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Portland Rotary will meet this week at the
Merrill Auditorium - Kotzschmar Organ
20 Myrtle Street, Portland
ADVANCE REGISTRATION REQUIRED BY NOON FEB. 29TH
FOR ALL ATTENDEES
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On Friday, March 4, 12:00-1:30 pm Portland Rotary Club's meeting will be held at Merrill Auditorium, 20 Myrtle Street, Portland, ME.
Friends of the Kotzschmar Organ (FOKO) will host the meeting!
The mighty Kotzschmar Organ, in its 103rd year, is a national icon and is an integral part of the cultural history of Portland. Portland’s municipal organist, Ray Cornils, assisted by FOKO docents, will give a demonstration and offer tours of the newly-renovated Kotzschmar Organ. Tours will start at 1:20 and last between 10-20 minutes to go through the organ. Yes! You can actually walk inside the wind chest of the organ!
We hope you will join us!
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Posted by John Marr
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 (Photo: President Bowen, PP John Marr and speaker, Bill Williamson)
At our last meeting, President Bowen introduced us to Bill Williamson, the President of the Bank of America (BOA) operations in Maine. Bill has been involved in the Maine banking scene for decades and has been elevated to his latest assignment a couple of years ago. The challenges of banking are well and painfully known since the financial tumult of 2007-8 and the Great Recession, which may or may not be over depending upon your magic number and employment status. Of course, for the BOA, dealing with financial wreckage is not uncommon....it could be seen as their foundation. Mr. Williamson reminded us that the BOA likes to point to the Great San Francisco Earthquake of 1906 as the birth of the bank, when banker A.P. Gianini salvaged sufficient cash from the vaults of the Bank of Italy to open within days of the catastrophe and serve the community. The story of the salvation and recreation of the bank could have been a captivating talk in and of itself. However, Bill’s focus was how the past has set the transformation of today.
While the Bank of America is a common name in the pantheon of modern American banking, there’s more to it than just heaps of money. As the name implies, the institution is nationwide, but their focus is on the local customer and not just the business of the bank. Following the staggering losses of 2007-8 the BOA looked at the financial upheaval as being similar to the terra turmoil of 1906 and began introspection and took it as an opportunity to project a new image for the new century. Thinking back to what Gianini did, they went back to concentrating on the people served and not being myopically committed to the bank’s portfolio.
The Bank of America employs close to a quarter-million in over 5,000 branches. They have total assets of over two trillion dollars, with deposits of more than 1.2 trillion dollars under management. Currently, they have about $900 billion in loans outstanding, with 2/3 of that in the consumer market which is consistent with their people centric focus, rather than that of big business. Even with that focus, they are currently ranked as the number two small business lender and number one in financial services. Most of the investment and financial service paper is transacted through the Merrill Lynch and U.S Trust facilities. As impressive and expansive as those numbers are, the message Bill wanted to impart was not that of financial bragging. He wanted to talk about the new services the bank is offering with the concentration on the Maine market which he is charged with.
The Bank of America realizes that more than likely most of us are confounded by the complexities of modern finance and the many facets that are available to us. Consequently, BOA went to the workforce with the closest contact with the customer and asked them to help remodel the products and services of the bank to better the life of the customer by making interaction simpler and more convenient. Tapping this asset has given them a variety of new ways to make doing business with their bank easier and more lucrative for the customer, not just the bank. For example, the convenience of mobile banking transactions, whether at the ATM or on the Smartphone, has become a hallmark, not horror. While times and institutions change, some things, such as one’s home being their most important financial asset and obligation, remain the same decade after decade. With the home as the vanguard of the typical families financial engine, the employees of Bank of America told the company that it was important to find a way to help more get into the market by lowering the hurdles. Consequently, they recently offered a new mortgage that allows those with a decent FICO rating to buy a home with only 3% down and not saddle them with the need for costly mortgage insurance.
In closing, Bill wanted to give credit for the latest success and image reformation of the bank to the front line employees, more than the executives luxuriating in the magnificent glass towers. They have a multitude of support and reward programs within their Human Resource Department to assist employees. For example, they have a host of family support programs such as day care payment plans, along with emergency day care assistance for those unexpected domestic eruptions. They not only suggest that employees get involved with community programs, but they support it with matching support in many situations. They have given over $6,000,000 to Habitat for Humanity as part of their employee community support programs.
The half hour went fast for Bill and there wasn’t any time left for Q&As, but he remained on hand to answer our members' questions.
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Posted by Jake Bourdeau
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President Bowen welcomed 51 members and guests; then asked Paul Tully to give the invocation. Paul discussed the overwhelming support he received from his many friendships and the club members following the recent passing of his wife, Barbara. Paul noted that the support was beyond expectation, valuing his many Rotary friendships that helped him through the difficult time.
First Vice President Laura Young led the Pledge of Allegiance, and Bill Blount led us in the patriotic song.
Jan Chapman asked our speaker, Bill Williamson, to pick a name from the raffle can for a shot at the pot of $1,189. PTG was selected again (Paul T. Gore, yes again), but unfortunately he will have to wait at least another week, as the Queen of Hearts remained in the deck.
