President Wendy called the meeting to order one minute early at 5:59 p.m. at our summer residence, Meredith Bay Colony Club (MBCC), during what might be the last warm day of the season.  The pledge of allegiance followed.

 

In his prayer, Dan called for us to be stewards of the earth, conserve energy, and minimize waste so we will have a thriving, sustainable planet—a great introduction to our recycling theme of the evening.

Guests and Visiting Rotarians

Announcements

Gary asked what month are we in? Yes, it’s Socktober. Can we beat last year's 707 pairs, that’s 13 each? Please donate either new socks or money, which Gary will, like water into wine, turn magically turn into socks.

 

Dick Gerken announced that the Trinity Episcopal Church is having their famous Roast Beef Dinner on Sat, Oct 21, at 5 pm and 6 pm, $15 per person, $40 per family. Proceeds benefit the Meredith Food Pantry, so bring your appetite.

 

Ron let us know the team finished painting the fence in Center Harbor, and it brought a lot of people together; thank you! And, thanks, Bonnie, for the blueberry muffins.

 

Fred is looking for help on Oct 14^th or 21^st with the trail project. Please volunteer. Thanks to John for sharing his tractor.

 

Our next meeting is on October 11 at MBCC. On October 18, we resume weekly at Hart’s (turkey, anyone?!).

 

Tonight, we dined on fabulous sandwiches from Moulton Farms.

 

 

Special Rotary Program arranged by Harry Reichlin

 

Program Subject:  Styrofoam Recycling Program

Program Speaker: Meghan Theriault, P.E., Director of Public Works, Town of Gilford

 

Fun fact: Meghan talks with her husband about catch basins since he is Director of Public Works at Moultonborough. She’s also a local Lakerbots parent.

 

Styrofoam is the brand name for polystyrene and contains 98% air and 2% plastic.

 

Recycling generates money. The goal is to reduce the volume of trash; for example, Gilford can fit 1.2 tons more of trash into each container, just sold 11,000 pounds, generating $4,000-5,000 savings just in hauling. There is a “ton” (haha, get it “ton”) of interest with additional towns joining the hub and spoke model so people can recycle without having to drive too far. Volunteers can collect, sort, and bring it to Gilford for processing. Collection bins and bags are other examples, there is a bin open 24x7 at Gilford. Mobile vans are a future idea.

 

We learned a new word—densifier. It is a machine that compresses the foam into ingots. It takes in clean foam that snaps, not bends—for example, coolers and food containers are good, but pipe insulation and flexible electronics wrapping are bad. Packing peanuts can’t be taken, they are often made from corn starch.

 

The ingots are later processed into insulation, picture frames, and decking.

 

Opportunities to get involved and help include:

 

 

John gave us an update on our current efforts: we started by purchasing 10 bags as a model for recycling at a small business.

 

 

President Wendy led us in the 4-way test. The meeting adjourned at 7:20 p.m.

Respectfully submitted,
Brian Harris

 

 

This is how you paint a fence while holding A Blueberry Muffin!