November 5, 2025 Breakfast Meeting Notes
Guests today were Bailey McMann and Abby Olds of the Pemi Youth Center.
The 50/50 was won by Russ.
New member Mike Son had the chance to draw in the card game, but selected the 2 of heats.
Rotarya weekly highlights: We made $24,362 from the Penny Sale. Floor ticket sales were down a bit but sponsorships made up for it. Marybeth held the record for “street” sales, selling $485 in Grand Prize tickets at the PRHS football game. Phil and Dan learned how to run the money room.
Mike Son was inducted as our club’s newest member. Congratulations to Mike!
Denise spoke about service opportunities. She brought signup sheets, as did Phil, for the Hometown Holiday Celebration. Please sign up for whatever you can. District training will be held this weekend in Sherbrooke, QC. it is a great opportunity to learn more about what’s going on with the district.!
Phil simulated the donation of a check to the Pemi Youth Center (the actual check was delivered last Friday). The center has over 40 youth members enrolled for their after-school program for 9-17 year olds. Some of their graduates later come on as junior counselors. They should be having a Christmas party on the first Thursday of December.
Bill spoke about the Hometown Holiday Celebration, which will be held the first weekend in December. He has confirmed the Santas. Our last meeting with the town is Monday. The signup sheet sent around today includes decorating and un-decorating the common, though this task is technically not part of the Hometown Holiday Celebration. We need a chair for the decorating; Jenny and MaryBeth may be able to do it. Interact will help; PSU also helped last year. All supplies are down in the bank basement except for a few left at Noyes. Peggy needs to know how many bows we will need. We will need 3 crews of 3 people to do the poles, and the rest of the volunteers will be on the common. Robert at Parks and Rec is our contact. We also will need to do the gazebo this year, while the town will decorate the tree. We may want to tie a bow on all of the trees on the PSU side of the street in lieu of decorating the poles, as we are not permitted to lean ladders against the light fixtures. A tall stepladder will work on the business side of the street. Decorating will be on the Saturday after Thanksgiving and removing decorations will happen on January 3.
Beth spoke to us with updates on Circle and their Team Adventure Program (TAP). We sponsored a girl to go to this program last year. Circle is 32 years old and serves 32 towns, starting with girls 9-11 years old. The programs are free. All of their girls come from poverty. Circle holds a food pantry for their students and their families four times a year and they are stepping up now that the government shutdown has affected SNAP benefits. Their annual budget is $776,000 and Beth raises the money each year. Circle receives no federal funds. Funding comes from private donations, grants, events, and donor advised funds.
Beth showed a short video of the girls at camp. They do two week sessions for ages 9-11 and 12-14; the 15-18 girls have a session lasting i3 weeks. Every day at camp ends with a gratitude circle and a gratitude stones The 20 oldest girls are in TAP plan, and each year they plan a trip. They work with their counselors, taking all year to decide on a destination, do their budgeting, and plan menus and activities. They did Lake George in the first year, then Mystic, CT, and last year York, Maine. This year they will go to Rhode Island.
They also have year round programs for all age categories, including rock climbing, ice skating, swimming. The programs are found throughout the 32 towns.
Circle relies heavily on its mentors. They still have openings for 7-9 mentors. The goal to have a unique mentor for every one of their 87 girls. The girls also commit to 2 community service programs.
Transportation is a big problem for the girls; they are looking to raise $65,000 for a 12 person van and they need $30,000 more. They are hosting a house party right after the holidays to raise money for the van.
Camp starts 3rd week in June until the 2nd week in August. Rotarians are welcome to visit any time and Beth would love to have a camp weekend for the club.
Tony proposed a 7:30 Monday zoom meeting to discuss the Penny Sale and see what went right and what needs improvement for next year..
Admin committee meeting will be meeting by Teams on the 14th.
A week from Saturday will be Friendsgiving at Soul Track. A portion of the ticket will go to Plymouth Area Community Closet, which is a great local way to support food insecurity.
Happy dollars were shared by Tony, Mike, Denise, Sharon, Phil, Beth, Mike, and Erica.
Respectfully submitted,
Lora Miller, secretary