We meet In Person

Thursdays at 12:15 PM

Portsmouth Country Club

80 Country Club Lane
Greenland, NH 03840
United States of America

Our Club meets in person at the Portsmouth Country Club and via zoom simultaneously. Meeting zoom information will be emailed on weekly basis.

Venue Map

Christmas Tree Sales 2023

Santa Claus will be visiting the tree lot on SATURDAY, December 9th from 11:00-12:30

AT 775 LAFAYETTE ROAD, PORTSMOUTH, NH FROM 11-12:30

Join us to meet Santa and enjoy hot chocolate, cookies and candy while you shop for your Christmas Tree, Wreaths, Ornament and Portsmouth-Opoly Game. Santa will be there from 11:00 - 12:30 handing out candy. Please join us!

Want to WIN a special edition Portsmouth-opoly game? If you make a donation to our club by Saturday 12/9 at 12:30 you will be entered into the contest!

Monday - Thursday: 12pm - 6pm

Friday - Sunday: 10am - 7pm

775 Lafayette Road Plaza Parking Lot

Planet Fitness, Harbor Freight

Tis the Season of giving, when you buy your Christmas Trees from the Portsmouth Rotary Club . . .

Your helping to support our local charities, fund a year of College Scholarships and Community Service Grants

Buy your fresh-cut Christmas tree from the Portsmouth Rotary Club. Each year on the day after Thanksgiving volunteer members of the Portsmouth Rotary meet at Lafayette Plaza. We build stands, put up signs, unload trucks full of trees and get ready to begin our annual Christmas Tree Fundraiser.

Beautiful fresh-cut trees are available at reasonable prices with all the net proceeds going directly to local charities,

the various grants offered as scholarships to local students and community service organizations in the Portsmouth community.

Limited Edition Rotary

Portsmouth-opoly

Visit Rotary tree lot, Portsmouth Historical Society, or State Farm to purchase this special edition Rotary Portsmouth-opoly game celebrating the City of Portsmouth's 400th & Portsmouth Rotary's 100th Anniversaries!

Tree Lot Hours

Monday - Thursday: 12:00 to 6:00

Friday - Sunday: 10:00 to 7:00

*Portsmouth-opoly games available for $35

At business locations below

Portsmouth Historical Society

10 Middle Street, Monday-Sunday

10:00 to 5:00

State Farm, Aileen Dugan

93 Middle Street, Monday-Friday

9:00 to 5:00

2023 Limited Edition Brass Ornament

The GUNDALOW ~ $25

Click image below to purchase online!

Available at Portsmouth Rotary Christmas tree lot

Top of the Week!

Portsmouth Rotary News Briefs

Still Open Slots for Tree Sales

Tree sales are going great, but there are still a few open slots for volunteers. If you can, please sign up for one so that we are not short staffed on any of our sale days. To sign up click the link Holiday Tree Sales Signup

Thank you one and all for your outstanding efforts this year!

Send in Your Photos!

We know for a fact that some of you have been taking photos during our tree unloadings and sales. It would be great if we could collect them all and add them to an album on Clubrunner.

Please send your photos to our eBulletin Publisher, Dennis (you can just reply to this email) and he will upload them to an album to share with all.

Dennis knows he is probably opening himself up to a ton of emails, but bring it on.

Here is what we have so far...

photoalbums/holiday-tree-sales-2023

Salvation Army Food Service

The nightly Salvation Army soup kitchen sets up in this Emergency Disaster Services truck and parks under the lights at the back of the Middle Street Baptist Church at 18 Court St, Portsmouth. Two volunteers arrive at 4:50 pm and work inside the truck (with heaters) to put the hot food into containers to give out to diners through the window. Dinner starts at 5:00 pm and is over at 6:00 pm. We clean up and are finished by 6:15 pm. Our Club has signed up to serve every third Wednesday of the month for the next 11 months. Please text me, Sara Treacy, at 603-661-8588 if you can sign up.

