News of The Rotary Club of Portland, Maine July 15, 2020
Nick Callanan To Speak on Maine Outdoor Film
Nick Callanan has a background in journalism and has won multiple Maine Press Association awards. He is the founder and festival director of the Maine Outdoor Film Festival (2012 to present) and was a New England regional Emmy nominee in 2014 for the Portland Press Herald Magazine program Kimball and Keyser: Gimme Shelter.
Callanan has collaborated on many short films including: Sister Sparrow and The Dirty Birds; Ghost of Paul Revere; You Wanted to Be A Farmer; For Those Who Love Paddlers; and, Now We’re Cookin’. He serves on the advisory committees of Teens to Trails and the Great Maine Outdoor Weekend.
Callanan earned a BA in Journalism/Mass Communications at St. Michael’s College in Colchester, VT.
President Ellen Challenges Club
by Tom Talbott
Ellen Niewoehner, the 107th President of the Rotary Club of Portland, outlined her vision for the year, highlighting the Six Calls to Action she credited to incoming District Governor Peggy Belanger.
We develop acquaintances and relationships with each other and the people we serve that are thoughtful, meaningful, relevant and impactful;
We work at retaining our current membership;
We think creatively to serve virtually;
We incorporate creative thinking for fundraising and support of our mission to eradicate Polio;
We build capacity by growing Rotaract, Interact, and RYLA.
We explore avenues to include more diversity, inclusion and equity.
“These Actions,” she said, “are not about changing, but about being transformative.”
Ellen presented the 2020-2021 Rotary International flag and our motto for the year, Rotary Opens Opportunities. She noted that this year will be full of new challenges on every level, but we will find opportunities to serve both local, regionally, and abroad. “Whether it is vocational, youth oriented, or the recruitment of new members, we are up to the task.” Ellen was pleased to announce that Rotary International had added a new Avenue of Service focused on the environment.
She noted that our instincts, whether individual or club, are to analyze and plan, “but planning is complicated when we just do not have an idea of what resources will be available to us.” Fellowship and fun are essential fuel that powers our service endeavors, and Ellen promises to find creative new ways to interact with each other. “It’s going to take everyone to support new ideas to make them work.” Ellen expressed her gratitude for the opportunity to serve as President, saying she was honored and appreciative of the trust.
Ellen referenced the different committees, the individual chairs, and thoughts for the year.
Membership will take cues from Bruce Jones and Mike Fortunato. Let’s be proactive talking to people, and even though we don’t currently have meetings, Zoom is still a way to connect. Our current membership is 125, and our goal is eight net new members, and we aim to develop more diversity in the club.
Bowen Depke will head the Program Committee. He foresees guest speakers who will cover a broad range of topics, from Maine history, (this was Maine’s 200th Anniversary), local business, and sports. Ellen added that we’ll add some musical entertainment with the help of Nanette Duncanson.
Tom Ranello leads the Community Service team. Many of its programs have been impacted by the restrictions of COVID-19, including working at Preble Street. The program there may change as they seek to find ways to deal with coronavirus issues. We need to be creative in seeking out new ways to participate and help. Tough when you can’t assemble in numbers, must maintain social distancing, etc.
Ben Millick will head the New Mainer Task Force, and Gracie Johnston will oversee the Recovery Task Force. Both committees were unheard of just a couple years back, and now do important work. Our work with the Greater Portland Immigrant Welcome Center will continue.
Without the Maine Outdoor Challenge, we have a big hole in our budget, so we all need to think hard, and give our full support to Fundraising Chair Patty Erickson. The Community Heroes project, led by Charlie Frair and Paul Tully, provides people with an opportunity to publicly recognize and acknowledge an individual who’s made a difference in their community or been a hero for them in their life. This program can be personally fulfilling, while at the same time help us immensely in terms of fundraising. The Corn Hole Tournament has been rescheduled for Spring of 2021. Bottom line – no need to ask if you are on the fundraising committee. You are! Keep the ideas coming.
