July 1 marks the beginning of our new Rotary Year and the celebration of our Rotary Foundation’s Centennial Celebration. Will you join us? There is so much we can do to celebrate. For starters, perhaps on October 22 your Club will consider reaching out into the community to celebrate Polio eradication. Over the last two years we have held a Polio Walk in Portsmouth. Maybe you too can hold a bridge walk, or community breakfast with other service minded folks, or introduce the “Purple Pinky” project to a local grade school. The opportunities are endless. Please consider making a difference in your area and tell the public what we are doing to eradicate Polio.
Past District Governor Sheila Rollins has introduced the theme of collaboration and we hope to continue this effort. Who are we? Well, let me first introduce myself. My name is Marjorie (Marge) Barker. I joined the South Portland Cape Elizabeth Club in November of 2005.
Prior to serving as Club President 2011-2012, I had the good fortune to travel twice to Honduras to work with youth from Cape Elizabeth High School and fellow club Rotarians to work on a water project. I traveled to Ethiopia on a National Immunization Day trip and delivered polio vaccinations. After serving as President, I participated in the Friendship Exchange to New Orleans in 2013 and traveled to Guatemala with other Rotarians as part of a service project in 2013. Recently, I joined fellow Rotarians in Cuba. What an experience. From 2012-2015 I served as an Assistant Governor.
I am a retired banker. I have the good fortune to compliment my Rotary passion with SCORE as a certified mentor. SCORE offers the nation’s largest, network of free, expert business mentors. SCORE volunteers help thousands of entrepreneurs start small businesses and achieve new levels of success in their existing businesses. Volunteering at SCORE is a way to give back to your community, connect with fellow business owners, and pass on knowledge and expertise to entrepreneurs in your community.
I am a widow with two grown children and six grandchildren and have lived in Portland, Maine since 1988.
Okay, enough about me. Our Presidents have received top notch training over the past year. Our Assistant Governors are at your disposal. We also have a team of leaders specialized in every facet of our District.
They are:
Marty Helman: Boothbay Harbor Rotary - Foundation Chair
Brad Jett: Hampton Rotary - District Conference Chair
Contact information can be found in the District’s Directory or on the District’s website. I feel so fortunate to be working with each of these leaders. They are here for you. Reach out to them.
I look forward to meeting each and every one of you. So celebrate all the work the Foundation has done over the last 100 years. But remember, none of it could have been done without leaders like you. Enjoy your year.
DISTRICT HISTORY - WHAT'S YOUR STORY?
Two responses to my request for “your” story on
“your” involvement in Rotaplast!
Last month’s District History request:
Please share with me (and I will share them with the district via the District History with a new page dedicated to Rotaplast) your “story” of why you went on one or more of these trips, what your “job” was while on the trip and how you felt when you arrived and saw all the children in need of this surgery and how this may have changed your life. All of you that went on one or more of these trips are part of the District’s history and it should be shared with everyone in the District permanently via the District History pages.
Send your stories to me at mawilliamspdg@comcast.net along with your name and the name of your Rotary Club. The names of all those who share “their Rotaplast Story” will be in next month’s newsletter and their “stories” will be posted to the District History Rotaplast page for everyone to read. If you have any District History information, please share it with me so it can be posted to the District History page on your District’s Website.
In June, I received “stories’ from Bill Dunn and Joan Correll about their experience with Rotaplast and the trips they were involved in. I will quote part of each one here but please go to the District History or District Yearbook page and click on “Rotaplast” in the left hand column for their complete story.
William “Bill” Dunn’s Story – Past President Rotary Club of Yarmouth:
“My Rotaplast story starts in 2001. As a relatively new member of the Rotary Club of Yarmouth, I heard a talk by the late Bridget Burns on Rotaplast. Since my professional career (consultant in the electric power industry) had taken me all over the world, I was intrigued by the idea of doing international travel that brought a more immediate sense of helping others. I applied for a mission that year, but was initially not accepted on that year’s mission. I say initially as later I was approached about participating, but by that time I had filled in my calendar with client obligations.
So, I applied again in 2002 for the mission to Cumana, Venezuela. I was accepted on that mission and served as the Sterilizer. The role of the Sterilizer is to keep each of the three operating rooms equipped with the correct set of sterilized instruments. As a result of this role, I got very familiar with the different instruments used for cleft lip versus cleft palate versus rhinoplasty surgeries. It was a great and emotional experience, it is not often you can help change a person’s life in an hour or two,”
Joan Correll’s Story – Past President Rotary Club of Hampton:
“My Rotary story is the wonderful opportunities we have as Rotarians to travel the world to places we would otherwise never go (Rich would never put Togo, West Africa or Delhi, India on any joint bucket list) and do something really great while there. I love traveling not as a tourist, but as a Rotary traveler.
