Respectfully Submitted,
Leia Shilobod, Dedicated Rotarian

Rotary FLASH of 04-15-2008
Our meeting began in the usual way with Carl Rossman leading us in the Pledge of Allegiance and God Bless America. Our invocation was given by Pete Dochinez. Mark Parker reported 50 members in attendance today. We had one visiting Rotarian; Tim Dingman visited us from the Latrobe Club. Ed Nemanic brought Kary Coleman as a guest this week and was actually in attendance himself this time. Dawn Roberts brought two guests, her husband Mike and Becky Millard. Tom Jachemowicz brought Steve O’Donnell as a guest, and Katy Doran brought Amanda Ricci, one of the foreign exchange students from Brazil who went with Mark and Katy to Greensburg, Kansas.
Carl shared with us several thank you notes from the Westmoreland County Food Bank for our contribution of 50 lb of nonperishable food, from Greensburg, Kansas for the breakfasts that the club sponsored, and notes from the students to whom we sent dictionaries.
Carl also announced that next week’s meeting will be at the Hempfield Room at the University of Pittsburgh at Greensburg. Don’t forget!
Rod Booker announced that the scholarship committee will be interviewing 16 students out of the 28 who submitted an application. He wanted to thank everyone who posted signs and helped encourage students to apply.
Bill Thorne wanted to encourage Rotarians to find more people to golf for the golf outing. Currently we only have 3 foursomes signed up. We need to have more participation for this event to be profitable, and this is the event that gives us the primary funding for our scholarship fund. We need everyone’s help to make this a success.
Dennis Cremonese wanted to remind everyone that the group study exchange individuals from Argentina will be coming next week. We have a number of events with the Argentinians next week. Sunday evening, there will be a reception at Linda ____’s house from the ____ Rotary club. Everyone planning on attending should bring a bottle of whatever they plan on drinking and an hors’doeuvre dish. The other event will be dinner on Thursday evening at the Tin Lizzy. Let Dennis know if you plan on attending either event. Also, they are in need of another driver for next Thursday for the trip to the Sony plant and the Westmoreland Museum of American Art. Finally, Dennis wanted to wish Chuck Anderson well for his trip to Argentina as a member of our group study exchange to Argentina.
Chuck Anderson wanted to let everyone know that he was leaving in two hours to go to Argentina, and that we can keep an eye on their trip on our website – the group will be keeping a blog to follow their excursions in Argentina.
Mark Barnhart announced on behalf of Queen Bee Mary Clymer that the spelling bee will be on May 18. Anyone who would like to attend the spelling bee should signup ahead of time.
Speaking of the spelling bee, Carl gave us our Word of the Week. The word was redoubtable. Carl gave a synonym as “Chuck Anderson.” The word means causing fear or alarm and formidable. Fortunately for Chuck, it also means worthy of respect. We don’t know which meaning Carl intended for Chuck, but we’ll give him the benefit of the doubt.
Our program chair Katy Doran wanted to thank Bob Ottaviani for getting our speaker this week. Tony Marcocci, who has worked for the FBI and the Allegheny County fingerprint lab and currently works with the Westmoreland County District Attorney’s office as a detective. Tony brought some illegal substances to show everyone, but brought no giveaways to the chagrin of all (that would have been better than the Girl Scout Cookies.)
On a serious note, Mr. Marcocci talked in depth about the drugs commonly found in Westmoreland County. The first he talked about was marijuana, and he knows as a product of the 60’s that many people don’t think that marijuana is all that big of a deal. It turns out that the marijuana of today is 1000 times stronger than it was in the 60’s. They are seeing a lot more 14 and 15 year olds suffering from burnout (think Christopher Lloyd in ‘Taxi’). Cocaine and crack cocaine are both quite prevalent in the county, and cocaine’s addictive nature leads to a lot of violence, especially those addicted to crack cocaine.
Heroin is also a very addictive drug, so much that rehab is a very long and painful process. Heroin comes in small wax paper bags, also called stamp bags, and heroin addicts will hold onto these. So if you find a large number of these sorts of bags, it’s an excellent indication that heroin use is prevalent. Heroin is very dangerous because kids can start out snorting it, but will eventually lead to injection because it gives a more immediate high. Withdrawal from heroin has been described as having the flu times 20. Also heroin users are usually non-violent compared to crack users.
The final drug talked about was actually a legal one – prescription pills. In a pain-free society, people are getting addicted to pain pills. On the street, Oxycotton will go for $40-80 per pill oftentimes, taking advantage of individuals who take more than they are supposed to for pain and use up their prescription before they can renew it. Oftentimes, individuals who cannot get access to prescription drugs will turn to heroin, and vice versa. There’s a huge rise in IV use, and Hepatitis C is off the charts in the county. The advice regarding prescriptions: when you’re done with a prescription, pitch it. And if your kids are given a prescription for a painkiller like Oxycotton, be very wary. Thank you Mr. Marcocci for your valuable information.
Our meeting ended with the Four Way Test.

