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Rotary Flash for Meeting on February 9, 2010 |
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Written by Dan Carr
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Wednesday, 17 February 2010 22:26 |
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Our meeting began in the usual way with Bill McGrath leading us in the Pledge of Allegiance and God Bless America. Our invocation was given by Kary Coleman. Sergeant at Arms Report John Hanna reported 46 of our 103 members in attendance today. We had a visiting Rotarian; Matthew Dowling joined us from the Connellsville club. And Larry Blake is visiting us again, a guest of Chuck Anderson. Rotary Foundation Moment Bill Thorne’s Rotary Foundation Moment is about micro credit. In Cuzco, Peru, Rotarians contributed $10,000 to a partnering association, Asociacion MIDE, which provided small loans to 288 low-income women. In six months these women improved their businesses and living standards, lifting them out of extreme poverty. While local Rotarians had the opportunity to work together to develop the project and approve the system of loans, the participants learned to use, administer, and benefit from financial credit. In the process, the women improved their self-esteem as they acquired entirely new roles of financial responsibility for their families. Every Rotarian, Every Year – giving is hope in action, New Member Induction We inducted a new member into our club today. Kary Coleman has sponsored Edie Cook, who is now our newest member. Welcome Edie! Mark Parker presided over the ceremony. Announcements The Westmoreland County Food Bank is going on at 6:00 PM tonight at Our Lady of Grace. They are really going to need some assistance with this, so please come if you can. The golf outing is coming together. We have two sponsors for the open bar (Bill has his priorities straight) and around 40 letters for sponsorships have gone out. If you need a letter to send out, let Bill know. We’d like to get businesses involved as soon as possible. We voted to be the sponsoring club for the new Hempfield club. They would like to be a breakfast club, and we are the sponsoring organization. We are required to give no financial assistance, but we should help with the organization. If you are interested in helping, please let Bill know. We are looking for up to 7 sponsoring families for incoming students. There are 7 possibilities, and this is for starting next September, and they must be from Greensburg or Hempfield Area. Our spelling bee will be May 23 this year. We will be looking around at some different places, as the Amphitheater at UPG will not be available. We are looking at possible venues. Sally Wiggin will be the MC again this year. Word of the Week Bill’s word of the week is bort. A bort is a fragment of diamonds, usually used for polishing. Speaker Jeff Ward introduced our speaker, Dr. Daniel Clark, who spoke to us about minimally invasive and robotic surgery. In 1997, the daVinci Surgical System was first used in Brussels on a patient. It was in development for over 20 years, and in the early 2000’s, Latrobe Hospital and Dr. Clark was the 19th hospital in the country to have a fully integrated, voice-activated, computerized surgical suite. Even the lights are voice-activated. Even before that, they were doing laparoscopic surgeries for hernias and lymph node dissection at Latrobe, which is one of the reasons that Dr. Clark chose to go into Latrobe. Dr. Clark helped to expand the program to include colon, small bowel, stomach, spleen, pancreatic, laser bile duct, and chest. They also began MIS Thoracic Surgery for lung and para-esophageal hernias among others. Latrobe Hospital has the only daVinci Surgical Robot outside of Pittsburgh in Western and Central PA. Dr. Clark also helps to train his competitors, because he believes that if a surgery can be done using minimally invasive techniques, then it should be done that way. In terms of recovery time and immune system suppression, the affects are night and day. As a note on robotic surgery, they make four dime-sized incisions with a robotic arm itself. It doesn’t move on its own, so it’s technically not a robot. But it allows for 10x magnification, compared to 4x with laparoscopic procedures. It also has 2 cameras in the videoscope, allowing for 3-D imaging vs. 2-D. The other big advantage is the “Endo-Wrist” instruments, giving the same 360 degree range of motion as the surgeon’s wrist and hand. The surgeon sits at a console to operate instruments and its precise and real-time instrumentation. Bill ended our meeting in the usual way with the Four Way Test. |
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Last Updated on Wednesday, 17 February 2010 22:28 |
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Rotary Flash for Meeting on January 19, 2010 |
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Written by Dan Carr
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Wednesday, 17 February 2010 22:18 |
