August 6, 2025 Breakfast Meeting Notes
Today’s guests were Taylor Maine, a former speech contest winner, and Matthew Bruce of the Rotary club of Middleborough, Ma.
The 50/50 was won by Ben, who donated the money back to the club.
Lora won the opportunity to draw for the ace of spades but was unsuccessful. The game continues.
Tony reported that he car show was a success. Eleven volunteers showed up; thanks to Phil, Denise, Sharon, Cari, Steve, Mike, Nancy, Greg, Dan, Ben, Beth, and Alicia.
Last night was National Night Out. We had a corn hole game set up and small prizes were given to kids who scored at corn hole. Next year we should do “corn hole” with our Rotary wheels. Ken Evans also had a nice talk with the mother of the culinary student to whom we gave a scholarship; she was very grateful for the assistance for her son so that he could buy books.
We also got several thank-you notes, from Circle, Tiger, and several of the scholarship students. The notes were passed around.
Beth invited club members to attend a special brunch on August 23, from 10 to 12 at Circle Camp. All Rotarians are invited. Then that afternoon from 12-3 the camp is open to the public for the Camp Fest Celebration, where we can connect with participants, mentors, and community supporters. The cost for the afternoon is $20, which includes lunch. All activities at camp, including hiking, paddle board, etc. are open. Bring your own towel! Please RSVP to Maggie McGo era (maggie@circleprogram.org)
Public image committee reports that recent projects are the car show and the National Night Out. The committee will be looking at Rotary swag so members have lots of stuff to wear to future events.
Service projects: We have a small project in 2 weeks at Whole Village, packing backpacks for back-to-school. This is a fun short project; we only need 3 or 4 Rotarians. Date is Monday the 18th at noon. Donations can be accepted any time. Denise will go there every Tuesday if you want to bring things to her. They have backpacks already.
Alicia noted that we are collecting funds for the Texas flood victims. Our club will match donations from any club members. Money can be given to Alicia and today is the last day to donate. The money will be sent to a Rotary club down there for distribution.
Ken introduced guest Matthew Bruce, who is a Rotarian from Middlebourough Massachusetts. He was at national Night Out and Ken invited him here this morning. He is a three time president of their club and has been involved with Rotary for 20 years. He owns property in Waterville Valley and hopes to spend more time up here with his family. Their club is also donating to the Texas floods. They have a project called the Rotary Rays, in which they raise money for Rotary Advancing Youth in Education. This project helps fund tutors for general education students.
Taylor Maine speaks to the club.
Taylor Maine spoke to us. Taylor is a PRHS graduate and past two-time winner of our speech contest. She attended Tufts for 2 years and then transferred to SNHU, graduating a semester early. She was involved in the Chandler Center, which is SNHU’s community center agency. She graduated in December and is living at home in Campton and working with the American Civil Liberties Union NH chapter.
The ACLU has a community organizing team, as well as their well-known litigation arm. Taylor is the North Country Regional Campaign manager and once she has done this for 6 months, she will build out a campaign to address the issue that the ACLU has chosen. They will be running a Pride event at the end of September here in Plymouth. They will need vendors and volunteers to help organize. It will be September 27 at the Amphitheater and will have food trucks, with local nonprofits, local vendors, and local musicians. If you would like to volunteer to help, or if you have a business that would like to have a table there, reach out to the ACLU at 603-225-3080 or go to their website to fill out the volunteer form.
Tony reports that the Penny Sale committee will be starting to go over the action plan in the next couple of weeks.
Tony finished with his NH Trivia since we had the time. He has been organizing club records dating back to 1960 and so today’s trivia is the “Dusty Rotary Nuggets” edition.
Happy dollars were shared by Ben, Mike, Denise, Tony, Ken, Alicia, Phil, and Alex.
Circle Program will have a motorcycle fundraiser on August 17.
Respectfully submitted
Lora Miller, secretary