Tae Chong is a business advisor with CEI’s StartSmart Program. StartSmart is a nationally recognized economic development program that assists immigrants and refugees start and manage their businesses. Tae has over twenty years experience working with the immigrant and refugee populations in Maine. He has worked with this population as an educator, advocate, policy maker, social service provider and now as a business advisor. He has also held leadership positions as co-chair of the refugee advisory council for the State of Maine’s DHHS Department, as a board member of the NAACP, LULAC, and Asian American Heritage Foundation and as board member of the University of Southern Maine’s Department of Social Work. Currently, Tae is serving on Catholic Charities Refugee and Immigrant Services advisory board and as a board member of the Friends of Portland Adult Ed. He holds a B.S. degree in Political Science and a Masters in Business Administration from the University of Southern Maine.
Our club took a road trip to the Portland headquarters of the Boys and Girls Club of Southern Maine! Our host and MC, Portland Rotary’s own Bob Clark welcomed us all. There are officially five club houses: Auburn/Lewiston Clubhouse (Auburn), Portland, Riverton Park, Sagamore Village, and South Portland. There are approximately 2850 youth members served over these 5 locations.
Bob’s plan was a series of vignettes from a strong list of people who have had the Boys and Girls Club in their life in one capacity or another. To start, Bob asked us all three questions:
1. How many of us have been into one of the clubs? It was evident that virtually every one had at one time.
2. How many of us had been in a club when it was open and busy with the youth membership? Estimate 85-90% in the room.
3. How many of us were members in their youth? About 5 alumni present!
Bob pointed to the banner behind him that noted Portland Rotary as a “Proud Partner” and added that it’s always been that way.
Jim Willey came up to the podium to tell us about two of our club’s Charter Members, Ed Hannaford and John Calvin Stevens. Ed was President of the B&GC Association and oversaw the wonderful new facility for the club on Cumberland Avenue, which stands today. He provided a personal loan to finance the construction. The Stevens family was involved in the construction and design, which included a gym with collapsible bleachers – first of its kind.
Ralph Hendrix, alumni and serving on the Board of Directors, reflected back on 55 years and what the B&GC meant to him. He described it as a large family, a place where when you walked through the door, everyone was equal. It was a special sanctuary, safe, bully-free. The character of the people and the impact they had on kids like him provided lifetime memories. While it leaned more towards sports and recreation, Ralph noted that the increasing efforts to engage educational aspects was equally as important. Ralph finished his remarks with a few reminders of upcoming events, such as the “Kids and Claws” on November 9th, where kids get to meet the Portland Red Claws basketball players.
Jen Pierce, Unit Director of the Portland Club House, is “short but mighty.” She noted that approx 200 member kids attend the club daily. There are 5 vans providing transportation. Underscoring the importance of these programs is that 80-100 meals are served per day, which could be the only true meal on any given day for many of those kids. In fact, over the 5 club houses, 91,000 meals are served per year. Over the past four years, there has been a definite increase in academic assistance, specifically the Teen Power Hour, where members go to a dedicated learning center to work and get assistance on homework.
Bob introduced Brianna Guptill, “2016 Youth of the Year” for the Portland clubhouse. A Portland High School grad now attending SMCC, she remembers being at the club virtually everyday from the time she was in middle school. At first it was just a place to hang, but then she joined the basketball team and the cooking program, as well as being involved in community service work. It was a safer environment than the streets, and away from some situations at home.
MC Bob introduced Sarah Clarke, Education Director, noting that having an ED was an organizational-wide investment, with funding from our own “Maine Outdoor Challenge” being a key driver. Sarah serves all 5 club houses, and spoke passionately about the summer “Brain Gain Literacy" program, now in it’s 3rd year, which ran for 8 weeks, with weekly themes. There were Kindle reading groups, educational software use, and other online reading.....74 kids, ages 6-9, were involved. Sarah also spoke of the first annual College Spirit Week, with speakers coming in to work with HS students building a pathway to college.
Bob wrapped up by taking some Q&A from the audience. First questions asked were how attentive the youth members were to the upcoming election. There will be a mock election held in a few weeks to see how things tilt. Those 18+ are encouraged to get out and vote for real! With regards to recruiting new members, the primary avenue is through the schools. Critical to this is transportation. Of the 200 or so kids who go to the Portland club daily, one-third of them rely on club transportation.
Interested in volunteering? Many opportunities and your skills would always be appreciated! For more information, go to or click on the following link: www.bgcmaine.org/volunteer
(Photo: BGCSM Board members Laura Young and Ralph Hendrix; Club alumna Brianna Guptill; Portland Clubhouse Unit Director Jen Pierce; Education Director Sarah Clark; and CEO Bob Clark.)
Russ Burleigh led us in the invocation, and Paul Gore in our Pledge. Our luncheon was catered by the culinary students at Long Creek Youth Center, who are available for catering to other groups and events.
Our guests were Major John Lock of the Salvation Army, a prospective member, and Taylor Halsey, a student at Portland High School. Taylor was one of the RYLA members we sponsored at the RYLA Leadership Camp earlier this year. He shared his experiences and memories of the program.
(Photo: Taylor Halsey, PHS student.)
Bill Blount delivered a Rotary Moment with us. Bill’s 36-year participation in Rotary began in Utica, NY when his boss at the time suggested that he join as a good way to meet people. He also enjoyed floating trial balloons to see if his ideas had any traction. In that way, he started a tennis league with the club in Utica. Bill said he has always admired people in Rotary and “the balloons they float.” When he moved to Portland and joined Rotary, he used the same approach to start the tennis league, skiing Rotarians, and the Blues Cruises. “Rotary provides an opportunity to float your balloon.”
