Students from the Interact Club of Lebanon High School take a break after setting up tables for the Five Colleges Book Sale in the former Rite-Aid Pharmacy site in Powerhouse Plaza. The students involved were Ethan Bvute, Nate Crane, Josie Dizon, Georgia Gaffney, Benji Madory, Julia McGee, Max Olsen, Cole Ripley, Miles Saunders, and VJ Sites.
Rotarians attending today's meeting in person: Marilyn Bedell, Ron Bedell, Bruce Bergeron, Phil Bush, Dean Cashman, Dave Clarenbach, Hank Clarke, Jim Damren, Brian Davis, Mila Dela Pena, Nick Gaffney, Steven Grant, Tim Guaraldi, Christian McDonald, Ron Michaud, Dan Nash, Ernst Oidtmann, V. Bruce Pacht, Philip Rentz, Bill Secord, John Stalvey, George Wenz, Cal Wolfe, John Yacavone.
Guests: Christina Annas, proposed member. Gary and Keegan Carpenter attempted to join over our compromised Webex, as did scheduled speakers Emmah and Alloys Nyakundi.
Meeting called to order by President Marilyn Bedell at 12:30.
Ernst's song selection: "A policeman's lot is not a happy one" from Gilbert & Sullivan, Pirates of Penzance.
Birthdays: Curtis Payne, March 1; Steve Whitman, March 9; and Carol Clarke, March 1.
No recorded anniversaries.
One Rotary anniversary: Jane Mason, 31 years, March 1.
Program:
The update scheduled for Emmah’s Garden was unable to proceed because of a continuing problem with the Dwinell Room’s Webex connection. Emmah and Alloys Nyakundi had signed in from Kenya, but their presentation will have to be rescheduled again.
Foundation Hero Award:
Phil Rentz announced that Marilyn Bedell has been selected to represent our club as a Rotary Foundation hero. She will be formally recognized at an upcoming Sunday brunch held by the district.
Club business:
- President Marilyn received a request from the City of Lebanon to communicate community support for a rotary (get it?) proposed to be built at the intersection of Main and Bridge Streets in West Lebanon.
- Our club's efforts to support the Five Colleges Book sale was an expeditious success with the robust help of ten students from the Lebanon High School Interact Club setting up tables at the organizing site in Powerhouse Plaza.
[Below] Interact students and Lebanon Rotarians set up tables
to hold books for the Five Colleges Book Sale sorting process.
Bruce Bergeron announced a plethora of upcoming events:
- April 11, Saturday, 9 a.m.–12:30 p.m. Lebanon Styrofoam Collection. Lebanon High School. Looking for five to twelve volunteers. (Point of contact is Bruce Bergeron.)
- April 11, Saturday, noon–3 p.m. Request to drive a U-Haul truck with Styrofoam to Gilford. Looking for two volunteers to join Tim Guaraldi, who will be driving a third U-Haul. (Point of contact is Bruce Bergeron.)
- April 21, Tuesday, 9–11 a.m. Set up tables for Five Colleges Book Sale at Lebanon High School. Looking for eight to ten volunteers. (Point of contact is Bruce Bergeron.)
- April 26, Sunday, 4–6 p.m. Take down tables for Five College Book Sale at Lebanon High School. Looking for eight to ten volunteers (Point of contact Bruce Bergeron.)
Fundraising:
- Wednesday, June 3 Golf—Bedell Classic. Mark your calendars for as many hands-on deck as possible. Never too early to think about who you might approach for sponsorships or raffle prizes. (Point of contact is Bruce Bergeron.)
- Saturday September 5, the 2026 Brew Fest—Mark your calendars for Labor Day Weekend. (Point of contact is Hark Clarke.)
Charities:
- Bruce Pacht announced that if the Club concurs, Charities will be sponsoring half of the budget for a Rise food-packing event to supply the food pantry at Listen. John Yacavone will be organizing the distribution process.
Happy dollars:
- Steve Grant. Weekend trip with his daughter and son-in-law to Paris. Visited art exhibit with them and his brother's family living in France.
- Phil Bush. Five dollars for an upcoming four weeks in France with his wife.
- Dean Cashman. A Lebanon hockey player for whom Dean wrote a recommendation was admitted to Colorado College, the player's first choice.
- Ron Michaud. Remember the holocaust by opposing antisemitism. Ron is taking up choral singing as a way to dissipate his adolescent embarrassment of a botched public performance.
- Jim Damren. Remembered a former Club member, Kirk Berry, who recently passed.
- Marilyn Bedell. Grateful that her recovery from hip-replacement surgery has progressed so that she can stand. Reported that Willy Koppenheffer has come back safely from Puerto Vallarta, the popular Mexican resort that unluckily is in the State of Jalisco, where violence erupted after the killing of the drug kingpin "El Mencho" (Nemesio Oseguera Cervantes).
- President Marilyn also reported also that Jim Damren and Bruce Bergeron are off to PELS (President Effectiveness Learning Seminar—formerly PETS).
Card and Carwash raffle:
- Queen: #585, Nick Gaffney—Three of Diamonds
- Carwash: #600, Bruce Pacht.
Future meetings:
March 12—Kristi Lenart-Rikert, Listen Center.
March 19—Club Assembly Reports from Board of Directors, Charities, Committees.
March 26—Lori Fortini, DHMC Aging Resource Center.
Closing Bell was rung at 1:15 p.m.
