Welcome Rotary Year 2021-2022 On Thursday evening July 1, 2021, several club members and friends met at 33 Elmwood in Westbrook to celebrate the end of the old Rotary year and to welcome in the new year. With the weather threatening, we moved inside to a beautiful large space between the bar and the bocce court. Fortunately, no one was playing bocce that night! |
New Member Inducted During our changeover event on July 1, 2021, Past President Kathi Perkins (L) inducted new member Karen Arnold (R). Karen recently retired from a long career in engineering consulting, most recently as VP Global Environmental Health & Safety for Arcadis-US, Inc. Originally from Michigan, she and her husband have lived in Gorham for 32 years. Welcome Karen! We look forward to putting you to work!! |
Speaker Book DonationsDuring the mo  nth of February, we donated two books each to the Baxter Memorial Library and Walker Memorial Library in honor of our wonderful guest speakers. Each picture book is greatly appreciated by the youth services librarians at both libraries. These picture books were donated in honor of: Laura Seaton – Executive Director Window Dressers When a Lobster Buys a Bathrobe by Ed Shankman |
Volunteers Build Window Inserts In 2010, the Belfast Union Church was losing a lot of heat through thin aluminum windows. A local man measured, built and installed custom window inserts that made the church so much warmer that parishioners wanted inserts for their own homes. 185 more inserts were made that year. Word spread and 1231 inserts were made the next year. And that was just the beginning.In 2012, WindowDressers was incorporated with a Board of Directors. That year they made 2200 insets across six community workshops. The organization is now based out of a well-equipped space at the Lincoln Street Center in Rockland. Laura Seaton, Director, was our speaker on February 9, 2021 and shared details about how the organization works. |
Westbrook Interact Update Westbrook High School Interact Club President Chloe Grosso and Bruce Dyer shared Interact Cub updates with us on February 9, 2021. While they have been “super limited” due to COVID-19, the club has been able to accomplish several service projects in the community. |
Running a Business During the Pandemic Our speaker on February 2, 2021 was Maryna Shuliakouskaya, President of the Kittery Rotary, COO of Acadia Management Group (Aroma Joe's and Subway), and owner of several Aroma Joe's locations, including the one in Gorham. Maryna shared her thoughts on running a business in the middle of a pandemic and how she has applied the same principles to presiding over her club this year. |
Book Donated in Honor of Chief Fickett While we may be meeting only via Zoom right now, we continue to donate a new hardcover children's book in honor of each of our speakers. As always, we alternate between the Walker Memorial Library in Westbrook and the Baxter Library in Gorham. Purchase of these books is partially funded by your CLYNK donations, so keep those bottles coming! If you need bags, just contact Christine Johnson.Recently, Heidi Whelan, Children's Library at the Baxter Memorial Library received a new book. Is 2 A Lot? was presented in honor of then Acting-Chief Kenneth Fickett. He has since been confirmed as the new Chief of Gorham Fire & Rescue. Congratulations Chief! |
Westbrook Families Feeding Families Westbrook Families Feeding Families was founded about 12 years ago by Sue Salisbury and her mother Judy Petrie. At that time, there was a 5 to 7-day gap from school end to the start of the summer lunch program. Their focus was on bringing peanut butter, jelly and bread to summer lunch sites to fill that lunch food gap. That humble start grew to 110 bags delivered to Westbrook’s three elementary schools each week (pre-pandemic) and helping to stock shelves at the WHS and WMS food pantries. |
More Masks!! Another round of 1 million disposable masks was recently distributed through the Rossi Family Foundation. Ted Rossi, a Rotarian from District 7980 in Connecticut, donated the masks to be distributed to Rotary Clubs throughout New England. The first 1 million mask were delivered to our area and distributed in early October. In that first round, we provided masks to the Gorham Fire Dept, Intercultural Community Center, and several local elder care facilities, among other places.President Kathi will soon deliver masks to the Westbrook Fire Department for distribution to area organizations who request them, Westbrook Families Feeding Families for distribution with their food donations, and First Baptist Church for their partnership with the church for new Mainers and their outreach to the unhoused in Westbrook. We are proud that our District is involved with this effort and that our club can be part of it. |
Book Donated to Library In honor of Todd Fields, Director of WRVC who spoke to us on January 6, we have donated a book to the Walker Memorial Library - I Am Neil Armstrong by Brad Meltzer. Neil Armstrong's journey to the moon is the focus of the fifteenth picture book in the New York Times bestselling series of biographies about heroes. This fun and friendly “I Am….” biography series of picture books focuses on the traits that made our heroes great--the traits that kids can aspire to in order to live heroically themselves. |
WRVC is Going StrongOn Tuesday January 5, 2021, we welcomed Todd Fields WRVC Director to our Zoom meeting to share updates about WRVC. Despite the pandemic, student retention year-to-year was high and funding has been secured and utilized for many updates and enhancements to the school’s facilities and programs.  |
Christmas Party with Santa ClausWe were pleased to FINALLY welcome Santa Claus to our Christmas Party on the evening of December 15, 2020!! John Wolcott, a Rotarian from East Greenwich RI, has been playing this part for about 40 years. His son, Matt Wolcott is a Portland Rotarian and we first heard about John after he spoke to the Portland Rotary club in 2018. He was scheduled to join us in December 2019, but bad weather cancelled his appearance.  |
Annual Christmas Tree & Wreath Sale Thanks to everyone who assisted with this big annual fundraiser. Not knowing what demand would look like with our new location in Riverbank Park and during the pandemic, we ordered about 15% fewer trees than last year. In the end, we sold out on Friday December 11, a bit ahead of schedule. 339 trees - Great job!!We greatly appreciate the support of our Interact Clubs and Rotary family members who helped with lot set up, delivery, filling sales shifts, and lot break down. We could not have done it without those extra hands. We also want to thank Heather Douglass for the beautiful design used for our online flyer and on signage placed at our old lot location (see story photo). With a little help from Portsmouth, Scarborough and South Portland-Cape Elizabeth clubs, we had record sales of wreaths this year - 165 wreaths!! We appreciate the support of our large volume buyers as well as those who bought a wreath or two for their home. Stay tuned for final financials from our treasurer later this month as we confirm all invoices are accounted for and paid. |
Dr Seuss’s Birthday Celebration On March 3, 2020 we celebrated Dr Seuss’s birthday. The Chef and students provided a wonderful and extensive meal inspired by seven children’s books. The menu ranged from baked Haddock inspired by the Seuss classic One Fish Two Fish Red Fish Blue Fish to Apple Crisp inspired by The Giving Tree. A copy of each of the seven inspiration books was donated to both the Walker Library in Westbrook and the Baxter Library in Gorham. This was the fifth year we celebrated the Dr Seuss Birthday/Read Across America Week with a great meal and donation of books. Thank you Chef Limoggio and students for a wonderful meal again this year.   Top: Rosemary Bebris, Library Director of Walker Library Bottom: Jeff Knox Children's Librarian Baxter Library accepts books from Christine Johnson |
NEASC Visiting Team
On March 3, 2020, the 9-member NEASC Visiting Team joined us for lunch. Kathy Fink, Chair of the Visiting Team for CTE Accreditation, spoke to us about the New England Association of Schools and Colleges and their work. NEASC is the oldest of six regional accrediting agencies. Accreditation is a 3-fold process: a school completes a self-study, the visiting team completes an on-site evaluation, then there is follow-up to review findings. Members of this team came from Career and Technical Education programs all over New England and across disciplines. |
RYLA Update
Eight students from Gorham High School were interviewed by Bill Chadwick and Ethan Johnson (thanks to both!) and accepted for this year’s RYLA. Four students from Westbrook were due to be interviewed by Kathi Perkins, David Rolfe, and Hal Thomas on March 17. However, with school cancelled, the in-person interviews could not take place. Instead, Hal, Dave, and Kathi reviewed their applications and Kathi interviewed three of them by phone. They were all also accepted into RYLA. Hopefully, the fourth will complete the application process shortly. While it is unknown whether or not RYLA will happen at the end of June or be postponed, congratulations to these students who will have an amazing experience – whenever it happens! |
Education Leaders Experience
Wendy Harvey, Co-Principal at Westbrook High School spoke to us about Education Leaders Experience (ELE), a program of Educate Maine, which connects educators with businesses across Maine. Educate Maine advances education policies and practices that prepare students to be productive and engaged citizens. |
A Health Partnership in Haiti
Konbit Sante Cap-Haitien Health Partnership works to strengthen the health system in Cap-Haiten, the country’s second largest city which is located only 600 miles from Floridan on the north coast of Haiti. Konbit Sante (pronounced kone-beet sont-ay) is Haitien Creole. Konbit means working together and Sante means health. |
Forest Pest - Hemlock Woolly Adelgid Colleen Teerling, an Entomologist with Maine Forest Service, spoke to us on February 3, 2020 about the invasive pest Hemlock Woolly Adelgid. This pest can be found all along the Atlantic seaboard from Georgia to Maine. Colder climates, like that in Maine, causes heavy mortality of the adelgid which slows down the damage. However, this pest continues to spread in southern and coastal Maine. |
Donor Recognition - Polio Plus Thanks to everyone in the Westbrook-Gorham Rotary Club who donated to the Polio Plus Fund in the 2018-2019 Rotary year. The Rotary International Board of Directors suggests each club donate at least $1500 each year as we continue to work towards the eradication of polio around the world. Your donations through the cans each week, increased by the club match, and added to those funds donate directly to the Foundation by some of our members, exceeded that $1500 threshold. Our certificate of appreciation was accepted by President-Elect Kathi Perkins at the recent mid-year Leadership Dinner. Kathi is seen standing (center right) with other awardees of the evening.  |
Award Winning Gorham Educators Our speakers on January 28, 2020 were Chris Record, Assistant Superintendent of Gorham Schools and Adam Parvanta, Technology Integrator/Teacher at Gorham High School. Chris was named Maine Assistant Superintendent of the year for 2020 and Adam was awarded a Milken Educators Award in 2019, one of only 40 nationwide. We were sorry to miss Heather Whitaker, Maine Teacher of the Year 2020, due to illness in her family. |
Donate Life in District 7780 Scott Linscott has been on the road visiting other Rotary Clubs in our district inviting them to join in on our District Governor's 100% Challenge. Our goal is to aim for 100% registered organ donors in each and every club.Scott is telling his story of receiving a liver in 2012 while educating Rotarians of the crucial need for organ donors especially in our region. His presentation dispels common myths and shows members how quick and easy it is to register at Registerme.org in addition to registering at the Bureau of Motor Vehicles. .jpg) Scott will be making his presentation at our club at an upcoming meeting as well as contacting each of our members to see if we can attain 100% registered donors. District 7780 will then be having some fun recognizing top-achieving clubs at the district-wide training event in April. |
Community Reads GorhamLast fall, Westbrook-Gorham Rotary made a $250 donation to help support the annual Great Falls Elementary School program in Gorham called One School, One Book project. This is our third year participating in this wonderful literacy event. The One School, One Book program provides a book to every child, teacher and staff member which they read together during January. Older students, teachers and staff receive one book. Younger readers and their teachers receive an age-appropriate book with similar themes. Roughly 550 students and 60 staff members in grades K-5 are participating this year. The books titles were announced just before Christmas break and students received a copy of their book the day they returned in January. The books are read aloud in the classroom during the designated class period. It usually takes the month of January to complete the reading and discussion for the chapter book.  The books being read in 2020 are both by author Kate DiCamillo. Students are reading either Leroy Ninker Saddles up or The Tale of Despereaux! |
Junior Achievement 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. |
Gorham Interact UpdateReceived from Neil Nelson: “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.” .jpg) 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 |
Polio Plus Donation
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. |
Locker Project UpdateWestbrook-Gorham Rotary continues to support The Locker Project distributions in Westbrook. In partnership with Westbrook Kiwanis and other community members, we provide volunteers to help sort and set up the donated food, help students and staff make their selections, and clean up at the end of the event. All in about an hour each time.  Most events take place two Wednesdays a month in the WHS cafeteria at dismissal time. In addition, we are fortunate to be able to secure and support periodic community events when school is not in session. The most recent event was held on Monday December 30th at Westbrook Community Center in the midst of a snow storm! Our next event is this week on Wednesday January 8 at WHS, followed by another on January 29. |
Christmas Gifts for the Libraries Westbrook-Gorham Rotary donated two books each to Walker Library in Westbrook and to Baxter Library in Gorham in celebration of the holiday season. “Frieda Makes a Difference” is a picture book published by the United Nations about a young girl named Frieda who embarks on a wonderful adventure to bring about positive change in the world. “Cyrus Field’s Big Dream” is by local author Mary Morton Cowan. It is a STEM non-fiction book for middle grade readers about one of the greatest engineering feats of the 19th century: laying a transatlantic telegraph cable to create instant communication between two continents. Pictured here are children’s librarians Jeff Knox and Deb Tanguay from Baxter Library holding the donated books. |
Festival of TreesWestbrook-Gorham Rotary was proud to support the Festival of Trees again for Christmas 2019. The Interact Clubs at both Westbrook and Gorham High Schools decorated trees, while club members and friends attended the Tips for Charity Luncheon at the Westbrook Warren Church. The theme of the Gorham Interact's tree was Building Awareness One Tree at a Time honoring people who have fought or are fighting cancer. Westbrook Interact's tree honors the school colors Blue & White.   Rotary’s table at the luncheon raised over $525 - our largest total yet! Thank you to all who helped with your “tip”. Proceeds are being donated to the Westbrook Food Pantry. |
Spirit of the Season at Two Local Businesses
Xtreme Screen & Sportsware and Blazes Burgers are each lending a hand to children in need this holiday season. Located at 937 Main St, Westbrook, Xtreme Screen has a "giving tree" for youth that the schools have identified as needing some help for the holidays. Each tag contains the age and sex of a child in need, along with a short wish list of items. Stop in during their regular business hours to pick a tag. Monday -Thursday 8am-4pm. Wrapped gifts to be returned by Friday December 13. Blazes Burgers at 652 Main St , Westbrook, across from Riverbank Park will be collecting items that Westbrook Schools Nurses have identified as being in high demand. Sweatpants, socks, and underpants in all sizes. Winter hats and gloves. Drop unwrapped items in their collection box during the month of December. Items will be distributed among the schools based on size and highest need. |
Santa Claus is Coming to TownOn Tuesday December 3, 2019, we will welcome John Wolcott of the Rotary Club of East Greenwich RI. John is the father of Portland Rotarian Matt Wolcott and takes on the role of Santa each year.   Please join us for this seasonal program with John, his wife, and son Matt as we learn about “Clausmanship.” |
Cornhole Invitational 2019 The 5th Annual Southern Maine Cornhole Invitational was held on Saturday October 26 at the Gorham Sports Complex. A record 63 two-person teams competed for cash in the winning bracket (or beer in the consolation bracket). In addition, the tournament planning team was able to sell 10 Leader Board sponsors, a new component of the event this year. The Leader Board sponsors included: Desmond & Rand, Stroudwater Title, Hops & Vine, Elaine Spiller (Spiller for Mayor), Gorham House of Pizza, and Gorham Savings Bank. |
Interact Update
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Growing Adult Education Shelli Pride, Director of Adult Education for Westbrook and Gorham, spoke to the club on October 8, 2019. She has been involved with adult education for 23 years, most of that time as an instructor. She took on her current role in July when she came to us from the Windham Adult Ed program. |
Rotary House Visit On October 1, 2019, we met for lunch at the WRVC then drove over to the new Rotary House at the end of Declaration Dr. We had the opportunity to meet some of the students and see progress on the house. The house is closed in and sided, with sheet rock in place inside. Work continues on the interior while we wait for electricity to be connected at the pole. |
Adult Education in the News
Westbrook’s Adult Education Program continues to grow, especially in the CTE programs through WRVC. There are currently about 150 students enrolled in courses that include English language, diploma classes, and heavy equipment. |
Generous Winners Fortune shined on Pat and Cliff Plummer recently with two raffle wins. Pat won a recent raffle at a lunch meeting and Cliff won the 50/50 raffle at the Golf Tournament on September 17, 2019. The total take between the two raffles was about $240. Ever generous, Pat and Cliff have decided to donate their winnings towards literacy in Guatemala. Immediate Past President Bill Chadwick and Vice President Scott Linscott each have ongoing projects in different parts of Guatemala through their churches. These raffle proceeds will be divided and donated to purchase books for their next trips over the winter. Thanks Pat & Cliff!! |
First Quarter Polio Plus Donation
We are pleased to announce that funds raised in our Polio Plus cans reached $185 in the first quarter of the 2019-2020 Rotary year. This is the largest amount seen in any one quarter in quite some time! The club will match this amount and forward a check to the Rotary Foundation this week. With our club's match followed by the Gates Foundation double match, your $185 turns into $1110 to continue the fight against polio!! Thanks to everyone who donated through the cans this quarter. Your ongoing support to finally eradicate this disease once and for all is making a difference. |
25th Annual Rotary ClassicThe numbers are still being crunched, but here are several highlights from this year’s tournament: On Tuesday September 17, 2019, thirteen teams teed off on a perfect day for golf. We had many generous sponsors again this year, including tournament sponsors Gorham Sand & Gravel and Shaw Brothers. We were also pleased to have four Platinum Sponsors, six Gold Sponsors, Hole-in-One Sponsor Lee Dodge Chrysler Jeep Ram Westbrook, Putting Contest Sponsor Dave’s World, and Lunch Sponsor Mister Bagel. In addition, we set a record with 57 hole sponsors! Thanks to everyone who entered a team, recruited these holes sponsors or sponsored a hole! |
Maine Geomatics On September 10, 2019, Westbrook-Gorham Rotarian Owens McCullough, Sr VP Sebago Technics, introduced us to two of his employees – Rich Stone and Kira Harmon. Both Rich and Kira are graduates of WRVC - Rich in Computer Repair Technology and Kira in Drafting. They both also attended SMCC and Rich is currently studying to Architecture at University of Maine Augusta. Both are experts in the emerging field of high definition surveying. |
Al Juniewicz Awarded Paul Harris Fellow On September 10, 2019, Foundation Chair Steve Rand was pleased to award long-time member Alexander Juniewicz a Paul Harris Fellow. This recognizes his ongoing commitment to Rotary and to our Rotary Foundation. Thanks Al!Pictured: President Michael Foley, Steve and Al |
Educating Engineers for Maine On September 3, 2019, Henry Saunders introduced our speaker Dana Humphrey, Dean of the College of Engineering at the University of Maine and Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering. Dean Humphrey is also Saunders Professor of Engineering Leadership and Management |
Bits & Pieces from Club Assembly
We held our first club assembly of the new Rotary year on August 27, 2019, lead by President Michael Foley. Members broke into discussion groups for areas of focus - youth services, community service/club service, vocational service, international service, but these topics were discussed with the full assembly. Golf Tournament – We need folks out soliciting teams and hole sponsors. Golfers and donors can register at https://westbrookgorhamrotarygolf.com/ or collect their checks and bring them to the next meeting. We can invoice if needed - just email request with company name, contact name, email address and mail address to golf@westbrookgorhamrotar.org Deadline for hole sponsors to guarantee signage is close of business Tuesday September 10. We can take teams until Monday Sept 16. Email details to golf@westbrookgorhamrotar.org along with digital file of logo for sponsors. RotaryRocks! - District Conference this year is being held on Saturday October 5, 2019 (rather than in spring) from 9AM to 4PM at Abromson Community Education Center on the campus of USM in Portland. It’s a great opportunity to show off what our club is doing and learn about projects of other clubs. Registration at: https://rotary7780.org/event/rotary-rocks/ Bring a friend or colleague to learn more about Rotary. Donate Life – Scott Linscott has issued a challenge to our club and to all clubs in the District. He asks us all to register as organ donors. He will have packets to hand out at RotaryRocks! on October 5 for attendees to take back to their clubs. Contact Scott for more info on how you can register. Club Table at RotaryRocks! – Each club is asked to present projects from their club during the October 5 event at USM. Ideas identified during the assembly were House Project, Guatemala Water Project and Donate Life (Note: Subsequently it was learned that both the water project and Donate Life may be part of the District displays. Kathi Perkins has agreed to lead the effort to develop displays for our table. Please contact her with your ideas at kperkins1@myfairpoint.net) Lunch with the Trades – It was suggested that we return to the annual event of “lunch with the trades” next spring (April/May). This is a date agreed to with WRVC staff to host students and faculty from the building trades who work on the house each year at a lunch meeting prior to end of school. |
WRVC-Rotary House Project – New Lot Selected
Vocational Service Chair Judith Reidman reports that the City Council voted on July 15 to authorize conveyance of City Property to the Westbrook-Gorham Rotary Club, at no cost, for use by the Westbrook Regional Vocational Center. The property is located on West Pleasant Ave near the intersection with Quimby Ave. In 2016, the city considered this lot for the program, but another lot located on Declaration Drive was selected instead. That project is nearing completion and the West Pleasant Street lot was proposed for the next house. This new lot is conveniently located within reasonable proximity to the Vocational Center. Don’t Forget: On Tuesday October 1, 2019, we’ll hold our regular 11:30AM meeting at the current house at the end of Declaration Dr. It will be an opportunity for club members to see the property as it approaches completion. |
Rotary in Romania From April 27 to May 13, 2019, our own Kathi Perkins took part in an District outreach trip to Romania along with three other Rotarians from District 7780. They flew through Turkey to reach Bucharest where they started their Romanian adventure. This adventure ultimately took them across the breadth of the country through Sibiu to Oradea. |
Time for a Change On Tuesday June 25, 2019, we recognized the end of the current Rotary year and the start of the new. We thanked outgoing President Deb Shangraw by making a donation of $100 to Veterans Housing Service in her name. Deb has been a long-time advocate in this area. In addition, incoming President Mike Foley presented presented her Past President name badge. |
RYLA - A Success for Westbrook & Gorham Students Rotary Youth Leadership Awards (RYLA) is a training program dedicated to developing the next generation of innovative leaders. Working with students after their sophomore year of high school, Rotary clubs throughout District 7780 selected 144 deserving candidates to send to BSA Camp Hinds in Raymond, Maine to participate in the RYLA program on June 22-26th. Once at camp, RYLA participants are assigned to a Leadership Exploration Group (LEG) with 11 others, and spend four days exploring the intricacies of leadership and how it arises in the real world. The activities the campers participate in focus on team-building, group problem solving, and interpersonal management within project teams.On Tuesday night June 25th, the last night of RYLA, Rotarians were invited to attend dinner with the students. I attended and had the privilege of sitting with students our club sponsored. Each student glowed with enthusiasm about the personal challenges and growth they experienced while at the camp. I asked one student from Westbrook, ‘What was the most significant thing that you have experienced while attending the camp?’ He responded, “I discovered things about myself that I really like, and I discovered things about myself that I really want to change. I want to become a better person.” Wow! Another student from Gorham told me of her fear of heights and how she overcame her fear to actually complete the high ropes course! She stated, “My whole LEG cheered me on and inspired me. Our group was so tight, and I learned the value of positive reinforcement and team work.” As the evening ended each LEG did skits that reflected on aspects of ROTARY. Some students did one that illustrated the Four Way Test and it was very entertaining. As I got ready to leave student after student thanked me and our club for sponsoring them this year. I can honestly say it was a wonderful time and I love the students we support. It is in my opinion, one of our greatest gifts to the next generation. |
