Venue:
405 Pub & Grill

Invocation/Pledge:
Rosemary Murphy

Attendance:
9 Kiwanis Club members, 2 guests

Guests:
Kathy Kearns – guest speaker
Rosemary Murphy – spouse of Larry

Kathy Kearns		Rosemary Murphy

From The President:
President John welcomed the Club to the 405 Pub & Grill and advised the Club that meetings will require some tweaking to get to a flow we want.  He asked for input and patience.

John also announced the Annual Meeting to approve the Officers and Board members for our next fiscal year will be held on May 9th at our first May meeting. Bill Gile then announced the proposed slate as follows:  John Walker will remain as President. Bill Gile as 1st VP and Meredith Michaud as 2nd VP.  Phil Bonafide will replace Joe Adrignola as a Director and Scott Laurent will replace Kathy Calvin as Treasurer. We are still looking for a new Secretary, which is a Presidential appointment.  John noted, the position of Secretary is the busiest job in the Club, which has been faithfully filled by Kathy for 22 years.  The person filling this position will require training at the August 18-21 NE District Convention in Cromwell, CT., or at the November Convention venue and date TBA.

From The Members:
Bill Gile briefed two upcoming Key Club events, the May 7th Service Project at building a rain garden to alleviate flooding concerns at Tardif Park, and a May 14th Invasive Species Removal project, again, within the city and under their direction. 

Izzy Brake shared that many more details regarding the May 21st Bicycle Rodeo/Safety Day will be forthcoming at our next meeting, April 25th.

Food Pantry: $67 was collected

Happy Dollars:

$2 from Phil Bonafide: $1 for selling his '65 Corvette, and $1 for buying a '70 Challenger.
$2 from Betty Ballantyne: $1 for our guest speaker Kathy, and $1 for both Phil and Roger returning to our meetings
$1 from Roger Webster for Pat returning home from rehab
$2 from Larry Murphy for generally being happy and spending an evening out with Rosemary
$3 from President John: $1 for our guest speaker, Kathy, $1 for Bill Gile not inflating the Happy Dollar game, and $1 for being in a new venue with positive prospects as a Club

Guest Speaker:
President John introduced Kathy Kearns who has served as Executive Director of The Circle Program since 2009.

Kathy received her BA in English and music with certification in secondary education at Long Island University’s C.W. Post College, and then completed graduate work in secondary education and business administration at Iona College and the University of Hartford.

Kathy has had extensive non-profit management experience as the Executive Director of several professional orchestras including the Pro Arte Chamber Orchestra of Boston, the Nashua Symphony Association in Nashua, N.H., the Wallingford Symphony, and the Waterbury Symphony Orchestras in Connecticut. She was a member of the Executive Board of the Naugatuck Valley Youth Symphony and the Greater New Haven Youth Orchestras, and also served as the Marketing Director for Neighborhood Music School in New Haven.

During her presentation, Kathy described The Circle Program clientele as disadvantaged girls between 5th and 12th grade who are generally from broken homes, in poverty, with a single parent or grand-parents as the primary care-giver. These girls need a positive role model to succeed and this program provides that.

The Circle Program pairs a mentor and a girl and includes a 3-week summer camp. A school official refers girls into the program, generally, with the goal of providing opportunity to girls with a potential to succeed, but lacking opportunity or resources. The program goal is to have these girls graduate from high school with a plan which will also result in breaking the cycle of poverty.

The Circle Program currently exists in 29 New Hampshire towns, of which one third of the girls come from the Gilford/Laconia area. Costs are just under $6,000 per year, per child. This program has over 100 mentors and is doing wonderful things in our region.

For more information on The Circle Program, “click” here.

L to R: Circle Program Executive Director Kathy Kearns and Laconia Kiwanis Club President John Walker
Photo by W. Stephen Loughlin

Meeting adjourned at 7:38 p.m.

Tech savvy Roger Webster submits his Uber trip request for his ride back to the Taylor Community.
Photo by W. Stephen Loughlin

On April 11th, Izzy Brake, our newest member, was interviewed on the Nazzy and Mya in the Morning radio program on WLNH regarding the upcoming Laconia Fest. Laconia Fest is a nine-day musical festival that will be held during Motorcycle Week running from June 11 to June 19th.

To hear the interview with Izzy, which includes details of the event, “click” here.

Monday - April 25th - Venue: 405 Pub & Grill - 405 Union Ave., Laconia
Club Meeting -

Monday - May 9th - Venue: TBA
Club Meeting - Guest Speaker - Jim Nute, Executive Director, The Mayhew Program

Saturday - May 21st - Venue: Opechee Park Parking Lot
Bike Rodeo

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Kiwanis Chronicle is publication of the Kiwanis Club of Laconia, P.O. Box 757, Laconia, NH 03247-0757.
We meet the second and fourth Monday at 6:15 p.m
Please call your President or Secretary about any member or family member in case of illness. Email: John Walker or Steve Loughlin

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