Events

Reminder: Our weekly meetings now take place at the Lanam Club.

Our own Jean Leider will present on her recent Rotary District 7930 Rotaplast Mission to Cebu, Phillippines.   

The March 2025 mission to Cebu marked Rotaplast’s 20th visit to the region. It was supported by District Governor Tom Hankard (7930), under the leadership of Past District Governor Terry Resendez Curran, who is set to serve again as District Governor in 2027 when another mission is planned.

The Rotary Club of Andover contributed $1,600 in support of the Cebu mission.

To register for the meeting: CLICK HERE

Susan Stott has been an AVIS Trustee since she retired from Phillips Academy.  She was also a founder of Andover Community Trust, which has developed 13 permanently affordable homes in Andover.

AVIS is an all volunteer organization and Susan’s primary responsibility has been for land acquisition. The two largest acquisitions in the last ten years have been 26 acres of the Franciscan property along the Merrimack River and 11 acres near Tewksbury along the Shawsheen River.  Now her biggest challenge is the permitting and funding for the All Persons Trail in the Goldsmith Woodlands, the subject of her presentation.  She will also share what she has learned while working on this project for the past two plus years.

Angelina Berube is the Andover and North Andover reporter at The Eagle-Tribune. She has been at the newspaper since July 2022, covering New Hampshire and the Merrimack Valley during that time.

Berube has covered a wide range of topics in the community and enjoys writing features about the people who make her communities vibrant. The job keeps her on her toes with different stories to write each day.

Berube has experience with sports reporting as a former high school and college hockey player. She writes about the Professional Women's Hockey League Boston Fleet's players and its games in Lowell for The Eagle-Tribune in addition to her daily news reporting.

To register for the meeting, CLICK HERE.

Great Dog Rescue New England is a nonprofit, shelterless, all-breed rescue group headquartered in Massachusetts. Our group is comprised of volunteers all over New England who love dogs and want to help those that end up homeless through no fault of their own. Loyal and loving dogs turn up every day in New England and Southern shelters, as owners turn them in or they’re found roaming the streets after being dumped.

Great Dog is dedicated to animal rescue. In addition to our primary goal of helping homeless and abandoned dogs find loving forever homes, we:

– DONATE money to spay and neuter clinics in the south to help solve the problem of pet overpopulation.

– ENGAGE IN COMMUNITY OUTREACH activities with local schools to help educate children and young adults about animal rescue, responsible pet ownership, proper pet care, etc.

– ADOPT DOGS to agencies that train dogs to assist the physically disabled and hearing impaired (many dogs that were abandoned are now helping people lead independent lives).

We are proud of the work we do with the dogs and in local communities.

To attend this meeting, please REGISTER HERE.

Karla is the Executive Director at Stone Hill at Andover and has been with the community since November 2018, before the building opened. As Executive Director, Karla ensures the community is in compliance with state, federal and safety requirements.

Karla is also an esteemed Rotary member!

Please register for this week's meeting before the end of the day on Tuesday to ensure we have adequate food, to register CLICK HERE.

Our own Past President will update us on what he is up to these days.  Using over 25 years of experience as an agent of change and a business leader, combined with a proven system to identify and implement sustainable improvements, Al is now helping business leaders to achieve unprecedented levels of success in their operations.

This morning, he will speak on entrepreneurship through franchising…the many hats a small business owner wears, and KBIs to know when you’re on the right track, or heading off the rails.

Join us this Friday for our weekly meeting to mark a changing of the guard. It will be President Al Timm's final meeting, and we'll welcome a special guest from District 7930. We'll honor outgoing board members, install new ones, present awards, and induct new members.

Please register here to help us with adequate seating and availability of breakfast.

Tom is a Senior level financial and operations professional with over 37 years of for-profit and non-profit experience. His areas of expertise include financial reporting, budgeting, forecasting, financial analysis, non-profit governance, banking compliance, cash management, system implementations, policies and procedures documentation, grant management (federal and private), internal control reviews, board presentations, organization assessments, audit management, organization formation and dissolution, and IRS non-profit application completion and submission. Prior to joining CLA, Tom worked for a professional services firm, for nine years, that specialized in working with Non-Profit organizations. He held positions as CFO, Treasurer and Executive Director for many of the Non-Profit Association clients for a Professional services firm (including Senior Vice President for the firm managing four departments), that managed more than 70 Non-Profits (primarily Associations), around the world. Prior to that Tom held positions as Director of Finance and Administration for a social services non-profit and CFO of a long-standing non-profit preservation society. Tom currently works with a variety of nonprofit industries: Associations, Human Services, Community Development, Religious and Tech groups. 

A well-planned garden completes the story of your home, it looks beautiful, smells beautiful, and sounds beautiful. It can even taste beautiful. It’s a place you come to at the end of the day to relax, play, eat, and connect with the people in your life. 