Dec. 20 - Keith Eveland and Dianne Brindisi

Jan. 17 - Sara Treacy and Joe Hill

Feb. 21 - Stanford Cross and Neal Ouellette

Mar. 20 - OPEN

Apr. 17 - OPEN

May 15 - Chad and Darleen Chadwick

Please contact Sara Treacy if interested in participating for future dates & Thanks!

Rotary Log for November 30, 2023

Yvonne opened the meeting with a moment of silence for Tiffany McKenna, a long-time Rotarian and active volunteer who passed away earlier this week. Some of us remember serving meals with Tiffany at Crossroads House.

Al led everyone in song and Francoise recited a Nancy Carmody gratitude poem “I am Thankful for.” The poignant work essentially expresses gratitude for the simple beauty of daily life.

There were numerous guests and visiting Rotarians including Laura Barker from Hero Pups, David Zippin, Anne Moody, Paul Berton, Brian Goode, Barry Nadeau, and Ed Quirk, among others, who came to this canine-centered meeting. At least two of our guests would like to join! Also, on hand was Visiting Rotarian Pete Johnston of the Andover, Mass., club.

Before formalities began, we were treated to weeks old Hero Pups being cuddled by caretakers and Rotarians alike. Indeed, today’s speaker, Det. Rochelle Jones from the Portsmouth PD, brought along her sidekick “Mason,” a Hero Pup alum and two-year-old(?) lab comfort dog. More on that later.

Hero Pups, by the way, is an all-volunteer non-profit that provides support dogs to eligible veterans and first responders. In short, they place dogs so they can help people. But moving on to announcements…

Priscilla provided a Thanksgiving Dinner wrap, noting that the bulk of our meals are still delivered in this post-pandemic world...Midge had a shout out for her Tree Committee, Yvonne, Dave, Joanie, and Nicole. They helped her find a new and more reliable vendor. She also mentioned Mark Lorusso’s five-hour solo effort setting up the trailer. When you need something done, just call on a “Loggie.”

Joe Cunningham volunteered to appear in Eric Weinrieb’s Santa suit at the tree sales lot this weekend. Interesting idea to liven things up…Donations are sought to help support the PHS Interact Club’s Stocking for Seniors effort.

Eric gave us an update on Charlie’s Rotoplast benefit moped ride from Kittery Point to Key West. As of last week, he’d reached Limerick, Pa., after stops in Sturbridge, Ma., and Yonkers. What a thrill it must be to have New York City in the rearview mirror.

Ian O’Neall introduced our newest member, Brandi McKay-Berry. You may see this remarkable young woman tooling into the PCC parking lot astride her motorcycle. She’s already pulled two Christmas Tree shifts and was one of the 2023 Vocational Service Award winners. A Digital Marketing Coordinator at Bangor Savings Bank, she lives with her husband in Barrington.

Chief Mark Newport introduced Detective Rochelle Jones, a woman who is no stranger to Portsmouth Rotary. She has served in various capacities with the Portsmouth PD and spoken to us about most of them.

Personable and energetic, the 20-year-police veteran is assigned to community relations. But her assignments also include everything from sweeping crime scenes to talking a despondent man off the Piscataqua River bridge. She is now also the official “Comfort Dog” handler at the department.

Rochelle’s dog “Mason” serves as a de-stressor to department personnel as well as traumatized crime victims, especially children.

“The dog’s power of healing is unbelievable,” Rochelle noted.

Just petting the Hero pups before lunch, most of us could feel morning tensions going away. Now in his second year on the job, Mason reflects his handler’s buoyant personality.

“He is his own person, but if I get stressed,” Rochelle said, “he gets stressed.”

Comfort Dogs are owned by agencies, in this case Hero Pups, Rochelle explained. People own their therapy dogs—a key difference. Further, you must be sensitive to the fact that some folks are afraid of dogs.

Mason, a 60-pounder, doesn’t do tracking or other police work. He’s there to strictly boost morale among police officers, families of officers and victims of crime. Still, Mason is a dog. Rochelle always carries a “Duty bag” that includes things like treats to reinforce good habits and, of course, poop bags.