The Rotary Club of
Lebanon, NH, USA
 
Chartered 1923
Rotarians at Work
________________________________________________________________________
Currents
November 20, 2020
 
Editor: Marilyn Bedell and note taker, Bruce Pacht...Again...Thanks for the help!
Upcoming Programs/Speakers
 
December 3, 2020:  Club business meeting and election of officers of the club and trustees for our Charities Board.
 
List of nominations:
 
Nominations for Our Rotary Club Board 2021/2022
President-elect
Ed Friedman
Vice President
David Crandall
Treasure
Angela Nelson
Secretary
Marilyn Bedell
Board Member
Bruce Bergeron – Community Service
Board Member
Bruce Pacht – Youth Service
Board Member
Ron Bedell – Rotary Foundation
Board Member
JoAnn Lemieux – International Service
 
 
Reminder that Hank Clarke will be our president, and we voted for him to be our President in 2019/20.  He has been serving on the Board as our president-elect.
***********************
Nominations for Trustees of Charities Board for 2021/2022
Name
 
Role
Term of Office
Melissa Mooney
Club Member
 
2021/22
Bruce Pacht
Club Member
Chair
2021/22, 2022/23
Marion Steiner
 
 
2021/22, 2022/23, 2023/24
Bill Secord
 
Secretary
2021/22, 2022/23, 2023/24
 
Note that Ed  Friedman David Crandall and Angela Nelson, if voted as Club Board members will be ex officio members of the Charities Board.
 
  • Meeting Schedule for December…NOTE CHANGE IN TIME AND DAY OF WEEK FOR TWO MEETINGS — Ron Bedell
We do not have a scheduled zoom meeting between December 10th and January 7th, almost a month.  So, this would be a good time to try some different days of the week and times to see if we can get better attendance.  We therefore are adding Wednesday December 16 at 7:30 A.M. and Tuesday December 29th at NOON to our zoom schedule.
_________________________________________________________________________________
Stories
Program for  November 20, 2020: What's Going On with the Stock Market
Tony Abbate speaking on What's Going On with the Stock Market
 
Tony Abbate from 
 
Tony Abbate, CFA is founder and Managing Director of Granite Value Capital, a Hanover, NH based investment management firm. Tony received his BBA in Finance and Business Economics from University of Notre Dame in 1992. He received his Chartered Financial Analyst designation in 1997. Prior to starting Granite Value Capital, he worked for nine years as a Portfolio Manager in Fleet/Bank of America's Private Wealth Management division.
 
But, more importantly, Tony is an alumnus of the Yacavone-Pacht poker game going back to the 2008. 
 
Barbara and Tony moved here in January 2000 with an eleven-month old boy; they now have four boys ages 21, 17, 13, and 9 years old.
 
Stock Market
Covid has brought us a pretty wild ride.  Tony likes putting things in a historical context.
 
Before the pandemic, we went through the longest economic expansion in history.  From June 2009 to February 2020 (128 months), and the biggest bull market with a 400.5% gain in the S&P.
 
Economic expansions are getting longer over time.  We have a service-based economy, and the Federal Reserve has learned a lot about how to manage better the cyclical downturns.
 
Looking at Bear Markets since 1900, the recent decline was by far the swiftest decline to get to a 20% loss.  We were probably headed for a depression if the government hadn’t stepped in.  That explains a bit why the stock market is doing well while the economy isn’t: the Fed injected trillions and we’ve been deficit-spending like water.  (Remember:  the stock market is NOT “the economy”!)
 
 
Unemployment insurance in April-July 2020.  Many of the people who collected UI made more than they did when working.  While the economy is not doing well, some people have saved money during the downturn, though the poorest people are suffering.
 
2020 has seen the 7th worst annual decline since 1894!  Last time we saw such a decline was in 1946 immediately following the WWII when production in the economy fell before we turned to a peacetime economy.  Tony believes the 2020 decline will continue for a while.
 