Youth Services, led by Bob Clark and John Thompson, will continue the Youth Services Awards and support for the Baxter Interact Club. Portland High School may be the next to form an Interact Club. The Lyseth School reading program is on hold. Megan Peabody has been organizing the making of books read by members on video, and then making those available to the kids. The Rotary Youth Leadership Award Camp (RYLA) will not convene until the summer of 2021.
The International Service Committee with Erik Greven at the helm will determine how best to fulfill the terms of its District Grant in the 3H Project. The group will be evaluating how to proceed with other international projects considering travel restrictions. We will continue working on the Kosovo and 3H programs, but we’ll have to get creative.
Amy Chipman will lead the Foundation Committee with its simple and attainable goal: Every Rotarian, Every Year contributing to the Rotary International Foundation. Our ’20-’21 goals are $17,000 in contributions to the Foundation, and $2,000 for Polio Plus. The Foundation earns the highest mark from Charity Navigator, scoring a perfect 100/100. (Only 3 in the world scored 100) Half of our club contributions are directed back into our district.
Eric Jorgensen will be the Club Webmaster, and Bob Martin will edit the weekly Windjammer. Elise Hodgkin will continue to handle Club administrative duties.
Jennifer Fredericks will be Meeting Day chair, and hopefully we’ll get some in-person meetings. Roger Asch will lawyer up the Constitution/By-Laws committee.
Bits & Pieces | Bob Martin
Connecting from vacation places, homes, and backyard terraces, 44 Rotarians joined the July 10 meeting. Larry Gross, on the shores of Moosehead Lake, attracted the most comments and envy. Cyrus Hagge and Olivier Ndayirukiye were among those we haven’t seen for a while.
Lisa Halles was our visiting Rotarian from the Waterville Rotary Club. She is active in recovery efforts and may be relocating to Cape Elizabeth.
Paul Tully provided the invocation, acknowledging July 2 as being the real Independence Day based on John Adams’s wish to memorialize the acceptance of the Declaration of Independence by the Continental Congress, and providing a timely riff to Longfellow’s Midnight Ride of Paul Revere:
Listen my children
And you shall hear,
A story about Ellen
Before her Rotary Year.
…
To the stable she drove
At a high rate of speed,
A message she had
For her trusty steed.
She opened the stall
And drew her horse near,
Her voice was so loud
All those present could hear.
A revelation she spoke
The words were quite clear,
“Amy was right,
You can’t screw it up in a year.”
Bob Fowler (pictured right)has been named Director of Public Health for the City of Portland. Portland Press Herald story here.
Rusty Atwood saluted the Baxter Academy for Technology & Science for being a finalist in the national PBS ventilator project competition, which was the subject of a Club program in April. The link to the PBS story about Baxter’s team is here.
Paul Tully and Charlie Frair announced the kick-off of the Flags for Heroes project, display of almost two weeks duration at Maine Mall honoring a hero in the life of the sponsor. Hoping to have every Rotarian participant either by sponsoring a hero or recruiting a non-Rotarian to sponsor.
Liz Fagan reminded everyone about the opportunity to participate Maine Responds which is an Emergency Health Volunteer System that provides a prepared and ready workforce of volunteers to serve in the event of any public health emergency. For more information, gohere.
Bill Blount is searching for one more tennis player to round out the Club roster to 24.
3H Receives District Grant
David Small announced that the Club has been awarded a District Grant of $3,750 to support the work of the 3H project in the Dominican Republic. The grant will help the club in its partnership with the Palm Beach Rotary Club and the team expects to install over 100 H2O filters, solar lights, and replacement filters in one or more bateys in the Dominican Republic in the coming year. The 3H team is now working independently of the local hospital and can select areas in which to work and travel on its own. The team is uncertain now about access to the DR and may have to work with local people to do installations. The grant covers equipment and some expenses.
