Blair Rotary Newsletter
General News
Club members have voted to "ring bells" for the Salvation Army for the upcoming Holiday Season. At this time we are scheduled to work the 2nd Saturday after Thanksgiving, December 7th, at No Frills. Please schedule some time to help out on the 7th.
Notes from the October 15th Meeting – Program Chair - Kirk Hutton
Vicki Ortmeier, daughter of Rich and Barb Ortmeier, was introduced as the September Rotary Student of the Month. Vicki has been involved in a number of activities including: FBLA (4 years), National Honor Society, B-Club Member (3 years), Spanish Club Member (2 years), Career Night Steering Committee, Varsity Softball (4 years). Academically, Vicki has achieved the following: Academic All Conference (Soccer and Softball), National Honor Society (2002 and 2003), Partnership with Business Project Author - 2nd place at FBLA State Leadership Conference (2002). Vicki has not decided where she will go to school next fall but she is considering Hastings College, Nebraska Wesleyan University and UNL. As a Blair Rotary Student of the month, Vicki will receive $200 next fall to help with her educational expenses.
Kirk's guest for the day was Dave Nannen with Nanen and Harte Physical Therapy. Dave is building a new facility at the corner of 75 and Wright Street here in Blair. The new facility will be approximately 6000 square feet and includes a therapeutic pool which is 16 x 12 x 5. Dave indicated four reasons for building:
The new building will offer more space than is currently available in their downtown office as well as additional parking. Other services, such as Ron Beaman's massage therapy and Eric Clements' chiropractic care, will have more room in the building as well. The building is expected to be completed sometime in mid-December.
Rotary Question of the Week
What is PolioPlus? What is the goal of PolioPlus?
Rotary Fact of the Week (from the Rotary International
Website)
With only two cases of polio to date this year in Ethiopia, Somalia, and Sudan,
the Horn of Africa is extremely close to being polio-free, the World Health
Organization (WHO) said in a recent press release.
According to the statement, quoted in a 25 September report by the UN-sponsored Integrated Regional Information Network (IRIN) news service, the two cases were recorded in Somalia.
No cases have been found in Sudan and Ethiopia for well over a year, said the press statement from WHO's Polio Eradication Information Office. "However to finish the job, the Horn countries must continue mass polio immunization campaigns and urgently require the funding to carry these out," the statement said.
"Despite the enormous challenge of delivering polio vaccine to children in Ethiopia, Sudan, and Somalia, the people of these countries have almost wiped polio out of the Horn," Dr. Bruce Aylward, WHO's coordinator of the Global Polio Eradication Initiative, told a key meeting in Nairobi on 25 September.
"By reducing polio cases to near-zero, the partnership has demonstrated that polio's days are numbered even in countries where conflict has otherwise ravaged health systems," said Aylward
The WHO press release said that to immunize 22 million children annually and conduct international-standard surveillance for polio in Ethiopia, Somalia, and Sudan, US$50 million are required from 2003-2005. It noted that donor commitment was critical.
"If we are to truly finish with polio in the Horn and in all of Africa, every G8 country must fulfill its commitment to polio eradication, and other countries must join them," said Past District Governor John Sever, a member of Rotary's International PolioPlus Committee.
Thought of the Week
"You will never do anything in this world
without courage. It is the greatest quality of the mind next to honor."
- James Allen
October Birthdays
Service Above Self!