February 28, 2024 Breakfast Meeting Notes

 

We had no formal program for today.

 

Guest: Flat Stanley of Massachusetts, sent to Peggy by her great-nephew.

 

Tony presented his NH trivia. Today’s topic was faith communities and buildings in NH, part 2.

 

50/50: Ken Williamson won and donated to Tom’s. tip.

 

We had a new deck for the card game, after Peggy won $273 last week. Denise had the lucky ticket but drew the 4 of clubs.

 

Tony then talked about the Citizen of the Year. This individual will be honored at the Barn on the Pemi in June. The award has been around since 1978. The qualities needed for a citizen of the year are as follows: the person can’t be a Rotarian or a previous winner, the person must give back to the community in a way that is not part of their job, the winner should embody Rotarian principles including the 4 way test. Ideally the candidate is someone local (ie who lives or works in the 7 towns in our area) and who is not widely acclaimed. We want to honor someone who makes an impact in his or her fellow citizens in the community and who tries to do good in the world. We then had individual discussions by table to try and identify candidates for Citizen of the Year. The person who nominates the eventual honoree must then invite the winner to the changing of the guard, without revealing that the purpose of their attendance is to receive an award. 

 

This process identified 9 possible nominees, as follows: 

 

Larry Spencer who has served as a volunteer on the Holderness Conservation Commission for many years and worked hard to get 240 acres of land at the oxbow protected.

 

Jeremy Hiltz of New Hampton, who owns Hiltz Excavating.

 

Laurie Coffin, a local realtor.

 

Tara and Rich Gowan, local realtors who spoke to the club recently.

 

Susan Mathieson and Lisa Mure of the Common Man for Ukraine.

 

Justin van Etten, the CFO of Stewart’s Ambulance.

 

Tom and Dawn Thomson, who run Rueben’s Rescue Ranch in Danbury.

 

 

Announcements: Those attending this weekend’s training event in Conway should meet at 7 am at the Common Man Inn to carpool.

 

We will take down decorations on the common on Wednesday, March 6, in conjunction with volunteers from the Holderness School. The event will be held from 12:30-3; Tony will pick up boxes at Flowersmith’s before the event. 

 

Rabies clinic will be on March 30. We hope that the fliers will be available by next week’s meeting. We can create a Facebook event page which is easier to share, and we can also post information about it on local community forums and the Explore Plymouth NH web site.

 

The Changing of the Guard is normally held at the Barn on the 3rd Wednesday in June, but it is already reserved for every Wednesday that month. Alternatives are to hold it on the 3rd Tuesday (June 18) or hold it at the Common Man Inn on the 19th. Consensus was to hold the event at the Barn on Tuesday the 18th of June. 

 

Happy dollars were shared by Bill, Peggy, Denise, and Mike. 

 

Respectfully submitted,

 

Lora Miller, secretary