Elias Thomas: Service Before Service
Questions submitted by Ray Richardson and answered by Elias Thomas.
Q: Tell us about yourself and your family. Give us a snapshot of what matters to you.
A: When I was about four years old, I remember riding with my family in our 1952 Chevrolet, on our way to New Hampshire to visit my grandmother. We were only about a mile away from our home, at the base of Bramhall Hill, stopped at the traffic light at an intersection. My father turned off the ignition, got out of the car and walked over to a lady standing on the street corner holding tightly to her white cane, waiting patiently for the bells to ring – indicating it was safe to cross.
My father took the lady by the arm and escorted her across one street and then the avenue (just a short distance to the Maine School for the Blind) and then returned to our car, re-started the engine and drove on to New Hampshire. He never said anything … he did not need to. This was the first recollection I have of service to others.
Since the day I met my wife, back on April 1, 1969 (Jane says I am not just anybody’s fool – rather I am HER fool!) she and I have worked side-by-side for nearly fifty years, supporting one another, initially in the retail business, but for more than four decades working every day to bring buyers and sellers together and to help people – customers and clients, realize the great American Dream of home ownership. Without her support, both within our marriage, but also at the office and my various positions in Rotary International, my local Rotary Club, serving as President of the York County Council of the Maine Association of Realtors® and on the Board of 
Directors of Maine Association of Realtors®, without the support of my loving wife, Jane and our daughter, Heather and her son, John, I could not be the person I have become.
Q. In your professional life, you are a Realtor, but most people recognize you from your work in Rotary. When did you decide to become a Rotarian and what lead you to do it?
A: In 1978, when I was invited to join the local Rotary Club. I was told by a 48-year veteran of the Club, who maintained perfect attendance for all of those years, “This is the last time you can say ‘No’ and you must maintain perfect attendance.” I have nearly succeeded for forty years. I remarked just a week ago that when I miss a meeting it is like missing the touch of others and somehow it takes away from my very being to not have that contact. It is all about relationships.
Q. You have spent a great deal of your life helping others. That is never truer than the work you have done in the country of India. How many times have you been and tell us about the work and why India was your choice?
A: In January 2001, I joined a group of Rotarians traveling to India to immunize kids against polio. Part of my desire to assist in this program came from two places – first one was when I was in kindergarten in Portland, Maine, one of my best friends was another four-year old boy named Charlie Dimaggio and he was afflicted with polio – having to wear heavy iron leg braces and walk only with the assistance of crutches. The other was the woman who cared for my sisters and me – Mrs. Henry. I think I was about six years old when Mrs. Henry was taken to Maine General Hospital in Portland and diagnosed with polio. Going to visit her, seeing her in the Iron Lung and hearing the hissing sounds as this contraption assisted her in breathing in and out were nearly terrifying to me.
When I learned of an opportunity to travel to India to give life-saving drops of polio vaccine to children under the age of five, I jumped at the chance. I have returned every year, beginning in 2004, leading groups of Rotarians from around the world. We have not only immunized thousands of children, but also have made a significant difference in the lives of villagers who in this country we would say “fall below the radar.” We have built toilet blocks, washing platforms, computer training centers, day-care centers and most recently water catchment dams (this year will be our tenth!)
Q: In addition to the vaccination work you have done in India, you have been involved in a wide variety of charitable works and a bit of theatre to bring attention to an issue. Please share these experiences.
A: Over the years, I have participated in many projects which have positively impacted the lives of those in need. When I became District Governor of Rotary in 2000-2001, I made a conscious decision to follow the example set by my father some forty-eight years prior, to serve others, and to do so with no expectations. The motto for 2000-2001, adopted by Frank Devlyn, the International President of Rotary that year, was
CREATE AWARENESS – TAKE ACTION!
Taking this seriously, and knowing of the growing homeless population in our district, I decided to “become” homeless. I dressed in pretty shabby clothing, disguised my appearance and lay on the ground at the entrance to the places where the Rotary Club was to meet, and had a small box with a tiny sign “PLEASE HELP”.
Once the meeting started inside, the club President would come out and invite me to join them for lunch or breakfast and I would do so, with the request that I be allowed to speak. I began my remarks and took off my disguise and tried to impress upon the members that homelessness exists in every town and city, if we take the time to look for it.
That year, I was able to initiate a project in cooperation with the local Red Sox affiliate – the Portland Sea Dogs, called ROTARY TAKES A SWING AT HOMELESSNESS. We hosted a baseball game, encouraging attendees to bring canned goods to the game to be distributed to those in need. We were successful, through sponsorships and donations to raise some $75,000 – which was shared with various soup kitchens, food pantries and other facilities serving the less fortunate.
