Developer Byron Hathorne joined us to talk about all of the commercial activity going on in downtown White River Junction. We discovered why we can’t easily find a parking space in downtown WRJ anymore!!
Our speake, Byron Hathorn.
Byron grew up on a farm in Hartford, VT, and remembers well as a child going into downtown White River Junction in its “hay days” during the ‘50’s and early ‘60’s. He became friends with David Briggs when they were both 4 years old. He and David joke about the “overnight success” that down town WRJ has become which actually took 40 years.
Byron recalled David’s parents, Fred and Bonnie Briggs, who owned a clothing store and sporting goods store in the down town. He recounted David’s return to WRJ and his trials and travails after purchasing the Coolidge Hotel. He also cited people such as Mike Davidson, who prefers to repurpose older existing buildings, and Bill Bittinger, who has done several important downtown projects.
He noted the changes that have occurred within the downtown. Among them the resurgence of restaurants, apartment buildings, the Center for Cartoon Studies, his two new (he purchased the Railroad Station in 1995) projects – a multi-purpose office building and a new assisted living facility adjacent to the new Northern Stage complex.
He reported that the town hopes to build a parking garage on land that it owns adjacent to the old KofC hall and Northern Stage.
(Editor’s note: he didn’t touch on the new court house, nor the two new bridges – one the connector between WRJ and West Lebanon, the DEW project on Bill Josler’s former property, and the new building that LISTEN developed, all of which greatly enhance that entry point to downtown.)
He also gave credit to Matt Bucci and his projects, one of which is the Tip Top Building. He reminded the club that Brooke Ciardelli had brought Northern Stage here from Burlington 20 years ago.
Byron stated that without reservations you probably won’t get into the restaurant of your choice in downtown on Friday or Saturday evenings. He also commented on the local political environment being extremely helpful to the redevelopment. He is very pleased that at long, long last there is a parking problem in the down town. A great “overnight” success story.
President Steve thanked Byron for joining us and presented him a book which will be donated by the club in his name to the Children’s Room at the Kilton Library.
President Steve called the meeting to order at approximately 12:15 p.m. The opening song was “R-O-T-A-R-Y” was followed by “My Country ‘Tis of Thee”.
Suellen Griffin gave the inspiration moment.
Tim Guaraldi stood in for Secretary Willie, who is in Tuscany.
Steve Whitman won the draw, but failed to draw “THE CARD”.
John Yacavone won the car wash.
There were no visiting Rotarians nor guests, however, there were a couple club members who have missed some meetings, but have returned to the fold. One was Valerie Armstrong who said that she had been busy getting her son off to college and moving her office. The other was JoAnn Lemieux who told us that she had recently bought a new motorcycle to continue the habit she’s had since she was a teenager.
Other brags were paid by Ernst, whose son just published a book that Dad is halfway through, Paul Tierney who attended the RILA event at DHMC. Paul reported that because of his superior intellect he was placed in the graduate class. Forrest Cole and Rick Dyment also had brags but I can’t remember what they were because I kept forgetting that I was supposed to be taking notes AND running the meeting. Oh, well, their money is still good.
Joint Meeting Lebanon and Hanover at Jessie on 17 October!
Steve Whitman is trying to identify all members who will attend the joint meeting with the Hanover Rotary Club on WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 17TH AT JESSE’S RESTAURANT. The purpose of this meeting is to greet and meet the British Friendship Exchange participants. Doodle Poll coming your way soon...please respond!
LEBANON’S MEETING OF OCTOBER 18TH IS CANCELED AS A RESULT OF THIS JOINT MEETING.
Additional Friendship Exchange News
Our Friendship Exchange Team from England arrives October 16. Let Steve Whitman know if you want to help with any of the following:
October 6: Drive team members from Lebanon to Bradford Vermont (Afternoon)
October 16: Drive to Rochester, VT to pick up the team, take them to lunch then stop at Joseph Smith Memorial and deliver team members to host families (morning and afternoon)
October 17: Drive to Woodstock, Bridgewater - tour Rockefeller Mansion, ShackletonThomas in Bridgewater, and lunch at Red Rooster in Woodstock (Morning and Afternoon)
October 18: Drive to Canterbury - tour Canterbury Shaker Village (Morning and afternoon)
Let Steve know if you can help.
Great American Pie Buffet Final Fundraising Information
Phil Rentz reported that $3,900 had been raised at our July 4th Pie Event. This money will be donated directly to the Polio Plus fund at The Rotary Foundation. The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation is matching these monies 3:1 so almost $12,000 will be directed to this fund due to our efforts at the Pie Event. Special thanks to Tim Guaraldi for chairing the event.
Connecticut River Clean-up
Ernst Oindtmann share that there will be a Connecticut River Clean-up on 28 & 29 September 2018. Stay tuned for more details. This clean-up will be coordinated by the Connecticut River Conservancy. From the Conservancy web page:
It’s All About Hard Work, Real Fun, True Impact
The Source to Sea Cleanup is an annual trash cleanup of the Connecticut River system – rivers, streams, parks, boat launches, trails and more. Each fall, thousands of volunteers of all ages and abilities head out to places of their choice all along the four-state watershed (NH, VT, MA, CT) to clean the Connecticut River and its tributaries on foot or by boat.
In 2017, more than 2,500 volunteers pulled over 46 tons of trash from over 249 miles of river banks and waterways. Read more about the 2017 event in the Cleanup Chronicle (PDF), including the list of groups that participated and the tally of all trash pulled from the river.
The water is cleaner, river banks are safer and wildlife are happier thanks to YOU and the generous efforts of the sponsors, businesses, watershed organizations, Girl Scout and Boy Scout Troops, school groups, municipalities and community members who make the event possible. Thank you!
On 15 August, 2018, Rotary announced nearly $100 million in grants to support the global effort to end polio, a vaccine-preventable disease that once paralyzed hundreds of thousands of children each year.
The announcement comes as Nigeria marks two years without any reported cases of wild poliovirus, following four reported cases in 2016.
“The fact that no new cases of wild poliovirus have been detected in Nigeria points to the improved surveillance and rapid response protocols Rotary and its Global Polio Eradication Initiative partners have established, particularly in insecure and inaccessible areas,” said Michael K. McGovern, chair of Rotary’s International PolioPlus Committee. “While this progress is promising, it’s time to redouble our efforts so we can continue to maintain the political and financial support necessary to end polio for good.”
While significant strides have been made against the paralyzing disease, wild poliovirus is still a threat in parts of the world, with 10 cases in Afghanistan and three cases in Pakistan this year so far. As long as a single child has polio, all children are at risk, which underscores the need for ongoing funding and political commitment to eradication.
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