Home Page | Rotary club of Portsmouth

We meet Thursdays at 12:15 PM
Portsmouth Country Club

80 Country Club Lane
2nd Floor
Greenland, NH 03840
United States of America

Venue Map

2019 Scholarship Awards - Application Submission Now Open

CLICK HERE for More Info

CLICK HERE to Download Application

Applications must be turned in to your Guidance Office representative by April 1, 2019 OR mailed to following address and POSTMARKED no later than April 1, 2019:

Portsmouth Rotary Scholarship

P.O. Box 905

Portsmouth, NH 03802-0905

Top of the Week February 15, 2019

Top of the Week!

February 15, 2019

Volunteers Needed!!!

As many of you know our club’s annual partnership this year is with The Cross Roads House. There are many ways to volunteer in our community but the more immediate need is to have members help during their dinners.

There is help needed on Saturday, February 16 and Wednesday, March 6. The time goes by quickly and there is lots of fellowship and music.

Tiffany McKenna will be at the meetings getting Rotarians signed up. Thank you for those that have volunteered already. For those who would like to sign up please let myself or Tiffany know, and if you need a makeup, it also counts!

You all make a difference in our community and I thank you!

PHA Volunteer Coordination

Mary Kelliher, Volunteer Coordinator at the Portsmouth Housing Authority forwarded the following:

“I'm reaching out regarding a recurring volunteer opportunity that has sprung at two of our resident building. We now hold a coffee hour at our Margeson building on Mondays at 10am and at Feaster on Thursdays at 10am. These are opportunities for residents to get out of their apartments and spend time in a communal space to have a treat together. We'd love to have volunteers sign up for a particular day or recurring days to bring donuts, pastries, and/or fruit (coffee is provided) if anyone would like to do so! This is an easy opportunity to also chat with our resident population, as well. Each building also has a piano, waiting for anyone with a passion for it to play during coffee hour as well!!

Let Mary know if anyone might be interested.

https://clubrunner.blob.core.windows.net/00000006644/en-ca/files/homepage/mary-kelliher-contact-info/Mary-Kelliher.pdf

AmeriCorps Seeks Rotary Volunteers

Mary Kelliher is the Volunteer Coordinator for AmeriCorps working out of Portsmouth Housing's Greenleaf Recreation Center with the Resident Services team which assists low-income residents, senior residents, and residents with disabilities in finding resources for different needs, such as budgeting, financial literacy, transportation, etc. Mary and AmeriCorps is seeking volunteers who would be willing to volunteer. One example of a volunteer opportunity is assisting an older female resident who lives alone in moving heavy furniture (strong people needed!) into and from a UHaul during her planned move from her Feaster apartment to Connor's Cottage. If there are any volunteers intersted in lending a hand please contact Mary at maryk@nh-pha.com.

Sorry We Missed You

If you have a makeup for a missed meeting, please email it to the following link:

Makeups

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 January 31, 2019

Rotary Log for January 31, 2019

President Cleo hit the bell to ring in the meeting on one of the coldest days of the new year. The room was warmed a bit by a pleasantly sung “God Bless America” selected by songmeister Al Lantinen. The day’s Greeter, Kathy Berger, started out the Four-Way Test. John Rice offered another sincere invocation, serving as a humble reminder of what brings us together in our incredible Club.

It is always a pleasure to welcome a new member to our ranks. Ann Bliss became acquainted with us when her choral group Voices from the Heart won a William M. Cash grant. She was introduced by sponsor Yvonne Legg, who had submitted the Cash application. Ann’s personal introductory doubled as an extended thank you to the club. We learned how Voices used our contribution to benefit many children all along the path of their visit to South Africa.

Happy Dollars, Fines., Etc.

New Members’ catastrophic attempts with Rotary International trivia were remedied by Dave Underhill. International Chairs Dave and Mort seemed to know more about Rotary than the rest of our Club combined.

Yvonne offered a Happy Dollar for Tom Decker who is retiring from the wealth management business after an illustrious 51 years. Tom is a very generous supporter of all things Rotary. And proud Papa Bob Smith threw dollars in the kitty for his puppy who has lost all his baby teeth.

A Happy Dollar was offered for a deserving President Cleo. The buck recognizes a job well done this Rotary year-in-progress. In turn, she handed off 44 big ones to the week’s 50/50 winner, John Rice. No bonus; $75 next week.

A call for help was made on behalf of Tiffany McKenna. She needs two cooks and two servers to assist for dinner at Crossroads House on February 16.

The Program: Compound Goodness

It was the Frank and Ernest Show with the roles played quickly and interchangeably by Bob Herold and Dave Underhill. The always droll and self-deprecating International Chair Bob opened the presentation by commenting on the turnout. He equated support of the Rotary Foundation to an investment. Compound Goodnessis our Rotary Foundation helping us do good things, here in the Seacoast and all around the world.

Past-District Governor Dave followed up by illustrating how half of our donations make their way to the Foundation. The monies are spent on worldwide projects such as Rotary Peace centers, health, literacy and education initiatives. The other half comes back to the District and local clubs. Today we can take pride in ten active District grants. Among other things, the funds support an exchange to Romania, beach wheelchairs in Saco Bay and playground equipment in Boothbay Harbor and Dover.

Local clubs use returning monies to fund a myriad of programs of their members’ interest such as Portland’s opioid recovery efforts.

“Portsmouth is involved in funding a Uganda Cancer Center,” noted Dave. “As well as medical equipment in Tanzania, digital classrooms in India and Healthy Kids Brighter Futures in Zambia.”

Of course, none of these sterling efforts are free, according to Dave. They happen because of gifts to the Rotary Foundation, a charity with a Four-Star Charity Navigator rating. Navigator notes that “90% of the Foundations’ funds go directly to programs with a 100% rating for accountability and financial transparency”.

Back to Bob, who offered a much-understated personal account of his Rotary journey. That voyage began as a rather pedestrian member who transitioned to an engaged champion of Rotary Foundation efforts abroad. The inspiration was National Immunization Day, expanding to numerous not-so-glamorous hands-on trips to Africa with his wife Cathy. They have focused particularly on self-sufficiency initiatives such as the successful Uganda bee micro-enterprise. As a restrained suggestion to the audience, Bob mentioned that he “stunned my kids when I set up a bequest to the Rotary Foundation in my will”.

Shifting again to Dave, we got the anticipated ask.

“Our simple goal is to get every member of our club to give something to the Rotary Foundation,” Dave said. “Any amount counts!”

Every Rotarian, YearEvery has been an aspiration of each of our Rotary Presidents for many years. Donations can be made by mail to our club, by credit card at a meeting, or on-line to Rotary Direct (www.rotary.org/en/donate.) Members who donate $500 in a year will see their donations matched by the club. That $1000 qualifies a member to be a Paul Harris Fellow. Given the subsequent Q&A, that important honor remains a subject of some confusion to many members. Dave and Bob indicated that they are happy to respond to any questions about that or any other Rotary Foundation question.

Fittingly, the program ended with our presenters honoring four multiple Paul Harris Donors. The quartet--Dennis Moulton, Butch Ricci, Cleo Villaflores, and Bob Herold—is a marvelous example of Compound Goodness.

Respectfully submitted, Neal Ouellett

Photos by Craig Taylor

New Members Photos

To see photos of our new members click on the following link:

http://portsmouthrotary.org/PhotoAlbums/new-member-photos-welcome