11/15/19 Bits & Pieces

Slides with pictures taken at the November 8, 2019, Veterans' Appreciation Lunch were the backdrop in the room when President Amy Chipman opened Friday's Club meeting at the Clarion.
 

An Invocation was presented by Bruce Jones (photo at left), who praised the Veterans and Rotarians who attended the event and thanked  all who made the successful program a memorable experience!

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Congratulations to Nan Heald for receiving a Paul Harris Fellow times two pin, presented by the Club’s Foundation Chair PP Bill Blount. Nan supports the Rotary Foundation because she is a professional who works to help people who cannot access quality legal services. She knows how the clients she works with need the programs supported by the Foundation.

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President Amy thanked Charlie Frair and Paul Tully (photo at left...Charlie and Paul) for their tireless organizational leadership. They helped to build a wonderful Veterans’ Appreciation Luncheon at the Seasons Event and Conference Center in Portland. Charlie spoke about the honor and appreciation we gave to thank the Veterans for their military service to our country. Paul acknowledged the many people who worked together to host the successful program. Those who were responsible for the team efforts:

This year, 55 Rotarians contributed to the program in a variety of ways. Each of the 35 tables had a Rotarian to serve the guests. In addition, there were 22 people who volunteered on the day of the event and who were not members of the Portland Rotary. In numbers, there were 202 veterans, 16  sponsors from 10 companies and 81 non-veteran guests. A goal for next year (2020) is to set up a website for this event that is user friendly and can be used for registration and communications with the Veterans. A second goal is to have Rotarians work closely with the teams beginning in January, to organize the 2020 program, with the intention of passing the leadership for 2021 to this succession team.
 

Media coverage was minimal again and teams are challenged to improve on how Rotary can make this a newsworthy event. There was a brief radio interview on WGAN with Joe Reagan the morning of the event and we thank him for that opportunity. A goal is to engage the media.
 

Six magical moments or small miracles:  (1) the flow of the event was smooth and easy; (2) sound system went off without a glitch; (3) Joan Kennedy and Gary Crocker provided good entertainment and quality performances; (4) 22 non-Rotarian volunteers; (5) Rotarians table servers turned "lemons into lemonade"; (6) every veteran was welcomed and served. Moreover, one of the most important goals was to exceed expectations and know that the guests were moved, touched and inspired. As guests were leaving, they were positive and complimentary. This is what Rotary is all about. Congratulations to our Portland Rotary Club! 

Juliana L'Heureux thanked PP Paul Gore for printing the beautiful color posters. They are portable and Rotarians are encouraged to display them at public events. She reported that the club's social media traffic is up 10 percent, as per the analytics.

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PP Peter Goffin (photo at right) spoke for a "Rotary Minute" about five generations in his family's Maine genealogy and how each of his direct line ancestors have served their communities.

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Sign up with President Amy Chipman for the Portland Symphony's Magic of Christmas performance at 2:00 p.m. on Friday Dec. 13th….she has reserved more seats for Rotarians. There is no regular club meeting on that day. Send Amy the ticket money at: Amy Chipman, RBC Wealth Management, PO Box 17600, Portland 04112 or email her at amy.chipman@rbc.com. 

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Gracie Johnston is creating a list of volunteers to serve at the St. Vincent de Paul Soup Kitchen in Portland, for the annual Thanksgiving meal, on Wednesday, November 27. Contact: gjohnston@portlandradiogroup.com.