I couldn’t recall what the Word of the Week was initially, but I remembered thanks to Tony’s usage of the word in a sentence. The word was alameda. (Tony’s sentence was “For lunch we had chicken alameda” if anyone was wondering. ) Many commented on the city in California, and in part they were correct. An alameda Is a tree-shaded promenade along a boulevard. This is why Alameda, CA was named that. However the word alameda comes from the Alamo and the trees surrounding it.
Our speaker this week was Chuck Anderson, who showed us some pictures of his trip with his wife and daughter to Southern Africa. Chuck got to visit the Victoria Falls, which are quite grand. The falls were enormous, and then he told us that they were in the dry season when they were there. I expect they are even more spectacular in the rainy season. He was even able to provide us with an aerial view.
He took many pictures of the animal life there…it looked like a Discovery channel documentary. We saw shots of rhinos, hippos, lions, giraffes, zebras, crocodiles, and many others whose names I cannot remember. Chuck went hunting a few times down there, and came away with quite a few kills. He killed a lot of doves during one day, and others he caught a zebra and another large animal. They ate some of the meat, but some of the meat also went to a local AIDS orphanage – that is, kids whose parents have died from AIDS.
I wish I could remember more, but those were the things that impressed me the most. I’m sure he would share the pictures with anyone who wanted to see them though. Thank you Chuck for doing a fine job and for sharing your experience with us.
Our meeting ended as usual with the Four Way Test.

Rotary FLASH of 02-05-2008
Our meeting began in the usual way with Carl Rossman ringing the bell, and leading us in the Pledge of Allegiance and God Bless America. Our invocation was given by Mark Marshall. Mark Parker reported 53 of our 96 members in attendance. Mark Barnhart brought three guests (I’m sure he’ll bill himself). Rev. Frank Podolinski, Pastor Doug Heagy, and Pastor Marleen Griffith-Stull joined us for lunch. Let’s keep Mark in our prayers, because he apparently thinks that he needs some help. Bob Bloom brought our fourth guest – Captain Jeny Shurtleff joined us as well.
Al Lazar brought our students from GCC this week. Vincenza Pimpinella and Matthew Wright both shared their activities and future plans with us.
Carl announced that Chuck Anderson has been chosen as the leader of the Rotary’s trip to Argentina. He will be leading four non-Rotarians on the trip to see more about the area and the occupations the members of the trip are involved in. Carl read the notes that we received from Chuck in his very best Marine impression.
Rod Booker announced that he is in charge of the scholarship committee, and is looking for committee members, but also a printer who would be able to print up posters to put in the area schools. This is to encourage more students to apply in the upcoming year. Anyone interested in helping Rod and the committee should contact him.
Kevin Metsger announced the dates for our annual health screenings. They will be on April 5th and April 12th, so keep those dates reserved.
Carl announced that the community foundation has placed the Kenneth Rutter Scholarship Fund as an endowment, and it has $12,000 available this year.
Carl’s Word of the Week was donated by Tom Hedley, who gave Carl a “word of the day” calendar. Now Carl has his choice of seven words to make as the “Word of the Week”. This week’s word was oppugn, not opium as it was originally said. The true pronunciation is op-YOON. The word means “call into question, or to fight against either physically or verbally.” This word prompted Tom to ask what in the world the other six words this week were. Maybe we’ll get them this upcoming week.
Our program was brought to us by Mark Barnhart and Katy Doran, who visited Greensburg, Kansas for four days. They brought back a very nice Powerpoint presentation with pictures from their trip showing both the devastation that the area has undergone, but also the massive cleanup efforts that continue to happen everyday there. It was amazing to see some of the before and after pictures from the tornado. All of the trees have had their leaves stripped off, and everything that was green before is very brown in overhead pictures. We saw pictures of ruined buildings, some without roofs, some without any damage, and some that took damage from neighboring combine equipment.
Not everything was bad. We saw pictures of FEMAville, or the dubbed name of the temporary buildings where people from the town are staying. Although the housing is a blessing, Katy impressed upon us that you can get tired of them quickly, and that the government spends far too much money on them.
