Prayer. “Great is the Lord and greatly to be praised. Honor and majesty are before him.” (Psalm 96:4,6)
With the ancient Psalmist, O God, we echo the praises given throughout the centuries by all who have recognized your greatness. As Rotarians, we recognize and readily acknowledge that our chief purpose of serving others has a divine origin, a mandate to all men and women of faith.
We tender our thanks for the gifts of food and fellowship which we enjoy, and for the mutual support which we experience. Let our table conversations be uplifting, our concern for others genuine, and the time spent together productive and rewarding. Amen
Club Announcements:
1.Rotary Club of North Jackson Dictionary Delivery Schedule. Please volunteer as your schedule permits.
Monday October 28, 2019, 1:00 PM, Boyd Elementary School, 4531 Broadmeadow Drive @ Northside Dr., 10 club members needed.
Tuesday, October 29, 2019, 10:00 AM, McLeod Elementary School, 1616 Sandlewood Place (Off Westbrook Road). 8 Club members needed.
Tuesday, October 29, 2019, 1:30 PM, Casey Elementary School, 2101 Lake Circle @ Ridgewood Road.6 club members needed.
Wednesday, October 30, 2019, 9:30 AM, Dawson Elementary School, 4215 Sunset Dr. (off of Medgar Evers near I-220. 4 club members needed.
Thursday, October 31, 2019, 8:15 AM, Walton Elementary School, 3200 Bailey Ave. 6 club members needed.
2. Thanks to all who were able to attend the Polio Plus celebration on Thursday, October 24. Special thanks to all who spoke and led the celebration and to our sponsors, St. Dominic, The Sunray Companies, and Premier Plastic Surgery.
3. The Rotary Club of North Jackson Blood Drive will be Tuesday, November 12. Please be alert for details.
Approximately 200 Rotary District 6820 members and guests celebrated World Polio Day at the St. Dominic Centre's Toulouse Building on Thursday, October 24. Since Rotary International initiated its Polio Eradication Initiative in 1988, global polio cases have decreased from 350,000 annually to 96 in 2018. Rotary International and its private and governmental partners have invested in excess of $5 billion in this effort. The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation has invested approx. $4 billion and Rotary International approx. $2 billion in this outstanding example of collaboration to achieve a global goal.
The following photos are from the event.
Rotarians Dr. Suman Das, Mark Anderson, Nelam Goel, and Don Roberts celebrate the progress made in eradicating polio.
North Jackson Executive Secretary-Treasurer, Don Roberts thanks the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundations for its support in eradicating Polio.
Rotary International Past President John Germ in a live video report on the Polio Plus Initiative.
Flowood Rotarian Wayne Scoville discusses his life as a polio survivor.
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Madison Ridgeland Rotarian Dr. Nelson Atehortua, a polio survivor, holds up a leg brace he wears. A pair of crutches and a cane are also used to aid his walking.
North Jackson Rotarian and District 6820 Polio Plus Chair, Dr. Suman Das presents the history of polio and of efforts to eradicate it.
Past District 6820 Governor Roscoe Green shows and reads a World Polio Day Proclamation by Mississippi Governor Phil Bryant.
District 6820 Governor Mark Fields welcomes attendees to District 6820's World Polio Celebration.
Rotary Club of North Jackson President Greg Campbell shows just how close we are to eradicating polio.
Dr. Sandor Feldman, Professor Emeritus of Pediatrics at UMMC, talks about the role of immunization and public health in the eradication of polio.
We thank St. Dominic Health Services, St. Dominic Hospital, the Sunray Companies, and Premier Plastic Surgery for sponsoring our event, and our presenters and speakers for their activities to make the celebration such a success.
Jamie Grantham of the Medical Marijuana 2020 Campaign spoke to the Rotary Club of North Jackson at the club's October 15, 2019 meeting. She focused her comments on the sponsors and steering committee of the campaign and what the organization deems to be the advantages and controls that will be instituted if the proposition is approved by the voters of Mississippi in the 2020 election.
