THIS WEEK'S SPEAKER: Jim Bouchard, Founder/CEO, The Sensei Leader Movement
FROM LOSER TO LEADER…
By his own admission, Jim should have been dead or in jail many times over. Martial arts helped him overcome a life of crippling self-doubt and self-destruction. In his programs, Jim shares his inspiring transformation from dropout and drug addict to Black Belt and Sensei -- and how that experience made him a genuine leader. He went on to open 5 martial arts schools, helping hundreds of people achieve their Black Belt rank, and thousands more discover their best selves.
Today, Jim helps leaders around the world connect on a deeply human level to attract, engage, and lead people to their highest levels of performance and productivity.
BITS AND PIECES: | By Zach Newell
Our newly minted President for 2025-2026 John Thompson rang in the meeting. Julie L’Heureux provided the invocation, praising John as the new president, emphasizing the Rotary motto "Service Above Self" as the new year begins.
WELCOME: Jim Vicenzi introduced our visiting guests: Catherine Nagle, sister of new member Ian Nagle, and Mike Flanagan from the Rockland Rotary.
RAFFLE WINNER! Not many cards were left in the deck, so the buyers were lining up for a chance. Penny Harris invited guest Mike Flanagan to draw the card raffle name. New member’s good luck - Ian Nagle's name was drawn, and his hand drew the elusive Queen of Hearts from the deck – Winner! Ian's handiwork earned him $621! New deck, new start next meeting!
ON THE AIR! WGME 13's local program, ARC Maine with host Jeff Peterson, aired a 6 minute interview with Charlie Frair and Paul Tully. Great publicity for our Flags program as well as our club, and Rotary overall. Here's the link: Flags For Heroes Interview ARC Maine WGME
LITTLE ISLAND CLEANUP PROJECT: Jim Vicenzi announced a cleanup event for the Island Trail Association is scheduled for August 6th, with August 7th as a rain date. The meeting place is Bethel Point, Harpswell, launch time 10am. The team will head to Little Yarmouth Island, described as a spectacularly beautiful island. The return time is 4pm. A detailed description, including the important things you need to bring. (clothing, footwear, food, drinks, etc) is being emailed to all club members. If you have questions, you can email Jim, or call him at 807-3544
FLAGS FOR HEROES WAVING: Charlie Frair provided an update on the "Flags for Heroes" initiative.
The initiative successfully raised more money and recognized 200 heroes, more than ever before.
A key focus is to increase club and community participation in the future.
Next week Charlie will provide all the details on all the numbers and steps forward!
PRESIDENT’S RECOGNITION: John Thompson who was unable to attend last year President Patty Byers' changeover day, expressed his desire to recognize her outstanding work, and called Patty to the front. His sentiments were shared by the club, everyone appreciative of her guidance and leadership in a busy and active year. Every President loves a microphone, and thus John presented Patty with her own white rhinestone studded mic, with built in speaker. Fun!
HAPPY DOLLARS: Lots of good news from 10 different members!
SEADOG SOCIAL: On Thursday, September 14, join fellow Portland Rotarians for a day game, as the SeaDogs take on the Somerset Patriots, the NY Yankees affiliate at 12 Noon.Purchase your tickets by clicking here. Tickets are $12. Bring family, bring a friend, join in the Rotary fun! There will be no club meeting on that Friday the 15th.
LAST WEEK'S SPEAKER: 2025-2026 Portland Rotary President John Thomspon | By Erik Jorgenson
It was a seamless program with our new President John Thompson at the podium –a fun afternoon that kicked off with a big raffle win, followed by a veritable snowstorm of happy dollars that took us right into the program.
John’s job was to provide a preview of the coming year. He was fired up coming out of the RI Convention in Calgary and wanted to talk about membership, which is at the core of every Rotary Club’s success.
Globally, Asia is where Rotary is growing, while in the rest of the world, the organization is fading a bit. To put a point on this, our district 7780 has lost about a third of its members in the past decade. Portland Rotary also reflects these changes – we saw a big dip during the pandemic – we came back strong but are starting to slip again. On average we have lost 20 members per year and picked up only 16.
Experts suggest that much of the fade might be around awareness – what does a Rotary club do? There’s not a clear definition, and it means different things to different people, but this is probably because the clubs do so much. This variety of impacts could, in fact, be an opportunity too, as it offers lots of ways to sell the club.
One of John’s slides showed the differential between people who knew of Rotary versus the number of people who knew what Rotary actually is. Half of the people in the US know that Rotary exists but only 28% know what it does. This is an opportunity.
Using examples from a club in Benton, Michigan which has reversed its slow fade, John noted five elements that need to be in place for a club to expand.
The club must want to change;
The club must know who it wants to attract;
It needs to organize for growth;
It should Include the members in growth efforts;
And it needs to keep growth top of mind.
Against this backdrop is the fact that one in four Americans wants to do community service. This, along with Rotary’s stellar reputation, is an opportunity. To attract those folks into OUR club, we will need a membership committee restructured around attraction, engagement and then retention. Expect to see a member survey soon to get baseline info. Then, the club needs to set membership goals, report on the new member pipeline, celebrate new members and get them involved quickly.
John noted that if each member can get just one new member to join and stay every four years, that will do it. That seems to be a relatively light lift for something as important as this, and you can expect to see and hear more about this fundamental topic as we move deeper into the Thompson administration!
Speaker Schedule
August 8th - Brian Bickford - Maine Golf
August 14th - Sea Dog Social! Day Game -Start 12noon!
August 15th - No Meeting
August 22 - Gregg Frame, Employment Law
August 29 - No Meeting
September 5 - Chris Timm, Executive Director, Maine Maritime Museum
September 12 - Emma Bodwell, District Governor
September 18 - Thursday Night Social TBD
September 19 - No Meeting
September 26 - Bonita Thompkins - Center for Entrepreneurial Studies
Club Executives
President John Thompson President Elect Justin Lamontagne Vice President Jake Bourdeau TreasurerDick Hall Secretary Juliana L'Heureux Board of Directors Dick Hall, Patty Byers,
Art Howe, Niki Merrill, Bill Milliken, Bruce Moore
Sergeant-At-ArmsZach Newell
The Windjammer is published online by
The Rotary Club of Portland, Maine.
LITTLE ISLAND CLEANUP PROJECT: Jim Vicenzi announced a cleanup event for the Island Trail Association is scheduled for August 6th, with August 7th as a rain date. The meeting place is Bethel Point, Harpswell, launch time 10am. The team will head to Little Yarmouth Island, described as a spectacularly beautiful island. The return time is 4pm. A detailed description, including the important things you need to bring. (clothing, footwear, food, drinks, etc) is being emailed to all club members. If you have questions, 
FLAGS FOR HEROES WAVING: Charlie Frair provided an update on the "Flags for Heroes" initiative.
John’s job was to provide a preview of the coming year. He was fired up coming out of the RI Convention in Calgary and wanted to talk about membership, which is at the core of every Rotary Club’s success.