Looking at short- and long-term interest rates. 
10-year treasury notes now are yielding about 0.8%.  Interest rates have been kept artificially low – a “controlled depression”, Tony calls it.  Economic growth has been meagre – around 2% per year.
 
Markets go through cycles.  Last time we had such a big swing was after the Civil War! 
 
Unprecedented monetary and fiscal policy has recued the economy and Stock Market:
Interest rates in 2018 were around 2.5% then were cut swiftly during the pandemic.   The Fed has greatly expanded its balance sheet – buying high yield bonds, government bonds, agency bonds.  2008-9:  The Fed had a $1.4 trillion balance sheet; now has expanded to a $3.4 trillion balance sheet, a doubling which snapped the market back.
 
Another factor is the huge budget deficit, now projected to be 16% of Gross Domestic Product in 2020.  The 2009 downturn was 9.3%.  Without the Fed’s intervention things could have been much worse.
 
Six Worst Economic downturns since 1900 – (“downturn” means around a 20% decline in GDP and peak in unemployment rates.
2020:  Unemployment was at nearly 15% - only higher % was during the Great Depression at 25%.
A striking difference between then and today is the very short duration of the stock market decline of only 1.1 months.  In the future, all this easy money and low interest rates will have to reversed; Tony suggests it will take perhaps 10 years of slow change.
 
Tony believes that stock market yields will be low over the next 10 or so years.  Boom or bust cycles since 1880 tend to coincide with technological advances such as the Industrial Revolution, the Roaring 20s, Nifty 90s, internet bubble.  Tony calls the present the “Digital Bubble” – companies digitizing their businesses are doing very well and the valuation of their businesses is very high.
 
Tony:  “We’re going through a boom and a bust at the same time!” 
 
Since 1900 to 2019, the market has returned about 10%/year, though there are periods when returns are very poor.  A lot has to do with the change in valuation of the market.  In tough years, the P/E (price to earnings ratio) starts high and then goes way down within the year.  At yesterday’s close, the P/E was 25.6%; in 1950-60, we noted an inverse correlation between P/E ratio and stock market returns.  When above 20%, we have never have gotten above a double-digit return in the market. 
 
March 2000: P/E at 9% and the average return was about 16%/year.  As P/E goes up, returns go down. You lose money when the P/E is above 20%. leaving us in “an unattractive environment” for stocks.
 
Questions:
 
Bill Secord – What part does the rise of multi-nationals play in stock market value?
Tony – A lot.  Large cap stocks have rarely been more expensive than low cap stocks.  Forward- looking:  Tony believes in the natural rhythm of a “regression to the mean”.  Since 2009, multi-nationals have soared and driven the market higher.
 
Bruce P:    So, what should we do with our money?
Tony – Revisit your overall portfolio allocation so that when we are down you don’t have too much sitting in stocks.  Some stocks are attractively valued right now:  smaller companies, non-US companies, some companies in the financial area -- there are always undervalued locations in the market.  Adjust for your own risk tolerance.
 
Bruce B:  What % of the market is held by 401(k)s and mutual funds?
Tony – Certainly a much, much larger % than 50 years ago, largely because defined benefit plans have gone away.
 
Cindy:  Are socially-responsible or ESG (Environmental, Social and Corporate Governance) stocks performing better?
Tony – I have seen no definitive data that they perform better.  That perception may be a result of $$ flowing into that area of the market.  Also, in some areas, it is very difficult to define what exactly ESG means – there are lots of gray areas.  Some of the PR is a marketing gimmick to gather assets.  There are some black and white choices and then there’s a large gray area.  Dept of Labor came out a week ago saying that within the confines of ERISA, ESG’s may not be putting individuals first.
 
Steve W:  More data is going to the cloud.  Some companies’ earnings seem to be based on doing more with data in the cloud.  This could be driving new companies to high returns.
Tony – That’s some of it.  History repeats itself:   with any new tech advantage, the first people in make a lot of money.  Eventually, the P/E of the stocks, when it gets 40x over earnings, the odds of making money over a 10-year period are about 50/50.  “What smart people do in the beginning, stupid people do in the end.”   I think that the biggest companies are priced at a level as if the pandemic were going to last forever.  At some point, “not all good companies are good inbvestments – it comes down to the price you pay.”  I think the high-flying cloud stocks are high.
 
