Stories

This is the time of year for graduations and Rotary Scholarships.  Our club gave our 4 scholarships this year.  Two in Newmarket and two in Oyster River.

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Rotary is having a first Annual Summer Fest, June 22, 2024

 

Boulder Field, Main St. Durham, NH 

 

There will be Live Music, Food Trucks, Kids Games, Vendors, Non-Profit Tables, etc.  

 

Great, Fun, Family Event

 

The Rotary Club has delivered 250 hams to the food pantries of Durham, Lee, Madbury, Newmarket and Barrington.

The Rotary built and deployed a Little Free Art Library.  Following the idea of the Little Free Libraries for book, we built one for the Library that to share art.

 

 

Newmarket Backyard Bash 2023

Rotary Club of Durham Great Bay 1st Annual Summer Fest Corn Hole Tournament.

 

  Sign up here

The Rotary Club has built 2 "Little Art Libraries" for Newmarket.  They will be installed in a redone pocket park on Main St.

The club has delivered another truck load of Crutches, Walkers, etc.  We collected them from Durham, Lee, Madbury and Barrington transfer stations this week.  Feb. 9, 2023 first load...

 

Durham Frost Fest 2022, December 4.

Rotary Club setup a table and gave out Red Twig Bundles for the holidays.

 

The Rotary Club of Durham-Greatbay with Lamprey Health Care and Newmarket Public Library will be installing a Little Free Library.

 

Club serves Durham, Lee, Madbury, Newmarket and Barrington towns.  Since the pandemic the club had not held an event.  

Michael Hoffman of Durham and Thomas Dronsfield Jr. of Lee are the recipients this year.

       

 

 

We picked up all the trash and debris.  We collected 29 bags, not our biggest year, but well worth it.  

 

 

The club works every year to keep up the trails at Long Marsh and Wagon Hill in Durham.  

The trail crew was hard at work today repairing bridges at Wagon Hill Farm in Durham.

 

Our District 7780 and Club is participating in the Million Mask Challenge.  Get 1 million masks out the first responders, hospitals, sssisted living centers, schools, food panties in our area.  We received 3000 masks to get out.  We delivered.  Barrington, Durham, Newmarket, Madbury and Lee groups received masks from us this month.

Our club is continuing to collect and send out crutches, canes, wheelchairs, etc to Africa and other needy areas.

 

Rotary Club is always collecting Crutches 4 Africa.  We collect in multiple locations over the GreatBay/Seacoast NH area with Portsmouth Club.

Rotary BBQ-Lawn Olympics - POSTPONED

 

Powder Major's Farm, Madbury, NH 

 

We will announce a new schedule soon we hope.

Recovery With Hope and Dignity, June 3, 2019 6-8pm - An Educational Awareness Forum presented by NH Seacoast Rotary clubs.  Wentworth-Douglass Hospital, Garrison Wing Auditorium. 789 Central Avenue Dover, NH 03820. This is a free educational forum sponsored by NH Seacoast Rotary Clubs for community members interested in learning more about prevention, treatment, recovery and harm-reduction associated with the opioid epidemic and substance use disorders.  Previous forums were held in Exeter, Portsmouth and Hampton.  Please click HERE for more information.

The Rotary Club of Durham Great Bay in cooperation with The University of New Hampshire and the Town of Durham will host the Independence Day Celebration and Fireworks this July on July 3, 2019 at the Wildcat Stadium.  The evening will host a number of activities and events for the community starting at 6 pm with the grand finale of fireworks planned for dusk (about 9:00 pm).  More information to follow.  Stay tuned to our Independence Day Celebration website page and facebook page for more details.  The Rotary Club of Durham Great Bay continues to seek sponsors for this event with the goal of bringing back this tradition for years to come.

 

 

       Marina was known for her exuberant enthusiasm. She was also known for going barefoot -- even in snow! -- and loving the color orange. She was happiest being outside in all kinds of weather and was particularly fond of the smell of the trees in New Hampshire, where she moved when she was 10. Marina loved running, especially outdoors, on roads and in the woods. She was passionate about everyday pleasures.  Hers was a life taken too soon. 

