Help Me Grow staff visits Byesville Rotary

Pictured: Tanya Hitchens, Byesville Rotary President; Kelley Burkhart, Help Me Grow; Joe Rosen, Help Me Grow; and Deana Palmer, Service Coordinator Help Me Grow.

Help Me Grow staff members described the services they provide to young children. Deana Palmer, Service Coordinator for Help Me Grow, explained her organization works with at-risk children in Guernsey County. She stated that common risk factors for young children are coming from a family with low income, having no insurance, and living in a 1 parent home.

Help Me Grow staff focus on children with developmental delays. Services include screenings to determine if a child is developmentally on track, home visits to first time parents, and visits to check if a new mother is suffering from post-partum depression. Once a child’s needs are identified, staff members will link parents with local support services.

Early intervention services are available to families of all income levels and are provided to any child 0-3 years old that has a medical condition or a developmental delay. A staff member will visit a child 1 to 2 times a month depending on the severity of the child’s problem.

Joe Rosen, a staff member who makes homes visits, stated that the first step taken to help a child is to train the parents. Three common problems contribute to developmental delays: 1) keeping the TV on all the time; 2) a family member who smokes; and3) pets in the house. Pets are a problem because parents are reluctant to put the child down in case the pet and the child do not get along. This means that the child will start walking later than other children.

Rosen demonstrated some simple toys that can be used to help children with developmental delays. Parents can help a child develop motor skills by showing the child how to drop cloths pins into an empty Pringle can. Other good toys are blocks, bubble blowers, and various kinds of books like pop-up books.

Kelley Burkhart, an Early Intervention Specialist, stated that anyone—a pediatrician, birthing center staff member, or parent—can refer a child to Help Me Grow for assessment. Kelley checks a child’s cognitive development, fine and gross motor development, language and listening abilities. An important part of this process is discussing the results with the child’s parents.

More information about the Help Me Grow services is available at 439-4451.

Byesville Rotary meets every Tuesday, 7:30 am, at the Stop Nine Senior Center at 60313 (GPS use 60299) Southgate Road, Byesville. Anyone interested in learning more about the Byesville Rotary is welcome to attend a meeting or call 740-685-3828, or 740-685-8294.

Byesville Rotary and Southeastern Med sponsor 11th annual health screening

Pictured: Southeastern Med staff member and Larry Miller, first client at the 2011 screening.

Dan Navicky and Travis Craig, co-chairs of the Byesville Rotary Health Screening Committee, reported that the club’s 2012 heath screening has been scheduled for Friday, April 27, 7:00am-9:00am. Byesville Rotary teams with Southeastern Med to provide this community service. The goal of both organizations is to provide a low-cost health screening to those who are uninsured or underinsured and to improve the health of members of the local community.

Craig reminded the club that appointments are required for anyone who wants to participate in the screening program. Walk-ins will not be accepted. Registration will begin Monday, April 16 at 9:00 am. People who want to register can call for an appointment at 740-435-2900. The screening will take place at the Byesville Main Avenue United Methodist Church activity building.

The cost of the basic screening will be $45 to be paid in cash or by check the day of the screening. The basic screening includes 26 different tests which check for potential problems such as anemia, diabetes and heart disease, kidney and liver function, plus gout and electrolyte/fluid imbalances. For an addition cost of $10 each, PSA(prostate cancer—men only) and TSH (thyroid) screenings can be added.

Screening results will be sent to the participants who will be responsible to get a copy to their family doctors. All who are screened will be reminded that this screening cannot detect all disorders. This testing does not replace routine physical exams performed by a person’s family doctor.

Associates from Southeastern Med will be at the event with educational displays. They will be providing information about health problems such as colon cancer, and heart health. A staff member from Southeastern Med will be offering free blood pressure screenings.

All testing will be performed and completed by Southeastern Med. Byesville Rotary members are needed to staff the registration check-in table and to provide assistance to Southeastern Med staff as needed. Members should see Craig to volunteer to work at the screening. The club will also provide refreshments.

For more information about this event, call Dan Navicky at the Byesville Rotary, 740-705-6250.

Byesville Rotary meets every Tuesday, 7:30 am, at the Stop Nine Senior Center at 60313 (GPS use 60299) Southgate Road, Byesville. Anyone interested in learning more about the Byesville Rotary is welcome to attend a meeting or call 740-685-3828, or 740-685-8294.

