Our program this Friday will be presented by Don Perkins, Executive Director of Gulf of Maine Research. Don has served as the President/CEO of the Gulf of Maine Research Institute (GMRI) since 1995. He works with GMRI's staff, board, and external partners to drive GMRI's evolution as a strategic science, education, community institution that serves the Gulf of Maine bioregion and to scale GMRI's impact beyond. Don is dedicated to building creative, strategic organizations, traditional or virtual, that contribute to solving intractable problems and creating new opportunities in marine conservation, science literacy, and common property governance and management.
Don has been active in the marine policy arena on multiple levels. He currently serves on the board of the Gulf of Maine Lobster Foundation and recently co-chaired the Governor's Ocean Energy Task Force. He was co-founder of Friends of Casco Bay and the Maine Marine Research Coalition. He previously served on the boards of the Gulf of Maine Council on the Marine Environment, Gulf of Maine Ocean Observing System, Maine Department of Marine Resources Advisory Council, and Maine Legislatures Task Force on the Development of Aquaculture. Reflecting his broader interest in governance, Don currently serves on the board of MMG Insurance and the advisory board of Tilson Technology Management.
Don brings an unusual mix of corporate and non-profit experience to GMRI. Prior to joining GMRI, Don instructed at the Hurricane Island Outward Bound School, directed the Marine Conservation Corps in California, served as a financial advisor to Native American tribes, advised The Health Foundation on its Latin American initiatives, and managed the operations of Binax, Inc.
Don was born in Waterville, Maine and has lived in a variety of Maine's coastal and inland communities (as well as in Israel and Brazil). He holds a B.A. in Anthropology from Dartmouth College and a M.B.A. from the Stanford University Graduate School of Business. Don’s greatest sources of pleasure are his family, sailing along the coast of Maine, and an early morning swim or run.
President Kris Rosado introduced the Club Assembly program by identifying its goals:
to give an overview of the club's activities for the last nine months;
identify what we are looking forward to in the next three months;
encourage us all to step up and find a place where we can serve.
We heard from the major committee chairs on the highlights of how/what they are doing:
International Service:John Curran briefed us on the activities happening with this committee. The team returned from the Dominican Republic (DR) two weeks ago and another successful "3-H" program...11 Rotarians from 6 clubs participated (6 from our club). Accomplishments included providing over 100 hearing aids, installing close to 100 water filters and 14 patients were seen at the prosthetic hand clinic. There are other ways to be involved with the International Service without traveling abroad:
a benefit concert to support operations of Good Sam Hospital in La Romana.
'Gift of Life' patient support - two children brought from DR for life-saving heart surgery - children are back in DR and doing fine.
'Crutches4Africa' - collecting used crutches, wheelchairs, walkers and other mobility devices.
support of Brunswick Rotary Club's Lusaka, Zambia Project.
For more information and/or how to be a part of this committee, contact: John Curran at: curraj1@mmc.org
Community Service: Steve Stromsky
reported on the busy volunteerism of our members who participated (or will) in: preparation and serving at St. Vincent De Paul Thanksgiving dinner; the ringing of the bells for the Salvation Army holiday Red-Kettle Drive; the Boys and Girls Club annual auction; the Preble Street Soup Kitchen monthly volunteers; and several clothing drives.
Youth Service: 2nd Vice-President Laura Young reported on the many projects/events to help the youth in our community:
Youth Service Awards (YSA) - scholarships to deserving community high school seniors displaying strong academic and community service abilities.
mentoring of youths at the Long Creek Youth Center.
mentoring of 9 youths at area high schools.
practicing job interviews with youths at Deering High School.
Rotary Youth Leadership Awards - aptly led by Bill Ross - a structured leadership camp-format program for high-school youth ages 14-18, intended to develop qualities of leadership. The club has increased support from 3-4 youths last year up to 10 youths this year.
Janelle LoSciuto and Alex St. Hilaire announced the formation of a new Club-sponsored Interact Club within the Baxter Academy High School (14-18 year-old youths)....and that they received their 'Certificate of Organization' from R.I. to make them official. Two of the 14 members of this newly-formed club were introduced: Quintin Lipsack and Ben Schmidt. All of the students are eager to work with our club on events/projects. Deering High School has also expressed an interest in forming an Interact Club.
Childhood Hunger and Education (CHE): President-elect Bowen Depke briefed us on the club's focus and direction of this campaign:
the Registration Gap - The difference between those who sign up for USDA school programs and those who are eligible. Presently estimated at 40%.
the Participation Gap - The difference between those who signed up and students who actually receive the USDA meals. This varies widely between programs, i.e. breakfast, snack, lunch.
the Consumption (food waste) - Once students go through the lines, how much food ends up in the garbage.
