July 30, 2025 Breakfast Meeting Notes
The 50/50 was won by Alex.
The card game, with a brand new deck, was started by Dan. Unfortunately he did not draw the ace of spades so the game continues.
Sharon spoke about the history of Rotary Youth Exchange.The program was recognized in 1975 but has origins as far as 1927. In that year, Rotary considered several youth exchange programs but took no formal action. Local clubs did have some exchanges in Europe and in 1929 they had a conference on the subject of youth exchanges but again took no formal action. In the 60s Rotary International started doing exchanges informally. The goal of the exchanges is to foster youth exchange and cultural exchange and facilitate friendship with other countries. Sharon and our club hosted an exchange student in 2014 and she stays in touch with her former student.
Tonight we will have the car show, weather permitting. The latest that the town can cancel is 2 pm. Denise passed out a signup sheet; please give her your phone number so that she can call you if they do have to cancel. Someone will need to retrieve the Rotary aprons from Meredith Village Savings Bank; Mike will bring the banner and Lora bought in the vests to this morning’s meeting. JJs will provide another 6 foot table and Sharon will bring an Easy-Up tent. We will drive the food down from JJs to the event. Denise has two different cash boxes, Eva is getting the bank, Sharon has the Rotary tire, and Denise has clipboards.
We should be down there by 5:30 and ready to sell tickets; winners must be present at 7 pm to claim raffle winnings. The actual event runs from 6 to 8. Denise also noted that we are supporting this event but feels that we should have created our own Facebook event and noted that it was a cash-only event, as people attending the concert may not be prepared with money. We can also take Venmo and will try to have that available for tonight as well.
The public image committee met. We will play some sort of a game at the National Night Out next Tuesday in Thornton (5 pm at the Sugar Shack) and we need a suggestion on which game to play. Denise suggested corn hole boards on either side of our tent, plus beanbags, and we can offer people 3 throws for a piece of candy. Alicia has boards and bags and will bring them. We need to notify the event sponsors what game we are going to bring. Jake will bring a ring toss game. Raisa is working up a trifold brochure.
Mike asked for Styrofoam committee members to huddle with him after this morning’s meeting to set up the August schedule.
Alicia spoke about the Peace Corps. The Peace Corps goals are to help the people of interested countries, to promote a better understanding of America and to help Americans understand other people. Enrollees must be college grads and initially sign up for a 2 year stint. There is no age restriction, so even retirees can sign up. Training takes an additional two months (3 if the country’s native language is not English). The US government pays your health insurance while you are win the program; if you develop any chronic disease while you are there, they will cover you for the rest of your life. Alicia noted that the Peace Corps watches closely for the safety of its volunteers. Guyana (where she served) has a history of election violence, so when there was an election they put all volunteers in the capitol so they could be evacuated if needed.
Guyana had a population of 750,000 people when Alicia served there. The country faces a huge problem with brain drain, as college graduates tend to leave. The country is a former British colony and is surrounded by Brazil, Suriname, and Venezuela. The population has three distinct ethnic groups: indigenous people, descendants of former slaves, and descendants of Asian Indians. There is a lot of racism and strife between these groups. English is the official language.
The country is divided into 10 zones. Zones 1 and 2 are all interior, with indigenous people only, and most of the non-indigenous population lives on the coasts. The country has 3 rivers: the Demerara, the Essequibo and the Burbice. The country has some gold; rice farming is also practiced. Guyana serves as a source of carbon credits by keeping its forests intact.
Alicia was in region 5 and taught at a school in her first year. In the second year, she focused on 4th graders and took 20 kids who didn’t know the alphabet and by the end of the year she had 5 students reading at a first grade level. She also worked with the 5th grade teacher on literacy also.
Happy dollars were shared by Denise, Lora, Alicia, Raisa, and Ken Williamson.
This week and next week, Alicia will be collecting funds for Texas. Make checks out to the Plymouth Rotary Foundation.
Respectfully submitted,
Lora Miller, secretary