Cartoon in header from the Winchester Star, May 11, 2020
Currents
June 25 2020
Editor Marilyn Bedell
Upcoming Program
July 2, 2020: Club Updates, Paul Tierney
July 9, 2020: Amy Cook, Veteran-Friendly Business Recognition, A Program to Benefit Veterans and NH Employers
Amy M. Cook
Professional Bio
Amy Cook is the Administrator for the New Hampshire Division of Community Based Military Programs at the Department of Military Affairs and Veterans Services where she is responsible for coordinating statewide strategies between government agencies, federal partners and local service providers to benefit NH Veterans and their families.
A Time for Celebration! Reflections on 2019/2020 by Marion Steiner and Liss Mooney, our Co-Presidents!
Welcome and thank you all for joining this evening. We are here tonight to recall and celebrate the past Rotary year, honor and thank this years’ board, committee members and club members and set up our incoming president for a positive and successful start to his year.
Just as this is not the changeover we all envisioned, this was certainly not the Rotary year we thought we were going to have. Covid-19 upended much of Rotary as we know it. Due to the global pandemic, we were forced to cancel, heavily modify or indefinitely postpone major fundraisers, and many of our core community service events. Our club has not had in person gatherings to fully enjoy the fellowship of Rotary for almost four months. Our community outreach and visibility was curtailed. Despite these challenges, and this truly unprecedented time, our club has accomplished much.
We inducted amazing new members
We raised a lot of money for charities
We donated charitable funds to both global causes like a water project in Ghana, and local like a donation to Upper Valley Snow Sports/Whaleback
We used a district grant to enhance the lives of the children and teens at Romano Circle
We pulled off a highly successful and fun Brew Fest
We provided scholarships to deserving local high school seniors
We participated in an international Inbound Friendship Exchange with a club from Alberta Canada
We mobilized and delivered $200 worth of turkeys to The Haven on Thanksgiving to meet a large gap in feeding less privileged families at the last minute
We filled and assembled Listen baskets
We supported two Interact Clubs
We cleaned up parks
We contracted for and started building a custom website which will take our club into the future
We served lots of Listen dinners
We sponsored first grade readers
We donated children’s books to the Kilton Library
We had a rich, interesting and engaging slate of programs and presenters
We ran food drives
We donated to the Rotary Foundation
We helped to End Polio Now
We engaged, we did the work, we gave.
We were Rotarians.
We would like to extend our heartfelt thanks and deepest appreciation to the members of the golf committee, pie committee and Brewfest committee. The time and effort put into planning these events and executing Brewfest were admirable and greatly appreciated
We would like to thank the members of the board for their work and commitment to the club and recognize the amount of work that occurred in both at the board level and board committees to move the club forward
We would like to thank Jon Yacavonne for his excellent slate of presenters for the year and his adaptability in changing schedules.
Special thanks to Bill Babineau who is stepping down from the role after several years acting as our club treasurer and Dan Affeldt whose technical skills and support helped us rapidly move to virtual club and board meetings.
Unending appreciation to Marilyn Bedell who was a source of Rotary wisdom, support, encouragement and our anchor. Marilyn was also instrumental in keeping our club moving when the Covid crisis seriously impacted both of our professions causing our work demands to temporarily interfere with our Rotary schedule.
So no, it was not the Rotary year we all planned or the two of us imagined as we were inducted at changeover one year ago, but it was Rotary in action. It was giving, it was fellowship, it was community. The Rotary Club of Lebanon New Hampshire did it’s part to provide humanitarian service and to advance goodwill and peace wherever we could in whatever form we could.
We wish Paul all the best as he begins his Rotary year as the president of our club. We feel the club is poised to have a spectacular year, even with the uncertainty that remains globally and know it is in good hands with Paul and his incoming board.
Every year we honor service to our club and the community by presenting Paul Harris Fellowships.
The presentation of Paul Harris Fellow recognition is The Rotary Foundation's way of expressing its appreciation for a substantial contribution to the Foundation’s humanitarian and educational programs. It is named for our founder, Paul Harris, a Chicago lawyer who started Rotary International with three business associates in 1905.
We (Rotary Club of Lebanon) designate Paul Harris Fellows at Changeover as a tribute to a those who demonstrate a shared purpose with the objectives of The Rotary Foundation, of Doing Good in the World.
At Changeover, Marilyn Bedell, Bruce Bergeron and Willy Koppenheffer had the honor of presenting Paul Harris Fellowships too:
Co-President Melissa Mooney
Co-President Marion Steiner
Finance Chair Steve Whitman.
Because of gifts like the one made in honor of Melissa, Marion and Steve, The Rotary Foundation is able to carry out an array of programs that achieve beneficial changes in our world:
improved living conditions,
increased food production,
better education,
wider availability of treatment and rehabilitation for the sick and disabled,
new channels for the flow of international understanding, and
brighter hopes for peace.
