Notes at the meeting were taken by Bruce Pacht! Thanks, Bruce!!
Upcoming Programs/Speakers
Change in Meeting Times Starting.We will be meeting at 11:55 a.m. on the First and Second Thursdays and we will be meeting at 5:25 p.m. on the Third and Forth Thursdays.
May 20, 5:30 PM, Club Business Meeting, and Final Golf Updates
May 27, Our meeting will be GOLF!! All Day, Golf Tournament...See you at Eastman
June 3, Noon, To Be Announced
June 10, Noon, Rabbi Melamut from Dartmouth College, specific topic to be confirmed closer to the date.
June 17, 5:30 PM, To Be Announced
June 24, 5:30 PM: Waiting for a confirmation
July 1, 2021, Noon, Club Change Over Celebration
July 7, 2021, Noon, Carl Gross, Lebanon Airport Manager
Jane Mason introduced our speakers Nancy Clark from the Zienzele Foundation. Jane met Nancy's husband, Jim when he was officemate to Jane’s best friend at CRREL and when he was a membrer of the Lebanon Rotary Club.
Nancy is co-founder of Zienzele Foundation of Vermont/Zimbabwe. Nancy is Zooming in from Topsham from where, she reports, the snow is gone.
Nancy Clark grew up in Vermont, graduating from the University of Vermont with a degree in nursing. Even in nursing school she gravitated to community health and activitism. Her entire career has focused on the health and well being of women and children through her work in pediatrics in NYC, and then in home care, first in Connecticut and then Vermont, developing programs to meet the needs of young families. It has been a natural transition to this same type of work in rural Zimbabwe
From the Zienzele' web page:
OUR MISSION: SELF RELIANCE FOR WOMEN AND CHILDREN IN ZIMBABWE.
The Zienzele Foundation works in some of the poorest villages in Zimbabwe. Through basket-weaving and other projects, our women's groups earn money to help support themselves and care for over 1,000 orphans.
Remarks from Nancy:
She reflected on the first time she spoke to Rotary Club of Lebanon – it was in the earliest days of the Foundation, some 20 years ago. The changes she’s seen have been amazing, horrible, wonderful, challenging, but mostly the changes she and her co-founder have have been for children in school and the caregiving women who’ve become the powerful people in their community has been rewarding.
For Nancy, 2020 felt like a missed year. She canceled her trip to Zimbabwe in March 2020, then tried to rescheduled to September 2020, and then once again canceled again in March 2021. She is now planning a return in September 2021. She is eager to get back to Zimbabwe.
Nancy and Prisca Nemapare are the co-founders of Zienzelel. The are helped by her husband, Jim. Prisca Nemapare grew up in rural Zimbabwe, living with her grandmother. She was a hard-working and determined student, and eventually she won scholarships to continue her education in the U.S. After eleven years Prisca received her PhD in nutrition. Shortly thereafter she became a professor of nutrition at Ohio University in Athens, Ohio.
Priska is a nutritionist and Nancy is a nurse.
In 1998, Nancy went on EarthWatch project on nutrition for women and children. In 1999, EarthWatch pulled out. In 2000, Nancy went by herself. Women had had numbers of grandchildren dropped off with them as their children died of AIDS.
Zienzele means “do it yourself,” the premise of all our work – it’s the women and children who have done all the work.
There are three prongs of the work:
Educating children
Empowering women and
Building community.
Empowering women
In 2000 they started with 2 basket groups — now we have 52. Baskets are brought to the USA for resale and to help support the women in the community
In 2005 they started garden groups. They needed seeds and fertilizer. They have grown from 5 groups to 46 completely. They are now independent of our help.
In 2000 there was 1 sewing group; now 6 making children’s school uniforms.
Their women's initiatives started with 25 women, now 350 in cooperative groups.
Nancy goes 2x/year to purchase baskets she shells. All the proceeds go back to pay school fees for children.
Educating children:
In 2000 they raised funds to pay school fees for 20 HIV/AIDS orphans. In 2020 they were able to pay for 1,000 children’s fees in primary, secondary and post-secondary.