Marilyn will send members a copy of Tony's slides.
 
From the https://seekingalpha.com/ web page: Tony Abbate, CFA is founder and Managing Director of Granite Value Capital, a Hanover, NH based investment management firm. Tony received his BBA in Finance and Business Economics from University of Notre Dame in 1992. He received his Chartered Financial Analyst designation in 1997. Prior to starting Granite Value Capital, he worked for nine years as a Portfolio Manager in Fleet/Bank of America's Private Wealth Management division.
 
Book Donation in Honor of Our Speaker for the Kilton Library
 
Mad, Mad Bear!
By Kimberly Gee
 
 
Bear is very, very, very MAD! Will he ever feel better? 
Bear had to leave the park early for his nap. Then he fell and got an owie on the way home. And  then  he had to leave his favorite boots and stick outside. Bear feels like nothing is fair, and that makes him VERY, VERY, VERY MAD! Can he find a way to move through his emotions and get back to feeling better? Maybe…but not before having a major meltdown!
Read more...
Moorings
Prior to the start of the meeting, conversation revolved around the snow storm of last week.  Dan Affeldt showed us a picture of 4 feet of snow on his deck.  JoAnn Lemieux shared news of a dam breech near her home that caused damage. It then led to several memberstalking about longing for spring; and thoughts of pond peepers and tree frogs. We spend a few minutes talking about vaccines, and having to wait to get our vaccinations. We tried to estimate when they may make it on the list to get vaccine. We reflected on memories of polio national immunization days in the USA in the 1950s.
 
We rang the bell at 12:04.  Ed Friedman recited the 4-Way test.  We then established that we had a quorum present for the meeting. (quorum = 1/3 of membership or 14 members).  Marilyn Bedell, secretary stated we had 19 members signed in to the call. Thus a quorum was established.  We then proceeded to vote on the revised club bylaws, and our club's constitution.
 
Constitution and Bylaws of the Rotary Club of Lebanon  – Bruce Pacht
 
Bruce reviewed the following information:
 
TWO POINTS OVERALL
  1. Organizational documents aren’t as fluid as our every day actions require us to be, but neither are they carved in granite to stand forever.  Over time, new understandings and interpretations arise of how our values are to be represented in the rules we apply to our internal operations and our external relations.  Basic organizational documents should be reviewed about every 5 years to make sure they still express the Club’s view of itself at the present time in the into the foreseeable future.
  2. Constitutions and bylaws provide our operational framework.  However, complicated operations areas beyond the framework require establishing “policies” and “procedures” to make sure that our actions reflect the values captured in the framing documents.  Examples may be found within the areas of Club finance, such as a policy on investments, or a policy and procedure on charitable giving.  A procedure for orienting new members is another area where we believe uniformity and comprehensiveness is essential to success, so therefore needs to be preserved so it can be replicated.
 
CLUB CONSTITUTION –
Rotary International promulgates a “Standard Club Constitution,” which allows club personalization in certain areas.  The Club Constitution reflects the club’s relationship to RI and provides the structural framework within which Rotary Clubs must operate.  The proposal you all received is in full compliance with RI’s requirements plus some of our own allowed adaptations.
 
CLUB BYLAWS –
A Club’s bylaws reflect the specific values of an individual Rotary Club as reflected in its internal and external operations.  Our bylaws required revision to implement the new organizational structure and relationship between Charities and the Club, and to streamline and clarify our administrative practices.
 
Separate votes were taken. 
 
Bruce Pacht made a motion to have the club approve the Bylaws.  The motion was seconded by Bill Secord. the motion passed unanimously with no abstentions
 
Bruce Pacht made the motion to have the club approve the Club Constitution.  The motion was seconded by Paul Boucher. Rhe Constitution was adopted unanimously with no abstentions.
 
