Meeting Attendance: 15 Members; 2 Visitors – Judy Sharpe, Greg Clower

Member Tidbits: ● It was a big week for member wedding anniversaries: Jim D – 55 yrs; Walt – 43 yrs; John & Sue – 21 yrs.
● Jim W. attended his niece’s wedding in CO where the bride & groom para-glided into the ceremony.

• Joan’s daughter was promoted to a 2-Star Admiral in the Coast Guard and Jim has been discharged by his doctors.

Harvey’s Useless Word of the Day: Jiggery-Pokery – underhanded dealings; to dodge or cheat

 Speaker: Macy Clower

Program: Macy was the winner of the first “Jackson B. Richard Memorial Scholarship” in 2011.  She was also one of our RYLA students in 2009. Macy recently graduated with honors from UT with a 5-year Bachelor of Architecture degree. Macy shared her college story and thanked the club and the Sharpe’s for our financial support in the pursuit of her degree.  We’re all proud of her!

Project Soap & Shampoo

As we travel throughout the year and stay at motels and hotels, our District Governor has asked us to collect the unused soaps, shampoos, and lotions and bring them to our Rotary meetings. Sue will have a box to put them in. This will allow us to donate these personal hygiene items to places like ‘Branches – Shelter for Battered Women’ and ‘Journey of Hope’.

So if you have any extra toiletries at home, please bring them with you to our meetings and we’ll begin distributing them where needed in our communities. And when we travel, collect the extras and bring them to Rotary.

This will be part of a “Project A Month” suggested by our District Governor this year.

Rotary Recommits to Ending Polio in Nigeria

The World Health Organization has confirmed two cases of wild poliovirus type 1 in Nigeria, the first cases in the country since July 2014. After passing a year without a case of the wild poliovirus, Nigeria was removed from the list of polio-endemic countries in September 2015. These cases – from two local government areas of Borno state – occurred in July 2016.

The Government of Nigeria – in partnership with the Global Polio Eradication Initiative – will take immediate steps to respond quickly to the outbreak to prevent further spread of the disease. This response will include emergency vaccination campaigns to boost immunity in impacted and at-risk areas, and reinforced surveillance activities to ensure we detect all strains of polio. Because polio knows no borders, steps will also be taken to protect surrounding countries, to ensure all children are vaccinated and to reduce the risk of the spread of the disease.

This news is disappointing for all Rotary members – and particularly those in Nigeria – who worked so hard to help the country stop polio. However, Rotary remains steadfast and fully committed to fighting polio anywhere children remain at risk, including Nigeria and Africa.

The best website to monitor the progress of this effort at Polio Eradication.

“It’s the little details that are vital. Little things make
big things happen.” – John Wooden