March 7, 2008

LOTS of GUESTS at today’s Asheboro Rotary meeting! Most of them were here as guests of the Club, honoring Lib Cox, who is the prime mover behind today’s program. At Lib’s table were Eugene Cox, Noralene Cox, son Jeff Cox and daughter Julie Stickler. Sara Beth Gallimore was a guest of Papa President H.R. Gallimore; Lauren Ingold attended with April Thornton; and Anthony Pugh (who made such an impact as a panelist during our Lunch and Learn event on the Mental Health Crisis) came with Mazie Fleetwood. Waving the flag of the Randolph Club were Archie Odell, Vickie Gallimore, and Rob Wilkins.

Gloria Cheek, Randleman High guidance counselor, was here to accompany RHS student guests Frank Magnotto and Kelsey Whatley. Frank is president of the Fellowship of Christian Athletes, a member of the Key Club and the Golf team, and will be attending ASU in the fall to study Business. Kelsey competes on the soccer and cross country teams; is academically ranked #1 in the senior class, is Vice President of the student body, and was elected Homecoming Queen. She is also the daughter of my cousin Danny Whatley, so she obviously comes from good stock. She’ll be attending UNC Chapel Hill this fall.

Michael Smith proudly announced that Adam Glass of Asheboro High, who honored us as a student guest earlier this year, this week was offered both the Morehead-Cain scholarship from UNC-CH and the Parke Scholarship from NC State. Both are full rides plus lots of extras, so Adam has quite the choice to make.

Jaci Betts presented the club with a banner from a club she visited on her recent trip to Guatemala- thanks Jaci!

President HR read us a Tar Wheel Classic from November 15, 1944, where the inimitable Editor Red Underwood described Bob Wood as “the Club’s only real honest-to-stogie cigar smoker– President Vance [Welborn] being classed as a Beaver, or cigar-gnawer.”

Our program today featured Kyle McCleod, speech pathologist of Randolph Hospital, speaking about aphasia (was Your Scribe the only one who noted that as an oxymoron?). April Thornton introduced Kyle, who is a proud graduate of both NC State and App State, and came to Asheboro from Moses Cone hospital last July. The Aphasia Support Group he started at the hospital, at the urging of our own Elizabeth Cox, is the only such program in central NC. Kyle strongly praised Lib and daughter Julie for being such staunch advocates for people with aphasia, which is defined as any interruption in the ability to communicate, especially as it shows up in one-third of all stroke victims. A stroke victim with aphasia usually has his or her intellect and thinking abilities intact, but just can’t communicate effectively, as the stroke has damaged the left hemisphere of the brain. One million people in the US have it, and this is the position Lib found herself in after her stroke two years ago.

Kyle uses the LPA (“Life Participation Approach”) in treating aphasia. Communication involves talking, listening, reading and writing, so an undiminished strength in one category is used to rebuild the patient’s weaknesses in another. He encourages them to communicate in every mode, drawing, writing, gesturing, facial expressions- anything that conveys a message simply and effectively. Kyle used Ed Clayton to demonstrate communication (this was like demonstrating the proverbial shipment of coal to Newcastle). The worst effect of aphasia is the sense of isolation, which results in depression, and a sense of hopelessness. Victims must remain active to stimulate brain activity and help recover their lost abilities. What’s really needed, he says, is patience- give them the time they need to communicate. What victims really want is to regain their simple functioning, rebuild their lives- remember names of friends, go back to Rotary meetings.

The first aphasia treatment program began at the University of Arizona, and patients there agreed with Lib: “We didn’t really start recovery until we became acquainted with other people with aphasia.” The program at Randolph Hospital is free, because insurance coverage has limits on the amount of time and number of visits patients can spend, so his discussion groups and activities are promoted by volunteers like Lib and Julie. In Q&A, Don Allred related that, after his mother’s stroke, she could no longer talk, but could SING very well. Kyle said that’s because the stroke affected the left side of her brain, and singing is controlled by the right side, the nonlinear artistic side.

The Randolph Hospital Aphasia Puzzle Program meets each second Tuesday of the month, starting at 6PM. For more information, call Kyle at (336) 625-5151, extension 5109.

February 8, 2008

    This week’s entry was writ by the practiced pen of Scribe Emeritus Philip Shore.  Sorry, but he didn’t draw any pretty pictures….

