Portsmouth Rotary Log for June 8, 2017
by Lindsey Hery
Photos by Jim Rini
Portsmouth Rotarians joined together amidst the first sunny day in many weeks. Al Lantinen led us in a beautiful rendition of God Bless America. Greeter Lindsey Hery greeted Rotarians and stated the Four Way Test. President James welcomed visiting Rotarians and Guests, wishing a happy birthday to our celebrating members.
Announcements.
James announced that $2,640 from the Jeremy Alex Fund has been awarded to the Child Advocacy Center. The CAC’s mission is to provide a safe environment for the evaluation of alleged child abuse for children 3 to 18 years of age. Later, Moe Sullivan accepted the check, introducing CAC board member, Portsmouth Police Captain Frank Warhol. Moe explained that the funds will be used to provide a new phone system.
Our BOD also approved $1,496 from the William Cash Fund to support Ted Alex’s recent Rotaplast trip to Tanzania. Additionally, $500 was awarded from the International Projects line item to Lonnie Hackett. Lonnie is an advocate who works to provide healthcare initiatives worldwide. James proudly proclaimed that $4,000 from the President’s Project line item will help fund the Gordon Allen Humanitarian Award.
Peter Grace says that the Annual Rotary Golf Tournament seeks volunteers to staff the event this Friday 6/16. Registration begins at 8AM and the first group will start at 9AM.
The next Rotary Social Event is on Tuesday June 13th at the Discover Portsmouth Center.
Finally, Jim Rini, seeks photographers to help take pictures at our weekly meetings. If you are interested, please contact him.
New members.
New member Jessica Parker was introduced by her sponsor Ramona Dow. Jessica works in marketing and development at Crossroads House. She looks forward to working on youth related projects and Christmas Tree Sales. Welcome, Jessica!
Recognition.
James recognized Cliff Taylor for his 51 years in Rotary. Cliff, a member of our club since 1966, was president in 1973-1974. He has also been a long time board member of the Service Credit Union. Club members Nancy Notis and Nancy Clayburgh described Cliff as patient, kind, and thoughtful. They remembered him as their former boss at WHEB, where he was not only a supervisor but a friend. Cliff had some advice for all of us.
“Rotary has been good to me,” he said. “It will be good to you too if you join a committee.”
50-50 Raffle.
After several happy dollars, our raffle winner was announced. Tom Decker won $66, with no match for the bonus prize.
The program: Discover Portsmouth Center.
Leanne Spees introduced our first speaker, Katherine Soldati, the Executive Director for Discover Portsmouth. Soldati noted that Portsmouth is celebrating its 400th birthday in 2023. Discover Portsmouth has been charged with planning many special events for the anniversary. She also thanked the club for its generous donations and hands on volunteer projects over the past few years. Soldati then welcomed and introduced our main speaker, Judy Loto.
Loto is Discover Portsmouth’s Director of Development. She told us about a new exhibition at Discover Portsmouth, “Four Centuries of Furniture in Portsmouth.” The exhibition highlights pieces of furniture that have been used or created in Portsmouth over 400 years. This exhibit will be on display until June 18th.
Portsmouth has a rich history in craftsmanship and furniture creation. With a working seaport, the city has been a hub of activity with a unique world-wide influence. In her presentation, Loto highlighted a few special pieces and details that are unique to our area. She explained that branding furniture with the owner’s insignia is an exceptional Seacoast tradition. With many large fires ravishing the city, residents marked their valuable pieces. This enabled them to claim furniture recovered from a burned building. Loto advised us to visit the gallery and look at the hidden details within plain view.
Join us on Thursday June 15th for a special meeting recognizing the Vocational Award winners.
Respectfully submitted, Lindsey Hery