Almighty God, in this significant election week in our communities and nation, we pause to give thanks for our country and the freedoms we have inherited from the efforts of patriots in the past. We are grateful for the privilege of engaging in the election of those who will lead us in days and years to come. Grant to them wisdom, courage and openness to your Spirit's influence.
Bless this meeting today that it may contribute to the cause to which we are committed as Rotarians. Draw us always closer together as we share in breaking bread and in fellowship. Amen
Club Announcements:
1.The Rotary Club of North Jackson Blood Drive will be Tuesday, November 12. Please be alert for details. There will be no noon meeting, but box lunches will be available.
Dr. Suman K. Das was recognized as the District 6820 2019 Polio Plus Chair by District 6820 Governor Mark Fields at the October 29 meeting of the Rotary Club of North Jackson. Das organized the district's activities occurring on and around World Polio Day, October 24, 2019. Those activities included a District meeting at St. Dominic Health Services’ Toulouse Building on October 24 and a 5k Walk/Run at the Renaissance Shopping Center On October 19 in addition to raising money to fund the World Polio Day activities.
Dr. Das (left) is shown with North Jackson President Greg Campbell (center) and District Governor Fields recognizing the success of the celebration. Congratulations Rotarian Das and thanks for your excellent work
Author and Football Fan Ed Tonore spoke to the Rotary Club of North Jackson at the club’s October 29, 2019 meeting. The subject was the Greatest Fall of All, the title of a book he has written about the Fall of 2017 when he and his wife attended the top college football game each weekend that fall. He discussed the ticket, travel and lodging arrangements he made, the people he met and the tailgates he attended at the various games. He said that generally he was able to get tickets for a reasonable price, with the exception of the National Championship game for which he purchased his first tickets for $1300 but they turned out to be counterfeit. He ultimately had to pay $3200 for tickets to the game.
Ed Tonore is a retired attorney who practiced in Jackson Mississippi before retiring to Fairhope, AL in 1995. To quote from the introduction to the book on the Amazon website, “It began as a tribute to his father. Every weekend for an entire season, Ed Tonore set out to attend the highest-rated college football game in the country. Not only did his national quest remind him of the history and traditions of American football, but it taught Ed how great the people in America are and how important it is to cross things off of your bucket list. Having documented his journey on his blog, Ed pulls from those posts in this compilation of sights, sounds, tailgates, traditions, and the history of each university he visited during the season. The icing on the cake is a bonus section of recipes from the most popular restaurants in these college towns. Many of these "must-visit" restaurants shared their signature recipes with Ed. Entertaining, informative, and witty, you don't have to be a football fan to enjoy the ride!"
We thank Tonore for his very interesting presentation to our club, for his enthusiasm for football, and the need to cross items off your bucket list. He (right) is shown in the following photo with club president Greg Campbell (center) and club member Mark Kennedy (left).
The week of October 28, 2019, members of the Rotary Club of North Jackson distributed new dictionaries to third-grade students in six Jackson Public Schools: Boyd, McLeod, Casey, Dawson, Walton, and McWillie Elementary schools. This was the 12th year that the club has participated in this event. The beauty of the event is that many of the students are from low-income families and the dictionary may be the first book they have owned. At the distribution event, the children are encouraged to write their names in their dictionary to show that it is their book. Both new and seasoned Rotarians eagerly participated in the event. Their role was to introduce the students to the dictionaries and how to use them. The dictionaries the club distributed contained not only words but maps and encyclopedic information. Our club is delighted to be able to provide these useful gifts to the students.
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.
This week’s Rotary Foundation Thought is about Rotary Peace Fellows:
Posted on
Rotary Peace Fellows inspire at a special concert
Rotary Peace Fellows with Lady Valerie Solti (third from left) and Orchestra Director Charles Kaye (right) at a special performance of The World Orchestra for Peace.
By Carol Hall, Rotary Foundation Chair for the Rotary Club of Abingdon Vesper, Oxfordshire, England
I recently had the privilege of hosting two Rotary Peace Fellows from Bradford University – David from The Gambia and Ghenwa from Syria. Ghenwa comes from southern Syria which has not had the destruction, bombing, and killing that has taken place in northern Syria. However, she cannot live in Syria for fear of reprisal or arrest because of her association with Rotary.
The government in Syria is suspicious of any nongovernmental organizations and organizations such as Rotary. Because of that and out of concern for her family who still live there, she and her husband must live outside Syria. These Peace Fellows are exceptional young people. I loved hosting them and felt so privileged to be in their company and to share their experiences.
The highlight of the weekend was the concert performed by The World Orchestra for Peace on 21 September, comprised of musicians from around the world who are the “crème de la crème” in their field. Many of the violinists are the leaders in very prestigious world orchestras. Between pieces of music, the Peace Fellows told their personal stories and why they wanted to be a Peace Fellow.
One moving story, which brought everyone to tears, was shared by Hassan. Hassan is from Afghanistan and has seen some horrible things. He talked about recently losing several of his friends, one of whom was beheaded. He also spoke of the bombing at a wedding in Kabul in which many were killed. Many of us recalled seeing it in the news. The reason for the bombing was that the Taliban prohibits music, and of course there is always much music at an Afghan wedding. It did not escape us that here we were at that very moment sitting in the magnificent historic Sheldonian Theatre listening to some superb musicians without any fear of bombing and death!!
Having the stories interspersed with music was awe-inspiring. The orchestra had never heard of Rotary’s Peace Fellowship program, but Saturday brought together two international organizations working in their own unique ways to promote peace. Suddenly, the orchestra could visualize an added meaning and dimension to their purpose. They were so impressed with the Peace Fellows that many have gone away hoping that there can be further collaboration. Lady Valerie Solti, Patron of the World Orchestra for Peace and wife of the orchestra’s founder Sir Georg Solti, was present. Very touched by the Peace Fellows, she has promised to be at their seminar at Bradford in October.
Twitter and Facebook are alight around the world with such glowing comments about the evening. We have gone global! I have never been so proud to be a Rotarian as I was that Saturday.
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