Today’s Greeter: Bill McGonagle welcomed members and guests to Bow Rotary.
President Gale called the meeting to order at 7:30 am.
Attendance:
33 Bow Rotarians
1 visitor (Dick Bean)
5 scooters
Total of 34
Announcements:
Gale read two thank you notes. One from scholarship recipient Michael Mullen. Adam Osburn, Bow Memorial School principal thanked us for the $25,000 donation for the Wildcat Habitat.
The first grade book delivery went well and many of the students wrote thank you notes which were put on our tables.
Judy Goodnow compiled and distributed Bow Rotary membership books to all of us.
The concert series sign up went around again. 6 slots left.
Birthdays/New Member Inductions:
Bryant Stevener’s birthday was June 12. He decided to give $26.50 to Rotary International for every year he has given in the past. That was over 10 year’s! This year was good and he’s looking forward to another good year next year.
Dave Scanlon’s birthday was June 14 (as usual, Flag Day). He had a great year. Both kids are no longer in undergraduate school, so no payments - and they both like their professions. The house is big and quite but he and Kathy are fine with that.
Sergeant at Arms:
Fines: A few members put money on the table. Definitely R&T Electric.
Ben Kiniry was fined for a picture in the Bow Times without his pin on.
Paul Rizzi had a picture but no fine because he did have his pin on.
Happy Bucks:
Nate Sanel was very happy because he went to the Isle of Man in Canada and saw very fast bike races. He described the experience to us.
Robert Louf was happy because the high school had their commencement last Saturday and there were two standing ovations for student speeches. One was for Sohani Demain, our 2nd place winner on the Four Way Test Speech Contest.
Bill McGonagle was happy because his son just accepted a new position with the TSA and now he gets to help move him!
Judy Goodnow was happy because she did distribute the membership books, but noted there was at least one mistake in it.
Chris Parkinson was happy because he kept up the tradition of going to the Red Sox/Phillies game with his granddaughters. He’s been doing this since his oldest granddaughter was 10.
Noreen Christensen was happy because she and Steve went to beautiful Litchfield, CT to see a road race that her daughter and ex-husband were running in. 94 degree heat but they did it.
Paul Mercier was happy because while the last 3 weeks he was in PEI at his” 4 star” resort he will soon be roughing it in the mountains for 2 weeks at a “1 star” resort.
Dave Gazaway was happy because 16 years early on this very day he got married!
Raffle:
Bryant Stevener had the winning ticket, but no joker.
Program:
Donna Deos did a wonderful presentation.
She told us about her multigenerational family life. Also how both parents lived at home and eventually passed away. And then the discussing the hard, stressful life of a caregiver with the eventual acceptance of that role no longer being needed.
Donna took care of her mother for 3 years before she passed away. During that time, and the time she was the back up caretaker for her father she worked full-time as the main breadwinner and maintained two homes with families in both. Very stressful for a very long time.
The alternative, which works very well for many people, is preplanning and eventually going to a place like Havenwood in Concord. Donna worked there in marketing and sales for 10 years so she has seen how good and active life can be at a retirement center. Also, how much easier it can be for the family.
Once her mother passed Donna decided to quit work and open up her own business helping the elderly and their children cope with the ageing process changes. There is a broad range of activities Donna does from educating people on how to get through the process smoother to being the advocate for people in the hospital when the caretaker can’t make it.
Donna is reaching out to people during their most difficult times and helping them. This is the makings of a truly wonderful person and I am very proud of Donna’s accomplishments and chosen profession.
Donna Deos, LLC Spiritual Teacher and Transitions Specialist
www.donnadeos.com 1-855-772-2622
Respectfully Submitted,
Sandy Eldredge