(Photo: Justin Lamontagne, Quincy Hentzel, Prez. Bowen, George Carr, and Laura Young)
Two new Rotary members were introduced into the club on Friday. Justin Lamontagne introduced Quincy Hentzel, who was co-sponsored by Justin and President Bowen. Quincy works in public affairs and is active in the community, such as Ripple Effect and The Center for Grieving Children.
Laura Young introduced and sponsored George Carr who works in finance, went to Bates College, (one connection to Laura), and is a former teacher.
Please welcome Quincy and George. Based upon their introductions and philanthropy, they will offer much to the club, so don't be shy in getting to know them.
(Photo: Katherine Barr, Principal of Catherine McAuley High School, Jan Chapman and Mai Mangin)
Jan Chapman introduced the Youth Service Award recipient this month, which went to Mai Mangin from Catherine McAuley High School. Mai was voted by her classmates to receive the award and scholarship. Amongst many of her achievements, Mai is a Presidential Scholar finalist and was instrumental in helping her community fill a shipping container full of goods to benefit the kids at an orphanage in Tanzania, which she and her classmates visited on a class trip.
Her father, Patrick, and brother, Josh, were at the meeting to support her receiving her award. Mai has chosen the orphanage in Tanzania to receive the $100 donation from our club in her name. CONGRATULATIONS MAI!
Jim Willey and Dave Small provided an extended Rotary history moment on the good, the bad, and the ugly regarding the membership of Jewish people in the Portland Rotary Club and other local clubs. Their dual, and truly informative discussion, could fill numerous pages, and touched on many historical facets of various club membership considerations from the 1800’s to more recent times. According to our records review, the first recognized Jewish member of the club joined in 1950, and he was a Portland rabbi who was very active in the community. Of interest, the club records noted the occupation of the rabbi was Judaism, rather than rabbi.
Our annual re-gifting silent auction was taking place during our meeting, with many fine items donated. Special thanks go to those that made the donations and to those winners with the highest bids. (Someone I know went home with at least 5 items.)
Results will be announced at the next Rotary meeting.
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Portland Rotary is hosting a "Taste, Tour and Celebrate With a Paul Harris Fellow" event at the Allagash Brewing Company.
Tuesday - March 29, 2016
Tickets: $15 in advance; $20 at the door
Bring your favorite friends, relatives and neighbors! Space is limited to 80 people in their tasting room, so get your tickets NOW at Portland Rotary's home page: portlandrotary.org....on the right side under "Club Events," click on "Allagash Brewery Event" or simply click HERE.
Watch your emails for a copy of the flyer!
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Check out the details of our 5th Annual Maine Outdoor Challenge....our largest fundraiser of the year, click HERE.
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Portland High School has an official Rotary Interact Club. They will become involved in several of the Portland Rotary Club's Community Service projects....working alongside our members.
(Photo: Front row, first from left, Portland Rotarian Janelle LoSciuto; second from right in back row, Portland Rotarian Glenn Nerbak; center front, Chair of the Interact Club, Jenni Nguyen, and the Interact students.)
WELCOME TO ALL INTERACT STUDENTS!
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Invocation: Paul Tully
Program Reporter: Tom Talbott
Bits & Pieces Reporter: Ben Lowry
Registration/Greeter: Maxwell Chikuta
Sell Meal Tickets: Loretta Rowe
Raffle: Megan Devlin
Badge Box: None
Collect Meal Tickets: Nan Heald
Rotary Moment in History: Bruce Moore
Song Leader: None
Pianist: None
Sgt-at-Arms (Early): Mike Reed
Sgt-at-Arms (Late): Scott Blakeslee
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If you would like to mark your calendars, we are
at the following locations through March 2016:
2016:
Mar 04 - Merrill Auditorium
Mar 11 - The Clarion Hotel
Mar 18 - Holiday Inn By-the-Bay
Mar 25 - Holiday Inn By-the-Bay
Blue BOLD dates are scheduled Board meeting days.
Any questions, please contact Loretta at: lrowe@maine.rr.com
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As we receive applications for prospective members to join our Portland Rotary Club, the names of the applicants will be included in our Windjammer. Any information and/or comments you would like to share will be handled confidentially. Please contact Loretta Rowe: lrowe@maine.rr.com. Your input will be appreciated.
PROSPECT BUSINESS SPONSOR(S)
Patty Erickson Bath Savings Rob Chatfield
Jennifer Frederick Bath Savings Rob Chatfield
Thank you.
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Read more...
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Posted by Bill Blount
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ROTARY DOUBLES TENNIS LEAGUE
Winter/Spring Session 2016
After Week Nine, all teams have played 6 matches. This week the competition was fierce. No match was able to complete two sets....all four teams took only one point each. That’s the first time the Commissioner can recall that happening.
Week nine scores are:
| TEAM 1 |
TEAM 2 |
TEAM 3 |
TEAM 4 |
TEAM 5 |
TEAM 6 |
| Thompson |
Blakeslee |
Gross |
Bourdeau |
Seddon |
Barns |
| Ingram |
Blount |
Noyes |
Ray |
Moore |
Hall |
| Herodes |
Asch |
Putnam |
Nickerson |
Chipman |
Jorgensen |
| St Hilaire |
Houghton |
Burleigh |
Grammer |
Carr |
L.Young |
| 7 |
14 |
9 |
11 |
11 |
15 |
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