Attendance: 17
13 members and 4 guests

Invocation:
Meredith Horton

Guests:
Rebecca Sims - guest speaker
Muff Walker- guest of John Walker
Emilie Maddocks - Key Club Vice President
Chris Ulrich - Key Club Co-Advisor

Rebecca Sims			Muff Walker		Emilie Maddocks		Chris Ulrich

Welcome Back:
Brian Winslow - Past President emeritus

News From The President:
President Jack first welcomed our four guests. He then announced that Key Club Vice President Emilie Maddocks reported on an upcoming event this weekend and volunteer help is needed from the Kiwanis Club. On Saturday, from 12-2, there will be a celebration of the life of the late Lily Johnson who was killed last April. The event will take place at the boat ramp on Messer Street on the east side of the bridge. Volunteers are asked to meet at the Middle School at 10:30 and then walk to the event staging area to help with set-up. If you can bring baked goods that would be appreciated as well. Anyone with questions may contact Key Club Co-Advisor Chris Ulrich at 603-856-3284.

Jack announced a new Nominating Committee for next year’s officers consisting of Brian Winslow, Chair; Phil Bonafide; Joe Adrignola; and Scott Laurent. (Subsequent to the meeting, it was announced that Steve Loughlin, not Phil Bonafide, would be on the committee.)

Jack reported on two additional dates to remember: May 17th for the bicycle rodeo/safety day and HR Derby, which is tentatively set for June 8th.

News From The Members:
Brian Winslow took the floor to inform the club that at our next meeting, April 28th, the new slate of officers and directors will be presented and, if approved, voted on at the Annual Meeting May 12th. While having the floor, Brian also announced our “gaming” take from the Loudon track was a net of just over $6,200. He also noted he will again be chairing Bike Week water sales on the boardwalk again this year.

Meredith Horton updated the club as to the planning for the Bicycle Rodeo/Safety Day. The Marine Patrol, Laconia Fire Department and Laconia Police Department will be represented as well as LRGHealthcare and maybe even Smoky the Bear.

Kathy Calvin reported the next Kiwanis KARES is scheduled for Monday, April 28th at Elm Street School from 9:30 to 10:30. Also, the Kiwanis Club recently donated $50 to Literacy Day at Woodland Heights School for the purchase of books for that event. Kathy was thrilled that one of those books, The True Story of Smokey the Bear was the same book she grew up with in the 1960’s.

Kathy Calvin shows off one of her childhood books.
Photo by W. Stephen Loughlin

50 50:
None this week.

Food Pantry/Free Meal:
$62 was collected. Roger Webster won the free meal.

Happy Dollars:

$1 from Roger Webster for President Jack recently bowling a perfect game
$3 from Jack Batchelder: $1 for Roger Webster mentioning the article in The Weirs Times about him bowling a perfect game (See story at the bottom of this page), $1 for Scott Laurent filling in for him at the last meeting, and $1 for Scott filling in for him at the next meeting while he gets a chance to go watch his daughter, Samantha, play ball in Kansas.
$2 from Bill Gile: $1 for Rebecca being our guest speaker and $1 for being able to golf after work today
$5 from Joe Adrignola in celebration of being able to donate $1 less than he would have lost if the 50-50 raffle had been held
$3 from Brian Winslow: $1 for being back, $1 for a successful event this past weekend that netted Central New Hampshire VNA & Hospice $10,000, and $1 for President Jack loaning him a hot-dog steamer for the weekend event
$2 from John Walker: $1 for his wife, Muff, joining him at tonight’s Kiwanis meeting and $1 for Rebecca Sims being our guest speaker
$1 from Meredith Horton for the Key Club being represented tonight
$1 from Chris Ulrich in appreciation of the work Key Club VP Emilie Maddocks has done in preparation for this weekend’s event honoring Lily Johnson
$2 from Roger Webster and an additional dollar for a reason he could not remember why he was happy
$1 from Phil Bonafide because Roger had forgotten that he already gave a dollar

Fines:
After careful deliberation, Sgt.-At- Arms Phil Bonafide chose to waive the fine that Kevin Irish deserved for a late arrival. Upon further review, he realized that Kevin was merely standing outside the entry door until we finished murdering  “God Bless America.”  Don, we sure do miss you!

Guest Speaker:

Betty Ballantyne introduced our guest speaker, Rebecca Sims. Rebecca is an educator at Laconia Middle School where she is presently the Mentoring Coordinator of the Mentoring Together program, which is now in its third year.

The Mentoring Together program was born out of Better Together, and provides the “community” a piece to the school-family-community dynamic. Rebecca described the program overall, described what the middle school kids are dealing with at this stage of their lives, and talked of how rewarding this program is not only for the kids but the mentors as well.

Rebecca reported that over 56% of the children in the five Laconia public schools qualify for free and reduced price lunches and that many of these children come from homes with either no parents, one parent, or two parents working. This results in children have many hours of being alone. All this comes at a time of significant physical and emotional change.

In the Q&A following the program, the Club learned that the Mentoring Together program entails just one hour per week during school. There are no holiday weeks, no summer months, and no cost to the mentors other than their time. This includes: active listening time, role model time, but not fix-it time.

Rebecca noted many children involved in this program are stuck in generational poverty and 70% of them will never escape it. Mentors have an opportunity to change a child’s life. Anyone interested in becoming a Mentor can contact Rebecca at her email address: rsims@laconiaschools.org. A training hour will then be scheduled followed by a meeting with the SAU HR Director and an application and fingerprinting. A background check is done on all mentors just like any school employee.

For more information on the Mentoring Together program, “click” here.

Betty Ballantyne congratulates Rebecca Sims for her presentation.
Photo by W. Stephen Loughlin

Tonight's meeting was adjourned at 7:52 p.m.

IN THE NEWS:

Jack Batchelder and his 300 perfect game was featured in the 4/10/14 edition of in The Weirs Times. To read that story, "click" below:

The Weirs Times: pdf version
The Weirs Times: jpg version

Kiwanis K.A.R.E.S was featured in the 3/29/14 edition of The Laconia Daily Sun. To read that story, "click" here.

Monday - April 28th
Club Meeting - Guest Speakers: Brenda Kean, Executive Director and Warren Huse, Treasurer of the Laconia Historical & Museum - Topic: Downtown Laconia Urban Renewal

Monday - May 12th
Club Meeting - Guest Speaker: Meghan Noyes, Program Director, Greater Lakes Child Advocacey Center
Board of Directors Meeting will follow

Saturday - May 17th
Bike Rodeo - Opechee Park

WANT MAIL?
If you are not on the Kiwanis Bulletin e-mail list (and would like to be) please give Steve Loughlin your e-mail address. Also, if you are reading this bulletin and are not presently on the mailing list (and would like to be), “click” here.

"Click" here to get back to the top of the page.

Kiwanis Kronikle 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. at the Pheasant Ridge Country Club, Country Club Road, Gilford
Please call your President or Secretary about any member or family member in case of illness. Email: Roger Landry or Steve Loughlin

CLICK BELOW TO VISIT OUR FINE PATRONS