On the day after Christmas in 2004, I was exercising at the gym and watched the devastation resulting from the tsunamis in south India. At that point, I resolved to gather a team to travel to India to help where we could. I was fortunate to gather a team from USA, Canada and England, of dedicated Rotarians. We traveled to Chennai and then further south and witnessed (some four months later) the horrific destruction of buildings all resulting from the forces of nature which bore down on that part of the world.
We teamed up with H.H. Pujya Swami Chidanand Saraswatiji of the India Heritage Research Foundation and Bollywood film star, Vivek Oberoi, to construct a general meeting facility in the village of Pannithittu. This allowed us to provide clothing to several children who were orphaned by the tsunami, and the following year to raise funds for and to help construct some fifty of one hundred homes for the fishermen and their families who had lost everything.
After two years of working on tsunami relief, I realized that rather than simply traveling to India for immunizing the children and then doing a week of travel through the country, Rotarians might rather further serve the people of India through various work projects. These projects came in a number of different forms.
Beginning in 2007, I led Rotarians (and friends of Rotary) to India for some pretty basic work projects:
- raising funds for and construction of washing platforms in a remote Muslim village – Chahalka, where adults were getting sick and some children were dying of dysentery from polluted water. These platforms allowed the women and girl children to have a place where they could wash their clothing, pots and pans and even their water buffaloes with waste water being diverted away from the local drinking water supply;
- raising funds for and rehabilitation and conversion of an old government building into a day-care center for young children and a computer training center for teens – also in Chahalka village;
- raising funds for and obtaining a Rotary Foundation Matching Grant for the construction of a toilet block (containing some twenty toilets and showers) where women and girl children could safely and privately take care of their personal hygiene – again in Chahalka Village;
- raising funds, obtaining Rotary Foundation Matching Grants and subsequently Global Grants for the construction of nine Water Catchment Dams in Rajasthan and Punjab, whereby local villagers are now able to benefit from gravity-fed irrigation for planting, growing and harvesting up to three crops each year, rather than the less than one crop before the dams were built;
- raising funds for, obtaining Rotary Foundation Global Grant for approximately $50,000 USD, for the construction of a water reservoir in Ram Nagar near Pataudi (not far from the city of Gurgaon)
These projects have been initiated in conjunction with the PHD-RDF (Punjab, Haryana, Delhi – Rural Development Foundation) as well as India Rotary Water Conservation Trust. Furthermore, as a result of the construction of these dams and the reservoir, villagers have been positively affected. They will be able to become self-sustaining and financially productive members of their communities.
Q: You were recently recognized nationally for your philanthropic efforts. Share with us how you were chosen and although you do not do this for recognition, what does the award mean to you?
A. In serving others, regardless of the circumstances, I have never looked for accolades, prizes or awards. I guess I look back to my dad and his quiet service to the blind woman on the street corner. I know that doing the right thing is enough. However, the best acknowledgment of the service I have been able to provide is the smile on the face of a stranger.
Editor’s Note: Elias Thomas was honored by the National Association of Realtors with their Good Neighbor Award in 2018. In the article announcing his award, Realtor Magazine said, “Thanks to Thomas’s pioneering volunteer efforts, the people of these (India) villages are forging a new way of life, with access to fresh water not only for drinking but also for making a living by growing and selling crops. You can read more about this amazing honor at https://magazine.realtor/good-neighbor-awards/article/2018/08/a-dam-bursting-with-generosity. Thomas was also named Realtor of the Year for York County Maine in 2016.
Q: You had the opportunity to take your grandson John with you to India and to be a part of Wreaths Across America in Washington DC. Tell us about those experiences and what it was like to share them with your grandson.
A: In 2017 and 2018, I was able to take my grandson, John, with me to India and it was a singular experience to be with him and to see the projects through his eyes. He is now a high school junior and I am so proud of the responsible, caring, compassionate and responsive young man that he has become.
My grandson also joined me five or six years ago when we traveled to Washington DC with other Mainers to participate in the WREATHS ACROSS AMERICA and I have returned almost every year since then to help honor our fallen soldiers, sailors and airmen who are buried at Arlington National Cemetery. He and I both learned something on that first trip.
