Rotary Club of Bellingham Tattler - AUGUST 7, 2023
Lee Harman, M. D. - Miss Vicky Rides Again
Opening Welcome:
President Doug Cole welcomed everyone with some Tiger Woods philosophy which goes in part, 'small improvements over time yield big results.' He even showed a graph that illustrated the point.
Steve Ban’s invocation mentioned the occurrences of natural disasters that seemingly happen one after the other. He did not use this reporter’s work to illustrate his point.
Guess Who this is? Answer is somewhere in the Tattler!
Guests:
Shauna Naf introduced her guest, Tana Hope
Doug Cole introduced Bill Day
John Harris brought his wife Patricia, son Hugh Harris and his partner Eddy Morales
John Moffat introduced our speaker Dr. Lee Harman
Members on Zoom: Catherine Riordan, Roland Trenouth, Loch Trimingham and Monty McAllister
Club Events and Committee Announcements
NEW MEMBERSHIP PROPOSAL: William "Bill" Day has been approved by the Classification Committee and the Board of Directors. He was proposed by Doug Cole and Tm Farris to fill the classification "Airline Pilot-Retired". He will be eligible for membership August 21st unless a written letter of objection is received by Sandra Lindhout, Exec. Sec., 2200 Vining St., Bellingham, Wa. 98229 on or before August 19th.
August 14 - BASECAMP SERVICE PROJECT - 5-7 pm Rotary service project at Lighthouse Mission’s Basecamp (1530 Cornwall Ave). The scope entails organizing Basecamp’s donation room, some deep cleaning around the facility, and straightening and securing the slightly askew "I see you. I love you. I am with you." signage on the front fence. Must contact Ward Naf at wardnaf@gmail.com or 360-303-6671 to sign-up
August 19 - THE PRESIDENT'S PICNIC is open to our spouses/partners, and current, former, and potential future members of the Rotary Club of Bellingham. We ask you to register yourself and your guests, using our regular meeting sign-up form, and indicate what type of potluck dish you'll bring (salad, hot dish, dessert, or bread) so we have a good variety.
October 14 - GUESS WHO IS COMING TO DINNER - This dinner will happen in October. This potluck-style event has been a favorite in years past. Presently we are looking for one more host who can seat up to 8 people. Talk to Brad Burdick at 360-303-3485 or at bcburdick1963@gmail.com. In September Brad will share additional information about this fun event.
August 14 - MENTOR MEETINGShauna announced this meeting of all current new RCOB member mentors and members of the membership committee to be held immediately BEFORE next week's regular RCOB meeting (11am)
John Dunne related an experience in Vietnam. He was a doc in the medical corps, public health officer in the 3rd Cavalry. This mostly concerned creating and giving reports to the commanding general on the state of health of the troops. This usually consisted of statistics about STDs. But one time he noticed a report of a single case of shigellosis. He told the higher-ups that sanitation needed to be enforced. He was seen as overly cautious, given the nickname Dr. Panic. Well, the next week, a massive outbreak occurred, downing the kitchen company, one battalion, and others. Investigation showed that lunch on one day at the mess hall (or food from there) was the common thread. They finally narrowed down a mess sergeant who prepared tuna salad. Dunne's nickname was changed to the Shigella Kid.
For Minister of Fun Dennis W. offered a coin toss. This reporter did not last one toss.
Guess Who Answer: Sandy McIntire
Weekly Payment Reminder
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Give Sandee a call if you need help. 360-734-5532.
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John Moffat introduced Lee Harman, M.D. who talked about his car, Miss Vicky, and the upcoming rally from Anchorage 7,600 miles to Cabo San Lucas. The car is a 1931 Ford Model A, specially outfitted for the excursion. The trip is to raise funds for the effort to stomp out Polio.
Dr. Harman now lives in Camano Island and is the past president of the Rotary Club of Arlington. And he was the district Polio Plus chair from 2009 to 2012. He will take the car up to Alaska on 18 August. This trip is not on the freeway. It goes from Anchorage to Dawson Creek to Walla Walla to Moab to Tuscan to Cabo. He explains that the exact route is not given until the cars start the race.
He related that polio still is not defeated. Polio is only one plane ride away. Recently an unvaccinated man visited the middle east, came back with polio, and it has spread in this country. Containing and eliminating polio takes money. After 38 years and $2.4 billion it still exists. Dr. Harman fears that we are losing focus. If we stop inoculating at this stage, we essentially set back to start over. That’s why it is so important to get rid of the disease where it still lives, Afghanistan (2) and Pakistan (20).
In 2019 the car participated in another rally from Peking (Beijing) to Paris, a distance of 10,000 miles. Miss Vicky was one of only 21 cars that completed the distance going the entire way under its own power. She did not have a tow or a ride on the back of a flatbed. Now she is heading off for another adventure. The good doc is using this as a fundraiser for the Rotary Polio Plus effort. He suggests that donating a penny a mile ($76.00) will do you good. He asks that the club donate $1.00 per mile.
The point is that anything can be accomplished with enough effort. There are more cases from the polio vaccine than from wild polio. It takes money: $50 million in the next three years. You can donate at raise.rotary.org/MissVicky/Challenge
In 1984, at the start of the polio program, 350,000 kids every year were paralyzed. And 50,000 deaths were related to polio. It was endemic in 125 countries. In the last 10 years 10 million doses have been given to 3 million children. The world has to have three years with no cases of wild poliovirus before we can consider it defeated. This would be the second time in history that humankind has rid itself of a terrible disease, smallpox being the first. The virus can live on its own for only 14 days, so if it cannot find a host within that time, it dies.
The new protocol is now to give a jab first then the oral vaccine after a certain time period. All the funds raised (up to $50 million) are tripled by the Gates Foundation. We are so close to closing out this fight. Dr. Harman is cheerleading. He would like to say in three years that the disease is no longer. A really worthwhile goal.
Closing:
President Doug swung and gavel and reminded members to go outside and check out Miss Vicky.
RCOB apparel, including polo shirts, dress shirts, vests and hats is now available. These are items that every Club member simply must have in his/her wardrobe! Besides looking great, Club members will be contributing to branding for the RCOB as well as supporting our Club's Foundation, which will receive part of the proceeds.
Click on the button below for the the clothing catalogue, with the Order Form on the last page. Fill out the order form, turn it into Vinson Latimore at a meeting or email a scanned copy to embroidery@choicesscrubs.com.
