03/11/16 Bits & Pieces
Posted by Marr / Jorgensen
The meeting of March 11, 2016 began with President Bowen welcoming 39 members, 2 visiting Rotarians, and 5 guests. Then Russ Burleigh offered an invocation and, of course, the upcoming St Patrick's Day was the focus. We learned that "Patty" was kidnapped as a lad and not a native of the Irish sod, but whilst in Ireland, God beckoned him to help his brethren....but the snake banishment is but a tale. However, the delicate shamrock growing aplenty in the land, was seen as the flower of the Holy Trinity and became the emblem of Ireland.
President Bowen read some gratitude letters that were received from various groups noting our Club’s participation in a number of events. These included the Portland Red Claws’ “Kids and Claws” event with the Boys and Girls Club; "Meals on Wheels" dinners served to the area senior citizens, who gave thanks to the Cedar Unit of kids at Long Creek Youth Center for making hand-made Valentines Day cards to go with a sweet package that was included with the meal deliveries; science supply purchasing for Lyseth School; our contribution to the Royal British Legion and its “Poppy Appeal”; and, last but not least, the Southern Maine Agency on Aging’s “Vet-to-Vet” program, which matches aging veterans to younger volunteers, who are also Veterans. As if being a fighting Marine in World War II wasn't enough to make you a hero, it seems that our kid-loving leatherneck, Bob Traill, has become a hero to the kids in the fourth grade at Lyseth School....he reads to them with a passion that brings the words alive....that makes him a Champion of CHE, as the children wrote him notes of thanks.
In addition, we had the unexpected pleasure of a note commemorating a toast that was recently made in our club’s honor by the Bromley Rotary Club of England. Bromley, a suburb of London, is maybe best known as the staging area for the Battle of Britain, but it was also the former site of the Crystal Palace, a giant glass building regarded as a 19th Century engineering marvel built for the Great Exhibition of 1851. Cheers back to you, Bromley! It’s nice to be toasted!
While giving thanks, President Bowen recognized the great work and organization of Loretta and the Three E's (Ellen, Emily and Elise)...pulling off the "Leap Into Auction" event that raised $1250.
President Bowen noted that 1st Vice President Laura Young is attending the Presidents-Elect Training Seminar (PETS), where she will be learning the fine details of how to push, pull, cajole and nudge our club to even greater heights in the coming year.
PP Ben Lowry had a history minute (or five) from 1963, the year he was born. He told us of a time when Portland houses cost $12,000, a car cost $2,000 and Marilyn Monroe’s famous "Happy Birthday Greeting to President Kennedy" was smoldering across the country. We had the Cuban Missile Crisis and the saddest was the end of Camelot, with the assassination of JFK. There were photos in his presentation that showed a bare-bottomed Ben pondering his future on the dock of his family's summer camp, the glowing young Lowry family juxtaposed with images of segregation in the South and John Glenn in the sky. Here in Portland, it was the era of the Dave Astor show (Dave was a member of our club from 1997-2009), and our Rotary meetings were bringing 140 people weekly to the Lafayette Hotel. The Club’s “Operation Fruitcake” raised over $1000 (and someone thought some of the fruitcakes might still be around). Portland Rotary was seen doing Salvation Army bell ringing and speakers that year included Senator Edmund Muskie, Arctic explorer Don MacMillan and a teen-aged Tom Allen.
President Bowen reported that he attended a 90th anniversary dinner of the Westbrook/Gorham Rotary Club, where among the gifts he received was a program from our own Club’s 25th Anniversary. This included a message from none other than Paul Harris. His greeting “visualized the happy gathering of Portland Rotarians” and went on to say that “Portland is responsible for the brand of Rotary that permeates all of Maine.” He concluded, as Mr. Spock from Star Trek would twenty years later, with the line, “Live Long and Prosper.”
The weekly raffle, which was up to $1122, was conducted by Erik Greven with visitor John Holt's name being drawn by our speaker, Mayor Strimling. There was a huge sigh of relief when John was unable to find the Queen of Hearts.
We welcomed Alex St. Hilaire back into our club as a returning member.
(Photo: John Curran, David Small and Erik Greven....part of the team heading to the DR.)
We send our best wishes for safe travels to our Hands-Hearts-Hearing team (3H), which headed to the Dominican Republic on Saturday, March 12th to provide more hearing aids, prosthetic hands, and water filters to the people there, along with the solar lights we helped purchase a couple of months ago (thanks to George Crockett for bringing them to our attention).
Finally, Jim Willey noted that the monthly Long Creek Youth Center's gathering included pizza and green shamrock shakes, which were an especially big hit with the residents. He added that all are welcome to come on these monthly trips to show support for these incarcerated kids. Role models are crucial.