Our Interactors helped drive the recent food drive to success.
Minutes for Club Meeting of October 30, 2025
Meeting Venue: The Dwinell Room at Harvest Hill
In attendance: Marilyn Bedell, Ron Bedell, Bruce Bergeron, Phil Bush [Z], Dave Clarenbach, Hank Clarke, Jim Damren, Steve Grant, Tim Guaraldi, Tyler Hagan, Carol Keeffe, Will Koppenheffer, Ron Michaud, Angela Nelson, Ernst Oidtmann, Bruce Pacht, Phil Rentz, Bill Secord, Marion Steiner, George Wenz, Cal Wolfe, and John Yacavone.
Call to order by President Marilyn at 12:03.
Four-way test led by Jim Damren.
The President’s Thought of the Day:
Singing has been a staple of many Rotary Clubs for more than a hundred and eighteen years. Harry L. Ruggles, the fifth member of the first Rotary Club in Chicago, made it a regular part of Rotary meetings there as early as 1906, and singing spread to many clubs early on.
Ruggles was a printer and was responsible for printing the first Rotary wheel, but he is probably best known for introducing singing to Rotary. Ruggles, an extremely moral man, described how he introduced singing to the organization. Apparently, a speaker at the club began a joke that Ruggles knew had an off-color ending, and rather than let the speaker continue the joke, he jumped up on his chair and said, “Let’s sing, boys,” and broke into a well-known and boisterous song. From then on Rotary One, Chicago, sang as part of every meeting, and Paul Harris spread the word to clubs that they should.
One year Rotary for Max Jovanovich.
The Listen Community Food Drive:
Left: Marques Samerson (Tim Guaraldi's grandson and a Lebanon Interactor), Cole Ripley, Benji Madory, Miles Saunders, and Christian McDonald. Christian is our club's advisor to the Lebanon High School Interact club and is the coordinator of Extended Learning Opportunities at the high school.
Seven members of the LHS Interact Club volunteered their time on Saturday, October 18, at the Lebanon Co-op, collecting food and monetary donations for the Listen Food Pantry. Shoppers were generous and supportive, helping the students make a real impact in addressing food insecurity in our community. The food drive, supervised by Tim Guaraldi, collected 711 pounds of dry goods and $452. Both were delivered to the food pantry.
The Interact Club thanks everyone who contributed and looks forward to continuing their partnership with Listen in future service projects.
Speaker of the Day:
Steve Grant introduced our speaker, Matthew Garcia. Matthew was born in North Carolina but headed to New England as soon as he heard about it. He graduated from Dartmouth College and subsequently moved to New York City, where he worked in the publishing industry for many years. In 2003, Matthew moved to Vermont and became a lawyer after a period of time. When Matthew decided he no longer wanted to be a lawyer, he dedicated himself to the nonprofit world, working as executive director of the Spark Community Center for many years and then as executive director of Windsor County Mentors, the position he still holds today. 
Matthew started off by talking about ancient Greece, which gave us philosophy, democracy, and Homer. Homer wrote the Odyssey and the Iliad. Matthew‘s favorite character from the Iliad was Cassandra, who was able to tell the future, but was believed by nobody. In the Odyssey saga, the Greeks come to Odysseus and want him to go to war with them against Troy. He initially refused, but they made him an offer he couldn’t refuse and finally agreed. Before going, Odysseus asked Mentor to watch out for Tellus his son. In ancient Greece, Mentor was recognized as a trusted wise community leader. He is the source of our word "mentor."
Windsor County Mentors was founded 54 years ago to help adolescents in trouble and to help them have better lies. It provides one-on-one adult adolescent mentoring. Mentors are with their mentees either on Saturdays or in school or both. Windsor County Partners serves all of Sullivan County, New Hampshire, and the Kearsarge area, as well as Windsor County as the locus of its mentoring. Matthew has a staff of only five, and he is the sole full-time employee. His agency has a budget of $180,000 and fundraises the majority of that. The communities that receive mentoring services will typically provide some funds, and the state of Vermont does as well.
Windsor County Partners has access to nationwide best mentoring practices. These practices show that truancy declines with mentoring and that mentees trust their parents more than kids without mentors. The mentors are volunteers who go through a training program and are asked to commit to Windsor County Mentors for a period of a year after completing their training. Matthew serves as the chief development officer of Winter County Mentors.
