Social Party Tonight - Wednesday! No Meeting on Friday!
THIS WEEK'S SOCIAL: Club Social at Rising Tide Brewery, TONIGHT! 5:30pm
Jake Bourdeau took a vote at our last meeting, and there was a groundswell of support to gather this Wednesday night for a fun gathering at Rising Tide Brewery, 103 Fox Street in Portland. Enjoy various light food options, various non-alcoholic options, and a decent mix of various brews. Please join us in some club fellowship this Wednesday night at rising Tide.
Note that Thursday is the District's "Mid-Year Dinner"! We have a number of members attending, it is open to everyone, so if you can join in that would be great! The location is Keeley's Banquet Center. 178 Warren Ave, Portland. Click here to Register!
BITS AND PIECES |by Jake Bourdeau
President Laura Young selected Amy Chipman to lead us in the Pledge of Allegiance. Gerry Wall provides us a fitting Grinch holiday poem rendition of the Four Way Test for the invocation using perfect Whoville inflection.
ROTARY MOMENT: Zach Newell gave us a Rotary moment. He spent time as a child in Saudi Arabia and later went to Cairo, Egypt as a Fulbright Scholar. There he met the famous “Chicago Blackhawks hockey” sculptor who introduced him to Rotary. Zach went to Boston College and earned a Ph.D. in Library Science. He lived in Marblehead, MA becoming president of the Rotary club there, and then moved to Chicago, IL for work where he also served as the president of the club. Zach is the Dean of Libraries and Learning for the USM and currently lives in Portland. Zach let us know that the international aspect of Rotary was the real draw to him. Zach recently actively supported the international efforts via the youth exchange program when his daughter went to Japan, and his family hosted a teenager from Valencia, Spain.
DOMINICAN REPUBLIC UPDATES: The international service team of Liz Fagan, Roger Fagan, Erik Greven, and David Small were in the DR last week to support the opening of the new Hearts for Hearing Center, and to help the residents with the water and light donations. Liz Fagan sent us a hot off the press Facebook video prepared for the opening ceremony of the new Rotary Hearing Center / Audiology Unit. We watched and cheered! It is a great Rotary team accomplishment! The new Center was made possible by the following Rotary clubs: Portland, Portland Sunrise Satellite, South Berwick-Eliot, Brunswick, Westbrook-Gorham, Dover NH, and Exeter NH.
YOUTH SERVICE AWARD SCHOLARSHIP - PORTLAND HIGH SCHOOL: Jan Chapman introduced Portland HS Guidance Counselor Liam Erickson who selected this month’s Youth Service Award scholarship ($1,000/each) recipient - Nicole Mabuie. Nicole is a strong student, earning the seal of biliteracy in Portuguese, and is working on Spanish. She volunteers as a teacher’s assistant and class mentor tutoring other students, helps new Mainers learn English and volunteers at her church. Nicole is planning to go to UMaine for Engineering, and selected the Maine Cancer Society for her donation. Photo Mom Ana Mabuie, Nicole, Jan, and Liam.
GUESTS: Penny Harris welcomed our visiting guests Allison Wall, the daughter of Katherine and Gerry Wall, and Steve Hull, a retired physician from Portland. Welcome!
WINNER! Bill Milliken, photo left, managed the raffle, and our guest speaker pulled Bill Blount’s ticket, second week in a row. Bill’s heart burned brighter and richer that day as he selected the Queen of Hearts from the deck, thereby winning the raffle, and going home with the $352 dollars in winnings. Remember, you have to play to win, and oh, congrats Bill! A new deck with a new queen will be started next meeting.
SERVICE OPPORTUNITY: President Laura Young announced a service opportunity that she signed up for called Portland Professional Connections program which is hosted by the Portland Chamber of Commerce. The program is matching local job hunters with local job providers and experienced professionals. The program seeks to support foreign trained and under employed professionals. If you are interested in becoming a connector too, January 29th is the gathering, and the program will introduce you to three contacts. This is a way to share your expertise and help those job seekers. President Laura noted that our club member, Brian Nickerson, was first connected to Rotary through a similar program.
SECRETARIAL SHIFT: Laura also took a moment to thank outgoing Club Secretary Juliana L'Heureux for all her great work and club service. Thank you Juliana! In turn, Laura welcomed our new Club Secretary, Niki Curtis! We appreciate you stepping up into this important role for our club!
LAST WEEK'S SPEAKER: Mary Ellen Lindemann - A Great Cup of Coffee Changes Lives | by Bruce Moore
Mary Ellen Lindemann, owner of Coffee By Design in Portland, spoke to Rotary about coffee and the people behind it. Coffee By Design has been roasting coffee in Maine since 1994. It is a woman-owned business with coffee shops, wholesale customers, and its own roastery.
