April 2, 2025 Breakfast Meeting Notes
Our guests today were Dan Abbey and Raisa.
Tony opened with his famous NH Trivia, Plymouth Rotary Retro edition. He also passed out a picture of club members in years past and asked for help in identifying the people in the photo.
The 50/50 was won by Ken Williamson, who put it into the tip jar.
The card game draw was won by Russ. Ken Williamson shuffled the deck and Russ WON!!! He is donating the money to the Common Man for Ukraine.
Cari and Jake are now officially member of the club and were inducted today. Welcome!
Today was a club forum.
We had a big week of projects. Yesterday we had a last-minute Girl Scout Cookie delivery by Bill, Denise, and Beth. They sat in on a brief meeting with local Girl Scouts and their parents; then the girls went to Campton, Thornton, and Plymouth Police and Fire Departments to deliver the cookies. The boxes of cookies had Rotary stickers affixed to them. Publicity for this event is forthcoming.
The rabies clinic was Saturday. We had 48 people show up for vaccinations for their pets. Thank you to Sharon for being the greeter, Bill for being cashier, Lora, Erica, Beth, Denise, Dave Thorne, and the two Kens for handling the paperwork. Despite the cold weather, we had a good time.
Last week we had two trade talks. Greg invited Ben Thibeault to speak to a small group of kids about Fire and Rescue. One of these students had been absent over 40 days this year but he showed up for the event and was very engaged. Mike went yesterday and had 15-20 students listen to a female staff sergeant from Littleton, who did a presentation on the Air Force. She answered questions and at least a few students were very interested. Those who enlist can get an associate’s degree after serving for 2 years. There are 3 more trade talks lined up between now and April vacation.
Last Friday we took down decorations from the Commons along with help from 8 students from fraternities and sororities at the college. Two boxes of garland remain at Noyes and will need to be moved. Martha from the Meredith Village Savings Bank will let us into the mechanical room when we need to go there. Be sure to keep a clear path to the furnace.
Denise noted that we have never had a Rotaract club on the PSU campus. The students who helped with commons cleanup seemed to be service-oriented and we may be able to nurture that relationship and perhaps enlist them for a once a month service project.
Erica led us through a team-building activity this morning in lieu of her speaker, who had to cancel at the last minute. We separated into groups by table and took turns deciding how we would save $65 a week and what we would do with it once we had it. We also played “fun facts about US states” using a card deck that had belonged to her father (who was a fourth grade teacher).
Happy dollars were shared by Denise, Alicia, Mike, Tony, Jake, and Steve.
Congratulations are in order for Steve, who has now sold Rand’s to Aubuchon Hardware. Rand’s will now be known as Rand’s Ace Hardware. Steve will move into semi-retirement, though he will retain his office for at least 6 months. The same friendly employees will remain, as will the “bucket sale” and the free popcorn on Saturdays.
Denise is helping Whole Village with their summer camp drive. For the next two months, April and May, we can bring in bug spray, suntan lotion, lunchboxes, beach towels and other supplies to her and she will get them to the drive..
Save the date: June 25th at 5:30 we will hold our annual Changing of the Guard. We are still trying to figure out where it will be but Alicia has reached out to a couple of places.
Respectfully submitted,
Lora Miller, secretary
