Rotateller Rotary Club of Owego, NY
Tuesday, February 06, 2007 Gary Williams, Editor

VISITORS AND GUESTS:

• Megan Daniels, Newark Valley Interact
• Patricia Sharpe, guest of her grandmother, Gwen Smith
• Jillian Strauss, guest of her father, Fred and member of OFA Interact
• Marjean, guest of her father, Paul
• Ann Laudermilk, guest of Carolyn Wright
• Keith Nichols with speaker Barry Schecter

WE CALLED BETTY RICHARDS AND SANG “HAPPY BIRTHDAY” TO HER. For those of you who do not know Betty, she first played for Rotary on her 16th birthday, and played for Rotary, Kiwanis, and Lions well into her 80’s.

MUSIC:

Carl and Carolyn led us in “Sing, Rotarians”

FINES:

Susan fined everyone who didn’t know that Esther Morris was the first judge (first person to hold public office) in the U. S. Wyoming was the first state to grant the right to vote to women (in 1869). The country did not pass the amendment until 1920. (We have a children’s book at home entitled: When Esther Norris Headed West: Women, Wyoming, and the Right to Vote. I have to apologize to Susan. It was Jeannette Rankin (first woman elected to the Assembly) who voted against going to war in both WW I and WW II, but she was from Montana, not Wyoming.

BEST WISHES TO TOM MILLIGAN WHO IS IN THE HOSPITAL. (Even though Tom rarely comes to meetings these days, I know that he follows the Club by reading the bulletin.)

STUDENTS:

Mrinalini and Suzanne went to Groton for the orientation over the weekend. Al took them (and is home ill today) and Maria Dixson picked them up. They went to see “The Merry Widow” with Harry (who bought them flowers). Suzanne stayed with a very nice host family and they gave her a tour of Cornell and taught her some American Sign Language.

Megan Daniels reported from the Newark Valley Interact. They are raising $500 to send to orphan relief.

Jillian Strauss (who was in “Guys and Dolls” this past weekend as was Evan Williams – Colin Lounsberry and Kyle Slavetskas played in the band, which was excellent).

PROGRAM:

Sharon introduced her husband, Barry, (with a kiss) who spoke about what he and Keith Nichols are doing for people with problems with addiction. A crucial component of their program is the close interaction of counseling and medical care. Appropriate medication is crucial since addiction is a chemical problem. 6% of people who drink go on to addiction which is related to depression, anxiety, and obsessive-compulsive disorder. In 2004, there were 2.1 million people introduced to drugs through prescription pain killers. Barry also uses eye movement desensitization reprocessing (EMDR) particularly for post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Barry mentioned that heroin is an effective drug, for example, in quieting the voices in schizophrenia, but that it is addictive. Other drugs are safer and more effective. He distinguished between drug dependence and addiction which detracts from the ability to function in life. We may be dependent on a drug which helps us to function better in life.

QUOTE: But his April 14 letter expressed his unswerving conviction that nations, transported by strong emotion, often miscalculate their interests: "Wars oftener proceed from angry and perverse passions than from cool calculations of interest."

This was written in 1793, Alexander Hamilton and is excerpted from the book, Alexander Hamilton by Ron Chernow.

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