Foundation: Amy Chipman reported that our annual-giving goal to the Foundation is $15,000 and estimates we will surpass that goal. We have 79 Sustaining members in the club and the goal is to make our participation at 100% of members during our Centennial year. We have two new "Circles of Five" and 19 new Paul Harris Fellows this year. Our club matches your contribution to the Foundation with its Club Recognition points, so you're able to achieve your Paul Harris Fellow award or give it to another more quickly. For more information, contact Amy: amy.chipman@rbc.com
Membership: Harold Crabill reported that the Membership committee was focusing on the membership of the club to reflect a more diverse population of our communities, to include more members of the under-40 business professionals. After several meetings with qualifying prospects and discussing what was delaying them from joining our club, they revealed it was money and time. With that in mind, the committee brought a proposal before the Board of Directors for prospects who were in the under 40 age group:
to waive the admission fee;
to reduce the annual dues from $240 to $120 until the member reaches the age of 40 (our dues commitments to R.I. and the District would still be covered in this amount);
the attendance requirements say that 50% of club meetings need to be met within a 6-month period each year....
12 hours of involvement in a club-sponsored event/activity would qualify as a make-up towards that attendance requirement.
The Board of Directors is considering this proposal.
Fund-raising: We heard from President Kris Rosado and Past President Cy Hagge about our major fund-raiser, the Maine Outdoor Challenge (MOC).
Kris encouraged the formation of 5-person teams to participate in the MOC events. No experience necessary, as the experts at L.L. Bean will teach you to shoot clay targets, archery, fly casting and geo-caching.
Cy is working on obtaining items for the live and silent auctions: suggested (but not limited to) items - a week-stay at a vacation home, a dinner cruise on your boat, a guided fishing tour, a catered dinner party at your home, gift certificates....anything that can be used in the auction. Mike Fortunato will be taking names of members who would be willing to work in groups, going door-to-door to businesses, requesting items for our MOC auction that could help us raise $1000 in items to be auctioned. It would only take 2 hours of your time on a nice Spring walk.
This event funds over 75% of the Club's charitable budget, so we NEED EVERYONE'S HELP AND PARTICIPATION!
In closing the meeting, President Kris encouraged us all to pick a place to serve, and if none of the projects appeal to you, he encouraged us to come up with something that does and "we will do it"!
President Kris opened this week's meeting by welcoming 49 Rotarians and 5 guests.
Tom Nickerson gave us our invocation, Jan Chapman led us in the pledge to the flag and we sung our patriotic song with Russ Burleigh on the keyboard.
Leonard Scott conducted our raffle. Eric Lusk had the opportunity to try and pull the winning card that would have paid off a handsome $887, but he came up with the wrong card. We nod in a token of sorrow. More chances for the masses!
May Madness! Friday, May 1, our famous re-gifting/new-item auction. Emily McEntee reminded us that everyone can find something of intrinsic value to donate (Minimum value $15.00). Maybe a gift certificate to your favorite restaurant.....tickets to a play, or a game....a boat ride or a weekend at your cabin.....or maybe something you received over the holidays that just wasn’t right for you, but would be cherished by someone else. For more info on how/what to donate, please contact Loretta (lrowe@maine.rr.com), Emily (emcentee@amica.com) or Ellen (ellen.niewoehner@td.com). This proceeds from this event goes to the operating fund of the club.
Steve Stomsky announced that the Boys and Girls Club has their annual auction coming up on Friday, April 10th and could really use some volunteer support from Rotary. We need about 6-8 volunteers to help them from 5:00 - 8:00 p.m. They could also use a couple of volunteers the next day (Saturday) at 10:00 a.m. to help with the cleanup. Contact Steve for volunteering and/or additional info: sstromsk@maine.rr.com
With many activities planned for the 100th Anniversary year of our club, 1st VP Bowen is eager to get committee assignments squared away. Now is the time to communicate for the programs you would like to assist with. Please return the committee preference sheets back to LORETTA ASAP....deadline APRIL 10TH. Remember....if you don't let us know what you would like to help with.....we may put you where you are needed! Let's make this a memorable 100th year!
We noticed there was something different about member Bruce Moore....couldn't quite put our finger on it....but then, there it was or wasn't......gone was the mustache that he has sported for more then 10 years!
Invocator: Bruce Jones Program Reporter: Bob Martin Bits & Pieces Reporter: Peter Noyes Badge Box: Jim Thornton Registration/Greeter: Ellen Niewoehner Sell Meal Ticket: Chris Force Collect Meal Tickets: Becky Wright Raffle: Charlie Frair Rotary Song Leader: Steve Ditmer Piano Player: Russ Burleigh Sgt-at-Arms - Early: Harold Crabill Sgt-at-Arms - Late: Jon Young
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 the Club Secretary (Loretta Rowe: lrowe@maine.rr.com). Your input will be appreciated.
PROSPECT BUSINESS SPONSOR Bill Souter Dawson Smith Purvis & Bassett Loretta Rowe
THE ROTARY DOUBLES TENNIS LEAGUE - Winter/Spring 2015 Week 14
Rotary Tennis Winter/Spring Week 5 was postponed because of a snow storm. It will be played as week 19. The schedule will continue as written. Teams 3, 4 & 5 are vying for contention with 5 weeks left to play. See you Monday. Scores from Week 14 are below:
The meeting minutes of the Portland Rotary Club's Board of Directors are posted on our website the month following their approval. From the "Home Page," click on the "Board Meeting Minutes" in the listing at the left.