When Joy Menius dusted the piano your humble scribe thought she was going to launch into ”Kitten On the Keys”.  Instead she provided our chatter with a background of sunny songs including “I Got Rythym” and who could ask for anything more?

            President H.R. called the meeting to order with a stoutly rung gong.  Prior to the Pledge of Allegiance he announced three serious occurrences: that we hold in sympathy the family of Elizabeth Cox in the death of her mother; that Sandy Grey had sustained a fall that required surgical treatment of his arm; and the news that Father Jay Hobbs formerly of the Church of the Good Shepherd and a former Asheboro Rotarian had died just this morning.

            Rebecca Redding introduced our guests.  Christie Smith, guest of Carol Matney, has been circulated and will not be a guest much longer.  Carol made her pay for her meal.  Now that is serious.  Cindy Wilkins, guest of James Gouty, made an announcement about the Randolph Historical Association Valentine’s fundraiser.  Gale Thomas brought Lee Lennon and Henry Trollinger brought Pan Vuncannon. President H.R. had to behave today because Vickie Gallimore was the lone Randolph Rotarian present.

             The Sergeant-at-Arms team asked the scribe to note the receipt of a lovely thank you note from H.R.’s family expressing appreciation for the concern and sympathy expressed at the death of his mother last week.

            Henry Trollinger introduced two Asheboro High School student guests.  Hal Davis wants to be an English teacher.  He is co-editor-in-chief of The Ash Hi Chat and technical editor of Ash Hi Life.  He plans to attend UNC-G to study English education and then to return to Asheboro to teach.

            Lauran Breedlove is the Spanish Club treasurer; she is a Girl Scout and a member of the Key Club.  Her sport is golf.  Lauran plans to attend UNC-Chapel Hill to pursue a degree in physical therapy.

            Absentee Linda Cranford sent word for us not to miss next week’s Valentine’s program—she has arranged for Leslie Cooper, a real, live, and local choclatier.  Bring your sweetie!

            Rob Reese introduced our newest Rotarian: Shawn Mabe.  Shawn is the city officer at RBC-Centura.  President H.R. welcomed her into the club with her pin and other Rotary regalia.  Welcome, Shawn!

            Our program had a Rotary Foundation Theme.  Bill Batten let pictures do the talking.  He chose three stories of the great changes brought about by the Polio Plus campaign.  The stories were included in a recent issue of The Rotarian Video Magazine.  All three focused on India. After asking for a show of hands of those who participated in the first Polio Plus fundraising, Bill said that what we were going to watch should be considered to be a big THANK YOU.

            The first story was called The Last Hurdle.  It concerned the ongoing effort to eliminate polio in the state of Uttar Pradesh.  This presentation showed international cooperation of Indian nationals and visiting Rotarians from Georgia, USA, in a week long push to administer doses of polio vaccine to the children of the state.  After one day 17 million children had been treated but that was only half of the target population.  After a week 136 million doses had been given nationally.  It was stated that in some areas 3 doses were needed to prevent the return of polio whereas in other places as many as 17 or 18 were required—this latter was true of the Uttar Pradesh region.

            The second story was called From Crawling To Walking.  It was a case study of a boy named Asif who had had polio.  He was able to walk if he held his left leg with his hand.  Asif was a candidate for a surgical cure.  The surgery was one of 550 such cases sponsored by a Rotary Foundation Matching Grant.  The story showed the problem, the treatment, and the resultant beginning of a new life, much improved, thanks to Rotary.

            The final piece was called Success Stories.  One aspect of Polio Plus that we don’t think of immediately is the care and support needed by those who missed the preventative care and suffered the disease.  Rotary serves these people also with the opportunity for rehabilitation and, then, job training.  This article showed several young adults in physical therapy followed by classroom training in useful, gainful occupations.

            Altogether the three short films gave an impressive overview of the gigantic successes of Polio Plus with a realistic survey of what is left to be done (with the encouragement to get out there and finish it!).

            Bill asked what the original local goal of Polio Plus was—the answer $20,000.  And how much was raised?  $80,000.  Eloquent testimony of organization, effort and generosity of spirit, don’t you think?

January 18, 2008

Cold weather threatened, but didn’t cancel this week’s Rotary meeting. President H.R. warned the members to check the online Tar Wheel for the final word, in case of possible cancellation due to bad weather. I guess that’s a first- we really are in the 21st century now!