The Charities Trustees have approved giving $5,000 to the Ray Pecor fund of Listen.  The Chair of the Trustees brought this proposed expenditure to the club for a vote. 
 
  • Background: Our Charities bylaws require that “Requests for funding in an amount of$1,001or more, in whole, or in aggregate to a single recipient in a single year, must be approved by the members.“  So far in 2020, Lebanon Rotary and its members have donated $4,395.84 to Listen, including a total of $2,800 for the Christmas baskets.
  • We received a request from Kyle Fisher, executive director of Listen for a donation to the Ray Pecor Fund.  Ray was the kitchen manager at Listen and is currently recuperating at home from a severe motorcycle accident.  Ray used monies from this fund to provide motel shelter for the homeless, food for needy families, and other means of support for people in crisis. Ray’s recovery is still progressing, but slowly. He has some advocates now at Dartmouth Hitchcock that seem to be pulling him through and ensuring that he makes it to appointments. He is applying for social security disability and hopes that his need for it is just temporary. Ray’s wife, Barbara, still works for LISTEN and we get regular feedback from her on his progress.
  • In Ray’s absence, the new community dinner manager, Larry Lowndes, will be identifying needs amongst the community dinner guests. The guests then work with our program staff to get checks issued for the specific need. A lot of temporary housing and dental issues lately.
  • Because the pandemic has curtailed some of Lebanon Rotary’s budgeted charitable expenditures (such as support for Interact club and other youth activities), plenty of money remains unallocated.
  • Vice-president Ed made the motion to donate $5,000 from our charities account to the Ray Pecor Fund along with a request for suitable publicity. Past President Marion seconded the motion which was adopted unanimously with no abstentions.
Review of Club Web Page – Rich
 
Rich shared his screen with our web page. Click here to see the page as it has been constructed to-date.
 
The idea is for this web page be “outfacing,” to speak more to the public than ourselves.  After the opening scene, we have News and a calendar for our external activities.  Some photo galleries show the BrewFest, the Bedell Golf Classic, building homes in El Salvador, River clean-up.  We’ll continue to add photos.
 
These are some of the subpages/topics that will be posted on the web page.
 
ABOUT OUR CLUB
  • History of the club is in the workings.  Ernst Oidtmann is working on this.
  • Countdown calendar to the 100th anniversary
  • President’s greeting to be updated annually.
  • Meeting schedule and how to get to it
  • Members and their work affiliations 
  • Links to Rotary, Rotary District 7850
 
WHAT IS ROTARY
  • Automatic feed from Rotary International will update.
  • How to join a meeting
  • Upcoming events
  • Annual events highlights and links to photo galleries
  • News and updates
  • Food drive for Listen
  • Need to add in the clothing donation.
  • Calendar – which is linked from our gmail email account.
  • Donations/links
  • Who we help:  Organizations we have supported and a link to those organizations
 
Questions:
John Yacavone (JPY):  A page where people can ask questions or communicate directly with us?
Rich:  We will answer through Facebook and social media.  We can add a link for email for more information or questions.    Social media will drive people to THIS page instead of ClubRunner.  Digital advertising should help more people see it.
 
JPY:  UV Alliance emails highlight their sponsors at the bottom of their emails.
Rich:  We will for events, but right now we have no sustaining sponsors.  As people donate to an event, we can put up their logos and links.
 
Cindy Jerome:  Can we solicit Sponsor ads - $$ for appearance for three months?
Rich:  We can put ad spots in.  After the design, we will pay only around $70/month for the service.  We can go down the advertising route to help cover this.
 
Hank Clarke:  There’s no reference to PHF, to how much money we’ve given to the community over the last 5 years.
Rich points out where we say how many hours we put in and how much we gave in 2019.  We could put something more in there if we have it.  A lot of this website is about what we do for the local community, and also what we do internationally. 
 
Steve Whitman:  What’s the date to go live? Is there a members-only section?
Rich:  After 1 January we go live – next meeting with the developer is January 4.  For “Members-only,” we would have a link on this site to the ClubRunner site. 
 
