Pres-Elect Gale Kenison opened the meeting at 7:30, welcomed all, and led the Pledge of Allegiance.
Mike Fortier was the surprised greeter!
Attendance: Mike Fortier reported that there were no guests, no visiting Rotarians, and no Speaker, but there were 4 Scooters and the total for the day was 33!
It was Club Assembly Day:
President-Elect Gale Kenison issued a challenge to the Club to participate in the Baker Free Library’s Wreath Auction to benefit the library’s Lower Level Renovation. The idea is to create and donate a striking wreath which will be auctioned off at the Wreath Auction event with bids to be made at the library from Wednesday, November 3rd through November 14th , and a final event on November 14th from 7:00 to 10:00 PM with fine appetizers, jazz entertainment and wine and other refreshments. Pres-Elect Gale said that she thought that a creative team of Bow Rotarians could make and donate a wreath, and that also club members could bid and attend the final event on the 14th.
She then reminded the membership of the Concord Young Professional Network’s networking event co-sponsored by the Bow and Concord Rotary Clubs on the 21st of October at the Kimball Jenkins Estate, a great chance to solicit new members of our club. She also noted that Bill McGonagle’s mother had passed away yesterday morning.
Speaking of the auction Michelle Fortin said that the raffle tickets had been handed out the previous week. Gale added that auction items were coming in, but we were “getting down to the wire” so everyone needed to focus soon on bringing in the items. She said that a new computer data program is being used this year so there is a need to do a dry run before the auction date. Sandy Eldredge indicated that we still need more members to sign up to bring food, especially veggies and cold items. Gale then thanked Jon Ruggles and R&T Electric for fixing the electrical issues at the Community Center. Gerry Carrier asked for help putting up the Rotary Auction sign to be installed near the bandstand after today’s meeting. It was noted that Donna Deoss and Jeannie Richards had taken the bar training, good for one year, and that Alan Kanegsberg would be taking it. A discussion ensued about liability insurance and Alan noted that Rotary International has coverage for that for all clubs.
Speaking about Rotary Park cleanup, Pres-Elect Gale said that there was a sign-up sheet circulating.
Rotary Foundation Presentation:
Sandy Eldredge then made an interesting presentation about the Rotary International Foundation. She discussed the Foundation’s mission, the Polio Plus campaign, the Global Grant program, including its funding requirements, and the Rotary Foundation’s recognition process and the varying levels of recognition. She noted that this year’s Bow Rotary Club budget for member contributions to the Foundation was $5000 and to date there has been $450 contributed by members. She discussed how easily members are able to make the contributions and she provided the address for mailing checks:
The Rotary Foundation, 14280 Collections Center Drive, Chicago, IL 60693-USA
She then went on to describe the Global Grant project that she is personally involved in, that also involves Porna, the exchange student from India that came to Bow High School and lived with Sandy and her family. The Grant is for providing educational technology to schools in and around Mumbai, India. At the end of the presentation, in response to a question from Rick Minard, with helpful comments by Alan Kanegsberg, there was a discussion about how Rotary Foundation contributions could be designated to this particular grant project by including the specific grant number along with the contribution. (See Sandy for that number.) It was noted that if the contribution is so designated it would not be included toward the Bow Club’s general Rotary Foundation budget goal.
Raffle: Eric Anderson’s number was drawn but he was unable to pick the joker.
Acting Sargeant-at-Arms Linda Lorden first announced a birthday: Tamar Roberts said that she was now working on her 60th year, that she was busy at work and that her boys were doing well.
Mike Fortier paid a fine for not being prepared. Dick Swett paid several happy bucks for seeing his daughter play tennis last week which caused him to miss the Rotary meeting, for his wife’s birthday, and for being able to make a request for club members to support to support the Sepsis Alliance. He said that Sepsis, a disease that causes the body to over-react to infection, is the world’s third most lethal disease and that we could support the Sepsis Alliance by going online to the NASCAR site and voting for Carl Flatley.
Sandy Eldredge paid happy bucks, one for finding a buck at roadside pick-up and another for Pauline Laliberte, former longtime employee of the Town of Bow’s Welfare office, who is recovering from cancer and is currently at the 1400 mile mark on a bicycle journey through Canada, and who sent Sandy an email thanking Bow Rotary for the many contributions to the Welfare Department over the years.
Chris Parkinson paid a happy buck for coming in second, and only one stroke off the Concord Rotary Club’s team, playing with the Governor’s team in the golf tournament. He also said that he would be on the radio on WTPL 107.7 on Saturday at 9:00 or 10:00 and Sunday at 7:00 talking about the Rotary Auction.
Eric Anderson paid a happy buck because “the girls” were back at the table.
Ira Evans paid a very happy five bucks for his brother’s great news about his cancer treatment results, and that his chances for survival have improved significantly.
Ken Moulton announced that Todd Leach, Chancellor of the University System would be speaker at an upcoming Rotary meeting (next week?).
Pres-Elect Gale announced that upcoming greeters for October are Jeff Kipperman, Gerry carrier, and Steve Destefano.
Secretary Eric Anderson said attendance was improving, but to “please get your make-ups in!” He noted that some people still owe dues.
Treasurer Paul Mercier said that the Bow Rotary Foundation’s cash balance was $36,273, with $20,000 committed to the Baker Free Library and $500 restricted for camperships, and that therefore $15,773 is available for other purposes. He said that the club’s cash balance was $11,326.70, all unrestricted, but that the balance was down due to a deposit on Christmas trees.
With that, Pres-Elect Gale rang the bell with a hearty “Go Forth”!
Respectfully Submitted,
Paul Rizzi
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