Kilton Library Book:
Bill Secord presented a book entitled Fierce Aunties for the Kilton children’s collection in recognition of Matthew.
Fierce Aunties! by Laurel Goodluck (Author) and Steph Littlebird (Illustrator) is a joyful and vibrant celebration of what makes aunties so special. The Indigenous author and illustrator team invite all kids to connect with the fierce aunties in their lives.
Who do you go to for advice and support? Or when you want an adventure and a little extra courage? Or when you need to find that warrior spirit inside you? Fierce aunties!
Aunties come in different shapes, sizes, and ages. They all have different laughs, skills, and stories. They might be your parents’ sisters, your older cousins, or even family friends. But there’s something they all have in common: They’re fierce, they love you, and they’ll help make everything better.
Scenes from the Cannan Flu Clinic:
Left: Sharmila Karki Niroula, Carol Keeffe, and Marilyn Bedel staffed the check-in desk at the recent Cannan flu clinic.
Below: Ann Ely, executive director of the Public Health Council of the Upper Valley, and Sharmila discuss check-in procedures for the flu clinic.
Announcements:
Marilyn, Jim, Dan and Bruce Bergeron met with Lebanon city manager Andrew Hosmer to strengthen to reinforce Rotary relationship with the city
The food drive supervised by Tim Guaraldi last Saturday collected 711 pounds of dry goods and $452. Both were delivered to the food pantry.
The Revo Casino and Social House's gala, Revels with a Cause, is taking place November 7.
Bruce Pacht informed the club that nominations for trustee volunteer ended today. New bylaw revisions went out. They will be discussed on November 20 and thereafter voted upon. In addition, Bruce informed the club that there will be a ticket raffle for the December 6 concert of Cape Breton music at the First Congregational Church of Lebanon (Lebanon Opera House on location).
Brags:
Bruce Pacht loves his oral surgeon.
Angela Nelson is happy her Jamaican boyfriend and his family are safe after the hurricane passed through Jamaica this week.
Hank had his 11-year-old grandson for a week and now understands why old people don’t have kids and young people do. His 24 year-old died and he has purchased a new one that has Wi-Fi. Hank is starting to now understand the Internet.
Tim Guaraldi likes the Interactors who volunteered for the food drive last Friday.
Ron Michaud bragged about his mentor from Eastern Europe, Tommy Jacobs. His mentor had a huge influence on Ron’s life.
President Marilyn was happy that Phil Rentz will run the speech contest and that Ron Michaud will set up round two of the contest.
Carol Keeffe held the winning ticket for the draw. Unfortunately, she drew the eight of clubs. George Wenz got the car wash. Ron Michaud was last week’s lucky winner.
A Friendly "Hello" from Jim Brock, Our Honorary Member from Bermuda!
Hi, Marilyn.
Thanks for checking up on me. I apologize for going AWOL.
My change in behavior was provoked by the fact that our Company expanded its operations to include more than twenty jurisdictions throughout the Caribbean and my focus and attention has been solely on the consolidation and integration of the new acquisitions. Things have been hectic - but fun.
The good news is that the consolidation is now complete, and I have just stepped down as the Chairman of our Group Investment Committee, and I have also stepped down from all my directorships outside Bermuda.
Life is now back to normal, and I have more time for my normal activities - like reading and answering emails and Rotary.
Please give my best regards to Ron and all by fellow Rotarians at the Club.
Best regards,
Jim
Request from the Hanover Rotary Club:
Hanover Rotary and a consortium of local non-profits are helping grow an existing operation called Health Closet that receives and re-distributes/lends used medical eqpt. (wheelchairs, walkers, hospital beds, crutches, etc.) to folks who need it, gratis all over the region.
Participants are assembling on Sunday morning Nov. 9th at 10:00 in downtown Lebanon at 25 Spencer Street to inventory, load, and move their eqpt. to 325 Mt. Support Road, Lebanon. Their existing space is terrible and the new premises are wonderful!
As the old saying goes, "Many hands make light work" and the Hanover Rotarians would love to have interested LEBANON ROTARY MEMBERS join them if they can. It's a good cause.
