Dear Rotarians,
With 
your President still "on the mend" [see photo!] after a hiking injury, I'm very grateful that your President-Elect (who has chaired/ facilitated hundreds of meetings in his professional life!) Bill Gurney was willing to lead last Tuesday's November 29th meeting!
your President still "on the mend" [see photo!] after a hiking injury, I'm very grateful that your President-Elect (who has chaired/ facilitated hundreds of meetings in his professional life!) Bill Gurney was willing to lead last Tuesday's November 29th meeting! As you know, we were very pleased to host Gil Morris, a teacher at the Applied Technology Center at our local ConVal High School. Our other speaker was Noah Bell, a ConVal Senior who has been very involved with Mr. Morris' Engineering classes through the high school's Extended Learning Opportunity program. Noah has built and is in the process of refining a model of Tesla’s Coil -- quite a challenge!
Gil Morris worked as a software engineer before changing careers and becoming a teacher. At the Nov. 29th meeting, Gil described his engineering classes and some of the impressive projects his students have completed. He also discussed “Running Start” and the opportunity his students have to take his classes for college credit from the New Hampshire Technical Institute.
At this 11/29 meeting, Kevin McElhinney gave the Opening Words, traveling over the early morning icy roads from Brattleboro to be with us! Travis Kumpf shared a "hat story" about his first trip overseas, helping build homes for families in Peru. This experience has led to a life-long interest in helping to develop sustainable communities; since that life-altering trip to Peru, Travis has continued to travel on service trips. Over time he became a sought-after leader for such trips, including this spring's Conant/ConVal Rotary Interact service work trip to a Central American rural village.
Thank you, Kevin and Travis, for your inspired start to a very interesting meeting!
At this Tuesday's meeting on December 6th, we welcome Suzanne Margarit, the Link Program Coordinator for the NH Children's Cancer Lifeline. Suzanne is a teacher in Goffstown (quite a journey on an early Tuesday morning!) and has been involved with the CCL for two and a half years. We look forward to learning more about this organization and its support for families who are dealing with terribly difficult situations with very ill children.
Also please welcome Lisa Koziell-Betz, the Program Coordinator at the Peterborough Recreation Department. Lisa is a wonderful person who has been deeply involved with providing a plethora of meaningful and enjoyable activities for area residents. She is also the mother of Ryan, a star graduate of ConVal High School, and his younger sister Morgan whom I knew when she was a student at Peterborough Elementary School -- and who taught me and so many others a great deal about friendship, courage, and living life to the fullest each and every day that we are granted on this good earth.
At this Dec. 6th meeting, Vance Finch will offer the Opening Words, and Adam Hamilton will share a "hat story" about a person, event, or experience that influenced his interest in in public service and social justice. These stories shared by our Rotarian friends help inspire us all to continue working hard to make our local, national, and global communities a better place for every person -- and helping to make "Service Above Self" more than just the words that we recite at the end of each meeting.