Prayer: O God, whose creative power and beauty can be seen in the magnificent display of color in nature and whose splashes of living color ar see also in the rich diversity of personalities and vocational pursuits represented in this club and throughout the Rotary enterprise, we are grateful to be part of that human kaleidoscope.
As we share our meal today, we are reminded again of the blessings and provisions for our needs, which are ultimately traceable to your goodness. Bless also the fellowship we enjoy and the good we seek to do through our club. Amen.
Club Announcements:
1.Rotary Club of North Jackson – Quarterly Membership Changes
Membership (not including Honorary) September 30, 2019 95
Termination ( T) / Addition ( A)
Name
Effective Date
Reason
Membership after Change
T
Ann Somers
07-13-19
Business Pressure
94
T
Bob Potesky
07-13-19
Business Pressure
93
A
Rita Sun
07-16-19
New member
94
A
Erik Sokolsky
07-23-19
New member
95
T
Brad Benton
09-03-19
Business Pressure
94
2. Please note that there will not be a regular noon meeting on October 22. Instead, we will meet noonish on Thursday, October 24 at the St. Dominic facility on the I55 North Frontage Road to participate in the Rotary International World Polio Day event. Box lunches will be served. The building is between Lakeland and Eastover Dr. There will be more details later.
Please see the flyer below about the Rotary District 6820 Polio Plus 5 K Run/Walk on October 19, 2019, at the Renaissance Shopping Center in Ridgeland. You can register at http://www.msracetiming.com and you can get more information on how Rotary impacts the world at http://www.rotary.org.
3. The Rotary Club of North Jackson Blood Drive will be Tuesday, November 12. Please be alert for details.
Birthdays And Anniversaries
Welcome to Margaret Elizabeth White daughter of Andy and Caroline White who was born October 8. Mother and daughter are doing well.
Merrill McKewen, Executive Director of Habitat for Humanity Mississippi Capital Area spoke to the Rotary Club of North Jackson at the Club’s October 8, 2019 meeting. The subject of her talk was Habitat for Humanity Mississippi Capital Area (HFHMCA) and its new Broadmoor Initiative. After over 25 years of primarily building affordable new homes for deserving families in the Jackson Metro Area, HFHMCA has changed its focus to rehabilitating homes in the Broadmoor neighborhood of Jackson. There are several reasons for this change:
Habitat homeowners prefer to purchase homes in the North Jackson area.
The cost of new HFHMCA homes has escalated to the point where many sponsors can’t afford the cost of new homes. McKewen emphasized that the cost of a new home had risen to $120,000.
The Broadmoor neighborhood is a vibrant community of well-built homes that were constructed for returning GIs after World War II and most of the homes are still in good condition for rehabilitation.
The Broadmoor area is close to shopping, schools, thoroughfares, churches, and other amenities.
HFHMCA’s objective is to impact 100 homes in Broadmoor within 5 years.
The original subdivision had 350 lots on 153 acres. The houses and lots were originally sold by lottery in 1948 to returning veterans. Many Jacksonians were raised in the subdivision or purchased their first home there. As they work on rehabbing the homes, it will be like coming home.
We thank McKewen for her presentation and for the work that HFHMCA is doing and has done for the Jackson Metro Area. She is shown following her presentation with Rotarian and HFHMCA board member Collier Graham (left) and North Jackson Club President Greg Campbell.
Adam McWilliams, Weekend Meteorologist for Jackson channel 16, WAPT, spoke to the Rotary Club of North Jackson at the Club’s September 24, 2019, meeting. McWilliams is a native Jacksonian and a graduate of both Hillcrest High School and Mississippi State University (2012). His MSU degree is in Broadcast Journalism. He began broadcast journalism at Hillcrest when he was in the first grade and continued through high school. When he was 16, he was an intern with WAPT’s Chief Meteorologist, David Hartman. Before coming to 16 WAPT, Adam was the weekend meteorologist and reporter for WXVT-TV in Greenville, MS.
McWilliams talk was entitled “Are Hurricanes Getting Worse.” He quickly proved that question to be false by showing a record of hurricanes over the past 80 years. He did say that with the oceans becoming warmer, hurricanes are accompanied by greater rainfall due to the ability of warmer air being able to hold more moisture and to discharge greater amounts as rain.
McWilliams said that our ability to forecast the paths of hurricanes has improved greatly in the last 10-15 years and that as a result of better warnings are available. He also cited lessons that could be learned from Hurricane Katrina in 2005: Prepare early, prepare often. Other things that he said that exacerbate our ability to prepare for a hurricane are that most people have discontinued their telephone landlines and many people do not have transistor radios. His point was that cell phones will likely not be operating during and after hurricanes because of infrastructure damage, but that a battery-operated transistor radio can help you get warnings and post-storm information.
We thank Adam for his presentation and for his service to our community. He (center) is shown below with Rotarians Matt Monsour (left) who introduced him and Jeff Adcock
Dr. Somprasong Songcharoen, MD, of the Premier Plastic Surgery Center in Madison and Jackson, made a donation to Rotary’s Polio Plus program at the Rotary Club of North Jackson’s September 24, 2019 meeting. Dr. Songcharoen is a native of Thailand where he received his undergraduate and medical education. He interned at Grace Hospital in Detroit Michigan and completed a surgical residency at the University of Maryland in Baltimore followed by a fellowship in Hand Surgery at Grace Hospital. He completed his Residency in Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery at the University of Mississippi Medical Center in Jackson.
Dr.Songcharoen (left) is shown below presenting his donation to Club Member and Past District Governor Jim Stanley
We thank him for his generous donation to Polio Plus.
