February 2010
Newsletter
www.hooksettkiwanis.org
Hooksett NH
website: www.hooksettkiwanis.org
“Serving the Children of the World”
www.hooksettkiwanis.org
President Frank’s Message
Ongoing news accounts of the recent earthquakes in
Haiti is heart wrenching. It causes me to think
about just how fortunate
we are to be members of
an organization that cares
about people. The loss of
life in Haiti has already
surpassed 200,000 people.
That
is
about
the
combined population of
Manchester and Nashua.
The extent of physical
damage to buildings and
infrastructure is beyond anyone’s imagination.
Survivors are without food, water and shelter.
People are maimed and missing. Significant help is
needed if they are ever to recover any sense of
normalcy in their lives. By now you are probably
asking yourself what does this have to do with
Kiwanis? Kiwanis International has already
responded by providing a major grant to UNICEF
which will help to address current and future needs
in Haiti. Our International Foundation is now
appealing to Kiwanians around the world to assist
in the recovery effort. Each of us is urged to help.
If you are able to do so, you may send a
contribution to: Kiwanis International Foundation,
Haiti Relief fund, 3636 Woodview Trace,
Indianapolis, Indiana, 46268. THANK YOU!
Welcome New Members
At its meeting on January 26, the Kiwanis Board
approved two new membership applications. Please
join us in welcoming:
Lisa Mudge sponsored by Ron Dion. Although
Lisa has been an honorary member for some time,
she recently applied for regular membership. Lisa
and her husband Jack own Mudge Real Estate in
Hooksett. She is resuming chairmanship of the
Kiwanis Kids Kloset.
Judy Breen sponsored by Fred Bishop. Judy was a
charter member of Hooksett Kiwanis when it was
organized in September 2000. She has returned to
the area and currently works as Business
Development Manager at St. Mary’s Bank on
Hanover St. in Manchester.
Schedule of Upcoming Club Meetings:
February 3, 2010 at 6:00PM in the Penman Room
at SNHU. Our speaker will be John Clayton from
the Union Leader. He will also do a signing for his
new book, Remembering Manchester.
February 17, 2010 at 6:00PM in the Penman Room
at SNHU. Our speaker will be Richard Albert from
John Hancock. Mr. Albert will speak about Health
Care Reform.
March 3, 2010 at 6:00PM in the Penman Room at
SNHU. Our speaker will be Kenneth Baron from
the Social Security Administration.
Member Birthdays in February
Ten members celebrate birthdays in February, a
large number for a short month. Also 4 members
share birthdays with others. Those celebrating are
Saggy Tahir 6th, Gary Tanguay 10th, Judy Breen
12th, Alan Stein 20th, Sue Kunkel 21st, Todd Rainier
21st, Tom Young 25th, Jean LaBonville 26th, Vivian
Kotowski 27th, and Mike Williams 27th.
Central High Key Club by Zach Hrynowski
January always seems to be the
calmest of months for the Central
Key Club. Between midterm
exams, winter sports, and the
general craziness that the end of a
semester brings, there is no true
“service event” during this
month; however, it is far from an
1
idle thirty days as planning meetings were plentiful.
officers for next year. We explained how you need
to write a speech and read it out loud to the whole
club members. We also explained how you need to
be ready and make sure you’re responsible. Then
more members passed in their logs. Our logs are
very important. It’s a sheet of paper and has three
columns which include what activity you did, how
long you did it for and the adult or supervisor
signature that was with you. It was a good meeting,
we got a lot done! Until next time!
Editor’s note: Builders Club members Delaney
Roche, Jessica
Wight
and
Sarah Plourde
addressed
Kiwanis at our
meeting
on
January 20
The event with the closest proximity is the
February Ski-A-Thon. 150 students, both members
of the club and otherwise, will head to Crotched
Mountain on Valentine’s Day weekend for an
overnight ski trip. After leaving Central High
School on the 13th, the buses plan to arrive in time
to kick off the skiing at about 5pm, and the party
will continue through the night until the lifts close
at 3am on the 14th. There is, of course, a catch:
each member attending is obligated to raise a
minimum of $50 in pledge money to attend the trip
and receive a lift ticket. All pledge money will be
donated to Crotched Mountain Adaptive Ride and
Ski, or CMARS. This program was established to
assist mentally and physically handicapped people
to learn to ski. Last year, the Central Key Club
raised over $5,000 for CMARS, and is hoping to
eclipse that total this year.
