Club member Jim Harris (L) was awarded his Paul Harris Fellow-plus two award.

PDG Harvey Smith (C) presented the pin. Club president Brad Thorp is on right.

 

 

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President Brad Thorp called District Governor Bill Shula to the podium to speak about the upcoming district conference. He highlighted the activities and speakers and noted that Interact and Rotoract members get in free to a portion of the Saturday program where they will get to hear several noted speakers. Cost for the conference is $129 for members. Babysitting for youngsters will be free, he said.

 

DG Bill Shula said each Rotary Club is being asked to send the name of one of their club members to be recognized for Service Above Self. They hope to have names from every club, he said. 

 

He reminded everyone that the Shoes for Orphans Souls program needs new shoes and socks from each club. Also objects for needy families, such as toothpaste, soap, and other small hygiene supplies will be packaged by the group and returned to the clubs to be distributed to needy families in the area. Baskets of items for the silent auction are also needed from each club, with the proceeds to go to Rotary International, he said.

 

The golfing outing is $100, which includes lunch, prizes, and $25 in your name contributed to Rotary. He mentioned other upcoming events, such as R.Y.L.A., the Rotary 4-Way Test Speech Contest at WSU in April, and district grant requests to be submitted by the end of April, etc. He said he hopes to see some of our members in Seoul, Korea, at the international convention.

 

PDG Harvey Smith was asked to the podium next to induct new member Brian Hayes into the club. Brian is pictured below with his member sponsor Bob Fry on the left and PDG Harvey Smith on the right.

 

Boyd Preston said people could still sign up for our Service Day March 19, and reminded people to "dress to get dirty," as some details require clean up work, and others work that can require comfortable and washable clothes, even if baking. "This is a big deal," President Brad said. It is the first time the whole club has been asked to participate in a service day at six different venues.

 

Ron Hollenbeck mentioned that Mato was recognized at CHS awards ceremony for his first place win in the 50 meter free-style with the swim team, and his 100 meter second place. He was also part of a relay team, he said. 

Ron also noted that a national award was received by the chairman of the VA Grotto garden project, that our club gave Happy Bucks to, and that Ron also volunteered at, doing some of the heavy lifting gardening work.

 

Bridget Herzog said that on March 24 we should bring in new shoes and socks for the district conference's collection project. You can also bring in a Payless gift card for shoes if you wish.

 

President Brad said he got word that the two water pumps we donated money for to be installed in two villages in Mali have been shipped and when installed this summer will bring safe and reliable clean water to the villagers in Africa. 

 

Brad then proceeded to list the slate of new officers that needed to be voted on and asked for a voice vote, with all Ayes for the new officers. The most important ones named, Ron as the new president, and Peachy, as president-elect, got a few God Save us All type laughs, with everyone knowing how good these fellows really are. 

 

HAPPY BUCKS: 

 

 

Sgt.-at-Arms Erich Eggers did not collect Happy Bucks for St. Vincent de Paul. but Gerry Eastabrooks, who won the half/half drawing, contributed her winnings back to the cause. 

 It should be noted that Erich, the president of Remodeling Designs, was mentioned in the Centerville Dispatch March 10. His company won three COTY awards (Contractor of the Year awards) for 2016 from the National Association of the Remodeling Industry (NARI). The company will now compete for NARI's National Awards to be announced in April. The regional recognition was for a residential bathroom remodeling project.

 

 

 

Member John Beals introduced Bruce Barcelo as the Health Lifestyles Supervisor for Public Health for the Dayton/Montgomery County Public Health Department. He said he has been named The Ohio Health Professional of the Year in 2014. He was the Tobacco Free Ohio Advocacy Award winner and the 2015 Health Institute's recipient of the The Outstanding Contributions to Health Education Award. John said Bruce manages all of the Health Lifestyle programs and is active at the state and national level on healthy lifestyle issues.

 The programs include at Get Up program for people who are obese. He said by 2030, 60 percent of the population will be overweight or obese. They also have a pre-diabetes program, and he said that one in three in the community are pre-diabetic. There's also a violence prevention program that deals with bullying and he also noted that Dayton has one of the largest food deserts in the nation, with people not having access to groceries and healthy food.

Tobacco prevention and education also has an important role in what he does, he said.

They've helped over 300 individuals quit, he said. More than 600,000 people are killed by combustible cigarettes, with 54 Ohioans dying every day, he said. Every day there are 53 Ohio youths becoming new daily smokers, he said. 

Big Tobacco is all investing in electronic cigarettes, he said. 
"A new problem is on the horizon," he said. The question is, how safe are they? Are they less hazardous than combustibles or are they the gateway to traditional cigarettes? Or will they help you quit? he asked. There are two camps of thinking, he said. Either they are harm reducing or getting us addicted to nicotine. 

 

He explained what makes up an e-cigarette. It has a simple lithium battery, an LED light, an electronic core, a vaporizer cartridge or refillable holder for the nicotine. When the Cigalikes first came out, the time it took to reach a nicotine hit was much longer than now, he said. They say you can buy zero nicotine fillers, but there is no FDA regulation on any of these products to verify or test that, he said. When it is tested there is sometimes nicotine, he said.

 

The cigarettes are changing all the time. He said the e-cigarettes are expected to exceed the number of traditional cigarettes sold in the next ten years. Kids can buy them on-line and they are marketed as being a cheaper alternative to traditional cigarettes. ...$33 a month versus $175 a month for daily users.  You can get free samples on-line, he said. He noted there are 35-plus stores in the Miami Valley...as of May 2015. You can customize what you want and kids are targeted with flavors like bubble gum, cotton candy, and gummy bears. Also the fluid containers often look like candy containers.

The dangerous fad of seeing how big a cloud of smoke you can make is also being promoted by the Tobacco companies with contests, he said. The battery unit can blow up when  you try this because you have to change

the way the cigarette works to achieve the big cloud of smoke.

 

Formaldehyde is the chemical in the vapor and not safe, he said. Nicotine is a poison, he said. It used to be used as an insecticide and was a toxicant banned for the environment. The adolescent brain is developing.

He said from 2011 to 2014, the death toll went from 271 children killed to 3,957. The e-liquid looks like the candy liquid, with the same flavors. Sexy ads and ads showing rebellion have been used in marketing. They even try to get pregnant women to smoke the e-cigarettes, he said. And marijuana users can use them, as the vapor is odorless, he said. 

Below you will find a cartoon showing how e-cigarettes are running to overtake traditional combustible cigarettes. Also you will find a picture of Bill expressing his passion for a subject close to his heart (and lungs).