PDG Bob Rogers Talks About PolioPlus
The ring of the bell came at 7:30 with the wild haired President Pam Moulton residing over a Mad Hatter assembly. The word went out, but not everyone realized there was a need for something other than rain gear.
Photos provided by Sue Nelson, words by Catherine Hanron’s relief scribe, Tom Boylan.
Rotary Moment:
Bill Bolster shared a Jack Hyde moment with some history of the Rotary Bar. Jack wrote to tell us his side of the story, including that the first two years of the “bar” were actually spent selling lemonade. The paltry sum of $500 for several years work was about to cause Jack to send a donation to the club so he could stop doing all the work, for so little return. Then the tide turned.
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The Town of Windsor asked if the Rotary Club would like to sell drinks… margaritas at the booth. A new purpose unfolded in Jack’s life and we went on to create the frozen concoctions for two more years, before the margarita machine broke and we had to resort to opening a full-blown bar.
Jack’s ten years as the chief bartender helped to amass more than $195,000 that went toward out International efforts. Better still is that the bar stayed in the hands of another Hyde, Renee Hyde has spent countless hours overseeing the continued operation and the dollars keep rolling in to help fund our efforts for a better world.
Such a great story was then followed by Bill becoming the song Meister and leading us in a modified version of Wasted Away in Margaritaville. Some people claim that there’s a Bolster to blame… but we know, it’s our own damn fault.
Rotarian Guests included PDG Bob Rogers, who would take the lectern to tell us about his efforts at polio eradication.
Guests of Rotarians included Dev Sodagar, Kathy Williams (mother of Brian Williams), Mitch Grandi, Larry McCabe.
Announcements:
Michael Juric took the bow for the last meeting of the month as the Rotarian of the Month.
There was a familiar ring to the pinky thing when John Hackenburg stepped up to promote the reason we should all consider a manicure for the small finger on the hand. Children in the Far East were the ones that wore a purple pinky to show they were vaccinated against polio. John went through the various tables performing his own purple finger regimen, and asking for a minimum donation of $25 to go toward eradicating polio for good. If you want to be a bigger supporter for ending polio, you are asked to go to EndPolioNow.org and make the commitment to send $100 annually to the End Polio Now fund. This will make you a member of the PolioPlus Society. A good and noble cause for Rotarians everywhere.
Here are the links to some special documents for signing up for Polio Plus Society.
Polio Plus Society Rotarian District 5130 Flyer (view or download)
Polio Plus District 5130 Commitment Letter (download – docx)
Joan Mora let us know that the train has left the station, but the memories are lingering. If you missed the chance to get on board, you missed a fun club social on the SMART TRAIN… Joan will keep us posted on the future opportunity to mingle, pre-Kringle.
Wally and Sandie Krutz stepped forward to be recognized for becoming “Major Donors” for Rotary. The dynamic duo made the donation to take them over the top, or to the top. Major Donors make a commitment to Rotary and the Krutz family has shown that commitment in more ways than most.
Renee Hyde was making up for failing to present a present to Pres Pam last week and wound up bringing her jewelry and a framed wrist band from Renee’s journey south to see the Stones… not Stonehenge, but just as old.
Program:
PDG Bob Rogers was introduced as the Zone 26 & 27 PolioPlus Chair, which is appropriate in so many ways, including that he is a survivor of polio. Bob got his start as a polio leader in Rotary when he created the event ride for polio, which raised more than $120,000, and was then matched by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. In a two-year period, Bob is credited for raising more than $220,000 to fight polio.
Our presentation included a brief history of polio and a snapshot of where we are today. Since I wasn’t prepared to take notes, I just enjoyed the fact that the wild polio virus was down to two, make that TWO, cases worldwide. There are variants of the polio virus, which are still somewhat prevalent in primarily two counties, Afghanistan, and Pakistan, but recent approvals by the Afghan Taliban have shown that they too are willing to eradicate polio when they allow vaccine providers to continue their work in Afghanistan.
Please consider being a member of “Every Rotarian Every Year” group and sign up to make a donation to PolioPlus at EndPolioNow.org. Your donation could be the tipping point for the elimination of polio for good.
Pre-bell at the end of the meeting we heard from Buddha;
Whatever you think, you become
Whatever you feel, you attract
Whatever you imagine, you create