Mary Ellen said her talk was not really about running a business. It was about people and community. Coffee affects all of us, whether we drink it or not. It is one of the most traded products in the world. Millions of people depend on coffee to earn a living. Right now, the coffee industry is under stress. Climate change, tariffs, and an old pricing system make it hard for farmers to get by.
CBD does not believe there is one answer. Every country and every farm is different. Mary Ellen said the most important thing they do is listen.
In Rwanda, farmers told them their biggest problem was money at the start of the growing season. They often have to borrow money at very high interest rates, sometimes close to 20 percent. CBD decided to pay part of their coffee costs early. This helped farmers borrow less and save money. It also helped them pay for healthcare and buy livestock.
One project involved goats. Goats provide food and income, but they are costly. CBD created a special coffee program so customers could help pay for them. In some cases, customer purchases covered about half the cost. Mary Ellen said it matters to show where the money actually goes.
Mary Ellen also talked about the future of coffee. Her daughter Alina now works at CBD and has traveled with her to places like Uganda and India. In Uganda, farmers said they want young people to see a future in coffee. Seeing a young woman working in the industry made a difference.
In India, Mary Ellen worked with women through education and judging programs. Coffee is growing fast there, especially with younger people.
Mary Ellen closed by saying we cannot fix everything. But we can listen, ask people what they need, and make choices that help in real ways.
Photo: Alina, Mary Ellen and Laura.
What is a Sustaining Member of Rotary? A Sustainer personally contributes US$100 or more each year to the Annual Fund. These contributions count toward designations as a Paul Harris Fellow, multiple Paul Harris Fellow, Paul Harris Society, Major Donor, and club recognition banners
Speaker Schedule
January 30 - Greg Dowty, District Protection Officer
February 6 - Steve Dimillo, Dimillo's Restaurant
February 13 - Kenneth Johnson, Farms For Food Equity
February 19 - Thursday Night Social
February 20 - No Meeting
February 27- Dr. Ross Greene, Lives in the Balance /Understanding Youth
March 6 - Seth Goodall, The Maine Center
Club Executives
Co-Presidents Bowen Depke, Laura Young 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.
Jake Bourdeau took a vote at our last meeting, and there was a groundswell of support to gather this Wednesday night for a fun gathering at Rising Tide Brewery, 103 Fox Street in Portland. Enjoy various light food options, various non-alcoholic options, and a decent mix of various brews. Please join us in some club fellowship this Wednesday night at rising Tide. 
ROTARY MOMENT: Zach Newell gave us a Rotary moment. He spent time as a child in Saudi Arabia and later went to Cairo, Egypt as a Fulbright Scholar. There he met the famous “Chicago Blackhawks hockey” sculptor who introduced him to Rotary. Zach went to Boston College and earned a Ph.D. in Library Science. He lived in Marblehead, MA becoming president of the Rotary club there, and then moved to Chicago, IL for work where he also served as the president of the club. Zach is the Dean of Libraries and Learning for the USM and currently lives in Portland. Zach let us know that the international aspect of Rotary was the real draw to him. Zach recently actively supported the international efforts via the youth exchange program when his daughter went to Japan, and his family hosted a teenager from Valencia, Spain.
richer that day as he selected the Queen of Hearts from the deck, thereby winning the raffle, and going home with the $352 dollars in winnings. Remember, you have to play to win, and oh, congrats Bill! A new deck with a new queen will be started next meeting. 
SERVICE OPPORTUNITY: President Laura Young announced a service opportunity that she signed up for called Portland Professional Connections program which is hosted by the Portland Chamber of Commerce. The program is matching local job hunters with local job providers and experienced professionals. The program seeks to support foreign trained and under employed professionals. If you are interested in becoming a connector too, January 29th is the gathering, and the program will introduce you to three contacts. This is a way to share your expertise and help those job seekers. President Laura noted that our club member, Brian Nickerson, was first connected to Rotary through a similar program.
Mary Ellen said her talk was not really about running a business. It was about people and community. Coffee affects all of us, whether we drink it or not. It is one of the most traded products in the world. Millions of people depend on coffee to earn a living. Right now, the coffee industry is under stress. Climate change, tariffs, and an old pricing system make it hard for farmers to get by.
What is a Sustaining Member of Rotary? A Sustainer personally contributes US$100 or more each year to the Annual Fund. These contributions count toward designations as a Paul Harris Fellow, multiple Paul Harris Fellow, Paul Harris Society, Major Donor, and club recognition banners