Left Hand Laurel – Thom Lynch

This month's Left Hand Laurel goes to Thom Lynch. Lynch moved to Niwot in September 2018 and decided the best way to meet folks and to make a difference was to jump in with both feet. So, the new guy in town joined the Rotary Club of Niwot and not long after became the president-elect of the organization.

Lynch had been an active Rotarian for a year before he moved to Niwot, after being recruited to the organization by his then girlfriend who was the president of a chapter in Syracuse, NY

"I ended up moving back here, and I looked around and lo and behold there was a rotary club walkable from my house," Lynch said. "I felt welcomed and they asked me to do the president-elect thing in July 2019."

Meetings in the morning were especially convenient because he worked all day. The template of meetings is efficient and fun - a mix of ceremony, food, learning, and doing good for the world.

Up until the Rotary Club, Lynch's volunteering background consisted of giving energy and time to one-off events. He's helped cleaning up trails in Boulder County for instance, but had done nothing consistently.

It's being with the people in the Rotary Club that appeals to him most – working collectively, volunteering together, and being social. He said every meeting is like getting together with his "best pals." The Rotary Club of Niwot is presently at 31 members.

"We're so blessed to have amazing, amazing people in our club and they're all high quality people. When somebody comes in our goal is to get them serving right away on a committee and then we try to get them in leadership positions," Lynch said.

Originally from Watertown, NY, Lynch is an energy consultant and has traveled extensively for his job. He relocated to Arizona for more than 17 years. The father of five daughters and grandfather to 7 children then moved to Boulder in 2014, to the Syracuse, NY area in 2017, and then back to Colorado when he became a Niwotian in 2018.

The pandemic put the kibosh on traveling, and Lynch was eventually laid off. But, Lynch (68) found he wasn't quite ready to retire in the traditional sense. He enjoys being busy and this past year as the Rotary president he said was "very interesting."

After being president-elect for one year, he moved into the presidential role in July 2020. Owing to COVID protocols, every meeting during his presidency was held via video conferencing.

Meetings are now back to being in person and are held every Thursday morning from 7:15 to 8:15 a.m. at the Left Hand Grange on Second Avenue. The last Thursday of each month meetings are evening social gatherings often at a nearby tavern or restaurant.

The morning meetings are precisely an hour long. They start with the ringing of a bell, the group saying the Rotarian pledge, and a greeter reading chosen words of wisdom. Then anyone who would like to share good news may throw a dollar in a jar and tell the club an uplifting thing that's going on in their life. It's a way to get to know each other, to feel connected, and to raise "Happy Dollars" which are used to fund the social nights.

The last 30 minutes of meetings is reserved for a speaker. Over the past year, Lynch brought in Bruce Warren from the law firm Warren, Carlson & Moore who spoke about how things get done in Niwot, and a musician who spoke about the gig economy and performed for the club. Students sponsored by the Rotary have done presentations, and a representative from a clean drinking water organization explained the novel way in which they help families in Peru. Each meeting closes with another ringing of the bell.

Members of the Rotary Club dedicate themselves to community projects and donating to local nonprofits. On each Doctor Seuss Day, members read to students at Niwot Elementary School and they work with Colorado Friendship one Sunday a month to feed the homeless. They also run an annual coat drive for those in need.

The largest annual fundraising event for the Niwot Rotary Club is the Palisade's peach sale, which was held last month. Those funds, about $11,000 this year, are earmarked for local causes approved by the Rotary Club Foundation Board. Anywhere from $13,000 to $15,000 is given away each year.

One of Lynch's proudest accomplishments was the way in which the 2020 peach fundraiser was handled in the thick of COVID and the fact that the majority of Rotary members showed up on the day of distribution to make sure the event went off in a safe way.

Lynch's dedication to the Rotary Club of Niwot continues. He now holds the past president position in the organization in which he assists the new Rotary president, Kerrin Reichen, and is on various committees. Next, he will rotate roles to be the president of the Foundation Board where he helps to decide where funds will be donated.

Everyone is eligible to become a member of the Rotary Club of Niwot. To learn more visit, www.niwotrotary.org.