Tag Archives: Laconia Rotary Club

I Quit ‘Rotary’ Today Because My Religious Beliefs Preclude Me From Belonging To A Religious Organization.

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by Anura Guruge
on October 4, 2023

Click to ENLARGE.

The God-centric ‘Rotary Prayer’ that my ex-club was trying to get me to comply with!

Click to ENLARGE. Two versions of God-centric Rotary prayers. (Google for more).
Click to ENLARGE. Link to ‘The Washington Post’ original.

‘Rotary International‘ is said to be NON-RELIGIOUS.

Up until now, i.e., August 2023, religious prayers were NEVER an issue at the Laconia Rotary Club — where I WAS a member as of TODAY.

All of the Rotary Presidents I have had the honor of serving under, until now, understood & appreciated the NON-RELIGIOUS aspect of Rotary.

Not so now. The new leadership (as of July 2023), under the cunning influence of a Club Elder, has started to use the God prayer. The Club Elder had the AUDACITY to have LAMINATED card printed with that prayer! This is 2023.

I really STRUGGLED over this.

Very unlike I, who prefers not to mull too much about decisions & actions, I wrestled with this for weeks.

I finally decided that I cannot …

Just cannot.

NO, I WOULD NOT ask for the Club to rethink its stance. I strongly believe in majority-rule & democracy. I THINK I am the ONLY non-Christian in the Club. Yes, some may not be practising Christians now, but I think they were all born Christian. I can’t think of any that may be Judaic. I am also the ONLY NON-WHITE. The bulk of the Club is made of up retired males. They don’t have to change their ways for I. I would NEVER expect us.

This is why Darwin gave me LEGS. I can walk out — & I will. SMILE.

Won A Bronze Medal At The ‘Dragon Boat Races’ — We Won ALL Three Races!

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by Anura Guruge
on September 23, 2023

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With two of my teammates. The guy in the hat, with a full beard, was my seat-mate. We were the BACK ROW.

It was a BLAST. So glad I did it. We had so much fun.

Our boat, with 16 paddlers, 1 steerer & 1 drummer took part in 3 races. We WON ALL THREE! That was pretty amazing given that this was an ad hoc, scratch team. We had never practiced. together.

We had 4 Jamaicans on our team. One was with me on the back row. We had fun.

This was good.

Glad we did it.

Link to more details.

I heard about this EXCITING event — right up my alley — last year, BUT it was too late to get a spot on a boat.

Not so, this year. Furthermore, THE ORGANIZER, ‘Pat Anderson‘, is a senior member of the ‘Laconia Rotary Club‘ — my club. So, it was EASY. I was on her boat.

‘Lake Winnipesaukee’ ‘Dragon Boat Festival 2023’ Is This Saturday — & I Am On One Of The Boats!

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by Anura Guruge
on September 19, 2023

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Link to more details.

I heard about this EXCITING event — right up my alley — last year, BUT it was too late to get a spot on a boat.

Not so, this year. Furthermore, THE ORGANIZER, ‘Pat Anderson‘, is a senior member of the ‘Laconia Rotary Club‘ — my club. So, it was EASY. I am on her boat.

This should be fun. I am excited. Yes, I plan to take a few pictures.

Maybe some of you could try & attend. Hope to see you there.

God-Centric ‘Rotary Prayer’ That I Cannot Abide.

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by Anura Guruge
on August 26, 2023

Click to ENLARGE. Two versions of God-centric Rotary prayers. (Google for more).
Click to ENLARGE. Link to ‘The Washington Post’ original.

‘Rotary International‘ is said to be NON-RELIGIOUS.

I also appreciate that the God-centric prayers, still referred to by SOME as ‘Rotary Prayers‘, are from way back — having their roots in the 1920s.

Up until now, i.e., August 2023, religious prayers were NEVER an issue at the Laconia Rotary Club — where I am currently a member of.

All of the Rotary Presidents I have had the honor of serving under, until now, understood & appreciated the NON-RELIGIOUS aspect of Rotary.

Not so now. The new leadership (as of July 2023), under the cunning influence of a Club Elder, has started to use the God prayer. The Club Elder had the AUDACITY to have LAMINATED card printed with that prayer! This is 2023.

