Please Note: Our Meeting at USM Portland This Friday April 3rd
Will Be In The Glickman Center, 88 Bedford Street
This Week's Speaker: Reid Byers - "Imaginary Books"
Reid Byers is an American writer, bibliophile, and collector based here in Portland. He is best known as the author of The Private Library (Oak Knoll Press, 2021), a 500-page history of the architecture and furnishing of the domestic book room, from antiquity to the present. The Washington Post named it among the best nonfiction books of the year, and it has gone through three printings — Oak Knoll's all-time best-selling publication.
His new work, Imaginary Books, is both a book and a conceptual art installation. Its New York exhibition received praise from the New Yorker and the New York Times, The Guardian in London, Die Welt in Berlin, and La Repubblica in Rome. Reid is the host of the Collector’s Showcase at the Grolier Club in New York and host of the Living with Books program of the Fellowship of American Bibliophilic Societies. The exhibition is currently on display at Glickman Library at USM, running through April 19. Following today’s meeting, Reid will lead a tour of the exhibition specifically for Rotary.
Reid has been married to Patty Byers for 48 years. They live here in Portland, in North Deering.
BITS AND PIECES | By Jake Bourdeau
President Laura Young selected Brian Nickerson to lead us in the Pledge of Allegiance. Ian Nagle (photo)offered the thought for the day about America’s first navy which was commissioned by President George Washington and the Naval Act of 1794. The Naval Act was signed into law due to the prevalence of piracy increasingly occurring against US citizen vessels. The naval ships commissioned included: the USS United States, the Constitution, the Constellation, the Chesapeake, the Congress, and the President. The Constitution is the currently the oldest commissioned warship still sailing.
GREETINGS: Jerry Wall served as Greeter for the day introducing five guests brought by members Bill Milliken, Tom Talbott, Laura Young, and the Fagans. One of the guests, Dr. Ashlee Vandiver, is an audiologist and was later introduced as a new member during the Fagan’s Hearts for Hearing program update. Welcome to the Club Ashlee!
RAFFLE: Jack Schraeter managed the raffle Friday, and new member Dr. Ashlee Vandiver pulled Art Howes’s name out of the raffle can. Art Howed pulled the Ace of Spades out of the deck leaving the Queen of Hearts at rest.
ROTARY OPPORTUNITY WORKSHOP: Recently, President elect Justin Lamontagne presented on the President Elect (PELS) event. During the PELS event, Tom Talbott was thinking how he wished other members of the club could hear the invigorating presentations. Ahh, there’s a similar event – the Rotary Opportunity Workshop, at Wesbrook High School on Saturday April 11th. Speakers will present on almost every topic in Rotary with some new ideas too: including a speed session with 10-minute concentrated topics. Longer breakout sessions will also be a part of the event. Our members: Gerry Wall will present on Fellowship Groups, Dick Hall -Visioning, Laura Young- Outreach, and Tom Talbott- Membership. The fee is $30, but sign up now and the first 8 will be covered by the club!
FOUNDATION UPDATE: Jerry Wall presented on the Rotary Foundation, and we have three more months in the Rotary year to meet our goals. 75%of the Rotary year has gone by and we are at 60% of our goal. Rotary Santa Claus (Jerry) will be sending out some reminders on the Giving Circles in the coming weeks. By the end of the month, he expects we will raise the bar to 80% of our annual Foundation goal.
FLAGS FOR HEROES: Tom Talbott distributed the new Flags For Heroes brochure, noting this event is our largest fundraiser and coming up fast! Paul Tully and Charlie Frair will lead the charge with Bill Milliken being very involved. If you work at or know a business that is a potential Corporate Sponsor, talk to Tom, Paul, Charlie, or Roxane, so they can tailor a program to their needs.
SERVICE OPPORTUNITY – CAMP CLEANUP: Bill Blount requested volunteers for the Camp Cleanup day on May 9th, 2026 at 9 AM to help Keith Jache -Salvation Army Pastor and our club member. Bill noted that multiple people in our Club are on the Salvation Army’s local advisory board. The Salvation Army runs a camp called Camp Sebago in Standish which needs a good cleaning before the campers arrive. Most tasks will involve raking and other light preparation, and lunch will be provided. Bill asks that you please sign up in advance, so they have a lunch count.
HAPPY DOLLARS: Dick Hall is happy to let us know that a fellow Rotarian of ours, Katherine Hall his daughter, was recently engaged to be married. Liz Fagan was happy to introduce new member Dr. Ashlee Vandiver to the Club. Brian Nickerson was happy to have lunch with his granddaughter yesterday.
THANK YOU: Maine Cancer Foundation sent a thank you note to the Rotary thanking us for the 100$ donation on behalf of Nicole Mabuie, our recent Portland High School Scholarship awardee.
Last Week's Program: Club Assembly |
by Tom Nickerson
The Club Assembly on Friday featured updates from the International Services, Youth Services, and Charitable Giving. Committees. Roger and Liz Fagan reported on the recent service trip to the Dominican Republic and on the Rotary Hearing Clinic progress. A key new member to the Fagan team is Dr. Ashlee Vandiver, a top-notch audiologist who was instrumental in the opening of the clinic. The extra good news is that Roger introduced her as our newest Portland Rotarian! The Fagans have been providing hearing and speech assistance for 20 years. Thanks to ongoing club support in our district and a Rotary International grant sponsored through the Evanston, IL Club, the dream of a permanent hearing clinic within the Good Samaritan Hospital has been realized. All of the funds raised, including a $120,000 RI grant, purchased a full clinic with equipment to support ongoing hearing testing and to facilitate the fitting of donated hearing aids. This project has attracted support from Rotary Clubs around the world and has an international network of Doctors and Volunteers to support ongoing operations. This has been an incredible service project led by Roger and Liz and demonstrates the power of Rotary to make lasting change. Now with Ashlee on board, it will continue to grow. A power trio! Photo- Ashlee, Roger, and Liz.
