Six of the newest members of our Club treated us to a session of “Truth or Lies.” One out of three statements they presented to us were not true, and the club needed to figure out which one was not true.
(Photo L-R: John Thompson, Nate Cermelj, Michelle DiSotto, Bob Fowler, Joe Raegan, and Mike Anderson.)
Mike Anderson - He is an Irish twin. He began to do community service before joining Rotary. In one two-month period he was married, moved and had a child. (joined Portland Rotary Jan 4, 2019)
Nate Cermelj - His hair started turning gray in the 8th grade. His mother lives in a shack in Hawaii. He has been married for 14 years. (joined Portland Rotary May 3, 2019)
John Thompson – He has never been to Canada. He ate ants from a tree in the rainforest. He once was mistaken for the Georgetown basketball coach, John Thompson. (joined Portland Rotary Sep 1, 2017)
Joe Reagan – He was featured on a segment about Norwich University on Investigative Courts. To get a top-secret job, he needed to take a polygraph. While stationed in Germany, he was popular as people thought he was related to President Ronald Reagan. (joined Portland Rotary Feb 9, 2018)
Bob Fowler - He went to trade school to be an electrician. He has played blue grass mandolin for 14 years. He is president of the Cumberland County Master Gardeners Association. (joined Portland Rotary Feb 5, 2018)
Michelle DiSotto - She was Winnie the Pooh at Walt Disney World. She was featured on the Travel Channel on a segment for the White Barn Inn. She is afraid of roller coasters. (joined Portland Rotary Jan 4, 2019)
The audience was allowed to ask questions and then we decided which statements were not true and scored ourselves. PP Loretta Rowe and PP Don Zillman both got 4 out of 6 correct, so we had a "Lie-off" for the prize. Don and Loretta made one false and one true statement.
Don Zillman - He lived 11 years in Utah. He has always been a Wisconsin Badger football fan.
Loretta Rowe - She has been married twice. She used to live in Canada. The club was equally split on determining which was true for Don and Loretta, so it was declared to be a tie.
Remember, many statements listed above are not true. If you were not at the meeting, you need to ask each person which statements are not true. It was a fun time.
President John Curran ushered in our meeting at the Clarion by welcoming 45 members and 14 guests; Julie L‘Heureux(photo at right) gave recognition to National Nurses Week with quotes from Florence Nightingale; Rob Chatfield led us In the Pledge; and Gracie Johnston started us off in the right key for "God Bless America." President John listed off the members celebrating May birthdays and Rotary anniversaries.
The theme for the day was Youth Service, and it started with a very youthful presentation by 2nd and 3rd graders from the Lyseth School. Portland Rotary has purchased and provided 2100 books to the school, and many of our members have volunteered their time to go to the school for reading sessions. Coordinator Sylvie Montello introduced the students, who read “Thank You” notes to our Club, including one in Spanish. Jane Hodgkins, a kindergarten teacher at the school recognized PP Laura Young as their “most important reader,” and told us of how Laura once came to school in the “Josh the Otter” costume to read and teach about water safety. The presentation concluded with a classroom video, a rousing patriotic rendition of “You’re A Grand Old Flag” sung by the students, and a special surprise gift bag for our Rotarian reading volunteers.
(Photo at right: Dave Putnam, Marza Sylva and Kevin Stilphen.)
Dave Putnam welcomed Kevin Stilphen, Director for PATHS (Portland Arts& Technology High School), and our Youth Service Award recipient, Marza Sylva. Calling her a true inspiration to all students, Kevin noted it would take too long to detail all of her activities, but briefly described her counseling work with kids, and her trip to Rwanda to reduce racial tensions. Marza announced that the donation from our Club would go to “ Life Song For Orphans,” a worldwide orphan support program, and told us a little about her experience with her brother both of whom were adopted in 2008 from Ethiopia. Our scholarship check to her of $1000 will go to help her attend college in Minnesota.
President John took a moment to recognize Bill Ross, who oversees our RYLA program. There are 9 students in the Rotary Youth Leadership Award program this year, and we’ll hear more about it from Bill soon! Next John pointed out that PP Dick Hall knows how to get things done – fast. When the call went out to find housing for our short –term foreign exchange student, the tight time frame didn’t bode well, but Dick made it happen. When a second student came up, Dick again saved the day, less than 24 hours later. Last tip of the hat went to Jan Chapman, leader of the Youth Services Committee, who has done an outstanding job this year. Great work by three busy Rotarians!