Togo was my Rotaplast trip in 2011. Our group was phenomenal, not the least because we had Rotaplast Co-Founder Angelo Capozzi along with other really great volunteers from San Francisco, Rotaplast's headquarters where it all started as an international project for the Rotary Club of San Francisco in 1992. They are such a dedicated group who have been doing these missions from the beginning. Other volunteers (other than our District group) came from all other parts of the world. We had a charismatic Pediatrician, Rene from the Netherlands; a Dentist from Uruguay, other specialists from Turkey, Mexico, and all parts of the USA.
We immersed ourselves in the local culture while performing our mission. I was surprised to see that Togolese children are not allstarving with protruding bellies.”
Go to the District History page on Rotaplast to read the rest of Bill’s & Joan’s stories!
Bill’s and Joan’s stories are just two of many, many stories out there! I am hoping to get a few more Rotaplast stories and “history” about District Rotarians in July. August we will venture into another “story” area. PLEASE SHARE YOUR “ROTAPLAST STORY” WITH ME AND THE DISTRICT!
As I sit here at my well-worn computer on my final evening as your District Governor, I am overcome with the emotions that I assume must come over every District Governor at the end of their term. So much could be said about what we have accomplished and the countless lives we have affected but it all comes down to one thing… this has been a great Rotary year. It has been great largely because of you and your hard work and I want to thank you for all that you have done. From literacy projects and hunger initiatives to supporting economic development and anti-human trafficking, the Rotary mission was alive and well this Rotary year! It has been an honor and a privilege to have led this district for the 2015-16 Rotary year. Serving with men and women such as you makes me proud to be a member of District 7780. Well done, Rotarians!
Governor Sheila
DISTRICT AWARDING $34,741 TO CLUBS FOR THEIR PROJECTS
As we go to press, 13 District 7780 clubs are waiting to learn if their service project ideas will be approved and funded by The Rotary Foundation. But I’m getting ahead of the story!
Every year, the District asks all 7780 clubs to dream big dreams and come up with potential District Grants that will provide humanitarian service either in the club’s home community or further afield. This year, the amount of money available to be distributed via these grants was $35,741; this sum is directly proportional to the amount of money we raised in the District via Annual Giving to The Rotary Foundation in previous years. (The more we collectively raise, the more we have available to spend!)
This year, grant applications ran the gamut from building a wheelchair accessible trail to providing vocational training to women in Kenya to building a playground at a homeless shelter. Last year, a District Grant made it possible for the Exeter club to do a water/sanitation project in Cuba, and for Bridgton-Lake Region to take a crew of Interact students to rebuild bathrooms in primary schools in the Dominican Republic. As this list shows, the projects that can be funded by these grants are as wide-reaching as the interests and passions of our clubs.
In June, a team of club Foundation chairs, led by PP Penny Jett of the Kittery After-Hours club, met and reviewed all the grant applications. The committee’s first task: To determine if the grant applications met the publicized requirements, and then, to divide the available dollars among the winning applications. The committee’s decisions will be reviewed by the District Foundation Committee and the winning clubs notified of their grant awards by July 10! Stay tuned to learn what Rotary magic will be ongoing in the District this year.
--Marty Helman, District Foundation Chair
2016 Council on Legislation
ESSENTIAL CHANGES FOR CLUBS AND DISTRICTS
Recently, the Council on Legislation voted and approved changes (click the link below), which will take effect on July 1st. An updated Manual of Procedure should be available soon, both electronically and in print. Please check the District's website for availability.
As of June 21st, the Westbrook Gorham Rotary Club will be meeting at the Westbrook Regional Vocational Center, 125 Stroudwater St., Westbrook, ME
The Rotary Club of Boothbay Harbor
GRANT RECEIVED FOR 75 NEW BIKES
The Boothbay Harbor Rotary Club celebrated the 10th anniversary of its free bike loaner program with a $28,000 grant from the Chester and Muriel Dawes Foundation to support the Rotary’s bike program. This grant enabled the purchase of 75 new all aluminum bikes from Hudson, NY-based Priority Bicycles. Now, the fleet of bikes the Club loans out to summer workers contains 112 of these rust-free, low-maintenance, sturdy bikes. The rest of the 150+ bikes loaned out each season are cobbled together from different models of used bikes, which are costly to repair and difficult to maintain. As of June 15, 2016, the Club had already loaned out close to 100 bikes. The bikes are available for free to those on our peninsula without transportation, but require a $100 refundable deposit as well as registration. The Club also supplies bike helmets.