Westbrook Middle Annual Service Award The Westbrook Middle School Awards Night and 8th Grade Promotion was held on Tuesday June 18. This annual event is held to recognize students in a variety of areas. These areas include Academic Honors, Presidential Fitness, excellence in subjects like art, languages, music and STEAM, and outstanding student.Each year, the Rotary Club of Westbrook-Gorham presents the Annual Service Award to two 8th Graders. This award is presented to a boy and a girl selected by their teachers based on criteria we provide – those who exemplify our motto, Service Above Self. This year, Kathi Perkins presented the awards to Emilia DePeter and Charlie Fournier. Emilia is an exemplary citizen and a role model in all ways. At WMS, she was involved in Builder's Club, Falcon's Nest, and Leadership Club. An avid dancer, she also gave back in the community by assisting with a special needs dance program, Darby's dancers. Charlie showed a quiet confidence in the classroom that garnered attention from his peers and teachers alike. He is a great example of how hard work and dedication is rewarding. He was high achieving in the classroom and also respected by all his peers for his kind and humble nature.   Two books were donated to the Westbrook Middle School Library in their honor: Brazen: Rebel Ladies by Penelope Bagieu and The Breadwinner by Deborah Ellis. |
Focus on Foundation - Polio Plus
On June 11, 2019, we emptied the Polio Plus cans for the last time this Rotary year. The $50 you donated in our cans in this quarter will be matched by the club. A check for $100 will be sent to the Rotary Foundation by the end of the month, designated to polio eradication efforts. In the 2018-2019 Rotary year, Westbrook-Gorham Rotary has donated $882 to polio eradication to date. With this additional $100, we should end the year very close to the $1000 mark. Thanks to all who have made donations each week in the cans. Also thanks to those who choose to direct their Foundation giving to polio eradication. |
Pat Plummer PHF+2 Congratulations and a huge thank you to Pat Plummer for her ongoing support of The Rotary Foundation. With her elevation to Paul Harris +2, she has cumulative lifetime giving of at least $3000.Pat is a Rotary Direct participant which allows automatic donation from credit or debit card. Pat told us “they make it so easy”. You can join Pat as a member of Rotary Direct by setting up a recurring donation at: https://my.rotary.org/en/donate |
Port Resources - Improving Lives
On May 28, 2019, Stu Simon Director of Fund Development at Port Resources spoke to us about his organization. With headquarters on Gannett Dr in South Portland and a service area of Cumberland and York counties, over 400 individuals receive services annually. Port Resources empowers individuals with developmental, cognitive and behavioral health challenges to live meaningful and fulfilled lives in their communities. |
WRVC Awards Ceremony 2019The annual awards ceremony for graduating students of WRVC was held in the Westbrook High School auditorium on Thursday May 23, 2019. The program recognized CTE student of the year Derek Corbett (Heavy Equipment Operation) and winners from recent conferences and state competitions for Skills USA, DECA, and Future Business Leaders of American; in addition to National Technical Honor Society inductees. |
Keeping Westbrook Clean & GreenLynn Leavitt, Sustainability Coordinator for the City of Westbrook, was our guest at speaker during our Rotary Night out on May 21, 2019. With a curbside recycling rate of 25%, Westbrook creates about 50,000 lbs of recycling and 150,000 lbs of trash each week. Annually, that means 2.6M lbs of recycling and 7.8M lbs of trash. With a current tipping fee of $70.50 per ton for trash and no fee for recyclables, we have a huge incentive to recycle properly and reduce waste. |
RMH - Keeping Families Close.jpg)
Ronald McDonald House (RMH) in Bangor was opened in 1983 as a place of “comfort, care and compassion” where families of children undergoing medical treatment can stay. Ronald McDonald House Charities Maine was established in 1989 and the house in Portland opened in 1995. In 2015, the three organizations merged. We welcomed their current Development Director Alicia Milne as our guest and speaker on May 14, 2019. |
Westbrook RYLA Students 2019On Tuesday May 14, 2019 we were pleased to meet three of the four students from Westbrook High School who will be attending RYLA (Rotary Youth Leadership Awards) this year. After lunch, Kathi Perkins presented the students with a certificate recognizing their acceptance of this scholarship. These Westbrook students will join eight from Gorham at Camp Hinds on June 23-26, 2019. GHS certificates were presented at a recent Interact meeting.  Pictured: Matthew Eugley, MacKenzie Remington, Kathi Perkins and Ashlee Townsend. Not able to attend: Homron Shahid |
Meet the Presidents.jpg) During our lunch on May 14, 2019 we thanked outgoing Westbrook High School Interact President Kimberly Goddard (L). She has done an outstanding job leading the Interact Club this school year. We wish her the best of luck as she heads off to study Nursing at Husson College in Bangor. She'll also be joining their field hockey team. We also welcomed incoming WHS Interact President Kamdyn Russell (R). We look forward to working with the new club officers in the 2019-2020 school year. |
Focus on Foundation - PHF +2Cub Foundation Chair Steve Rand shared a few laughs with President Deb Shangraw as he presented her with a Paul Harris Fellow +2. Deb is a Rotary Direct member, making painless and easy automatic donations each month to The Rotary Foundation.  We also thanked Deb for funding an extra student to RYLA this year. We had budgeted for 11, but had 12 strong candidates between the two schools. To thank her for this generous donation to our Club, we transferred 500 PHF points to her account moving her that much closer to the next PHF level. Finally, as we move closer to the end of this Rotary year, don’t forget the great matching opportunity provided by our club. For every dollar you donate to the Foundation, up to $100, the club will match that donation in your name. If you sign up for Rotary Direct for the first time, we’ll add $25 more. The deadline for donations to receive the match for the 2018-2019 year is June 11, 2019 (our second meeting in June). This will give our Foundation Chair Steve Rand a chance to pull reports, complete the matching funds paperwork, and submit it all to Rotary International by June 30. To donate on line go to: https://my.rotary.org/en/ |
Thank You Culinary StudentsWe thanked Chef Limoggio and the six seniors (second year culinary students) during our lunch meeting on May 7. Chef noted that the class this year was smaller than usual, but that they “really kicked butt”. The students have some input into the menu planning and we don’t see entree items repeated within the same year. In addition to our weekly lunches, they have many other opportunities to plan and cook meals. They did very well in the 9th year of Heart Association Competition, prepared and served two advisory council dinners for about 100 people, prepared breakfast for Cumberland County Superintendents meetings, and provided full-service lunches to Community Service Dept lunches when requested, among other events.  This year’s students are pictured with Chef Limoggio. Morgan Gaston of Windham who will attend Johnson & Wales in the fall; Laura Goodwin of Windham who will attend Central Maine Community College; Noah Wilcox of Westbrook, Southern Maine Community College; Julia Zampini of Bonny Eagle, SMCC; Julia Downey of Gorham, SMCC; Jessica Collins of Westbrook, SMCC. |
Dog Park Expansion at Bicentennial Park
On May 3, 2019, Phil Spiller shared a presentation he had made the evening before at the City Council Meeting on the Westbrook Dog Park Expansion project. Phil calls it “one nice cohesive plan.” The dog park is currently small and often muddy due to poor drainage that causes flooding when it rains. The area also features poor and uninviting trail entrances, poor and ineffective signage and a skate park that is looking tired. There has been a monument at the site since it was dedicated on July 4, 1976, explaining the name Bicentennial Park. |
Relay for LifeCongratulations to Gorham High School Interact Club who raised over $6000 for the American Cancer Society through their Relay for Life. With an original goal of $4000, they blew past this number and nearly doubled what they raised in 2018!   Students play Kan Jam & Mrs Nelson gets in the act with Spike Ball About 80 students participated over the course of the day from 7AM to 7PM on Sunday May 5. Parents, teachers and their children also came out in support of the fundraiser. For 12 hours, at least some members of the group were constantly active – walking the track, or playing spike ball, tennis, Kan Jam, and frisbee. They were kept well fed by donations from Mister Bagel, Aroma Joes, Subway and Gorham House of Pizza. This event at Gorham is part of the larger Portland event being held on June 1. With seniors graduating in mid-May, holding a separate event in Gorham allowed the seniors to participate and made it easy for the community to come out to support them. There is still time to support them at this link: GHS Interact Relay for Life Fundraiser  Survivor Lap at the end of GHS Relay for Life |
Community Cleaned UpMany folks from across the community came out on Saturday May 4 to help clean up around Westbrook. This included local politicians, kids and a few Rotarians who met at one of three locations to sign-in and pick up bags.   Joseph Foley, Garry Rairdon, Lynn Leavitt, Mike Foley Thanks to Scott Linscott, Michael & Joseph Foley, Phil Spiller and Christine Johnson for their efforts. Also, thanks to Deb Shangraw for bringing a large box of delicious pastries for the volunteers at the park. |
Focus on Foundation - Clean Water & Sanitation
On April 2, 2019, Bill Chadwick announced that the Global Grant for our water project has been approved!. Bill has been working on this grant with the Los Amates club for well over a year and is very pleased that we can finally move forward. The work will take place in the community of Pozon. Pozon is a community of about 2000 people in the Los Amates region of Guatemala. The community will be providing storage and distribution systems worth about $50,000. Our grant includes drilling, pumping equipment, training on maintenance of the infrastructure, and electrical system. The total value of the project is nearly $130,000. Our club's donation of $1000 has been multiplied exponentially with donations by several other clubs in our District, the Celebration FL Club, the Los Amates Club, District matching funds and finally funds from The Rotary Foundation. The District and Foundation funds are available thanks to Rotarians who donate to the Foundation. Thank you for supporting our Foundation and allowing projects like this one to happen! |
Through These Doors
Rebecca Hobbs, Executive Director of Through These Doors, was our guest and speaker on March 26, 2019. This organization was started in 1977 by a group of volunteers and was formerly known as Family Crisis Services. Our own Judith Reidman is currently Chairman of their Board. |
Winter Dinner – Focus on Youth
On the evening of Tuesday March 19, we welcomed 37 Rotarians and guests to our winter dinner at WRVC. On the final night of winter, Chef Limoggio and his students served a wonderful meal that started with fruit & cheese platters, crackers and punch while a Westbrook High School jazz combo played. After dinner, we invited three groups of students to share a bit about their programs and activities. |
Illustrator & Author Shares Her Story
Cathyrn Falwell, a Gorham-based children’s books author and illustrator was our speaker on March 5, 2019. When Cathryn was young, she loved to draw. In fact, she illustrated her first book in kindergarten and she had it with her to show us! Cathryn has a degree in Printmaking and worked as a graphic designer for a number of years. She showed us several examples of her work which made it clear that she was destined to illustrate children’s books. |
Read Across America
On March 5, 2019, we celebrated Dr Seuss’ birthday and Read Across America week with a meal inspired by children’s books and a special speaker. The meal included baked ham (Green Eggs & Ham), apple sauce (The Giving Tree), rice pilaf (Everybody Cooks Rice), roasted broccoli (Monsters Don’t Eat Broccoli), green salad, homemade bread (Tony’s Bread), and chocolate cake (Thundercake). We donated copies of these seven classic books to both Walker and Baxter libraries. A huge thanks to Chef Limoggio, his staff and students for “cooking up” such a wonderful and imaginative meal! |
A Passion for Skiing
Anita Emery, daughter of Frank and Christine Emery, was our speaker on February 26, 2019. Anita was born with cerebral palsy. She was adopted at age 1.5 into a family with a skiing legacy (her grandfather is in the Maine Ski Hall of Fame!). Frank got the kids involved in skiing early and Anita started with Maine Adaptive Sports at age 8. Maine Adaptive now has multiple programs in winter and summer. The programs are staffed by many volunteers, including her dad. This year is Anita’s first year volunteering, one day a week, and she loves it. It provides the opportunities to meet people and hear their stories. |
Westbrook Strong
During our Rotary Night Out at Mister Bagel, Mike Foley introduced our speaker, Gary Rairdon. Gary and his wife Laurie have lived most of their lives in Westbrook and raised their family here. Gary has been involved in the Westbrook community for many years and is currently President of the City Council. |
Go Pats!!To get us all revved up for the Superbowl, a very talented Culinary student, Julia Zampini created this amazing desert... Patriot themed. In fact, she may have actually made a couple of these! Beautiful and delicious!! Thank you Julia.  |
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Mike McGovern, Past Rotary International Vice Present, Chair of the Nominating Committee for RI President, Chair of Rotary International’s Polio Plus Committee, and member of the South Portland/Cape Elizabeth Rotary Club, was our guest and speaker on January 29. |
Big Brothers Big Sisters.jpg)
Phile Spiller introduced Nicole Avery, Executive Director of Big Brothers Big Sisters of Southern Maine as our speaker on January 22, 2019. BBBS moved their offices to the former St Mary’s parish hall on Main St Westbrook where they held a ribbon cutting in April 2018. Nicole joined the organization about 4 months ago. She grew up in Bridgton and has long experience in the non-profit sector. |
Living the Word War
Elizabeth Elsbach and Pof Don Zillman had the pleasure of writing 1200 pages in two volumes titled Living the World War: A Weekly Exploration of the American Experience in WWI. Their goal was to recreate each week between October 1, 1916 and March 5, 1919 from the records of the New York Times and the Congressional Record (the debates on the floors of the US Senate and the House of Representatives). Their mission was to ask readers to imagine how they would have reacted "if they didn't know what was coming next." The week of January 12-18, 1919 (two months after the Armistice) included the start of the Versailles Peace Conference, continuing riots in Germany, the passage of the Prohibition Amendment, and further follow up after the unexpected death (at age 61) of Teddy Roosevelt on January 6. |
WinterKids Games 2019
On Monday January 7, the month-long WinterKids Games 2019 kicked off with Opening Ceremonies at Canal School in Westbrook. This is the second year of this state-wide initiative with only two schools selected to represent each of the 16 counties in Maine. Canal Elementary in Westbrook is one of them! WMTW selected Canal for the Opening Ceremonies and was there to cover the story: |
Dan Willett Recognized with PHF+4On January 8, Foundation Chair Steve Rand presented a Paul Harris Fellow Plus 4 pin to Dan Willett. This insignia recognizes Dan’s ongoing support of the Rotary Foundation and the work it does through Rotarians just like us. Congratulations and thank you Dan! .jpg) Steve Rand Presents PHF+4 to Dan Willett |
Tips for Charity Luncheon 2018
Thank you to everyone who attended or worked on the Tips for Charity luncheon on Friday December 7, 2018. In addition to the Rotarians at our table, Phil Spiller hosted the Discover Downtown Westbrook table, Becky Albert hosted the Walker Library table, and Andrew Turcotte hosted the Fire Dept table. Special thanks to Steve & Patty Rand, John & Sue Bernier (Kiwanis), Dana Smith (Kiwanis), Toni & Dave Irish (UMaine Alumnae), Jim Born, Dave Rolfe, Judith & Ed Reidman, and Cliff & Pat Plummer, as well as Deb Shangraw and Mike Foley. A wonderful community event! |
Bits & Pieces from Club Assembly
* A huge thanks to everyone who donated to the Rotary Foundation during the 2017-2018 Rotary year. Assistant Governor Tony Wagner presented a recognition banner to Westbrook-Gorham Rotary for being number 2 in per capita Annual Fund giving in District 7780 last year. |
Protection Training 2018
Each Rotary District adopts a Protection Policy to ensure the safety and protection of all children and youth, vulnerable persons, fellow Rotarians and volunteers with whom we interact in our Rotary activities. This policy, which is reviewed by a committee at least annually, includes safety and protection from physical, sexual and emotional abuse or harassment and extends to all activities of Interact, Rotaract, RYLA and Rotary Youth Exchange, as well as to other projects and programs of Rotary Clubs. |
Hannaford Helps Schools
Hannaford is currently conducting a fundraiser to support local schools. Both the Westbrook and Gorham locations are participating. Just purchase 4 items from the list of eligible items (or multiples of 4), all on the same receipt, then deposit your receipt in the collection tower near the front of each store. The tower has slots for each participating school. For example, the Westbrook store tower has slots for WRVC, the Middle School and each of the four elementary schools – Canal, Congin, Hall and Saccarappa. For every four participating items purchased on a single receipt, $3 will be donated to your selected school.  This fundraiser will continue through December 1, 2018. You can visit the Hannaford website for the complete list of participating products Hannaford Helps Schools or you can pick up a flyer at an upcoming Rotary meeting which includes a list of many of the participating products. .jpg) |
Reading at Village School
We are back reading at Village School again this year. Christine Johnson and Woody Beech are reading with first graders in the classrooms of Donna Landry and Heather Hurd. Each child reads for 15-20 minutes during their first period starting about 8:50AM. If you are interested in reading in a Gorham elementary school, contact Christine for more information on how to get started.  Christine Johnson (L) and Woody Beech (R) with Abi Bartlett Literacy Coordinator |
The Power of Our Website and Social Media
If you haven’t visited our website in a while, you should check it out at www.westbrookgorhamrotary.org With a fresh new look, it is designed to provide information about our club to both members and non-members. Share this link with friends, colleagues and prospective members so they can learn more about our cub and what Rotary does. |
Fighting to End Polio
In the 2017-2018 Rotary year, then Rotary International President Ian Riseley challenged clubs to contribute at least $1,500 toward the eradication of polio. Members of the Westbrook Gorham Rotary Club really stepped up and contributed an amazing $4.547. This was more than a 10-fold increase over the previous year! PDG Lawrence Furbish joined us on October 30, 2018 to present a certificate thanking us for meeting the challenge. In addition, based on available date, he shared that our club has contributed $28,423 since 1998. Congratulations and a huge thanks to all who have contributed.  Lawrence Furbish presents the End Polio Now award to Immediate Past President Bill Chadwick  |
Gorham – A Growing Community
Gorham High School is currently planning a building project to expand the high school to meet current and projected needs. Gorham Superintendent of Schools Heather Perry and Assistant Superintendent Dr Chris Record were guests at our meeting of October 30, 2018. |
Guests from Guatemala
We were pleased to welcome Byron Alvarez and his new wife Francys from Guatemala City. He has been our partner at Centro Cristiano Cultural De Guatemala for various projects in Guatemala. He thanked us for our work in his country, and specifically mentioned the trauma bags that we were able to purchase and train as part of a District Grant a couple of years ago. Byron and Francys were in Maine for a few days and attended our meeting as guests of Bill Chadwick. |
One Book, One SchoolThe Great Falls Elementary School in Gorham will be conducting their One Book, One School reading program again this year. Their goal is to purchase a copy of the selected book for all their 570+ students, all teaching and non-teaching staff in the building, and for their bus drivers. This year’s title is Kenny and the Dragon by Tony DiTerlizzi. Westbrook-Gorham Rotary was happy to help them with this project with a donation of $250.  President Deb Shangraw (L) presents a check to Dr Chris Record, Assistant Superintendent and Heather Perry, Superintendent of Gorham Schools |
Rotary Night Out at Mister Bagel
On Tuesday Night October 16, Westbrook-Gorham Rotary Club held our second "night out". This time the setting was Mister Bagel in Westbrook, followed by a visit to Yes Brewing. President Deb welcomed members and guests and shared a few words about Rotary, including mention of our recent golf tournament and cornhole invitational fundraisers. She also promoted our upcoming Christmas Tree and Wreath sale. Secretary Christine Johnson highlighted service activities our club has ongoing right now including the Socktober sock collection and CLYNK for Literacy that helps purchase books for our libraries. Rotary's ongoing fight against polio was also covered as we pointed to our push during October to gather additional donations in our canisters that will be matched by the club in recognition of World Polio Day on October 24. |
Donor ThanksThanks again to all of those who donated prizes, made donations to our raffle, or sponsored teams at our 24th Annual Rotary Classic Golf Tournament: .png) |
Golf Tournament ResultsCongratulations to the following teams and players: Closest to the Pin on hole 4 – Laurie Warchol .png) Steve Rand with Laurie Warchol Putting contest - Morgan Rochleau 1st Place Gross - Emerald Management Morgan Rochleau Reggie Grant Stephanie Sirois Kyle Shangraw .png) L-R: Stephanie Sirois, Joe Blais, Morgan Rochleau & Kyle Shangraw 1st Place NET – Hubb International Sue Joyce Andrea Todd Ed Symbol Jim Violette  Andrea Todd & Sue Joyce 2nd Place NET – Bill Holmes for County Commissioner Joel King Bill Holmes Rick Gross Gordon Cummings  Bill Holmes Team 3rd Place NET – Chalmers Insurance Group Ethan Johnson Marlo Gasbarrone David Willis Greg Blackburn |
Remembering September 11, 2001
On September 11, 2018, we were honored to have Sgt 1st Class Scott Hamilton, a member of our local National Guard’s 262nd Engineering Battalion located in the armory across from Westbrook High School, as our special guest and speaker. He was introduced by Rotarian Phil Spiller, who was a young Navy aviator in 2001. |
Greater Portland Council of Governments
Phil Spiller introduced our speaker and special guest on September 4, 2018 - Kristina Egan Executive Director of Greater Portland Council of Governments. Kristina has been with this organization 2 years and has lived in Maine for 8 years, during which she worked for Mass Transportation in Boston. Quite the daily commute! |
Our First Night OutWe had a nice turnout for our first Rotary Night Out. About 22 Rotarians and friends enjoyed pizza, wings, salad and onion rings from Westbrook House of Pizza, then were treated to a presentation on Urban Renewal by our own Henry Saunders. The event was covered by the American Journal: http://news.keepmecurrent.com/urban-renewal-leader-praises-impact-on-city/ A video of Saunders’ talk can be seen at: https://vimeo.com/287296383 Follow the links above to read more and to hear what Henry had to say.  |
Classification Talk - Steve Sloan
Steve Sloan, Deputy Fire Chief for the City of Westbrook, completed his classification talk on August 21, 2018. Steve is a native of Cumberland ME where he currently lives, and he is a graduate of Greely High School. During his junior and senior years of high school he worked for the school department on the grounds crew. In his junior year he also joined the Cumberland Fire Department as an on-call volunteer. The initial appeal was that he could leave school when his pager went off, but it’s also “where the fire ignited” his interest in his career. |
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Our 2nd Annual “Back to School” Food Drive was held on Saturday August 18, 2018. Thanks to President Deb Shangraw, Community Service Chair Sarah Hutchins, and Secretary Christine Johnson for organizing and running this event. |
Gorham Biz Exchange & Gorham Real Estate Market
On August 14, Ethan Johnson introduced our speaker, David Willis. David spoke about the recent and upcoming events and activities of the Gorham Business Exchange (GBE). He also provided insight into the history and trends of supply and demand in the Gorham Real Estate market. |
MEMIC at 25
Michael Bourque, President & CEO of MEMIC (Maine Employers Mutual Insurance Company) was our guest and speaker on July 31, 2018. He gave us a brief history of workers’ comp in the US, and the circumstances that led to the creation of MEMIC 25 years ago. |
GHS Interact & RYLA - Students Lead
On July 24, members of Gorham High School Interact and several students who attended RYLA 2018 were our guests. WG Rotary Member Ethan Johnson introduced the students and their adviser Neile Nelson. GHS Interact is currently an organization of over 100 students representing a mix of students across grade levels and other interests – athletes, scholars, actors, etc. They have reached this membership level in just two years thanks to the work of Aaron Farr, Immediate Past President of two years, other officers and directors of Interact, and Mrs. Nelson. Aaron was inspired to form the club during his attendance at RYLA in 2016. |
District Governor Visit 2018
John Lobosco, our District Governor for 2018-2019, was our guest and speaker on July 16. John joined Rotary in 2005 when he became a member of the Rotary Club of South Portland-Cape Elizabeth. His first Rotary meeting was actually a social event, a Lobster Bake at Fort Williams. When he won the raffle that night, he knew he was meant to join. He was engaged early with club activities and committee roles, and the rest is history. |
Paul Harris Fellow RecognitionDuring his visit, DG John Lobosco awarded Paul Harris Fellow recognition to the following members of Westbrook-Gorham Rotary Club: * Jason Beever PHF +5 * Woody Beach PHF+3 * Deb Shangraw PHF+1 * Nelson Harmon PHF+1 Thanks to all of these folks for their generous, ongoing, significant and tangible support of our Rotary Foundation.  L-R: Deb Shangraw, Woody Beach, John Lobosco, Nelson Harmon and Jason Beever |
Lobster Bake 2018
Our annual Lobster Bake at the home of Henry Saunders on Sebago Lake was well attended again this year. Nearly 60 people joined the fun, chowing down on lobster or steak, corn, and potatoes, along with various salads and desserts. While we dodged a few raindrops right at the start, the sky cleared and we enjoyed a great night of fun and fellowship. |
Polio Plus 2017-2018
In 2017-2018 Westbrook-Gorham Rotary raised $409 in the Polio Plus cannisters that we place on the tables for each of our lunch meetings. These dollars are double matched by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. This multiplies our donation to over $1200 this year. Thank you for your generosity throughout the year. |
Welcome President Deb!