I have ONLY been to ONE meeting where I was subjected to this prayer. I WAS STUNNED. So stunned that I was not quick enough to walk out. Well I have had plenty of time to reflect on it. As I have told a number of other members the NEXT TIME I am at a meeting where this prayer is invoked I WILL WALK OUT — & it will be my last meeting. My days at Rotary are numbered anyway. Very unlikely that I will be a Rotarian in 2024 — & IF I AM, it certainly will not be at this Club that is RAMMING GOD down my throat.

NO, I will NOT ask for the Club to rethink its stance. I strongly believe in majority-rule & democracy. I THINK I am the ONLY non-Christian in the Club. Yes, some may not be practising Christians now, but I think they were all born Christian. I can’t think of any that may be Judaic. I am also the ONLY NON-WHITE. The bulk of the Club is made of up retired males. They don’t have to change their ways for I. I would NEVER expect us.

This is why Darwin gave me LEGS. I can walk out — & I will. SMILE.

I lucked out this week. We had a temporary leader. He knew that I was all set to walk out. So, he, very astutely & KINDLY, did a ‘minute of contemplation’. That was VERY COOL & I am very grateful for his gracious act (so much so that I treated him to lunch).

Smile. Well some of you know my feelings about prayer — never mind God.

‘Laconia Rotary Club’ Post For August 3, 2023 — Club Matters Under The New Leadership.

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by Anura Guruge
on August 3, 2023

Click on images to ENLARGE.

The new commanding Colonel-at-Arms doing a good job holding one of the walls up.

I missed a few weeks (e.g., last week because of ‘Tall Ships), so this was my first meeting under the new, dynamic leadership of Paula P. & Jason P. It was a good, fun, productive meeting with 17 members (but no guests or visitors) in attendance. Paula provided sandwiches, chips & drinks (from Hannaford) for those that wished to partake & most did. It was good.

There was no program scheduled for the meeting. It was going to be a ‘Club Meeting’ & it truly was. We had received three Thank You notes & they were read out. That was much appreciated.

We discussed a wide range of pertinent matters such as: forthcoming programs (ably led by our new member, Gail), membership, club Website, club Facebook page (& advertising on it), membership status, membership drives, Band Stand & Dragon Boats. As expected we ran out of time & barely managed to squeeze in the all-important raffle. Alas, to his intense chagrin, The Chief did not have the winning ticket (most likely because his usual partner in these shenanigan’s was off to the races (no doubt making out like a bandit)). Given the late hour, some attendees had already left ahead of the raffle. The raffle was supposedly won, in absentia, by John P — but the Colonel-in-Arms held on to the winnings (which he probably will invest for the week in a 5% U.S. Treasury (so that John will get even more).

That was it, as far as I could remember. Good gathering. Great spirit.

‘Laconia Rotary Club’ Post For June 22, 2023 — With ‘Old Man Of The Mountain Presentation’.

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by Anura Guruge
on June 22, 2023

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This was our first meeting after what had proved to be our BUMPER ‘Bike Week Raffle’. It was well attended (i.e., 18 members) & everyone was in high spirits (though we (alas) lacked any bubbly to toast our success). I won’t divulge exactly how much we made, though it is said to be the ALL TIME RECORD & we sold over 4,000 tickets. (You can do the math.)

There was an announcement about the ‘Rod Dyer‘ recognition event, in ‘Laconia’, next week. We were also informed, to everyone’s delight, that our indefatigable treasurer had worked behind the scenes to ensure that 94-year old Navy vet, who came & spoke to us in March, ‘Norm Sanborn‘, was awarded an honorary High School diploma — which he did not get because he was too busy serving the country during WW II. That was well received.

The winner of this week’s raffle (for the 2nd time this year (if I am NOT mistaken)) just happened to be Rod Dyer, Esq. Though he picked TWO cards from the pack he, alas, was not able to locate the ACE. (The Chief has probably appropriated the Ace already for his next win (most likely next week).)

Today’s eagerly anticipated program was “The Old Man: His Life Legacy” by ‘Prof. Inez McDermott‘. The ‘Old Man’ in this case being our ex-Man of the Mountain as opposed to our ‘Chief’ (who did attend). She is the curator of the “An Enduring Presence: The Old Man of the Mountain” exhibit at the ‘Museum of White Mountains‘ in ‘Plymouth’. He was very informative & she regaled us with a fascinating collection of old pictures & tales about the ‘Profile Hotel’ that used to be there. Excellent.

