Today’s Greeter: Harry Judd was MIA, no members were welcomed to Bow Rotary.
Attendance:
- 30 Bow Rotarians
- 0 Visiting Rotarians
- 7 Guests: members of Interact: Sam, Sophie, Braden, Mason and Aiden and their teachers, Nick Watson and Colony Barrett.
- 1 Guest speaker- Christine Pedersen
Total of 38
Announcements:
- Gale Kenison – Auction raffle tickets were handed out and Gale announced the we need to “Sell those raffle tickets.”
- Dave Scanlan announced that next week Chuck Rheinhardt has the program and Tom Wilson is our greeter.
Sergeant at Arms: Matt Dodge
Logo Fines: Jon Ruggles for R & T Electric.
Happy Bucks:
- Ben Kiniry turned 51 years of age and reported that all has been well with his family over the last year, that his family has grown by one, been happily married for the bulk of 20 years and he loves to ride his bike, a lot!
- Rick Minard is happy that the interact students came to our meeting and thanked them in advance for helping us out with the auction later this year.
- Mike Griffin was so very happy because his daughter, Kaitlin, moved to Hampton, not all that far from the beach. He was also happy his son, Andrew, moved out of the house and in with his sister, Kaitlin. The two moves have left an empty nest scenario. Seems to be bittersweet time in Mike’s life to this author.
- Dick Bean had a significant loss in his home, their 14-year-old golden retriever (we really do love our pets). Dick decided it was time to “go look at some puppies” and his wife response was “lets go look at their mother.” The end result was a new addition to their family, “Macie.”
- Tom Wilson is happy to “still be alive” after going to hug his ill cat and being bitten on his hand. This resulted in an infection down to the bone. Luckily, Tom was ultimately seen by a doctor who made Tom aware that “cat bites are not the best thing you can get?” Glad you are still with us Tom!
- Jon Ruggles informed the group that his granddaughter started high school. She was very excited to report to him that her first day was “okay” and the second day was “good.” Things are moving in the right direction.
- Dick Swett was happy to announce that he has been married to Katrina for 39 years and went on to discuss some fancy math that seemed to be off a bit.
- Dean Cascadden reported that there is great energy at Bow High School this year and strongly suggested that we watch a video on his You Tube channel regarding their Mission Statement. He was also happy to report that it is his belief there is job security for those working in the Bow School System (enough said).
- Gale Kenison, since retiring from the Bow Police Department, took time to consider her next adventure. The result is she replaced working with police officers with children at the Shaker Road School. Good luck Gale!
- Matt Dodge, and his wife, Taylor, spent a couples’ weekend (early one-year anniversary) at Lake Placid.
- Dave Stack said something about the New York Giants verses the New England Patriots, but the rest of the room seemed to understand that he was just confused.
Raffle Winner: Skip Poole won the raffle. But did not pull the Joker.
Program: Guest Speaker
Skip Poole introduced the guest speaker, Jennifer Pearson, Executive Director of The Crisis Center of Central New Hampshire.
The Crises Center was established in 1978 and assists those who have been the victims of Domestic Violence, Sexual Assault and Stalking (though they are willing to talk to callers about any topic placing them in distress). They have a 24 hour a day hot line, scheduled meetings and walk in services. All services are free and confidential, except for minor and senior abuse which must be reported. They are based in Concord on State Street and serve 27 towns with only a staff of 8. Jennifer states that their mission is based onEmpowermentof the victims and that they do not provide services to perpetrators.
They act as advocates for their clients, which includes utilizing the services of a panel of attorneys to advocate in court (cases such as divorce, child custody and restraining orders). They also have a shelter (21 beds) to those who are in imminent danger, as well as more permanent housing services (6-18 months), to men, women and children.
They bring their services into the hospitals (get involved prior to the doctors at three area hospitals) as well as jails and half-way houses.
Jennifer states that they are starting to make strides with schools, but there is much resistance to providing education on this topic area.
Jennifer told us that alcohol and substance abuse is significant among the population that they service. We were also told there is a significant amount of human trafficking in the greater area, especially in Concord and Manchester.
The club was encouraged to take part in two fund raisers for the Crises Center: “Walk a Mile in Her Shoes” to be held on October 2, 2019 in Concord, and “Mr. Concord” which also is scheduled for this fall.
Website for more information: www.cccnh.org
Respectfully Summited:
Benjamin J. Kiniry