Not all of the trip was dismal though. Mark and Katy said that they were told there was nothing to do there. But they said that they could have stayed four more days and kept busy. Mark made them take him to a Western town, so they visited Boot Hill, where Mark spent WAY too much time in the cemetery. They also visited Taylor and Levi’s families, as well as their school (including the gymnacafetorium). Overall they had a good time. Thank you both for the excellent presentation and for showing us how the disaster effort was going.
Our meeting ended in the usual way with the Four Way Test. Have a good week everyone.

Rotary FLASH of 01-29-2008
Our meeting began with President Carl Rossman leading us with the Pledge of Allegiance and God Bless America. Our invocation was given by Bill McGrath. Mark Parker reported that we had 47 of our 96 Rotarians in attendance. We had one visiting Rotarian; Martin Barby joined us all the way from Springfield, MI. We also had several guests. Chuck Stroeble, while not in attendance, brought 2 guests. Betty Sarver and Gwen Whidden joined us as guests of Chuck. Dawn Roberts also brought two guests, Mandisa Brown and Monica Sciullo. Tom Jachimowicz brought his roommate Patty (apparently he forgets they were wed.) Cesare Muccari brought along his wife Wendy. And finally Dave Delisi brought along his son and bodyguard, Chris Delisi.
Leia Shilobod announced that E-Magnify is looking for candidates for their annual business in the community awards. Primarily, the awards are promoting community involvement for women in business, but some awards are available for men as well. Anyone who feels they may have a candidate for any of these awards should go to www.emagnify.com for more information.
Ed Nemenic announced that John Dickson is having his hip replaced, and Ed sent around a get well card to be signed and sent to him. Our prayers go out to John that his procedure will go smoothly.
Our Word of the Week is vertiginous. The word means dizziness, pointless frequent change, and something else as well. When Carl gives those “all of the above” answers, he really needs to speak slower so I can catch all of the answers. Look it up if you must know what the third meaning is. Don’t be lazy.
Ed Nemenic gave the club birthdays and anniversaries, and I believe that half of the club was indeed born in January. It was quite a long list. Congratulations to all who made it another year. Here’s to many more.
B ob Bloom wanted me to add that unfortunately we had two Rotarians leave the club. Rich Rosky and Ted Harrington both resigned from their membership. We are sad to see them go, but we send our well wishes with them.
Bill McGrath was our speaker this week, and he gave us a very informative talk about the different medical speakers who we’ve had in the last few years. He gave us a summary of the “take-home points” from the different topics.
To begin with is everyone’s favorite topic, colon cancer. This cancer is completely preventable as long as people get checked when they are supposed to. A colonoscopy will find any polyps that could become cancerous before it becomes an issue, so despite your best efforts to avoid one, it is a necessary evil. The second topic was lung cancer, and the take home point from that presentation was that it is clearly cigarette related. Not only is it related to smokers, but also anyone who spends a lot of time around secondhand smoke. So be aware of this if you spend a lot of time at bars and bowling alleys.
Concerning breast cancer, be aware that mammography is still the current preferred method of prevention, but it is not flawless. A lot depends on the facility and the interpreter. So choose who you see wisely. Also of note, CAT scans are starting to become more popular because they are more reliable. Regarding prostate cancer, age is a large factor. 25% of men over 80 will get prostate cancer. Make sure that you get your annual PSA’s and have digital rectal exams when necessary.
Regarding strokes and coronary heart disease, time is of the essence. Carry an aspirin in your wallet or purse, because it can save lives; not just yours, but someone else’s. The take-home point of the hip replacement surgery topic, was to make sure you intake enough calcium. Drinking milk, eating yogurt, lifting light weights, and taking calcium supplements are all good ways to keep bones strong and prevent osteoporosis. And finally, regarding the final topic of plastic surgery, make certain that your surgeon is qualified. Asking for qualifications is not considered rude. Make sure you don’t make a mistake. Thank you Bill for the very interesting talk. Hopefully we can stay healthier as a result.
Our meeting closed as usual with the Four Way Test.