Child-headed households (CHHs) were described as the most vulnerable population. These are young children who have become head of households when both parents have died. In 2000, they supported one family of six children with 7th grade daughter in charge of getting sibs to school and growing the garden; in 2020 they supported 110 CHHs.
“Chicofa” Primary School – requires uniforms. Children wear these uniforms with pride.
Building community
Nancy shared that they have built relationships with local chiefs (political hierarchy) whose respect we have gained from the success of our work. Connections also with headmasters at schools who depend on us to help keep orphans in school.
Each time we go we hold workshops — one with secondary students on reproductive health. Also helps build a sense of camaraderie with other children. Women’s group celebrating winning a prize in “chicken-raising project.” Another huge gathering of the community around its own progress.
Zienzele Community Center was a major undertaking in 2019. Funding from US donations. All bricks made by women. Men did the building. They bought roofing and windows. Local folks designed it and chose the site – a “major blue ribbon” for this community to be the first to have such a center. Meetings, basket shows, other community uses in this building which connects folks more.
Large numbers of students from several different schools come together for these workshops.
Zienzele Post-Secondary School Fund: Some post-secondary students are teachers, nurses, electricians, plumbers, mechanics, environmental and computer scientists, and conflict resolution specialists. Also trade certifications, nursing degrees, associate degrees, BAs, MAs and soon, an acceptance into PhD program at Boston College in international development!
Fundraising – we usually do 12 per year but did none in 2020. Just about to have our first. Child sponsorship is $300 a year. Post-Secondary Fund — a large new commitment for which we hope to start a scholarship program which will need more money than the basket sales can supply.
John Yacavone: Over the years, I’ve bought baskets and feel I’m part of Zienzele. If that area of the world creates saints, you and Jim will be two of them.
Caleb Wolfe: I’m in year 2 of a similar effort in Kenya. Awe-struck about your accomplishments in 21 years.
The soil seems dry – how succeed with planting?
Nancy: Definitely arid. They’ve had years of persistent drought. Have to choose specifically when to plant and harvest. We try to situate gardens near a water source – women carry the water on their heads to the gardens. Most recent rainy season washed away seeds, roads – Africa seems to be always on the edge of climate change. Soil is fertile but dry.
Caleb: I’d like to talk with you about capturing water for agriculture.
Jane Mason: Plug for the baskets — they have become works of art, very sophisticated. There are now baskets with covers. Check out the website!!
Children's Collection at the Kilton Library...this weeks donation in honor of our speaker:
Bill Secord presented today's speaker book is Bringing Back the Wolves: How a Predator Restored an Ecosystem by Jude Isabella. Illustrated by Kim Smith.
The connection to the Zienzele Foundation is the importance the Zienzele Project places upon the health of the local ecosystem in Zimbabwe -- the establishment of community gardens and the preservation of local crafts, especially basketmaking. The attached nature photo shows the shade trees that provide some of the material used in the local basketmaking industry.
The caption for the photo reads:
The Mtechani tree provides color, nice shade, and its seed pods provide a lovely grey color for baskets.
Jimmy Brock joined us from Bermuda. He reported that it was a warm, rainy day in Bermuda. Jimmy was happy to see President Ron on the screen, and happy that he is recovering from his coronary stint placement back on April 24. He also shared that he continues to be grateful for the care he received at DHMC after a stroke several years ago. He also shared that his cardiothoracic surgeon son, who is on faculty at Johns Hopkins knows many of the folks on the cardiac team at DHMC.
Marilyn Bedell introduced Janet Vaughan to members as they joined the meeting. Janet is transferring her Rotary membership from New London, NH to Lebanon this week. Janet is employed by Northeast Credit Union on Heater Road. She is the branch manager. She shared in her application that she started her banking career at the age of 17 as bank teller. She has been in the banking industry for 28 years. The last three at Northeast Credit Union. In her spare time she likes to hike, work in her garden, and renovate her farm house in Sutton, NH. She has two children, ages 18 and 23. Her husband's name is Robert. She shared that she has a 13 year old pup named Oliver. She is looking forward to getting involved in our Lebanon community.
