President Mark opened the meeting at the meeting site: Holiday Inn Express of Brattleboro, VT. Mark welcomed all to the July 2, 2026 meeting of the Brattleboro Rotary Club,www.brattlebororotaryclub.org

Invocation:

Offered by Cheri Ann - gave the invocation which celebrated the country’s 250th anniversary and noted both uplifting and discouraging parts of our history.

President-elect Mark - previously led club with the Pledge of Allegiance

Mara led the club with the Rotary motto and Four Way Test.

Rotary Motto: Service Above Self

Four Way Test -

Is it the TRUTH? Is it FAIR to all concerned? Will it build GOODWILL and BETTER FRIENDSHIPS? Will it be BENEFICIAL to all concerned?

25 Members, 0 Student Rotarians and 3 guest attended the meeting.

Guests:

Mike Wagner of New Hampshire was a guest of Tom; Lily Charkey was a guest of Ted Kramer; Dave Neumeister, former Rotarian, was a guest of Roger and also our speaker.

JOKE OF THE WEEK - For our joke or song of the week:

Jokes were shared by

George Weir who made fun of a “Senator Jones” who inspired voters to be undecided.

EDITOR NOTE: 2025-26 weekly assignments are posted on the club website.

Rotarians for Rotarians:

No concerns were raised and it appears all are good for the holiday week. President Mark encouraged everybody to stay hydrated given the impending heat wave.

New Members:

ROTARY MINUTE

Nina presented a Rotary minute to the group. This was a tribute to our Rotary club. She joked she was coerced into joining by Gina, but has found it to be very rewarding. She particularly enjoys the service orientation of the club and all the good work we do.

Note for future presenters; The Rotary Minute could also have the speaker talk about their personal involvement in Rotary or personal background.

Years of Service in our Club

10 for Gina Pattison

On Behalf of our Club and all Rotarians, thank you for your Service Above Self

Student Rotarian updates:

Birthday greetings -

BIRTHDAY ANNOUNCEMENTS Cindy-

Announcements

Ted announced that the membership committee would be meeting after the lunch meeting this date.

Happy Dollars and Brags and Fines

Tammy bragged for a trip to France which was for a 50th wedding anniversary of a family member. A large group joined in the trip and it was very memorable. George bragged for his wife Joan and her participation and stellar performance in a tennis tournament in Canada. Roger bragged for his wife in recognition of her 80th birthday. Cindy F. bragged for 40 years of happiness and togetherness with her husband.
Bill bragged for his grandson who recently graduated from Harvard, and for his granddaughter who recently got married. President Mark bragged for a recent round of golf in which he beat golf-mate Rob Pattison.

ED NOTE: Weekly assignments for the invocation or motivational thought can be found on the club website.>

UPCOMING PROGRAMS

Jim announced the upcoming programs as follows:

Next week is still to be determined. The following week Rich Carroll will talk about Sitting Bull. The week after that, Patty Whalen will speak to us.

REMINDERS

Please bring your bottles and cans to the Putney Road redemption center to benefit APPN. Pure Water for the World is no longer operating in the USA; it continues in Honduras as APPN.
Maria Inestroza, the PWW country director for Honduras is continuing the work in that country under the name APPM, acronym for Agua Pura para El Mundo, or Pure Water for the World in Spanish Pure Water for the World. Please remember to inform the staff that the bottles and cans should be credited to the club.
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PROGRAM

Roger introduced Dave Neumeister who spoke about Windham Aging. This local group has been in existence for four years. It acquires and organizes information concerning the aging population in our area and the various services that are available to seniors. Dave and other Rotarians and members of the Thompson House Board got the Windham Aging program going. There is no real counterpart in other areas of the State. They obtain information from State of Vermont agency representatives, and groups such as Senior Solutions and BMH. The Windham Aging group is not a service provider but is geared toward information analysis, education and advocacy. Windham Aging has a budget of $110,000 per year. The Thompson Trust funds about half of that budget. They have a director and grant writer. Their goal is to achieve better outcomes for seniors in our area by the year 2040. The percentage of Windham County residents over 60 who see a primary care physician each year is only 17%. The group wants to get that number up to 70% by the year 2040. Those interested in the work this group is doing should contact Dave or Roger.

Scribe: John

DISCLAIMER

Weekly changing scribes and questionable IT may have resulted in oversights and errors. We regret any mistakes.