Our mission at Samantha’s Gardens is to spread joy and happiness to our clients and throughout our communities. We don’t just want to landscape your home, we want to transform it into an environment you will love.

The kind that has the power to transport you.

Join us for an important update from the Salvation Army Lawrence chapter. Wherever ther is a need in Lawrence and the Merrimack Valley you'll find the Salvation Army. 

Claudia has been part of One Wish Project from the beginning. While her daughter Hannah was busy making the most amazing birthday cakes in their Andover home, Claudia assisted Hannah with all the things that a 14-year old girl could not do herself. Claudia opened a bank account to accept donations, drove Hannah to the supermarkets for cake ingredients and the toy stores, and of course, accompanied Hannah to all the shelter deliveries.  As the organization continued to grow and Hannah was beginning the transition process to college in the Fall of 2020, One Wish Project became a volunteer-based organization and Claudia took over the day-to-day responsibilities of the organization.

Today, Claudia is One Wish Project's Executive Director focusing on Strategic Development and growth.

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As the founder and senior principal trainer for LeadSMART Training Solutions, Peter took his first lead safe training in 1997 while operating his design/build remodeling firm in the greater Boston area. Trained as a cabinetmaker, his love of residential remodeling became his specialty in the design/build field of residential construction.

Seeing a need in the construction industry in the area of lead remodeling, Peter founded LeadSMART Training Solutions, Inc., in 2011. Teaching both the EPA Renovation, Repair and Painting Rule (RRP) and Massachusetts Lead Safe Renovation (LSR) Standards, Peter later expanded the LeadSMART educational offerings to include certification courses in OSHA safety standards and respirator use, as well as Massachusetts Construction Supervisor License (CSL) renewal.

Peter feels strongly about helping smaller firms find the profitable side of jobsite compliance. As a result, he utilizes his 30+ years of business acumen in residential construction and remodeling to offer onsite consultations, built proprietary contractor business builder courses, and enjoys holding private training sessions to address the unique needs of the client’s organization. Using his vast knowledge of regulations, he has written client employee OSHA Safety Plans — and helped keep them on the profitable side of jobsite compliance.

Peter has spoken to many contractor groups in both educational and motivational formats. His honest, forthright speaking style as well as his knowledge of the industry and regulations, has garnered high praise from the audience. 

In September 2022 the members of Ballard Vale United Church (BVUC) in Andover, MA, launched the town’s first 24-hour self-serve community pantry. After two years, the pantry has evolved into a hub of food rescue and a vital resource for over 1,000 members of the community.  After learning that about 20% of children are food insecure in Andover, Glen McLeod, former church moderator before focusing on the ministry, had the idea to run a food pantry out of the church. He envisioned a place where anyone in the community could take, or donate, food at any time.

The pantry is open 24/7 and is available to anyone in the community. Donors and recipients alike visit daily. The group follows USDA guidelines to ensure the food offered at the pantry is safe for eating.

Like many people, I watched with a mix of sadness and anger as Russia’s totally unjustified invasion of Ukraine unfolded in February 2022.  The indiscriminate shelling of remote farming villages, the deliberate bombing of civilian targets, the blatant aggression, the heartbreaking scenes of elderly people fleeing their homes – for me it felt like I was watching something akin to Germany’s invasion of Poland in 1939 at the start of World War 2, only this time it was in real time.

​My initial instinct was to donate to a charity in Ukraine, which I did.  But for some reason, writing a check and stopping there just didn’t seem to be enough.  This time, I felt a call to action like never before.  I didn’t know how to help out, but I knew one thing: doing nothing was NOT an option.  I had to go there and help out in some way, but how?

I have just returned from a 1 year stay in Ukraine, my 7th trip there since the beginning of the war. While there, we sourced and delivered essential humanitarian aid to the hardest-hit areas of the country, often not far from the front lines, where other NGO’s won’t go because of the risk.  I have done numerous talks for Rotary Clubs in NH and MA, including Manchester North, Bedford, Exeter, Dover, Portsmouth, Salem, Goffstown, Hollis, Hopkinton and others.

Andover’s Town Counsel serves as the chief legal adviser to Town Meeting, the Select Board, Town Manager, and all Town Departments, making it a role that impacts virtually every Town function.  The appointment of Doug Heim marks the first time that the Town of Andover has named a Town Counsel since 1990 when Tom Urbelis was appointed to the role. 

Since earning a law degree at the University of Connecticut School of Law, Doug has spent his entire career practicing law in a municipal setting. His career began in New York City, where he served in the City’s Corporation Counsel office, generally representing public safety agencies and personnel in federal litigation.  In 2011, Doug joined the City of Boston as Assistant Corporation Counsel. A broadened range of responsibilities beyond litigation that came in Boston’s Law Department reinforced Doug’s interest in municipal government.