For example, only marijuana grown and processed in Mississippi could be sold in Mississippi under the law. Also, only licensed medical practitioners; i.e., M. D.s and D. O.s, could certify the need for medical marijuana. Purchasers would be required to have Medical Marijuana identity cards issued by the Mississippi Department of Health to make purchases. If approved, the medical marijuana system would be financed by grower, processor, and user fees although the Mississippi Department of Health would be authorized to borrow $2.5 million from the State Treasury for its initial start-up.
The arguments to approve the proposition are that it should reduce the use of conventional pain control medications, i.e., opioids and that it would be targeted at people suffering from chronic debilitating pain from diseases on a list of qualifying conditions that she included on her slides. That list included cancer, epilepsy, PTSD, etc. She cited studies that show that the use of medical marijuana has fewer side effects than opioids and that states that have approved medical marijuana have a 24.8% lower opioid overdose death rate than states without such laws.
If the proposition is approved, Mississippi would be joining 33 other states that have approved medical marijuana. Grantham urged the club members to support the proposition. We thank her for her presentation and for giving us “food for thought.” She is shown below with club member Larry Anderson who introduced her.
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.
Members of the Rotary Satellite Club of London, Ontario, Canada.
Members of the Rotary Satellite Club of London, Ontario, Canada.
By Heather Macdonald, Rotary Satellite Club of London, Ontario, Canada
I was a recent college grad when I moved to a new city and was looking to join an organization where I could meet people my own age who were at the same stage of life that I was in. My parents are both Rotarians, so Rotary was the first organization that came to mind. But I struggled to find a club where I could fit in.
London, Ontario, Canada has two Rotaract clubs, but both are associated with either the University or the College and require members to be attending. Even if that weren’t the case, I didn’t want to join a club where the members were still focused on school. I was finished with school and really wanted to meet people who were starting careers and had NO money.
Heather Macdonald.
The Rotary clubs in the area were inaccessible to young professionals. Most of the members were established in their careers and financially stable. All of the clubs met at breakfast or lunch. As someone who is just starting out in my company, I can’t take the time off for an hour meeting plus travel time. And the meals were definitely out of my price range.
About a year ago, our current district governor, mentioned that the London Rotary Club had started the Rotary Satellite Club of London. This club is made up of younger professionals who are all done with school (approximately 22-35-year-olds). The satellite club meets twice a month at a local pub. If we want a drink or dinner we pay the pub directly, and it just happens that we meet on half-price wing night. If money’s tight that week and we can only afford a pop, that’s all we pay for, no judgment.
Our satellite club has adapted to suit our needs. None of us use checks, and instead of having to carry cash, we use e-transfer whether it’s our annual dues (my parents paid mine as a birthday present) or for our Happy Bucks Card (our system of collecting money through good-natured “fines.”)
Currently, my time and energy are worth way more than my money. I can’t afford to buy a $55 Rotary shirt, go to a $100 a plate auction dinner or take a whole Thursday off for a golf tournament. That’s why my Rotary club sponsors a local park and we get together twice a year to pick up trash. We help load cargo trailers to be shipped overseas for other area Rotary clubs. And we raise funds for Christmas packages for homeless youth in our city by putting on Trivia and Paint Nights at the pub where we meet.
I’m an active Rotarian and likely will be for life. I’m now on our board of directors, I’ve been to a district conference and a learning assembly. Who knows what the future holds.
I LOVE my Rotary club and the people in it. We have a wonderful time together, it doesn’t cost us much, and we’re making the world a better place.
Use the Guide to Satellite Clubs to learn more about satellite clubs, how they work, benefits to starting one, and what that process entails. The guide also includes best practices and links to additional resources.
This week’s Rotary Foundation Thought is about Changing and Saving Lives.
Have you ever considered that your contribution to The Rotary Foundation may mean the difference between life and death? Rotary Foundation Matching Grant projects have helped provide the Malawi Children’s Village (MCV) with everything from clean water, food and medications to blankets, sewing machines and a windmill. The Rotary Club of Canandaigua, New York, USA and Chakunga Sibale, director of the MCV, founded the program in 1997 and it is supported locally by the Rotary Club of Limbe. “The MCV has had a very great effect to relieve the suffering of children in my country,” says Sibale. Rotarian’s contributions to this project have literally meant the difference between life and death for many of the children in the MCV program.