Ray Prouty Honored.
Twenty-two Hooksett Kiwanis members attended
Ray Prouty’s induction into the SNHU Athletic
Additionally, planning continued for the upcoming
District Educational Conference in Springfield,
which will take place April 3rd - 5th. Recent
developments include talent auditions for a chance
to represent the club at the conference, as well as
the commencement of fundraising. While the club
plans on sending the maximum 20 delegates, spots
are filling up fast. This is partly because the club
has to reserve slots for potential new board
members. With elections quickly approaching, and
at least three spots on the board being vacated,
opportunities abound for would-be candidates.
With an all-time high in membership, the races are
sure to be as heated as ever.
Editor’s note: The Key Club held its talent
auditions on January 27 in
Classical Hall at Central. A
dozen Key Club members
competed
with
Michi
Tassey (see photo) winning
by a very close margin.
Michi composed both the
words and music for her number
Hall of Fame at SNHU on January 16. Ray was
inducted into this prestigious group along with four
other standout alumni. Ray’s association with
SNHU began as a freshman in 1973. A baseball and
soccer standout, he was the SNHU Male Athlete of
the Year in 1975. Following graduation Ray was
named Athletic Business Manager. He later became
Assistant Athletic Director and Associate Athletic
Director. During this time, Ray served as head
softball coach for six seasons, compiling an 81-73
record and leading the Penman to a pair of NCAC
Tournament berths. Dr. George Larkin, former vice
president of Student Affairs spoke first. He
described Ray as a reliable, dedicated professional
and community leader. Athletically, he was a great
soccer and baseball player at SNHU. SNHU longterm basketball coach Stan Spirou spoke next in his
usual colorful style. Spirou humorously described
his challenging experience in getting Ray to
approve his “stuff” when he first arrived as coach at
SNHU. He described Ray’s qualities as loyal, hard
working, confident, and someone who knew
everything at SNHU. He also stated that there was
not a finer person in the room. He joked that Ray
Builders Club by Jessica Wight, VP
Hello everyone, this month has
been a great month for builders
club. On January 5, we had the
Red Cross blood drive and had a
great turn out. Thank you to
everyone who helped out, we all
appreciated it. Builders Club just
had a meeting and talked about
2
typically worked only a half day…… only 12
hours!
Irene frequently brings donated clothing home to
wash. In accepting the award, Irene stated that
Vivian Kotowski also deserved the award as they
work closely together to ensure an efficient and
client-focused operation.
In accepting his induction, Ray spoke in his usual
humble style. He began by congratulating his fellow
inductees. Ray thanked his wife Terry (who
preceded Ray into the Hall of Fame in 1997) his
family and the many Kiwanis members for
attending. He related that SNHU has been his only
employer, often working 70-80 hours a week
including most weekends. He joked that he still
serves the Athletic Department as an unpaid
consultant! Following his brief remarks, Ray was
honored with a standing ovation. Congratulations
Ray. We in Hooksett Kiwanis are very proud of
you.
Hooksett Community Food Pantry
The Community Food pantry had an outstanding
year in 2009. As the table below illustrates, it
provided over 40,000 meals to 662 households. The
vast majority were in Hooksett. Over 40 volunteers
work monthly at the Pantry. Numerous cash and
food contributions were received during the holiday
season. The challenge for us will be to maintain this
level of giving throughout the year. Hunger does
not cease with the close of the holiday season.
Town
Hooksett
Allenstown
Pembroke
Manchester
Auburn *
Suncook *
Total
Households
596
35
9
17
3
2
662
People
Served
1,562
111
12
31
6
8
1,730
Meals
36,111
1,430
394
363
133
66
38,497
Elderly
Children
102
5
5
1
291
4
2
4
113
301
Member of the Month for December 2009
At the Kiwanis meeting on January 20, President
Frank
Kotowski
presented
the
Kiwanis Member of
the Month Award to
Irene
Dion.