Bruce Bergeron:  A lot of info in the weekly notes should be available to the public.  Also concerned re: doubling effort – shouldn’t have lots of extra effort with two websites.
Rich”:  Our biggest success is linked to changing content on the new site.
 
JPY:  Is there a counter?
Rich:  We will have analytics on the system so we’ll know where inquiries are coming from.
New Member Inductions
  • Dipak Niroula & Sharmila Niroula (Sponsor Ron Bedell) and Ariel Horowitz (Sponsor Marilyn Bedell & Paul Tierney) have been accepted for membership.  They will be formally inducted at our next meeting on Thursday January 7th at 5:30.
Paul Harris Fellowship  Celebration
  • JoAnn Lemieux received her Paul Harris Fellow Plus 2 award as a result of our November campaign. JoAnn expressed how much good Rotarians can do around the globe and here at home with funds from the Rotary Foundation.  She is compelled to make the Rotary Foundation one of her charities of choice.
Upper Valley Senior Center
  • Seven members went to the Upper Valley Senior Citizens  help give out meals on 12/30/2020.  Here are a few pictures. More can be found on our Facebook page.
    
 
 
 
Cookies were given to Listen’s Holiday Dinner 
  • Between Marilyn Bedell and Bruce Bergeron, we donated at least 18 dozen of homemade cookies to Listen's Christmas meal. If other made cookies, please let Marilyn know. 
 
Upcoming Meetings:
  • Our next meeting will be at 5:30 on Thursday January 7th.
  • We will have the Speech Contest Contestants at our Thursday January 14th meeting which will be at NOON instead of 5:30. – Phillip Rentz
  • Sean Fleming will be the speaker at our January 28th meeting.  He will give us an update on the Lebanon Libraries.
 
 
Members present at the meeting:
Marilyn Bedell
Ron Bedell
Bruce Bergeron
Paul Boucher
Hank Clarke
Dave Crandall
Jim Damren
Rudy Fedrizzi
Jean Wulpren
Ed Friedman
Cindy Jerome
Will Kopenheffer
JoAnn Lemieux
Bruce Pacht
Phil Rentz
Bill Secord
Marion Steiner
Rich Wallace
Steve Whitman
John Yacavone
 
Meeting adjourned at 1:00 PM
Happy Thoughts/Concerns
 
  • Hank Clarke:  On Thursday, a favorite Veteran friend, Harry, 93 years old, will be one of the first 5 VA patients to receive a COVID vaccination.
  • JoAnn Lemieux:  My sweetheart is the president-elect of Brattleboro Rotary.  JoAnn volunteered to help with their Christmas tree sale.  This week, they sold out a full week before Christmas, meeting their somewhat scaled-down goals, but a big success and JoAnn didn’t have to stand out in the cold helping!
  • Marilyn Bedell:  Jimmy Brock is at his own noontime meeting in Hamilton Bermuda today; temps in the mid-70s with golf every day.  On Christmas Day, Bev was playing basketball in the driveway with her grandkids.
  • Bruce Bergeron:  He is reinstituting a random raffle for a free car wash at our weekly meetings.  He has a fancy random selection application on his phone.  Ed Friedman is the inaugural winner!
  • Jean updated us on her newest family members:  Molly turned 16 months on the 19th; all over the place with a language all her own.  Jake turned 5 weeks on Saturday; happy and growing like a week.  They get along fine!  8-year old Jamison, had a wonderful Christmas.
  • Will Koppenheffer:  For years, we met at noon and now have been meeting at 5:30. Have we considered meeting a other times?  This lead to the following comments:
Ron Bedell:  Last meeting of the BOD, we decided to experiment with one at 7:30 AM and one at 5:30 PM.  We will discuss the results at the next Board meeting to decide if we make any changes. 
Dan Affeldt:  Some big Internet providers are going to meter use of the band width.
JoAnn Lemieux:  The broadband committee in Alstead disbanded.  We put out an RFP for fiber optics and no providers responded. 
JPY:  I always thought that the 5:30 meeting would be better and have been surprised at the 18-19 we were getting, but we haven’t gotten more at noon and even fewer a 7:30 AM.  We have another 20 members who aren’t attending at all.
Rich Wallace:  I’ve been reaching out to members who haven’t been coming with a wide variety of responses:  I’m with my family, I’m Zoomed-out by 5:30.  We have to work around work and family responsibilities.
Hank Clarke:  Well, part of it is personal responsibility.
Jean:  I’m a fulltime employee and have to be a part-time Rotarian.  I attended only when I had days off.  I have a lunch time, and could make the early morning meeting for half an hour.  If you want younger people you have to either flex or meet when they can attend.
Dan Affeldt:  There are clubs that have rotating meeting days and times.
Rich Wallace: suggests we do a poll.  Ron will put together a sheet of options.
Ed Friedman: Noon works better for me than the “leave work and get things together at home” time.
 