David Patterson and Bob Clark reviewed the breadth of youth services that the Club is engaged in. This year, the reading program has 17 Rotarians currently involved and will have 1,200 student visits, with over 1,500 books purchased. The RYLA summer camp program plans to service five youth. The youth service leadership program will award $8,800 to 8 area high school students – $1,000 in scholarship and $100 to a nonprofit of the student’s choice. Interact Clubs are active at Deering and Casco Bay high school. Casco Bay has 30 students meeting regularly. Finally, the Youth Services Committee is looking to support another Rotary Youth Exchange, so please let David (L) or Bob (R) know if you have interest.
Laura Young closed the assembly with an overview of the Club’s charitable giving. She explained that Portland Rotary operates with two funds: an operating account for dues and meals, and a Charitable Fund that supports local and international causes. The Charitable Fund is supported by our key fundraisers—Flags for Heroes and the Lobster Raffle—along with individual contributions and a 4% annual draw from the endowment. This Rotary year, the Club expects to award approximately $60,000 to projects highlighted in the Youth and International Services presentations, as well as programs supporting recovery from opioid addiction, polio eradication, and veterans. Laura also shared that an additional $14,000 remains available for distribution before June 30. More details and the request process will be shared by email this week. The update highlighted both the generosity of the Club and the impact of its community and international involvement.
What is the best known of Rotary’s projects? In 1979, RI started the quest to rid the world of Polio by vaccinating 6 million children in the Philippines. Today only two countries have endemic infections and only a few countries have sporadic occurrences from drinking water contaminated by sewage. Since three-fourths of persons infected are asymptomatic, eradication is very difficult. Children are the most likely to be infected and will suffer from the disease for the rest of their life.
NEW MEMBER NOTIFICATION: 2nd Notice: We have two new applicants! Daniel Mickiewicz, who resides in South Portland, and has been a busy Interact and Rotaract member since 2017. He has been on the RYLA staff, and is training to become the 2027 RYLA Camp Director. Anna Klein-Christie from Portland, the Executive Director at Baxter Academy. She has been to our club often introducing Baxter students for our Student Award, and notes that Rotary has been supporting her work with Day One, Rippleffect, and Safe Passage for 20 years. With this second announcement the applications will move to the Board of Directors for a vote.If any Portland Rotarian would like to offer a comment on these two proposals, please contact Laura Young or Bowen Depke. It will be shared with the Board of Directors prior to a vote on the application.
Speaker Schedule
April 10 - District Outreach Team's Trip To India
April 11 - District Opportunity Workshop, Westbrook HS
April 16 - Social
April 17 - No Meeting
April 24 - Fiddle Music with the New England Fiddle Ensemble
May 1 - Amber Caron, Wreaths Across America
May 8 - Our Famed "New Members" Meeting
May 14 - Club Social
May 15- No Meeting
May 16 - EPIC Day of Service (Saturday)
May 22 - No Meeting (Memorial Day)
May 29 - Bill Merchant, Revolution Fitness
Club Executives
Co-Presidents Bowen Depke, Laura Young President Elect Justin Lamontagne Vice President Jake Bourdeau Treasurer Dick Hall Secretary Niki Merrill Board of Directors Dick Hall, Patty Byers,
Art Howe, Niki Merrill, Bill Milliken, Bruce Moore
Sergeant-At-Arms Zach Newell
The Windjammer
is published online by
The Rotary Club of Portland, Maine.
SERVICE OPPORTUNITY – CAMP CLEANUP: Bill Blount requested volunteers for the Camp Cleanup day on May 9th, 2026 at 9 AM to help Keith Jache -Salvation Army Pastor and our club member. Bill noted that multiple people in our Club are on the Salvation Army’s local advisory board. The Salvation Army runs a camp called Camp Sebago in Standish which needs a good cleaning before the campers arrive. Most tasks will involve raking and other light preparation, and lunch will be provided. Bill asks that you please sign up in advance, so they have a lunch count.
What is the best known of Rotary’s projects? In 1979, RI started the quest to rid the world of Polio by vaccinating 6 million children in the Philippines. Today only two countries have endemic infections and only a few countries have sporadic occurrences from drinking water contaminated by sewage. Since three-fourths of persons infected are asymptomatic, eradication is very difficult. Children are the most likely to be infected and will suffer from the disease for the rest of their life.
NEW MEMBER NOTIFICATION: 2nd Notice: We have two new applicants! Daniel Mickiewicz, who resides in South Portland, and has been a busy Interact and Rotaract member since 2017. He has been on the RYLA staff, and is training to become the 2027 RYLA Camp Director. Anna Klein-Christie from Portland, the Executive Director at Baxter Academy. She has been to our club often introducing Baxter students for our Student Award, and notes that Rotary has been supporting her work with Day One, Rippleffect, and Safe Passage for 20 years. With this second announcement the applications will move to the Board of Directors for a vote.If any Portland Rotarian would like to offer a comment on these two proposals, please contact Laura Young or Bowen Depke. It will be shared with the Board of Directors prior to a vote on the application.