In
presenting the award,
Frank shared how
Irene kept the Kloset
going during a time
of a void in the
committee
chairmanship. He
cited that unlike
other
volunteers,
January Kiwanis Club Meetings.
At the Club meeting on January 6, Key Club
members spoke about their recent projects. Alex
Solimanto talked about 16 members caroling and
visiting with
50
elderly
residents of
St. Theresa’s
Manor. Key
Club
members
also
gave
manicures
and played
Wii with the residents. Several residents noted that
they could tell that the Key Club members were
there not because they were required to be there for
community service hours, but because they wanted
to be there. Other Key Club members talked about
the Ski-a-thon planned for February 13-14 at
Crotched Mt (many of the Club’s 206 members will
be participating) and the pancake breakfast
Total
Activplanned at Applebee’s in Hooksett on
ities
February 20.
38,662
1,585
422
416
142
76
41,303
Speaker John Xiggoros spoke about the
organization he formed to honor the
memory of his daughter Kristen who died in
1997 of a
rare form of
cancer that
historically
affects only older
men. He described
her
extensive
treatments
including a bone marrow transplant. His daughter’s
cancer started with a rash and progressed to more
serious challenges. Kristen’s Gift is like a mini
version of the Jimmy Fund. The organization has
raised over $1.25 million so far. Proceeds are used
to provide subsidized cancer treatment for children
at the Children’s Hospital at Dartmouth Medical
Center in Lebanon.
On January 20, our speaker was Kim Hanson from
the Hartford Wellington Group. He gave an
3
interesting presentation about the economic
downturn in 2009 and economic outlook for 2010.
At this meeting we also presented our regular
meeting
servers
Nicole
Piaseczny
and Pauline Cormier
with a gift from the
club for the great
service they provide
to us all year.
principals to discuss these awards and encourage
nominations.
Carol Granfield is meeting with Town
Department Heads to explain the program and to
encourage nominations.
Tickets are now available from any of the four
committee members: Debbie Charest 485-3565,
Kathy Dickson 627-9773, Scott Riley 674-3557,
and Dave Dickson 627-9773. The goal is to sell
over 250 tickets to this wonderful event.
Members should return ticket stubs and checks
to one of the four ticket committee members. All
checks are made out to: Hooksett Kiwanis
Foundation. Please note that a full table is 8
people. Tickets are $ 50 each, with $20
representing a charitable contribution to the
Hooksett
Kiwanis
Foundation.
Kiwanis
members selling tickets are asked to please put
their name on the back of the ticket stub.
 The program book committee co-chaired by Ron
Dion and Sid Baines is active selling ads. The
Sponsors committee co-chaired by Ron Girard
and Tim Sweeney has already received a $1,000
sponsorship from Stantec.
Volunteer Opportunities:
Following is a summary of volunteer opportunities
for January:
 Kiwanis Kid’s Kloset: The committee meets 23 times each month to sort donated clothing and
host families seeking clothing for their children.
For volunteer opportunities contact Lisa Mudge
mreappraisals@comcast.net, Irene Dion at
ronald.dion@comcast.net, or Vivian Kotowski
at frkotowski@comcast.net.
 Community Food Pantry: The pantry is open
several times during the month for accepting
donations, stocking food and serving needy
families. Contact Tracy Murphy Roche at
Tracy@MurphyRocheAssociates.com
for
volunteer opportunities.
To be successful, this event will require
involvement by nearly all of the Club’s members.
Community Leaders Recognition Event
Substantial progress has
been made during the
past month on moving
forward
with
our
Community
Leaders
Recognition Event. This
event will be held on
April 10, 2010 in the
new Conference Dining
Center at Southern NH University.
Trails Update
The Trails Committee spent considerable time in
January preparing a grant application to the Trails
Bureau of DRED for $25,000. The grant along with
matching funds and in-kind volunteer help from
Hooksett Kiwanis would be used to grade and
completely resurface the 1.5 mile trail from the
entrance on Route 3 to the end point at the Town
Pond. This trail has a very rough and rocky surface,
making it very difficult to navigate for bike riders,
senior citizens and children. It has a gravel surface
of insufficient depth and also has ponding in the
spring and after significant rain. Our application
was delivered to DRED on January 29.