Incoming President Deb Shangraw thanked outgoing President Bill Chadwick for a great year. She presented him with his Past President name badge and a gift from our club – a gift certificate to the Golf & Ski Warehouse.  |
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On June 26, President Bill Chadwick summarized and closed out our Rotary year. Bill told us that Presidential training starts well before the year begins. He recounted attending PETS in March 2017 and hearing then President-Elect Ian Riseley speak about Rotary and the selection of his Rotary theme Making A Difference. Later he attended Zone Institute Conference training for future leaders held in Hartford CT. |
Service Above Self Awards 2018
Our annual Service Above Self Awards for graduating eighth graders at Westbrook Middle School were presented by Becky Albert on behalf of Westbrook-Gorham Rotary on Wednesday June 20, 2018 at an awards and recognition ceremony at the WMS auditorium. These students were selected by their teachers as exemplifying the Rotary motto of Service Above Self. The winners were Quentyn May and Kayla Rairdon. The two students were recognized for being good citizens in and out of the classroom. Kayla, daughter of Gary and Laurie Rairdon, works on the Westbrook Strong 5K race that raises funds for the Matthew Rairdon Scholarship Fund. Quentyn also volunteers in the community and plays alto sax with an interest in jazz. Congratulations to both students. Books were donated to the WMS Library in their honor. The book titles this year were: Build Your Own Rockets and Planes by ROB IVES and Chasing King's Killer: The Hunt For Martin Luther King Jr's Assassin by James Swanson. |
Christine Johnson PHF +6
On June 19, 2018, our Foundation Chair Steve Rand and President 2017-2018 Bill Chadwick presented member Christine Johnson with a Paul Harris Fellow + 6. 2017-2018 was an excellent year for Westbrook-Gorham Rotary’s Foundation giving, with total donations of nearly $20,000 to the Annual Fund and Polio Plus combined. Watch for more advancing Paul Harris Fellows in the coming weeks!  L-R: Christine Johnson, Steve Rand, Bill Chadwick |
People for Wildlife
Maine Audubon Volunteer John Grew was our guest and speaker on June 19. John is originally from New Jersey and recently moved to Maine from Indiana when he retired from Indiana University. He had vacationed in the Boothbay region for over 25 years and had long wanted to retire to Maine. He and his wife love the natural beauty of the state and outdoor activities like hiking, biking and kayaking. Volunteering with Maine Audubon allows him to support our environment and natural resources that make these activities so enjoyable here. |
Republic of Artsakh
Our speaker on June 12, Anna Astvatsaturian Turcotte, an ethnic Armenian, was born in Baku, Azerbaijan when it was part of the USSR. Stalin had reorganized ethnic Armenians into a small region of Azerbaijan once called Nagorno-Karabakh, a territory whose sovereignty was disputed between Armenia and Azerbaijan. During the Soviet period, the dislike/dispute among ethnic populations was controlled in an artificial "friendship of nations". However, with the break-up of the Soviet Union, tensions resurfaced. |
IDEXX Paul Harris FellowTo thank Idexx for their strong support of Gift of Life over the years, Westbrook-Gorham Rotary honored Idexx Chairman of the Board, President and Chief Executive Officer Jonathan Ayers with a Paul Harris Fellow. We greatly appreciate their support of this program which brings children to Portland for life-saving heart surgery at Maine Medical Center. Accepting on Jonathan’s behalf was Pete Dewitt, Senior Communications Manager who spoke at our meeting on May 29. This recognition of Idexx and Jonathan was suggested by Paul Emery. Unfortunately, we were not able to present the award prior to his passing.  L-R: Phil Spiller, Abigail Ingalls, Pete Dewitt and Deb Shangraw |
IDEXX - Growing in Westbrook
On May 29, Idexx Senior Communications Manager Pete Dewitt and Communications Business Partner Abigail Ingalls were our guests and speakers. Twenty-five Rotarians and guests listened as Pete and Abigail shared some background about Idexx and what we have to look forward to in Westbrook. |
WRVC Awards Night 2018
Promptly at 7PM on Thursday, May 24, the capacity crowd in the Westbrook High School Auditorium stood for the posting of the colors by the students of the Public Safety Honor Guard, followed by the Pledge of Allegiance. Director Todd Fields welcomed the students, families and friends to the annual awards night of the Westbrook Regional Vocational Center. The program continued with short speeches by two student speakers - Westbrook student Isabelle Harvey of the Medical Applications program and Gorham Student Derek Kuusela of the Automotive program. Next, teachers presented outstanding student awards by program. Each program could spend up to $200 to purchase a program-appropriate gift for their chosen student. Sixteen different programs were represented, including Culinary Arts, Electrical and Building Trades. The gifts selected lined the front of the stage during the event. |
Caring for the Victims of Human Trafficking
Just Love Worldwide, a ministry of the Eastpoint Church, was formed in September 2017 to help victims of human trafficking. Nancy Gallinaro Water Resources Manager for the City of Portland and founder of Just Love was inspired to create this organization after working in a safe house with minors who had been trafficked for sex in south Florida. The organization is run entirely by volunteers. |
Farewell Until Fall!Sadly, May 15 was the last service by the culinary students for this school year. A huge thanks to Chef Charles Limoggio and all the students in the Culinary Arts program at the Westbrook Regional Vocational Center for providing us excellent service and meals all year. We wish graduating seniors all the best for the future and we look forward to seeing returning students in September.  |
District Governor’s Award 2018
During the 2018 Multi-District Conference held at the Mount Washington Hotel in NH, the District Governor’s Awards were presented. To qualify for this award, a club in District 7780 needed to complete or support a project in each of Rotary’s six areas of focus. In addition, those projects along with volunteer hours and any money donated, had to be entered into the on-line tracking system and resource called Rotary Club Central. Congratulations to all members of Westbrook- Gorham Rotary Club for participating in our variety of projects this year. Also, a huge thanks to President Bill Chadwick for providing direction and leadership to be sure we checked all the boxes. A great accomplishment! |
WHS Interact UpdateOn May 14, 2018, Dr Bruce Dyer introduced the current President of WHS Interact, Morgan Kendall. Morgan is headed to USM in the fall to major in Entrepreneurship. Bruce told us that she is forward thinking and leads by example and he wanted to recognized her for her energy and passion.  Bruce Dyer |
GHS Interact Relay for Life
On Sunday May 6, 2018, GHS Interact Club raised $3795, including $150 in cash donations during an event fully planned and executed by the students. The Relay for Life event began at 7AM and continued non-stop until 7PM. During the day, there were always people in motion walking or running the track; playing tennis, cornhole, volley ball, spike ball, wiffle ball, dancing; anything to stay in motion. Food was available all day to fuel the participants, some of which was provided by local businesses like Mr Bagel, GHOP and Amatos. |
The Rotary Summit
The Mount Washington Hotel was the setting for the 2018 District Conference, The Rotary Summit May 4-6, 2018. Our District Conference was unique this year as it was a 5-District Conference including adjacent Districts 7790, 7850, 7910 and 7930. These Districts cover much of Maine, NH and VT, along with parts of MA and Quebec. Westbrook-Gorham Rotary members Jason Beever, Henry Saunders and Christine Johnson attended. They were joined by Karen Marie Reilly and Linda Beever. |
60 Years of Building Houses to Train Students
This year we recognize 60 years of partnership with WRVC and the City of Westbook in building houses to train students. In June 1958, the first house at 42 Libby Ave was completed, right around the corner from the school. This first house was made possible by the vision of Carl Jensen, Vocational Director and Galan Veayo Supt of Schools. |
Kathi Perkins Classification Talk
Our newest member, Kathi Hall Perkins, was born in Bangor ME. However, she moved away two weeks later once her dad had graduated from UMaine. The oldest of six kids, she grew up around Rotary. Her dad was an active Rotarian and the family hosted many traveling guests over the years like boy scouts and Up With People cast members, as well as Rotarians. Her dad is a Past District Governor, so there were many Rotary-related trips to conventions and service projects. She has traveled to Haiti twice with her dad on Rotary service trips. He has made over 30! |
District Training Assembly
On Saturday April 7, six members of Westbrook-Gorham Rotary attended the annual District Training Assembly at the new Pratt & Whitney Center at York County Community College in Wells. Attendees heard opening remarks in the beautiful two-story lecture hall from DG Dave Underhill, DGE John Lobosco, DGN Andy Glazier and DGND Peggy Belanger. The Roll Call of clubs conducted by District Secretary Deb Grabowski showed attendance of nearly 180. |
RYLA Invitation to Gorham High School
Speaking to over 110 Interact students at Gorham High School on April 5, President Bill Chadwick and Interact Liaison Ethan Johnson invited Sophomores to participate in the upcoming 2018 RYLA CAMP at Camp Hinds in Raymond Maine. Ethan laid out the dynamics of the camp and the process to apply. President Chadwick inspired the students by saying, “We came here today to ruin your lives!” “You will never settle for less than your full potential once you have experienced the Leadership Training at RYLA”! Last year’s participants each shared how RYLA left a positive impact on their lives. Interact President Aaron Farr spoke about the camp motivating his call to leadership and being a positive part of his acceptance into YALE UNIVERSITY. After the presentation, over thirty students took applications for the camp. Interviews will be held the first week of May with students being notified of their acceptance shortly thereafter. Nellie Nelson, a teacher at GHS and Interact Supervisor has done an incredible job in motivating and organizing this club. Together we are the proud sponsors of the largest Interact club in New England. .png) Gorham Interact Club in the gym lobby at the high school |
Community Read Essay Awards
On Tuesday April 3, 2018, a community event was held at the Westbrook Middle School to honor the winners of the Community Read essay contest and to show the movie on which the book was based. The Westbrook Gorham Rotary Club provided support for these awards. Students at all grade levels read the New York Times bestseller, Wonder by R. J. Palacio (or a book with similar themes appropriate to grade level). Wonder tells the incredibly inspiring and heartwarming story of August Pullman, a boy with facial differences who enters fifth grade, attending a mainstream elementary school for the first time. Essay winners were: Madeleine Clark, Grade 2 – Saccarappa; Sofia Kirtchev, Grade 4 – Congin; Katie Cross, Grade 6 and Olivia McCartney, Grade 7 - Westbrook Middle School; Amina Al Sadoun, Grade 10 and Jaina Pelletier, Grade 11 - Westbrook High School. After the awards, those in attendance were treated to a showing of the movie Wonder, originally released in November 2017. Congratulations to all of the winners! |
Community Recovery Liaison Program
What is the Recovery Liaison Program? A collaboration of the communities of Buxton, Gorham, Windham and Westbrook, it is a program to help residents in recovery from opioid addiction. Danielle Rideout a Certified Alcohol and Drug Counselor, Director and peer support person for this program was our guest and speaker on March 27. She was joined by Gorham Police Chief Daniel Jones. |
Heart Association Go Red Luncheon
Three students from Westbrook Regional Vocational Center Culinary Arts program saw their menu prepared and served to a sold out crowd of 600 people at the 2018 Go Read Luncheon on Tuesday March 20, 2018 at Holiday Inn by the Bay. This American Heart Association event aims to educate attendees about heart disease and stroke in women while raising research funds to help educate, diagnose, and treat these diseases. Students Domonic Maselli, Faythe Sossong and Emily Cormier won a competition held in February at WRVC enjoyed by 50 volunteers. That competition determined the menu to be served at this signature event. The meal started with Caprese Salad, followed by Balsamic Chicken with garlicky green beans and brown rice. Dessert was Mango Blueberry Compote. Also attending were WRVC students Melanie Clark, Kali Perry and Ariana Comeau. Congratulations to all teams led by Chef Limoggio.  L-R: Faythe Sosson, Emily Cormier, Domonic Masselli |
Gorham - Grow With Us!
Maine has 20 official Maine Network Communities. One of the newest is Gorham which achieved that designation last November at a Maine Downtown Center celebration in Westbrook. Dan Nichols of the Gorham Village Alliance organizing committee was our guest and speaker on March 20, along with Tom Ellsworth, the Gorham Economic Development Corporation Director (GEDCD). We also welcomed Gorham Town Councilors Ben Hartwell and Sherrie Benner. |
Read Across America Week Celebration
On March 6, 2018, Chef Limoggio and the culinary students helped us celebrate Read Across America week with a lunch inspired by children’s books: Carrot Soup, Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs, Pickles to Pittsburgh, Monsters Don’t Eat Broccoli, and Pinkalicious. In addition, we welcomed special guests Kara Reiman and Peter Lancia. |
Economic & Community Development
Dan Stevenson, Westbrook’s Economic Development Director, was our speaker on February 27. Dan comes to Westbrook with an extensive resume in economic development. Most recently he worked in Biddeford leading the Heart of Biddeford initiative. In the upcoming year, Dan will be focusing on Westbrook’s Downtown, but other ideas are also in the works. |
Update from Guatemala
For their last couple of days working in the village, the team was on the road by 7AM. They mixed and poured concrete floors, but the work presented some challenges. The 100-pound bags of material were located about a half mile from the project site so the village men were enlisted to move the materials. With 90-degree heat and 100% humidity, it was very hot work and coconuts provided a refreshing drink. |
Updates from Guatemala
The Rotary/Stroudwater Christan Church team has been on the ground in Guatemala since the middle of last week. The local team left Portland on the 3AM Boston-bound bus Wednesday and didn’t have dinner in Guatemala until around 9PM that evening. A long day of travel! After a day to get acclimated, they headed to the village via ancient school bus to start their work. |
Community Policing in Westbrook
Megan Perry was our guest and speaker on February 13 for our meeting at Dunn St Legion Hall. The Community Policing Coordinator is a civilian liaison between the police department and the Brown St neighborhood. Megan partners with CASA and the Recovery Liaison, as well as with Communities that Care to help identify need and connect people with services. |
Save these Dates for the Sea Dogs
We are excited to report that Westbrook-Gorham Rotary was offered the opportunity to organize fundraisers around the Westbrook and Gorham nights at the Sea Dogs’ ball park this summer. The Sea Dogs will set up a special portal for us through which tickets can be purchased. For every ticket purchased through that portal, we will receive part of the proceeds. The board has approved a proposal from our new Community Service Chair Sarah Hutchins that will cause those proceeds to benefit specific organizations. Gorham Night is Thursday July 12 – To benefit Just Love – An organization that works to end Human Trafficking by working with law enforcement to find safe shelter, and provide training in schools, hotels, health care facilities, and non-profit or for-profit organizations. They may help a survivor find a home, a mentor, a job, a fresh start. Help them find legal services, drug rehab, child care. They promote survivors as leaders as they bravely speak out to end that which was done to them Westbrook Night is Wednesday August 15 – To benefit Westbrook Recovery Liaison - The Recovery Liaison Program serves Westbrook, Gorham, Buxton, and Windham. It provides free support and resources to all community members with a substance use disorder. They work within a recovery-oriented system of care to link participants to supports that recognize all pathways of recovery. Participants are people who are working towards recovery and those in early recovery. We will work with these two organizations, as well as with other local businesses and groups to advertise these Community Nights. Look for more information as the dates draw closer. |
Our PE Continues Her Training
Our President Elect, Deb Shangraw, attended training with her President Class on Saturday February 10 at Husson College in Westbrook. This training was lead by DGE John Lobosco (pictured left). The focus of the day was to become familiar with SMART goals (Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Relevant and Time-Bound), and to start thinking about goals for the next Rotary year around membership, service projects, and Foundation. This Pre-PETS session, held about a month ahead of the President Elect Training Seminar, is designed to encourage PEs to start planning and working with their Board in preparation for taking the reins on July 1. The 2018 theme? Be the Inspiration!  Deb Shangraw (R) with Tony Plante of Sebago Lake Club |
Cross-Cultural Construction Trip
On February 14th , President Bill Chadwick will be leading a multi- Club team of Rotary volunteers and friends deep into the jungles of Guatemala. Team members from Westbrook-Gorham Rotary are: Bill Chadwick, Steve Rand, his son Tyler Rand, Carlo Giraulo and Doctor Wayne Lopez. They will join forces with four members of the Celebration Florida Rotary Club in Miami. And finally at the destination of Cuatro Cayos a third club, the Los Amates Rotary Club will join the team for the projects |
ConvenientMD Fills a Care Niche
Lynn DeRocher, Director of Business and Community Development, spoke to Westbrook-Gorham Rotary on January 30, 2018. ConvenientMD, a small chain of NH-based urgent care walk-in clinics recently opened its first Maine location in downtown Westbrook. They quickly opened a second location in Portland and plan further expansion to add four more Maine locations in the near future. |
Locker Project Feeds Westbrook KidsThe weather cleared in time for school to be open on Wednesday January 24 when The Locker Project paid its semi-monthly visit to Westbrook High School Cafeteria. Large quantities of tomatoes, zucchinis, cucumbers, potatoes, peppers, broccoli, cauliflower, mushrooms, apples, oranges, pears, bananas, healthy snacks, meats, and breads, along with many other fruits and vegetables were quickly snatched up as the students came through on their way home. Thanks to Kathi Perkins and Christine Johnson for setting up tables and helping the kids find what they needed to help feed themselves and their families. The next time TLP will be at Westbrook High School is February 7. To volunteer, please contact Christine.  |
A Hand Up Can Change A Life
For youthful offenders, the rate of recidivism is high - one third are reincarcerated within one year and half are reincarcerated within two years – without programs to support their transition into the community. The Transformation Project, still under construction at 907 Main St in Westbrook, will offer opportunities for employment, housing, mentoring, and life skills. |
Interact H.E.L.P. Drive
The Gorham Interact Club conducted a “Gift Donations for Elderly Patients” drive to assist Maine Medical Center. Items collected included: mechanical pencils, colored pencils, and large print activity books. Items collected for the Hospital Elder Life Program were delivered on December 21 by a delegation from the Club. |
January Healthy Snacks for WMS
On December 21, just before the Christmas Break, $200 worth of healthy snack items were dropped off at Westbrook Middle School. These items were used to stock the depleted shelves in preparation for the return of students to school in January. |
Woodfords Family Services
Woodfords Family Services got its start 50 years ago in the basement of Woodfords Congregational Church. They started by working with five families with special needs children for whom public school was not a good fit. They now work with over 1500 families from very young children to elders. They are committed to the support and inclusion of people with special needs and their families in Maine communities. |
GHS Interact Helps Backpack Program
On December 13, 2017, Gorham High School Interact Club officers presented a check for $1370 to representatives from the Gorham Backpack program. This check represented half of the proceeds from the "Just a Kid from Gorham" T-shirt sale fundraiser. Congratulations to GHS Interact for a successful fundraiser! |
Tips for Charity Luncheon Thanks
Thanks to all who attended, hosted tables, or made donations to the Tips for Charity Luncheon on Friday December 8. We had a good turn-out and a good time again this year. The folks at Westbrook-Warren Church do a great job organizing and executing food and beverage for two seatings totaling well over 200 people. Ray Richardson hosted and Doc Stockwell was back at the piano this year making it even more festive. |
Gorham Interact at the Festival of Trees
Members of the Gorham Interact Club, along with their adviser Neile Nelson, decorated their tree on Tuesday November 28, in preparation for the annual Festival of Trees now taking place at Westbrook Warren Church. The theme for their tree is 1000 Cranes of Hope. Cranes are the international symbol of peace and hope. Read more about the symbolism of cranes when you visit their tree. |
Westbrook Interact at Festival of Trees
Members of the Westbrook Interact Club, along with their adviser Dr Bruce Dyer, decorated their tree on Thursday November 30, in preparation for the annual Festival of Trees now taking place at Westbrook Warren Church. The theme for their tree is Westbrook Reads!! Their trees is cleverly covered with books for various reading levels. |
Tree Delivery Thanks
On Friday November 24, after many changes of delivery time from the tree company, the trees finally arrived at our downtown Westbrook sales lot shortly after 3PM. We are very grateful to the ten folks who could be flexible and worked hard to off load trees, unwrap trees, and finish the fencing and decorative lighting. We are particularly thankful for our newest (not quite yet) member Kathi Perkins who brought two granddaughters, one with a boyfriend!! Also to Bill Chadwick who brought his friend Steve Dulac. The extra hands were much needed.  L-R: Bill Chadwick, Marina Porl, Dave Rolfe, Corey Staub, Karen Porl, Steve Rand, Kathi Perkins, Mike Foley Not pictured: Christine Johnson, Steve Dulac |
Christmas Tree Sales Lot Set Up
On Tuesday November 21, a dedicated crew met for lunch at WRVC then headed down to our sales lot at the corner of William Clarke Dr and Mechanic St in downtown Westbrook to get ready for trees to be delivered. Thanks to all who helped: Becky Albert, Jason Beever, Bill Chadwick, Frank Emery, Mike Foley, Carlo Giraulo, Sarah Hutchins, Kathi Jenkins, Ethan Johnson, Christine Johnson, Dick Labreque, Scott Linscott, Steve Rand, Dave Rolfe, and Andy Turcotte. Scott Linscott photos |
Interact Pies for the Pantry
Seventeen Interact Club members from Westbrook High School made a dozen pies to donate to the Westbrook Food Pantry just in time for Thanksgiving. President Morgan Kendall, with the help of some of her members, planned and purchased the required ingredients to make apple, pumpkin and chocolate cream pies for Westbrook families. |
Crutches 4 Africa.jpg)
On Saturday November 18, about two dozen District 7780 Rotarians and Interacters from ME and NH converged on a storage warehouse on Gooch St in Biddeford to load a shipping container with crutches, canes, walkers, wheelchairs, and other mobility devices. These items had been collected over the past year by Rotarians and friends from Seacost NH and Southern ME. This 24' container, the 7th to be loaded in Maine for Crutches 4 Africa since 2011, is headed for Uganda. |
New Name, Same Focus for Westbrook Coalition
Discover Downtown Westbrook, the new name for Westbrook’s Downtown Coalition, was the topic of our program on November 14. Abigail Cioffi, Executive Director of DDW, shared some history of this just 3-year old organization which is working with businesses, the community, and the city to promote and revitalize Westbrook’s downtown. |
A Toast to Main Street
Presumpscot Place on Foster St, also known as the old Junior High School gym, was the venue for A Toast to Main Street. This Maine Downtown Center event held on Thursday November 9 saw Westbrook officially designated a Main Street America community - one of only 10 in Maine. This is an incredible honor that shows how far Westbrook has come and that our city has so much to offer. The Maine Downtown Center's core program is Main Street, which is a proven Four-Point Approach® to downtown revitalization developed by the National Trust for Historic Preservation in 1980 and is currently used in 44 states in over 2,200 communities. |
Rotary House Update
Owens McCullough P.E., VP Engineering and Project Development at Sebago Technics and W-G Rotary member, shared an update on the next Rotary House at our meeting on October 31. Our house construction project collaboration among Rotary, WRVC and the City of Westbrook began in 1957 and is the oldest continuing project of its kind in the United States. Rotary House #46 will be built on land at the very end of Declaration Drive in a well-established Pride’s Corner neighborhood. |
A Brief History of the Fight Against Polio
We were pleased to welcome Past District Governor, Sanford-Springvale Rotarian, and District Polio Plus chair Lawrence Furbish to our meeting on World Polio Day. Lawrence gave us a quick history of this ancient disease and Rotary’s role in taking on the challenge to eradicate it from the world. |
Kiwanis Installation Dinner
Westbrook Kiwanis held their annual installation dinner, similar to Rotary’s changeover events, on Tuesday October 24. Kiwanians from other local clubs and District dignitaries were present to thank the outgoing officer team and induct the incoming team. We are happy to report that Veronica Bates is continuing as President of Westbrook Kiwanis for 2017-2018. During the event, Veronica announced a little surprise. She presented a Certificate of Appreciation to Christine Johnson in recognition of our club’s collaborations in support of improving the lives of children in our community. This has included support of The Locker Project, the joint Food Drive we conducted in September, and literacy projects like the essay contest. She also recognized the efforts of Deb Shangraw who was unable to attend. We look forward to future opportunities to collaborate. |
Scott Linscott - Photographer Extraordinaire