Mike Thompson, grant-winner (left) and Seth Hedgcock, bike program founder, show off one of last year’s Priority bikes that survived last summer’s loaner season in good repair at the Rotary work party on May 7th to ready bikes for the summer season.
Summer Workers from Lithuania and other parts of Eastern Europe: (l-r) Indre, Mindaugars, Mark, and Radu receive their bikes from Rotarian, Rick Elder.
The Rotary Club of Bridgton-Lake Region
GOLF TOURNAMENT SUPPORTS LOCAL YOUTH PROGRAMS
The Rotary Club of Bridgton-Lake Region held their 7th Annual Golf Tournament on Sunday, June 5th. The event included a Hole In One prize of a pontoon boat, a BBQ lunch and silent auction. Everyone had a great time and the rain held off until the last hole! The club expects to raise over $6,000 for their local youth programs, which include scholarships, dictionaries, Citizen of the Month recognition and WorldQuest.
The Rotary Club of Damariscotta-Newcastle
WHY I JOINED ROTARY - AND WHY YOU SHOULD TOO
by Winslow Myers, June 6, 2016
In 2014 the Damariscotta-Newcastle Rotary Club set a 10-year goal of becoming a significant player in helping to eliminate hunger in Lincoln County. This past Sunday, a dedicated team of fifty volunteers, led by a core group of Rotarians, boxed 30,000 meals for food banks in Lincoln County. At the same time, the club was able to host four Rotarian psychologists on a cultural/professional exchange trip from Argentina. They found it meaningful and gratifying to spend a few hours helping us pack meals.
This was the second time in the past year that Rotary has restocked food pantries with vitamin-fortified meals. Having won a competitive Rotary grant, it also funded tuitions for the FARMS program, which helps elementary school students learn how to cook tasty and nourishing vegetarian food.
A large and satisfying part of its work involves the provision of generous scholarships both to high school students bound for college, vocational students, and adults seeking to renew and expand their skills.
Damariscotta-Newcastle Maine President Nancy Stoltz, District 4945 Vocational Training Team members Griselda Zeljkovich, Sebastian Roma, Nesto Destefanis and Florencia Belen Haspert, with Rotarian Winslow Myers and host Patty Bradley, helped 50 other volunteers pack 30,000 meals on June 5, 2016.
The Rotary Club of Hampton
CELEBRATES "ROTARY SERVING HUMANITY"
The Rotary Club of Hampton celebrated their Changeover on Saturday, June 25th, with a New England Lobster Bake. A perfect summer day was in store for the members, families and guests as we said farewell to “Be a Gift to the World, and welcomed in our new President, Rich Gibadlo, and his Board for the upcoming year of “Rotary Serving Humanity”.
Among the guests were, DGE Marge Barker, and Cindy Fagan, Angela Bowen and Linda Osborne, who are the Interact School Advisors that serve each of the three Interact clubs sponsored by Hampton Rotary.
Several individuals were presented PHF and PHF +1 awards. Donna Abisi was named “Rotarian of the Year”.
2015-2016 President Barbara Lizotte, with 2016-2017 President Rich Gibadlo
On Left: There was plenty of shade to keep us cool. On Right: Hampton Rotary Club's 2016-2017 Officers and Directors.
The Rotary Club of Kennebunk Portside
WELCOMES LEADERS OF COMMUNITY CONNECTIONS, A YOUTH MENTORING PROGRAM
Photo, left to right - front row: Adrian Hodge and Wyatt Babcock. Back row: Kirk Butterfield, mentor; Katie Parent, YMCA Youth Development Coordinator; Bill Junker, mentor; Jeremy Babcock; Tori Babcock, Cornelia Stockwell, mentor; Bob Eagle, YMCA Youth Development Director.
Kennebunk Portside Rotary recently heard a presentation on its Community Connections youth mentoring program now concluding its 18th year of operation. The program, co-sponsored by Kennebunk Rotary, Kennebunk Portside Rotary and the YMCA of Southern Maine – York County Branch, pairs fifth graders from Sea Road School with adult mentors who are members of the two Rotary clubs and students from the University of New England.
Community Connections program leaders from the YMCA, Bob Eagle, Youth Development Director and Katie Parent, Youth Development Coordinator, made the presentation. Several mentees and family members attended as guests. Fifth grader, Adrian Hodge, read a personal statement on what the program has meant to him as a newcomer to the Kennebunks.