 The application process and form has been
finalized and placed on a new page on the Club
website.
To
access,
go
to
www.hooksettkiwanis.org and click on the new
“Community Leaders Event” tab on the left hand
side. At the end of the last sentence there is a
link to the application form.
A news release has been forwarded to the Union
Leader and Banner.
Ron Dion met with Superintendant Littlefield to
discuss the Educator and Youth Volunteer
awards. The Superintendent was excited about
these awards and will meet with school
Networking Guidelines by President Frank
I want to provide our members with some guidance
on business networking within Kiwanis. Business
networking is one of the benefits of Kiwanis
membership. Although the desire to market one’s
business generally is not the primary reason most
men and women join Kiwanis, often Kiwanians can
end up doing business with each other. This
generally happens over a period of time as members
get to know each other at Kiwanis meetings and
service projects. Many like to do business with
4
those whom they know and admire. A big “turnoff” can occur, however, when a new member
begins soliciting other members soon after he/she
joins Kiwanis. This happened to Fred Bishop
shortly after he joined Manchester Kiwanis in 1975.
Within a month after joining, he was approached by
a member who tried to “hard sell” him a life
insurance policy. Fred came very close to resigning.
Member Biographies
This month we feature another one of our “Kiwanicouples”, Janet and David Champagne.
David has been a member of Kiwanis for a little
over a year. He is a graduate of Manchester
Memorial High and received secondary education
The same thing can occur if we call upon someone
to make a donation to a Kiwanis project. If this
person is then contacted about doing personal
business with the Kiwanian it can create an
unfavorable image of Kiwanis. I am asking our
members not to mix Kiwanis and personal business
when calling upon individuals and businesses on
behalf of Kiwanis. Our 501c3 Foundation status
carries with it additional restrictions. Following are
two excerpts from an IRS publication:
 Section 501c3 organizations must engage
primarily in activities that accomplish exempt
purposes. An organization that does not do so
jeopardizes its tax exempt status and its eligibility
to receive tax-deductible contributions.
 Section 501c3 organizations may not be used for
the private benefit of any individual, nor may
their earnings inure to the benefit of insiders.
through Manchester Community Technical College
in the area of electronics. Additionally David holds
a level 4 license in industrial waste water
treatment. He has been a dedicated and outstanding
employee of General Electric (Hooksett plant) for
nearly 28 years. A typical day involves trouble
shooting and repairing CNC (computer controlled)
milling machines which are used to manufacture
aircraft engine components. He also has had
extensive training in the area of robotics as it
applies to the automation of the Hooksett
plant. David likes the fact that each day at GE is
different, and not mundane in the least.
In accordance with these requirements, we all
should avoid perceptions by the public of personal
gain from our Kiwanis involvement. Materials
advertising our business, our elected office, or any
entity other than Kiwanis should not be used when
fund raising or when serving the public on behalf of
Kiwanis. These materials include letterhead, note
paper, business cards, novelties, etc. which may be
perceived as non Kiwanis marketing materials.
David also likes to tinker with automobiles...ask
him about the '65 Shelby Cobra he built and the
vintage VW Beetle he plans on building for his
lovely wife (can you tell who wrote this? :) ) He
enjoys snowmobiling, reading, riding the Harley,
and sitting by the pool. Hiking is a favorite past
time, as is camping with his family.
David has two grown sons, Jason (28) and Brian
(26). He is the proud "Papa" of Elizabeth
Champagne, age 2 ½ years. He is also a wonderful
stepfather to daughters Jayne and Erin Kelly.
Kiwanis Business cards are being provided for
those who need them while soliciting funding or
chairing committees that deal with the public. Each
of us should do our best to use only Kiwanis
business cards when acting on behalf of the
Hooksett Kiwanis Foundation and the Kiwanis Club
of Hooksett. If a member does not have a Kiwanis
card, he/she can leave a personal business card for
contact purposes, as long as the intent is not to use
this as an opportunity to solicit personal business.