Club Meets August 21 at Hadlock Field
Bill Blount announced that the Seadogs will welcome the Club to the outdoor gathering facility at Hadlock Field on August 21. Pre-registration is required and can be accomplished on the club website. Since the Seadogs are bringing in staff to accommodate our meeting, the cost of the ballpark lunch will be $26. which can be paid by check on the day of the meeting, or in advance by credit card on the Club website. There is a limit of 50 persons at the meeting, so early registration is highly recommended.
Help Wanted
The Windjammer, the oldest Rotary newsletter in Maine, is searching for new contributing editors to complement its seasoned staff. We can’t promise a Pulitzer, and our readership is small, but the duties are light, the frequency of work is minimal, and the rewards are great. Know that you write for history. For more information, contact Bob Martin.
July Birthdays & Anniversaries
Mark Millar, July 3
Ben Millick, July 5
Alan Levenson, July 11
Tom Nickerson, July 12
Megan Peabody, July 12
Jack Carr, July 14
Jennifer Frederick, July 14
Julie L’Heureux, July 16
John Marr, July 19
Nanette Duncanson, July 23
Peter Noyes, July 23
Michael Reed, July 29
John Curran, July 31
Rotary Anniversaries:
Alan Levenson, 41 years
Bill Reynolds, 46 years
Cole Smith, 1 year
Rob Chatfield, 13 years
Tom Saturley, 4 years
Jerry Angier, 6 years
Tom Nickerson, 6 years
Alex St. Hilaire, 6 years
Steve Stromsky, 9 years
Peter Moore, 3 years
Mike Fortunato, 10 years
A Moment of Reflection
KINDNESS
Before you know what kindness really is
you must lose things,
feel the future dissolve in a moment
like salt in a weakened broth.
What you held in your hand,
what you counted and carefully saved,
all this must go so you know
how desolate the landscape can be
between the regions of kindness.
How you ride and ride
thinking the bus will never stop,
the passengers eating maize and chicken
will stare out the window forever.
Before you learn the tender gravity of kindness,
you must travel where the Indian in a white poncho
lies dead by the side of the road.
You must see how this could be you,
how he too was someone
who journeyed through the night with plans
and the simple breath that kept him alive.
Before you know kindness as the deepest thing inside,
you must know sorrow as the other deepest thing.
You must wake up with sorrow.
You must speak to it till your voice
catches the thread of all sorrows
and you see the size of the cloth.
Then it is only kindness that makes sense anymore,
only kindness that ties your shoes
and sends you out into the day to mail letters and purchase bread,
only kindness that raises its head
from the crowd of the world to say
It is I you have been looking for,
and then goes with you everywhere
like a shadow or a friend.
Naomi Shihab Nye
Speaker Schedule
July 17 | Nick Callanan, Maine Outdoor Film
July 24 | Peter Monro, Citizen Climate Lobby
July 31 | David Cyr, Skowhegan Savings on PPP Loans
August 7 | District Governor Peggy Belanger
August 14 | TBD
August 21 | Portland Sea Dogs
August 28 | Musical Program with Nannette Duncanson
September 4 | No Meeting
September 11 | Flags for Heroes
September 18 | Kevin Hancock on his new book
September 25 | Earle Shettleworth on John Calvin Stevenson
October 2 | Jonathan Sahrbeck, Cumberland County DA
ll of new challenges on every level, but we will find opportunities to serve both local, regionally, and abroad. “Whether it is vocational, youth oriented, or the recruitment of new members, we are up to the task.” Ellen was pleased to announce that Rotary International had added a new Avenue of Service focused on the environment.
Portland Press Herald story 
support the work of the 3H project in the Dominican Republic. The grant will help the club in its partnership with the Palm Beach Rotary Club and the team expects to install over 100 H2O filters, solar lights, and replacement filters in one or more bateys in the Dominican Republic in the coming year. The 3H team is now working independently of the local hospital and can select areas in which to work and travel on its own. The team is uncertain now about access to the DR and may have to work with local people to do installations. The grant covers equipment and some expenses.
