moon, to read, "Here, men and women from the organization of Rotary set out to eradicate Polio. We came in hopes of health for mankind and we met the challenge.” We must finish what we started with the same resolve as those who put the first human on the moon.
Rotarian David Putnam (photo at right) presented a "Rotary Minute." He thanked Rotary for the 28 years of friendships he has enjoyed during his membership. He said his life's journey has been marked by three blessings: he thanked his parents for their support; to his wife, Pat, for saying "yes" to his marriage proposal; and is extremely grateful to have raised two adopted boys. Portland Rotarians inspire him, as well as the people in his church. He gave a special thank you for the opportunity to volunteer at the Long Creek Youth Development Center in Portland, with PP Jim Willey and Mike Fortunato.
Foundation Chair Dick Hall reported on the fiscal 2019 end-of-year Rotary Foundation contributions. A goal was established at the beginning of the year to raise $17,000 for the annual fund and the actual amount raised was $16,626. The Polio Plus fund goal for Portland Rotary was to raise $1,500 and the actual amount raised was $3,405. During 2019, Portland Rotary awarded seventeen Paul Harris Fellows. Donations to the Rotary Foundation supports Rotary International's important charitable "Peace through Service" humanitarian projects. District Governor Andy Glazier presented Nan Heald with her Paul Harris Award + 1 pin. Congratulations, Nan! (Photo L-R: DG Andy Glazier, Nan Heald, and Dick Hall.)
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Community Service Chair Gracie Johnston asked for volunteers to help at the Preble Street Soup Kitchen from 3:30-6:30 on Wednesday, July 24th. She then recounted how she went to the Portland Expo to show support for the recently arrived asylum seekers. While there, she took the opportunity to discuss with volunteers how Portland Rotary has been helping with the needs of the families who are in the process of being relocated from the Expo to temporary housing.She also announced that a Community Service project to "stuff back packs" for children in need of school supplies is being organized. The backpacks will be stuffed for the Lyseth School students in Portland. A date, time and place will be announced shortly. Monetary donations for the school supplies to be placed in the backpacks are gratefully accepted. For more information, contact Gracie: gjohnston@portlandradiogroup.com.
PP Laura Young circulated a schedule for the CHE summer reading program, with the readers who signed up to participate in the program at North Deering Gardens. Rotarian volunteers will read donated books with children grades kindergarten through about 3rd grade. Each child will get to keep the book they selected to read. To volunteer or for further info, contact Laura at: lyoung@mainecf.org.
Terri St. Angelo announced the progress for the August 1, Second Annual Maine Cornhole Tournament. Registration is open for teams-of-two in the Pro-League and in the Recreation League. Teams are expected to attend from Maine and other states, because many players are interested in the Pro-League competitive game. Register a team at: www.NYA.org/cornhole. The Cornhole Tournament will be held at North Yarmouth Academy, 148 Main Street, Yarmouth. Proceeds will benefit NYA, the Boys and Girls Clubs of Southern Maine and the local service projects of the Rotary Club of Portland. Games begin at 5 PM. A barbecue dinner is included in the registration, but non-players can purchase the meal separately for a mere $5.00 per person. Volunteers are needed for the event. For more information, go to: www.portlandrotary.org or contact Terri at: tsaint@maine.rr.com.
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Patty Erickson led the weekly raffle drawing, where the pot was up to $688, and our District Governor Andy Glazier drew PP Don Lowry's name from the holding vessel. The Queen of Hearts was not drawn at this time....as the pot continues to grow.