Since 1992
Print and digital marketing
AUBURN — The Lewiston-Auburn Rotary Club will host several guest speakers at its meetings in September, scheduled Thursdays from noon to 1 p.m. at The Village Inn restaurant, 165 High St.
Tom MacDonald, club treasurer and executive vice president and chief risk and operations officer at Mechanics Savings Bank in Auburn, will speak Thursday, Sept. 7. With more than 30 years of banking experience — primarily in the areas of commercial credit analysis, credit policy administration and enterprise risk management– Macdonald has been actively involved in staff development, including designing internal training programs.
Assistant governor for Rotary district 7780 and originally from Auburn, retired teacher Claudia (Goudey) Frost will be the guest speaker Sept. 14. During her presidency of the Rotary Club in Brunswick, she developed an interest in international service, producing a Rotary Club Global Grant for Healthy Kids/Brighter Future in Zambia.
Her presentation will focus on a trip to Nigeria, where she delivered braille books to a school and orphanage for special needs children in the village of Jada. She also traveled to the Dominican Republic to help install water-filters in the homes of the cane-field workers.
Julia Sleeper, co-founder and executive director of Tree Street Youth Center in Lewiston, will address members Sept. 21. She moved to Lewiston to attend Bates College, where she began connecting to the downtown community youth through service learning opportunities as a psychology and education major.
Over the past 10 years, Sleeper has continued to build on the relationships formed as an undergrad, providing valuable programming to at-risk youth. She completed her master’s in leadership and organizational studies at USM Lewiston-Auburn College.
Brunswick resident Patti MacKinnon, an active member of Brunswick Coastal Rotary Club, will round out the month speaking about her experiences teaching English Language Learners at Lewiston High School. She also will talk about her experiences with the African immigrant community and her mission to build cross-cultural understanding and acceptance in our communities.
MacKinnon has directed language schools in South Korea and San Francisco. When she read about the influx of Somalis in Lewiston, she was intrigued by the possibility of helping them integrate. Last year, she and a group of Lewiston students formed a “Celebrate Diversity Club,” bringing people of diverse backgrounds together to share stories, food, music, dance and other cultural activities. Several of her students will share their personal stories of immigration and integration into the community. MacKinnon spends a most of her summer in Guatemala, working on the Safe Water for Guatemala Project she and her daughter formed several years ago.
Lunch will be available, and reservations are not required. For more information on future Rotary speakers, contact president and program chair Monica Millhime, 207-753-9040 or email mmillhime@wmca.org.
Events and other club information are posted at www.lewistonauburnrotary.org and www.facebook.com/lewistonmainerotary/.