Miller shares tour of Ireland and England with Byesville Rotary

Pictured: Sharon Miller, speaker, and Dan Navicky, Speaker Host.

Reminders:

• Club members who signed up to bring Easter candy or maple syrup--remember to bring next meeting.


• Next meeting is a business meeting--remember to bring your meat donation for the food pantry.


• Members are needed to sign up for a shift to support the joint service club project--food drive on Saturday, March 24, 10:00-6:00.

Dan Navicky introduced guest speaker, Sharon Miller, who presented the final program for Rotary’s World Understanding Month. Miller is involved in many local activities which include serving as the Byesville Rotary Advisor to the Meadow Brook Interact Club.

Miller presented a slide show of a trip to Ireland, Wales, and England. She toured with a group of students and parents from Shenandoah High School. Her group flew to Shannon, Ireland, where they joined student/parent groups from Texas and Florida.

The group boarded a bus and drove south along the Irish coast then swung up the east coast to Dublin. Pictures of this part of Ireland show that the land is rocky with many granite-like rocks jutting through the soil and low growing plants. In the United States older buildings are frequently pulled down and replaced with modern designs. In Ireland, churches, homes, and local businesses are often in old buildings made of native stone with thatched roofs. Miller explained that the straw used is hollow and when packed just right provides a long lasting, waterproof roof that provides a lot of insulation.

Miller stated that visiting a business specializing in tartans was a highlight of the trip. She is Scotch-Irish and discovered that her family tartan had four varieties of plaids. Her favorites were the ancient plaid in green and burgundy red and a hunting tartan in which the main color was light blue. She chose to have a kilt made from the oldest example of her family tartan.

Miller’s tour group crossed to England on a ferry and boarded a bus that took them to Hadrian’s Wall. The wall extends 70 miles from the Irish Sea to the North Sea. The Roman’s built the wall to keep the dreaded Highland warriors out of England.

In London, architecture was very different from the old stone buildings seen in Ireland. WWII German bombing raids destroyed many buildings which were replaced with modern skyscrapers.

Another highlight of Miller’s trip was a visit to Stonehenge, an ancient religious center. Stonehenge is not the only stone circle in Britain, but it is the most developed and carefully placed in a circular plan. Miller’s tour also stopped at Avebury to see an example of a typical stone circle. Unlike the stones at Stonehenge, the stones in this circle were placed irregularly and were not smoothed and shaped.

Honorary Bonarian ambassadors visit Byesville Rotary

Pictured: Shana and Chuck Fair, speakers, and Dan Navicky, Speaker Host.


Club news updates:

• Club members celebrated the club's 25th birthday with a cake. Members also shared their favorite Rotary memory.


• Breakfast with the Bunny will be Saturday, March 31. This year the breakfast will be held at the Stop Nine Youth Center.


• The Annual Health Fair will be held April 27. Information about cost and registration dates will be announced soon.


• The multi-service organization joint project will be a spring food drive to be held March 24. Volunteers are needed to work 1 hour shifts between 10:00am and 6:00pm. Collection points will be at WalMart and Reisbeck's.


• Interact Induction will be held at the April business meeting. The meeting will be held at the Meadowbrook High School library.

Rotary International designates March as World Understanding Month. To celebrate, Speaker Chair Dan Navicky, scheduled a series of programs presented by people who have visited a foreign country.

Shana and Chuck Fair spoke about the island of Bonaire, one of the islands making up the Netherland Antilles. Sister islands include Aruba and Curacao. The island is located near the equator, 50 miles from Venezuela. The Fairs have been recognized by Bonaire as honorary Bonarian ambassadors because they have visited the island for 10 years in a row.

Chuck Fair explained that Bonaire is a small desert island 24 miles long by 7 miles wide. The island has one natural resource—the reef that surrounds it. The Bonarians have worked hard to developed this resource into a tourist destination for all types of water sports especially for scuba diving. The reef is so important to the island economy it has been declared a national marine park.

The Fairs go to Bonaire to dive the reef and view the underwater scenery. Chuck Fair showed some of the gear he and Shana use to dive. He pointed out one of the challenges faced by a scuba diver is dealing with the change in pressure as the diver descends and ascends. Failure to deal with the pressure changes can result in the “bends.” He said that one thing that surprised him about diving was that divers need to drink a lot of liquid to keep hydrated. Keeping hydrated helps a diver avoid the “bends.”