Meeting Review
At 12:01 PM Marilyn Bedell rang the bell to call the meeting to order.
Bruce Bergeron did a masterful job of leading us in the 4-Way Test.
Jane Mason then introduced our speaker, Janet Clark from the Zienzele Foundation. See the story above. Bill Secord presented the speaker book for the Kilton Library's children's collection. The book was Bringing Back the Wolves. Information about the book above.
Club Announcements and Updates
Our next zoom meeting: May 20 at 5:30 p.m.
President Ron lead us in the Janet Vaughan's induction into membership in our club. Janet, welcome to the Rotary Club of Lebanon. Janet then Janet thanked everyone. She looks forward to working with everyone.
John Yacavone announced that our share of the Poker Room fundraiser is over $12,000.
State law requires that the 6 poker rooms must give 35% of their profits to charities. We signed up for 10 days. We are already booked for next year, though we don’t have the specific dates yet.
Paul Tierney asked : Are we doing anything to recognize those people who manage the poker room?
John will look into a certificate they can put on the wall.
Paul Boucher – He has terminal cancer, at home with hospice care, and not doing well. If you would like to send him a card, his address is PO Box 262, Lebanon, NH 03766.
Rotaract at Dartmouth – Michelle Sun a former Interactor is the president of the Dartmouth Rotaract Club; father a PDG in California
Organizing a conference that will happen this Saturday with a lineup of impressive speakers. Marilyn Bedell will send out information about the conference in a separate email to club members.
Ed Friedman: update on how the Golf Tournament is progressing for May 27th.
Program next week will be final planning for the golf tournament.
Please contribute items for the raffle. Please continue to solicit business sponsorships – Ed sent a list of prior years’ contributors for Rotarians to contact if you have a connection.
We have enough teams!! We have 25 teams!!
We are back to a shotgun start at 11:30 AM. Rotarian and other volunteers to arrive at 9:00 AM.
Re: Sponsors and Raffle Prizes. We have 13 gold sponsors, 19 hold sponsors, and 40 raffle commitments but only 9 items in hand! If you have raffle prizes drop them off at Bruce Bergeron's office above Jake's Coffee Shop on Mechanics Street. Keep working to get more raffle prizes and sponsors.
Food is changing. There will be hot lunch with different menu selections, burgers and chicken, cookie and water. Not yet sure if it’s picked up in advance or at the turn.
Nothing will be indoors – all outside as we did last year.
Cindy Jerome is organizing the raffle and silent auction items. The Golf Committee wants some “gift baskets” for the silent auction. If you have a basket, donate it and we’ll make it into a gift basket, OR...MAKE A GIFT BASKET YOURSELF.
Ernst Oidtmann: May 29 Trail Maintenance project. It will start at 9:00 a.m. and take about 2 hours. Gates will be open to allow driving up to larger lot near the lake.
Nine bridges. Still seeking additional Rotarians: “Don’t dawdle, Doodle!!” Planks and sleepers will have been delivered by then. Talked with Hypertherm – their workers prefer to have workdays on Monday-Friday as they get paid by Hypertherm for those days. Please reach out to friends who might like to help with this project even if you can't participate.
Hank Clarke: Update on the Brew Fest all set for September 4th.
Thanks to Marion and Suellen, Hank has information on all the individual things needing to be done. Has reached out to several members. Developing a timeline. Bulk of the work is with the City and State, a complicated process requiring 6 or 8 or 10 documents.
After the golf tournament, we will put a committee together. One great concern: How many people will be allowed to come in to do the Brewfest? Don’t know how many folks the state will allow to gather outdoors. May need alternate plans.
Steve Christy has the banners and other things. Suellen has glasses. Marion gave Hank the specific questions and comments from two years ago, giving Hank more confidence about moving forward.
