Michael Fandell, Owner of North American Safety Services, has submitted his membership application. Mike holds a BS in Occupational Safety & Health from Ferris State University in Big Rapids, Michigan. He holds a Board Certified Professional in Comprehensive Practice certification by the Board of Certified Safety Professionals. He is also a member of several professional societies in the areas of industrial and fire safety and is a member of the Associated General Contractors of Maine. He has traveled the world helping keep employees and companies free of occupational injury and illness in the workplace, from field to corporate level, prior to striking out on his own as a health and safety consultant in 2018.
Mike has managed private on-site industrial occupational medical facilities with physician and nursing staff, is a former EMT and Industrial Firefighter, and a former Haz-Mat and heavy rescue technician. Mike also owns and operates two commercial rental properties in Michigan.
Mike is currently a member of the Board of Directors for the Gorham-Westbrook Chambers of Commerce and a Member of the Greater Portland Chamber of Commerce. He is a former President of his Hometown Junior Chamber of Commerce (Jaycees) and has served as the Brazoria County Texas Amateur Radio Emergency Services and Radio Amateur Civil Emergency Services Coordinator. Mike has served as a trained weather spotter with the NOAA Sky-Warn program and is a member of the Wireless Society of Southern Maine and the American Radio Relay League.
Mike lives in Westbrook with his wife Ann. His grandfather was a Rotarian in Alma, Michigan.
These items were found at Judith’s after the Christmas party on December 10, 2019: A metal IKEA bowl, a serving spoon with a cat decoration, and a toy car. They are now in our closet at WRVC.
Long time Rotarian Carlo Giraulo, and his wife Jane, welcomed their first grandchild on January 10, 2020. Lucca Philip Giraulo is the son of Angelo and Lindsay Giraulo. Congratulations!!
Pictured are three generations of Giraulo men: Angelo (L) with Lucca and Carlo (R).
The polio plus donation cans were emptied at the beginning of January 2020. Fourth quarter 2019 donations, including some funds raised during the Cornhole Tournament, totaled $131.25. With club match, we’ll be sending a check to the Rotary Foundation for $262.50. The Gates Foundation double match will bring the total value of our donation to $787.50.
Thanks to everyone for your ongoing donations to finally end polio.
“Our Interact Club has been so busy this year with activities, volunteer opportunities and are beginning to plan our annual "Satellite American Cancer Society Relay for Life Event" in May. It is such a great opportunity for these kids. We recently finished over 275 hours of volunteering with the Maine Narrow Gauge Railroad and helping them to run their Polar Express. We had over 35 club members participate in at least 3 hours each for this event. It was fabulous. In the works now are being "guest chefs" at the Ronald McDonald House in Portland this spring and a couple of Habitat for Humanity dates.”
Other activities from Fall 2019 included: “Fall Yoga Day, the Festival of Trees in Westbrook, the Polar Express, a day where members of our club went to speak and work with 6th graders at Gorham Middle School to discuss transitions and aspirations, pictures of some of the 300 Holiday Cards our kids wrote and decorated and delivered to all the residents of Gorham House for the Holidays, an evening before Christmas when the senior members of the club Christmas Carol at the Inn at Village Square. It's been a very, very busy 1st semester of lots of activities and community service opportunities for our club members.”
Neile also mentioned that they have a large Sophomore class that is very active and engaged. They have started promoting RYLA so we expect a good number of applications this year.
Photos courtesy of Neile Nelson and Gorham Interact Club
We received a nice letter from Roberta Morrill this week with final results from the Tips for Charity Luncheon held in the middle of December. She thanked us for hosting a table again in 2019. The luncheon raised $6312, of which $4932 was from tips. Thanks again to everyone who donated through our Rotary table - $534. A very impressive total!
The Festival of Trees will be donating $7000 to the Westbrook Food Pantry this year. Since the Festival started 19 years ago, over $85,000 has been given to charities in Westbrook. A great community event. See you next year!
