Rotary Log for January 13, 2022
Well, we all had a short trip to Rotary this week! Forty of us either turned at our desk to our laptop, went from the kitchen into the study, or sat in front of the living room fire. Yup, we’re back entirely on Zoom, but only for a short time, President Finn assures us.
The bump in Covid cases has led enough members to be concerned. There was no way we could muster the minimum 40 people needed to have a luncheon meeting at the country club. Hopefully we are all beginning to learn that Covid is not going away, and we need to learn to live with it.
Even though we can’t make our minimum, we still must pay for the difference between the number who attend, and 40. Justin wants to be careful about how he spends our money, hence the Prez elected to zoom this week. For his part, it was a fun meeting!
Announcements.
Announcements.
Nicole Clark wants new hats, coats, and gloves for donation to the high school kids who are giving them out to families in need. Your donations can be made directly to the high school. Or you can donate to the club through Venmo or to PO Box 905, Portsmouth, NH 03802–0905, and we will get the hats, coats, and gloves for you.
Marie Brownell’s Golf Committee met after the meeting to prepare for the June 10, 2022 tournament! One of the things that is getting back to normal is June golf tournaments (although October was a beautiful time to have last year‘s event.) If you would like to join this fun committee, email Marie Brownell at Marie@brownellinsurance.com. It is a great group, and you don’t have to know anything about golf to join.
Guests.
Nicole’s eight-month-old son, destined to be a future Rotarian, made a cameo appearance….
Stanford Cross's friend from Ohio joined us, apparently as part of a penalty for a lost wager. Stan’s buddy, an Ohio State fan, bet his Bucks would beat Michigan. The Wolverines easily prevailed, and Stanford proudly displayed the check that he received.
Historical Moment.
Historical Moment.
The history moment took us back to this club's November 4, 1974, board meeting. That august body voted to take a shot at selling Christmas trees for the first time. A motion was made and passed to try hawking 400 trees. The December 10, 1974, board minutes revealed that, indeed, three hundred and six trees (a weird number) were purchased for $1,415 dollars to be delivered on December 17! For perspective, we typically sell 1600 trees with the first of two shipments arriving the day after Thanksgiving. And we pay about $36,000 dollars for them!
Fines.
Fine master Neal picked up on our librarian-speaker theme. He fined anybody who had a library card, an overdue book, lost a book, joined a book club, or even had read a book! Speaking of book clubs, our Fine master labeled them “an excuse for ladies to drink as a group.” He fined anybody doing “dry January” because they have plenty of money from not buying alcohol! As always, lots of laughs!
The Program.
Our guest speaker (and also a Michigan fan) was Steve Butzel, director of the Portsmouth Public Library in Portsmouth since 2014. Steve served as the library’s assistant director from 2008-2014. He earned his master’s degree in library and information science from the Simmons Graduate School of Library and Information Science in Boston in 2004. He earned his undergraduate degree in history from Yale University in 1993.
Within professional association work, Steve has been President of the New Hampshire Library Association and the New Hampshire Chapter Councilor on the American Library Association’s Governing Council. He has been involved with several nonprofits over the years including SEAREI (Seacoast Area Renewable Energy Initiative) and the American Friends of Kenya, with whom he traveled to Kenya in 2010.
Steve emphasized that the library is all about community service. There are multiple cultural programs that people can attend virtually or in person. Subjects range from world affairs, to language, to book clubs (no drinking) and more. There are many downloadable programs as well, and downloadable books!
Steve was also proud that the library helps to preserve Portsmouth’s history. In fact, the library has its own history department! Go on their website and look at https://portsmouthexhibits.org. And if you want to get outside, the library has some programs being held outdoors right now! Yes, even in the winter!
The City of Portsmouth takes sustainability seriously. The library is a LEED certified building. There are also multiple meeting rooms, providing a secure and safe place to encourage civil discourse. Steve explained that all these things, taken together, evidence the library‘s effort to make it about experiences and creating community.
There were lots and lots of questions. No, there are no more overdue book fines. Yes, you can get discounted tickets to museums. As noted, you can also order online books and movies. Yes, volunteers are welcome at the library. If Portsmouth Library doesn’t have something, they can probably get it for you on their very good interlibrary loan.
The library, through Steve and others, is very involved in the Portsmouth 400th Anniversary celebration, too.
If you are a non-resident, or non-Portsmouth business owner, you can still get a library card for $100.
It’s great to know that this fantastic resource is available to us! Go visit your library today.
Justin closed the meeting by promising to keep us updated about going back to “live” meetings. He hopes that will happen this coming week.
Justin closed the meeting by promising to keep us updated about going back to “live” meetings. He hopes that will happen this coming week.
Respectfully submitted, John Flagg
Photos captures by Don Chick
