News of The Rotary Club of Portland, Maine November 19, 2020
A Report by Portland Rotary Peace Scholars
by Dick Hall
Portland Rotary was the first club worldwide to have two Rotary Peace Scholars. As part of Rotary Foundation month, the two scholars, Brian Sandberg and Darren Wallach, will share their experiences.
Brian Sandberg was a Peace Scholar during 2006-07 sponsored by Dick Hall. As a Peace Fellow, he completed a two-year master’s program and earned a Master of Arts in International Relations at the Universidad del Salvador (USAL), Buenos Aires, Argentina, 2009-2011. His specialization was peace, conflict resolution, and resource conflicts and policy. His master’s thesis research focused on Ecuadorean domestic mining policy, international participation in a human right to water regime, and state sovereignty concerns.
Brian lives in Buenos Aires, Argentina and is unable to attend in person, so he created a 13-minute video to discuss how the Peace Scholar opportunity changed his life.
Darren Wallach was a Peace Scholar in 2009 sponsored by John Marr. He completed a one-year program in Thailand. Darren is a Social Studies teacher at Oceanside High School in Rockland, Maine. Born in Bangor, he grew up in South Portland and graduated from Cheverus High School. Darren attended George Washington University, graduating with a BA in History (1998). He earned an MA in American and New England Studies in 2003 from the University of Southern Maine. He later earned an MA in the University of Maine’sPeace & Reconciliation Studies program in August, 2020.
In his career, he has taught World History, U.S. History, ESOL, Psychology, and Environmental Education with teaching positions in the New York mountains, Boston and its suburbs, throughout Maine in Portland, Brunswick and Biddeford, as well as in the Kathmandu Valley of Nepal with the Jesuit Volunteer Corps.
In 2010, he was awarded the prestigious Rotary Peace Fellowship which he completed in Bangkok, Thailand at Chulalongkorn University. Wallach plans to publish a book for the high school and college classroom adapted from this thesis-Ways To Peace: Case Studies in Peace and Diplomacy- A Reader for High School & College Students.
Darren met his future wife in Thailand and now has a 3-year-old son and a newborn baby boy. He lives in Brunswick with his family.
Bits & Pieces | by Tom Talbott
President Ellen Niewoehner welcomed the Rotary Club of Portland to this Friday the 13th meeting, which seemed to rear its head in the form of a few tech glitches. Those issues were dispatched, and Ellen forged ahead, first by offering her appreciation to all Veterans. If not for COVID, it would have been this very day that we would have hosted our annual Veterans Appreciation Lunch. In its absence, Ellen offered her personal thanks to all those who have served.
With 42 Rotarians and 3 guests online, Paul Tully pinch hit for the Invocation with some timely advice. Noting that the cold and raw weather of the day was as dreary as the latest CDC COVID news, he prayed that we all remain healthy and aware, safe through the holidays and New Year.
Ellen welcomed Jean Michel Kayumba, a former member who is planning on returning. Nice! Welcome back! Christine Force welcomed guest Sarah Harrison.
Ellen referenced a very nice letter addressed to Charlie Frair from the Maine Veterans Home thanking our club for a donation of masks. They also expressed their shared disappointment that there would be no Veterans Luncheon this year.
Ellen attended a Zoom conference hosted by Valarie Wafer, Rotary International Director, which featured a presentation by former RI President Ian Risely on how Rotary is moving with great enthusiasm towards taking a larger international role in the environment. Wafer said that individual clubs will be able to start submitting grant applications by next spring, so local and regional projects should start to be considered and investigated. Ellen said one of the great benefits of this new focus is how it can help Rotary develop new members, particularly younger ones. The appeal to be involved in green projects and sustainability should be very attractive, and we can only benefit by having new members embrace this avenue of service.
Mark Foster has a last-minute-call-to-action project. He noted that from his office, he witnesses many homeless people on the street. It struck him that these individuals had probably not received the government stimulus check this year, after all they have no address, no computer, no phone. He read of a food bank down in Broward County, FL, that had set up a program, and had a 30% success rate of connecting homeless with the funding. He spoke of a couple he had seen picking through trash, and he reached out to them. Turns out the woman was a waitress, her husband was disabled, but they were trying to save money for an apartment. Imagine how far the $1200 stimulus check could take them. The issue – the program ends on Nov 21. Email Mark if you have an idea: me.mark@gmail.com
Bruce Moore, Jan Chapman, and Doreen Rockstrom attended a Rotary District Recovery Meeting, for a “Train The Trainers” program, organized by the Portland Recovery Community Center. Bruce noted the meeting was well attended, with a lot of interest expressed by others in learning how to teach the skills of dealing with substance use disorder.
