Breakfast meeting notes from 11.10.21
Breakfast Meeting 11.10.2021
 
Attending on Zoom this week was Omer Marybeth
Guests: Scott King, Ken Williamson and Christine from MVSB
Speaker: Greg Englund of Pemi Baker Trailers
Tony challenged us with Trivia again.
Raffles: 50/50 won by Braden.  Scott was drawn for the card game raffle and did not chose the 6 of diamond.  The pot has grown to $483 with 34 cards left in the deck.
 
Gail mentioned that Waterville Valley Elementary School will be holding a special Veterans Day Ceremony at 9AM on Friday, November 12th.
 
Denise’s guest speaker was Greg Englund of Pemi Baker Trailers, which is a subcommittee of Plymouth Conservation Commission.  Greg talked to us about their program obtaining land permission to set up trailers for mountain biking and hiking in the area.  He had success reaching out to Steve Rand and a neighboring landowner to work on a recreation trails on their land.  The PBT contracts with the landowners to make sure all parties understand each other.  The landowners can back out of their agreement anytime, and PBT and trailer users promise to respect the land use opportunity.  The trailer riders in New England have adopted the slogan “Ride with Gratitude.” They realize it is a privilege.
 
Trails are built and maintained mostly with hand tools and small power tools.   Parking is part of the planning with the landowners, and an annual meeting is a requirement to maintain good relations.
 
PBT applies for grants to assist in the costs of maintaining trailers, and collaborate with other organizations through White Mountain Trails Collaborative. One of the benefits of allowing recreational use of trails is it brings in economic stimulus to the area.  Riders will spend money locally for gas, food, lodging, etc. and there are benefits for the communities too.  Its not a bad thing to encourage physical activity and environmental consciousness.
 
Trails are graded for ability and difficulty of the riders, much like the ski industry.  There is a mobile app called Trailforks and publishes trail networks and corresponding levels of ability in color codes.
 
Ken reviewed Plymouth’s Got Talent; our biggest fundraiser of the year went on the air with a Special Presentation on November 6th at 6pm. The Special Presentation was held on www.plymouthsgottalent.com or Pemi TV’s You Tube and Facebook page on November 6th.  Recorded performances will continue.  The raffle drawing and act winners will be done on 11/16/2021.
 
The talent acts are all up on the website and voting has started.  Ken is encouraging everyone to check out the acts and vote, its only $1 per vote and can encourage more voting and help the acts. Unfortunately, we do not have as many acts this year as last year.
 
We have raised over $20,000 to date, and thanks to the members for working with your sponsors and their support.  We also have 20 to 30 raffle items with a total value of over $8,000.  The prizes are also shown on the website.  Check it out!
 
Call to Action from members, share the Facebook posts for PGT, spread the word.
 
Denise reminded the membership of our annual Rotary Speech Contest and asked members how we can reach out to High School Students in the area to participate.  Let Denise know if you want to help.
 
Reminder:  District updates and many clubs are trying to figure out how to resume in person meetings.  They are concerned as northern VT and NH have his Covid numbers at the present time.  November 13th, Saturday, is District Training done on Zoom.  Look for the invite with link.  Register if you plan to attend.  There is a Polio Plus fundraiser going on, help with your donation.  There is a March of Dimes monument in VT where a large polio outbreak happened many years ago, so its very important in our District to help with this cause.