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Our meeting began in the usual way with Bill McGrath leading us in the Pledge of Allegiance and God Bless America. Our invocation was given by Sue McDonald. Sergeant at Arms Report John Hanna reported 46 of our 103 members in attendance today. Rotary Foundation Moment Bill Thorne gave our Foundation Moment this week. Every minute of every day someone’s life is being improved by our Rotary Foundation. Rotary clubs on every continent are working to improve the living conditions and health of their fellow citizens. Rotarians like you and me can make a difference by continually supporting our Foundation and the Annual Programs Fund. As Rotarians, we determine where funds are allocated through District Designated Funds, which we can use for local projects or matching grants in another country. When we contribute to our Foundation, we are promoting worldwide Peace and Understanding. Only if Every Rotarian Every Year makes a gift to the Annual Programs Fund will we be able to continue to do the great work of The Rotary Foundation. Announcements Remember that next week our meeting will be at the Courtyard Marriott. There will be a short board meeting after this week – it is a request to help sponsor shelter boxes for Haiti. The shelter box houses a family, provides a stove, water, toilet facilities. Chuck Strobel announced that next week he will be passing out a signup sheet to join the committee for the upcoming Arts and Heritage Festival booth. If you’re interested in helping to prepare for this event, please sign up next week or contact Chuck. Word of the Week Bill’s word of the week is fain. It means content or pleased. Speaker Our speaker was Dr. Anthony Van Norman, who spoke to us about psoriasis. Psoriasis is a chronic, noncontagious, multisystem, inflammatory disorder. Usually it affects the skin at the joints and the scalp, and 30% of the time it affects the joints themselves. It tends to have flares that are usually related to systemic or environmental factors. It appears that it’s influenced by genetics, so it is hereditary, though there are other factors involved. Between 2 and 2.6% of the US population is affected by psoriasis and is less common in the tropics and in dark-skinned persons. Only 10-15% of new cases begin in those younger than 10 and the median age at onset is 28 years, so it usually affects younger individuals. Fortunately, mild psoriasis does not appear to increase the risk of death, but it can significantly influence a person’s quality of life. There are a number of treatment methods, including using ultraviolet light and various drugs. For more information, you can go to www.psoraisis.org. Bill ended the meeting in the usual way with the Four Way Test. |
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Rotary Flash for Meeting on January 26, 2010 |
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Written by Dan Carr
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Wednesday, 17 February 2010 22:23 |
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Today was our first meeting at the Courtyard Marriott. This writer is personally thrilled with the improvement in food & ambiance. Go Dawn! The meeting was brought to order by President Bill McGrath, the Pledge of Allegiance, a very strongly sung “God Bless America,” and an invocation by John Kline. John Hanna reported 57 of 103 Rotarians in attendance, with 2 guests: Bonnie Lewis, mother of Dawn Roberts, and Edie Cook, brought for her second meeting by Kary Coleman. President McGrath asked for a quick Board meeting after the regular meeting to discuss the awarding of grants as per the recommendations of the grant committee. The committee had requests of $24K worth of grants, and was only able to grant $8.1K. Must have been some tough choices. Good job guys. On 2/4 at 5:30PM there will be a regular Board meeting at the usual place. Dictionaries were delivered to the 3rd graders at area schools. We are pleased to announce that our club sent 3 Shelter Boxes to Haiti. One shelter box costs $1000, has a tent that holds 10 people, 180 water purification tablets, a kitchenette set, water containers, food stuffs, some toiletries, and some stuff to entertain children. Knowing this makes this writer very proud, as I’m sure it makes us all. This month’s Meadow’s Moment: Kary Coleman Kary’s engagement announcement was in the Trib a few weeks ago. Look like the wedding is still on. That’s great! Stacy, have you talked to Kary about married life? Like different schedules, separate or joint checking accounts, his habits, our habits??? We wish only the best that life has to offer to Raymond and you! Dave Delisi Aren’t you quite active in the Westmoreland County Historical Society? A few weeks ago there was a fund raiser held at the courthouse. The Civil War was the there. How many “post graduate” courses have you taken plus a nation test to become a CPA and you were only classified as a Union Private. Let’s put this in perspective: how much education did Robert E Lee & Ulysses S Grant have if they rose to the rank of General? Will Brown I believe you have a younger brother by the name of Scott who was mayor of Greensburg some years ago. Is this the same person who is Senator-elect from Massachusetts? He has gone from small town mayor to Senator-elect. That’s some accomplishment. Gene James I believe this was mentioned a few months ago that Gene & I live on the five hundred block of N. Maple Ave. Over the New Year’s weekend I was shoveling my driveway when Gene drove past in his black & yellow “smart” car. It seemed as if he were costing towards town. Gene, by chance did you forget to wind it up? Thank you for keeping us up on the all the happenings, Ed! Todd Jones gave his autobiography today. A private man, Jones refused to give us any information except his name, rank & serial number. Well, we actually didn’t get his serial number, but he did divulge he went to Latrobe High School, St. Vincent University (Bachelors Psychology), that he works for First National Bank, and that he is currently studying to get his Life Insurance Licensing. Kary Coleman presented this month’s Birthdays and Anniversaries. Unbelievably she divulged the YEARS people were born. When I did birthdays, I just gave the events & left the years up to the imagination. At least they were mostly men, so maybe they didn’t mind as much…. Adib Barsoum – January 18th; Bill Courtney – January 4th; Tom Jachimowicz (can you believe that spell check thinks that’s not spelled right???)