August 9, 2023 Breakfast Meeting Notes

 

Guest:  Steve from Milford attended this week.

 

Tony was absent this week so we had no NH trivia. In its place, Renee gave us a Rotary Minute on the Rotary bell. In 1922 US Rotarians had a contest; the losers would buy a prize for the winning club. The NY club won and the bell was purchased and placed on a pedestal made from wood from the HMS Victory. The bell is rung at the beginning and end of meetings. The gavel symbolizes the authority of the president in Rotary. The transfer of power is symbolized at the Changing of the Guard, when the departing president rings the bell one last time and then passes the gavel to the next president. 

 

50/50: Beth won and gave the money to Tom

Card game: Renee won the chance to draw for the ace of spades but drew queen of clubs. The game continues.

 

Guest speaker: Mike Currier on the Plymouth Skate Park

 

The skate park started with a $250,000 investment. The park was constructed and then turned over to the town on land donated by Alex Ray. The park is now finished except for one corner at the north end, which will be leveled; at that point a gazebo or pavilion plus picnic tables will be installed. There are now six solar-powered lights and 4-6 more will be added. There will be a rock base/ledge pack and tables will be set along the front. The parks part of Parks and Rec has been helpful. The parking area will also be developed.They plan to be installing in a half pipe with a horseshoe back for people to learn the art of skateboarding.

 

The park is one of the best, if not THE best, skate park in the state, and people come from all over to use it. Rotary was one of the biggest donors getting the park started and there are plans to put up some sort of signage to recognize Rotary’s contribution. Various organizations are being asked to help with beautification and they are looking for donations to help decorate the area.There is also a family trust that donates $3500 each year to the Parks Dept. and it is passed on to the skate park. The community has stepped up and donated to help. There is also a graffiti park, which is important as there are few places for artists to do graffiti legally. One of the art professors from PSU even takes classes to the park so her students can learn from the street artists. There have been few accidents, a few broken bones at the skate park, but that’s it. There may be an opportunity in the future for Rotary to help again with landscaping or other beautification projects.  

 

We received a thank you from Plymouth Regional Huskies for our $500 donation. They will use the money to purchase new helmets. 

 

Styrofoam: Gilford is looking for volunteers to go there and help out with bringing the styrofoam  to the workers loading the densifier. Anyone who wishes to sign up can get a consent form from Ken Evans.

 

August 18 at 1 pm is Pak A Pak at Whole Village. The parking lot construction should be finished by then. They are accepting donations of school supplies at Whole Village up until August 18.

 

Bill noted that this Saturday Alicia is getting married. The whole club is invited to her reception, which will be at Wolfsburg Farm in East Holderness. To get there, take route 3 towards Meredith and turn right just past the Jehovah’s Witness Hall.

 

August 23 from 12 to 10 pm, all sales at Coneheads in Woodstock will be donated to the CommonManforUkraine.

 

Board meeting is coming up on the 18th.  We will be discussing buying the 3 styrofoam bins and continuing to raise money to pay for them, rather than waiting until all money is raised to make the purchase. The purchase would allow us to get some good publicity (for example, we could run an ad in Green Energy Times) and this would raise awareness of the project in the community. We need to raise a little less than $2K in additional funds in order to fully pay for all 3 bins. 

 

Happy dollars: Denise had one to thank Alex for supporting the DCYF conference on Thursday (providing ice cream). Mike:  two biopsies (skin) were taken and one was good, the other needs more cleanup.  Alex: happy dollar for National Night Out to give children a fun evening of activities. They will need more volunteers next year and Rotary should get involved with this.

 

Next meeting will cover mental health with a speaker from the National Institute for Mental Illness, or NAMI.

 

Respectfully submitted,

 

Lora Miller, secretary