Rotary Club of Sackville Bulletin February 11, 2016

Posted by Wayne Harper

on Feb 14, 2016

Louise filled in for Jamie as the Chairperson. She was born in PEI, one of three children. After graduating from UPEI, she moved to the mainland, eventually settling in Moncton in 1993. She met future husband Rob off and on for the next 14 years, before marrying in 2007. Daughter Mariah was born in 2009. She has been a great help in our Gold Mine Draws when mommy brings her. Louise is a CPA CA who heads the McIsaac Darragh office in Sackville.

Today we had Dr. Harold Popma and Michael Fox as guests. Also joining us for breakfast was TRHS principal Susan Lafford, who was there to pickup money from the Gold Mine Draw. We had visiting Rotarians Pat Perry from Miramichi and Ken McGeorge from Fredericton. Ken was also the keynote speaker today.

Make ups stemmed from members of the Gold Mine Draw and the Breakfast Committees plus Trish who attended organizing meetings for the upcoming Multi-Club Event. There were no birthdays nor Pin Pal stories this week.

Fresh from his win in the Gold Mine draw, Wayne had his ticket drawn for the weekly 50-50 draw. Seeking the Jack of clubs, he broke his winning streak by choosing the four of Hearts. He won the consolation prize of $5.

In the Happy Dollar segment this week,

Wayne was happy that his ticket was drawn, but sad he missed out on the $55 the draw was up to. Of course this pales beside the $2,945 he won on the Gold Mine Draw this week, where he was real, real, real HAPPY!!!!!............Gayle was happy that she is now getting up for Rotary and it is not totally dark........Trish was happy for an upcoming trip to Ontario...........Bill was at a celebration of the incoming Syrians where it was acknowledged that Rotary played a significant financial part............Susan F. was happy to see Louie getting so much fun from using the snow blower to clear the driveway. Other Rotarians are becoming jealous that they did not host Louie.

The duty roster for next week is as follows:

Chairperson Dianne Greeter Mary

The meeting is a Club Assembly co-chaired by Dave McKellar, Foundation Chair

Golf Mine Counters are: Dale, Bill, Joyce and Ove

On the committee front, Trish reminded members of the Multi-club event at Royal Oaks Golf Club on Saturday, February 20th. The event will highlight and raise money for a project in Africa.........Susan F. thanked the members for contributing $117 last week that went towards "filling a knap sack" with school supplies. One of our members and her daughter, also filled a knapsack on their own.

The Club Administration Committee was supposed to meet next week but that has been postponed until March. With Dianne away in Aruba, there was no report from the President.

Marita introduced our Speaker Ken McGeorge, the Interim Executive Director of the Alzheimer Society in NB. Ken's topic was "A Vision for Change". In 2013 it is estimated that 44 million people worldwide suffered from Dementia. it is estimated that this number will grow to 76 million in 2030 and 135 million by 2050. In New Brunswick, 16,000 families are fighting what seems to be an impossible battle. Ken alluded to the fact that diagnosis takes too long and that primary care is largely inefficient and that there is no recognition of Dementia as a Chronic Disease. Access in rural areas of the Province is difficult. The 10 warning signs are: memory loss that affects daily functioning; difficulty performing familiar tasks; problems with language; disorientation of time and place; poor or decreased judgment; problems with abstract thinking; misplacing things; changes in mood and behavior; changes in personality and loss of initiative.

Communicating with persons with Dementia can be frustrating. One needs to reduce distractions when communicating; gain the persons attention, face-to-face on their level; be aware of tone and body language; be clear and concise - speak slowly and clearly and give extra time to process information and be consistent if you repeat yourself.

In New Brunswick, the situation seems impossible. This disease cripples families and communities, and our health system is buckling under the strain. Their vision is seeing communities where no one suffers from dementia - we have taken a stand against the disease, defied its predicted path, and defeated its dark shadow.

Ken was thanked by Trish who presented him with a token pen and a book which will be donated to a local library on his behalf.

The meeting concluded with the 4-way test'