- January 24th; Chuck Strobel – January 31st; Gene James – January 14th; Bill McGrath – January 12th; Carl Rossman – January 3rd; Chris Rizk-Orosz – January 9th; Chris DeDiana – January 21st; Ron Barner – January 9th; and Tyler Courtney – January 16th. Happy Birthday Rotarians! January Anniversaries – 34 years – Roy Thompson & John Harman……….20 years – Joe Biss & Bill Rudolph……….15 years – Jeff Long…………8 years – John Hanna………..5 years – John Kline………….1 year – Mike Roberts, Duane Somple & Mary Zajdel (has it already been that long????) Then the meeting was adjourned early with the Four Way Test. Respectfully Submitted, Leia Shilobod |
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Rotary Flash for Meeting on January 12, 2010 |
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Written by Dan Carr
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Thursday, 14 January 2010 22:59 |
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Our meeting began in the usual way with Bill McGrath leading us in the Pledge of Allegiance and God Bless America. Our invocation was given by Dan Carr. Sergeant at Arms Report John Hanna reported 57 of our 103 members in attendance today. We had a visiting Rotarian – Anne Peagler joined us for lunch from the New Stanton club. It was nice to see you again Anne. Also we had a number of guests. Ray Charley brought his son Mike as well as Jenn Miller and Marlene Kozak. Dawn Roberts brought her mother Bonnie Lewis, and Cathy Baumann brought Matt Southern. Rotary Foundation Moment Bill Thorne gave our Foundation Moment. For the first time in southern African history, a group study exchange has taken place between two formerly conflicting countries. In November 2006, a GSE team from Zambia visited South Africa, signifying improved relations between the two countries. This exchange was made possible from a contribution of district designated funds from District 9210 to District 9300. With the end of Apartheid in South Africa, these young professionals are now able to talk to one another and share ideas and common interests that will help their countries look to the future in peace. Some of the greatest stories being told today started with a contribution to The Rotary Foundation. Let’s make sure our club is part of the Rotary story. Students Joe Biss brought students from Greensburg Central Catholic. Madeline Leo and Kaitlyn Davis joined us for lunch. Announcements January 26th we will begin meeting at the Courtyard Marriott. Our last meeting at the Four Points Sheraton will be next week. Ray Charley announced some results for the donation project of turkey certificates back to the store. These certificates were matched by the Shop n Save stores, and they had 341 certificates donated back. As a result, $6,820 dollars were donated to the food bank. Thank you Ray. Mark Barnhart went out to Greensburg, Kansas. All of the boys said hello. We will be sending a student out to Greensburg, Kansas for a week in the summer. The school is ready to be opened and the hospital is being built. They have a town again – there are businesses up and running and it’s amazing the progress that has been made. Dates to Keep In Mind April 24 – Spring blood screening June 14 – Annual golf outing July 1-4 – Westmoreland Arts and Heritage Festival, where we will have a booth Word of the Week Bill’s word of the week is joss. The word is a foreman, or a boss on a job. Speaker Our speaker was Dr. George Austin, who spoke to us about bariatric surgery. Trying to change the public perception that obesity is truly a disease and not just a weakness or failure of an individual has been difficult. Surgical treatment is appropriate for qualified patients. Unfortunately there are very few options for obese individuals. Lifestyle changes, such as diet and exercise; pharmacotherapy, for which only two drugs are approved each with various discouraging side effects; and bariatric surgery. Obese individuals are those with a BMI of 35 or higher. Those with a BMI or 40 or higher or 35 and higher with other medical conditions are the most common candidates for the surgery. There are three types of procedures, each with different benefits and downsides, and each have a mortality rate of less than 1%. Those who wish to undergo the surgery must go through an extensive screening process that includes dietary therapy and proof of motivation. On occasion individuals will still put their weight back on, so the screening process is not foolproof but it does help. They are still looking for better ways to screen and to educate individuals, because obese individuals spend $700 more in pharmacy costs each year and have a significantly higher risk of heart conditions. We ended our meeting in the usual way with the Four Way Test. |
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