The program’s goals are to provide the young people with a positive adult role model and show them that the community cares about them, expose the students to community resources and activities through a variety of field trips, offer opportunities for increased social interactions with their peers and the mentors, and demonstrate the importance of Rotary and YMCA character values.
The Rotary Club of Sanford Springvale
AWARDS $13,000 TO GRADUATING SENIORS
The Sanford Springvale Rotary Club was very excited to award over $13,000 in scholarship money to these 9 deserving Seniors from Sanford High School and Massabesic High School. We wish them all the success in their college adventures.
HONORS SANFORD REGIONAL TECHNICAL CENTERS SKILLS USA TEAM
Recently, six young members of the Technical Centers Skills USA team joined the Sanford Springvale club for breakfast. They were all gold medal winners at the state level of the skills day, representing entrepreneurship, IT, nursing and digital design. It was great to talk to these young adults and learn about their passions and plans for the future. Each year, the club also sponsors their bus to travel to the state skills competition.
The Rotary Club of South Portland-Cape Elizabeth
SENIOR LUNCHEON - MOCK COCKTAILS AND ALL!
The McKernan Center at SMCC was the venue for our annual luncheon for seniors who live in several of the South Portland Housing Authority residences. It was a lively and fun event with over 80 guests in attendance. Phil Dube and Bev Altenburg picked up several guests from Landry Village while Alec Livingston, Ellie Speh, and Bill Daviero set up the bar with mocktails. Bill's Blueberry Mojitos were a crowd favorite. Fran Bagdasarian, Bob Knupp, and Joanie Frustaci greeted everyone and gave them name tags. SPHA provided some lovely candy dish party favors for every guest, and the person at each table who lived the longest in South Portland received a memento of the occasion. The culinary staff including SMCC students did a wonderful job with the meal. The site overlooking Casco Bay couldn't be more picturesque.
The Rotary Club of Wells
HELD ANNUAL MINI-GOLF EVENT
The Rotary Club of Wells recently held their Annual Mini-Golf Event.
Above: Wells Rotarian and the Chair of the Annual Mini-Golf Tournament, Rick Coyne, gives a briefing on the rules for the day.
The Mini-Golf “Grill Crew” - Rotarians Rick Coyne, Barry Wolfson, Bob Foley and Lee Hansen.
TOUR DE CURE
The Wells Rotary has not only had their own events, they’ve been assisting other organizations by volunteering for their events:
Barry Wolfson, his wife Jeanne Wolfson, and President Ryan Liberty.
Rotarian volunteered at the American Diabetes Association Tour de Cure Bike Rally at Wells Reserve at Laudholm.
The Rotary Club of Westbrook Gorham
COOKS FOR TEEN CENTER
At the left – Mike Sanphy cranks up the dishwasher and at the right, Paul Emery, Deb Shangraw, and Mike Sanphy prepare a salad.
As part of its commitment to Community Service, Westbrook Gorham Rotary takes it turn Friday evening in the preparation and serving of supper at the My Place Teen Center.
The Rotary Club of Westbrook Gorham
TO HOLD 22ND ANNUAL GOLF TOURNAMENT
The Rotary Club of Westbrook-Gorham is pleased to announce their 22nd Annual Rotary Classic Golf Tournament. The Tournament will be held Tuesday September 20, 2016 at the Gorham Country Club, 93 McLellan Rd, Gorham, ME. Sponsorships are available at the Platinum, Gold and Hole sponsor levels of $600, $450 and $100, respectively.
A Registration Fee of $90 per golfer and $360 per team includes: greens fees, cart, box lunch, and a light buffet after the tournament. Prizes will be awarded. Check in by 11:30 am, with tee off at noon.
Always a great time!
For more information, please contact Jack Kivus at 333-0892 or Steve Rand at 653-6092, or click below to download the registration form.
Proceeds benefit our recently formed 501c3: Westbrook-Gorham Rotary Club Charities.
Spend an evening with Shilla Adyero, a P.E.O. International Peace Scholarship recipient and Rotarian, as she cooks a meal native to her home country, Africa, and shares stories about her efforts to make Uganda a better place for it’s children and women.
Adyero developed a community library under the organization of Lutino Adunu (lutino.org), her nonprofit organization in Uganda. She has also created a youth soccer league where she encourages young people to talk openly about HIV and AIDS, and other issues that face Ugandans. She is starting a new project called the Atek Pad that would provide reusable sanitary towels to the girls and women of Uganda. They don’t have access to this simple “luxury,” which leads young girls to drop out of school or marry older men who can provide these items.
