Tag Archives: Rotary

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

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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.

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’ 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.

‘Laconia Rotary Club’ Post For April 6, 2023.

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by Anura Guruge
on April 6, 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:

Laconia Rotary Club weekly meeting, Thursday, April 6, 2023 (at the historic Mill). It was well well attended. At least 16 club members, & one august guest, a Commercial Loan Officer from ‘Meredith Village Saving Bank’ (MVSB). Haven’t seen this many of us at a meeting in many a week — especially given that we had no external guest speaker. The presentation if you could call it that was some ad hoc, provocative ‘comments’ from one of our (supposed) club members. He is new. I always have trouble with his name. It is not, alas, ‘local’. We keep on calling him the ‘new guy’. That was him. He talked about Fat Buddhas, meditation & something to do with reincarnation. There was also some talk about ‘Deadbeat dads’! From what I could see he caused some consternation when he started talking about some mischief he used to get up with monkeys! Hhhmm. But, it was a good meeting. People seem to leave with a smile on their face. The CEOE, Gary Dionne was MIA. John Irving won the raffle & pulled an ACE. He got some money & appeared to be happy though I think that Chief Warren Clement is still holding onto all of the IOUs & adding 8% a week usury to them. So, that was that. I wish I knew the name of that guy who did the presentation. Never mind. I just hope his monkey is OK.

My Son’s Rather Extensive ‘Titanic’ Memorabilia Collection (Or At Least Most Of It).

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by Anura Guruge
on April 1, 2023

Click images to ENLARGE.

I built & painted this ‘Airfix’ model for him 22+ years ago. Couldn’t do it now.

My son, the entrepreneur, will turn 31 next month. Starting about when he was three (maybe a tad earlier) and extending into his early teens he was totally obsessed with shipwrecks. Shipwrecks just intrigued & fascinated him. Then, when he was 5, as if on order, the iconic 1997 ‘Titanic’ movie came out. There was no holding him back after that. Yes, of course, we took him to see it & for a short while, we, but mainly his sister who is 3-years older, tried to protect him from seeing what happened inside the steamed-up car. Of course, we had to get him the DVD. He would watch it MULTIPLE times a day.

With my help & encouragement he amassed quite the collection of Titanic ‘stuff’. What I show above is not the entire collection. Some we got rid off — like a fairly big wooden replica LIFEBOAT on a davit. It had to be wall mounted & it demanded SOME space. Sold that on eBay I think (& we did good (if my memory is right)).

I took these pictures for a friend in Rotary who is also a BIG Titanic buff. In his case, his great-aunt & her four young kids were ON BOARD the Titanic, 3rd Class, & never made it!

I Have Done A Couple Of ‘Laconia Rotary Club’ Posts On ‘Facebook’ — IF You Are Interested.

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by Anura Guruge
on April 1, 2023

Click image to PUBLIC ‘Facebook’ post with photos.
Click image to PUBLIC ‘Facebook’ post with photos.

I am doing these for a Facebook audience, so it made sense to do it directly there rather than doing it on this blog & then putting a link to it on Facebook. Many on Facebook (as some of you may know) cannot deal with that!

But, I realized that for posterity I should have these posts on this blog too. Hence this post.

You can also find these posts on the ‘Laconia Rotary‘ Facebook page. OK?

COOL? Thanks. Enjoy.

FIRST Flowers Of 2023 In Central New Hampshire.

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by Anura Guruge
on March 30, 2023

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Saw these today, resplendent in all their glory, next to the ‘Congregation Church‘ in ‘Laconia‘ during my regular Thursday visit for ‘Rotary‘.

I was NOT expecting to see blooms such as these today. We still have a lot of snow on the ground. I think these benefited by the HUGE amount of stone that makes up the church. The stone captures heat.

Yes, we are at least 2 weeks behind in terms of flowers. Our shoots are just coming out. So, this was a sight for sore eyes.

I wanted to share with YOU. Enjoy. Rest assured, I will be posting a lot more pictures of flowers in the months to come. SMILE. I like flowers.

Our yard, two days ago.