October 9, 2024 Breakfast Meeting Notes
Our only guest today was our speaker, Rebecca Hanson.
Tony began with his famous NH Trivia, Rotary Etiquette Part I.
The 50/50 was won by Lora, who donated it to Tom.
The chance to draw for the card game was won by Tony, but he asked Sharon to draw in his place; if she were to win he would like the money donated to hurricane relief. Unfortunately Sharon was unable to locate the ace of spades.
Penny Sale: Penny sale tickets are being handed out today. Everyone gets 20 tickets worth a total of $100. If you choose to buy the stack of tickets yourself, please don’t put your name on the tickets…use the name of a friend, family member, or pet. Signup sheets for ticket sale were posted online by Bill yesterday; each member should sign up for at least two shifts. Note that we are also selling at Belletetes and Ladders this year in addition to Cafe Monte Alto and the Irving Common Man.
The marketing committee meets 3 pm today on Zoom. One week from today (October 16th) is setup night at the high school and we will meet at 5 pm. If you aren’t bringing the actual object that night, bring the perforated sheet and write “coming” and your name in the upper right corner. If you have large boxes that we can use to store items, please bring them to the setup.
Banners will be put up today after the meeting. Meet at Ken’s white truck in the parking lot. We will probably need additional ropes and stakes on some of the banners.
Sharon suggested that we should provide assistance to hurricane victims in the Carolinas and Florida. Rotary Zones 33 and 34 cover PA through Florida and they have developed a foundation for Hurricane Helene relief. She asked if our board match would match the donations made by individual Rotarians in our club. She could gather checks for members that want to do something and she would send all of the checks together. Checks should be made out to the Plymouth Rotary Foundation, which will then cut a check for the total. Denise moved that the board match club donations and Tony seconded. The motion was approved by board members present..
The Saturday after Thanksgiving we will be decorating the common
On November 9 at 9 am there will be a cleanup for Walter Ski Glades at top of Texas Hill Road. See Greg for more information.
Rebecca Hanson speaks to the group.
Our speaker today is Rebecca Hanson. She is executive director of the Newfound Lake Region Association (NLRA) and a former member of the Plymouth Planning board.
The NLRA is currently operating out of a rented space in the TD Bank building. They are now at the end of a capital campaign to construct a permanent headquarters (Gray Rocks Conservation Center) at Gray Rocks. The initial fundraising goad was $2.2 million and they actually exceeded their goal. The NLRA was able to get a tax credit to help with the fundraising. They were awarded $250,000 in tax credits so that donors can get a tax credit for their donation.
The building will cover 3400 square feet. There will be activities, interactive exhibits, water quality lab, stormwater landscaping, pollinator gardens, enhanced site accessibility, energy efficient building and a solar array. about their environment. In addition to serving the mission of the NLRA, the building will serve as a community center where partners can gather.
The mission of the organization is to maintain good water quality by doing watershed planning, stormwater management, invasive species prevention, land conservation, and community education. They do water quality monitoring to be sure that they are aware of the lake’s condition; Newfound lake is very clean. They were one of the first organizations to develop a watershed planning plan in 2009 and they have updated it several times since. They group works with local town planning boards, select boards. They also work with landowners to preserve abutting land.
Stormwater is the biggest threat to water quality as we have seen cyanobacteria pop up throughout the state. Newfound has no invasive species at this time and they want to keep it that way. The presence of invasive species can cause property values to decline, which in turn decreases a tow’s tax base, so there is an economic incentive to keep the lake clear and free of invasive plants and animals.
Climate change and poorly planned development have caused declines in water quality, including stormwater pollution, toxic Cyanobacteria, and invasive species. The temperature of the lakes is going up. There is less ice cover, later ice in, and earlier ice out. Climate change is causing more intense and more frequent storms. The Newfound watershed is also seeing more development activity and it is important that this development be done in a thoughtful way.
The future of Newfound Lake depends on community engagement and environmental literacy. Education is an important part of what the NLRA does. They worked with the Danbury schools and bused the students to Grey Rocks so they could have a day out on a boat , working on environmental education activities. This gives young people an opportunity to to learn to care
Happy dollars were shared by Sharon, Steve, Phil and Denise. Phil noted that there are classes coming up to teach curling, and Denise reminded us that the Sandwich fair is this weekend.
Respectfully submitted,
Lora Miller, secretary