Donald Wescott Linscott, known to us as Scott, grew up in Auburn ME and graduated from the University of Maine with a degree in Photo Journalism. He continued his studies at USM in Color Photography. He met his wife Robin, a Massachusetts girl, at UMaine and they married in 1984. While at Orono, he was Editor of the campus newspaper. However, in the process of chasing a story, he had an epiphany – he could not be a hard news journalist nor did he want to be a feature writer. Photography was to be his career. |
New Major Donor Henry Saunders
Henry Saunders of Saunders Brothers in Westbrook has been a member of Rotary Club of Westbrook-Gorham for over 50 years. Henry has made several donations to the Rotary Foundation during those years to honor his late wife Marjorie, his father, his brother and his partner Karen Marie O’Reilly with Paul Harris Fellows. |
Westbrook Interact Club & RYLA
We were happy to welcome Interact President Morgan Kendall and several club members to our meeting. We also welcomed two of the students who attended RYLA last summer – Emma Ranco and Sean White. Emma and Sean each spoke about their experience at RYLA. Emma commented that being in the woods- without her phone- was outside her comfort zone. Initially, it was kind of scary, but there is a great “vibe” to the place and people came together quickly in this “life changing” experience. Sean told us that he debated sneaking in his phone, but he didn’t. He mentioned the opportunity to get to know new people and to have the opportunity to “take charge” in a group. They both said it was a lot of fun and improved their confidence. |
GHS Interact Moving Naturally
On Thursday September 28, from 12:10 to 12:45, the Gorham Interact Club was on the GHS football field with the two owners of Gorham Yoga Company, Amber Wilson and Jessi Dobbins. The Club now has over 100 members!! As part of this activity, President Aaron was interviewed by Dave Eid of WGME 13. This event was held in support of the Healthy Gorham Initiative, created this past May by a group of citizens hoping to make Gorham one of the happiest and healthiest towns in the US. A recent Danish study demonstrated that only 25% of how long we live is dictated by genes. A full 75% is determined by our lifestyle. A National Geographic Fellow and New York Times bestselling author author Dan Buettner developed the concept of Blue Zones - areas of the world where people live measurably longer, healthier and happier lives. The first lesson: people will live longer and better lives if they move naturally. September's theme of Healthy Gorham is "moving naturally". The Club also plans to get involved with "kindling kindness" and "growing gratitude" in upcoming months. Enjoy this video of the kids in action: https://vimeo.com/236329248 |
Rotary's History of Peace Building
Past District Governor and current District Foundation Chair Marty Helman joined us on September 26 to share Rotary’s long history of promoting and building peace. She began with this quote from Lao Tzu: If there is to be peace in the world, |
Golf Classic A Success
Fifteen teams teed-off at the 23rd Annual Rotary Classic Golf Tournament at Gorham Country Club on Tuesday September 9. The weather threatened all day, but fortunately only sent us a few sprinkles late in the afternoon. This year we had a record 43 hole sponsors! Without sponsors at all levels, this tournament could not be a success. If you see or do business with one of our sponsors, please thank them for their support. |
District Governor Visit
District Governor David Underhill, his wife Linda and Assistant Governor Tony Wagner were our guest on September 12, 2017. Dave noted that year-to-date there have been only 10 cases of polio in the world compared to 350,000 annually in the 1980s. With the continued support of Rotary and its partners, it will be reduced to zero. If we can do this with polio, Rotary can do this with substance misuse disorder too. In District 7780, we have formed a Recovery Initiative led by Bob MacKenzie of Kennebunk Rotary Club to combat the opioid crisis and substance misuse in our local communities. The Recovery Initiative will help clubs share the work they are already doing with a goal of expanding upon it. |
Westbook Community Food DriveWe were pleased with the results of the Food Drive on Saturday September 9. A dozen boxes were overflowing with cans, boxes and bags of non-perishable food and snacks that were divided between the Westbrook High Pantry and the Westbrook Community Pantry. Each Pantry received enough food to fill the back hatch of a large SUV. In addition, people stopped by with cash donations of $150.   L: Veronica, John and Dana of Kiwanis. R: Christine, Bill, Deb and Sarah of Rotary Thanks to members of Westbrook-Gorham Rotary, Westbrook Kiwanis and Downtown Westbrook Coalition for making our first food drive a success. We look forward to working with these partners again on future projects in our community! .jpg) Dana Smith - Kiwanis, Jean Reilly - Westbrook Community Pantry, Veronica Bates - Kiwanis, and Deb Shangraw - Rotary See more photos at: http://www.westbrookgorhamrotary.org/photoalbums/food-drive-9-9-2017 |
Becky Albert – Classification Talk
New Westbrook-Gorham Rotary member Becky Albert grew up in Westbrook, the fourth of five children. Her early years included eating ice cream at Vallee’s Drug Store, seeing movies at the Star Theater, and enjoying Sacarrappa Days. Her three older siblings were more than 8 years older, so she was exposed to a lot of popular music and literature from a very early age. She recounted reading every single Nancy Drew book on her sister’s shelves and receiving The Hobbit as a Christmas gift one year. She also devoured many books at both the Warren and Walker libraries. These were the beginnings of her love for literature. |
Westbrook Food Drive September 9 |
District Recovery Initiative
Westbrook Fire Chief Andrew Turcotte introduced his friend and colleague Bob MacKenzie, Police Chief of Kennebunk ME and member of Kennebunk Rotary Club. The topic this week - a new committee formed this year in District 7780 called the Recovery Initiative. Bob has been Police Chief in Kennebunk for 9 years, a Rotarian for over 10 years, and is chairing this new committee. Creating the Recovery initiative has given him the opportunity to marry his background and interest in public safety with service in Rotary. |
The Locker Project at WCC
Scott Linscott and Christine Johnson had a great time at Westbrook Community Center on August 23rd helping Steve from The Locker Project give away fresh fruits, vegetables and baked goods. They joined Veronica Bates and Sarah Zwicker from Westbrook Kiwanis to unload boxes, set up tables, sort produce, help folks pick out items, and clean up at the end. While we are sad that this was the last event of the summer, The Locker Project be back at the High School sometime in September. We love being part of this effort to fight food insecurity in our community. Look for announcements about how you can help.  L-R: Christine Johnson, Scott Linscott, Sarah Zwicker & Veronica Bates |
St Joseph’s – A new Rotaract Club
President Bill Chadwick introduced our speaker, Past District Governor Sheila Rollins, by first telling us a bit about St Joseph’s College, Maine’s only Roman Catholic college. St Joseph’s was founded in 1912 by the Sisters of Mercy and was located on the grounds of the Motherhouse on Stevens Ave in Portland until 1956 when it moved to its current location in Standish. It is now a co-ed liberal arts college situated on a 474-acre campus on the shores of Sebago Lake. At this college, we hope to co-sponsor a new Rotaract club. |
DWC Intern Shares Results
The Downtown Westbrook Coalition sought out and found an enthusiastic and hardworking summer intern in Shannon Cilento, our speaker on August 15. Shannon hails from upstate New York and is a Cornell grad, where she received her MA in historic preservation planning this past May. She previously earned her BA in Anthropology & Archeology at Oswego State. Shannon’s 10-week internship focused on three areas: Business Directory & Map, Historic Kiosk, and compilation & digitation of previous Plans and Studies. All of her efforts were in furtherance of Downtown Westbrook Coalition’s application to become an accredited Main Street Program. |
ALS Association - Giving Help and Hope
It was on July 4, 1939, Lou Gehrig Appreciation Day, when the longtime Yankee first baseman uttered the famous words at a home plate ceremony at Yankee Stadium: "Fans, for the past two weeks you have been reading about the bad break I got. Yet today I consider myself the luckiest man on the face of the earth.” Bill Chadwick used these words on August 8, 2017 to introduce our speaker Karla Wheaton, ALS Northern New England Events Manager – Maine. |
President Receives Citation for Excellence
We are proud to announce that our 2017-2018 President, Rev Dr William Chadwick, has received a citation for excellence from Jose Moreno, Guatemala’s Ministro de Desarrollo Social (Minister of Social Development), for work done in Guatemala. Bill and teams from Stroudwater Christian Church have been traveling to Guatemala and working on health and education projects for many years. Bill's most recent trip this past February included installing eco-stoves, many funded by our Rotary Club, along with research and relationship-building to support the upcoming global grant we are working towards to drill wells in the Rio Dulce area. Congratulations Bill! |
Interact Club Ready for Growth
Westbrook-Gorham Rotary was pleased to welcome several members of the Gorham High School Interact Club to our meeting on July 25. The students provided a report on their activities from the 2016-2017 year, then shared the goals and plans for the 2017-2018 year. We also heard from three students who attended RYLA in June at Camp Hinds. |
ESGR Supports Guard and Reserve Members
Employee Support of Guard and Reserve (ESGR) began in 1972 when use of the draft ended and it was realized that the Guard and Reserve could be deployed more often and for longer periods. ESGR primarily addresses the needs of part-time military service members and their employers. Their mission is to encourage and promote a positive, supportive relationship between members of the Guard and Reserve and their civilian employers. |
CLYNK Pays Dividends
In the most recent quarter, we received $122.35 from Hannaford Community Cash. This brings our CLYNK total for three quarters to over $269 in money raised. A huge thanks to the Gorham High School Interact Club who filled several bags this quarter that boosted our total. Also, thanks to everyone who has been filling bags for literacy. Please keep them coming! New bags are available at each meeting. This bottle collection project helps us purchase children’s books for our speakers to sign and donate to our local libraries. In addition, tabs removed from the aluminum cans can be saved for donation to Ronald McDonald House. |
A Very Special Lobster Bake
On July 11, our annual lobster bake was held on beautiful Sebago lake at the summer home of Henry Saunders and Karen Reilly. Dan Willett and former WG Rotary member Walt Stinson cooked the lobsters, corn and potatoes, with assistance from Ellen Stinson and Julie Carmichael. Bill Chadwick manned the grill for those of us who prefer “turf” over “surf”. Nelson Harmon transported the lobsters and members brought salads, appetizers, beverages and desserts to complete the meal. The weather cooperated to provide another wonderful evening.   |
FBC Community Dinner – Open Door Kitchen.jpg)
This is the first of what we hope will be a periodic series of stories about charitable activities taking place in our community - activities in which our members are involved. To share your story, contact Christine Johnson. The Open Door Kitchen provides a free monthly community meal at First Baptist Church in Westbrook. The cost is underwritten through the church budget, a generous grant from The Narragansett Number One Foundation and donations from individuals. Each month, volunteers prepare nutritious meals for over 125 guests from the Greater Westbrook area. Their stated goal is to provide a hot, nutritious meal and make connections with others in a relaxed, welcoming atmosphere. |
District Changeover
On Tuesday evening June 27, 2017, Rotarians from across District 7780 gathered at Camp Hinds in Raymond to celebrate the start of the new Rotary year. Due to inclement weather (rain and thunder storms!), we met in the lower level of the newly-opened dining facility for fellowship and a short program. The group then moved upstairs to meet the assembled RYLA campers and staff, and enjoy an energetic dining experience. Attendees were encouraged to "mix it up" with Rotarians, RYLA Attendees, and RYLA Staff members sharing tables and stories. The meal concluded with singing of the "Purple Soup" song...... you had to be there....... .jpg) L-R: Woody Beach, Dr Wayne Lopez, Christine Born Johnson, Gorham Interact Pres and RYLA Facilitator Aaron Farr, and one of the guests of honor Rev Bill Chadwick. Missing the photo op was Jason Beever, a one-time Boy Scout camper and staff member at this very camp for several years back in the 70-80s.  |
Bill Chadwick Takes the Reigns
During our changeover luncheon on Tuesday June 27, we thanked outgoing President Jason Beever for another year of service to our club. Then incoming President Bill Chadwick shared his vision for our new year. Bill shared his enthusiasm for meeting the challenges set before us by both our new District Governor Dave Underhill and RI President Ian Riseley. This year we in Rotary will be working hard at “telling our story” to raise awareness, attract new members, and help Rotary International tell our collective story. While awareness of Rotary has increased in the past few years, there is still a lack of understanding about what Rotary does in our communities and around the world. |
Pediatric Care Recognition at MMC
Gift of Life New England, Rotary District 7780, and Maine Medical Center held a recognition reception on June 22 at Barbara Bush Children’s Hospital to thank the care givers and other Portland area locals for their work with our two most recent heart patients – Jean Carlos Vasquez and Angel Abrego Quiroz of Panama. Gift of Life New England was founded by Rotary District 7910 in Massachusetts in 2000. Since then GOLNE has helped 71 children, including six who have come to Maine starting in 2012. During the event, we remembered the late Paul Emery, Westbrook-Gorham Rotary member, whose passion for helping children first brought GOLNE children to Maine. His wife, Pat Emery, was in attendance and was recognized.  Dr John Lombard, Dr Reed Quinn, Ted Shaughnessy |
No Excuse for Elder Abuse
Elder abuse is very likely to be happening in our community. The National Center on Elder Abuse reports that only 1 in 14 cases are reported to authorities and that most perpetrators are known to their victims. Elder abuse is a community problem with community solutions so now is the time for all of us to become educated and get involved in this issue. This message was made clear by our speaker on June 20, Betty Balderston- Elder Abuse Prevention Advocate with Legal Services for the Elderly (www.mainelseorg). Elder abuse can take many forms – physical abuse, sexual abuse, psychological abuse, neglect, abandonment and financial exploitation. Betty focused on financial abuse during her talk. |
You're Invited |
Fire Chief Provides Sister City Update
Fittingly, the day after the 30th anniversary of President Ronald Reagan's "Mr Gorbachev - Tear down this wall" speech ushering in the end of the Cold War within a few short years - Westbrook Fire Chief Andrew Turcotte, accompanied by Deputy Chief Steve Sloan, spoke to our club about the most recent "layer" of the Greater Portland - Archangel sister-city program - and the 7 individual visits over the past 1.5 years. The fire / EMS / rescue / forestry / warden exchanges between our two sister cities have served to further strengthen the bond which was tied almost 29 years ago on November 18, 1988 - in a signatory between Archangel's Mayor Stanislav Potyemkin and Westbrook's Mayor Phil Spiller - in this apolitical, grassroots friendship devoid of national disputes  L-R: Steve Sloan, Phil Spiller, Chief Andrew Turcotte, Bill Chadwick |
Gorham Interact Cleans Up
To cap off a great year and do one more service project before summer vacation, members of the Gorham Interact Club volunteered at Sebago Lake State Park on Saturday, June 10th. They worked very hard from 9:30-1:00, helping the State Park work crew with the difficult job of cleaning things out after a spring of lousy weather. They raked leaves, cleared brush and removed debris from the inner areas of the park. Interact Adviser Neile Nelson commented: I am so so proud of these kids. They are remarkable.” .JPG)  |
Nealley says “Senior power” Maine’s greatest resource
“Senior power” is Maine’s greatest natural resource, according to David Nealley, publisher of Maine Seniors magazine. Nealley addressed the membership of the Westbrook-Gorham Rotary Club at its June 6 lunch meeting held at the Westbrook Regional Vocational Center Culinary Arts dining room. Nealley, a 1984 Business Administration graduate of the University of Southern Maine, has accumulated an impressive background in a variety of fields including financial services, business management and politics. He was awarded a U.S. Chamber of Commerce Blue Chip award for successfully resurrecting the Snow and Nealley Company, an old family business manufacturing axes and garden tools. His revitalization of that company led to his being featured in Entrepreneur and Forbes magazines for his niche marketing expertise. |
Stillwater Presidential Award
Congratulations to Henry Saunders. He was honored by the University of Maine with the 2017 Stillwater Presidential Award. The celebration took place at the Wells Conference Center on the UMaine campus in Orono on Saturday night June 3. Each year, the Stillwater Society honors key supporters of UMaine. Past recipients have included Sen Olympia Snow, Sen Susan Collins, Harold Alfond, among other business leaders and philanthropists. He was introduced by Dr. Dana Humphrey, Dean of the College of Engineering.  |
Visit Portland
We had a great speaker on May 30 for our weekly Westbrook-Gorham Rotary luncheon - Vanessa Pike of Visit Portland (formerly Greater-Portland Convention & Visitors Bureau). Visit Portland is the destination marketing organization for greater Portland. They are a non-profit organization that is funded by their members – 450 and growing. No taxpayer dollars are used. The name-change from CVB to Visit Portland was designed to simplify their name and their message, and bring people to the region. |
WRVC Graduation
On Wednesday night May 24, an ecstatic capacity crowd cheered on the graduates from all of the WRVC programs. Pat Plummer represented Westbrook Gorham Rotary, presenting 15 scholarships and 9 toolships. She described the evening as “joyful”. Cliff Plummer also attended. He commented “Today, students can take part in programs for not only building trades and electrical, but also medical and social services, computer and web design, truck driving and heavy equipment operation, early childhood education and business. I almost forgot firefighting and EMT's.”  As part of the celebration, Culinary Art students had some delicious treats for graduates and family members.  We are happy to be affiliated with this wonderful institution that equips its graduates to succeed as they further their education or immediately embark on their chosen career. |
Interact Club Book CollectionsThe Gorham Interact Club is winding down a book collection to support our ongoing literacy project. The students asked their classmates to bring in gently used children’s books for all ages. Through May 23, they had collected well over 300 books! Collection at Gorham ends on May 31.  L-R: Tom Nelson, Brittany Desjardin, Caroline Gross, Jacob Dupuis, Neile Nelson Beginning on May 30, Westbrook High School Interact Club will start their own book collection. They have structured it in the form of a contest, challenging Freshman, Sophomore and Junior classes to collect the most books. A prize will be awarded to the winning class. We are so grateful to the Interact Clubs for embracing this project. Collected books will be distributed where there is need including at Stroudwater Food Pantry, Gorham Rec, Intercultural Community Center, and the summer bookmobile. |
Summer Lunch Program
Barbara Nichols, Director of Food Services for Westbrook Schools, was our guest and speaker on May 23. She spoke about the upcoming summer feeding program for children up to 18 years of age. During the summer of 2016, this program provided 15,000 lunches and 5,000 breakfasts. They expect to meet or exceed that number in 2017 at the five feeding sites with the help of many volunteers and a few staff members. |
Last Service is this WeekThis Tuesday May 23 is the last service from the culinary students for this Rotary year. Come wish them well as many move on from high school to their next adventure!'  Pictured L-R: Chef Charles, Sean Butterworth - Bonny Eagle, Samantha Low - Gorham, Emily Dolloff - Bonny Eagle, Bryan Bushey - Bonny Eagle, Andy Green - Scarborough, Jasmine Mason - Home School, Anthony Marston - Bonny Eagle, Wade Blanchette - Bonny Eagle. Missing Samantha Glantz - Bonny Eagle. |
District Governor's Award
During 2017 District Conference, eighteen clubs were presented the District Governors Award for 2016-2017. This year the focus was literacy. Congratulations to our Club on earning this prestigious award. Thanks to all who made it possible!  President Jason Beever (R) accepts the award from AG Ann Schieber |
District Conference 2017The Samoset Resort in Rockport was the location of our 2017 District Conference. Our Guatemala Water Project was featured in the House of Friendship which lead to additional clubs coming on board as partners on the project.   Much of the weekend was focused on the opioid crisis facing Maine. On Friday, several attendees created banners for use by the local MCRC (MidCoast Recovery Center) at summer events. Saturday included a panel discussion on opioid misuse featuring Kennebunk Police Chief and Kennebunk Club Past President Bob MacKenzie, and recovering addict Ashley Hurteau who shared her story. |
NE's Largest Horse Shelter in Windham ME
New England’s largest horse shelter, the MSSPA, is located on River Rd in Windham. It is a rehab facility, a shelter, and an adoption facility for animals seized by law enforcement due to abuse or neglect. This no-kill shelter is open to the public every day. On Tuesday May 9, Meris Bickford, Esq, Vice President and CEO of MSSPA told us about this nearly 150 year-old organization. |
Reading Aloud Boosts Achievement
Jacquie Lortie, Literacy Lead Teacher at Village School in Gorham was our guest and speaker on May 2. Her primary job is to support students in Kindergarten through fifth grade who are having difficulty learning to read. Jacquie and three ed techs serve almost 50 students each day. Jacquie and her team see their students daily for 45 minutes in small groups of 2 or 3, organized according to their reading levels instruction can be individualized as much as possible. Typically, they see 12-15 in each of Kindergarten, first grade, and second grade each year. The numbers decrease as the students move into third, fourth and fifth grades because they have made the gains needed to be working at their grade level. |
DECA Teams Head to International ConferenceFive students from the WRVC are heading to the DECA International Career Development Conference in Anaheim CA this week, April 26-29. These students all placed well in State competition, earning them the right to attend and compete at Anaheim. Our club was pleased to help them with their trip by providing $1000. The check was presented by Mike Foley at our April 11 meeting.  Pictured with W-G Rotary Member, DECA Alum, and former State Office of Maine DECA Mike Foley (R) are: Isaiah McGill, Senior, Hospitality Services Team; Anthony Morrison, Senior, Hospitality Services Team; Matt Berry, Senior, Buying and Merchandising Team; Zach Pelletier, Sophomore, Sports and Entertainment Marketing; Isaac Noyes, Junior, Buying and Merchandising Team We wish them the best of luck in California! |
Intercultural Community CenterThanks to Rev Mutima Peter and Intercultural Community Center business manager Karen Collins for sharing the vision and programming of the ICC and associated Power School in Westbrook during our weekly Rotary luncheon meeting April 11. The ICC is a safe haven and learning center for immigrants and refugees/asylees in our Westbrook and Greater Portland community.  L-R: Phil Spiller, Mutima Peter, Susan McCarthy, Karen Collins |
District Assembly - A Learning ExperienceOn April 8, 2017, six members of our Club attended the District Training Assembly at USM's Abromson Center. After a welcome assembly in Hannaford Hall which featured a roll call of the clubs by District Secretary Deb Grabowski, attendees moved to breakout sessions. There were special sessions for the PEs, Secretaries, Treasurers, and Protection officers, as well as sessions of interest to all members. Attendees learned about District and Global grants, fundraising for all club sizes, membership recruiting and engagement, and youth services, among other "hot" topics.  L-R: Scott Linscott, Christine Johnson, Bill Chadwick, Bill Gowen. Not pictured: Jason Beever, Dave Rolfe |
GHS Interact - Highest Earning Team at Relay for Life
On Saturday, April 8th at the University of New England, 28 members of the Gorham High School Interact Club participated from 6:00pm until 6:00am in the American Cancer Society’s Relay for Life. “Relay For Life is the signature fundraiser for the American Cancer Society. Relay is staffed and coordinated by volunteers in more than 5,200 communities and 27 countries. Volunteers give of their time and effort because they believe it's time to take action against cancer. “  28 members of Gorham Interact Club at Relay for Life with Adviser Neile Nelson (L) |
Reading Friends at Village SchoolWestbrook-Gorham Rotary has been volunteering in a reading program at Gorham's Village School since early December 2016. This reading program was started by VP Kate Wight in close collaboration with Jacquie Lortie, Literacy Specialist at the Village School and Principal Brian Porter. Kate was inspired during the 2016 District Training Assembly where she learned about a similar program that has been supported by Brunswick area Rotary clubs for several years. Each volunteer reads with three children per visit, working with each child for about 20 minutes at a time. The children read aloud from books or lessons provided by their teachers. Two volunteers are reading with second graders and three are reading with first graders. The program will continue through this school year and will be followed up by a debrief with the team over the summer.  Pictured here are: Woody Beach, Kate Wight, Principal Brian Porter, Ethan Johnson, Christine Johnson, and Steve Rand |
Membership Development Award
During our Welcome Spring dinner on April 4, Past District Governor Sheila Rollins presented the Rotary Club of Westbrook-Gorham with a Membership Development Award. This award recognizes our club as having the highest retention rate over the past three years in District 7780. We are one of only three clubs in our 40-club District to achieve this high retention rate. Presidents during these three years were Patty Kenney 2013-2014, Steve Rand 2014-2015, and Christine Johnson 2015-2016. Congratulations to our club and a huge thank you to our loyal members!  PDG Sheila Rollins; Past Presidents Christine Johnson and Steve Rand Photo by: Scott Linscott |
Welcome New Members!