Doug describes his role in Andover as a convergence of his personal and professional life.  Last year, when looking to relocate with his family after living in Boston for more than a decade, his wife’s roots in the Merrimack Valley drew them to the region. They eventually purchased a home in Andover, deciding to live in the community in part due to the exceptional services provided by its government.

Doug was selected through a competitive hiring process led by the Town Manager’s Office. Every Town department was represented in interviews for the position, which entailed three panel discussions intended to assess candidates in the areas of general government and Town meeting, permitting and land use, and public contracts and municipal projects.

Vibrant Greens. Clean Water. Harvested with Love. From Our Table to Yours.

We’re Mark and Wendy Donohue, proud founders of Leaf Water Farms, LLC—a family-run hydroponic farm born from purpose, passion, and a whole lot of heart.

After three decades in the corporate world, two decades of happy marriage, and nearly as many years raising our family, we knew it was time to build something of our own—something lasting, meaningful, and rooted in the values we hold dear.

So we got honest about what fuels us:

• Love for nutritious food and a desire to promote healthy lifestyles
• Shared excitement for solving hard problems and rising to new challenges
• Deep, unwavering trust in each other as partners in life and work
• A dream of building a family business that leaves a positive mark on the world

After months of research, deliberation and examination of various market opportunities, that dream led us to something unexpected—and completely energizing. 

For anyone remotely connected to responsible investing or corporate responsibility Tim Smith requires little to no introduction. He is one of ICCR’s founding staff members and has been a leader in our field for over five decades.

Tim currently serves as ICCR’s Senior Policy Advisor, where he supports ICCR’s work around responsible political engagement, deepening engagements with asset managers, and responding to the pushback on ESG, as well as serving as a mentor for ICCR members and staff.

Tim served as ICCR staff for 30 years including 24 years as its Executive Director. In 2000, Tim joined Boston Trust Walden where he led the organization’s shareholder engagement efforts for 22 years. In 2007, 2012, and 2013, Tim was named one of the “Top 100 Most Influential People in Business Ethics” by Ethisphere Institute. In 2010, he received the Bavaria Award for Impact at the third annual Joan Bavaria Awards for Building Sustainability into the Capital Markets. In 2011 and 2012, he was named one of the most influential people in corporate governance by the National Association of Corporate Directors, and in 2016 Tim received ICCR’s Legacy Award for his enduring record of demonstrated influence on corporate policies.

Tim has served on multiple boards and chaired advisory councils for several different institutions. He currently serves as chair for Shared Interest, which mobilizes economic resources for communities in Southern Africa.

Tim earned a BA from the University of Toronto and Masters of Divinity degree from Union Theological Seminary.

For over a year, Andover photographer David Whitney embedded himself in the daily routines of Town employees—quietly observing, listening, and capturing candid moments as they went about their essential work. The result is Andover at Work, a powerful new photo exhibit on display at the Robb Center, 30 Whittier Court, from June 2 through June 30. 
 
The exhibit offered a rare, behind-the-scenes look at the more than 350 frontline employees who keep the Town running—from public safety and public works to library staff, administrative offices, and more. Whitney’s photographs highlight the breadth and depth of services performed by Town staff, often unnoticed, but vital to the wellbeing of the community.

Melissa went to the University of NH for her bachelor’s degree and Roger Williams University for her master’s degree.  Melissa has been working in child welfare serving roles since 2008 and has spent more than fifteen years in the nonprofit sector.  Over her tenure in these settings, Melissa has advanced in leadership roles that supported children and families healing from circumstances of abuse, neglect and trauma primarily in residential care. Melissa also worked in the state of NH’s child welfare system early in her career and collectively gained an appreciation for the resiliency of families and what is needed to support families succeed. Melissa began as the Executive Director of Salem Family Resources in January 2025 and is excited to be on the side of prevention focused work and family strengthening. Melissa now lives in Auburn NH with her husband and two children and remains passionate as a parent to help support other parents and children thrive through her work.

An experienced fundraising and marketing professional, Margot has more than 20 years of experience working for nonprofits, helping them grow their visibility and raise critical funds. She joined Community Teamwork in July of 2023 as its Director of Development. In her role she oversees individual and corporate giving, fundraising/special events, and the CITC tax credit program.

Margot is an award-winning journalist and prior to her career in the nonprofit industry she worked at several New England newspapers including the Berkshire Eagle and The Eagle-Tribune. She attended Saint Michael’s College in Colchester, VT, where she earned a B.A. in English and Journalism. She is a member of the Holderness School Parents Association and lives in the Merrimack Valley with her husband and daughter.

Join us for a truly memorable Rotary Club meeting.  

Claudia Soo Hoo will give the Club an update on our Club North Star efforts. 

Also,the Club will recognize and honor our Veterans! Thanks to our special members for their Service!