Tom Ranello needed 8-10 more volunteers to work the Thanksgiving dinner at St. Vincent DePaul’s, but by the time meeting ended, the spots were filled. Bruce Moore and Jan Chapman will be picking up the food, so graciously donated thru Dick Giles and Sysco Food.
Reminder from Tom that bell ringing schedules for the Salvation Army will be out soon!
Joseph St. John Awarded Youth Scholarship
Joseph St. John, senior at Chevrus High School received the Rotary Club of Portland’s Youth Service Award at the Club’s Friday meeting. Rusty Atwood introduced Kate Coddaire of Chevrus who shared why the school selected St. John. She described Joe as a take-charge leader of Key Club, who consistently fills the role usually handled by a parent or teacher, leading his fellow students on numerous programs and events. Joe humbly accepted the award, recounting how he fell in love with providing service to others at a young age.
The Youth Services Award includes $1000 for future studies and a $100 contribution in the recipient’s name to a local charity. St. John designated his contribution to the Root Cellar Ellen added, “the check is in the mail! No really, I mailed it yesterday!”
The New Veterans Medical Clinic Portland Maine
by Jake Bourdeau
Vin Veroneau, the CEO of J.B. Brown & Sons, reviewed the new VA Community-Based Outpatient Clinic (CBOC) under construction at 141 West Commercial Street in Portland. Veroneau, introduced by Roxane Cole, said that once opened, the clinic will replace and consolidate the existing leases at the Saco and Portland CBOC locations, without disruption of care and services during the transition. The new 68,710 rentable square foot facility will enable VA Maine to expand services to veterans in a state-of-the-art and energy efficient facility providing full healthcare services, including vision, dental, MRI diagnostic, general health, and psychiatric services. The two-story building is located next to the Matchstick building, also owned by his firm, which Veroneau said would undergo some renovations.
According to Veroneau, his company was founded by legendary entrepreneur John Bundy Brown in 1830 as a wholesale grocer, but soon began to manufacture brown sugar from molasses. Through the seven generations of family ownership, the company has become one of the largest property owners in the city and responsible for the development of much of Congress Street, the Waterfront, and the West End. Veroneau became CEO in 2005.
Veroneau noted that the property upon which the clinic is being built was originally sold by J.B. Brown to the railroad in 1879. The firm reacquired the six (6) acre property 131 years later. The clinic building will have a large solar energy canopy to reduce glare to local West End residents, help offset the building’s energy needs, and reduce wear and tear. The building will also have a sculpture honoring the armed service divisions of the military.
In 2018, the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) came up with a request for proposal, and the project was awarded 12 months later in 2019. The design and permitting took 10 months, and the occupancy target is July 2022.
While the project is sponsored by the VA, Veroneau said that J.B Brown entered into a joint venture with FD Stonewater of Arlington, Virginia, to develop the property. J.B Brown teamed with Stonewater because of their experience developing projects for the federal government. Veroneau said J.B. Brown had an agreement in place to acquire sole ownership of the building.
Before deciding on building the veterans medical clinic, J.B Brown evaluated other potential uses of the property including residential housing, shipping container storage, hosting WEX, and retail options.
While plenty of team members are needed to see the project to fruition, local companies like Landry/Frenchand Gorrill Palmer are providing the construction and engineering expertise, respectively. The Smith Group provided the architecture services.
Moment of Reflection
Dust of Snow
by Robert Frost
The way a crow
Shook down on me
The dust of snow
From a hemlock tree
Has given my heart
A change of mood
And saved some part
Of a day I rued.
Speaker Schedule
November 20 | Rotary Peace Scholars
November 27 | NO MEETING
December 4 | TBD
December 11 | Rich Cantz, President, Goodwill
December 18 | Greg Mitchell, Economic Development Director, City of Portland
Atwood introduced Kate Coddaire of Chevrus who shared why the school selected St. John. She described Joe as a take-charge leader of Key Club, who consistently fills the role usually handled by a parent or teacher, leading his fellow students on numerous programs and events. Joe humbly accepted the award, recounting how he fell in love with providing service to others at a young age. 