During our Welcome Spring Dinner, it was fitting that we officially welcomed our two newest members - Rebecca Albert (Becky) and Donald Linscott (Scott). Becky is Librarian of Walker Library and Scott is a professional photographer and owner of Linscott Photo. President Jason Beever (L) presented both with their membership packets. These packets include their name badges, their Rotary lapel pin, certificate of membership, 4-way test coin, and Objects of Rotary. We are very pleased to have both of them in the club! Photo by: Robin Linscott |
Welcome Spring Dinner
On Tuesday evening April 4, 2017, 32 Rotarians, friends, and guests joined us for our Welcome Spring dinner. As usual, Chef Limoggio and the culinary students of the Westbrook Regional Vocational Center did an outstanding job of meal preparation and service. To start the evening the Westbrook High School Jazz sextet played several selections. As the meal progressed, we conducted our program which included an award, new member inductions, a surprise, and an update on Guatemala.   |
A Dog Named Pompom
I’m a dog. My human named me after the two transplant surgeons that saved his life in May of 2012: James Pomposeli and Liz Pomfret. They replaced his diseased liver with half of his son’s liver! My job was to help him recover from his surgery. Sometimes I cuddled up and rested with him and other times I made him walk and play with me. You know my human as Scott Linscott. Today he is an active photographer, cyclist and always on the go. He is a big advocate of organ and tissue donation and speaks of it whenever he can. It saved his life! April is Donate Life month. It’s the perfect time to go online at www.donatelife.net to register as an organ and tissue donor. Twenty people die in the United States each day waiting for the gift of life. |
Project Brotherhood 2017
Fire professionals and cadets from Archangel Russia, along with local Archangel Committee member Susan McCarthy, a fire-protection specialist, and South Portland Fire Dept Lt Chris Copp joined us for lunch on March 28. This is the fifth trip of a bi-lateral exchange between the fire and rescue services of Greater Portland / Maine Warden and Forest Services in Augusta - and the similar departments in our Greater Portland sister-city of Archangel. This particular visit is called Project Brotherhood 2017, and included a 2-hour briefing on the program that kicked off the 2017 Maine Fire Chiefs Association annual meeting at Sunday River. |
Improving Learning Capacity and Health
It was great to have Kiwanis President and School Board Member Veronica Leigh Bates at our meeting on March 28. She introduced our speaker Katie Brown Executive Director of The Locker Project (TLP). The mission of TLP is to connect food-insecure children in Maine with nourishing food to improve their learning capacity, health, and future. Starting as a grass roots pantry to help out at snack time at East End school in Portland, TLP now works with volunteers in 23 schools in the greater Portland area, including WHS. The pantry at WHS was started in October 2016 and it the first TLP pantry in Westbrook. Expansion to the middle school is being planned. |
Record-setting Attendance at Interact Conference
A record number of over 200 local high school students attended the 2017 District 7780 Interact Conference at Scarborough High School on Saturday March 25. The students had a full morning of activities and break-out sessions, culminating with an inspirational talk by Travis Roy. Both Gorham and Westbrook Interact clubs were represented. |
Cumberland Woodbank - Providing Fuel to Those in Need
Bruce Wildes, Director of the Cumberland Woodbank was our guest and speaker on March 21. The Cumberland Woodbank is an all-volunteer program that collects and processes donated hardwood logs and firewood, and provides firewood or fuel to those in need. Bruce told us that the Woodbank started in 2007 in one small trailer with no heat. Last year, they handled over 100 cords of wood, about 85% of which was sold to generate cash to provide fuel to 35 homes around Cumberland County. |
Community Essay ContestThanks to Westbrook Kiwanis for organizing this essay contest and asking our club to co-sponsor. In addition, thanks to our own Deb Shangraw and Emerald Property Management for also sponsoring a prize.  |
Clean Water for Guatemala
On March 7, our board of directors voted to pursue a Global Grant for water drilling in Guatemala that will provide clean drinking water to thousands of people. The target date for this project is February 2018 with a club commitment of $1000.
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Rotary Saving Lives in Guatemala
The Westbrook-Gorham Rotary Club recently sponsored a District Grant project in Guatemala to equip Emergency First Responders with well-stocked Trauma Bags.
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Project Addresses Lung Cancer in Women
The Westbrook-Gorham Rotary Club sponsored an International Project that will have a lasting impact on the health of the woman and children of Guatemala. The project was to build twelve “ECO-STOVES” in the jungle village of Cuatro Cayos. The women of the village cook over open fires inside of their homes. They inhale creosote and smoke particles resulting in a 17% lung cancer mortality rate.
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Panamanian Heart Patients are Home
We are pleased to report that both 10-month old Angel Abrego Quiroz and almost 13-year old Jean Carlos Vasquez were cleared to return home to Panama on their scheduled flight early on February 17, 2017. The children and their mothers had arrived in a snow storm on January 7 for life-saving heart surgery at Maine Medical Center. With some delays due to a virus for Angel and need for exploratory surgery for Jean Carlos, the two children came through their corrective heart operations on Feb 2 and 3 with flying colors.
  Angel Abrego Quiroz (L) and Jean Carlos Vasques (R)
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I Can Read Wth My Eyes Shut and Other Tales
On February 28, we joined with schools and other organizations in our community to celebrate Read Across America Day. Read Across America Day, also known as Dr Seuss's birthday was March 2, and celebrations were seen around the community during that entire week.
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The Other Side of Goodwill
On February 7, Rich Cantz Senior Vice President Strategic Development of Goodwill Industries of Northern New England was our guest and speaker. Rich previously worked for United Way and for Youth Alternatives (now Opportunity Alliance). Rich was a Rotarian for about 10 years in the Portland Club and has been speaking at local clubs to tell the story of Goodwill.
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The Transformation Project Comes to Westbrook
Ken Hawley, President of The Transformation Project (TTP), was our guest and speaker on January 31, 2017. Ken spoke about the great work being done with young people in "lock up" at Longcreek Development Center, a youth incarceration center that has been around for about 150 years. Kids can respond well while at the center, but struggle with transition back into the community. That's where TTP can help.
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Trauma Bag Delivered to Guatemala
Bill Chadwick just got back from Guatemala where he delivered the first of three trauma bags that he was able to purchase with our ROTARY DISTRICT GRANT. Chief Andy Turcotte leveraged Bill’s work in Guatemala with his emergency medical vendors and actually was able to obtain three bags for the price of one!
The first bag went to a remote jungle village and now represents the best medical equipment for eight hundred people in Cuatro Cayos, Izabal, and Chiquimulilla Guatemala. Bill was able to sponsor a training clinic featuring the director of Surgery from Mayo Clinic in Minneapolis, Dr. Donald Van Nimwegen. The locals were trained in how to use all of the gear in the bags. It was a very productive trip.
In four weeks, three Rotarians from our Club will return to do an International Clubs Project with the Los Amates Rotary Club of Rio Dulce Guatemala. They will have eight members on site to help us construct 12 Eco-Stoves. Westbrook is paying for six, and Los Amates is paying for six Check out the stoves on… https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BdXsyb2JruI
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Warren has been on the Go
Warren the Moose has been visiting some warmer parts of the country this winter.
Recently he has been seen in New Orleans and Ft Lauderdale, and he is learning to fly, courtesy of Jet Blue. We’ve also learned that Warren is huge Pats fan!! We're told that he is looking forward to Super Bowl LI. Go Pats!!
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Gift of Life Update
Jean Carlos and Angel have now been in Maine for three weeks. They are finally scheduled for surgeries at Maine Med on February 2nd and 3rd. While they have been waiting, some local folks who speak Spanish have been getting them out around the area, although our cold weather has presented a bit of a challenge. They’ve been out walking around the Mall and up to LL Bean, among other retail establishments. They have enjoyed eating at Tu Casa, Burger King, Country Buffet and Great Wall Buffet. They have also attended church in Westbrook.
We are extremely grateful to Elvira Perez and her husband Pete Provencher; and to the Alvarez family, Anna, Saul and Jessica. They have opened their hearts and their homes to make the children and their mothers welcome. For more pictures, see the Gift of Life page of our website.
 Jean Carlos, Maricruz, Angel and Itzy
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Gift of Life
We now have a surgery date for baby Angel of February 2. Jean Carlos undergoes exploratory surgery on January 23. We wish Jean Carlos well, and we hope to have a final surgery date for him later this week.
While the children and their mother's are in Maine, they are staying at Ronald McDonald House. The suggested donation per night per room is $10, but the payment is voluntary and only as someone can afford to pay it. Shown below is a 'Wish List" for the month of January 2017. This list is provided in case members or friends would like to help support this wonderful organization that is helping our Gift of Life children.
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FBC Supports AMG School in Guatemala
In April 2016, a group of 18 adults from the congregation of FBC Westbrook traveled to Guatemala to work with children in poverty. They spent their week in a rural AMG school in the town of Oratorio painting, prepping meals and working with children. AMG Ministries provides nutrition, education, access to healthcare, employment skills and more to more than 8,000 children in centers throughout Guatemala.
The third-world poverty the team from FBC experienced firsthand opened their eyes to the opportunity made possible through child sponsorship. The group came home sponsoring 10 children. That number has grown to 22 Oratorio children now sponsored by families in the congregation. The church sees the Oratorio work as its sister school and is committed to a continued relationship and providing life-changing sponsorship for as many children as needed. There are currently 14 children needing sponsors.
 In December 2016, Scott Linscott returned to Guatemala to use his skills as a professional photographer to help AMG better tell the story of the work being done there. Their philosophy is: A hand up lasts longer than a hand out. They want to be sure their work is sustainable, a goal they have in common with Rotary funded projects.
On January 17, Scott told us that 25% of children growing up now in Guatemala will not be able to read or write. Only $200 per child per year is spent on education in Guatemala vs $8500 per child per year in the US. In some areas, there is disparity of education between boys and girls.
Many homes are very modest, built of cinder block and pressed plywood. Open cooking stoves are common, especially in rural areas, presenting a health problem for women and young children. Agriculture is a big part of the economy, but produce represents income to the family so children of farmers are not fed their own produce.
For more information about child sponsorship visit https://goo.gl/EQ6kL7
Another trip to Oratorio is planned for April 2018. Contact Scott Linscott at scott@linscottphoto.com for more information.
.jpg)  L: Scott holding a woven table runner purchased in Antigua,
but likely woven in a mountain village.
R: Scott Linscott with Jason Beever
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Doing Good Is Simple
Our fearless leader-in-waiting led the meeting on January 10 as our current fearless leader was vacationing in a warmer place. I don’t know where Bill found that box to stand on, but he sure looks the part! Here he is reading a quote from Doing Good is Simple: Making A Difference Right Where You Are by Chris Marlow.
Later, Bill’s raffle ticket was pulled from the basket by our speaker Donna Dwyer. Bill donated his winnings of $47 to MPTC. Thanks Bill!!
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Gift of Life UpdateAngel, Jean Carlos, and their moms Maricruz and Itzy, have settled in at Ronald McDonald house. Local Rotarians are acting as volunteer drivers to take them to appointments. We are also providing support with warm clothes, baby formula, lotions (cold air is very drying!), and other special needs.
Unfortunately, surgeries have been delayed due to diagnostic findings. We are all keeping our fingers crossed that the issues found will be cleared up quickly so the heart surgeries can proceed soon.
 Angel and Itzy, showing off the beautiful quilt
from Wrap A Smile
 Ann Cormier and translator Sandra Ricker from MMC,
giving a tour of the surgical area
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Making a Difference to Kids in our Community
Donna Dwyer, President & CEO of My Place Teen Center, was our guest and speaker on Tuesday January 10. Donna thanked our club for our ongoing support of MPTC, especially Deb Shangraw and Mike Sanphy who are on their Advisory Council. She also remembered Paul Emery for his commitment to and advocacy of the center.
My Place Teen Center has been in existence for 18 years serving kids from 10-18 years of age. They are open Monday-Friday 2-7PM. Many of the kids who come to MPTC are choosing a different path from some of their peers, and possibly from their parents or siblings as well. They come to study, to eat, and to socialize with people who care about them.
MPTC serves many children who are food insecure, meaning there is little or no food in their home on a regular basis. This is due to many reasons that may include finances or parental health/mental health issues. 90% of the children they serve are from Westbrook. The remaining come from communities in the greater Portland area, some of whom arrive via Metro Bus. They serve over 500 kids a year with a budget of about $600K. Annual fundraising is always a concern.
Programming provided to the children is evolving based on the needs of the kids and evaluation of results. Some of the children have Big Brothers/Big Sisters, although MPTC is a mentoring organization as well. There are many volunteers who help make MPTC the wonderful and vibrant place that it is. For example, Baker, Newman, Noyes has volunteers who make 100 cupcakes each week at the center.
The good work of MPTC is now spreading. Biddeford has been persistently working towards establishing a center of their own. They now have a building (a former church just like MPTC!), but about $5M of renovations is required. Following the example of MPTC, we expect that they will succeed with this important project.
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Gift of Life Children are now in Maine
On Saturday January 7, Jean Carlos and his mom Maricruz Vasquez, along with Angel Quiroz and his mom Itzy Arrocha, flew from Panama City, Panama to Boston. Steve Rand and Elivra Perez, a good friend of Paul and Pat Emery, picked up the two families at the airport and transported them back to Portland in the middle of a snow storm.
 Jean Carlos is 12 years old and Angel is 9 months old. They are here for heart operations at Maine Medical Center. Thanks are due to the many organizations that are making this possible, including Gift of Life (International, Albany and New England), along with MMC and Dr Reed Quinn. These children are here because of the hard work of our late friend and dedicated Rotarian Paul Emery in partnership with Ted Shaughnessy of GOLNE.
Thanks are also due to many local folks for helping pull together the details to make our guests more comfortable. Ronald McDonald House where they are staying; Wrap A Smile and Terry Hodskins for the beautiful warm quilts; Saco Bay Rotarian Elaine Fournier and Open Hands Open Heart in Saco who provided the baby car seat, a huge supply of diapers, and many warm baby clothes. OHOH also purchased coats, hat and gloved for Jean Carlos. Others who donated items include Westbrook resident Jim Born, newly elected City Councilor Lynda Adams and her mom, and Terry DiPietro from Rowe Ford Westbrook.
They children are currently undergoing tests and final check-ups. Surgeries are scheduled over the next couple of weeks.
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Changing the Face of Dying
Amanda Carr RN BSN and founder of Changing the Face of Dying, worked for 10 years in hospitals and emergency rooms across the country. She is now pursuing her passion which is educating people and their families about available choices regarding end of life, how to make those choices, and how to communicate them.
She works with people to openly talk about death and plan ahead for the inevitable. For your death to be “as you want it to be”, you need to plan and communicate that plan to your family. She promotes the use of advance directives and councils people through the paperwork and making the choice of who will make the decisions when they cannot. She also now works with people near the end of life and in hospice care to help make their remaining time the best it can be.
Amanda mentioned that she runs Death Café at the VNA offices in South Portland, every second Tuesday of the month from 6:30-8PM. The Death Cafe concept, originated in London by a sociologist, gives folks a chance to talk about death and dying in an open forum where it is safe to talk about this subject. For more information and a complete list in your area: http://deathcafe.com .
She is also interested in changing the face of eldercare. “Virtual nursing home” through VNA brings technologies into the home to supplement caregivers and allow people to stay in their home longer.
To read more about Amanda and her work, visit: http://changingthefaceofdying.com
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Christmas Party
About 34 members, family and friends gathered at the home of Steve and Patty Rand on Tuesday December 13. Attendees enjoyed some wonderful pot luck offerings and a round of Yankee Swap. Kim Littlefield (Ted Rogers) had number 1 and ended up with the Panera gift card. Other popular gifts were the book lights, a bracelet, Amatos gift card, and several boxes of chocolate.
The club extends a huge thanks to Steve and Patty for their gracious hospitality. See our web page for more pictures.
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Fire/Rescue Team Visits Archangel Russia
The Archangel Sister City Program has been ongoing since 1988. There have been many reciprocal visits and exchanges over those 28 years designed to promote friendship and understanding. These exchanges have included teachers, students, government officials, photographers, and many other professionals. Fire and Public Safety exchanges were added after the 25th anniversary of The Treaty of Friendly Ties. On December 6, Chief Andrew Turcotte spoke to us about the recent fire and public safety visits.
In January 2016, the greater Portland area hosted five professionals: fire/rescue, fire code specialist and communications specialist. In November 2016, we sent seven fire/rescue personnel to Archangel, including Andy. The groups have found that they have much common ground – similar challenges and a similar desire to learn and train.
.JPG) During their time in Russia, the local team had an opportunity absorb some local culture as well as learn and exchange ideas on fire and safety techniques. They toured (Fire) Station 17, which became their base while they were in Archangel. They learned that fire prevention education continues all year round, rather than during a single “fire prevention month” that we have in the US. They found that construction codes are centralized, which provides consistency across the country, but the codes need improvement. In the US, we are subject to varying codes at the municipal, state and Federal levels. The team participated in brainstorming sessions with their counterparts, saw an airport fire/rescue operation, and visited a pulp and paper plant where many employees are volunteer/on call firemen. Finally, they saw Northern Arctic Federal University which brings high school students to college where they can train in public safety careers.
On the cultural side, the team visited the Malye Korely Open Air Museum. This is a museum of traditional wooden architecture of the area, including churches, public buildings and homes. Andrew also told us that dinners were very long – up to 3 hours! There were multiple appetizers, drinks, soup, salad, main course, dessert - and more drinks. They participated in the 75th anniversary celebration of Operation Dervish, commemorating the first of the WWII arctic convoys by the Western Allies that brought supplies to the port of Archangel to help Russia in the fight against Nazi Germany. The team also enjoyed banya, described as a sauna on steroids
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  In attendance for Andy's presentation, were four students and their English teacher from School #21 in Archangel. During their exchange trip, they attended classes at Westbrook High School, visited the Westbrook Public Safety building, and attended the monthly meeting of the Westbrook Historical Society, among many other fun and educational activities.
 L-R: Andy Turcotte, Kseniia Shaitanova, Tatiana Kravechenko,
Phil Spiller, Svetlana Mozgovaia (teacher),
Alexey Bedrin, Kirill Belov-Belikov
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Westbrook High School Pack the Pantry
A food drive to "pack the pantry" at Westbrook High School begins Monday December 5 and continues until Christmas Break - December 22 last day to drop off.
60% of WHS kids qualify for free or reduced price lunches. When they are not in school, providing extra meals can be a big problem in many households, especially around the holidays. You can help by bringing requested items to the WHS Main Office during school hours or you can send a donation to The Locker Project (http://mainelockerproject.org/) .
The Locker Project, in partnership with the Good Shepherd Food Bank, helps ensure food security for all Maine children through local schools. The Locker Project works with schools to create programs for providing students with healthy class-time snacks and take-home food for the times they are most likely to experience hunger.
Non-perishable items most requested and not often available from Good Sheppard include single serve items like:
Other items needed include:
Thank you for your generosity this Christmas.
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GHS Interact Project for Barbara Bush Children's HospitalThanks to those in Rotary and in the Gorham Community for supporting this great project recently completed by GHS Interact Club. The students used the donations to make "goody bags" for use with children at the hospital. Neile Nelson, GHS Interact Adviser, said "The generosity of our local businesses and community is amazing and these kids are getting it done."
Congratulations to Gorham High School Interact Club on a job well done!
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WHS Interact at the Festival of TreesThanks to the students of the Westbrook High School Interact Club who designed and decorated a tree for the Festival of Trees this year. The theme of their tree is "Blue and White".
The Festival of Trees is held annually at the Westbrook Warren Congregational Church. During the Festival, people come to enjoy the display of trees and participate in several fundraising activities over the course of the week. The Festival this year runs from December 3-10. Monies raised help local charities. Thanks to the students for participating in this great community event.
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Toys for Tots Since 1947Sgt Keith Roy, Assistant Toys for Tots Coordinator for Alpha Company 1st Battalion 25th Marines, was our guest and speaker on November 29. His unit is based in Brunswick and has over 200 toy drop-off locations around the area. These boxes be picked up between December 2nd and 15th and taken them back to the Toys for Tots storage hangar at the Brunswick airport. At Brunswick, six active duty Marines will sort and group toys by age and sex, finishing by December 20 so the toys can be distributed by Christmas.
Sgt Roy told us that 1947 was an important year for Toys for Tots. In that year, the wife of Maj Bill Hendricks made a Raggedy Anne doll and asked her husband to find a charity that could give it to an underprivileged child in Los Angeles for Christmas. He was unable to find a charity that could do that, so his wife told him to start one. That year, Maj Hendricks was able to collect and distribute over 5000 toys to the children of Los Angeles. The Marine Corp took notice and adopted the foundation in 1948 and it became part of the Marine Corp Reserves.
During the Korean War, Marine Reservists were called to duty and people in communities all over the country came together to keep the Toys for Tots program running until their return. That tradition of community support continues to this day. Many businesses place drop boxes at their location, host fundraisers, provide advertising, provide transportation, and/or provide manpower to help sort the toys.
Last year, this one unit served over 14,000 families, providing over 40,000 toys. They largely work through local non-profits who refer families and children. Even with last year's staggering number, Sgt Roy told us that the number of requests for help is on track to be higher this year. He ended by asking us to support the children, support the Marines and to support Toys for Tots so that no child will feel forgotten this Christmas. We are pleased to report that $366 was raised and several toys were donated at our meeting.