We’ve had a couple of bouts with snow this week- here a couple of shots of it coming down in big puffy white kleenex flakes in Franklinville. That was pretty, but it melted too quick and turned to ice; then there was a half inch on top of that. But this is our first real snow on the ground in how long? Years? I know we had nothing but a flurry last year; Roman thought this was Florida compared to Russia. At least this year it was enough to close school and scare off our student guests….

Phil Shore invoked the divine ear and preached a sermonette on Wintry Mix, and the fact that Rotary is the answer to eliminate those wintry mixes of the Soul.

Alice Cook was a guest at the Scribe Table; her host Kathy Homiller is now officially the new CFO of Randolph Bank. Alice was actually the very first employee hired by Randolph Bank, and is still going strong at the old stand. Emily Ledwell sat with her host Jerry Hill; Emily is the interim director of Merce Clinic of which more later. Madison Cox came with grandma Elizabeth Cox; President Bob Shackleford of RCC visited from the Randolph Club, and Past District Governor Jack Green of the Furnitureland club in High Point was visiting to inform a post-meeting meeting on the subject of a new Rotary breakfast club in these parts. Not a guest but back for his second meeting in a row was Tar Wheel Publisher and Corporate Overlord Cooper Thornton. Note: we peons want health insurance: see below.

Notices: There will be a special Valentines Day program sponsored by the Greensboro Symphony. Here’s their website but I don’t see specific info about that http://www.greensborosymphony.org/ .

Owen George brought us up to speed on many different activities planned for Monday’s Martin Luther King Day celebration. The breakfast at Central Gym starts at 8AM; at 11:30 there will be a special commemoration of Leo Luther by Trees Asheboro near the junction of Salisbury Street and Old Cedar Falls Road. He promised Japanese “tycho drumming” and a speech by the Rev. John Gullett.

President H.R. shared with us the Tar Wheel of August 21, 1958, from the Presidency of Bob Bunker, who reported the disappearance of the club’s original framed charter, last seen during the presidency of John Bunch in 1955-56. Be ware: H.R. is determined to get ‘his’ charter back!

Al LaPrad introduced our program from Randy Swing, the new (since December) Outreach Facilitator of MERCE Clinic. MERCE- which is sort of an acronym for “Medical Resource Center”, doesn’t appear to have its own website, but here’s the United Way page it’s on, as a member agency: http://www.uwrandolph.org/partners.html .  The federally-funded clinic provides health care and dental care for uninsured and low income residents of Piedmont North Carolina. It has 2 doctors, 2 dentists and 17 service staff members. It is supported by the Federal Quality Health Care Center to accept medicaid under the “STAR” program, which determines co-pays from $20-$50 based on household income. The United Way partially supports the prescription drug program, where recipients can obtain generic equivalent prescriptions. Clients order meds at $3 for a 30-day supply, which arrives within 6-8 weeks. No antibiotics or narcotics are available; those referrals are made to Walmart, where generic antibiotics are available for $4.

The dental clinic on Brewer street is a purpose-built, state of the art facility with plenty of room for expansion; they would like to begin a pediatric dental program there soon. The dental clinic was built with funds from the Kate B. Reynolds and Cannon Foundations.

The MERCE patient load is 24 patients per day per doctor. Eligibility workers screen potential patients within 2 days of application; doctors see 2-3 new patients per day per doctor and are currently booked a month in advance. Merce takes a big load off the Randolph Hospital emergency room by serving the indigent and low income patients who have no health insurance. They work closely with CUOC, where Jerry Hill expressed an interest in becoming a dentist. Who’d volunteer to have Jerry’s big ol’ hands in your mouth?

Next week: Neil McNeil, of Channel 8 Fox News.

December 28, 2007

Since I was away on business yesterday, I couldn’t take pictures for the Tar Wheel.  So, lacking any other current photos, Your Editor is taking this opportunity to recycle one of his foreign exchange student Roman Bogdanov,  who is back in Russia, where as of today he tells me the temperature is 15 degrees below zero.   His school got out today for the New Year’s recess.  (Here’s his school photo- taken outside, in the park across the street from his school.  He’s wearing his school uniform).  New Year is the most important holiday in Russia– a combination of Christmas, New Year’s and our Thanksgiving.  Their Christmas isn’t until January 6- what we call Epiphany.  Happy New Year, Russian Friends!