Shana presented a slide show that showed typical Bonarian animals, plants, and local life. She also showed a video of reef scenes and animals. She stated that “This is why we dive.” The Fairs have been within in a few feet of many types of marine life including several types of moray eels, dolphins, rays, anemones, flamingo tongue shellfish, and a new and dangerous Atlantic reef invader—the lionfish. Chuck stated that “…there is so much life on the reef, it is easy to see why some scientists say the life came from the sea.”

Byesville Rotary meets every Tuesday, 7:30 am, at the Stop Nine Senior Center at 60313 (GPS use 60299) Southgate Road, Byesville. Anyone interested in learning more about the Byesville Rotary is welcome to attend a meeting or call 740-685-3828, or 740-685-8294.

Byesville Rotary learns adventures change your perspective

Pictured: Dan Navicky, Speaker Host, and Greg Adams, Guest Speaker.

Club business: Club members approved the following requests for donation--

• Main Avenue Methodist Church--$200 for activity hall clean up: Oziel Jeffries moved; Chuck Fair 2ed; passed.


• Living Word donation of $100: Oziel Jeffries made motion; Chuck Fair 2ed; passed.


• Girl’s State Leadership Conference registration fee $250: Oziel Jeffries moved; Marty Patchen 2ed; passed. this will support Darlene Miser's daughter's attendance at Girl's State.


• Rotary Float donation of $50: club members informed of board decision to donate.


• Relay For Life donation of $100: Rich Dair moved; Chuck Fair 2ed; passed.

Breakfast with the Bunny committee has been meeting. Breakfast is planned for Saturday, March 31. members will be asked to sign up to donate syrup or wrapped candy for the plastic eggs.

Dan Navicky introduced guest speaker, Greg Adams, mayor of New Concord, co-founder of Resource systems, and adventurer.

Adams encouraged his audience to accept opportunities for adventure big or small. Adventures help people see things they take for granted from a new perspective. “I learned way more than I expected,” he stated. Part of the adventure he shared with his daughter included a 10 day hike through an African wilderness. There were no toilets or even Port-a-potties, no running water, no electricity, and no nicely maintained roads. During the hike, Adams said he realized in America “…we have a lot of gifts that we don’t appreciate.”

Adams presented a slide show which communicated a sense of his adventure to Mt. Kilimanjaro. The mountain is the highest in Africa and is one of a very few mountains that allow people to hike to the top. People do not have to be trained in technical mountain climbing techniques.

Adams explained that every year about 25,000 people try to reach the top of Kilimanjaro. Just over 50% make it. The hike is challenging but not impossible. Kilimanjaro is over 19,200 high and the biggest challenge to hikers is dealing with altitude sickness which prevents many people from reaching the top.

Adams explained that altitude sickness is unpredictable and can affect even the fittest of hikers. Symptoms include nosebleeds, dehydration, headaches, and loss of appetite. Altitude affects each person differently, and no one can predict if they will be affected or not.

For their trek up the mountain, Adams and his daughter each carried a 33 pound backpack of personal items. They were accompanied by 18 guides who carried their own personal items as well as everything else needed for the trip—tents, food, and medical supplies which included a cardio unit and oxygen.

To climb the last 4000 feet to the peak, Adams and Clare got up early, hiked to the peak then back down to their camp. At this altitude, Adams said “…you move slower and need to work to keep your brain clear and focused.”

Adams stated that this adventure reinforced his belief that “…taking time to spend with people that you care about…” was as important as the adventure itself.

Byesville Rotary meets every Tuesday, 7:30 am, at the Stop Nine Senior Center at 60313 (GPS use 60299) Southgate Road, Byesville. Anyone interested in learning more about the Byesville Rotary can call membership Chairs Marty Patchen, 740-685-3828, or Randy Launder, 740-685-8294.

Byesville Rotary plans spring projects

Easter Bunny accepts invitation to Byesville Rotary "Breakfast with the Bunny"

Byesville Rotarians will be busy this spring. Activities include both service projects and fundraising events,

On March 20, Byesville Club members will select a Meadowbrook student to represent the club at the Rotary District Four Way Test Speech contest. The Four-Way Test contest challenges students to think about how personal ethics affects their lives. Each student competing in the speech contest is asked to give a 5-7 minute original speech in which the student applied the Rotary Four-Way Test to everyday relationships

The club’s annual Breakfast with Bunny fundraiser is tentatively scheduled for Saturday, March 31. The menu is pancakes, sausage, and eggs. The Easter Bunny will attend and meet with all children attending the breakfast.