 Deb Shangraw with Sgt Keith Roy
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Long time Westbrook Educator is now Superintendent
Dr. Peter Lancia, the new Superintendent of Westbrook schools, was introduced by Mike Foley. Mike has known Mr Lancia since Mike was a 6-year old student at Saccarappa. Peter has been with Westbrook schools for 27 years, including teacher at Saccarappa, Principal at Congin, Assistant Superintendent, and now Superintendent. During his career, he has been Maine Teacher of the Year, and Maine Curriculum Leader of the Year. He is also a Lecturer at USM.
Westbrook has approximately 2600 students in K-12 and is one of the few school systems in the state that is growing. Many students are immigrants who speak a language other than English at home: Arabic, French, Russian, Somali and Vietnamese, among many others.
Peter spoke proudly of the community partnerships the school system has formed with Public Safety, mental health providers, and others. The school district looks not just at test scores, but at the growth and learning of the “whole child”.
With the recently passed funding referendum, there will be many improvements at both Saccarappa and the Middle School. Saccarapa will double in size with the addition of dedicated space for a gym, library and cafeteria that they do not have now. The Middle School will add several classrooms. They hope to break ground in the spring on both projects and complete the Middle School work by fall 2018 and the Saccarappa work by fall of 2020.
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Youth Services - Rotary UN Day and RYLA
Westbrook Interact adviser, Bruce Dyer, and Interact/RYLA students Kallie Cyr, Kelly Maguire, Kara Fortier and Sydney Cole (RYLA), were our guests on November 15. Kallie, Kelly and Kara went to Rotary UN Day, a two-day District-sponsored trip November 11-12. Sydney attended RYLA in June.
The Rotary UN Day trip included a visit to Time Square, dinner at Bubba Gump’s, attendance at the Broadway musical Phantom of the Opera, and a visit to the 9/11 Memorial, in addition to the UN activities. The students were at the UN for several hours. They attended an information fair where they learned about service projects that they might be interested in. They picked up lots of brochures, including information on sustainability projects that they are hoping to integrate into one of their classes this year. They heard from several high-powered speakers, including the Ambassador from South Korea and Rotary International President John Germ who provided insight on current topics affecting the global community. They also heard from several youth leaders. Finally, they learned about the fight against polio and the current status. They came away believing that even young people can create and work on projects that can make a difference.
Sydney spoke about her RYLA experience. She told us that RYLA stretched her comfort zone with positive risk taking. She came out of the experience more confident and outgoing.
 The Westbrook Interact Club has several projects in the works for this year. They are seeking older citizens for whom they can rake leaves. They will be baking pies for the holidays and bell ringing for Salvation Army kettles. They are also hoping to volunteer at Barbra Bush Children’s Hospital and with local nursing homes, as they have in past years.
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Crutches 4 Africa Container Load
On Saturday November 19, dozens of District 7780 Rotarians and Interacters converged on a warehouse in Biddeford to load the most recent container of mobility devices. Over 3000 crutches, canes, wheelchairs, boots and other items were loaded by the team and will be shipped to Uganda.
Huge thanks to Dennis Robillard, our District chair for C4A, and Israel Collins, President of Saco Bay Sunset, for all of their hours of effort organizing items leading up to this day. Thanks to Westbrook-Gorham Rotarians who participated: Jeff Malloy, Bill Gowen and Christine Johnson.
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Westbrook Arts and Culture
Caren-Marie Michel, Treasurer and Past President of Westbrook Arts and Culture, was our speaker on November 8. WAC was formed in 2006 as an arts and culture committee under Mayor Bruce Chaluda. By September 2008, the group had evolved into an independent organization with development of their mission statement which states in part: “Westbrook Arts and Culture vitalizes Westbrook by supporting the City’s cultural assets, integrating art and culture into community life and showcasing Westbrook as a great place to live and visit.”
Westbrook Arts and Culture gained support from the Maine Arts commission in 2007 and secured Cornelia Warren Community Association grants. In 2008, they established the Fourth Friday Art Walk. The group become largely inactive for a few years, but was revitalized in 2014 when it became a 501(c)3 charity. In May 2014, they sponsored Paper City Pop-up during which various businesses hung the work of local artists. In 2015, they sponsored the first Paint Westbrook event with 20 artists painting in several locations around the City. The 2016 Paint Westbrook event attracted about 30 artists. They also sponsored another Pop-Up display in 2016.
One of the most visible and popular projects of 2016 has been the Greetings from Westbrook sign recently painted over the course of about two weeks by Portland graffiti artist Mike Rich. The mural at 821 Main St was sponsored by WAC, the Warren Memorial Foundation, Ethos/Vont Marketing and six other downtown businesses: HVAC Service, Frog & Turtle, Swanson Group, Westbrook House of Pizza, Peoples United Bank and Fajita Grill. Each letter of Westbrook has been spray painted and includes iconic figures from the City’s history.
 Westbrook Arts and Culture has many plans for the future. These include: commission of a new sculpture for Riverwalk, development of their website to include artists and musicians working in Westbrook, and installation of a graffiti art wall near Warren Field. This proposed permanent art wall will be for use by graffiti artists in hopes of sparing other buildings in the City.
.jpg) Jason Beever (L) thanks Caren-Marie Michel
as she holds the book she signed for donation
to Baxter Memorial Library in Gorham
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Toys for Tots - THIS WEEK!!
The Toys For Tots Foundation is a Top-Rated Charity. Over 97% of donations go to their mission of providing toys, books, and other gifts to less fortunate children. Less than 3% is spent on fundraising and overhead.
This week, on November 29, 2016, our speaker will be Staff Sgt Andrew Roberson, Central Maine Marine Toys For Tots Coordinator. He will be telling us about local efforts in Maine around this signature program that helps make Christmas special for many children in need. The mission of the U. S. Marine Corps Toys for Tots Program is to collect new, unwrapped toys during October, November and December each year, and distribute those toys as Christmas gifts to less fortunate children in the community in which the campaign is conducted.
We encourage members to bring toys, children's books and/or cash donations for Toys for Tots to our meeting on November 29. If you choose to write a check, please make it payable to Westbrook Gorham Rotary Club Charities and the club will write a single check to Toys for Tots. Thank you for your support. Let's help provide a Merry Christmas to some local kids who might otherwise go without!
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Portland Trails - People-Powered Conservation
Thank you to Executive Director Kara Wooldrik of Portland Trails for her outstanding presentation at our weekly Westbrook-Gorham Rotary Club luncheon. Portland Trails is a non-profit land trust with the mission of creating and maintaining a network of trails and green spaces that connect people with places.
With 70 miles of trails, Portland Trails turned 25 years old this year. With a small staff of seven, they are an "umbrella organization" for many other trail and land trust groups throughout the Greater Portland area, including portions of the 28-mile Sebago To the Sea Trail that runs through the outdoor Warren Recreation area along the Presumpscot River. In the past year, they have seen 1M users of their trails. The organization has over 1000 members, over 3000 volunteers and over 200 corporate partners – people powered conversation. They encourage removal of invasive species to allow the growth of native plants. A top priority for the organization is to enable people-powered transportation – trails that help people move around, commute and run errands. Their magic number is ¼ mile. People are more likely to use the trails if they have access within ¼ of a mile. They have accomplished this goal in Portland and are now working on the same goal for Westbrook, Falmouth and other communities. Future projects include connecting the Conant property along the river to the Riverwalk and creating a Westbrook to Portland trail – 22 miles along the Presumpscot River from downtown to downtown.
 Jason Beever (L) with Kara Wooldrick (R) and
the book she signed for the Warren Library
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Gorham Interact Club Project
Don't forget the ongoing Gorham High School Interact Club project. From November 1 through November 22, they will be collecting latex free pediatric band aids (with characters, etc.), stickers, packages of crayons, and coloring books to support the new child life services section being implemented in the Emergency Department at Maine Medical Center in Portland. Look for their collection boxes at:
· Chalmers Insurance Group – 65A Main St, Gorham
· Great Falls Construction – 20 Mechanic St, Gorham · Mister Bagel – 13 New Portland RD, Gorham · Hannaford – 99 Main St, Gorham · Morgan Dental – 94 Main St, Gorham · Willis Real Estate – 34 E Main St, Gorham · Gorham House of Pizza – 2 State St, Gorham You may always bring donations to a club meeting on or before November 22. Tell your friends - Tell your family. Let's help the students make this project a big success!!
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Friends of the Presumpscot River
Mike Shaughnessy, President of the Friends of the Presumpscot River (FOPR), was our guest and speaker on October 25. Founded in 1992, FOPR is an all-volunteer non-profit organization, supported primarily by membership dues and small donations. Their mission is to protect and improve the water quality, indigenous fisheries, recreational opportunities and natural character of the Presumpscot River.
The Presumpscot River is 25 miles long and drops in elevation by over 270 feet as it runs from Sebago Lake to Casco Bay. The name Presumpscot originates from an Abenaki word meaning “many falls” or “many rough places”. The river was once teeming with fish including river-spawning salmon, shad and alewife, as well as land-locked salmon, brook trout and the now extinct Presumpscot Jumper. With industrialization, it became a river of dams used to generate power. At one time, there were 10 dams. With the removal of the Smelt Hill dam in 2002, there are now 9. All except one are owned by SAPPI.
One of FOPR’s areas of focus is to restore the vitality of the river by re-introducing the historic migratory sea-run fish river above Saccarappa Falls. This has involved working with dam owners to either remove the dam or install fish ladders. Alewife and shad are now migrating. Once small fish are re-established, larger fish should follow.
Fishing and bird watching are two of the most popular forms or recreation in the United States. The work being done by FOPR will enhance these activities in our area, making for an attractive community with easy access to river-based recreation.
.jpg) Mike Shaughnessy, President of FOPR (L) with Phil Spiller (R)
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Paul Emery - Paul Harris Fellow +1
On Friday October 21, Paul Emery was presented with the insignia designating him Paul Harris Fellow Plus One. Paul is currently at the Gosnell Memorial Hospice House Room 104 and has appreciated the visits from his fellow Rotarian.
Paul joined the Westbrook-Gorham Rotary Club in April 1998. Over the years, he has contributed many hours to Club fundraisers, events, and projects, all in the spirit of “service above self”. Paul has been our District’s Chair for Gift of Life New England for several years, an organization that brings children with heart defects to the US for life saving surgery. He has also been a longtime supporter of the Rotary Foundation and was approaching the PHF+1 recognition level when he became ill. Through a donation of Foundation points to thank him for his service, we were able to move him to that next level.
Westbrook-Gorham Rotary thanks Paul for his dedication to our Club, to Rotary, to our Community and to doing good in the world.
 Paul handing Gift of Life cases to John Curran
at MMC in July 21016
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District Foundation Chair Visits Club
Marty Helman, District Foundation Chair, was our guest and speaker on October 18. Marty thanked our Club for our growing commitment to the Rotary Foundation. She also recognized our participation in a District grant with My Place Teen Center last year and our current District grant that will supply a trauma bag for Cuatro Cayos, Guatemala.
She provided a polio update. Mike McGovern believes we are now counting down to polio eradication in months rather than years. While there have been a few new cases reported in Nigeria, a country that had been polio free for almost two years, they believe these are isolated cases and there are mechanisms in place to continue vaccinations and prevent a resurgence. The number of cases in Afghanistan and Pakistan are fewer than last year at this time, and environmental tests are free of polio.
Marty then spoke about how we might leverage ongoing work in Cuatros Cayos to develop a global grant. Global grants with a minimum of $30,000 are much larger than district grants and have more oversight. Global grants must be sustainable, involve knowledge transfer, source materials locally, and create a source of income that will allow for ongoing maintenance of whatever is installed. The good news is that by partnering with other clubs in our district, in the US, or other parts of the world, and with a local Guatemalan club like Los Atomos, a single club might only need to provide $1500-$3000 to support a Global grant. Bill and Jason will be working on a plan for a Global grant during the upcoming trip in February when they will have an opportunity to make connections, identify costs and action items.
Finally, we asked Marty to sign a book to be donated to the Baxter Memorial Library.
 Dr Wayne Lopez, President Jason Beever, Pres-Elect Bill Chadwick
and District Foundation Chair Marty Helman
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CLYNK for Literacy
Westbrook Gorham Rotary Club Charities has a CLYNK account to raise funds for our club's charitable arm. Funds raised through your CLYNK returns will be used to purchase children's books that our speakers will sign for donation to the Westbrook Warren and Gorham's Baxter Libraries.
Please pick up your pre-taggged CLYNK bags at any meeting. Pick up some extras for friends and family too. Bags are returned to Hannaford locations at your leisure. As funds add up, we will receive a check and purchase more bags.
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Donations to LibrariesThe first books signed by our recent speakers have been donated to the Gorham and Westbrook Libraries. Club Service Chair Christine Johnson with Walker Memorial Library Children’s Librarian Kara Reiman (T) and Baxter Memorial Library Children’s Librarian Heidi Whelan (B).
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Highlights of District 7780’s Cuba Trip
Bill Dunn of the Yarmouth Rotary Club was our guest and speaker on October 11. Bill was part of a team of 11 from District 7780 who traveled to Cuba in April of this year. The trip was led by the Rotary Club of Exeter NH who were awarded a District Grant to install water filters in several communities across Cuba. Rotarians from Bridgeton, ME, Exeter, NH, Kittery, ME, South Portland Cape Elizabeth, ME and Yarmouth, ME toured the western part of Cuba for seven days in early April.
The group was in Cuba on the 50th anniversary of Castro shutting down Rotary in that country. Rotary does not allow clubs to obtain or retain charters in countries with no freedom of assembly. While there, they could not promote Rotary, but they could answer questions. Bill told us that the state departments of the two countries had different agendas for their trip. The US wanted them to engage directly with and work with local people. The Cubans wanted to promote tourism. The did a bit of both in their time there.
Each traveler packed about half of their suitcases with medical supplies where were sorted for distribution. Some of the team worked with a local plumber to install filtration systems in three communities, while others on the team visited the local hospitals to distribute the medical supplies. They found that hospitals had plenty of doctors, but had limited supplies. The filtration systems were installed in locked rooms, with spigots outside of the rooms with Rotary signage. The first system took them 3 hours to install, the second 2 hours, and the final system took 1.5 hours. Three additional systems were sent to other communities.
Transportation was a challenge throughout their trip. Sometimes the arranged transportation did not arrive, so alternate plans had to be made. In Cardenas, horse drawn carriages were the norm as car parts are hard to come by. In Havana, they saw many old US cars, although many of those are owned by the government.
The established tourism industry caters to Europeans and Asians who had not been banned from travel to Cuba. Their final stop was in Havana where they toured the Hemingway Museum and took in the night life. They visited the famous Tropicana night club, where Bill was pulled on stage with the dancers. The entertainment that evening was two hours of non-stop music and elaborate costumes.
 Bill Dunn (L) holding the book he signed for the Walker Library
with Christine Johnson
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District Grant Awarded We are pleased to report that our club has been awarded a $2400 District Grant towards our project in Cuatro Cayos Guatemala. This money, along with our match of $1000, will fund a trauma bag unit along with training on how to use it. Assistant District Gov Tony Wagner (L) presents the District Grant check to Pres Elect Bill Chadwick, President Jason Beever and Foundation Chair Steve Rand (L to R).
 In addition, during the Board meeting of August 30, Bill told us about eco stoves that can be constructed in Guatemalan homes. These stoves are made from about $60 work of materials and help vent cooking smoke, providing a healthier home environment for women and children. The board voted to approve $360 to build 6 stoves during the February trip.
 Thanks to Rev Bill who wrote the grant proposal and who has done so much legwork on the ground in Guatemala. More and greater projects to come!!
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New Member Inducted: Woody Beach 
Woody was born in Canada, but moved to Maine in 1940. He graduated from Deering High School in 1947 and from the University of Maine with a degree in General Engineering. He worked in the paper industry for his entire career. He started in paper manufacturing in Lee MA, later worked in sales, and finally in consulting on ways to make better paper. In 1991, he and his late wife Virginia, purchased a home on Raymond Pond where he currently lives.
Woody’s has history with Rotary, as his father was a member in Rumford ME. Over the years, Woody has been a member of several Rotary clubs. First in Lee MA, then in Hartford City IN, later in Raleigh NC, and finally Westbrook-Gorham.
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Rotary Meets at the Historical SocietyThe Westbrook Historical Society was the setting for our meeting of August 9. Thanks to Mike Sanphy, new Rotarian and President of the Westbrook Historical Society, Tom Clarke - Treasurer, and Diane Dyer - Director, for hosting our meeting. The Historical Society is strong thanks to members and volunteers like Mike, Tom, Diane, and Martha Brackett - Secretary.
 L-R: Mike Sanphy, Tom Clarke, Martha Brackett
Absent: Diane Dyer
The Westbrook Historical Society was founded in 1975 at a time when many communities across the United States were considering how to best preserve their own history as we approached our country’s bicentennial. The Society was originally housed at the old High School (now elderly housing), and later on the second floor at the Dunn St Legion Hall. They now occupy ground floor space at the Westbrook Community Center, making them handicap accessible.
 In recognition of our 90 years, Westbrook-Gorham Rotary has donated several items to our growing collection at the Historical Society. Thanks to President Jason Beever who has donated many items from his late mother Jane Beever’s collection. These include a box of items from the time of Ken Brook’s time as District Governor, programs, club directories, song books, and Jane’s PHF certificate and medallion.
 L-R: Jason Beever and Mike Sanphy
The Westbrook Historical Society has a large collection of our newsletters from across the years, but there are large gaps in the record. If you have any Reveille’s or Scribblers in your collection, please consider donating them to the Historical Society. Also, if you know any former Rotarians or family members who may have material in their family, please let them know of our efforts to acquire Westbrook-Gorham Rotary related material of all kinds for preservation.
 Some of the Rotary collection at the Society
Finally, we now have a small collection of Rotary pins, patches, and insignia. We are interested in collecting more to create a nice display we can donate and present to the Historical Society. If you have any theme pins, district pins, interact pins, programs pins (like polio plus, rotaplast, RAG, Gift of Life, etc), or other insignia that you no longer wear, please bring them to a meeting.
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Community BBQ Held August 8
On Sunday August 8, a beautiful summer day, a celebration was held to honor two young men who lost their lives too soon: Trey Arsenault & DJ Bruenig. DJ's brother Derrick began a fund to help Trey's family. So many generous people gave so much, that he donated a portions of those funds to help rehab the basketball courts at the Cornelia Warrant Sports Complex where Trey loved to play. Sadly, Derrick lost his brother to a tragic accident in February of this year. Trey and DJ were best friends and so the renovation of the courts now honors both young men.
The City and many local groups like Kiwanis and Rotary have also provided support for this project. The courts are now paved. Soon, drainage work will be completed along with the addition of lights, landscaping and amenities like a bike rack and fencing. We expect that there will be opportunities for some hands-on work by volunteer groups to finish this wonderful community project.
We were pleased the District Governor Marge Barker joined a few Westbrook-Gorham Rotarians at this celebration.
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Westbrook Gorham Rotary Club CharitiesRich Emerson - CPA Managing Partner & Tax Specialist with Purdy Powers and Company - reviewed our new 501c3 entity with the Westbrook-Gorham Rotary Club, outlining new procedures and bookkeeping requirements. The purpose of adding a 501c3 entity is to facilitate donations to Rotary Club service and charitable projects as possible tax deductible items for the individual donor.
The Club remains a 501c4, a membership organization. Dues will continue to be paid to the Club. Westbrook-Gorham Club Charities is our new 501c3 entity that will also include the current Rotary House account.
 L to R: Bill Gowen – Treasurer, Rich Emerson – Tax Accountant,
Jason Beever - President
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47 Dale Ave Under Contract
We are very pleased to announce that the current Rotary House at 47 Dale Ave is now under contract. The buyer is purchasing the house along with the final lot next door.
Judith Reidman, along with Pat and Cliff Plummer, are working the punch list items to ready the house for closing. As in the past, they will put out a request to the club for help when it is ready for the final clean up.
Here are some pictures of our latest project. A great job by the students of the Westbrook Regional Vocation Center.
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Polio - We have not yet won the warRe-published here is an article by Mike McGovern from Beyond Borders, a Zones 24 & 32 publication (http://portal.clubrunner.ca/50077).
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Presumpscot River Land Trust (PRLT)Dr. Mike Parker is a retired dentist, former Gorham Planning Board Member, and current President of PRLT, a non-profit conservation organization founded in 1986. The goal of Presumpscot River Land Trust is to conserve land for the public good and promote conservation of land with public access for low impact recreation. They focus on conserving and protecting outstanding lands in Gorham, Gray, Sebago, Standish, Westbrook, and Windham to preserve the character of the Presumpscot River watershed for the benefit of people and wildlife.
Added to the list of land for Maine’s future have been: Randall Orchards, Gumbo Gun power Mills, Land neat the new Great Falls Elementary School, Mill Brook Preserve, and others. Also, PRLT has collaborated with Sebago To The Sea Trail Project.
 Pictured: Mike Parker (L) with Wayne Lopez
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Lobster Bake 2016The weather in Standish at beautiful Sebago Lake was perfect on Tuesday July 19. About 50 Westbrook-Gorham Rotarians and friends enjoyed lobster or steak at our annual lobster bake, followed by a Rotary sing-along. Warren the Moose was also there enjoying the festivities!
  Thanks are due to many people: to Henry Saunders for hosting us again this year; to Nelson Harmon for organizing and securing the lobsters; to Dan Willett, Walt Stinson, and Mike Foley for cooking up a great feast; to Pat & Cliff Plummer for elbow grease, utensils, and supplies; to all members who helped prepare the site and/or brought a dish or dessert to share.
   A very successful team effort. Thank you for making this a great event of food and fellowship.
     Let's do it again next year!!
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100 Acts of Good
In celebration of the 100th Anniversary of the Rotary Foundation, Rotary is encouraging members everywhere to do 100 acts of good throughout the year. Let others know by posting photos of yourself on social media, along with a brief description of the act, using the hashtag #100actsofgood.
Learn more at: http://centennial.rotary.org/en/get-caught-act-doing-good
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Cookin’ for those RotariansThanks to Woody Beach, long time Rotarian and UMaine alumna, for presenting us with a District 779 cookbook circa 1958. His dad was also a long time Rotarian from the Rumford Club and this cookbook comes from his collection.
 L-R: Christine Johnson President 2015-2016, Woody Beach,
Dan Willett
Cookin' for those Rotarians was sponsored by the Westbrook Rotary Club during the District Governor year of our own Phil Stultz. As noted in the forward, his wife Orra was instrumental in the compilation of the book, collecting recipes from her fellow Rotary-Anns. The book was dedicated to then Rotary International President Clifford A Randall who is said to have been “a specialist in the culinary arts”. It is fun to note that the contents are in both English and French, as parts of Canada were included in our District at that time.
  We will look forward to sharing some recipes in future Scribblers.
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Westbrook-Warren Recreation Area Under RenovationPrep work has officially begun on the Westbrook-Warren Recreation area - Phase I of a planned multi-phase project in the first major refresh of the area since 1982. The planning committee hopes to have two new full-length basketball courts, lighting, seating, and landscaping ready for presentation to the community by the middle of August - in the first step towards a larger project focusing on the ball fields, trail system, parking, security, entrances, pool area and other park features of the entire area leading along the Presumpscot to Riverbank Park.