 
“Stay safe, stay distant, and wear masks.”
 
Club Updates/Announcements
 
  • Rotary Foundation — Ron Bedell
Thanks to everyone who made a donation to the Rotary Foundation.  If you haven't had a chance to do this, it not too late.  Mail checks to Ron Bedell, 35 Lily Ln, W. Lebanon, NH 03784, or make donation on line...at www.rotary.org, but make sure you sign into MyRotary before doing this so the donation gets credited to our club and district.
 
Take a minute to watch this Rotary Foundation Thank You video that was shown at the meeting:
 
  • Meeting Schedule for December…NOTE CHANGE IN TIME AND DAY OF WEEK — Ron Bedell
We do not have a scheduled zoom meeting between December 10th and January 7th, almost a month.  So, this would be a good time to try some different days of the week and times to see if we can get better attendance.  We therefore are adding Wednesday December 16 at 7:30 A.M. and Tuesday December 29th at NOON to our zoom schedule.
  • Holiday Basket Helpers — Angela Nelson
From Angela Nelson: I want to thank everyone for your continued generous support of the LISTEN holiday baskets.  I am writing a check to LISTEN for $2,800!!!!  Only $450 of that is coming from club funds, the rest came from all of you!  We are able to help 28 kids and seniors have a better holiday, even though it is a very different year.  Thank you so much for your generous support!  
  • Volunteer Opportunities — Listen 
From:  LISTEN C/O Valerie Thompson <Valerie@listencs.org>
Date: October 29, 2020 at 10:42:09 AM EDT
To: Valerie Thompson <Valerie@listencs.org>
Subject: Volunteers Needed
Hello Community Dinner Teams,
 
The dining hall is still not open to volunteers but we need volunteers in the Food Pantry. Please pass this information along to your connections and organizations.
LISTEN needs Food Pantry Attendants, Stockers, Drivers for picking-up bread and delivery food boxes
Food Pantry Attendant- Work directly with clients. Register shoppers, take orders and pack bags/boxes
Stocking- Help restock shelves, unload trucks and organize
Bread Pick-up- Go to Shaw’s and BJ’s to pick-up bread, it is ready to go when volunteer arrives. Deliver to 60 Hanover St.
Deliver Food Box- Every Friday we deliver to home bound clients through-out the Upper Valley.
The attendant and stocker also helps keeping the pantry clean and sanitized.
Covid-19 protocols in effect.
To see openings and to sign-up:     https://listen.volunteerhub.com/lp/foodpantry/
 
Stay well,
Valerie
 
***************************************
Valerie Thompson, MS
Food Pantry Manager
LISTEN Community Services – Valerie@listencs.org
60 Hanover St Lebanon, NH  03766
603-448-4553 x 1013 http://www.listencs.org/  
 
&
 
From: Bruce Bergeron
To: Marilyn Bedell
Sent: November 20, 2020 at 8:51 AM
Subject: Listen Holiday Dinner Volunteer Opportunity
 
 
Below is an email from Valarie Thompson regarding volunteer opportunities making cookies and distributing Holiday Meals on Christmas Day.  There is a link in the message to sign up.  Feel free to share with friends and family.
 