We listened as a Rabbi spoke before the disbursement of thousands of wreaths. He explained that it is not in the Jewish tradition to decorate a grave with a wreath. He asked that we honor that by NOT placing a wreath at a grave where we saw the Star of David on the headstone. Rather, he asked that we “Call out their name” and at each grave, we both knelt, spoke their name and offered a short prayer of thanksgiving for their service to our country.
Q: Not that we want to make this piece about politics, but you do have some thoughts about today’s political climate. Give us your short-version on Politics 101.
A: I have been involved in politics for many years. Basically since I was about eight years old, when Eisenhower was running for re-election. I’ve had the opportunity to meet and talk with political icons including Ronald Reagan, George and Barbara Bush, Henry Kissinger, Margaret Chase Smith and others.
I am still fascinated with the democratic process, although I am truly saddened by the divisiveness which pervades our nation and the world. It would be a treat to be able to step back and speak to Senator Smith, Presidents Reagan and Bush and get their “take” on the current climate in our country and to listen to possible solutions.
Q: What is your favorite way to relax?
A: When I asked my wife, my daughter and the staff at my office how to answer the question, “What is your favorite way to relax?” almost in chorus, they said, “You DON’T relax!” And I guess this is true to a degree – but my brain is always going a hundred miles an hour, always thinking of ways I might make a positive difference in the lives of others.
Seeing the smiles on others faces or noticing a twinkle in the eyes of a child as they sat on my knee, (as I have stood in for the “Man in the Red Suit” at Christmastime), the bottom line is, I take great satisfaction in knowing that in some small way, I made a difference.
My wife and I try to travel each year to Cozumel, Mexico and have done so for over thirty years. On our first trip there, I attended a Rotary Club meeting and became very involved with the local Rotarians in various projects throughout three decades. We have provided hearing aids to children, as well as other equipment to their schools; we initiated a project COZUMEL NO HACE BASURA (Cozumel makes no trash).
Being a great destination for cruise ships, and being a coral-reef island, we were concerned with the dumping of trash, not only along the roadsides but also directly from the cruise ships into the harbor, while they were tied up at the docks. We brought a huge awareness about this to the locals and also worked in conjunction with the local mayor, Gustavo Ortega Joaquin, to stop this practice.
We also established a program within the school system to teach children about Reduce, Reuse and Recycle. Today, the island paradise is much cleaner and safer due to the efforts of local Rotarians. It is hard to relax when one sees so many different opportunities to serve.
The truth is, I enjoy walking along an empty beach, whether here in Maine or in other countries. I also enjoy just walking in the woods and observing nature.
Q: What is your favorite meal and where do you love to go to eat it?
A: MAINE Lobster, almost anywhere, as long as I don’t have to be “proper” about it. I prefer eating them at home or our summer cottage at the lake.
Q: What is the last book you read and what did you gain from it?
A: I am fortunate to have discovered Audible books and I have “read” several books over the past few years, both in hard cover, as well as through listening to them. Two of my favorites are “START WITH WHY” by Simon Sinek and “THE FOUR AGREEMENTS” by Don Miguel Ruiz. Another favorite is “HILLBILLY ELEGY” by J.D. Vance
Q: What is your favorite music genre and who is your favorite artist?
A: I like all types of music, with Jazz NOT being my favorite. I studied voice in school and college and love to sing. Two favorite artists come to mind. Josh Groban as a singer, the other is a Pianist, Composer and Conductor, Ludovico Einaudi, who is an incredibly gifted musician.
Q: If you could have coffee with anyone, living or dead who is not a family member, who would it be and what would you ask them?
A: With a fair amount of history in my family, I will break the rule and say I would like to know more about two ancestors. Elias Thomas, (the first Treasurer of the State of Maine), who, with his wife, Elizabeth Widgery Thomas, owned a home on the corner of Congress Street and India Street. It was a SAFE HOUSE for runaway slaves on the Freedom Trail.
The other is William Widgery Thomas, Jr., who I believe was a roommate of Joshua Chamberlain at Bowdoin. He went on to become Minister to Sweden and Norway, appointed by President Abraham Lincoln. He also settled the territories in Northern Maine, known as New Sweden and Stockholm.
Q: Tell us three things about yourself you would like people to know.
A: I played the title role in Stephen Sondheim’s SWEENEY TODD. I had my first public solo as a freshman in college with The Boston Pops Orchestra under the direction of Arthur Fiedler.
I have sung the National Anthem for three United States presidents – Ronald Reagan; George H. W. Bush and George W. Bush. I was also honored to sing at the memorial service for Senator Margaret Chase Smith.
