February 25, 2026 Breakfast Meeting Notes
Tony was away; thanks to Ben for stepping in.
Guest: Deb Kirschner from the Plymouth Congregational church
Mike won the 50/50 and donated the money to Tom.
We’re down to only about a dozen cards in the card game. Bill got the chance to end it, but without success.
Weekly club highlights: Hubbard Brook is looking for a new groundskeeper, if anyone knows someone who would be interested. Denise Hutchins of PAREI wants us to know that there will be an event on March 3 from 6:00-7:30 pm with the New Hampshire Electric Coop. Representatives from the Coop will discuss how electricity is generated and distributed in the area. The event will be held at the Common Man Inn and Spa.
Speech contest round 2 is next week. We will need a timekeeper and judges. Mike volunteered to serve as timekeeper.
Lincoln/Woodstock’s Interact club is doing a service project in Belize this week.
Club business from the board meeting: Ken Evans spoke about the 100th anniversary project. We held listening sessions a couple of years ago to find out what community members felt we needed to do in Plymouth. The biggest issues raised at the sessions were transportation, (especially for younger people who couldn’t get a drivers’ license in time to work, and for seniors) as well as community-building opportunities.
Our initial plan was to construct a trail along the Baker but this turned out to be impossible. Since then the Admin committee and Board have discussed alternatives. Ideas include helping Transport Central to create a fixed bus route from downtown to Tenney Mountain, building a trail at the Senior Center on the west side of the river extending from the amphitheater on south, constructing a dog park, and helping the New England Mountain Bike Association develop a trail in Fox Park. Projects should be sustainable and ideally get community support to enhance our club’s visibility.
Our 100th anniversary will be in August of 2027 and we need to get started with a project! We currently have $65,000 in our Vanguard account and we will get more from the Penny Sale and other fundraisers this year so it’s definitely time to give this money back to our community. Ken proposed that we do up to 4 different projects, spending $10,000 per project. We need to research each of these projects quickly and report back in a month about the feasibility of each one.
Ken and Steve will talk to Bill Bolton at Transport Central about establishing a bus route. Denise knows the folks at the New England Mountain Bike Association so she will reach out to them about their trail plans and financial needs. Bill and Sharon will work on the dog park. Russ and Phil will research a trail by the Pemi. If anyone else would like to get involved at this stage, please reach out.
The old sign for the amphitheater is in basement of Meredith Village Savings bank and needs to be redone. Phil noted that there is a new powder coating company down on Railroad Square that could probably repair and repaint it.
Sharon spoke briefly about the changing of the guard. She received an email from Maddie at the Chamber of Commerce asking when our meeting will be so that they can schedule their own June event. Tentative dates are June 17 or 24th; Sharon will speak to Maddie and see what they can arrange.
Mike spoke about RYLA (Rotary Youth Leadership Academy) and our club’s support. RYLA is held every June at Northern VT University in Lyndonville. We bring about 70 students for a leadership weekend. We have one application for RYLA so far and 3 more to follow. They students always do a service project at RYLA and this year will be making meals for local food pantries. Meals made at a different event last year were sent to the Senior Center and Plymouth Area Community Closet, so they do benefit our local area. We can also check to see if there is a food pantry in Campton. The board decided to support the food packing with a $500 donation.
Corporate membership update: the board approved a draft of the corporate membership application. The church is in the pipeline and Phil will meet with someone from MVSB on Friday to see if she is interested in corporate or individual membership.
Mike reported on Styrofoam. The truck is working again but we didn’t go this past Saturday because of the snow. Shaun is going to Thornton/Campton this week and then down to Holderness and Gilford. The bin is now at the ReStore; Frank will do a big press release to get the word out.
We are moving forward with getting new Rotary T shirts and other swag. We will get them from Tana’s Tees and the order form will be ready soon.
Admin committee: There will be an after hours event April at Yamas on the 29th at 6 pm. The plan is that in the future, any month with 5 Wednesdays will have a fellowship meeting on that day, no official business. The event will be open to families and non-members.
Companion Club: Alicia and MaryBeth are talking about creating a companion club. Our current meeting schedule doesn’t work for working people, so a companion club would meet once a month at Yamas in the evening at 6 pm on the first Tuesday of the month. The first meeting will be next Tuesday. Tonight Alicia is meeting with someone from the Rotary International Club Creation Group to see how companion clubs are structured and integrated with the main club. They hope to have 6 folks plus Alicia and MaryBeth to start it.
Rabies clinic: This will be held on March 28 from 1 to 2 pm at the police station. Denise had flyers printed; please pick them up and help distribute them. Let Denise and Dan know where you put them. Folks that are helping at the clinic should get there about an hour ahead of time to set up.
Trade Talk Tuesdays: These are going well. We have had one in January and a couple in February and they are well received. Next opening is March 17 and then we have openings in April.
Slate of officers: Ben will be running for president, Dan for president elect, Russ for vice president, Ken Evans for club treasurer, Steve for foundation treasurer, and Lora continuing as secretary. Phil, Denise and Sharon will be running for at large positions. The companion club will have a rep on the board so that will fill our at-large seats. We will hold an election with a secret ballot in 2 weeks.
Happy dollars were shared by Denise and Sharon.
Respectfully submitted,
Lora Miler, secretary