Just for the record we did NOT receive any strawberry shortcakes from ‘THE BAKERY’. Maybe next week.

Here are two pictures of LAST YEAR’s (i.e., 2022) raffle winner visiting our booth last Saturday.

Doing My Shift, Selling Raffle Tickets For ‘Laconia Rotary’ At ‘Bike Week 2023’.

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by Anura Guruge
on June 17, 2023

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The annual Bike Raffle is our, i.e., “Laconia Rotary Club’s“, largest fundraiser.

During my prior life with them, 23-years ago, this was the part I loved the most — i.e., selling tickets at Bike Week. This was the reason I rejoined.

I was only able to do 2 shifts this year: Friday evening & Saturday afternoon.

This picture was from Friday evening just as I was starting my 4-hour shift.

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‘Laconia Rotary Club’ — Setting Up Our Stall, At ‘The Weirs’ For ‘Bike Week’, To Sell Our Lottery Tickets.

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by Anura Guruge
on June 8, 2023

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Our regular Thursday meeting, today, was at ‘Weirs’ — setting up our stall. About a dozen members & the 16 year old son of a member showed up to help. It was like a well oiled machine. Bang, bang, bang & it was all done. [Some were impressed & a bit bewildered that I carry a sledgehammer with me. But, it did come in handy.]

The bike was proudly on display. The stall will be in action as of this Saturday. I won’t be able to make it till the end of the week since I am going to be in Vermont earlier in the week. I ambled the Weirs, twice, taking in the sights. I like Bike Week. Used to spend a lot of time there when I lived in ‘Gilford‘. [Oh, THE CHIEF took two of us to show us where the car parking is. That was good.]

‘Laconia Rotary Club’ — Where We Appreciate That There Can Never Be Service Without Just Desserts.

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by Anura Guruge
on May 27, 2023

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Other Rotary clubs do posts about their projects, meetings, events, fundraisers, etc. Not us. We have our priorities right & know what is most important to the membership — baked goods, pastries & desserts. We appreciate that you are can’t even think about service unless you have loaded up on carbs.

Oh, just in case you are wondering we are NOT into ad. revenue. That is too complicated. Maybe bukshee.

‘Laconia Rotary Club’ Post For April 13, 2023.

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by Anura Guruge
on April 13, 2023

Click image to PUBLIC ‘Facebook’ post with photos.

I post on Facebook first as that is what I have been instructed to do. But, I also want to make sure that you have visibility too. Well, now you have. SMILE.

Here is the text from the Facebook post, just in case:

Thursday, April 13, 2023 Laconia Rotary Club meeting @ the Belknap Mill. It was a packed (16 club members) & ebullient – thanks to a tremendously upbeat & uplifting presentation by Bob Bolduc of the eponymous ‘Bolduc Park’ (https://www.bolducpark.com/). It was quite the program (infinitely better than last week’s). Bob rocked. Bolduc Park has been providing stellar service to NH kids, especially the disadvantaged.
I don’t have the words, space or the time to go into details — so please check their Website.
It was an honor to listen to Bob talking about all the great things that have happened in & around the Park. Bob was accompanied by his wife & the Park’s Director of Marketing, Gail, who also did a short, but punchy presentation. Paula did another update on the motorcycle raffle & Nick assured us that it is ‘OK’ for us members to by tickets for family members. Gary Dionne, the CEO (where the ‘E’ stands for ‘entertainment’), yet again (at his own expense) provided 4 scratch tickets to augment the raffle. The Sgt. At Arms won the raffle (& since Warren was AWOL none was brave enough to question the legality of that). The CEO also won one of his own scratch tickets – but he didn’t tell us if he won any big bucks. There were a LOT of happy $$$s. Paula, yet again, had won an award & a lot of kids & grandkids (as expected by the Club) had excelled in various endeavors. The ‘New Guy’ (whose name I can never recall) did a happy $1 for some pagan holiday, BUT also noted that it was Chief Warren’s 50th Wedding Anniversary. He, however, did NOT part with a $1! Instead, he submitted an IOU … which will, someday, makes its way to Warren. Good meeting. Bolduc Park is looking for volunteers. Check out the pictures.