Re-opening for meetings in person
Administrative committee discussed this at length; board of directors talked more and decided to circulate a survey to all members which you will soon receive. Please please please complete the survey and send it back to President Ron Bedell. This will be our first step on the way back to in-person gatherings.
Marion Steiner will give an update on the vetting of various projects for our 100th Anniversary.
Marion reported that on Tuesday, several of us walked River Park. “It’s absolutely beautiful!” Another meeting today at 4:00 PM.
Anything else for the good of the club? Happy Thoughts/concerns
Jake’s free car wash was won by Rich Wallace.
Ernst Oidtmann: Congratulations to President Ron back in 100%.
Hank’s happy thought: We’ve been dispersing VA Hospital vans throughout NH and VT again over the past couple of weeks; Hank makes his first trip tomorrow. He is delighted to be able to do this volunteer work again!
Ron Bedell is happy to be back. He keeps on ticking.
Marilyn Bedell: 50 years ago, she graduated from nursing school and drove to Mary Hitchcock to start her job. This week, Marilyn received some farewell gifts to recognize the end of her 50-year employment relationship with D-H...including her 50 year pin.
Marilyn Bedell, Graduation Day May 7, 1971
Karen CLements made the CBS Boston news for delivering a SNHU diploma to a nurse who joined SNHU program virtually. Here's the link to CBS Boston article click here
Katie Smith is surprised with her diploma. Presented by Karen Clements (Image Credit: SNHU)
Tim: Now has TWO American bald eagles fishing in his pond. They are very big.
Bell rung at 12:58 PM to end the meeting
They profit most who serve the best.
We have the following meeting and/or speakers scheduled through July 8.
Everyone here at Visions has been busy as winter came to a close and spring begins with all of it's inherent potential and new possibilities. Sunrise Farm residents and staff have all been vaccinated, renovations are moving forward rapidly at Green Street where residents will begin moving in this summer, and Sunrise Farm residents have returned to many of the community activities they enjoy so much. We are onboarding new staff to help sustain Visions as we grow with the opening of Green Street, and the Hanover committee is generating community support for what will become Visions third site with a projected completion date in 2023 on property donated to Visions in 2019.
We are also thrilled to share the news that for the first time in the history of our organization, both the New Hampshire Community Foundation and Granite United Way have pledged multi-year support to help with this tremendous growth. and in other exciting news, founding Executive Director Sylvia Kluge Dow was recently honored with a 2021 New Hampshire Impact Award from the NH Center for Nonprofits.
We are so grateful for the overwhelming community support that is making all of this possible!
Bedell Golf Classic 2021 at Eastman Golf Links — May 27, 2021
Save the Date & Plan to Volunteer Before or at the Event.
The golf committee up and running. Team leaders have been identified and will be reaching out to you with more detailed information and provide a brochure to be used for recruit golfers, sponsors and raffle prizes. If you want to help, let Ed Friedman, Golf Chair know. Everyone needs to begin recruiting golfers, reach out to find sponsors and raffle prizes. Raffle prizes don't need to be big ticket items, often we can group some smaller items and make it one prize. Once again, tee times will be used instead of a shot gun start. More details will be shared as the committee get rolling.
Boston Lot Service Project — Building Foot Bridges
Save the Date: SATURDAY MORNING MAY 29; START at 9 AM
Outdoor project for May 29, the last Saturday of the month.
No snow! No mud (maybe)!
We need volunteers to built nine log bridges crossing several water runoffs on the Boston Lot trail that circles the pond on the north-west side. Each bridge consists of two or three sleepers supporting two twelve-foot-long boards held down by steel pegs for which holes need to be drilled so the boards won’t split. (Two bridges will be only six feet long.)
The work will start at 9 a.m. and may take about two hours to complete depending on how many teams of two-to-four people we have. The two gates will be unlocked so we can drive all the way to the pond. I’ll assign you to a team, if needed, and to the particular bridge(s) you are going to build.
Equipment needed per team: shovel, pry bar, drill, saw, pounding hammer, gloves, protective goggles and insect spray.
