October 14, 2026 Breakfast Meeting Note
The 50/50 was drawn by guest Steve Smith; Sally won $10.
Mike C won the chance to draw for the card game but pulled the 5 of spades.
Hey did ya know: Doug McClain’s American chestnut forest experiment failed…the trees caught blight…and the trees had to be cut down. The Pizza Depot in Rumney closed in its original space but it is now open in the site of On the Rocks and it is beautiful. Ben asked about the abandoned railroad cars (Amtrak) that are sitting downtown…Phil thinks that they belong to a group trying to do foliage tours but it hasn’t happened yet.
Penny Sale: Thanks to all who did street sales this weekend; we sold almost $500’ worth of tickets. Thanks to Ken W for his help in putting up half of the signs. Ben will try to put the rest of the signs up this coming weekend. Please volunteer for more street sales! You can also sell during the week or at another time of day if you prefer. If you need to get into the office at Newbury’s to get a box of tickets, the staff there has the code. Also please take your own tickets (20 @$5 each) today. Sharon noted that she puts names of the businesses that donate on the ticket stubs for her tickets. Peggy Smith will be helping us too and she has two kids who want to serve as runners.
Setup night for the Penny Sale will be on the 28th at 5-5:30 in the high school gym. On setup night we will store items in the room behind the Bobcat Cafe. If you have a donor who has agreed to give a prize but you don’t have it as of setup night, you can fill out the sheet and note “to follow.” If you have them you may want to bring knee pads.
Sharon reviewed instructions for the perforated sheets. The top half will be attached to the prizes; the bottom half comes back to Sharon. PLEASE FILL OUT THE SHEETS COMPLETELY, INCLUDING VALUE OF PRIZE, DONOR, YOUR NAME AND ANY CHANGES TO DONOR CONTACT INFORMATION. Do not tear off the bottom half until told to do so! Sharon will be in the southern part of the state that night, so she will need to get the bottom half of the sheets the next day. She is hoping someone will meet her halfway with the sheets so she doesn’t have to drive all the way up here.
The Penny Sale itself will be on November 7. Phil will run the bank. Steve has ordered the raffle tickets. The school wants a map of how we will set up the gym for the sale. Tony may have one from last year, or Sharon can draw up a new one. Culinary arts will have the space in the hallway. If you are willing to do the same job at the sale that you did last year, please let Ben know.
Sally got a call from Rick Eames (Rotarian speaker on astronomy and America 250). There is a time capsule that will be buried next Wednesday, so if there is something you (or the club) would like to bury, such as pictures or predictions, you can send it to Sally and she will get it to Rick. Also there is an international coffee Zoom on December 4 to discuss setting up an astronomy fellowship. Ben suggested that we put in a Penny Sale poster and some Common Man for Ukraine items in the capsule, which is scheduled to be opened in 2076.
Ben asked if someone submitted a grant to Rotary International for trail building along the Pemi. Apparently someone did but we don’t know who!
Phil grabbed the Christmas lights a few days ago and he pulled out nonfunctional lights. We will need to buy more but probably wait until November. We also need to refresh some of the garlands.
Denise noted that there was an excellent event at Christ Church in Hanover, a klezmer concert to benefit the Common Man for Ukraine. Holderness School provided the refreshments. She felt that they probably made $10,000 that evening.
Mike C spoke about the Rotary Foundation. The first ever project for the foundation was to put public toilets up in Chicago! Arch Klumpf proposed creating the Foundation, which is for Rotarians only; no other organizations can apply for grants. Rotary clubs apply for grants from the fund, which is now about $1 billion. We have given $4 billion to Polio Plus over the years.
District grants are money that we give to the Foundation that eventually comes back to our clubs. For example, we got a district grant to buy our styrofoam bins.
Mike then showed a short video ofJennifer Jones, past Rotary International President, who is a trustee of the Foundation. The fund aims to create a brighter, better world. She said that a good story makes us think, but a great story compels us to act, and she encouraged Rotarians to share their stories. She has spoken to King Charles, the Pope, and the president of the World Health Organization. Every connection is an opportunity to bring good will to our community.
Jennifer said that we have a new group of Rotary influencers, to help champion our causes and elevate our profile. These people include Grammy award winners, actor/producers, singers and others. Leadership is not about titles but rather about influence, and she encouraged us to champion causes that are close to our hearts to spread the word and raise funds for helping those causes.
Supporters need to feel the contact with their projects; for example, having residents plant trees instead of just raising money for the project is a great way to get people committed to a cause.
World Polio Day will be in 10 days. Mike always gives $100 to the Rotary International Foundation on that day. Right now we have a lot of cases (35 in Afghanistan and 5 in Pakistan) .Our District Governor Ariel is issuing a “change challenge” between October 1 and November 15 to donate our loose change to Polio Plus.
Happy dollars were shared by Mike C, Mike B, Phil, Denise, and Rick.
Mike B suggested donating our copies of Rotary Magazine to doctor’s offices and other local establishments once we’ve finished with them.
Respectfully submitted,
Lora Miller, secretary