November 20, 2024 Breakfast Meeting Notes
Today’s guests include Lisa More and Susan Mathison, Dawn Lemieux, and Dave Gosselin.
Tony opened with his famous NH Trivia, Rotarian “Hail to the Chief” edition.
The 50/50 was won by George.
Mike won the draw for the card game but selected the 5 of spades rather than the ace.
Beth invited Steve to present some Rotary trading flags to the club. He has amassed a large collection, including many from Poland and Ukraine.
Rotary After Hours at 61 Main was great!
We are circulating a number of signup ilsts this morning. The first is for Nov 30, for decorating the Common. Parks and Rec will put out a decorated tree but we need to decorate the gazebo in addition to the fences and light poles. We need both ladder workers and fence decorating workers. The second signup sheet is for caroling at Pemi Youth Center on Thursday, Dec 5, from 4-5 pm. (We donated $1000 for gifts for the kids.) Finally, Hometown Holiday Celebration signup sheet is going around; we need people to pre-cook food, 3 groups of 3 people to push the carts, people to set up the bonfire on Saturday, and people to do bonfire cleanup at 7 am on Sunday. We also need volunteers to walk in the parade and ride on the float.
On Monday evening Alicia, Phil, Jenny Sharon, and two students met to discuss the design of the float. They are meeting again this Sunday at Jenny’s house at 140 Highland Street at 10 am to paint the float. The local Rotary youth exchange students will also help with this.
Denise said that we don’t have a time frame for the food yet. She will meet with Henry to decide on how much to order; food will be cooked at Foster’s and two people will be needed to pack it up for distribution.
We have the pallets for the bonfire but we really need experienced bonfire builders!
Steve has the final flyer listing all the Hometown Holiday Celebration weekend events; please take several and put them up around town, in Campton/Thornton n and other local towns. Some of the flyers are two sided, so be sure to put those in places where both sides will be seen.
Ken and Mike realized that Nov 30 is also a regular styrofoam run, so we will also need someone to help Toni from Flippin’ Furniture with foam collection.
Last Friday was a board meeting. We have $1000 in our club account and this should be adequate for current expenses. Dues invoices will be going out early to mid December.
Peggy Smith has officially resigned from the club. Bill and Greg picked up all of the holiday decorating supplies at her shop and they will now be stored in the basement of Noyes. Peggy will do the bows again this year. The board discussed recognition of long-time members when they resign; we may wish to do a thank-you letter signed by the club and framed. We could also do a thank-you in our press releases at the end of the year. A Rotary alum reunion would also be nice to have.
We will need to be responsible for trash collection at the parade and afterwards. Denise suggested that the food carts have two levels: a top level for food and a bottom level of the for water bottles. We could put a trash bag on each food cart. We could also get a volunteer group to pick up trash afterwards (wheeled trash cans). Denise will get permission from the town for these containers.
The club foundation has $28,00 that is not restricted to the Common Man for Ukraine. If you wish to make a donation to our foundation and deposit the check in the bank yourself, be sure to write where you want it to go. This will make Steve’s job easier.
Alicia and Tony will have their final meeting tonight to discuss the Penny Sale: what went right, what needs improvement. If you have suggestions, please let Alicia or Tony know.
Our goal is to have a service project monthly. Tony volunteered to replace Peggy as chair of rabies committee.
We would like to do the one-man show that Trish volunteered as a kickoff for an annual fund drive in the spring. We are also discussing changes to the changeover event, perhaps making it an outdoor or barbecue event, hoping to reduce costs and increase attendance. Let the board know what you think about this idea.
Mike noted that this weekend is our regional district training in North Conway at the Gibson Senior Center, from 8:30-11. If you are interested, see him for more info.
Tony will get grant training so that he can write district grants for our club for the next year.
Susan and Steve will leave the evening of December 8th for Ukraine. They will return on December 19th. They are taking Christmas presents, food, solar lanterns, sweaters and for the children.
Happy dollars were shared by Beth, Alicia, Mike, Tony, Denise, Alex, Phil, and Dawn.
Respectfully submitted,
Lora Miller, secretary