It would be nice if our Rotary Club can sign up eight-to-ten people.
Rotary Invitation From Northern NH Rotary Clubs to Clean Up the Kancamagus, June 4th & Pinkham Notch, July 24th
Will be formally announced at our March 11th Meeting
To: Service Organization Partners
From: Northern New Hampshire Rotary Clubs
Date: February, 2021 Re: Rotary Community Clean-Up New Hampshire Projects
The Rotary Clubs of Bristol, Lincoln-Woodstock, North Conway, Ossipee, Plymouth, and White Mountains invite you to join with us to brighten up our area’s most scenic highways, byways, and trailheads.
The more volunteers we attract, the more impact we will have. We are looking for support from individuals, other service clubs and organizations, chambers of commerce, school groups, churches, municipalities, area businesses, and anyone who would like to join us as we Clean Up New Hampshire.
If you are unable to commit your body to a day of labor, we are happy to discuss other ways you can support our efforts such as in-kind or monetary donations. Our goal is to make these projects sustainable and far reaching for the benefit of residents and visitors alike, thanks to the support of everyone who cares about our communities! Also, working outdoors, COVID-19 safety protocols will be more easily enforced.
Our first undertaking is the Kancamagus Clean-Up Project. The date is Saturday, June 5th, from 9am to 3pm. We will have teams starting at the Kancamagus Highway height of land working their way downhill toward the towns of Lincoln and Conway, picking up trash along the highway in the rest areas, pull offs, and trailheads. We will be organized by teams and given zones within which to work. We will supply all that you need as well as a continental breakfast to get you started and lunch to keep you going. Our goal is to engage up to 150 Kancamagus Clean-Up participants!
Anticipating that our Kancamagus Clean-Up efforts will be successful, we are already planning for a Pinkham Notch Clean-Up Project on July 24, 2021, and at least two more before the snow flies! Please join our Rotary Community Clean-Up project. To participate, contact our Volunteer Coordination Committee Chair: BOB YOUNG YOUNGLAWFIRM@YAHOO.COM Thank you very much for your consideration in joining our efforts. We look forward to working with you as we Clean Up New Hampshire!
Please join our Rotary Community Clean-Up project. To participate, contact our Volunteer Coordination Committee Chair:
BOB YOUNG YOUNGLAWFIRM@YAHOO.COM
Thank you very much for your consideration in joining our efforts. We look forward to working with you as we Clean Up New Hampshire.
Brew Fest 2021 — September 4, 2021 (Saturday of Labor Day Weekend)
Planning underway for Brew Fest 2021. Save the date to be there to help with this fundraiser.
Mascoma River Clean-up
Ernst Oidtmann announce that Mascoma River Clean-up will be on September 25 is the date of the biennial Mascoma River Clean-up which will take place in concert with the Connecticut River Clean-up.
In December, for the 13th year in a row, The Rotary Foundation received a four-star rating — the highest possible — from Charity Navigator, an independent evaluator of charities in the United States. Charity Navigator determines its ratings by examining how nonprofits use their funds, how sustainable their programs are, and how well they follow industry standards of transparency and accountability.
160,000
Nonprofits rated by Charity Navigator
$449 billion
Amount Americans gave to U.S. charities in 2019
47 million
Number of hours Rotary members volunteer annually
In a Matter of Measurement
In recent years, many nonprofits — including Rotary — have begun to increase their focus on measuring the impact of their work, and Charity Navigator has responded to that shift. In 2020, it acquired ImpactMatters, a ratings organization dedicated to assessing the impact of nonprofits. Based on the existing ratings of ImpactMatters, Charity Navigator will create impact ratings for thousands of charities.
In an effort to measure the impact of Foundation grants and other Rotary projects, Rotary is now also emphasizing the importance of incorporating monitoring and evaluation into the projects that Rotary clubs and districts carry out in their own communities and around the world. But measuring impact can be challenging, because there is no one-size-fits-all methodology. For some projects, large-scale surveys are useful. For others, impact might be assessed using economic indicators.