Thank you for your consideration.  
 
Service Above Self
 
Bruce Bergeron
Community Service Committee
 
 
Dear Christmas Volunteers,
We are still having our Christmas Dinner this year but due to Covid-19 it will be very different. All meals will be take-out or delivered by volunteers. We need drivers to deliver the meals and cookie makers. To sign-up to volunteer please go to the following link- https://listen.volunteerhub.com/lp/christmas/
The meal will be prepared at the LISTEN dining Hall in WRJ. Bring your cookies to WRJ as noted. If you are delivering meals you will pick them up in WRJ.
Have a great Thanksgiving,
Thank you,
Valerie
 
 
**********************
  • Lebanon Senior Citizens Center
Bruce will send additional details after he talks to Becky:
 
Hi, Marilyn and Bruce:  Hope all is well with you both.  Crazy year!
 
At the Upper Valley Senior Center, we are centering many of our activities on our Grab & Go curbside take-out meals, which we have on Mondays and Wednesdays.  We have had special entertainment, raffles, special tributes (Veterans, Left Handers, etc.), handout of fresh produce, and more. Our goal is to make them fun for the seniors that come through and give them something to look forward to.  It’s a great opportunity to say HI, even though we always have on our masks and are social distanced.  Parks & Rec, the Fire Department, UVMC, ARC, and others have joined us to say Hi as well.
 
I was wondering if you would be interested in having a couple of Rotarians come on Wednesday, December 30, to join us in saying Hi and wishing everyone a Happy New Year.  We have Liver & Onions that day, which usually means a good turnout of 100+ people.  
 
I look forward to hearing from you.  I hope you can join us on that day or a day of your choosing in the near future.
 
All the best,
 
Becky Foster
Activities Coordinator
Upper Valley Senior Center
10 Campbell Steet
Lebanon, NH  03766
603-448-4213
 
  • Update on Poker Room — John Yacavone
History:  We have been scheduled by the State of NH to participate in the new law requiring that 35% of earnings from 6 poker rooms in the state must go to charity.  Last year, we were allocated 10 days to receive 35% of the Lebanon poker room’s profits.  We earned $17,00 from this. 
 
The new contact person at the state will not be contacting us until early in December with the necessary paperwork.  She set aside March 6-8 and 12-15 for us to participate.  The Cub must file paperwork and then have someone show up to sign in once a day during the period.  Tim asks if John can pass the background check; John will bring his lawyer with him, though John was cleared to visit President Jimmy Carter at the White House back in the day.
  • Damage at Baker's Crossing
Sad news: A conservation commission member noticed that part of the stone wall had been demolished – the damage was extensive and Ernst Oidtmann didn’t see any evidence of tire tracks or scraped-off paint.  Also, the back side of the wall had some damage as well.  Police were alerted.  Then, 2 days ago, the damage had been repaired!!  Ernst thinks the area warrants some protection.  We used to have small pieces of telephone pole protruding from the ground protecting the wall – perhaps a set of boulders 4’ apart to prevent cars.  Ernst will talk with the City.  Two flat-top stones from near the Rotary plaque remain missing. 
 
  
 
 
2020 Holiday Service Project - Santa needs our help!
 
 
Listen Holiday Basket Helpers Gift Card Purchases.  We can't be on site for basket review this year and we can't purchase gifts for families.  Listen will only be able to give families in need gift cards.
 
Here is how you can help:
Lebanon Rotarians are asked to make donations to the Lebanon Rotary Charities.  Mail checks to Rotary Club of Lebanon, PO Box 132, Lebanon, NH 03766.
 
If you still want to make a donation...send it to Angela via our Club's PO Box.
 
 
________________________________________________________________________________
 
Club Social Event
 
HOLIDAY DINNER AT THE QUECHEE INN
+/- Our Famous Yankee Swap
 
Due to COVID-19 Restrictions in Vermont...Our Dinner is Cancelled.  Here's hoping we can resume this tradition in 2021.
 