Amy Chipman rose to acknowledge Bill as our newest Paul Harris Society member with his sixth Paul Harris Fellow Award. She and Bill shared the impact of Amica’s matching award program that has enabled Bill’s contributions to the Rotary Foundation to be matched by a 150% Amica match. Bill and Amy encouraged members whose employers have a matching grant program to take advantage of it.
Rusty Atwood brought the raffle with $766 to lucky Max Chikuta who found the not-so-lucky six of clubs. Did you know that there are 80 unvigintillion ways to sort a deck of cards? That’s 52 factorial, or “52!” in mathematical notation, or 80,658, 175,170,943,878,571,660,636,856,403,766,975,289,505,440,883,277,824,000,000,000,000 combinations. Now, of course, as cards drop out, the numbers decline. So take your chances!
Dan Riordan, a member of Sen. Angus King’s constituency services team shared the various resources available to Maine residents from the Senator’s office to help navigate various Federal programs and departments.
Charlie Frair called for members to pre-register online for the Veterans Day luncheon at the Italian Heritage Center on THURSDAY, November 10 from noon to 1:30 p.m. This will be our Rotary meeting of that week. Senator Susan Collins will be our speaker. Club members who are veterans are asked to volunteer to help host guests. Loretta Rowe will be captain of our member veteran hosts, so if you plan to attend, please contact her: lrowe@maine.rr.com
All members, please register on the club website to attend this luncheon or call Elise.
Our "Photo Corner" has been added for interesting "extra" pics of Rotarians gathering together for different events/meetings. If you have a photo you would like to share with the club and the "world of Rotary," please send them to: lrowe@maine.rr.com
A group photo of our members at the Boys & Girls Club of Southern Maine.
The International Service Committee's 3-H (Hearing, Hands and H2O) Project Team will be traveling to the Dominican Republic (DR) early in 2017.
(Photo: Dick Giles demonstrating a portable solar light.)
The Batays in the Dominican Republic are located some 15-20 miles outside of the city, where night darkness is intense. Access to electricity is very limited and without light, the safety of the inhabitants is an issue. The 3-H team would like to take 70-100 collapsible portable lights with them on their upcoming trip and are looking for volunteer donations of $15 per light to help fund this important project.
For further information or if you would like to help, please contact Elise Hodgkin atportlandrotary@maine.rr.comor 899-6342. You may bring your cash/check to a meeting or mail your check to: Portland Rotary, P.O. Box 1755, Portland, ME 04104. Please make your check payable to Portland Rotary Charitable Account. Make a memo note on the check: for DR solar lights.
If you would like to mark your calendars,
we are at the following locations through
September 2016:
2016: Sep 30 - Clarion Hotel
Oct 7 - Holiday Inn By-the-Bay
Oct 14 - Holiday Inn By-the-Bay Oct 21 - Clarion Hotel
Oct 28 - Holiday Inn By-the-Bay
Nov 4 - Clarion Hotel
Nov 11 - Holiday Inn By-the-Bay Nov 18 - Holiday Inn By-the-Bay
Nov 25 - No Meeting - Happy Thanksgiving!
Dec 2 - Holiday Inn By-the-Bay
Dec 9 - Holiday Inn By-the-Bay Dec 16 - Holiday Inn By-the-Bay
Dec 23 - Holiday Inn By-the-Bay
Dec 30 - No Meeting - Happy New Year!
BlueBOLD dates are scheduled Board meeting days.
Any questions, please contact Loretta at: lrowe@maine.rr.com
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)
John Lock Salvation Army (Jim Willey)
The following is a list of projects happening within our club that you have an opportunity to volunteer and help with. If you know of other opportunities, please contact Loretta: lrowe@maine.rr.com
When
Project Who to Contact
Soup kitchen 4th Wednesday ea month
Preble Street (4-6:30 p.m.)
Erik Greven
Game Night Dates & Times, tba
Cedar Unit Jim Willey
Bob pointed to the banner behind him that noted Portland Rotary as a “Proud Partner” and added that it’s always been that way..JPG)
Jim Willey came up to the podium to tell us about two of our club’s Charter Members, Ed Hannaford and John Calvin Stevens. Ed was President of the B&GC Association and oversaw the wonderful new facility for the club on Cumberland Avenue, which stands today. He provided a personal loan to finance the construction. The Stevens family was involved in the construction and design, which included a gym with collapsible bleachers – first of its kind. 
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Bill Blount delivered a Rotary Moment with us. Bill’s 36-year participation in Rotary began in Utica, NY when his boss at the time suggested that he join as a good way to meet people. He also enjoyed floating trial balloons to see if his ideas had any traction. In that way, he started a tennis league with the club in Utica. Bill said he has always admired people in Rotary and “the balloons they float.” When he moved to Portland and joined Rotary, he used the same approach to start the tennis league, skiing Rotarians, and the Blues Cruises. “Rotary provides an opportunity to float your balloon.”
Amy Chipman rose to acknowledge Bill as our newest Paul Harris Society member with his sixth Paul Harris Fellow Award. She and Bill shared the impact of Amica’s matching award program that has enabled Bill’s contributions to the Rotary Foundation to be matched by a 150% Amica match. Bill and Amy encouraged members whose employers have a matching grant program to take advantage of it..JPG)
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