It started out as a very intimate Rotary Social event on Thursday, April 19th at the Seacoast Repertory Theatre. Local Rotarians from Portsmouth sharing a cocktail and pizza in The Rep’s theatre atrium, discussing The Rep and the current show “In The Heights”. . .
Ramona Dow and Cathy Nickerson recently announced our Basic Needs Committee's first Annual Partnership. The local non-profit selected: Richie McFarland Children's Center. For more about 'Richie' visit their website at www.richiemcfarland.org.
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There's an app for that!
ClubRunner (a/k/a our club website) is now available in both an Apple and Android app.
Top of the Week!
Crutches for Africa Transports Mobility Devices
On Saturday Joe Cunningham and Bill Hurley loaded up a van and transported 4 loads of mobility devices to a Biddeford staging site for the next container loading event. They delivered 50 pairs of crutches, 18 walkers, 3 wheel chairs, a couple dozen canes and a couple dozen assorted leg and arm braces. To date approximately 400 plus mobility devices have been collected.
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Interact Beach Cleanup
Last Saturday Portsmouth Highschool Interact club volunteered to clean up local beaches.
End 68 Hours of Hunger Portsmouth Program
The Portsmouth Program of End 68 Hours of Hunger provides a bag of nutritional, non-perishable food to feed children identified as being in need by school nurses for the time period between school lunch on Friday and school breakfast on Monday morning. Through our club’s Basic Needs Program Ramona Dow and Nancy Clayburgh recently presented Portsmouth Program Director Jen Berry with a check for $2000 to support this outreach effort. 100% of our donation is used to purchase food.
United Way Community Baby Shower
Thank you Portsmouth Rotary and our CASH Committee for supporting United Way’s Community Baby Shower. Rotarians Janis Reams, Cathy Nickerson and Ramona Dow participated in planning and hosting this event showering new moms and soon -to -be moms with gifts to get babies off to a great start in life.
Seeking Applications for our Club's Second Annual Partnership
The Basic Needs Committee is actively seeking candidates for our Club's Second Annual Partnership, which will begin in September. Non profits meeting basic needs (food, health, shelter, or clothing) are eligible for consideration. Applications will be going out in late May/early June, with the deadline for submission being July 13. Please contact Cathy Nickerson, Lindsey Hery, Diane Lavigne, or Bob Lewis for applications or additional information.
The Basic Needs Committee is actively seeking candidates for our Club's Second Annual Partnership, which will begin in September. Non profits meeting basic needs (food, health, shelter, or clothing) are eligible for consideration. Applications will be going out in late May/early June, with the deadline for submission being July 13. Please contact Cathy Nickerson, Lindsey Hery, Diane Lavigne, or Bob Lewis for applications or additional information.
Rotary Youth Leadership Awards Applications and Service Project
At the surface, RYLA is a four-day, three-night leadership program for students entering their junior year of high school. It is a chance for students to grow as leaders and people on an individual level while in a group setting at Camp Hinds. We invite you to come volunteer to Clean up Camps Hinds on Saturday June 9th at Camp Hinds in Raymond Maine 9:00AM. We use this day to prepare for running RYLA the end of June. This is a great opportunity for Rotarians to work alongside RYLA Staff and Alumni to build bonds in service. Please contact Phil Giordano at Philtastic7780@gmail.com for a list of projects and to let him know you will be attending.
RYLA CAMP also needs vounteer for registration and kick off on Sunday June 24th at Camp Hinds Raymond ME between 7:45 am—12:30 pm Rotarians are invited to Stay for the RYLA Kickoff and Lunch at 11:00 am at the Dining Hall.
Lastly, Rotarians are also invited to attend the "Final Camp Fire & Camper Skits & Candle Light Ceremony, Tuesday June 26th between 6:00 pm to 10:00 pm the cost is $10.00.
Vocational Service Awards
Fellow Rotarians, the time is upon us to once again look out into our community and give recognition. Vocational Service is the second of Rotary's 5 Avenues of Service. Each year the Portsmouth Rotary honors 4 individuals representing 4 categories within Vocational Service:
1. Public Service
2. Health and Human Services
3. Education
4. General Category
Please take the time over the next couple of weeks to think of the people you encounter in your daily routine that may not always get the recognition they deserve. This is your opportunity to nominate this unsung hero and have them recognized in June with a plaque as well as a donation to the charity of their choice. As well as asking for your nominations, I invite you to sit on the committee with myself and Caitlin Burke to screen the nominations and select the most deserving in each category. Please send all nominations to Lexi Leddy by May 25th! Vocational Award nomination forms can be accessed at the link below.
Clothing Collection Happening Again This Thursday
It's time to free up closet space at your house!
Please join Nancy Clayburgh and James Petersen in bringing in your clothes to Rotary this Thursday. The clothes will benefit the Echo Thrift Shop located in the Community Church of Durham
Friends in Action is the mother organization whose mission is to enhance the lives of people with developmental disabilities by creating inclusive social and recreational opportunities. One such opportunity is working at the Echo Thrift Shop.
Heidi Chase who is the Executive Director of Friends in Action will be there with her big enclosed trailer and says the best items are: jackets, pants, suits, shirts, dresses, skirts, tops, shoes and even jewelry. (Pretty much anything except road race t-shirts and underwear.) Clothes from all seasons are welcome. So it is fine to unload the winter apparel too.
