Petoskey Rotary Noon Club NEWSLETTER 

May 25, 2016

 
 

4 Way Test:  Thank you Tim Dykstra

InvocationBJ Shawn shared one of her own poems entitled “My Corny Poem”:

How lucky are we that we get to be together?

How lucky are we that we have this amazing weather?

How lucky are we that we get to give?

How lucky are we that this is where we live?

How lucky are we that we can laugh?

How luck are we that we can help others on behalf………..

Of our amazing Rotary Club of Petoskey!!!!!!!!

Life Events/RequestsHappy Birthday to Gary Fedus!

Calendar Winners:  Calendar winners can be found: Click Here

Visiting RotariansWelcome Moose Dunn, Clearwater, Florida; Jim West, Montague Whitehall; and retuning summer Rotarians Tom Morrow and Julian Magnus

ANNOUNCEMENTS

Back to Bayview:  June 1, 2016 we will be returning to our summer home

Spring Fling Party/Billy Duff CabinThe date is June 2, 2016. Dearborn Ham and beverages will be provided. Sign-up sheets are going around or contact Jim Beno to be added to the list. Please bring a dish to pass. This can be appetizers, vegetables, salads or desserts. Bikers will be meeting at the Beno Clinic, 2:00pm. Friends and family members are welcome

Beach Bums:  Save the Date of June 11, 2016 to attend a ball game in Traverse City. Cost will be $8.00 but we need 25 people to go

Update on Luke:  Bill Collins thanked the Club for their prayers and concern. His grandson, Luke, is doing well. He has just completed his third round of chemotherapy and has completed bone marrow harvesting. Luke received the group picture of his classmates. They had shaved their heads. Very touching

Officer Exchange:  The Officer Exchange will take place on June 28, 2016. It will be held at the Perry Hotel. Cocktails will be served out side on the terrace at 6:00pm and dinner will be served at 7:15. Sign-up sheets will circulate beginning next week

Rotary International Annual Meeting:  The 2017 meeting will be held in Atlanta, Georgia June 11-14 2017. For those planning to attend, there is a discounted rate in celebration of the 100th Anniversary. The discount rate is available May 28th through June 6, 2016 

Semper-Fi Award:  The May Award went to Chris Etienne for her tireless work is stamping out Polio. Her efforts in Nigeria were phenomenal 

PROGRAM

Chris Etienne gave a presentation today on her November 2015 trip to Nigeria administering polio vaccine. Polio eradication is our #1 worldwide organization priority. In the mid-1980s there were 350,000 cases per year in 125 endemic countries. In 2015 there were only 74 reported cases (Pakistan and Afghanistan). To date, in 2016, only 15 cases have been reported between two countries. It is conceivable that we will reach “zero” reportable cases in 2016.

Chris shared astounding photographs of the children in Kaduna, Nigeria. (They were greeted by 10,000 children). She also explained what is meant by the “Cold Chain”, logistics to get vaccine from here to there and keeping it cold as it transfers from country, to region, to individual health clinics and door to door in villages. A complex and fascinating process.

The goal is to immunize children 5 and under. The test for age is the ability to place your right hand over your head and touch your left ear. This is a task that cannot be accomplished by a child under the age of 5.

Chris also shared the process of door to door tracking and the “pinkie” identification process.

A very poignant part of the presentation was the Wheelchair Distribution. This is a program ensuring that all persons who have been crippled by polio receive a wheelchair to enable better mobility and also to raise dignity. Ayuba was the young man receiving our donated wheelchair.

Chris also shared the following images:

  • Emir of Zazzau, Head of Zaria in Kaduna State

  • “This land in not for sale” signs. Much different than we see here

  • The village and people of Doka Mai Jama, Nigeria

The Rotary Club of Petoskey thanks Chris for her diligence in polio eradication and her kindness to the children of Nigeria

Next Week’s Program:  Molly Preston - Michigan Youth in Government