| Meeting Flash Rotary FLASH of 09-11-2007 Our Rotary luncheon began at UPG without the ceremonious ringing of the bell, because the bell was left at the Sheraton by Carl. We still however, had our American flag, and Carl began us with the Pledge of Allegiance, God Bless America, and our invocation by Will Brown. Mark Parker reported 49 Rotarians in attendance on that cloudy day. We had 2 guests; Jim Steeley brought his wife Karen, and Dick Flock, who would be receiving an award from the Madeline Nichols fund. We awarded $500 to his cause of organizing a trip to Washington DC for veterans of the Second World War who have not yet seen the memorial there. Dick talked a bit about the trip, and thanked us for our generosity. The trip plans on having 4 bus loads of seniors, with close to 200 veterans planning on going. Thank you Dick for helping to organize this trip. I'm sure the seniors truly are thankful. We had students for the first time this year. Samantha Bower, Sarah Beadling, and Chelsea Chedrick visited us from Greensburg Salem. Rick Nedley brought them to our meeting, so thank you Rick. They were a pleasure to have join us. With Mary missing again, our Word of the Week was given by Carl. The word is acquisitive. The word means “desires to obtain and possess material things.” Our speaker was introduced by Rod Booker, who asked on this anniversary of 9-11 for a moment of silience in rememberance of those who have fought and those who are fighting for our country. He then introduced our speaker, Dr. Michael Sauter, the Stroke Center Director at Excela Health. Dr. Sauter first explained what a stroke was for those of us who haven't attended medical school. By definition, a stroke is similar to a heart attack, but is when the blocked blood vessel or internal bleeding occurs in the brain. There are 750,000 acute strokes every year, and it is the single greatest cause of severe disability in the country. Not only is it the goal of doctors to prevent mortality, but to also prevent this disability and to prevent the patient from being permanently placed into care or to need to go through a long rehabilitation period. While medicines and treatment methods have been widely successful for heart attacks, this is not quite the case with strokes, due to a combination of lack of education to the general public, as well as the relative complexity that the brain has. There is a three hour window from when an individual begins to witness symptoms of a stroke to when they must be medicated. Otherwise, the medicine does not improve the patient's situation. Many technological improvements have enabled care to be given to individuals faster, so as to give the medicine to more patients. However, there is also much research going into new medicines that might extend that window of care. Excela Health's Stroke Center takes part in many of these studies, and is currently undergoing one on a new drug that may allow strokes to be better treated. If anyone is interested in being a test subject in this study, you may contact the Stroke Center. Thank you Dr. Sauter for your informative talk about strokes. Dr. Sauter answered several questions for the group as well. We closed in the usual way with the Four-way test.
Rotary FLASH of 09-04-2007
Bill McGrath announced that we had 48 Rotarians in attendance, 49 if you include our guest, Tom Uram from the Washington Club. Bill also took the opportunity to announce the roadside cleanup, which will be on September 22. It's a one mile stretch of road that we'll be picking up the trash along, and it's a nice way to build fellowship and help the environment at the same time. A sign up sheet went around for interested people. Stacy Clemmer will be organizing the student driver program. The first students will be joining us from Greensburg Salem next week. A clipboard came around for anyone interested in bringing the students for that week’s meeting. Bob Bloom announced a new process for applying to have a posting on our roadside sign. Jeff Malloy has created an online application where people can pay online as well without the need to inconvenience Jeff. Anyone interested in having something posted on the roadside sign in Greensburg should check out the website now and fill out the online application. Our visiting Rotarian announced that the Washington Rotary Club is sponsoring a Steeler truck raffle. They ask for a $100 donation to support their club, and the winner will win a Steeler truck. According to him, anyone who doesn't win still has a chance for some other nice prizes like a TV. If you're interested, please contact the Washington Rotary. Our speaker chair Rod Booker introduced Jim Steeley as our speaker. Jim was able to present us with some information about Greensburg and some of its history. While Greensburg was a small town where “nothing goes on” back in the early 1800's, the addition of the Pennsylvania Railroad in 1852 began to expand Greensburg into a hub of commerce. Jim spent a lot of time talking about some interesting people who were a part of Greensburg's history. Jim Monroe, an African American whose family had been free for 4 generations, moved here and began the Westmoreland Afro-American League chapter in order to encourage civil rights law enforcement. Jim also spoke about Ida Blackburn, a female obstetrician who practiced here in Greensburg and became very well-known for her going above and beyond for many families who needed a helping hand. Jim also spoke about Sue Wietzel, a pharmacist, as well as many skilled laborers who came to help build the present day Courthouse that resides on the corner of E. Pittsburgh St. and Main St. Jim's presentation reminded us that history is more than buildings and events. It is about the people in those times. Their culture and their stories paint a picture that is essential when trying to preserve the history of a time. Thank you Jim for enriching us with more about the history of Greensburg that you can't find in a textbook. We closed in the usual way with the 4-Way test. Have a great week everyone.
Rotary FLASH of 08-28-007
Mark reported that we had 52 Rotarians in attendance. We had two guests; Abib Barsoum brought his lovely wife Joy, and Kevin Metsger brought Dr. James Thomson to visit with us. Carl announced a big thank you that we received from a Rotary club in Africa who we have aided in a past project. Our work is still appreciated in the areas of the world where they are still in need of aid. We also got our unofficial word of the week from Carl: Antiretrovirus. We unfortunately didn't get a definition...just a pronunciation. A reminder that the board meeting would be on Thursday September 6, at UPG in the Hempfield Room, where it usually is held. Stacy Clemmer is beginning to organize the student visitations. She is looking for volunteer drivers if anyone is interested in shuttling some students to and from our meetings. Bill Thorne did our birthdays and anniversaries for the month. Unfortunately, I didn't get a list, so I can't mention them all here, but you know who you are. Our new Riddle of the Month began this week. It will fall on the same week as the birthdays. Our riddle this week is as follows: “A man is found lying dead in a field. There is no one around him. There is a rock laying next to him on the ground. The rock killed the man, but did not touch him. The question is, who is the man?” See the answer at the bottom of the Flash. Our speaker was Jayne Huston, the director at E-Magnify. E-Magnify is a program at Seton Hill college devoted to encouraging entrepreneurship primarily to women. It is dedicated to providing entrepreneurial skills, experience, and education to individuals who are interested in starting their own business by making available a wide variety of tools and programs. The program began in 1991, and has always encouraged women entrepreneurs to contact each other and to share ideas. They offer professional advisors to businesses who are having trouble taking the next step. They offer certification programs to help educate the women in how to be successful businesspeople. They have a large website that is used for their growing community, and is not just for women. In fact, it is a recommended website by the Harvard Business School for men and women business owners. They offer a number of workshops and webinars, and many other things that I don't have time to go over here. If you would like to learn more about the specific programs that E-Magnify offers, please go to their website at www.e-magnify.com We closed the meeting in the usual way with the 4 way test. The answer to the riddle is: The man is Superman. (The rock is kryptonite.) Have a great week everyone.
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