Sorry We Missed You
If you have a makeup for a missed meeting, please email it to the following link:
Check Your Profile
The Communications Committee is asking that everyone log onto ClubRunner and check your profile to make sure it is up to date. Change is part of life and we hope to be able to reflect those changes in our website. Happy surfing.
Rotary Connections is back!!!
Rotary Connections let’s our members know that their Rotary club is thinking of them. Members facing a health issue, death in the family or a life celebration, we are here!
If you know of any of our members who may need a Rotary Connections, please reach out to the Cathy Nickerson or President Ben.
Let us Know What is Happening!
If you have an event or news that you would like to share with your fellow Rotarians, please forward the information to Dennis Moulton for inclusion in the weekly eBulletin. My contact information is d-moulton@comcast.net. And please send photos!
ROTARY LOG for May 10. 2018
Photos By SaraTreacy
Spring has Sprung! Portsmouth Rotarians responded by attending this week’s meeting in droves. It was a full house.
President Ben corralled us to order and then led with the Pledge. Al Lantinen intoned “God Bless America.” Greeter Jess Kellogg inquired, “Is it the Truth?” John Rice invoked the blessing.
Fourteen guests and visiting Rotarians enjoyed our company. Guests and their hosts were:
Ginna MacDonald, Griffin Miller and John Ahlgren (Ann Arnold)
Kyrie Stevens (Justin Finn)
Russ Grazier (Diane Lavigne)
Eddie Edwards (Tom Decker/Stella Scamman)
Ann and Steve Demeranville (Dave Underhill)
Visiting Rotarians included:
Joan Nickels and Nell Ann Hiatt (Seacoast Rotary)
Suzanne Ilsley of Wells, ME
Rotary District Conference.
President Ben reported that the recent District Conference was highly successful. More than 650 Rotarians attended including 25 from our club. Kudos to Governor Dave for pulling it off in such high style!
At the Conference, President Ben accepted the Pyramid of Peace Award. In turn, he complimented our club for doing the activities that earned the award.
On the conference’s last day, a memorial service was held to recognize Rotarians who passed away during the previous year. Club Presidents were asked to mention those whose passing was so recent that they weren’t on the official list. President Ben mentioned Midge Nelson’s name. He quickly realized his error in mixing up Midge with Mickey Allen. Upon notification, the Master of Ceremonies announced Midge’s resurrection!
Announcements.
Joan Nickels brought a defibrillator kit donated by the Seacoast Rotary Club. It will be taken on our Bangladesh RotaPlast trip…Sara Treacy is looking for two additional volunteers for the June 19 Salvation Army dinner…Lexie Leddy is still taking nominations for the Vocational Awards…Help is needed for silent auction items at our Golf Tournament…. Donations of clothing will be accepted again at next week’s meeting.
Special Announcement.
The Rotary “Wrap A Smile” program organizes volunteers to make quilts. Each child helped by RotaPlast is given one of these handmade quilts. They are an intimate expression of love and care for these young recipients.
Terry Hodskins founded “Wrap A Smile” 17 years ago. Under her leadership more than 24,000 quilts have been made and distributed!
Terry attended our meeting to do three things. First, she brought quilts specially made for our upcoming RotaPlast project. Next, she gave a quick demonstration on how to efficiently pack these quilts. It somehow involved a plastic bag and a vacuum cleaner. Lastly, Terry announced her retirement. She will be passing her baton to Ann Demeranville.
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Aileen Dugan officially thanked Terry for years of service. On behalf of our club, Aileen presented an additional Paul Harris Fellow Award to the much deserving Terry. Heartfelt applause ensued.
The program: Portsmouth Symphony Orchestra
Ann Arnold introduced our guest speaker, Ginna MacDonald, Executive Director of the Portsmouth Symphony Orchestra (“PSO”).
The PSO was born as the Seacoast Community Chamber Orchestra in 1997. It was transformed into the Portsmouth Symphony Orchestra in 2007, growing substantially over the last few years. It is largely a member-based orchestra. The PSO’s mission is to Entertain, Educate and Encourage through the medium of classical music.
Breaking the three E’s down: Entertain. There are three major programs to entertain audiences. Main Stage at the Music Hall provides two major performances annually (March and June). “Get Cozy with the PSO” is a chamber music series. Summer Performances round out the list.
Educate. “My PSO” targets youth for audiences and performances. At our meeting, 17-year-old Griffin Miller, the Youth Ambassador for PSO, delivered an outstanding cello performance prior to Ginna’s talk. “Inside the Music” is a one-hour preview of each musical program. Music Director John Page explains the composer’s thoughts and the musical context of the pieces to be performed.
Encourage. An “Artist In Residence” program is now in its second year. A “Young Artist Competition” highlights eight young artists competing to perform with the full orchestra at the June 10 concert.
Challenges faced by PSO include rising costs. Ticket sales cover only one third of total costs. A new effort is underway to expand corporate and individual sponsorships.
PSO’s recent growth is certainly adding to the cultural vibrancy of Portsmouth!
50-50 Raffle.
Russ Grazier won the $64 raffle. No match ensued.
Respectfully Submitted, Richard Greulich
To see photos of our new members click on the following link:
We meet Thursdays at 12:15 PM
Portsmouth Country Club
Portsmouth Country Club
80 Country Club Lane
2nd Floor
Greenland, NH 03840
United States
2nd Floor
Greenland, NH 03840
United States
Home of 2017-2018 District Governor Dave Underhill
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