Speaker Kate Snyder took the podium from 12:15-12:45, at which time regular club business ensued. Jim Vicenzi introduced visiting guests and Rotarians.

 

CARDS  Jon Young conducted the raffle, with Jack Carr getting the nod to go for the big money, $400.  Jack joins the growing list of those who have been unable to pull the Queen of Hearts, leaving the door open for next week's winner.

 

PHF Patty Byers made a very special Paul Harris Fellow presentation, in the name of Jim Wellehan and the Lamey-Wellehan family. Since 1914, LW has been Maine's family shoe store. With 6 retail locations in Maine they are known for treating employees like family, with a customer-first mentality. LW has always been a community leader, with significant leadership in sustainability and environmental concerns. In 2010, LW began the "Boots For Families" program, collecting and delivering tens of thousands of boots to those in need from York to Aroostook county. At the point, Amy Chipman came up to speak about our successful Winter Boot Drive, that was supported in great measure by Lamey-Wellehan.  Accepting the PHF award for the company was President Chris Stanley, VP/CFO Lucie Hill, and Supervisor of Stores and Merchandise, Sara Caron. (L-R Dick, Lucie, Sara, Chris and Patty)

 

YOUTH SERVICE  John Thompson introduced our June Youth Service Award recipient, Mali Jones from Casco Bay High School. Mali will be attending Bennington College next fall and was very appreciative of our $1000 donation to help with her expenses. Mali chose "Furniture Friends" a Portland non-profit dedicated to providing furniture to people in need to receive our $100 donation in her name. (L-R Scott Shibles, Lisa Hicks, Mali and John T!)

GREEN THUMBS Amy Chipman advised us of a new local community service event, ripe for participation!  Wednesday, June 28th, Cultivating Community,  58 Boynton Street, Portland,  3p-5p. The program's mission is to expand access to healthy local food, and it sounds like we can help with our green thumbs!  Reach out to Amy if you can dig in!

 

NOT ONE, BUT TWO   We welcomed Tim Donellon and Mary Pat Dollelon, yes, husband and wife, as our two newest members. Membership chair Laura Young  (center) introduced the couple that had moved up from Charleston, SC in May 2022, after 30 years of visiting Maine!  Mary Pat has been a top software executive, a leading sales and marketing manager for tech giants.  Tim is a registered professional engineer and a Chartered Property and Casualty Underwriter, with a focus on environmental consulting, insurance and risk management. Together they have 3 adult children. Welcome Mary Pat and Tim!

MELBOURNE  Dick Hall gave a brief overview of his trip to the Rotary International Convention that he attended with his wife Andrea. They got a 10 day head start in the Australian outback, and then together immersed themselves in all the Convention activities. Excellent time, great ideas, and lots more to tell us - very soon!  Dick also announced that Rotary expects the last case of wild polio to occur in 2023. Next year we expect to have a great End Polio Celebration Party. The price of admission is your donation to PolioPlus.

 

You're all invited!  Featured in Home and Garden, the home of Erik Greven and Susan Vayda at 8 Carnoustie Drive, Falmouth will host a benefit cocktail social in support of Portland Rotary’s International Committee projects. The event will take place on Thursday June 29^th, 5:30pm – 7:30pm at , ME. A donation of $15 is suggested and encouraged.

Last Friday at the IHC, Portland Rotarians and guests were honored to hear from Portland’s mayor, Kate Snyder, who gave us a brief update on the major issues of our fair city as she heads into the home stretch of her term, which will end this coming December. Mayor Snyder deemed her tenure as “challenging and unsettling”, mainly due to the enactment of the city’s first state of emergency since 1918. In March of 2020, the city, the nation and the Earth were struck by the Covid pandemic, a situation that would come to define her four years in City Hall. With shutdowns and racial tensions dominating the headlines, Mayor Snyder and her staff did their best to steer us through some very, very difficult times. Coming out the other side in the spring of 2023, we have been left with many unresolved dilemmas, most notably the homelessness crisis that has been in the headlines over the past year.

 

In the summer of 2019, Maine began to see a large influx of asylum seekers arriving in our fair state. The numbers have only grown since that time, with approximately 80 asylum seekers arriving per week now. Add to that a growing number of circumstantial homeless, many suffering from substance use disorder and mental health issues, and we have found ourselves in the midst of a full- fledged crisis. With the Expo now re-opened and using all their 300 beds, the new shelter in Riverside full at 280 beds, and the family shelter on Chestnut Street full at 146 beds, the city and the state are at a crossroads as to how to handle the ever-growing numbers. As we have all seen, small tent cities have sprung up, most notably on the Eastern Trail near Marginal Way, a situation that caused the city to remove those tents in April. With nowhere to go and nowhere to house these hundreds of homeless, the tents were merely moved to alternate sites around the city, from the Fore River Parkway to the Park and Ride lot on Marginal Way to Deering Oaks. And, with the Expo set to close its doors to homeless in August and the hotel voucher program, a Covid era resource, ramping down, Mayor Snyder and her office are seeking guidance and/or aid from Governor Mills. There are no easy answers and no quick fixes to this crisis and only time will tell as to where we will stand as we quickly move into the second half of 2023.

 

With no Federal monies in sight and with up to a 30% staffing shortage within the city, Mayor Snyder has called for a “spit balling session” at Ocean Gateway for this Tuesday evening to elicit any and all ideas from the public. Opening a shelter in a private building, such as a closed store front or empty office building, would not work due to insurance issues. Calling in the National Guard, as other states have done, would be a last-ditch effort and one that she would like to avoid at all costs. There are plans to build a new center but that will not resolve the immediate need. And, with refugees unable to seek employment for six months after arrival, and a housing and rental shortage even for those with income, the city and the state seem to be teetering on a precipice.

 

Kate Snyder found herself in an unenviable position that she could never have imagined, with a global pandemic and a homeless crisis defining her tenure here in Portland. We should applaud her effort and her ability to remain calm and optimistic as she finishes out her term. We certainly thank her for openness and willingness to come and speak to our club last Friday.