Keep or Swap?
 
___________________________________________________________________
Rotary International News
 

SHARE this #GivingTuesday

 
 

By K.R Ravindran, Chair, The Rotary Foundation

Giving Tuesday has grown into a global movement of generosity. It is a giving day recognized around the world that empowers us all to give back to our communities through service, kindness and financial support – all beliefs that Rotary values deeply.

Every act of kindness makes a difference, and no gift is too small. This Giving Tuesday, I ask that we all find opportunities to help communities both close to home and around the globe. One easy way to take action is to make a gift to The Rotary Foundation’s Annual Fund SHARE, Rotary’s primary way of making sustainable projects possible both on a local and global level.

The Annual Fund’s SHARE system empowers Rotarians close to home and around the world to use these funds to create lasting change where our help is needed most. Last year, the Foundation awarded 490 district grants and 1,359 global grants as a result of Annual Fund SHARE contributions made by our generous donors during our Centennial year back in 2016-17. What will be possible in the future for communities around the world will be determined by the action you take right now. I would like to ask every member of a Rotary or Rotaract club to contribute a gift of any size to our Annual Fund SHARE this Giving Tuesday.

I thank you for being part of the Rotary family, for your service, and support. Let’s all take action this Giving Tuesday and together, we can keep Doing Good in the World.

View a video by clicking here

 

**********************

From: RI President Holger Knaack & TRF Chair K.R. Ravindran
To: Marilyn Bedell
Sent: November 19, 2020 at 11:38 AM
Subject: Join us in celebrating Foundation Month
 
 
My dear friends and fellow Rotary leaders,

As we enter Foundation Month, we would like to personally thank each and every one of you who did so much to make World Polio Day such an enormous success.

We broadcast our Global Update on 24 October in multiple time zones around the world, reaching more people, and raising more awareness than ever before. Rotary members in 146 countries registered more than 6,500 World Polio Day events and activities, from Brazil to Japan, Nigeria to India.  More than $900,000 was contributed online to the PolioPlus Fund which moves us closer to this year’s $50 million fundraising goal to take full advantage of the Bill & Melinda Gates match.

Inspired by this show of support across the globe, our work to eradicate polio continues. On 25 August, Nigeria marked four years without a case of wild poliovirus, and the World Health Organization African region is now officially certified wild poliovirus-free. Rotary has contributed nearly US$890 million—and countless volunteer hours—to eliminate polio in the African region. In the face of an ongoing global pandemic, this is one of the few good news stories for public health, and we should recognize this great achievement. It took tremendous effort and partnership over many years. Special mention should be made for the dedicated health workers—mainly women—who traveled by every form of transportation imaginable to reach children with the polio vaccine. We are particularly grateful for the Rotary members throughout Africa and around the world who have dedicated themselves to making polio a disease of the past. In fact, Rotary member Dr. Tunji Funsho was named as one of TIME's Most Influential People in the world for his role in leading Rotary towards this historic achievement. 

The type of partnership we have formed to make such progress against polio provides a blueprint for future Rotary projects. In fact, such partnerships have already been formed. Next month, the Trustees hope to  select the first ever Programs of Scale grant award. This is a grant of up to $ 2 million for a three to five-year project that aligns with one of our causes. It really invites Rotary members to think big about high-impact service projects, and find partners to who are willing to invest money and resources to implement measurable and sustainable solutions.

To support all this transformative work, you can end Foundation Month on a charitable note by participating in Giving Tuesday on 3 December. Rotary will be joining thousands of other organizations worldwide for a global day of giving, and it is a prime opportunity to advance our mission by making a contribution to the Annual Fund. It is now easier than ever to give to the Foundation online.


So as we enter the second half of the Rotary year, please keep up your efforts to eradicate polio, tell our story, and increase our impact. With your actions, Rotary Opens Opportunities.

Yours in Rotary,

Holger Knaack
President, Rotary International 2020-21

KR Ravindran
Trustee Chair, The Rotary Foundation 2020-21

 

 
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