Rotary Log for meeting of June 15, 2017
By Jon Flagg
Photos by Tube Loch
"God bless America" rang out as we enjoyed a beautiful, sunny day and each other's company. I liked sitting with, and getting to know a little bit about, new member Ryan Carter. Next to me was Andy Fleischer. He takes the annual blame from my wife for introducing her to me 25 years ago.
Guests included what appeared to be the entire Portsmouth District Court security deployment and Judge Pendleton. More on that later.
Club Announcements.
We were reminded that the golf tournament would be the next day. (It turned out it was a huge success. The rain held off long enough not only to get the golf in, but the awards after. Huge thank you to Peter Grace for running a first-class operation. He truly has made our golf tournament great again.)
A wad of cash was left at the last meeting and James is holding onto it. The money is there, if you want to try and claim the stash. I made a stab at it. Thought that by identifying a bunch of dead presidents and one Treasury Secretary on the bills that would do it. No one seemed to be impressed.
Sara Treacy thanked us for our donations to Seacoast Pathways to help with fighting mental illness.
For planning our program speakers week in and week out, James presented a distinguished service award to Dave Holden. Thanks Dave! You do a great job!
Happy dollars.
There were lots of them. Joanie was very proud of her son, Drew, who jumped off the Sagamore Bridge to save a kid who was drowning… Eric was happy his kid made it to the Little League championship game… And many of you were happy for kids and grandkids graduating.
The Program: Vocational Awards
Rotary was founded by a variety of individuals practicing their different vocations selflessly. For that reason, the Vocational Service Awards go to the foundation of Rotary itself.
The Education Award went to Lisa Chapman. Holding a M.Ed. from UNH and a licensed social worker, she is Dondero School’s guidance counselor. Eric Weinrieb praised Lisa for her hard work and dedication to students. Particularly the guidance she gave to his son. He described her as "patient, professional, knowledgeable and compassionate." Further, Eric said, Lisa is a professional who demonstrates every day "service above self." In accepting the award, Lisa thanked Eric for nominating her and for allowing her to care for his son.
"It hasn't always been easy," she said, thanking Rotary for its commitment to community.
Mike Ronchi, head of security at the Portsmouth District Court, won the Public Service Award. Mike protects the public, judges and staff and maintains security with no fanfare. Before coming to the Portsmouth District Court, he was a detective supervisor. Concurrently, he served as a Portsmouth PD patrol supervisor, also putting in time with the state police K9 unit. He is a lifetime resident of Portsmouth.
"You only hear about us when something goes wrong, “ Mike said. “So we are very happy to be in the shadows".
Tony White was the General Category winner. He is the pickup and delivery guy for Infinite Imaging. Your author leaves it to the fine masters to raise a few bucks with that plug. James said Tony delivers with "impressive speed." He is always on time. The president referred to him as the "Iron Man" of pick up and deliveries. He takes great pride in his work every day, all day. Tony wanted his $500 award to be donated to the Cocheco-SPCA.
The Health and Human Services award was given to Kelly Doherty of Cornerstone VNA. Kelly has a "big smile" all the time. She works in home health care because she really wants to be "Dr. Quinn, medicine woman". She was described as one of the most medically educated, but calm and down-to-earth professionals in the industry. She mentors staff, speaks the truth, is fair to all concerned and builds goodwill every day. Her work is certainly beneficial to all concerned. She wanted her $500 to go to the Kitty Corner Fund because she wants to help “little people.” The Fund underwrites the purchase of teddy bears for children with medical issues.
A great program. Wonderful to see the unsung heroes congratulated.
Respectfully submitted, Jon Flagg.
