Meeting Date: April 24, 2026
Presiding: President Dick Swett
Greeter: Tom Ives
President Dick opened the meeting at 07:30 and Tom shared some lengthly inspiration about the first continental congress.
Attendance:
| 29 |
Live |
| 1 |
Zoom |
| 1 |
Visiting Rotarians |
| 0 |
Guests |
| 0 |
Guest Speakers |
| 31 |
Total |
Visiting Rotarian Tony Gilmore
Announcements:
- Corn Hole May 19th Allen's 6-8:30
- Ben - Roadside done. 89 bags collected!!! Southern most section needs way more people.
- 1st Grade Book Reading May 15th
- Car Show May 16th. 34 cars preregistered and trophy sponsorship money coming in.
- Melissa - Recognition night-committee meeting today
- Turee Pond pickup is done. Steve DeStefano loaded up the bags and took them to the transfer station in Concord.
Peter Imse to head up a beautification project at the boat ramp sometime this summer.
- Dave Farr - Summer concerts all booked and contracts being signed. We need sponsorships.
- Pres Dick - Membership invitees list on the tables. We discussed including one of our "join me for breakfast" cards and our club website address with the mailing.
- Judy discussed a proposal two replace the hanging light fixtures in the old town hall with ones that are more of a period appropriate design. It was suggested that we reach out to other town groups to see if this can be a shared expense.
Sergeant at Arms: David Farr
Birthdays: Judy Goodnow celebrated her birthday last Sunday in Maine. All's good. Grandson's still challenging but they are enjoying him. She and her sister have booked a trip to the Cotswolds in May.
Fines: Jerry K. for something
Happy Bucks:
Mike Gula - Attended a fundraising dinner at the Penobscott Hussan Conservation Club. (sp?) All different types of game animals on the menu to try. Mike even tried raccoon meat.
Chris - $3 for the Yankees 3 wins
Bob - Got to meet their 7th great grandchild this past Wednesday. Luna was all smiles.
Ben - His wife did a squat and couldn't get back up without help. Went to see Bryant and she's now good to go.
Matt Gatzke - Roadside went well. Found ticks and condoms (unused)
Judy - Forgot to mention that she's donated her $100 to the Rotary foundation for her birthday plus one more hundred for her kids.
Linda - Happy for all Joya does and she'll be helping at the car show too.
Ryan - Attended a youth conference with the Interact students.
Matt Dodge - Roadside his favorite project. Ticks were very bad this year.
Gerry - Roadside was an awesome job and he stayed late to help with the Sullivan Tire section. He also challenged Dave Farr to fix the phone he found on the roadside.
Steve - found a sofa and 11 ticks on him after the cleanup.
Bryant - Their daughter Kate is headed to Italy for spring break. He's only a little nervous.
Linda - She read an article that 50% to 55% of the ticks found in NH have the lime virus.
Eric - Saw the biggest porcupine cross his lower field he has ever seen.
Program: Club Assembly
Next week Durwood has the program and Marcy will be the greeter.
Bill: Secretaries Report - Attendance for March was 77.86%, which is below the usual low 80s, partly due to a crash Zoom meeting during a snowstorm with 60% attendance. $18,817 was invoiced, with zero outstanding.
Tamar: Treasurer's Report - An invoice from Flanagan for $2,587.50 was paid on April 1st. This payment, along with other activity in the first half of April, reduced the balance to approximately $7,000 as of last Sunday. The foundation ended March with $80,714.55, with activity increasing in April due to more cash showings and donations for the conference and Fullway speech contest.
Happy Bucks: In the ongoing Happy Bucks contest, David was ahead by $18.32 at the end of last month.
New Generations & Youth Programs
- Ryan attended the Rotary youth conference with three Interact students from Bow High School, where three organizations were represented: Rise for Hunger, 68 Hours of Hunger, and Common Man for Ukraine.
- Action Item: Ryan requested that anyone with a speaking slot in the next two months contact him if they are interested in hosting a speaker from Common Man for Ukraine, which is "extremely interested in coming to speak to this club."
- Interact activities include projects such as a water tank and Christmas trees.
- Gerry - he and Mike Griffin are planning to meet in June and are considering visiting the farm where the Christmas trees were purchased. Three new farms were contacted for Christmas trees. Only one responded with "significantly higher" prices. The plan is to visit the existing farm provider to compare their quality, with work ongoing and there's time because we don't order until July.
- Action Item: Follow up on the Four-Way Speech contest winners to determine if they advanced to the next level.
McElroy Scholarship & Other Initiatives
- FYI - The McElroy Scholarship is available for individuals who took a gap year or two, or adult learners returning to school, offering a "fairly significant amount of money." The application deadline is May 19th, with details found on the Rotary District 7870 website.
- Scholarships: The club's app will be undergoing some modification, involving "small little tweaks truncating from it and expanding some areas of the app."
President Dick closed the meeting with a toast to Rotary the world over.
Respectfully Submitted,
Bob Couch
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