Date of Meeting: August 16, 2022 - SPECIAL DAY

Venue: The Belknap Mill patio overlooking Rotary Park

Thanks to Tara Shore for setting up and decorating the tables.
Photo by W. Stephen Loughlin

Kiwanians and their guests await the meeting to begin.
Photo by W. Stephen Loughlin

Attendance: 15 in attendance: 8 members and 7 guests

MEMBERS AND GUESTS:

Kiwanis Members:
Betty Ballantyne
Phil Bonafide
Zach Dea
Steve Loughlin
Don Nelson
Tara Shore
Kara Stanley
Brian Winslow

Guests:
Jackie Bonafide – wife of Phil
Kathy Calvin – Honorary Member
Aidan Coulette – son of Kara Stanley
Paula Gile – wife of Bill
Sue Nelson – Honorary Member and wife of Don
Corrine Parent – friend of Kara Stanley
Jim Rogato – guest speaker - Chairman of the Laconia Putnam Fund

Jackie Bonafide		Kathy Calvin		Aidan Coulette		Paula Gile
Sue Nelson		Corrine Parent		Jim Rogato
Above photos by W. Stephen Loughlin

Invocation & Pledge:
Invocation: performed by Phil Bonafide
Pledge of allegiance: led by Bill Gile
Song - America (My Country 'Tis of Thee): led by Don Nelson

FROM THE PRESIDENT:

President Bill reported the following:
• Next month’s Board of Directors meeting will be held via ZOOM on Tuesday, September 6, 2022, at 6 pm.
• The next General Meeting will be held at the Belknap Mill on Tuesday, September 13, 2022 at 6 pm.

The selection of Officers is coming soon! President Bill asked the audience if any or others have an interest in serving as officers.

The Club received thank you letters from: The Circle Program, The Mayhew Program, and Lakes Region Scholarship Foundation. "Click" on the name of the organizations below to read each letter:
The Circle Program
The Mayhew Program
Lakes Region Scholarship Foundation

We also received thank you letters from four more of the twelve students who received scholarships from the Laconia Kiwanis Club. To read those three thank you notes, “click” on the respective pictures below:

	Aidan Eldridge		Lydia Tucker
	Brian Winslow		Randi Byars

Food Pantry: $61 was collected

Happy Dollars: $37 was collected

$3 from Kara Stanley - just because she’s very happy
$3 from Don Nelson -because of Kara’s “because”
$3 from Tara Shore - for the wonderful night, wonderful space, and fabulous people
$10 from Brian Winslow - $5 because he was really happy to see that his son wrote a thank you note, and an extra $5 “just because.”
$3 from Betty Ballantyne - because she had not burnt the meal, for the beautiful evening, and to thank Jim Rogato for his presentation.
$1 from Phil Bonafide because it wasn’t raining.
$5 from Bill Gile for the beautiful evening, for the cook, for Jim Rogato presenting, for everyone showing up, and for his anniversary to Paula who would be showing up with the hot dogs.
$9 from Zach Dea for he and his family recently completing a 9,000-mile cross country road trip

CHOW TIME:

Dinner was served with grilled hamburgers, hot dogs & sausages. Lots of side dishes were donated by the members to include pasta and potato salads, devil eggs, and many side desserts.
Photo by W. Stephen Loughlin

GUEST SPEAKER:

Our guest speaker for the evening was, Jim Rogato, Chairman of the Laconia Putnam Fund.

Betty Ballantyne (center) introduced our guest speaker, Jim Rogato (left).
Photo by W. Stephen Loughlin

Jim Rogato recently retired after working 40 years at Sawyers Jewelry. He is a musician and actor and can be seen performing across the state in numerous plays and concert venues. He recently finished three performances at the Colonial Theatre as the Grinch in Seussical. Additionally, Jim is frequently seen performing at various venues with his Doo Wop group, The Rockin’ Daddios.

During his presentation, Jim Rogato discussed the origin of The Laconia Putnam Fund. He noted the exact name of the Fund is the Perley and Ellen M Putnam Free Lecture Fund.

Jim reported that Perley Putnam was an industrialist and musician in the 1800’s who began his career in the car business with Bunton Stock Car, a business designed to transport cattle humanely. Putnam then moved onto a joint venture with John Moulton in 1882 manufacturing trolley street cars through Laconia Car Company which initially built 12 to 125 cars a year. Perley Putnam became sole owner in 1889 and remained as such through 1897. And, if he wasn’t busy enough, he subsequently became Laconia Head Postmaster.

Mr. Putnam married Ellen Gordon and raised two daughters Lulu and Nellie. Lulu passed at a young age and, eventually, Nellie married Horace Chamberlain in 1886. Through the years Nellie promoted education, arts and more to those less fortunate as she. Nellie and her husband built a 3,246 square foot Queen Anne Victorian home on 44 Pleasant Street in Concord where it still exists and had been donated to the Women’s Club of Concord through their estate back in the early 1900’s. This home was a mail ordered house plan.

This is a FRONT VIEW and SIDE VIEW of the Victorian home, located at 44 Pleasant Street in Concord, formerly owned by Nellie and Horace Chamberlain, which was donated to the Women’s Club of Concord.
Photo by Google Maps

When the estate of Nellie Chamberlain was settled, monies were donated, in trust, to the City of Laconia in memory of her parents Perley & Ellen M Putnam and named the Perley and Ellen M Putnam Free Lecture Fund. The monies could be used for history, art, literature, and music to be held in Laconia and free to the people. Monies were handed to the city in the 1960’s with the intention of growing the principal and use of the earnings to pay for the performances. The approximate amount was $67,000 and it now has a balance of $1.5 million.

Jim Rogato was happy to field comments and questions from the group.
Photo by W. Stephen Loughlin

Above are various posters promoting past Laconia Putnam Fund events that Jim Rogato referred to during his presentation.
To view a larger size of the posters, "click" on the above picture.
Photo by Jim Rogato

BULLETIN BONUS
If you would like to see the performances of the artists listed below “click” on the respective poster. It will then open a website with pictures, audio and video. Enjoy.
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Upon the conclusion of his presentation, Betty Ballantyne enjoyed a photo op with guest speaker, Jim Rogato
Photo by W. Stephen Loughlin

President Bill adjourned the meeting at 7:24 pm.

POST MEETING CLEAN UP:

Tara Shore points to where the tables belong	Phil Bonafide	Bill Gile and Zach Dea unset the tables
Photos by W. Stephen Loughlin

THANK YOU
Many thanks to Joe Adrignola, Betty Ballantyne, Phil Bonafide, Zach Dea, Jim Rogato, Tara Shore, and Brian Winslow for their assistance with this bulletin.

Tuesday - September 6th - Venue: ZOOM MEETING
6:00 pm - Board of Directors Meeting

Tuesday - September 13th - Venue: - Belknap Mill
6:00 pm - General Meeting

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