President Tanya opened the meeting at 07:30 and greeter Donna shared some inspiration.
- Durwood Sargent – The concert was great – great band – During the performance, Durwood recognized his ex-son in law’s sister – they chatted for a while – a bit later a couple that Durwood knew from Bow Mills Church showed up! Durwood shared his thoughts of how great it is that the free Concerts are a great place to meet people!
- Eric Anderson – He and his wife took a Motorhome trip to Quechee, VT. last week – Rained for 3 days!! – Eric was happy to go and to come back!
- Tom Ives scooted with Dick Bean
- Chris Parkinson expressed that he did a terrible job at raising his 3 kids and 6 grand-kids as they are all Red Sox fans!! Chris will be heading down to a Red Sox game with family later this week. Chris did say that all of the Red Sox fans in the Club should pay Happy Bucks as the team is doing very well recently.
- Guest Chase Hagaman shared that they celebrated his wife’s birthday by going out to dinner. He also expressed that he was happy to have great friends that helped out this week and happy to be part of our great community.
- Mike Gula – Paid fines for a missed bell and scooting – Grateful for Joy, Colony, Chase and David’s sense of humor
- PDG Donna Deos – Shared that she will be attending the Suncook Valley Balloon Festival today.
- Gale Kenison– Gave “Thanks” to the club members and friends and recognized Donna as her “Angel” with shot glasses filled with pills! She is on the mend and thankful for all of the Flowers, cards and “Good Wishes”. Gale finished by announcing “She’s Back!!”
- Dave Farr was happy that his son (14) was back from a month of camp that he has attended each summer for the last 9 years – Like Dave, his son is a bit of a joker so after taking the “Leadership and Training” course, Dave was surprised and proud that his son received one of the two “Big Awards” - Most Improved - from the Camp Leaders at the end of camp.
- Jon Ruggles – Happy Buck for Gale – They have known each other from way back and at the Shaker Hill School. It was good to see her back at meetings.
- Judy Goodnow – Spent some quality time in Boothbay – Judy invited Eric to come to Boothbay as they need the rain!!
- Tamar Robertson – Happy to see Gale back and happy about the Red Sox game
Paul Harris Fellow Presentation: Steve DeStefano presented Colony Barrett a Paul Harris Fellow Award for her long-involved leadership in the Interact Club. Colony has been at the Bow High School since 2001 and involved with Interact for the past 17 years – Steve shared how being a teacher is tough enough but to also be an advisor for students and the extra time involved is very challenging. Our Club Members have witnessed the results of her support and guidance in the Interact students that attend our meeting.
Colony accepted the award and she expressed her feelings of gratitude in seeing students that volunteer and are helpful within the community and happy to be part of it.
Program: Melissa Howard introduced Steve DeStefano for a Classification Talk.
Steve started with a history of “who I am” – His grandparents both came from Italy – They arrived in the USA and moved to Pittsburgh, Pa. His dad was one of three boys and was very talented in sports. Steve’s mother grew up in Concord and had many Catholic relatives who were Nuns and Monsignors……lots of guilt as a result!!!
Steve was in a lot of sports as a teenager and with several talented kids from NH, he was part of many Baseball Tournaments in New England.
Work – as a 1978 college grad, Steve was hired by NH Insurance as a Junior Accountant. In a few months he was promoted to the Finance Department, travelled to Fort Collins, Colorado when he was 23 years old – Steve was able to see the country as part of his job. Computers were upcoming and he returned to New Hampshire. Steve earned a Masters Degree in Computer Science in 1983 – moved to Pembroke NH and met his wife Ellen in a bar – they were married in 1984. Steve decided to take a Real Estate class in 1984, Steve passed the exam and began his career in Real Estate and managed an office of 35 agents in 1986. In 1989 Steve bought Circa Century 21 just in time for the real estate market crash! In 1992 the housing market got better – Steve bought the Pleasant Street building and also Century 21 Thompson in Epsom. Real estate allowed Steve to attend most of his girls’ sports – Casey and Alison played soccer – Kimberly attended Brady – best player of all – 4 years of soccer and softball
Steve has run the Sunset League since 1992 – pain in the ass but has had great success.
Steve joined Bow Rotary in 1988.
Steve got into NH Politics when he got involved with the 1983 campaign of Gary Hart – Jeanne Sheheen was the Chair!
Steve was a State Rep beginning in 1994 – for 14 years.
He ran for State Senate in 1998 but he was beaten by just 5 votes!
He ran for Speaker of the House in 2007 – came in second place!!
President Tanya presented Steve with a book for the library and closed the meeting with a toast to Rotary the world over.
Respectfully Submitted,
Gerry Carrier