 Westbrook-Gorham Rotary has agreed to fund a bike rack, an item identified as an extra amenity by the planning committee. On July 26, we'll present our check to Maria Dorn from the City of Westbrook. Thanks to Phil Spiller for bringing this need to our attention.
The recreation area was originally established on Westbrook's 100th birthday in 1914, when SD Warren's son John built a trail from the old Warren swimming pool in the river (concrete pilings still visible in the river to this day below the current pool in the park) to Riverbank Park - also established in 1914 by John Warren to join the villages of Saccarappa and Congin and bring the city closer together.
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Multiple Paul Harris Fellows AwardedOn June 7, we thanked Henry Saunders for his long time support of the Rotary Foundation by recognizing him with a Paul Harris Fellow +2. In the past, Henry has funded Paul Harris Fellows for his late wife Marge Saunders and his brother Don Saunders. Henry has served in Rotary for nearly 49 years.
.JPG) On June 14, we thanked Dr. Wayne Lopez for his ongoing support of the Rotary Foundation with a Paul Harris Fellow +4. Wayne has served in Rotary for over 36 years.
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District ConferenceThe 2016 District Conference was held at the Tarry A While Resort in Bridgtonr. This beautiful property is located on the shores of Highland Lake, with views of Shawnee Peak. Tarry A While
  Friday morning, a group of Rotarians met at the Maine Lake Science Center in Bridgton and blazed a new trail for the facility. Maine Lakes Science Center
.jpg) In the afternoon, it was off to set up for the Conference. As attendees and guests arrived, they were greeted by live music, a solo guitar, and some delicious appetizers. Opening remarks were made by District 7870 DG Sandra McGonagle and key note address for the evening was delivered by David Lee. David, a management consultant and thought leader in the field of employee engagement and performance, spoke to the power of storytelling as a means of attracting and engaging new members. What is YOUR Rotary story? Share that story with your fellow Rotarians, friends, neighbors and business acquaintances.
 Throughout the conference, the Hall of Friendship highlighted service projects and initiatives underway in many clubs across the District. Westbrook-Gorham highlighted our relationship with My Place Teen Center.
.jpg) There was also an ongoing silent auction to raise funds for Polio Plus. Our club contributed a Maine Wine & Chocolates bag that was well received and bids exceeded our expense to provide that item.
  On Saturday the first Plenary Session subject was Human Trafficking, with panelists that included law enforcement, social workers and a local survivor of trafficking. The moderator, Jennifer Morin of Not Here Justice in Action Network, led the discussion on working collaboratively across a multi-disciplinary network to combat human trafficking and exploitation.
The second Plenary Session was on Peace & Conflict Resolution. Marilyn Kellogg, Founder and Director of Open Minds based in Manchester NH, led a discussion with two young people who have worked in her program - one of whom grew up in a refugee camp and the other who grew up on military bases across the US.
The third Plenary Session was a presentation by the District Vocational Training team who recently visited Argentina and the four-member Argentine team that was on the last leg of their exchange trip to our District.
 After hours in the Rec Hall with the Argentine
Vocational Group and hosts
.jpg) Bridgton Rotarian Mody Botros (L) with
Bridgton Interact & Earlyact students
The final Plenary Session was a presentation by local Interact and Earlyact students who participated in a recent international service trip to Dominican Republic where they installed toilets and created a safe playground at a local school. For more information, and to hear from the participants: Bridgton Interact Service Project - DR . After lunch we heard from Exeter Club President Rachael Ela MacDonnell about the recent District Grant trip to Cuba to install water filtration systems and delivery medical supplies.
That evening, Julia Phelps, Rotary International Director for Zones 24 & 32 shared her Rotary story with us. After a wonderful dinner prepared by A Fine Kettle of Fish, awards for the year were presented. We then adjourned for a dance demo and some lessons in the rec hall.
.jpg)  L-R: Linda & Jason Beever; Steve & Patty Rand;
Christine Johnson
The conference ended on Sunday morning with a nice remembrance of Rotarians from District 7780 who had passed in the past year. 19 Rotarians, with over 350 years of service were remembered with a candle lit and a bell run as each name was read. We concluded by signing Amazing Grace.
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An Award Winning YearThe Rotary Club of Westbrook-Gorham was pleased to be presented both the Governor's Citation and the Bronze Presidential Citation for the 2015-2016 Rotary Year during the District Conference this year.
Thanks to all who worked so hard this year to make these Awards a reality!!
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Bits & Pieces from Club AssemblyMPTC - Our District Grant work with MPTC is now complete with the meal of June 10. Thanks to Deb Shangraw and Paul Emery who took the last shift. Also thanks to all who participated over the course of the last several months, including Mike Foley, Steve Rand, Juile Hamm, and Christine Johnson (we apologize for any omissions).
 L-R: Mike Sanphy, Deb Shangraw, Paul Emery
New Members - Two new members were confirmed by the Board on June 7. We are pleased to welcome Jessie Jamison and Ethan Johnson to the Rotary family.
.jpg) .jpg) Golf Classic - Time to start solicitation for our Annual Golf Classic on September 20, 2016. Brochures should be available at our next meeting. Electronic version is available from Steve Rand.
 MPTC Beach to Beacon - Race Volunteers are needed to support MPTC as major beneficiary of this year's B2B. If you are interested, go to http://www.beach2beacon.org/volunteer and sign up for Team MPTC.
 Literacy Initiative - Kate Wight reported on a reading initiative she is developing with the Village School in Gorham. This will start in the Fall. Any who volunteer are asked to commit to one hour a week for 6 weeks. In addition, the school will be interested in volunteers talking about their vocation with students. This sounds like a wonderful project and it ties in nicely with the Governor's Literacy Award for the 2016-2017 Rotary year and DGE Marge Barker's focus on Literacy.
Gift of Life - Gift of Life New England held a board meeting recently. Paul Emery attended. There as some concern that this organization would disband, but it will continue. Paul has asked the organization to help him fund one child during the upcoming Rotary year.
House Project - Dale Ave - We are nearly ready to put this house on the market. A meeting was to be held Wednesday June 8 to review remaining steps. The mold had been completely remediated. We will look for an update at our next meeting. We must also now start the process of developing the final lot on Dale Ave.
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Revitalizing Downtown Westbrook is Focus of Coalition
Since November 2014, Abigail Cioffi has served as the Coordinator for the Westbrook Downtown Coalition, working with local business and other interested people to build a sustainable and complete community revitalization effort using the proven components of Design, Economic Vitality, Organization, and Promotion.
The Westbrook Downtown Coalition is community run to make sure all stakeholders have a voice in the process, including businesses and residents of the City. They have looked to other successful communities to provide examples for success, like Biddeford which is helping Westbrook develop a strategic plan. Also, Montclair NJ which won the Great American Main Street national award last year.
Strategic planning and visioning have been a focus of this group to date, since a plan is required to apply for many grants. There are many opportunities to request funding to support their efforts including Community Development Block Grant program, National Historic Trust program through HUD and Maine Development Foundation, and Main Street Development program.
Abigail told us that there is lot of excitement around the planning process, and people ready to go and get things done. They are now recruiting committee members.
For more information, contact Abigail Cioffi at (207) 391-2977 or Abigail@downtownwestbrook.com
 (L-R) Abigail Cioffi –Westbrook Downtown Coalition Coordinator,
Philip Spiller and Christine Johnson
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Scholarships to be Awarded May 26
We are pleased to announce that twenty-eight $500 scholarships and two $250 toolships will be awarded at the WRVC Awards night on Thursday May 26. The event starts at 7PM at Westbrook High School auditorium. All are welcome to attend and recognize these fine students.
As part of their application, students were required to write a three paragraph essay about the impact that vocational education has had on them. Some of the statements that stood out to the selection committee:
Thanks to Pat Plummer, Cliff Plummer and Judith Reidman for reviewing the applications.
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Paul Harris Fellow AwardsCongratulations to Westbrook-Gorham Rotary Club members Dr Jack Kivus and Patricia Plummer. They were recognized at our meeting of May 17 with the prestigious Paul Harris Award. Jack recently achieved PHF and Pat PHF +1.
Paul Harris Fellow recognition is given to individuals who contribute $1,000 or more cumulatively to the Rotary Foundation. Multiple Paul Harris Fellow recognition is given at subsequent $1,000 levels.
Thanks to both for supporting the great work of our Foundation.
 (L-R) Patricia Plummer, Dr. Jack Kivus,
and Foundation Chair Steven Rand
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It’s A Girl!!
Jeff and Kiersten Malloy are pleased to announce the birth of their daughter, Peighton Evelyn Malloy. She was born on Mother’s day 5/8/16 weighing 6 pounds 13 ounces.
Congratulations to the whole family!!
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Rotary Volunteers at Westbrook Community Cleanup Day
Joining other citizens of Westbrook, The Rotary Club of Westbrook/Gorham members were delighted to spend their Saturday morning picking up paper, plastic cubs, bottles and cans, and cigarette butts from the road sides and public places of the City of Westbrook, all in an effort to make beautiful the city they love.
.JPG) Lynn Leavitt, Sustainability Coordinator – City of Westbrook,
Christine Johnson, Paul Emery, Rotary, Julie Hamm
Note Pictured: Mike Foley; Judith & Ed Reidman
.JPG) Future Rotarian!??
.JPG) Fun with tools
.JPG) Cleaning the ditch near the High School
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Highland Lake Grange 2016 Community Service Award
Congratulations to Deb Shangraw, recipient of the 2016 Highland Lake Grange Community Service Award. This award is given annually to a Westbrook resident who has positively impacted the surrounding community.
At a special meeting of the Grange on May 5, attended by family, friends, fellow Rotarians, City Officials, the Director of My Place Teen Center, and Grange members, Grange Master David Gown listed the many service organizations Deb is involved with, including the Westbrook Gorham Rotary, My Place Teen Center, and the annual Toys for Tots drive, and work on the Duck Pond Historic District Committee. David concluded with the words “She’s done a lot for the city, especially the teen center. She’s always there to help people, the award is well deserved.”
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Stroudwater Food Pantry - Feeding Those in Need
A Sunday sermon by our own Rev Bill Chadwick led to the creation of the Stroudwater Christian Church Food Pantry (SCCFP) in 2015. As Doug Horner relayed the story to us at our meeting on Tuesday May 3, Bill spoke of the need to address hunger in our immediate community. Doug, who had been looking for an opportunity to serve, raised his hand to volunteer to lead that effort. On their first day, about 9 months ago, they served 6 families. This all volunteer effort is now serving 326 families, half of those from Westbrook, on a regular basis. This represents about 1000 people.
The SCCFP mission is: To do the work of Jesus feeding those in need and reducing the number of food insecure within the Greater Portland Community. Their strategic goals are: 1) Feed the hungry, 2) Treat people with dignity and respect, 3) Build it to last - sustainability and 4) Own their financial solvency outside of the church budget.
The Food Pantry is a 501c3 organization and is registered with both the Good Shepherd Food Band and Feeding America. These organizations provide significant help to their registrants. They manage the relationship with Hannaford that allows SCCFP to pick up food directly from each participating Hannaford store once a week. Hannaford provides fresh meat, dairy, fruits and vegetables, along with baked goods. However, dry goods are not included. Our food donations this week helped fill that gap.
Out of about 1.3M people in Maine, over 200,000 lived in food insecure households in 2015. This means they could not count on 3 meals a day. In this number are 1 in 4 children. The volunteers of the Stroudwater Christian Food Pantry are doing their part to address those numbers. Unlike many other food pantries, they are open twice a week: Wednesdays 12-3 and Sundays 1-3. Registered families can come once a week on either day to pick up food quantities based on guidelines for calories and nutrition based on household size.
Thanks to all who brought in your generous donations of dry goods. Your support is very much appreciated.
 L-R: Rev Bill Chadwick, Dr Wayne Lopez, Doug Horner,
Paul Emery, Christine Johnson
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Four Generations of RotaryJason Beever’s family has a long standing commitment to service through Rotary and a long history of family businesses in Gorham. His great grandfather, Clarence E. Carll, along with his cousin Eugene C. Carll, raised corn on a farm in Buxton and had a corn canning business in Buxton and Gorham. They also co-owned Carll’s Insurance Agency in Gorham. Clarence eventually took over the business and renamed it C. E. Carll Agency. He later sold that business to his son-in-law Arthur D. Andrew, Jason’s grandfather. At the untimely death of his brother Lawrence, Arthur took over L.C. Andrew Lumber Company and sold the insurance agency to Jason’s father John S. “Mike” Beever.
According to early records, Clarence joined Westbrook Rotary Club sometime prior to 1928 and was President of the club in 1937-38. Arthur joined as young man in 1934 and was President in 1942-1943.
  Clarence E. Carll Arthur D. Andrew
circa 1928 circa 1934
The club program on October 9, 1984 was a celebration honoring Arthur for 50 years of perfect attendance. Master of Ceremonies at that meeting was John Hay (Hay Funeral Home) who had achieved his 50 years of perfect attendance the year before in 1983. The two had a friendly rivalry to see who would have the most years of perfect attendance, which was eventually won by John Hay when Arthur's declining health prevented him from going to meetings.
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RYLA - The Gift That Keeps on GivingKatelyn Gendron, currently with WEX, was a Westbrook-Gorham Rotary-sponsored 2003 RYLA (Rotary Youth Leadership Awards) participant and is a 2005 graduate of WHS. For her, RYLA was truly a life changing experience where she learned a lot about herself, including finding her passion for helping others achieve their goals. She was so impressed with RYLA, that she went back as a facilitator from 2004-2007. After college in Florida, an MBA, and a career start, she returned as a facilitator in 2015 and is now on the Advisory Staff of the program. She also volunteers with Junior Achievement.
 Katelyn (right) at RLYA 2003
When preparing to speak to us, she asked herself “What is RYLA’s secret sauce?” She identified three key components: 1) The amazing location at Camp Hinds, in the woods away from electronic devices; 2) Meeting new people from across Maine and New Hampshire, people with whom you have no history, kind of a clean slate; and 3) The caliber of those people – staff and students.
RYLA is about “doing”, but is also about “discussing”. They tackle team challenges using a common model that looks at accomplishing a task through a good, ethical process that leads to positive relationships. RYLA cultivates a personal growth mindset, where failure is seen as a learning opportunity. Fundamentally, RYLA is a scholarship program in leadership training.
Our Club is proud to have sponsored Katelyn 13 years ago, and continues to be committed to sponsoring several students each year. To qualify, students must be completing their Sophomore year of high school, complete the RYLA application, and complete an interview. Time is running short, but RYLA applications can be obtained from WHS or GHS Guidance, or by contacting the Westbrook-Gorham Rotary Club.
 L-R: Hal Thomas W-G Rotary RYLA Selection Committee
Katelyn Gendron - RYLA 2003 & RYLA Advisory Staff
Phil Giordano - President 2015-2016 Scarborough Rotary
& District RYLA Chair
Jason Beever - W-G Rotary President-Elect &
RYLA Selection Committee
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67th Annual Road Race Held On a Warm Spring DayOur 67th Annual Patriots' Day Road Race was held on Monday April 18, with temperatures approaching the 70s by the time trophies were awarded. Thanks to all the teams who participated: Westbrook, Gorham, Scarborough, South Portland, and Deering. We had a good crowd of almost 70 runners.
 .jpg)  The top boys team was from Scarborough and the top girls team was from Westbrook. Top three girls all from Westbrook: Maddie Hebert, Delilah Graffam, Maddie Smith. Top three boys all from Scarborough: Colin Tardiff, Andrew Sholl and Connor Doherty.
  Thanks to all of you who volunteered for Race Day: Dave Rolfe, Frank Emery, Steve Rand, Jason Beever, Judith Reidman, Jeff Malloy, Hal Thomas, Christine Johnson, and Bill Gowen. This historic race could not continue without the support of our club members. Special thanks go to Dave Rolfe who lead the volunteers in Owen’s absence. Also a huge thank you to Owens McCullough for the pre-race organization and coordination. In addition, he sent along two of his engineers to help out - Craig Burgess and Tyler Peabody. Their on-site support was critical.
  Finally, a big thanks goes to the City of Westbrook: Brian from Public Services who helped us set up and break down safely, the Fire Dept which provided an ambulance to follow the runners, Police Dept for providing a car to lead the runners, and particularly to Chief Roberts who wielded the starter pistol. A great community effort!
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Family Crisis Services Provides a Wide Range of Services in our Community
Jenny Stasio, Director of Operations of Family Crisis Services (FCS), spoke about the evolving role of FCS. FCS was founded in 1977 and is the domestic violence resource center that serves victims and survivors in Cumberland County. FCS provides safe and accessible services to all people affected by domestic violence regardless of race, ethnicity, disability, sexual orientation, gender, age, primary language spoken, or immigration status.
FCS provides a wide variety of services including a 16 bed shelter in Portland, youth advocacy, prison advocacy, elder advocacy, and a 24 hour hotline. Anyone looking for help for an individual can call this hotline: friends, family, church family, neighbors, etc. The two full time elder advocates work with victims of elder abuse and can meet with folks in their homes. In the past grant year, they have seen and worked with over 500 victims who were age 50+.
They have outreach offices in Bridgeton, Brunswick and at the Portland Police Dept. They credit EPIC, Enhanced Police Interest Collaborative, with preventing homicides. They also run a program called Guys with Pies, a program that works with you men (over pizza) to mentor them to break the cycle of abuse.
FCS now has 46 active volunteers in addition to their full time staff. These volunteers are being featured on FCS FaceBook page during the month of April: https://www.facebook.com/FamilyCrisisServices/?fref=ts
FCS receives funding for their programs from many sources: the United Way, Federal grants, Community Development Block Grants, by budget line items of Cities and Towns in Cumberland County, and by private donations. Their Third Annual Gala Dinner & Auction will be held Thursday May 5, 2016 from 6-9PM at the Westin Portland Harborview. For more information or to purchase tickets: http://newbeginningsgala.com/
Pictured: Jenny Stasio with Judith Reidman
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Westbrook Police Chief Update
We are pleased to report that Westbrook Police Chief Janine Roberts joined us for lunch on April 12. She provided a brief update on policing initiatives underway in Westbrook.
Thanks to grant funding and a City match, the Community Policing Coordinator for the Brown St area of Westbrook has been on the job for 6 months. The officer is located at 192 Brown St in a converted apartment and the department now expects funding will be available for a second year.
Westbrook will have two bicycle officers this summer and two new patrol officers will be coming on board May 1.
A new police dog has been purchased. The dog's name is Brook and her Canine Officer will be Ben Paul.
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Interact Club - Serving Our CommunityWestbrook High School Interact club members were recognized at the Rotary luncheon for their many community service projects. Some of their activities they told us about include: decorating the school hallways for Spirit Week, hosting a Valentine's Day Tea at Springbrook Nursing Home, Christmas gift wrapping at the Community Center, Salvation Army bell ringing and raking leaves for elderly residents of Westbrook. An ongoing project which many of the students participate in is Big Brothers/Big Sisters. Ths is done in conjunction with other service clubs at the High School and involves students from all of the elementary schools in Westbrook. As they did last year, they have plans to visit Barbara Bush Children's Hospital to visit with sick children in the near future.
Thanks to current President Letta Oeur and Junior Reilly Joyce for sharing what the club has been up to this year and some of their plans for next year.
 Standing L to R: Bruce Dyer - WHS Club Advisor,
Brianna Garcia, Courtney Arsenault, Sarah Terrano,
Alexandria Phelps, Danielle Breunig.
Seated: Morgan Menezes, Reilley Joyce,
Interact President Letta Oeur, Natalie Merrill
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Road Race April 18 / No Meeting April 19
Our 67th Annual Patriots' Day Road Race road race for local high school boys and girls will be held on Monday April 18. Owens McCullough and Dave Rolfe have been hard at work behind the scenes and will be asking for help this week. Letters have been sent to area coaches and the request has been made for public safety support.
Volunteers should plan on arriving by 9AM. We'll need help checking in the runners, handing out numbers, recording the order of finish, and supplying water, among other activities. The race starts at 10AM. Once the race finishes, we'll tabulate the results, award the trophies, and will need help cleaning up.
Always a fun time and a great make up opportunity as well. We hope to see everyone there to help with logistics and cheer on the runners!
Note that school vacation week starts April 18, so there will be no meeting on Tuesday April 19.
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Presidential Citation 2015-2016 - Announcement
Every year, Rotary’s Presidential Citation program helps Rotary clubs around the world focus their efforts and achieve more in their service. This year, for the first time, the Presidential Citation was data-driven and goals were quite challenging. The criteria were in the following categories:
1) Mandatory Activities in setting goals in Rotary Club Central and paying July semi-annual dues on time - We achieved both goals.
2) Membership Development and Retention - We exceeded by achieving all 4 goals.
3) Online Tool Adoption - We fell short by one, only achieving 1 goal.
4) Foundation Giving - We exceeded by achieving all 4 goals
5) Humanitarian Service - We exceeded by achieving 4 goals.
6) New Generations - We fell short by one, only achieving 1 goal.
7) Public Image - We exceeded by achieving both goals.
The purpose of the Citation is to honor the efforts of the many clubs who have worked so hard toward their Rotary goals during the year. Seeing how many Clubs had made great strides in service without reaching every goal needed to achieve a Citation, RI President K.R Ravindran sought a way to recognize that work as well.
As a result, the Citation this year will be modified and issued in three levels: Gold, Silver, and Bronze. The Gold citation will recognize those who met the high bar of all seven goals; Silver citations will go to those who have achieved six goals, and Bronze will go to those who have attained five (including, in all cases, the mandatory goals).
As you will note from our Club's results shown above, Westbrook-Gorham Rotary achieved bronze level. We met or exceeded in 5 categories, falling one goal short in each of two others. Congratulations to all and thank you for your contributions that made this possible!
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Amazing Participation at District Assembly!!Ten Westbrook-Gorham Rotarians attended the District Assembly on April 2 at USM Portland. Our FaceBook pro, Kate Wight got a group "selfie" as we started our day. Unfortunately, Paul Emery missed the photo op as he was networking with one of the 100+ Rotarians from around the District who attended this annual event. It should be noted that our Club had the highest attendance per capita of any club. Love the enthusiasm!!
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Mobility Device Collection UnderwayMobility - Health - Dignity - Access - These are the goals of Crutches 4 Africa, a non-profit organization created by David Talbot of the Rotary Club of Mountain Foothills, just west of Denver, Colorado. It is estimated that 20M people in Africa alone have a need for a mobility device.
We are pleased to report that Westbrook-Gorham Rotarian Jeff Malloy has been collecting mobility devices in support of Crutches 4 Africa. We are fortunate that Casco Federal Credit Union has the local space to store the devices until they can be taken to the District storage facility in Biddeford. Once enough units are collected at Biddeford, they will be loaded into a shipping container and sent to where they are most needed.
 Each shipping container can hold about 3000 units. A "unit" is a pair of crutches, a cane, a walker, a brace or a wheelchair. It costs $9000 to $10,000 to ship container from the US to Africa.  Our Club is hoping to learn from the successful collection activities of the Saco Bay Club and place collection boxes and signage in local grocery stores in both Westbrook and Gorham. Look for more information about how you can help with this effort.
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David Talbot - Crutches 4 AfricaOn May 4, 1955, about 3 weeks after Jonas Salk discovered his vaccine, David contracted polio in Denver CO. He awoke paralyzed and was admitted to Denver Children's Hospital on May 7, to a ward with 18-20 other children. However, because he lived in the US, with access to great health care and physical therapy, by third grade he was living a normal childhood and actively participating in sports. Unfortunately, starting with some noticed weakness in 2001-2003, he was diagnosed with post polio syndrome and currently uses crutches and a brace.