Your cooperation is appreciated.
David's first REAL job was at Naticook Farm as a
teenager where he worked the fields and harvested
the crops. You may know it now as Passaconaway
Golf course. As a young adult he worked at his
brother’s gas station, and drove a truck hauling bulk
mail for the US Post Office. His proudest
achievement, besides his children, is all of the work
5
he has done on the remodeling of his 1960's home.
Kiwanis Club of Hooksett
 Approved the Treasurer’s Report. As of
December 31, 2009 there was $7,754.58 in the
Administrative account.
 Learned that the Club and Foundation audits
and tax returns are almost ready. Hooksett CPA
Henry Roy is helping us with this at no charge.
Janet Champagne was born and raised in Ipswich,
Massachusetts, where she graduated from Ipswich
High School in 1982. She attended Gordon
College, Northern Essex Community College, and
earned a teaching degree from Notre Dame College
in Manchester, NH. She first worked in the
Manchester School System as a sign language
interpreter for deaf and hard of hearing children for
approximately 5 years. Janet then continued on to
teach special education students in Hooksett for 9
years and has been teaching regular education
(grade 4) for 8 years. She absolutely loves teaching
and the many surprises it brings each day. Making
a difference in the lives of children is something she
just cannot simply put into words. Her areas of
specialty include teaching to different needs and
literacy.
Hooksett Kiwanis Foundation
 Approved the Treasurer’s Report. As of
December 31, 2009 there was $8,835.45 in the
Foundation account and $15,589.10 in the Food
Pantry account.
 Approved donating $1,000 to the Central Pride
Foundation for Todd Libby’s Faculty Advisor
stipend and $1,500 to the Central High School
Key Club for District Educational Conference
registration and expenses.
 Learned that the development of operating
procedures for the Food Pantry is going well
and will soon be completed.
 Discussed opening a line of credit to enable us
to be able to pay vendors working on the trail
project, prior to receiving reimbursement from
the Trails Bureau. Frank will contact TD Bank
to see what would be required to establish such
a credit line.
 Voted to support a request from HYAA to
sponsor a baseball/softball team.
 Discussed a need to create a position within
Hooksett Kiwanis to research possible grants
for the Hooksett Kiwanis Foundation. Frank
will ask Al Dionne if he would be willing to
handle this assignment.
 Discussed a request by Fred Bishop to help
alleviate some of his heavy Kiwanis workload.
A survey of the membership will be undertaken
to survey the abilities and interest of club
members who are not particularly active with
Club and Foundation activities.
 Discussed the SWOT analysis drafted by Board
Member Lorrie Baines. Board members will
forward comments to Lorrie.
Janet enjoys scrapbooking, reading, quilting and
sewing (when time allows), as well as hiking,
camping and snowmobiling. Another favorite past
time is watching her children Jayne Kelly (Key
Club president) and Erin Kelly (Key club member
and Jayne's personal slave :) play soccer, softball
and lacrosse. She would tell you that her proudest
achievement is in raising two intelligent, lovely,
and
vivacious
daughters.
In the summer you will most likely find Janet at
Crane Beach in Ipswich searching for sand dollars
at low tide. She may also be found in some dusty
old antique shop! She and Dave enjoy lounging by
the pool and walking their overweight, 130 pound
German Shepherd! Come to think of it, they should
probably
walk
him
more
often!
Both Dave and Janet have enjoyed Kiwanis, and are
pleased with the service they provide to
children. They are both looking forward to their
continued membership in the club, and to the
various
ways
each
can
contribute.
The next Club and Foundation Board meetings will
be held at SNHU on February 16, 2010. All club
members are welcome to attend.
Board Meeting Highlights
On January 27, the Hooksett Kiwanis Club and
Foundation boards held their monthly meetings.
Several agenda items discussed are featured in
various articles in this newsletter. A complete copy
of the minutes may be found on our club website.
Here are a few highlights from the Board meetings.
“Kiwanis is a global organization of volunteers
dedicated to changing the world, one child and
one community at a time”.
Editor: Fred W. Bishop, fredwbishop@comcast.net
6