Shilla recently earned her master’s degree in sustainable development and goes back to Africa in late July to implement what she has learned. Recognizing her short time remaining in the U.S., her goal is to raise $1,000 per gathering; we have room for about 25 people for the event on July 16. The hope would be to assist her in reaching that goal as much as we possibly can. She’s is about $5,000 away from reaching her $10,000 goal that would get the Atek Pad project off the ground. She’s also fundraising to purchase a four-wheel-drive vehicle in Africa that will allow her to reach rural populations.
Shilla has recently formed a board of directors for Lutino Adunu in the U.S., which is expected to achieve a nonprofit status by the end of the summer.
Shilla’s Table will be held at the home of Molly Lovell-Keely at 6:30 p.m. Saturday, July 16, 13 Keely Way, Biddeford. RSVP by July 1 to mollylovell63@hotmail.com or 207-632-7475.
CYNTHIA ANN MORAN-LAUX
Cynthia Ann Moran-Laux, 58, died early on Tuesday, June 21, 2016, from complications following a hip fracture. She was born on April 26, 1958, in Providence, R.I. Cynthia attended schools in Warren, R.I.; graduated from Mount Claire State with a B.S. in speech; Elmira College with an M.S. in speech pathology; an advanced certificate in educational administration from Hunter College; and obtained her CCC's in speech pathology. She worked at the Shield Institute in New York, Kent County Hospital in Rhode Island, Developmental Disabilities in Portsmouth, N.H., and for S.A.D. #44 as a consulting speech pathologist at Crescent Park, Woodstock and Andover Elementary Schools. Cynthia thoroughly enjoyed community services, defining her community anywhere in the world she could assist. She served as president of the Bethel Rotary Club and partner of the district governor, served on the Bethel Chamber of Commerce board, and was the consummate volunteer for virtually every community event offered. She participated in two Rotaplast surgical missions (free surgical procedures for children born with cleft lip or cleft palate) to Venezuela and Guatemala, served to assist in the delivery of medical supplies to Armenia, raised funds to construct a library in Vietnam, delivered book supplies to libraries in Cambodia, and assisted in a well and hot water system to a remote school in Kenya. She was also a faculty member of the Rotary Leadership Institute. Any opportunity to meet a need was viewed as another opportunity to service. Her father, George Moran and her mother, Betty Moran, both of Warren, R.I., predecease Cynthia. She is survived her husband Bob Laux of Bethel, a sister, Diane Fioravanti and her husband Nick of Toms River, N.J.; two nephews, Matthew Fioravanti and his wife, and Brett Fioravanti; and a niece, Courtney Decker, all of New Jersey. She also is survived by numerous in-laws and partners including Jean Leary of Concord, Mass., Nancy and Dennis Menzel of Wauwatosa, Wis., Mary and Robin Benton of Middleton, Wis., Sandy and Brian Pufahl of Neenah, Wis., and Sue and Dennis Hintz of Appleton, Wis.; along with brothers-in-law and partners Dave and Laura Laux of Golden, Colo., Tom and Marcia Laux of Martinsville, Ind., and Jim and Mary Laux of Grafton, Wisconsin.
A Catholic Mass was held at Our Lady of the Snows in Bethel on June 30 at 11 a.m., followed by a "Community Celebration" in the South Dining Room at the Bethel Inn Resort. Arrangements were in the care of Chandler Funeral Homes and Cremation Service, 37 Vernon St., Bethel. Condolences can be expressed at: www.chandlerfunerals.com
Have Something You'd Like to Share with Us?
Updates and short articles with images or videos, and the names of new members and those who have passed, may be submitted to our Newsletter Editor, Deb Marsolais, at deb.marsolais@comcast.net to be included in our Monthly Newsletter. The District Newsletter is a means of communicating to other clubs in our district; items of interest, upcoming events, fundraisers, opportunities of service, or member news.
Deadline forAugustNewsletter Submissions: July 24th
PLEASE NOTE:
As a precaution, unless you have obtained a written consent from a parent/guardian, every child’s face which appears in a picture submitted for the newsletter or website, will be edited so that it is blurred out in the picture. Since there may be situations involving abuse, neglect, custody dispute, etc., and parents wouldn't want their child's picture to appear in public, this is being done for the child's privacy and protection.
If you have a submission for the newsletter or website, and would like to have us post a picture with a child (children) in it, please let us know if you have received a consent, otherwise we will edit it accordingly.
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g with Shilla Adyero, a P.E.O. International Peace Scholarship recipient and Rotarian, as she cooks a meal native to her home country, Africa, and shares stories about her efforts to make Uganda a better place for it’s children and women.
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