On January 7, 2020, Michelle Anderson, President of JA Maine (R), and Jodi Mezzanotte, Assistant Superintendent of Westbrook School Dept (L), spoke to us about JA and about programs planned for Westbrook and Gorham. Michelle oversees all JA of Maine operations, including strategic vision, fundraising, partnership development, and mission expansion. She has been with the organization for over 10 years, starting her career as an intern upon college graduation. Jodi is on the JA Board of Directors and head of their Education Committee.
Junior Achievement has three areas of focus: financial literacy, workforce readiness skills and entrepreneurship. They have nationally developed, age-appropriate programming for grades Kindergarten through High School using experiential games and activities delivered by volunteers in the classroom. Programming is offered state-wide and is free to all school partners.
Both Westbrook and Gorham schools have a strong partnership with JA. In Westbrook, every student in grades K-8 will have a “JA Experience” this year. Gorham is planning for the same with every student in grades 2-7. Since this is all done by volunteers, lots of people are needed to make this happen.
Traditional JA involved five visits over five weeks with the same volunteer working with the same classroom each time. “JA in a Day” is a program where several volunteers participate on a single day and the classrooms participating have JA programming for their whole school day. Westbrook is interested in doing JA in a Day for grades 5-8 this school year.
K-5 now represents more than 50% of JA programming being delivered. Another large piece is grades 6-8. With current high school graduation requirements, it is harder to fit in JA opportunities at that level. Westbrook is hoping to identify opportunities using JA in a Day and a speaker program.
Rotary Night Out - Special Dinner at WRVC - Tuesday March 31, 2020 6PM. Join us for our annual dinner planned, prepared and served by the culinary students under the guidance of Chef Charlie Limoggio. More details soon.
Patriots Day Road Race - For area high school runners - Monday April 20. 2020 at Riverbank Park Westbrook. Volunteers arrive to set up by 9AM. Race at 10AM with awards to follow.
Lunch with the Trades - Tuesday May 5, 2020 11:30AM. An opportunity to meet and recognize the students who work on the Rotary house project.
New Relay for Life at GHS – Sunday May 3, 2020 (tentative) – Gorham High School Interact Club will be holding a Relay for Life satellite event at GHS to benefit the American Cancer Society again this year. Watch for more details on how you can help.
New 7th Annual Westbrook Strong 5K – Saturday July 18, 2020. This race is in memory of Matthew Rairdon, a Westbrook HS Graduate and son of Councilor Gary Rairdon. Proceeds to nursing scholarships. There is also a kids Fun Run and a Virtual Run for those who would like to make a donation. To sign up or donate go to: 7th Annual 5K Sign Up or Donate You may also send a donation to: WS5K, PO Box 414, Westbrook ME, 04098
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Upcoming District Events
To register for any of these events, visit the Calendar on the District Website:
Mid-Year Leadership Dinner - Monday January 27- 5PM Fireside Inn, 81 Riverside St, Portland – This meeting is also designated a "special business meeting" under the bylaws. All clubs are invited to send one or more voting.
World Peace and Understanding Dinner – Thursday February 20 - 5:30PM Sheraton Sable Oaks
Grow Rotary Workshop – Saturday February 29 - 8:30AM-Noon Freeport Community Center. If interested, contact Marty Helman at martyrotary@gmail.com and provide info on topics you’d like to be addressed.
Interact New Generations Conference - Saturday Mar 21 - 8AM-2PM Dover High School Dover NH. Students $10, Rotarians $15.
District Training Assembly – Saturday April 4 – 8:30AM-1PM
Rotary Leadership Institute – Saturday April 25 – 8AM-3:30PM York County Community College, Wells.
District Changeover – Tuesday June 30 - 5PM Camp Hinds, Raymond
The Locker Project - TLP will be at Westbrook High School, 125 Stroundwater St, Westbrook, on the 2nd and 4th Wednesdays of each month, with some exceptions due to holidays or school schedule. Arrive by 1PM for set up. Done by about 2PM after clean up. Check in and out at the front office. Upcoming dates include Jan 29 , Feb 12 & 26, March 11 & 25, April 8 & 22, May 13 & 27 . If you would like to volunteer, please contact Christine Johnson.
