June 12, 2024 Breakfast Meeting Notes
Guests: Shelby McDonald and her mom Britt; David Gosselin; Will Hannah. Originally from Boston, Will has owned the the martial arts school on Tenney Mt Highway for 15 years and is interested in finding out more about Rotary!
Denise reported that the District Changeover event this past Saturday was well organized and fun. She gave a welcome to District Governor Susan Cherry, who joined us by Zoom.
We began with Tony’s famous NH Trivia: “Neighborhoods within NH Towns” edition.
The 50/50 was won by Phil, who donated the money to Shelby.
Bill won the draw for the card game but selected the 9 of spades. The game will continue.
Visioning sessions will be tomorrow (Thursday) evening and Saturday morning. Ken Evans visited both venues yesterday and they are all set up. Admin committee members and anyone wishing to help out should show up at 5 pm tomorrow at the Senior Center and at 9 am at Plymouth Regional High School library on Saturday. Volunteers are needed to help greet people and assist the committee members when we form small groups.
Changing of the Guard will be next Tuesday at the Barn on the Pemi. Denise agreed to distribute prizes at the event.
Greg reported that the transition grant committee held a meeting last night to award the grants. The largest value is $1250 and there was also a grant awarded for $1000. Several additional students received gift cards to Rands. The two large winners had very compelling applications and very specific needs. We will ask them to come and speak to us next fall.
The Chamber of Commerce will hold its annual meeting a week from next Tuesday at the Owl’s Nest. Tickets are for sale and the sale will be ending Friday at noon. Mike Carrier will be the speaker.
Susan Cherry spoke to us about Rotary Youth Exchange via Zoom. A local student, Shelby McDonald, will be participating in a short-term Rotary exchange this year. Our district works through a multi-district exchange, the Eastern States Student Exchange. There are districts in New York, Pennsylvania Bermuda, New Jersey, and Maryland. Local clubs coordinate to be sure that the students have their papers in order. There are students from 45 countries participating in the program.
If a club interested having a long-term student exchange, someone will need to be the point person so that that person can oversee the procedure and undergo proper training. The club also needs to be sure that we have the guarantee form so that students can get their visas. There should also be an interview committee to meet local students that want to go abroad and make sure they understand what is involved. The students in the US should get involved with their local Rotary club and get involved with a service project and then plan on doing a service project when they go abroad.
Host families will get visited every other mont in person and have to check in monthly by Zoom. They should also plan to go to the local Rotary club meeting monthly. Students at the high school are encouraged to advertise for and interview potential host families. The club sponsors the student with a monthly allowance. Each club puts up $125 for expenses up front plus a monthly allowance. Susan noted that Montpelier is hosting 3 students this year and would like to have another club provide financial support for one of them. Our district is partnering with District 7870 to do orientations. Rotarian counselors should be same gender as the incoming student in case any sensitive subjects arise.
Host families and students fill out applications, including hosting forms. A club should have between 1 and 3 host families per year; some students are happier staying with a single host family, though allowing the student to change families lessens the burden on any one host family and lets the student have a variety of family experiences. If a local family is sending a student away, they may volunteer to host, or they may wait and host the following year. Student’s natural parents must approve the placement. Additional information is also available on the website and through club runner. See the website exchangestudent.org
Summer-only exchange programs are also an option.
Shelby McDonald then spoke about the short term program. In which she will be participating. The short programs can last from 3 wks to 3 months. Shelby wanted to go to a Spanish-speaking country and ultimately wound up being placed with a club in Argentina. She is going there onJuly 22 and will return in early September. Her Argentinian counterpart, Claire, will be coming here around Thanksgiving. The family plans to go to North Carolina for the holidays. And will take Claire to Washington DC or New York City on the way back. Shelby will be playing on Claire’s soccer team in Argentina and Claire will attend Shelby’s school here.
Today is NH Gives, until 5 pm. You can give to a NH charity of your choice. Go to NHgives.org to make a donation.
Happy dollars were shared by Sharon and Tony.
Respectfully submitted,
Lora Miller, secretary