President Matt opened the meeting at 07:30 and greeter Ben shared some Irish inspiration.
Guest Names:
Finnegan Bonner-Gerber
Chris Yvars
Colle McLaughlin
Durwood Sargent
Grace Neff
Marcy Kelley
Announcements:
- President Matt gave a quick rundown of how a meeting runs for our guests.
- President Matt also requessted a ride to Concord after the meeting Gerry will bring him to town.
- Ben Kiniry - Global Grant update: they have found a new club and reached out and they are interested in getting involved. Ben reached out to the original club thinking they would be okay letting it go, but there is some hesitation, so Ben has reached out to Rotary International to help out. He is going to close out this project and start fresh.
- Steve DeStefano - Interact they are doing their sleep out to raise money and we donated $500 last year. Should be in the budget.
- Dick Swett said they are also doing the clothing drive and if people can bring clothes by next Friday (last day) that would be great. Gently used and clean please.
- Chris Parkinson shared that they are doing the packing party for the medication for their Honduras trip. Asking if anyone has any old suitcases they don’t need back, he could use them next Friday. Lighter ones please.
- Michelle Olivier – Announced that the 4-Way Test speech contest was moved to March 20th at the Library and the winning students will give their speeches at our meeting on the 22nd
- Mike Ardt - Early-act raised $860 from the birdseed wreathes.
- Marcy Kelley was Induction into the Club by President Matt. Ben Kiniry was her sponsor. (Don’t forget to introduce yourselves and sign her book!)
Sergeant at Arms: Tanya Frost
Birthdays:
Ken Moulton Dec. 29th (not in attendance)
Matt Dodge Jan 4th.
Matt has had a great year. 10 years at his company. This past year was a fun work year with better financial discussions than in 2022. The family is happy and healthy. The dog is good but the horses are eating them out of house and home. He was thrilled to get back on the mountain this past Thursday to race and some of his friends surprised him with a cake in the lodge and sang happy birthday! He also paid for a fine as he didn’t have his badge because it’s in his car that is currently dead in his driveway.
Fines:
Karen Wadsworth & Dave Scanlan had to scoot.
Happy Bucks:
Mike Gula - Loved the ugly sweater meeting and the Skit meeting, but his favorite meeting of the year is today when the students who received the most recent scholarships join us and share where they are now.
Dave Scanlan - He paid a fine for having a picture in the paper yesterday and not having a pin. He also wanted to acknowledge Tanya for the Hometown Hero article in the paper a couple of weeks ago. Liked the call out for being a Bow Rotarian and part of this group.
David Farr Had a great New Year, even though a certain fellow Rotarian (Tanya ) didn’t invite him to her party LOL
Gerry Carrier Glad that Durwood Sargent is with us today and glad he’s thinking about transferring back to our Club.
Dick Swett - Having political liaisons from Denmark visiting and having a dinner on the 20th that we are all invited to. Please let him know so they can prepare for food.
Linda Bliss - 1) had a wonderful 10 days in North Carolina with her son and his family for the holidays. Really enjoyed hiking at a state park. 2) proud of Tanya and the article in the paper. 3) proud of her grandson and the full tuition scholarship at Clarkson for a semester.
Judy Goodnow - Wanted to let us know her bandage was for minor surgery and not a bear attack. LOL
Tanya Frost - Happy New Year. Glad to be back at rotary after the break. Thankful for all of the shout-outs and support for the article. Loves being a Bow Rotarian!
Program: Scholarship Winners
Chris Yvars: Attending school in Ohio, Francis university. Volunteers at the local community center that helps lower privileged kids in the area and he really enjoys helping out. He coaches the youth tennis program. Also is on the school tennis team. On another group for business and on the water project group raising money for Africa and clean water. Tennis team starts their season once he gets back. Did great on his finals and very much enjoying school. Met a lot of great people and looking forward to joining other organizations if time allows. Applied to study abroad and really hoping he is accepted. Lastly, he thanked the group, he is truly appreciative.
GraceNeff: Thank you to bow rotary, it’s been an honor. Majoring in Elementary Ed. Met a ton of great people and is hoping the relationships last. Also met some great professors. She’s at Keene state college and she volunteers helping give tours to incoming freshman. She did this in high school as well, and really enjoys it. She isn’t doing any other programs at this time, but looking into some for the coming semester.
Finnegan Bonner-Gerber: Freshman at Fairfield University in CT. Majoring in nursing and wasted no time joining clubs; Men in nursing Club, with 4 members, along with another group (apologies, I missed what it was). Headed to the Dominican Republic to help serve the underprivileged. Looking to study abroad in Ireland for a week in May, but they do have some online opportunities beforehand. He applied for a residence assistant program. He has had the opportunity to join and make the pickle ball team and made the championship. Lost in the first round but really enjoyed it. He’s very grateful and privileged to have gone through the Bow School system that helped him prepare for college. Thankful for what the Bow Rotary does and how we support students
Dick Swett - wanted to bring up that Finn was also part of interact, early-act and the speech contest.
Private Cole McLaughlin: Going to Norwich for his bachelors in Criminal justice with a minor in criminal warfare. Doing a form of basic training getting up at 4:30am running then to barracks with 10 minutes to shower & dress before formation. He has never enjoyed learning as much as he is now. Spent this last semester playing football. He’s played for 13 years and proud to be 1 out of 100 kids on average that get to play football in college. Beyond appreciative of the support of his family and friends and appreciative of the Bow Rotary.
Mike Gula - asked him to speak about his Sr. project last year. He raised money for the Nick and Gavin Ouellette scholarship. The patio! He raised about $10,000 for the scholarship fund. It was a stressful time in his life, but worth it.
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