May 14, 2025 Breakfast Meeting Notes
Guests: Tom Dearborn, Dan, Raisa
We opened with Tony’s Famous Trivia, “First 5 years of Rotary edition”.
The 50/50 was won by Russ, who added it to Tom’ tip.
Mike got to draw for the ace of spades but pulled the: 3 of clubs instead.
Circle camp cleanup will be this weekend. If you’d like to volunteer on Friday, plan on showing up from 10-12 for a project. The signup sheet will be passed around again today.
Lora announced that in lieu of Clean up the Kanc, we will do a local cleanup this year. The date will be June 14, starting at 10 am. The plan is to meet at Walmart’s parking lot and start by picking up trash on Boulder Point Road. This should not take too long as the area is small. Afterwards we will regroup at Lora and Ken’s house at 10 Bell Road and carpool down to the parking lot at the Plymouth Mountain trailhead (near the junction of Old Hebron and Texas Hill Roads). From there we will fan out and pick up more trash until we decide we’ve had enough. Afterwards anyone who wants to meet back at Ken and Lora’s for sandwiches is welcome to come. A signup sheet will be passed around in the coming weeks. Remember to bring water, bug spray and sunscreen.
The Changeover Dinner will be June 25, from 5:30-8:30 at the Covered Bridge Farmhouse. We will be inviting former members.
The District Conference will be May 31 (you can go up just for the day). The final round of the speech contest will be that day, and we will finish the day at the top of Mt Cranmore with beautiful views. Putt Putt for Polio and a talk on Rotary peace efforts will be on Friday
Raisa said that the flower walk at Hubbard Brook on Saturday was great, with 18 people attending, and the rain held off!
Marybeth introduced our speaker, Tom Dearborn. He will be speaking about the Highs and Lows tour, a nonprofit which he started with several friends.
The Highs and Lows Tour has been held for 3 years. At first it started at the Common Man and last year it moved to Holderness School. This year it will be held at Plymouth High School. It raises money for the National Alliance for the Mental Ill (NAMI), NH chapter. The goal is to ultimately be able to come up with a 6 figure donation each year; this last year they raised $30,000.
Tom started the Highs and Lows tour when he returned to Plymouth during Covid and in talking with his friends, he realized that there was a lot of pressure on mental health. Some of the people he knew had even committed suicide. He and his friends decided to organize a bike ride to benefit NAMI and raise awareness of mental health issues and suicide prevention. They also hope to destigmatize mental illness. They chose to support NAMI because they help over 50,000 residents each year. NAMI does a lot of advocacy for mental health at the state house, and runs programs for suicide survivors as well as a host of other things.
He then shared sone mental health statistics with us. 1 in 5 adults experience mental illness each year. 3/10 report anxiety and depression, and 38% more people are receiving mental health care since 2020. The pandemic affects children’s mental heath, and suicide is the 2nd leading cause of death for youth and young adults aged 10-34. 40% of NH students reported feeling sad or hopeless, and 1/10 experience severe depression that affects their ability to function at school, work, at home, with family or in their social life. Parents are sometimes reluctant to get help for their kids because they are afraid of having them labelled, but they need to learn to think of mental health issues as another problem, like acne, for which they should not feel embarrassed to seek treatment.
He then showed aw video of the 2024 event.
This year’s event is on August 9 and will be starting at Plymouth High School. Route lengths in miles are 26, 43, 65 (one on mixed surface and the other on the road), and 106 that will go to Hanover and come back via Orford. They will have support vehicles, SAG support, and team captains for each ride; state troopers will patrol the route. During and after the ride they will hold a community event, with live music, a raffle, a silent auction, resources from volunteer organizations, food trucks, a massage tent, and a bounce house. People can attend the community event even if they do not do the ride. They have multiple sponsorship levels. People can get involved by registering and riding; being a sponsor, a fundraiser, or a volunteer; or donating goods in kind.
Marybeth does the media coverage them. Last year they were written up in the Concord Monitor, Laconia Daily Sun, and the Newfound paper. They also have had spots on WMUR and two radio opportunities.
If you would like to attend the tour, you can register at www.highsandlowstours.com; they have more info there, as well as jerseys for those who register before June. Cost is $145 and includes food, a jersey, and SAG support. The youth fee is $45 and there is a 10% discount for veterans. There will be a newsletter coming out soon.
Board meeting is Friday at 7 am. Next week will be a club forum.
Happy dollars were shared by Mike, Denise, Phil, and Tony.
Respectfully submitted,
Lora Miller, secretary