Today’s Guest Scribe is non other than Past President Philip Shore,  who has penned many a Tar Wheel Back in the Day:

 

President H.R. called the meeting of not many Rotarians to order after Joy Menius fired Pachelbel’s Canon to glorious effect. Most people were probably still holiday-ing. Please note, though, that we will meet next Friday, January 4. Rotary Information Committee has the program which Chairwoman Elizabeth Mitchell said may be summarized as “Fabulousness” although she did not say what the program was to be. The program for January 11, 2008 will be presented by Dr. Larry Simpson who will give us another update about events in the Middle East.

No student guests today. Two “real” guests as Past President Clayton was wont to refer to non-Rotarian visitors: Gene Cox guest of Elizabeth Cox and Trent Thomas, son of Wayne Thomas.

When asked to say a word about the Rotary Foundation Bill Batten responded loudly, “SEX!” He was using the age old attention getter to call notice to the fact that he had a fistful of CHECKS in his hand. And he wants more. One more week, Rotarians, to make the annual contribution to the foundation or your contribution will have to count in the following year.

Gale Thomas, Chairman of the Food Committee, began the program with a health test. He asked those who had reasonably assured expectations of being able to stand up at their chairs and touch their toes without bending their knees to do so. Many did, although with a grunt and a groan. He asked for a show of hands of those who regularly take a pain medication, from aspirin on up. Many raised their hands. Gale went on to say that, among Americans, one of the healthiest segments of the population is the Amish, because by avoiding work saving equipment, they naturally do more.

All this to lead up to our speaker, Alison Edwards. Alison is a dedicated walker and was invited to present to us the benefits of walking as exercise. It was direct and simple and very entertaining. Alison was originally from Kinston but has lived in Asheboro for twenty-five years. She says that walking boosts her spirits, makes life better, and allows her to eat chocolate.

Alison is a part-time teacher at Northeast Randolph Middle School who walks 6-8 miles each day. Beyond the physical effects walking has improved her mental abilities and supported her emotionally. Her how to become a walker checklist follows:

Walk with a partner who will hold you to the discipline.

Plan when the walking fits best in the day. (For Alison it is in the early morning.)

Keep track of the time and distance walked.

Wear the correct footwear.

Walk in a place that makes you feel secure. (She said that after a bad experience with a dog in her neighborhood, she didn’t feel like walking there any longer.)

Challenge yourself with a goal.

Alison recommends beginning with by walking 20-30 minutes daily and when that is well-established, moving up to the 3-4 mile level. She stated that outdoor walking sites popular in Asheboro are the SAMS track and Oak Lawn Cemetery. Indoor walkers can walk measured distances at Randolph Mall. Alison mentioned that she was excited about Asheboro Parks and Recreation plans for walking tracks in the future.

Members asked Alison several questions about various walking matters. President H.R. brought the meeting to a closed by saying, “I’ve been told to take a walk many times.” And because H.R. follows the Four Way Test, we are sure this is true.

November 9, 2007

If you weren’t there (and if you weren’t, only Neal and Rebecca would know), you missed quite an amazing show last Friday. A normal Friday Asheboro Rotary meeting was scheduled, but a blockbuster community event broke out. Thanks to a harmonic convergence of great topic, dynamite speakers and lack of available space, the Asheboro-Randolph Chamber of Commerce provided us with one of our most impressive programs ever. “The Impact of Mental Health Reform in North Carolina” was the topic at what was the big finale of the Chamber’s “Lunch and Learn” series, and we were lucky to get both the program and more than a hundred extra guests at lunch. Your scribe has been around since 1994, and has only seen that number of people present at a Rotary meeting at a District Conference. In order to accomodate the overflow crowd, lunch started at 11:30, and the actual program began just after noon and went until 1:15. Amazingly, very few people left before the end, a tribute to the quality of the program. But, I get ahead of events.