Rotary FLASH of 04-08-2008
Our meeting began with Carl Rossman’s ringing of the bell. He then led us in the Pledge of Allegiance and God Bless America. Our invocation was given by Ron Debellis. Mark Parker reported 47 Rotarians in attendance. Chris Mueseler was a guest of Chuck Anderson. Kary Coleman was again a guest of Ed Nemanic, who again wasn’t in attendance. What kind of an example is Ed setting for Kary? Perhaps a better one than Pete Dochinez, who again brought Kevin Metger’s wife Linley. At least this week Linley sat with her husband.
Bob Bloom announced that Katy Doran and Mark Barnhart are doing well in Greensburg, Kansas. Last Saturday they arrived, and they are doing lots of work, including painting, staining, warehouse organization, and a French drain in Taylor’s basement. Sunday they spent some time in Dodge City. Katy said that the accommodations leak since it’s rainy, but otherwise everything is going well. We look forward to hearing about the trip when they return.
Dennis Cremonese announced the last call for the Argentinian group study exchange host family. They are hoping to not have to double up anyone, so anyone interested in hosting someone for a week should contact Dennis.
Rick Nedley reminded everyone that next week is the YMCA Gala at Lakeview. Anyone wanting an invitation should let Rick know.
Rod Booker announced that we have 27 applicants for our student scholarships, and the scholarship committee will be meeting tomorrow at 3:30. This is a great response, so good job to all who worked hard on the flyers and those who helped get the word out.
Kevin Metsger announced that last Saturday was a great success at the health screening. They are hoping for similar success this upcoming Saturday. Kevin wanted to remind everyone that if there are any students needing volunteer service hours, this would be a good place to get some volunteer hours .
Bill McGrath inducted a new member to the club. Jennifer Shirtleff joined us as our 97th member. Bob Bloom was her sponsor. Congratulations Jennifer. We look forward to getting to you know better.
Carl provided our Word of the Week this week, but it was really two words. John Barleycorn was our word(s) of the week. John Barleycorn is any personification of alcohol. Many commented that we should induct John Barleycorn as our 98th Rotary member.
Chuck Anderson introduced our speaker, Tina Polesky of the newly formed Girl Scouts of Western PA. Tina talked to us about the importance of youth leadership in our world. Everyone knows that the youth is the future, but Tina reminded everyone that the future is now. Young people have an opportunity to make a difference now as well. Many adults have a negative bias about youth and their commitment, but youth leadership is very strong in organizations like the Girl Scouts. It’s important for youth leadership to have adult involvement and meaningful participation opportunities. The Girl Scouts teaches girls to be responsible and to see positive feedback from their achievements. Tina also brought some Girl Scout cookies for people to take home. Thank you Tina for the information about the newly organized Girl Scouts, and thank you for the cookies.
Our meeting ended in the usual way with the Four Way Test.

Rotary FLASH of 04-01-2008
Our meeting began with Carl Rossman leading the club in the Pledge of Allegiance and God Bless America. Our invocation was given by Dan Carr. Mark Parker reported 49 Rotarians in attendance out of our 96 members. Dawn Roberts brought her driver of the week Mandisa Brown. Kary Coleman also visited as a guest of Ed Nemanic, who wasn’t there, and Kevin Metger’s wife Linley was a guest of Pete Dochinez. Yep, you read it here first.
Bob Ottaviani brought students from Greensburg Central Catholic to our meeting. Eileen Nussell, Erica Keto, and Nancy Hill joined us for lunch this week.
The club received a thank you from the Westmoreland Symphony & Academy of Music for the grant that we provided through the Madeline Nichols grant.
Rick Nedley announced that the YMCA’s 150th anniversary banquet will be held in two weeks at Lakeview. For details, contact Rick.
Bob Bloom was looking to know how many Rotarians were planning on attending the district conference in West Virginia, and Rotary International in Los Angeles in June. If you are planning on attending, let Bob know.
Jeff Malloy added information about the district conference. The district conference schedule of events is available at rotary7330.org, as is an application. They will be having a speaker from the UN on Friday if they have enough people register ahead of time.
Jack Waite thanked everyone who brought food for the scouting for food drive. Anyone who didn’t bring any food should remember that the Scouts will be around this week, so don’t forget then.
Bill McGrath reminded everyone that the golf committee meeting will be this afternoon. They are still looking for golfers to sign up.
Kevin Metsger reminded everyone that this Saturday is the first for the health screening. Saturday morning at 5:45 until around 9:30, and they are still looking for a couple more people to help out.
Leia Shilobod announced the Microsoft Trip Across America will be coming to Western PA on April 21 at the SMC Business Councils in Churchill and WCCC on the 22nd. She will be sending an email regarding the event. There will be free food, and free demonstrations of popular Microsoft products. Anyone interested should let Leia know.
Gene James announced that the Summer Sounds Concerts in the Park is still looking for sponsors and support. Any sponsors will get an ad in the Greensburg City Guide, which is sent to 8500 households.
Carl Rossman reminded everyone that the Word of the Week is a plug for the annual spelling bee which is being planned and will be going on May 18th. Our word was zoomorphic, which means having the form of an animal. It also can mean a deity with animal attributes.
Katy Doran is our program chair this month, but she is in Greensburg, Kansas. Chuck Strobel introduced our speakers from Greater Latrobe School District. Braden Licastro and Devin Boyer, two sophomores, demonstrated their software program that they developed. This software is called the body composition calculator. It takes measurements from your body composition with things such as height, weight, age, and sizes of areas such as biceps, waist, thighs, etc. The results include information such as percentage of body fat, lean body mass, exercise information, and maximum heart rate. Perhaps even more impressive is the help guide made available, a method to make printout worksheets to acquire information more readily, and an updater to allow the software to receive updates from online. The two got the inspiration for this software when their 9th grade health class had to report this information to the nurse, and the software that they were using was from 1984. They are currently selling their software online on their website, www.fullforceapps.com. If anyone is interested in more of Braden and Devin’s work, check out their website where you can contact them via email.
Our meeting ended in the usual way with the Four Way Test.