Polio Plus is a global program of Rotary International. Since 1985, Rotary International and its partners have donated in excess of $1 Billion for the eradication of Polio. As a result, the number of global polio cases has decreased from 350,000 annually to 30. Polio has been eradicated from all countries except Pakistan and Afganistan.
St. Dominic Health Services and Hospital President Lester Diamond, presented a check for $5,000 to Rotary District 6820 Governor Mark Fields to help sponsor World Polio Day. Eleven Jackson area Rotary clubs will celebrate World Polio Day on October 24, 2019. Shown (from left) Fields, Diamond, and Suman Das, District 6820 World Polio Day Chair. Since the mid-1980s, the efforts of Rotary International and its partners have reduced the global incidence of Polio from 350,000 cases annually to 30. Polio exists now in only Pakistan and Afganistan.
Rotary District 6820 2019-2020 Governor Mark Fields spoke to The Rotary Club of North Jackson at its September 17, 2019 meeting. Fields, informed club members and guests about the six areas of focus of Rotary International plus other district news. The six areas of focus of Rotary International are:
Promoting Peace
Fighting Disease
Providing clean water, sanitation, and hygiene
Saving mothers and children
Supporting Education
Growing local economies
District 6820 covers the central portion of Mississippi from US Highway 82 in the north to US HIghway 84 in the south. Per Governor Fields, there are 11 Rotary Clubs in the Jackson Metro area.
The Rotary Club of North Jackson meets at noon on Tuesdays at the Rickhouse in Jackson. Shown (from left) Davis Clark, District 6820 Deputy Governor; Megan Little, District 6820 Assistant Governor; Mark Fields, District 6820 Governor; Greg Campbell, Rotary Club of North Jackson President and Suman Das, Club member and District 6820 Polio Chair.
Dr. Ann Kemp, M.D. Professor of Pharmacy & Professor of Family Medicine, at the University of Mississippi Medical Center, and Chair of the UMMC Opioid Task Force spoke to the Rotary Club of North Jackson at the Club’s September 10, 2019, meeting. The subject of the talk was “Opioid Guidelines, Regulations, and Clinical Pearls.” She commented that the talk is the same one that she gives to medical students in their training.
She emphasized several times that opioid prescribing requires a balance of goals, risks, and benefits from opioid use and that the prescribing physician should always consider non-pharmaceutical pain relief alternatives. She further commented that opioids should be prescribed for chronic pain and pain from cancer and that the physician should counsel patients on the adverse effects of opioids and their safe disposal when the course of treatment is completed.
We thank Dr.Kemp for her talk and for her commitment and service to the citizens of Mississippi. She is shown below with Club members Patrick Smith (left), who introduced her, and Erik Hearon (right).
The Rotary Club of North Jackson honored the JPD Precinct 4 Officer of the Quarter during its September 17th meeting. JPD Corporal Patrick Smith was honored for his quick action and investigation of a shooting at a Northeast Jackson hotel that led to the arrest of a suspect that was also wanted for other crimes.
The Rotary Club of North Jackson meets at noon on Tuesdays at the Rickhouse in Jackson. Shown (from left) JPD Precinct Commander Keith Freeman, Corporal Smith, and Club member. Steve Orlansky who chairs the Club’s JPD Officer recognition program.
Posted on October 10, 2019, The video (tap the URL) by Botagoz Sharipova, Nataliya Chemayeva, and other Rotary Scholars in the Water Cooperation and Diplomacy program has been selected as finalist by the Geneva Water Hub and will be featured at the Budapest Water Summit 15-17 October and during Geneva Peace Week 4-8 November.
By Botagoz Sharipova, Rotary Scholar, Water Cooperation and Diplomacy Program
Every living being and every local economy depends on water. In my country Kazakhstan, the source of our water comes from seven major rivers that we share with our neighbors. Six of those originate in other countries including Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan, China, and Russia. In Central Asia, access to water and conflict resolution are closely intertwined.
About a year ago, I was fortunate to be one of seven water professionals selected by Rotary District 5340 for a Rotary Foundation global grant scholarship to take part in the Water Cooperation and Diplomacy Program, a collaboration between the IHE Delft Institute for Water Education in The Netherlands, the University for Peace in Costa Rica, and Oregon State University in Oregon, USA.
The situation in the Aral Sea basin is very unique. Former water management policies have left the Aral Sea, once the fourth largest lake in the world, a fraction of its size and contaminated by high salinity. It has lost 90 percent of its area in just 30 years, with dramatic consequences for health, local economies, and the environment. Water shortages exacerbate tensions.
The situation has affected relationships between the Central Asia countries and between water experts in the region. There is disagreement on the amount and timing of water coming from upstream Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan to downstream Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, and Turkmenistan. Upstream countries want to boost their economy by producing cheap electricity, building dams. Downstream countries heavily oppose that because their agriculture needs water in summertime. Water policies by one country can drastically impact others. That is why cooperation between neighboring countries is not a choice, it is a matter of survival.
Through my studies so far, I have learned how other regions of the world are coping with similar problems as my region is facing. In realizing how many years it took those regions to cooperate, I am more optimistic about my own Aral Sea basin. My optimism has also increased working with the other scholars in this program, water practitioners already working in the sector, learning together not only about water but about cooperating while studying. I believe that collectively we will be able to change our water resource management for the better.
I am more resolute than ever that practices of the past should be left behind. Studying Water Cooperation and Diplomacy has helped me realize that when managing water, we should consider each and every impact at all levels and include all stakeholders for consultations and decision-making.
What I love about working in water resource managing is that you can bring about positive changes in the world. You do not become rich working in the water field in Central Asia. But I am happy knowing that I am contributing to the peace and well-being of the people in my region. And I am thankful to Rotary for advancing my understanding of the connections between water security and peace.