June 4, 2025 Breakfast Meeting Notes
Guests: Peter Saliba, director of the Mayhew program who is also our speaker. Peter is also a fellow Rotarian from Bristol.
The 50/50 was won by Dan.
In the card game, Cari had the chance to choose a card but pulled the 3 of spades.The game continues.
Tony passed around a signup sheet for new name tags. You can also list your profession if you choose.
Tony then segued into his famous NH Trivia, Hiking in the White Mountains, Part III.
Sharon spoke about the scholarship program. The award ceremony was last night. There were a lot of scholarships, taking about an hour to present. She and Marybeth gave out our $1000 scholarships and the students were very grateful. Two of our awards were to returning (college level) students and another 10 were given to this year’s graduates. She reminded us that our fundraisers (the Penny Sale, the Hometown Holiday Parade, the rabies clinic, and others) and the generosity of our community make this possible.
June 14 will be our local road cleanup cleanup, with lunch to follow at Lora and Ken’s. The signup sheet is going around again today. Lora will send out an email again next week summarizing the details.
Denise reported that our club had a strong showing at the district conference.The Putt Putt for Polio first place winner was our own Ken Evans. He had 3 holes in one and was 2 under par. Erica and Alicia also were awarded prizes. Outgoing district governor Kelly Drew even played the course in 3 inch heels. Our Purple Pinkies team took first place. There was also indoor putting on Saturday because of the rain. We expect to make our full pledge donation of $750.
Our district is all set for district governor next year with Luc Pomerleau. Ariel Mondlak will follow Luc but Amanda Vincent, who was our DG nominee for the following year, has had to pull out for personal reasons. As a result, our district needs to look for someone to replace Amanda, as well as someone for the year after that. Past club presidents are eligible for the position; see Mike if you have anyone you’d like to nominate.
Steve noted that Lisa Mure did a presentation on the Common Man for Ukraine at the conference. We have had 4000 different contributors to the program from all over the world. Our trauma camps have now assisted over 1000 children. There will be musicals throughout the Northeast during the month of August that are produced by Ukrainian kids. The musical is adapted from letters written by Ukrainian children to President Zelenskyy and others.
Shelby and her mom are very interested in starting an Interact club at the high school; they have a teacher who is interested in serving as a mentor and MaryBeth will be the Rotarian liaison. Shelby is also interested in RYLA and has been invited to the Hugh O’Brian weekend the week before. We may be able to support Shelby as a fifth student at RYLA.
Invoices for dues were sent out; please pay promptly.
This Saturday at 4 pm at Hubbard Brook there will be a film on nature entitled Observer. It is a beautiful documentary and the filmmaker will be present. Snacks will be provided. See the Hubbard Brook website for more details.
Our speaker today is Peter Saliba, the new director of the Mayhew Program. He joined the team in Sept 2024. Peter has been a career educator and he is dedicated to Mayhew’s mission of nurturing each child to be their best.
Mayhew challenges and helps at-risk NH boys to believe in themselves, work well with others, and find their best selves. Mayhew believes in these boys before they believe in themselves. The program started 1893 on Squam Lake. Later a wealthy benefactor donated the island on Newfound Lake where the program still is held today. Since 1969 the Mayhew camp has worked with nearly 2400 boys from all over NH. They have served 275 boys from the Pemi region, including 74 from Plymouth as well as others from Rumney and Campton. Mayhew does not serve Nashua or the North country.
Compared to girls, boys are more likely to be shelter challenged and food insecure, more likely to be suspended or expelled from school, and more likely to be diagnosed with a learning disability, starting in 4-5 grade. The boys that attend the camp are at or below the poverty line, and they have risk factors: 46% live with alcohol abuse, 60% with substance misuse disorder, 56% with domestic violence, 46% are unhoused, 55% have a family member incarcerated, and 90% come from a non-traditional family structure.
Elementary school counselors recommend children to the program; the board evaluates the applicants and ultimately chooses about 1/3 of the kids. The camp capacity is for only 225 boys, and they can’t deal with every boy given their individual challenges. There are 3 distinct stages. Summers 1 and 2 they have the Island Challenge. This lasts for 3 weeks,, during which 6 boys are housed in each of 7 cabins. Each cabin has 3 counselors. This is often the first time these children are away from home and may be the first time they get to swim, see the night sky, and be themselves. Some arrive at camp with only 1 set of clothing so the camp provides uniforms for all the kids. For summers 3 through 6 they have 1 week summer excursions, and years 7 to 8 are focused on post-secondary preparation in which kids take a course on financial skills and tests to assess what their strengths and weaknesses are. The goal is not necessarily to go to college; 5-10% get a full ride to a 4 year college, but the definition of success depends on the boy. Their goal may be joining the service, getting their own car, going to trade school, or something else. The “secret sauce” is year-round mentoring combined with the summer camp experience. The relationship they build with the boys is key to success.
About 40% of kids that start with them as 10 year olds make it all the way to 18. They have “good” attrition, where a child’s life becomes more stable and they don’t need the mentoring any more. Sadly there is also bad attrition, where kids just disappear; they may move out of state, or their circumstances get worse. The students’ need to work as a breadwinner also impacts their ability to continue with the program. This completion rate is about standard for mentorship programs.
Outreach workers are there for boys to help them but also challenge them to find success. These workers are an extra adult to check in on the boys. There are 7 of them and they also serve as the staff at camp. It costs $7200 per boy per year, and the camp’s total budget is $1.7 million.
Members of our club are invited to follow them on social media, invest in the boys, come out for a tour this summer, and volunteer. If you’d like to visit, send an email to request a trip to the island. Bristol Rotary is working on a volunteer program and they will be inviting other clubs to help.
Mayhew is working on a couple of goals. First, they are looking at the attrition rate and trying to reduce it. They are thinking about an opportunity fund (if a boy makes it through the entire program, there will be a payment of $1000 with no strings attached). Second, they are looking at the skill set of their outreach workers to increase their knowledge so that they can address other things going on the in the boys’ lives. They are considering hiring a mental health counselor or a therapist.
Erica noted that the Circle Program, Nayhew and TTCC are the major supporters of the New Hampshire Marathon. They would love to have our club members participate in the walk, the runs, or just volunteer to help out.
Happy dollars were shared by Sharon, Mike, Tony, Erica, Phil, Beth, Denise, and Alex.
Respectfully submitted,
Lora Miller, secretary