A videographer by profession, David spent time in Africa. What he saw there led him to found Crutches 4 Africa to provide mobility devices to help those afflicted by diseases, like polio, and by other causes like land mines. In 2006, he was in Africa where he witnessed adults and children who crawled on the ground because they did not have access to crutches or braces. By the end of that year, David had collected 235 pairs of crutches and shipped them to Uganda. He also joined the Rotary Club of Mountain Foothills in Denver, CO.
To date Crutches for Africa has shipped over 73,000 units to a long list of countries in Africa which has meant that thousands of men and women no longer needed to crawl through mud, garbage, and sewage.
 L-R: Jeff Malloy, David Talbot, Candace Talbot, Dennis Robillard
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Rotarians Doing Good in GuatemalaRev Bill Chadwick spoke about his church’s work in Cuatro Cayos, a small town in the jungles of Guatemala. He and fellow Rotarian Wayne Lopez recently led a group of 20 to work on several ongoing projects. These projects include building and equipping a school, establishing a bakery to be owned and run locally, building a health clinic, providing dental services, feeding local children, providing mosquito nets to fight Zika Virus, among other projects
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 Bill showed how this work dovetails with the Rotary Foundation's motto of Doing Good in the World and to Rotary’s six areas of focus: Promoting Peace, Disease Prevention, Water & Sanitation, Education, Economic Development, and Child & Maternal care.    Finally, he spoke about his vision for the future: equipping this new clinic with a portable dental chair and other associated equipment. We hope to submit this project for a District grant in 2016.
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WHS Interact at New Generations ConferenceThe Westbrook High School Interact Club sent seven students this past weekend to the New Generations Conference. Attendees were treated to a continental breakfast and a couple of ice breakers in the cafeteria where they met and learned about students from other schools. The energy in the room was high! Then off to the auditorium for a series of speakers which included a panel discussing Student Exchange, RYLA and Roteract, and a presentation by David Talbot of Crutches 4 Africa, among other speakers.
.jpg) L-R: Christine Johnson - W-G Rotary, Brianna Garcia,
Natalie Merrill, Letta Oeur - Interact President,
Reily Schumacher, Courtney Arsenault, Danielle Breunig,
Reilley Joyce, Bruce Dyer - Interact Advisor
After a great lunch, keynote speaker Rotarian Deepa Willingham, Founder/Chair of PACE Universal, talked about poverty and illiteracy in the world, especially among girls in developing countries. It is estimated that 600-800 thousand people are trafficked across international borders each year. Most of these are women and girls, including girls as young as 5. In the US, it is estimated that 14,500 -17500 people are trafficked annually, primarily women and children. Extreme poverty and lack of schooling are significant factors driving these numbers. With no education, the cycle of poverty continues from one generation to the next.
.jpg) Promise of Assurance to Children Everywhere (PACE) was established to meet the educational needs of girls in impoverished areas of India and elsewhere. PACE started with 25 students at its pilot learning center in Piyali, India, and now has over 200 girls enrolled. There is currently a second school under construction in Mexico and another planned for Honduras. There is even discussion of establishing a program in Appalachia. The school provides full education to girls of the community, but also offers programs to their mothers in finance and language skills. In Piyali, this has led to many small businesses that allow women to provide income to the household, raising the standard of living for the entire family.
To read more go to: paceuniveral.org or watch this YouTube Video: https://youtu.be/YwEhKu3T51Q
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One on One with David Talbot
On Friday March 25, a small group of local Rotarians was fortunate to meet with David Talbot, Founder of Crutches 4 Africa, at the Casco Federal Credit Union in Westbrook. Jeff Malloy, Manager of the branch, was our host. We were joined by Israel Collins, President of Saco Bay Sunset Club and Dennis Robillard, our District's Crutches 4 Africa Coordinator.
During our nearly one hour discussion, we learned that David is a videographer and also a polio survivor. He was working in Uganda in 2005 when he saw a site that stopped him in his tracks - a woman, a polio survivor, with her leg severely deformed and bent back touching her shoulder. Also on that trip, at the head of the Nile River, he saw a billboard displaying Rotary's 4-Way Test. This was his first real exposure to Rotary. He liked the straight forward and moral message of the statements of the 4-Way Test.
July 17, 2005 was the beginning of Crutches 4 Africa, when he awoke from a dream realizing what he needed to do to help people like the woman he saw, right down to what the logo should look like. in 2006, he joined Rotary and credits the reach of Rotary with helping Crutches 4 Africa grow to what it is today. In fact, Maine Rotarians have contributed significantly to this project, shipping items in quantity only second to that of the home base in Colorado.
As of this meeting, 73,000 units had been distributed, with 5,000 in transit. We learned that David and his wife Candace were on their way to Africa, via Maine, to meet and distribute this latest shipment.
 L-R: Dennis Robillard, David Talbot, Jeff Malloy
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History Corner 3-21-16These photos are from the 1975 Club Directory. We are happy to report that they remain club members to this day! Bill Gowen, Dick Labrecque, Henry Saunders and Nelson Harmon. Looking good gentlemen!!
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Sister Cities Fire DepartmentsAndrew R. Turcotte (Andy) the Fire Chief of Westbrook, who oversees all areas of the operation, was our guest and speaker on March 15.
Andy spoke about the coming exchanges between the fire department of Archangel, Russia and the Greater Portland Fire Departments. Teams from Archangel will make two trips here and teams from Greater Portland Fire Department will make two trips to Russia to learn from each other. Firefighter exchange programs are not a new concept nationally, but are in their infancy in our area. This exchange program will allow both areas' firefighters an opportunity to enhance performance, pursue new innovative ideas in Fire/EMS service lines, assist in use of new technologies, and build strong lasting relationships.
 L-R: Mike Sanphy – Westbrook City Council, Chief Andrew Turcotte,
Deborah Shangraw – Rotary Club of Westbrook/Gorham.
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Susan Curtis Foundation Leadership DinnerA small group of Westbrook-Gorham Rotarians and their spouses attended the Camp Susan Curtis Leadership Celebration on Friday March 18 at the Marriott Sable Oaks. Thanks to a club member, our club was listed at the Sabattus Cabin Sponsor level in that evening's program.
The program included their usual wonderful line up of inspiring speakers, including a young man from Westbrook. Brandon Brichetto, a Camp Susan Curtis Alumnus, spoke of the difficulties and challenges of his childhood in a dysfunctional home. When he was 10, a school councilor recommended him to the Camp. He continued to attend for 8 years. Thanks to the programs at Camp Susan Curtis, at the age of 16, he knew he wanted to go to college and have a career helping people. He is now a Westbrook Firefighter and Paramedic as well as a student at USM. We are pleased to report that he received a standing ovation.
 L to R: Steve & Patty Rand, Willie & Christine Johnson, Jack and Linda Kivus, Linda & Jason Beever
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Mike Foley & Jessica Champagne Are WedWe are pleased to announce that Mike Foley and Jessica Champagne were married on March 12, 2016 at Eastpoint Christian Church in Portland ME. Congratulations to Mike, Jessica and Joseph!!
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History Corner - Our Meeting PlacesThe Westbrook Rotary Club first met at the Westbrook Tavern Hotel in 1926. The Club met there until the Tavern closed in early 1936.
.jpg) The club then moved to the American Legion Hall on Dunn Street, where it met from 1936 until 2002, with the exception of a couple of years when the club met at The Polynesian on lower Main St.
 If any club member or friend can recall the years we met at The Polynesian, please let us know.
 Since 2002, the Westbrook-Gorham Rotary Club has met at the Westbrook Regional Vocational Center.
 While we have tried a few different summer venues over the years, we now consider the American Legion Hall on Conant St to be our permanent summer home.
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90th Anniversary Dinner was a great success!On Tuesday night March 8, the 90th Anniversary dinner was well attended and much enjoyed by all. During the reception, we enjoyed the Westbrook High School Jazz quartet. These four top high school musicians asked Willie Johnson, jazz trombonist and husband of President Christine Johnson, to sit in. The band also led us in singing a verse of American the Beautiful just prior to dinner.
  Chef Limoggio and the culinary arts students out did themselves with a delicious peach and mango fruit punch to accompany the wide selection of cheeses and fruits presented for the reception. We saw Mike Foley at the punch bowl several times during the evening, so we know it was good! As usual, the meal was superb and the students were efficient and attentive waiters. The meal was capped off by a moist yellow sheet cake topped with a light and delicious blood orange icing and served with ice cream. Thanks to Bill Gowen, our longest time member in attendance, for cutting the cake.
  Steve Rand welcomed the many invited guests including DG Sheila Rollins and her husband Merrill, DGE Marge Barker, DGN Dave Underhill and his wife Linda, Portland Club President Bowen Depke, and Sebao Lakes Club member George Bartlett. We were also pleased to welcome Westbrook Mayor Colleen Hilton as well as City Councilor and Westbrook Historical Society President Mike Sanphy. Other guests included Bruce Dyer and two of his Interact students, in addition to the spouses of several of our members.
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Deb Shangraw is now a Nana!Congratulations to Deb Shangraw's son and daugther-in-law Kurt and Katie Shangraw on the birth of their first child, a daughter, Harper Kennedy Shangraw on February 26. Deb is sure a very proud Nana based on the number of photos she has been sharing on FaceBook!!
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History Corner - Westbrook Rotary Song
Composer – Carroll M. Richardson 1926
Sung to the tune – “It’s Nice to Get Up in the Morning” Oh, we’re especially glad to be with you, As members of Rot-a-ry, We’ve got the finest little club That ever you did see. We gather every Tuesday, The Tavern’s were we eat, And a visiting Rotary member We are always glad to meet. We believe the Rotary spirit Is an asset to any man, To mingle with your neighbor And to grasp him by the hand, Indulge in song and story, And get the other man’s views, With a programme to entertain you, And drive away the blues. So, Old Westbrook has come into Rotary, With a Rotary spirit true, With “Harry Boy” to lead us, You can bet we’ll put it through, We’re all enthusiastic To try and make Rotary feel, That the Westbrook Club is a credit, To be in the Rotary Wheel. Note the mention in this song of the Westbrook Tavern Hotel, our original meeting place, and Harry FG Hay, our first president. Carroll Richardson was the Westbrook Postmaster.
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Small Business Administration can help businesses growSeth Goodall, a former state legislator, entrepreneur, and practicing lawyer, was appointed by President Obama to serve as the Small Business Administration’s New England Regional Administrator on July 10, 2013. Seth oversees SBA’s six New England district offices and is responsible for the delivery of the agency’s financial and technical assistance and governmental contracting activities throughout New England.
Small dollar loans are the engine of the economy. The average SBA loan size in Maine is just over $150K. In 2015, the SBA distributed 580 loans worth $110 million in the State of Maine alone, and overall, small businesses create 2 out of every 3 jobs in America.
Many businesses in Westbrook and other communities have used SBA loans to grow their business. For example, Lee Auto Malls received an SBA loan many years ago and has grown into a large successful auto dealer. More recently, Pika Energy and Black Dinah Chocolates have used SBA lines and counseling services. Pika is now attracting venture capital.
The SBA also has SBA Development Centers and Women’s Business Centers that offer business and financial counseling services. SCORE in our area has a strong track record and reputation nationwide. All of these centers have provided over 8000 hours or counseling across Maine. In addition, the SBA was instrumental in bringing $81M worth of government contract work to Maine small businesses in 2015.
Seth was delighted to speak to us as he considers Rotary clubs as means of spreading the word in local communities about services available from the SBA to help small businesses grow.
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History Corner 2-29-2016Our Charter President Harry F.G. Hay - excerpt from Westbrook Historical Society Publication: Westbrook Mayors - A Brief history of The Village, The Town, and The City.
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Maine Adaptive Sports & Recreation - Year Round ProgrammingAfter a long successful career as a partner of the law firm – Murray, Plumb, and Murray, Ms. Barbara Schneider, Atty. became the new executive director of Maine Adaptive Sports in October of 2015.
Barbara, a long-time resident of Maine as well as an avid skier, is married to a husband with permanent physical disabilities. She is a passionate advocate for providing individuals with educations and training in order to develop skills that provide enjoyment through outdoor recreation.
Maine Adaptive Sports promotes year round adaptive sports programming, free of cost to their athletes who have a wide range of physical and cognitive disabilities. There are programs across a variety of both winter and summer sports like skiing, snowboarding, cross country skiing, climbing, cycling, golf, tennis and paddling. Participants range from children to adults, and include veterans, children with limb loss, and adults with MS.
Maine Adaptive is able to offer this free programming through a combination of efforts - adult and junior volunteers, partners and affiliations, member schools, funding from personal and corporate donations and scholarships, wills and bequests, annual campaign, community events, ski-athons and many other events.
Maine Adaptive started in 1982 with 8 participants and 2 seasonal volunteers. There are now 7 year round staff a six locations.
For More Information, visit www.MaineAdaptive.org
 From left to right Frank Emery (Left), Rotary, Anita Emery (Center), Ski Race team, Maine Adaptive Sports, Barbara Schneider (Right), Maine Adaptive Sports
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Club History Corner 2-22-2016Our Club Newsletter: Over the years, our club newsletter has gone by three different names. Originally published on May 10, 1926, The Rotary Reveille was a one page weekly newsletter covering topics like: upcoming speaker, speaker presentations of the previous week, announcements, poems, cartoons, count of guests and Rotarians in attendance. At least monthly, there was also a summary of attendance. Attendance in the first year of publication ran from a low of 75% to a high of 100%!
Later, the publication became the Saccarappa Scribbler and eventually the Presumpscot Scribbler. Pictured is our very first newsletter.
 Many years worth of Reveilles and Scribblers are stored at the Westbrook Historical Society. However, there are none in the archives from the 30s, very few from the early 40s only, none from the early 60s , none from the early 80s, with the last ones in storage from 1991.
If you or a family member may have saved our newsletters over the years, we'd love to see them. We hope you would consider donating them to the Westbrook Historical Society to help fill in some gaps in the record.
Here is another great example from our 60th year. "Bob Nunley gave us an assist at the piano, but the singing was not enthusiastic". Also, see the story about Wayne Lopez's trip to the Far East. The Editor, Mr Greenwood, sure had a great sense of humor!
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Fun Fact: Our Rotary District number has changed many times over the years due to the growth of Rotary. Note that Westbrook-Gorham was chartered just before the District changed from 8 to 38. So we have been part of seven different districts in our 90 years!
1915-1918 District 1
1918-1922 District 2
1922-1924 District 31
1924-1926 District 8
1926-1937 District 38
1937-1949 District 193
1949-1956 District 285
1956-1990 District 779
1990-1991 District 778
1991-through current 7780
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Bill Chadwick & Wayne Lopez - Service in GuatemalaBe sure to ask Bill Chadiwck about his recent trip to Guatemala. He and 19 others, along with 5 local folks handled 7 major projects during their time there! He has lots to share and will be telling us all about it on March 22.
Here are a couple of pictures to peak your interest. On the left, we see Bill with a local teacher as he accepts the books we funded. On the right, Wayne is looking great next to a local Dentist who helped him with his work.
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Club History Corner 2-15-2016On December 24, 1925, “a number of prominent citizens” gathered at the Westbrook Tavern at 1 o’clock to discuss and “take some definite action towards forming a business men’s club” to best fit the city’s needs. 15 men met that day at 810 Main St in downtown Westbrook: Paul Smith, hardware; Nels F. Nelson, Clothier; Henry S Cobb, printer; Wade L. Bridgham, Attorney; Hale M. Dow, Florist; Harry FG Hay, Funeral Director; Fran A. Chase Jr. Coal; Paul Fraser, Recreation; Harry Higgins, Electric Transportation; James A. Lewis, Public Schools; Richard G. Raymond, Drugs; Carroll M. Richardson, Postal Service; Arthur G. Worthington, News Paper; Edwin B. Carr, Boots & Shoes; Granville C. Shibles, Osteopathic Physician.
 Westbrook Tavern Hotel 1928 - Westbrook Historical Society archives
Our charter was issued on March, 8, 1926. On April 6, 1926, the Westbrook Rotary club observed a ladies’ night at the Congress Square Hotel. Official presentation of the charter was made at that time. Presentation of the charter was made by Past President William B. Jack of the Portland Rotary Club, representing Eaton D. Sargent, Governor of the 8th Rotary District. It was accepted by Harry F.G. Hay, president of the Club on behalf of 25 charter members.
Greetings were extended by Edward L Pickard, President of Westbrook Kiwanis Club and addresses or remarks were given by Ralph O. Brewster Governor of Maine; Austin H. MacCormick of Bowdoin College and secretary of the Brunswick Rotary club; Fred D Gordon, President of the Portland rotary club. Rev Roderick A. Macdonald pastor of the Warren Congregational Church was the toastmaster. The program was broadcast on WCSH radio between 7 and 8 PM.
Our club continued to hold regular meetings at the Westbrook Tavern on Tuesdays at 12:30PM until March 1936 when the Tavern closed. After that, for about 50 years, we met at the Dunn St Legion Hall. We moved to the Westbrook Regional Vocational Center after that. If you know in what year we made that move to the WRVC, please contact President Christine with details.
Moving to the modern era, here is a great picture of our first woman president, Jane Beever 2001-2002, and her son Jason Beever 2003-2004 & 2016-2017. Photo from a meeting in 2003-2004. Thanks to Jason for sharing.
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Ann Lee Hussey and the Future of Polio Plus
Ann Lee Hussey (Left), with club president Christine Johnson (Right), is a member of the Rotary Club of Portland Sunrise and served District 7780 as Governor in 2010-2011. Previously, Ann Lee served on the Reach Out to Africa Initiative as Zone 32 Coordinator for Health and Hunger, and as a member of the RI Rotarian Action Groups Committee. Ann Lee has also served as Presidents’ Representative at several district conferences. Ann Lee currently serves as Adviser to the International Polio Plus Committee for 2015-2016 and Chairs the Polio Survivors Rotarian Action Group.
Ann Lee told the club that her passion in Rotary started before she became a member – when she participated on a Rotary-sponsored polio immunization trip in 2001. She has seen firsthand how the Rotary Foundation has changed lives around the world. While Polio may be wiped out in our lifetime, the Annual Fund of the Rotary Foundation has ongoing importance. Rotary is not just asking for money; it is asking for Rotarians to change the world. The Polio Plus initiative has really put Rotary on the world stage. The Rotary Foundation has achieved a top 4-star rating for the last 8 years, a great reputation for moving forward to the next big initiative. Other organizations are interested in partnering with us in future projects that fit with Rotary’s six areas of focus. Contributions to the Annual Fund help support our humanitarian activities, from local service projects to global initiatives. Rotarians typically make monthly or annual gifts of cash or stock, but can also provide bequests from their estates. It is easy to name the Rotary Foundation in your will using a codicil (speak with your lawyer). If you share information with the Foundation about the anticipated value of this bequest, you can be recognized as a Benefactor ($1000+) or a member of the Bequest Society ($10,000+). As was proven with the March of Dimes that helped eradicate polio in the US, the size of your wallet is not as important as the size of your dreams. |
Club History Corner 2-28-2016Thanks to Mike Sanphy for locating additional Rotary historical documents and pictures at the Westbrook Historical Society. Also, thanks to Nelson Harmon for providing a Club photo from December 1970 showing club members standing in front of the Dunn Street Legion Hall – with names!
 Westbrook Rotary Club December 1, 1970
Courtesy Photo - Nelson Harmon
If you have any Rotary memorabilia at home that you would like to share, or know of a local family member of a former club member, please let President Christine know. We are very interested in expanding the Rotary collection at the Wesbrook Historical Society and identifying/creating a collection at the Gorham Historical Society. Current items in the Westbrook Historical Society collection include:
 1926 Visiting Portland Visiting Rotarian Badge
with name of Westbrook Charter Member Granville Shibles
(Westbrook Historical Society Collection)
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Bits & Pieces from Club Assembly
The 90th Anniversary event planning is coming along nicely, although reservations are coming in slowly. Please sign up this week to reserve your spot for this wonderful evening event.
The Club voted to award an Honorary Paul Harris Fellow to Jonathan Ayers, President & CEO of Idexx. He will be contacted to identify a time to award him this prestigious honor. Idexx has been a generous supporter of Gift of Life. To date, our club has helped support life-saving surgery for 7 children from El Salvador and Dominican Republic. Road Race planning is underway. Our annual race will be held this year on Monday April 18. All hands are needed to help out. Please arrive by 9AM. There is no meeting during that week, so this is a great make up opportunity as well. A mold problem has a been identified in the basement at the new house on Dale Ave. Steve Rand has secured 3 quotes to mitigate the problem. Owens McCullough will visit the sites and review the quotes. Jason Beever is pursuing possible insurance coverage both from the club and from the school. All members should visit www.rotary.org/myrotary and sign up for My Rotary. This is different from the Cub Runner website for our club, but your basic information carries over to this site, like your primary email address. If you haven’t already, please visit this site and register. It can be a fun resource with access to: Rotary Action Groups, Rotary Showcase, Foundation information, Rotary History, current Rotary news, and personal reports, among other things. Use the primary email address you use on our club website to login or set up your account. Rotary Leadership Institute – We have room for one more on Saturday March 19 at York County Community College, 8AM-3PM. The club will cover the $75 of training. Sign up for Part I, Part II or Part III, based on courses taken previously. This is a great learning experience for both new and seasoned Rotarians. Contact President Christine if you would like to attend. |
Charter Found!!
Our charter was found right where we had left it. In our closet at WRVC!!
Thanks to Chef Charles, it is now hanging on the wall near our check-in table. Thanks to Mike Foley for snapping this photo.
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Saint Mary Episcopal Church in Falmouth, Maine - A Fascinating History
John Bundy Brown 1805-1881, who made a start in life as a grocery store clerk, went on to become a top real estate owner in Maine. He founded J. B. Brown, a real estate company, which is still has a prominent role in the city of Portland as JB Brown & Sons. John had five children, one of whom was John Marshall Brown who studied law at Bowdoin College, received an appointment in 20th Maine Regiment as a First Lieutenant, was Adjutant to General Joshua Chamberlain and distinguished himself in prominent battles of the Civil War including Gettysburg. He retired a Brevet General, returned to Portland, married, and had five children including a daughter, Alida Greely Brown, who died in Switzerland at the age of 19.
To honor his daughter’s memory, John commissioned a stone memorial chapel in Falmouth Foreside whose foundation was laid in 1890. The Chapel became the burial place of John Marshall Brown, his wife, and their daughter Alida. Before pine trees grew up around it, it was a key navigational mark in Casco Bay.
Through subsequent gifts and endowments from the Browns and the Payson Family as well as others, this chapel with the addition of other buildings eventually became the Episcopal Church of Saint Mary in Falmouth, Maine. The church was initially a summer parish, but evolved into a year round parish as the local populous expanded outward from Portland.
Born in New Jersey, just outside of Philadelphia, Rev Nathan W. Ferrell has been Rector since 2012.
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Our CharterHere is a great picture and story from the Westbrook American back in 1995 showing John Hay holding our charter from March 8, 1926.
If any current or former members have Club historical materials in their possession, or know anyone who might have interesting information such as news clippings, journals, meeting minutes or photographs, please contact President Christine. We are working to compile material to share during our kick off event and over the course of the next year.
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Westbrook High School Interact Adviser Dr Bruce Dyer, along with three students, joined us at our meeting of October 22, 2019. Kamdyn Russell is a Senior and President of WHS Interact Club. Matthew Eugley and MacKenzie Remington are two of the Juniors at WHS who attended RYLA this summer.
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