We tried to bring a semblance of normalcy to a atypical meeting. Joy provided our usual piano accompaniment. Jaci Betts provided world-class table arrangements in honor of the Rotary Foundation, whose scheduled program this originally was. President HR began with a rueful acknowledgment that the club and the chamber were juggling a lot of things to weld the meetings together, and warned us that it could be either ‘lunch and learn’ or ‘crash and burn.’ Luckily it was the former. Past President Ed Clayton taught the crowd the Four Way Test, and led a Prayer. Rebecca Redding recognized a few special guests (not counting the hundred or more Chamber attendees): Debbie Cole, guest of Jerry Hill; Rob Wilkins and wife Cindy, with Elizabeth Mitchell; Matt Culberson, with dad Jim; Joyia Clayton, with husband Ed; Dr. Charles Betts, with wife Jaci; Christie Smith with Carole Matney; Sean Carter with Lynn Dodge; and from the Randolph Club, Sheriff Maynard Reid and Helen Keyes. Student Guests from AHS were Steven Buhrman, son of Bill and Karen Buhrman, an active young man who rock climbs, plays rugby and is a member of the Downtown Fencing Club in Greensboro. He plays to major somewhere in engineering, with an interest in nanotechnology. Clay Long is even bigger and more active as #74 on the AHS football team, and is the son of Chief Superior Court Judge Brad Long, and Reena Strickland. Clay is 17 years old and about 6′4″, it appears, though Your Scribe remembers clearly when he was born and was little enough to carry in the one-armed football clutch. Clay has 3 sisters (one of whom is just about a year old) and hopes to attend NCSU to major in mechanical engineering where he can pursue an interest in biodiesel production.

Past President and current Assistant District Governor Mary Joan Pugh stood to start the program. She recognized Bill Batten, our Foundation Chair, who had been recognized the night before as a Major Donor at the District Foundation Banquet. Then she went through a quick recounting of Rotary’s commitment to international peace and development, for the benefit of our visitors. She then introduced local banker Tina Crutchfield, head of the Chamber Lunch and Learn program, sponsored by Chandler Concrete and RBC Centura. She introduced the Master (mistress?) of Ceremonies Ann Shaw, our late lamented Randolph County Register of Deeds. In her very active retirement, Ann now serves as the President of the Board of Directors of the Randolph County Mental Health Association, a private advocacy agency funded in part by the United Way. [Chris Corsbie is the Executive Director of the Association; you could spot him pacing around the hall wearing a worried expectant father look.] Ann went down the dias to bring up the three speakers: Chris Fitzsimons, Executive Director of NC Policy Watch; Michael Watson, CEO of Sandhill Center for Mental Health and Substance Abuse Services; and Anthony Pugh, a Board member of the local MHA and a mental health services client.

Well, Your Scribe took 18 little note cards full of notes, but frankly I can’t do justice to the excellence of the program in the time I have available to write this newsletter. Here’s the link to the Courier-Tribune article about the meeting; you can read that. Let me just say, however, that Chris Fitzsimons did a masterful, rapid-fire history of our disastrous attempts since 2001 to “reform” mental health care in North Carolina. All agreed that we’re in worse shape now than we were then, and privatizing what amounts to a vital service has just resulted in the clients who have the ability to pay being skimmed off the top of the heap, and the rest are left to struggle for the minimal level of public services that have managed to survive. Sadly, the hospitals, jails, prisons and homeless shelters have been having to deal with the rest. I’d love to do justice to Chris’s talk, but here’s just one paraphrased quote: the bureaucrats in Raleigh who are supposed to be responsible for mental health care are playing a ’shell game of blame’ trying to shift responsibility away from themselves while the system is in a state of collapse and public hospitals are a mess. ‘What happens after hospital discharge is not our fault,’ says Michael Moseley, director of state Mental Health services. ‘It’s due to the lack of services on the local level.’ [Which the state used to support and basically starved to death. It's the old cry of the guy who killed his parents: don't blame me, I'm an orphan!] Chris said the2001 reform was”basically well-intentioned” but the rank-and-file mental health professionals aren’t so sure, and the public has gradually lost all faith in a system in crisis. The biggest problem he sees is the lack of outrage from politicians (this he directed toward Rep. Pat Hurley and Rep. Laura Wiley of High Point, both of whom were present). A study commission recommended that $100 million would be necessary to fix the system, and the most recent legislature appropriated just $3 million over the last budget. There is a complete lack of leadership from the people whose job it is to make sure people are served, and a growing feeling that politicians at the highest levels of government just don’t care. Micheal Watson had equally blunt comments about his organizations forced privatization, and the upheavals local mental health professionals have endured through 3 separate “catastrophic reorganizations.” And Anthony Pugh provided a fascinating first-hand account of a mental health service “consumer.”

So, punches really weren’t pulled. It was disturbing, but a great program. If you weren’t there, you missed a really great event!

I’ll upload more photos later…