On June 25th, we will be upgrading our club website to V3 of ClubRunner. Our bulletin (Windjammer) will look different. This is a positive move and should give us more administrative flexibility.
If you notice anything "off," please notify me (Loretta) immediately.
President Kris will provide us with a brief wrap-up to his time spent at the Rotary helm.
(Photos: President Kris at left; Dee Mystify and Casino Ed at right.)
After which, we will have two soon-to-be well-known casino experts, Casino Ed and Dee Mystify, visit us. They have recently completed filming a consumer education course that will be available on the internet titled "Casino Fun 101: How to go to a casino, have a great time and not lose your shirt.”
Some of the topics aimed at ensuring people get the most for their entertainment dollar are "How casinos work, how to learn casino games, and how to manage your money." Our speakers' goal is to make it possible for anyone to go into any casino, anywhere in the world, and have a great time....win, lose, or draw.
Ed and Dee will be presenting several short segments of their workshop they believe everyone will enjoy and find entertaining, whether or not you ever go to a casino. Segments include: The Reality of Gambling; Albert Einstein’s Thoughts on Roulette; The Four Types of Players You’ll Meet In A Casino; The Three Most Common Mistakes People Make; and more.
Any resemblance to any current Portland Rotarians is purely coincidental.
An attorney, an entrepreneur, and a two-time candidate for Governor, Eliot Cutler is the CEO in charge of creating, organizing, and planning for a new Maine Center for Professional Graduate Studies which incorporates under one umbrella: the University of Maine School of Law; MBA programs from UMaine and USM; and USM’s Muskie School of Public Service. Mr. Cutler is designing the program, developing the collaborative approach to the Center, and is looking to expand the competitive position in the marketplace using flexibility and innovation while maintaining the rigor to meet Maine’s needs for a productive work force.
When it opens, the Maine Center for Professional Graduate Studies should be one of the most productive reforms in graduate level studies in Maine’s history. The Center could make UMaine a leader in graduate and professional education. The Center will be located under a new roof in Portland along with a business incubator accelerator to marry innovation and coursework. The center is expected to strengthen and reform graduate studies, attract entrepreneurs, and help drive economic growth in the state.
Three profound observations are leading to the creation of the Center using a private grant from the Alfond Foundation. These observations include the following:
With the digital revolution, knowledge is easily accessible. Due to the quick access to information, knowledge provides less of a competitive advantage as technology takes over labor; and employers want to employ those that excel at analytics, innovation, and collaboration.
The societal changes due to the digital revolution pose immense challenges to graduate schools tied to supply side business models suffering rising costs and declining enrollments. Graduate schools need to move from supply side needs to more align with societal needs to employ their graduates.
The challenges graduate schools face mirror circumstances throughout state, including those slow to adapt to the economic revolution taking place. Improvement in the graduate programs can retain younger people in Maine, and will help grow Maine’s economy.
Five (5) goals of the Center will include:
Being sufficient in scale and variety for academic distinction and relative to societal needs.
The curricula must be flexible to be attractive and responsive to employers, to cross train students with multi-school course work, and also serve as the basis for the necessary accreditations.
Providing space and proximity of the schools to: each other, employers, government agencies, the accelerator, and applied research applications.
Providing a capital and incentive structures to make the Center financially sound and encourage cooperation throughout the schools in the Center.
Integrating the business, legal and other communities to respond to Maine employers and the economy.
Tom Nickerson opened the meeting with an invocation, and Russ Burleigh led us in a rendition “God Bless America.”
President Kris welcomed 52 members with 8 non-Rotarian guests.
Incoming President Bowen Depke earned the right to draw a winning card for the $286 raffle, but was unable to pull the Queen. Tough draw with 51 cards in the deck!
Amy Chipman gave us an update on a decision by the Service and Memorial Fund Trustees. With a remaining budget of $2000, the Trustees voted to provide $1250 to Long Creek Youth Development Center. This money will primarily be used to assist individuals who have been in the system transition back into the community. An example would be assistance on first month’s apartment rental. Accepting for Long Creek was Mike Fortunato. A second provision of $750 was given to the Boys and Girls Club of Southern Maine, to support a program named “Teen Cooking On A Budget.” The course provides training on how to shop and cook for yourself and family when funds are tight.
Harold Crabill reminded us that we have to pay attention to our club calendars! There will be no club meeting on July 3rd due to the holiday weekend. The following week, we will not meet on Friday the 10th. Instead, the club meeting will be on Thursday the 9th, aboard Casco Bay Lines! Our Jewell Island Cruise has a 6pm departure time. This is open to everybody – club members, family members, friends. Music, heavy hors d'oeuvres, and lots of fun. The Jewell stop is in part to remember our late friend Bob Patten, who spearheaded the clean up/rehabbing of the island in 1992. Ticket price $40 per person – for reservations, contact Loretta Rowe: lrowe@maine.rr.com
Glenn Nerbak had news from RYLA – Rotary Youth Leadership Awards. Our club will sponsor 3 Portland High students, and 1 Waynflete student to the upcoming Camp RYLA, at the Grizzly Creek Ranch in Portola, CA. The students will participate in a wide variety of leadership training that they can bring back to the community. We look forward to hearing their report.
(Photo: Glenn Nerbak, 3 PHS Students and Laura Young.)
2nd VP Laura Young introduced 4 students who had just returned from “Odyssey of the Mind,” an international student program based around creative problem solving held at Michigan State University this past May. Students range from kindergarten through college, believing our students were in 6th-7th grade. They competed in various categories, from building mechanical devices from raw materials, to presenting their interpretations of famous books. Your humble B&P editor tried real hard to follow along with what our 4 students were saying about their experience. With a nod to our guest, “Hey Cutler,” our first student provided a heavily detailed, but somewhat elusive accounting of what he did while at the event. The second student, a young lady, had a sudden case of the giggles, replaced by the third who read from the second student’s notes. (The fourth student, probably mortified, did not speak.) All in all, it seemed like they had a great time. Gotta love that age group!
On Friday, July 10th from approx. 2-4p.m. we will be moving our archived files/materials from President-elect Bowen's downtown offices to a dedicated storage area at an E. W. Noyes storage facility. Peter Noyes has graciously offered a huge storage room for our archives, where they will be safe and easily accessed for future references. The room will be under lock and key with only two keys....for now, both keys will be under the care of our club Secretary.
WE ARE LOOKING FOR 2-3 VOLUNTEERS WHO WILL HELP US WITH THE MOVING PROCESS OF STORAGE TOTES, BOXES AND MISCELLANEOUS ROTARY MATERIALS.
We don't have a Rotary meeting on that day....Jewell Island Cruise is the night before.
Please contact Loretta at: lrowe@maine.rr.com or 883-5432, if you can help.
Our Jewell Island cruise on Casco Bay is set for Thursday evening, July 9, 2015. (There will be no regular club meeting on July 10th.) Bring your family, a friend or three for a fun cruise with light refreshments. A balmy evening and beautiful sunset is guaranteed. For more details, click on the "Jewell Island Cruise" name at left. See club secretary, Loretta Rowe for your ticket reservations: lrowe@maine.rr.comRESERVATION DEADLINE: JUNE 30TH.
The meeting minutes of the Portland Rotary Club's Board of Directors are posted on our website the month following their approval. From the "Home Page," click on the "Board Meeting Minutes" in the listing at the left.
