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PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE – Karyn Finkelson
Cashier: Liz Sweeney
Greeter/Raffle: Kirby Clang
Invocator: PJ Cistulli
SCRIBE - Angie Borden
PUBISHER: Phil Wallingford
Guests: Patrick Tompkins (Guest of Jim M) -Nikolas Frye (Guest of Karyn) Visiting Rotarian: David Pereira- Gilford
Announcements:
STARTING NEXT WEEK: ZOOM WILL BE BACK
Karyn: Day of Caring: Rotary had a group that worked at the Audi and had a lot of fun and even had a tour.
Halloween Howl: In Town Concord are looking for volunteers to help out that night 10-27. There is a variety of things to do. See Karyn if questions.
Walk A Mile in her Shoes: Crisis Center event is Oct 4th. So far, only 2 Rotarians have signed up. Please consider the 1-mile walk.
Cypn Event: Nov 7th 5:30-7:00 at Bank of NH Stage. Non-Profit Night: Karyn will be attending but could use some more Rotarians for support.
PJ: Christmas Parade- Save the Date: Nov 18th 9:30 (Sat). In the Heights Area: 1 mile- should be about 1 hour. Could ride or walk. See PJ if interested
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New Years Rotary Pins are available for $2.00- See PJ
Birthdays:
Lucy: Aug 17th: Had a challenging year. Health issues and the passing of her father. She gave us a snippet of the 6 Arrows of Greatness. It helps her: Breathing in and out and holding it, helps you focus & reduces stress. She was sick often last year but recommends using oregano oil to help. It worked for her. Her mom was also ill but much better know.
Jenna: Aug 9th: Just turned 39- like many of us…. Work is very good and her daughter Lilly turned 8 in January. She is enjoying watching her grow and doing many activities with her such as skiing, 4000-footer climbing, concert and dance. They went to Aruba and had a great time. Hope to bring her to our Rotary lunch one day.
Raffle prize of chocolate wine donated by Karyn was won by Ginny. Can’t go wrong with chocolate!
Cary introduced our Speaker Bill Mealey- Project Second Start (PSS) Executive Director since 2021 (Starting there in 2016): He has made his career working with At- Risk children. He taught at Timberline HS for 13 years and knew he wanted to work in education.
PSS celebrated 50 years in 2022. Our own Rotarian, Jim Snodgrass was there for 48 years. Staring in the 70’s, the City of Concord’s assessment showed that 42% of Merrimack County’s adult population had not finished high school. Two educators: Ruth Hooke & Nancy Callahan with $4,000, a babysitter and a handful of volunteers opened the doors in the basement of the First Congregational Church.
They now have 3 major focuses: Alternative High School, Daycare, and adult education services.
Some of what they do is help teach communication and team building skills along with driver’s education, English for those that are new Americans. They have 10 programs in all.
They are still looking for more staff. During COVID- they went on line learning which turned out to be a good thing. It saved on travel costs, daycare, attendance. Their ESL (English Second Language) students remain on line.
They have 2 locations: 450 N State Street (teen Programs) 17 Knight Street (Children’s Ctr- Adult Education Programs)
They have 3 Revenue streams: State & Federal Grants- Student Tuition- Fee Based Services
There was a very informative question and answer period during the presentation. For more information www.second-start.org