Before the applause was over, PP Dick Hall was up to the podium with an update on the Rotary Foundation. Our club goal for the year is $17K. We are currently at $13,433. There are pledges that have been made by club members that will take us over the top, but Dick asked all members who did pledge, to please make those contributions by the end of this month, which is the end of the Rotary fiscal year. With no meeting next week – please mail your check as soon as you can!
The weekly raffle was conducted by Dick Giles (photo at right: Dick Giles and President John Curran), and to his surprise, his name was picked out of the holding vessel. Dick noted that “if” he found the Queen of Hearts, he would donate the winnings, but alas, the Five of Hearts just doesn’t pay, so the pot thickens.
“Rotarians In the News” made its way to Rotary International, with a story on the District 7780 Recovery Initiative Committee’s seminars on Opioids. It’s an important article that underlines the fact that virtually all of us have either have personally experienced, or directly know someone who has dealt with the dangers of Opioids. The article opens with an emotional account of PP Ben Lowry and his son. https://www.rotary.org/en/rotary-members-seek-community-solutions-opioid-epidemic We are encouraging more members to take the training program and learn how you can help prevent or intercede in the event of an overdose.
Terri St. Angelo(photo at left) demonstrated how easy it is to ask for a gift certificate for the Maine Outdoor Challenge auction: a little praise to the vendor, add in some excitement for the MOC, and ask them to help us out! Time is of the essence – please make those requests right away. We really need to build it up!
To register, go to https://rotary7780.org/event/district-conference-1/. As you hopefully know by now, this is Governor John LoBosco's one-day, FREE, District Conference to be held on June 22nd at Fort Williams Park in Cape Elizabeth. Even though it will cost you nothing, we need to know if you will attend so we know how much free food to plan for and how many children will be there for the many activities we have planned for them. We do have an alternate location lined up in the unlikely case of bad weather.
So please, register early and we look forward to seeing you at what will be a distinctive and very fun District Conference.
The following items are needed on an on-going basis. Please feel free to bring them to a meeting where we will collect and distribute them to the appropriate projects.
Crutches4Africa - Crutches, canes, folding walkers and wheelchairs to be shipped to Africa. Contact: Roger Fagan, drrogerfagan@gmail.com
Toiletries for the Shelters - Collect those tiny bottles of toiletries you are paying for during your next hotel visit and bring them home for members of our society who find themselves staying at a shelter and in need of personal hygiene products.
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President John Curran ushered in our meeting at the Clarion by welcoming 45 members and 14 guests; Julie L‘Heureux (photo at right) gave recognition to National Nurses Week with quotes from Florence Nightingale; Rob Chatfield led us In the Pledge; and Gracie Johnston started us off in the right key for "God Bless America." President John listed off the members celebrating May birthdays and Rotary anniversaries.
The theme for the day was Youth Service, and it started with a very youthful presentation by 2nd and 3rd graders from the Lyseth School. Portland Rotary has purchased and provided 2100 books to the school, and many of our members have volunteered their time to go to the school for reading sessions. Coordinator Sylvie Montello introduced the students, who read “Thank You” notes to our Club, including one in Spanish. Jane Hodgkins, a kindergarten teacher at the school recognized PP Laura Young as their “most important reader,” and told us of how Laura once came to school in the “Josh the Otter” costume to read and teach about water safety. The presentation concluded with a classroom video, a rousing patriotic rendition of “You’re A Grand Old Flag” sung by the students, and a special surprise gift bag for our Rotarian reading volunteers.
Before the applause was over, PP Dick Hall was up to the podium with an update on the Rotary Foundation. Our club goal for the year is $17K. We are currently at $13,433. There are pledges that have been made by club members that will take us over the top, but Dick asked all members who did pledge, to please make those contributions by the end of this month, which is the end of the Rotary fiscal year. With no meeting next week – please mail your check as soon as you can!.jpg)
The weekly raffle was conducted by Dick Giles (photo at right: Dick Giles and President John Curran), and to his surprise, his name was picked out of the holding vessel. Dick noted that “if” he found the Queen of Hearts, he would donate the winnings, but alas, the Five of Hearts just doesn’t pay, so the pot thickens.
Terri St. Angelo (photo at left) demonstrated how easy it is to ask for a gift certificate for the Maine Outdoor Challenge auction: a little praise to the vendor, add in some excitement for the MOC, and ask them to help us out! Time is of the essence – please make those requests right away. We really need to build it up!