We believe that contribution to The Rotary Foundation is an investment in the ideal of good will, peace and understanding. That is an ideal held high by Rotarians the world over.
Again, congratulations to Liss, Marion and Steve!
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Members and Guest Attending Changeover
Dan Affeldt
Marilyn Bedell
Ron Bedell
Bruce Bergeron
Paul Boucher
Michelle Buck
Dean Cashman
Steve Christy
Hank Clarke
Karen Clements
Rudy Fedrizzi
Ed Friendman
Garlan Hoskins
Cindy Jerome
Willy Koppenheffer
JoAnn Lemieux
Melissa Mooney
Angela Nelson
Ernst Oidtmann
Bruce Pacht
Phil Rentz
Bill Secord
Marion Steiner
Paul Tierney
Rich Wallace
Steve Whitman
John Yacavone
Guests:
Our Incoming Aissitant Governor:
John Hochreiter
Former members:
Betsey Child - Lebanon
Jimmy Shibles - Lebanon
Linka Lewis - Lebanon Riverside
Chip Lewis - White River Junction
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Club Service 2019/2020
It is a time to celebrate what we accomplished in 2019/2020
This may not be totally reflective of all of our service, donations and volunteer hours in 2019/2020 but it is what was reported to Marilyn Bedell. Sorry it is hard to read, and sorry if anything was missed.
Number of Projects = 22
Volunteer Hours
Projected = 310.9
Actual = 448.8
Volunteer Hours
Projected = 310.8
Actual = 448.8
Contributions
Projected = 21.5
Actual = 22.1K
Value of Donated Goods and Serviced
Projected = 2K
Acutual = 3K
2019/2020 Service Projects, Donatio and Fund Raising
Children’s Books for Kilton Library, West Lebanon
Romano Circle – Community Room Renovations and Hannaford Gift Cards (Covid-19 response)
3 Listen Community Dinners
Brew Fest
Letter Writing for Veterans
Riverside and Baker’s Crossing Park Clean-ups Fall and Spring
Upper Valley Sports Foundation – Ski Program Equipment
Holiday Basket Helper
Gift Purchases by Members
Sorting Holiday Baskets and Assuring the Gifts Requested Were Purchased
Turkey’s for Christmas – The Haven
City Center Ballet – Donation to Permit Schools to Send Kids to the Ballet
Donation to Visions for Collective Housing in Lebanon
Ava Gallery Student Art Project – Donation
United Day of Caring – Cleaning at the Ava Gallery Basement
Speech Contest Round 1 and 2
Food Drives for Listen at least three
Covid-19 Food Insecurity Donation from Club and Soon to Be Matched by a Rotary Foundation Disrict Grant.
Four Scholarships for Lebanon (2) and Mascoma (2)
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Upcoming Events - Save the Dates
Bedell Classic....Hold the Date
September 17, 2020
Golf committee has secured September 17 Thusday as a new date for the Bedell Tournament. Probably a smaller event this year, but one where we can raise at least some money.
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Listen Dinners 2020
NEXT DINNER We are awaiting word that volunteer can begin helping to prepare meals at the Listen Center in WRJ.
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2020 Holiday Party and Yankee Swap
It's never to early to plan...Mark you calendars now, our 2020 Holiday Party and Famous Yankee Swap! It will be on Thursday, December 17, 2020, at the Quechee Inn at Marshland Farms. Cost will be the same as 2019...$40/person
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Rotary International News
2020 Virtual Convention on demand
Relive Rotary’s first-ever virtual convention on-demand and learn why, now more than ever, Rotary Connects the World! Watch inspiring speakers and panelists from the general sessions. Connect with the family of Rotary to discover innovative ways to engage and strengthen our communities by watching our breakout sessions. Want more? We will continue our breakout session program into July.
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The Rotary Foundation's New Area of Focus: Supporting the Environment.
The Rotary Foundation Trustees and Rotary International Board of Directors have both unanimously approved adding a new area of focus: supporting the environment.
More than $18 million in Foundation global grant funding has been allocated to environment-related projects over the past five years. Creating a distinct area of focus to support the environment will give Rotary members even more ways to bring about positive change in the world and increase our impact.
Supporting the environment becomes Rotary's seventh area of focus, which are categories of service activities supported by global grants. It joins peacebuilding and conflict prevention; disease prevention and treatment; water, sanitation, and hygiene; maternal and child health; basic education and literacy; and community economic development.
Grant applications for projects will be accepted beginning on 1 July 2021. Gifts and commitments from Rotarians and others will be sought to provide global grant support for the new area of focus.
More information about this new cause will be announced soon.
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