August 19, 2026 Breakfast Meeting Notes
Dan ran the meeting for Ben, as he is on sabbatical and traveling a bit.
Denise won the 50/50, and donated it to Tom.
Member applicant Rick got the chance to draw the ace but was unsuccessful.
Walter introduced our speaker, Shelby McDonald. She spoke to us about her experience in the US Senate Youth Program. (She was one of only 2 students from New Hampshire.)
Shelby participated in the program this spring. The program serves 104 students, two from each state plus two from active military and two from DC. The program involves $10,000 plus a week in Washington, DC. (This coming year the scholarship is raised to $12,000). Her application required two essays. The first asked students to tell a little about themselves. The second asked the students if they were a freshman in the NH State house, which would be the first bill they sponsored? They had 30-35 applicants from NH, of which 10 were selected for an interview. Interviewers asked her questions about her favorite books, who she would like to have dinner with from American History, and if she would rather serve in the Senate or the House. She received notice of her selection at Thanksgiving break. She noted that in order to serve the person needed to be an elected representative of a group of constituents (Shelby is class VP).
They had a busy schedule. The students arrived on Saturday and they had a reunion with past delegates, including the youngest rep in the House. They met with a group called Better Angels, which works to diffuse political polarization. On Sunday they visited Mt Vernon and the National Portrait Gallery.
On Monday they met with a former national security adviser from the Obama administration. They also had a meeting with the Senate parliamentarian. Next they visited the Library of Congress and got to meet with justice Ketanji Brown Jackson. That night they met with senator Katie Britt from Alabama and Ed Markey of Massachusetts. Senator Britt spoke about teen social media issues and also about political polarization.
On Tuesday they visited the National Archives; later that day they had lunch at the Ben Franklin dining room. After lunch they toured the monuments and heard a talk by a former NASA astronaut. That evening they had dinner at the National Air and Space administration, and then had 30 minutes to explore the museum.
On Wednesday they went to the Department of Agriculture and had a talk from the secretary. They met Alvida King, a nephew of Martin Luther King, Jr, who spoke about her religious work. Then they met with Rachel Scott, ABC’s senior White House correspondent. That evening they had the senator’s reception in one of the senate buildings; 85 senators attended. Students were seated alphabetically by state and met with the senators from their state.
On Thursday they met with Mark Shriver, nephew of John F. Kennedy. He spoke about his experiences with Special Olympics and his time in the Maryland legislature. After that they went to the White House and had a tour. Then they sent to he Hart Senate Office Building, where Tammy Baldwin of Wisconsin spoke to them on her work. Then they got a tour of the capitol. That evening they heard a talk from the Thai ambassador, who spoke about foreign relations and how to maintain those relationships. Interestingly Thailand is holding celebrations for our country’s 250th anniversary..
On Friday they toured the Pentagon and the 9/11 memorial. Then they heard a speech by Dan Caine about the military; he was very nonpolitical. Then they got to hear Pete Hegseth, who was given a lot of interesting questions. Following this they went to Arlington and had a tour of the Unknown Soldiers. On Friday night they had their keynote speakers, drawn from the program attendees, as well as a talk from the director of the Senate Youth Program. The students returned home early on Saturday after an evening dance.
Shelby also gave us an update on Interact. This past spring they had several projects. They made cards for all of the teachers for Teacher Appreciation Week. They also had Lisa Mure come to talk to them about the Common. Man for Ukraine. They have 45 members and plan to do more this fall, especially for the Common Man for Ukraine..
Jenny Bentwood is looking for someone to speak on September 2 in her place (Raisa will cover for her).
Hey did you know: Our new district governor is coming to visit us next week. We will be planting seeds and the car show is that night. We’re going to host a small dinner for her, so if you think you’d like to meet with her Tuesday at 5:30 in the Wine Room and have dinner, let Denise know. She will also be staying over on Wednesday night and visiting Bristol the next day.
Sally noted that August 30 at 7 am there will be a launch of the Nancy Grace Roman telescope. This is a very large infrared telescope, larger than Hubble, and it will be launching a year ahead of schedule.
Dan asked about the new hotel on Tenney Mountain…does anyone know the status on this? Apparently there were issues with the elevation of the foundation.
Rotary business: Mike gave us some dates to get on our calendars. First, the district has regional training sessions. The first is on 9/12 in Barre, the second is 10/3 in North Conway (that’s the one we usually attend), the third on 11/14 in South Burlington, and the one in Canada is in Sherbrooke on 10/24. It would be great to have folks from our club go to one of these. The event usually runs from 8:30-11:30. Topics will be the typical things we do as Rotarians; membership, fundraising, projects, etc. These are casual meetings, with snacks. Each table will talk with past district governors and get new ideas.
The new District will roll out in July 2029 and our district will be folded into it ,along with parts of existing eastern NH and Maine districts.
Service projects: Cruise Night is next Wednesday evening. Denise will need to check and see if they have a rain date. If you signed up for the original date in August, you will have the same assignment. Denise is looking for a milk jug to pour water into the weights to hold down the feather flags. We’ll sell pizza by the slice and popcorn.
Last week we handed out the check for the Courage Kits at the hospital.
Pack a pack was yesterday.
Sharon has started working on the Penny Sale solicitors list. We should see our assignments in the next few weeks. The earlier you get started on it, the better! Each Rotarian is responsible for 20 tickets. We can use Circle family members’ names on the tickets or give them to family and friends.
Happy Dollars were shared by Mike, Denise, and Steve from Milford.
Steve reminded us that Milford club has a “100 holes of golf” fundraiser each June. Each golfer must sell 20-$50 tickets. If our club would help, we could get a share of the profits.
Denise noted that the Lancaster car raffle was just held. They sell 500 tickets at $200 each. This is a reverse raffle, so they drew all 500 tickets and the last ticket got the car. The second-last person got $2000 cash. Tony had the 4th highest ticket! Woodstock’s truck raffle is coming up; Denise has two tickets for dinner that night and she cannot attend so see her if you would like to go in her place.
Respectfully submitted,
Lora Miller, secretary