New Westbrook High School Food Pantry – Leading up to the Christmas break, the pantry was depleted and we expect the same prior to the winter break. We will collect donations at four meetings January 21 through February 11. If you’d like to help, please bring a donation of non-perishable goods or cash. Popular items include: canned soups & stews, peanut butter & jams, canned foods with pop top lids, tuna or canned chicken in water, mac & cheese, cereal (individual boxes), healthy snacks and personal hygiene products.
2020 Guatemala Mission of FBC - If you'd like to support FBC Westbrook's work in Guatemala, go to http://www.fbcwestbrook.com/, Click on button CLICK HERE TO GIVE Online, then select Fund from drop down options 2020 Guatemala Mission Deadline to donate is March 15, 2020.
Matching Gift Rotary Year 2019-2020 - Don't forget the matching gift opportunity to secure a match for $50 donated to your favorite charity in this Rotary year. If you recently made a donation to a charity that you would like to have matched, and have not already taken advantage of the matching opportunity, please send a note to our Treasurer Michael Foley. Please include the name of your charity with mailing address and the date of your donation of at least $50.
Children's Books for Pantries - We continue to supply new and gently used children's books to food pantries about every two weeks. We have been fortunate to obtain a regular supply of used books from Goodwill Buy the Pound. We also periodically obtain new books from a couple of sources at little cost. However, the need is always greater than the supply. If you, a family member, friend or colleague have children or grandchildren who have outgrown their books, we'd love to have them to share with children who will love them. All ages from babies to young teens. We can also always use large print books for older readers. Bring to any club meeting or contact Christine Johnson for pick up.
Can Tabs for Ronald McDonald House - Thank you for continuing to collect can tabs.It's and easy way to help a wonderful organization! Just keep a small plastic bag or small jar in your kitchen, on the counter or in a drawer. As you go to toss your returnable can into your CLYNK bag, simply twist off the tab first.
CLYNK for Literacy - Ongoing - Don't forget to keep filling those bags to help fund the new children's books we ask our speakers to sign for the Baxter and Walker Libraries. Extra bags are always available at our meetings. If you have been working on filling a bag for a very long time (6 months or more), please consider returning it and starting a new one. Thank you for your ongoing support of this fundraiser!
Donate to our Club's Charity through Amazon Smile – Ongoing - If you order items from Amazon.com, even if not very often, you can help Westbrook Gorham Rotary Club Charities. Go to http://smile.amazon.com/. Search for our Charity and select it. You may need to login to your Amazon account before being able to finalize your selection. Then, when you shop Amazon.com (always starting from http://smile.amazon.com/) a portion of every purchase will be donated to our charity.
These items were found at Judith’s after the Christmas party on December 10, 2019: A metal IKEA bowl, a serving spoon with a cat decoration, and a toy car. They are now in our closet at WRVC. 
for Life Event" in May. It is such a great opportunity for these kids. We recently finished over 275 hours of volunteering with the Maine Narrow Gauge Railroad and helping them to run their Polar Express. We had over 35 club members participate in at least 3 hours each for this event. It was fabulous. In the works now are being "guest chefs" at the Ronald McDonald House in Portland this spring and a couple of Habitat for Humanity dates.”
Other activities from Fall 2019 included: “Fall Yoga Day, the Festival of Trees in Westbrook, the Polar Express, a day where members of our club went to speak and work with 6th graders at Gorham Middle School to discuss transitions and aspirations, pictures of some of the 300 Holiday Cards our kids wrote and decorated and delivered to all the residents of Gorham House for the Holidays, an evening before Christmas when the senior members of the club Christmas Carol at the Inn at Village Square. It's been a very, very busy 1st semester of lots of activities and community service opportunities for our club members.” .jpg)
On January 7, 2020, Michelle Anderson, President of JA Maine (R), and Jodi Mezzanotte, Assistant Superintendent of Westbrook School Dept (L), spoke to us about JA and about programs planned for Westbrook and Gorham. Michelle oversees all JA of Maine operations, including strategic vision, fundraising, partnership development, and mission expansion. She has been with the organization for over 10 years, starting her career as an intern upon college graduation. Jodi is on the JA Board of Directors and head of their Education Committee..jpg)
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