“What we are asking is this: Is this a good use of resources?” explains Elijah Goldberg, vice president of impact ratings at Charity Navigator. “Nonprofits are trying to solve a problem. The question is, is this particular type of activity efficient when you solve that problem?”
Nonprofits are trying to solve a problem. The question is, is this particular type of activity efficient when you solve that problem?”
Elijah Goldberg
vice president of impact ratings at Charity Navigator
The intensified focus on measuring impact is an attempt to apply the principles of academic research to the work of charitable organizations. “In the past 15 years, we have seen a huge expansion of the number of careful, rigorous evaluations being done in academia on impact,” says Dean Karlan, co-founder of ImpactMatters and co-director of the Global Poverty Research Lab at Northwestern University. “These days it is much more practical to do fieldwork collecting data; the internet has radically lowered the cost of doing that. And a lot of the exciting evaluations now come from the nonprofit sector.”
More Robust Planning for Smaller Projects
Assessing impact through carefully constructed surveys and statistical analysis makes sense for large-scale initiatives, but it is often impractical for smaller projects. The good news for clubs is that there are ways to use existing research to demonstrate that a planned project is in line with proven methods for solving a given problem, and then to use those results to guide your program’s impact measurement.
Money can be well spent asking basic questions. How are things going? Are we delivering what we said we would deliver? How do folks feel about it? Would they recommend we make any improvements? Those types of questions can really go a long way.
Randall Blair
associate director at Mathematica, a data-focused policy research firm
“In the formative stages of project planning, you can get surprisingly good information using an internet search,” says Randall Blair, who, as an associate director at Mathematica, a data-focused policy research firm, helps foundations and federal agencies figure out the best types of programs to invest in. “You just have to pick keywords. You can search for the big concept, like ‘educational approaches to adolescent sexual and reproductive health.’ To make the search more effective, add words like ‘recommendations for policymakers.’” It’s important to filter the results you find, he notes, but there is a great deal of valuable data at your fingertips. Research in the early phases can pay off when it is time to assess impact, because you will have more information on benchmarks for your type of project.
And even though he works in a statistics-driven field, Blair emphasizes that for smaller projects, simple surveys and check-in interviews are a valid tool for measuring impact. “Money can be well spent asking basic questions. How are things going? Are we delivering what we said we would deliver? How do folks feel about it? Would they recommend we make any improvements? Those types of questions can really go a long way.”
By documenting the metrics of our good works, we get a clear picture of results. We learn how to replicate and scale up our successes. And we can tell more compelling stories about the good we do.
John Hewko
general secretary of Rotary International
For Rotary, the new emphasis on measuring impact must be part of what we do. “For many years, The Rotary Foundation has attained the highest rating from Charity Navigator. But the gold standard of social impact is changing,” notes John Hewko, general secretary of Rotary International. “The benchmarks of our progress are not just financial health, accountability, and transparency. They are also our ability to measure what we do and prove that our efforts translate into concrete impact, based on clear evidence. To increase our impact and get the credit that we deserve for our hard work, we have to be more data-driven. By documenting the metrics of our good works, we get a clear picture of results. We learn how to replicate and scale up our successes. And we can tell more compelling stories about the good we do.”
This story originally appeared in the May 2021 issue of Rotary magazine.
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Rotary International Virtual Convention
Rotary Opens Opportunities
Mark your calendars for an exciting opportunity to connect with Rotary members worldwide at the 2021 Virtual Convention: Rotary Opens Opportunities, 12-16 June. Registration will open in mid-April at a special rate of $49. After 21 days, you will pay $65 to register.
You can also join us early at a preconvention for intercountry committees, Rotaract, and Rotary Youth Exchange officers, 10-11 June. Each preconvention costs an additional $20.
The 2021 Virtual Rotary Convention and preconvention events are open to all Rotary members and participants. Both the convention and preconvention fees include access to the virtual House of Friendship.
Don’t forget to visit the convention event page on Facebook to connect with others and stay up-to-date on event news and program highlights!
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