 

 

One of the great things about being a part of Rotary is when we start something. 

 

On Feb 1, 2017, then club President Frank Reinhold invited Rob Drugan to  speak about Marina's Miles 5K run on Apr 8th in Durham.  Rob invited the club to consider sponsoring the run in honor of Marina Slavin, an athlete at ORCSD and UNH, who died unexpectedly of a heart problem.  President Elect Andy Corrow encouraged the Club to pursue sponsoring the race. 

 

Because the Club said yes, Marina's Miles was formed.  Marina's Miles has issued a scholarship to a graduating ORHS student every year.

The Club has been a major sponsor of Marina's Miles for every year.

This week Marina's Miles made a contribution to the Rotary Foundation Donor Advised Fund. 

 

When a group of like minded people come together, great things happen.

       The second annual Marina's Miles 5k race was held on April 6, 2019 to raise money for a scholarship in Marina's name.  Durham Great Bay Rotary was honored to help by sponsoring and manning the water station mid race for runners (and their pets) to stop and refresh, greeting the finishers at the Finish Line and more!  For more information about the race and for registration information when it is available for 2020 you can visit the Marina's Miles web page.

 

 

 

 

 

 Sarah Cromier and Stephanie Douglas volunteering at the 2019 run.

 

     The UNH Rotaract Club and the Rotary Club of Durham-Great Bay recently worked together as a team to help provide an amazing amount of food supplies for the End 68 Hours of Hunger organization.  End 68 Hours of Hunger aims to keep students and sometimes their families from feeling the pains of hunger from the time the school bell rings on Friday to opening bell on Monday morning.  It is a great organization and one that the UNH Rotaract Club has been helping for a number of years.  These last two years, our club has been honored to be a small part of the Trick or Treat for Hunger campaign that the UNH Rotaract students organize.  A week prior to Trick or Treat night in Dover, the students leave information about End 68 Hours of Hunger and instructions for what and how to leave food donations at their doors or have ready when these same students return on trick or treat night to collect the donations.  Cars and drivers on Halloween night provided by the Durham-Great Bay Rotary.

Rotary members help keep trail bridges safe and passable!  For the second year members of Durham Great Bay Rotary have helped to keep the Sweet Trail safe for the community to enjoy.  The Sweet Trail runs for four miles from Longmarsh Road in Durham, NH (off Route 108) to the Great Bay Estuary in Newmarket, NH. 

 

The beauty of this trail runs through many areas of wetlands with at least three bridges that are necessary to keep humans and pets alike from getting stuck in the muck of the wetlands.  The Durham Great Bay Rotary in conjunction with other recreational and conservation groups in Durham volunteer their time and equipment to replace and repair the wooden planks that are the core of the bridges.  Check out more information about the Sweet Trail on the Durham Parks and Rec web site.

     Rotaract clubs bring together people ages 18-30 to exchange ideas with leaders in the community, develop leadership and professional skills, and have fun through service.  Recently the local UNH Rotaract Club and the Durham Great Bay Rotary Club had a great collaboration for Halloween. 

     The UNH Rotaract Club organized and put together local routes for Trick or Treating for their members with a twist.  Instead of looking for candy for themselves, members asked for non-perishable food items to help the Dover chapter of End 68 Hours of Hunger.  End 68 Hours of Hunger helps kids that might otherwise leave school on Friday and not have anything to eat until back at school on Monday.  With help from End 68 Hours of Hunger these children (and their families) are able to have meals to bring home for the weekend.    

     With the help of drivers from Durham Great Bay Rotary, the UNH Rotaract Club was able to fill 6 cars with food for this great organization that helps the community.  Way to go Rotaract !!  It was a great way to bring the local Rotary organization together with the UNH Rotaract students for a great cause !!