Tonight’s guests include potential member Tiffany Pena. Also attending are Nancy Wiggin.

 

Craig advised us that tonight we will vote on accepting Tiffany Pena into the club. Tiffany will be inducted at our next meeting on August 14. Dean will have a Youth Exchange meeting tonight. We have one inbound student from Spain who will be living with the Wiggin family, and then with Heidi. We have no outbound students this year. Gary Dehnel talked about Isabelle Dube who is in France right now and doing well with her host family and their daughter Ann. Jim Wiedman passed around a signup sheet for the lobster bake scheduled at his house in Balmoral on August 21. It will be approximately $30/pp… if folks can sign up to bring side dish/dessert/salad items that would be helpful…more details to come. Brian Krautz was evidently cleaning his garage and found a newspaper from 1969 covering the moon landing! So next meeting is 8/14 at MBCC, then 8/21 with Jim Wiedman will be a “makeup” meeting, then 8/28 at MBCC-and the District Governor will be in attendance. Additionally, the BOD meeting will begin at 5pm that night.

 

Carl Johnson had $20 for the Loon Center hot dog cookout. Boy, it was hot! This has now been 27 years of hosting this program, and all the “regulars” were there cooking, serving, and sweating. Everyone without a badge, pay a buck. Nancy Wiggin matched Carl’s $20with her own - she is quite thankful tonight! Teresa thanked everyone for their condolences following the death of her Mom who passed at the age of 93-with 10 kids and 52 grand- and great-grand children. Dick Gerken had a happy dollar for Bev Lapham and the Sculpture Walk. Jim McFarlin had a happy buck for Brian Krautz and everyone who has been able to help Lisa Davis move into her new home. Bev had $20 for the $500K raised for Hawkins Brook trail. They need $10K to finish. The BOD has voted in favor of this. Dick made a motion to pass this resolution, John Moulton seconded the motion, which passed unanimously Additionally, we have donated $25K to the Meredith Library this year, with another $25K for next year to library. Dean had a happy $3 for being on vacation for 3 weeks. Dona had $15 happy dollars for Brian Krautz doing a terrific job on her deck, and Carl’s wonderful job coordinating the Loon Center Festival. Gary Dehnel had a happy dollar for Camp Resilience – which is the program tonight. Kevin had $6 happy dollars for family events. Chris Ray, a member of the Gilford Club and Camp Reliance also paid a happy dollar. Oh, and Donna found a typo on the back of everyone’s yellow Rotary shirts-no wonder they were so inexpensive! Craig reminded everyone that tonight’s happy dollars and fines are donated to Camp Resilience.

 

Gary Dehnel introduced Chris Ray, a past president of the Gilford Club. Chris spent 36 years with Prudential Insurance and is now retired. He and his wife have been married for 53 years and have 5 children! Camp Resilience was founded in 2014 and is committed to providing programs throughout New England for disabled veterans and their families to help them recover the physical, mental and emotional well being. The camp runs 4-day/3-night workshops and outdoor learning activities at Gunstock. They have conducted more than 4 retreats to serve more than 40 vets, spouses and caregivers, and children. They are mainly volunteer-run with one full time staff member and one part time. The camp has worked closely with the VA to formulate programs and counseling. They plan to grow their programs to 40 per year going forward. Camp Resilience underwrites the costs for each workshop, with veterans paying for their transportation. The VA helps underwrite costs and so does Wounded Warrior Foundation. In addition to providing programs that include hiking, sailing and the Aerial Treetop Adventure course at Gunstock, per-to-per counseling is provided to address topics including sleep issues, mindful eating and nutrition, and financial management. The camp is always seeking volunteers to help conduct the workshops!