Interact club induction scheduled for April 3 at Meadowbrook High School. Interact is a Rotary organization that encourages and supports high schools students to become involved in community service projects. One of the projects the Interact Club is considering is the ShelterBox program. ShelterBoxes were developed to be delivered to disaster sites. The boxes contain basic tools and supplies that people need for survival after a disaster hits. Boxes were sent to victims of Katrina and to survivors of the tornadoes in Arkansas.

The 2012 Scholarship Committee, chaired by Jim Bakos, has begun to put together scholarship application packets which will be available to Rolling Hills seniors graduating from Meadowbrook High School and from Mid-East Career and Technology Center—Buffalo Campus. A total of 5 scholarships will be awarded.

Plans for the annual Byesville Rotary Golf Scramble are in process. Donation to this event raise funds to support the scholarship program. The outing is tentatively planned for a weekend in May.

Byesville Rotary will work with Southeastern Med to sponsor their 11th Annual Health Screening this spring. Date of screening and information about registering for the screening will be provided at a future date.

Byesville Rotary meets every Tuesday, 7:30 am, at the Stop Nine Senior Center at 60313 (GPS use 60299) Southgate Road, Byesville. Anyone interested in learning more about the Byesville Rotary can call Membership Chairs Marty Patchen, 740-685-3828, or Randy Launder, 740-685-8294.

Byesville Rotary celebrates Rotary Awareness Month

Pictured: Byesville Rotary members who volunteered to participate in the weekly program—front row: Phyllis Jeffries, Dennis Harding, Evelyn Spring, Rich Dair, Barb Dair; second row: Carl Keefer, Jan Wilson, Jim Bakos, Bob Long, Darlene Miser, Oziel Jeffries, Marti Patchen, Jim Vaughan, Sharon Miller, Shana Fair, Larry Miller, Chuck Fair, Tanya Hitchens, Rich Goodwin, Nellie Bichard, Dan Navicky, Randy Launder, Don Valentine, and Dalton Summers.

An average of 62% non-Rotarians recognizes the Rotary name. Only 37% of this group has some idea about what Rotary does. Byesville Rotarians hope to increase the number of people who know what Rotary does by doing what they do best—giving back to their community.

Byesville Rotary—like all Rotary clubs—is an organization of people who are service oriented and who support the goal of making the world a better place through projects focusing on water and sanitation, basic education and literacy, maternal and child health, disease prevention and treatment, economic and community development, and peace and conflict resolution. Most clubs begin with service projects in their own communities.

Byesville Rotarians supported education and literacy by donating dictionaries to Rolling Hills third graders, donating books to Bright Beginnings, and providing scholarships for Rolling Hills graduates. They worked to improve health by sponsoring an annual Health Fair in association with SEORMC. Club members contributed to economic and community development by contributing to local projects such as the Guernsey County Trail and Byesville Scenic Railway. Other local projects included their Christmas Food Basket Program and support for organizations such as the Salvation Army, the Meadowbrook Athletic Boosters, Byesville Volunteer Fire Department, and VFW Ladies Auxiliary.

Larry Miller, January Program Chair, celebrated Rotary Awareness Month by inviting club members to participate in an interactive program. Members were asked to share the reason they choose to join Rotary International, why they decided to join Byesville Rotary rather than another Rotary club in area, and what caused each member to have an “aha" moment about Rotary.

Almost all members agreed one reason each chose Byesville was because the club involved members in hands on service projects such as local service projects like the club’s Byesville Rotary Gazebo Park clean up or the club’s signature chicken BBQnfundraiser.

Some said they chose to join Rotary because they liked how the “Four Way Test” encouraged Rotarians to behave ethically in their daily business and personal lives. Others stated they chose to join Byesville because the group is open, friendly, and members like to laugh.

Byesville Rotary meets every Tuesday, 7:30 am, at the Stop Nine Senior Center at 60313 (GPS use 60299) Southgate Road, Byesville. Anyone interested in learning more about the Byesville Rotary can call Membership Chairs Marty Patchen, 740-685-3828, or Randy Launder, 740-685-8294.