Meeting cancelled due to snow.

The meeting on Tuesday, January 20, was cancelled because of the weather. Rolling Hills schools were cancelled. No information about rescheduling the Interact induction is available at this time.
Reminder--the next meeting is Meat Tuesday.

Club Learns about Rolling Hills School District Plans to Meet Financial Challenges

Reminder--next week we will meet in the high school library to attend the induction of new Interact members. Coffee and donuts will be provided. If you were not at the Tuesday, Jan. 20, meeting, call Ryan and let him know that you would like to attend. He is trying to get a headcount.

Our presenter had to cancel at the last minute. Tom Perkins filled in and gave us an overview of the financial challenges faced by the Rolling Hills School District in the coming year. He and his staff have already developed plans aimed at reducing the impact of the major problems which are: open enrollment which pulls students out of Rolling Hills, the state budget support which will probably be cut by 10%, and increase insurance costs for staff. Thanks Tom for filling in on short notice.

His presentattion was followed by a lively question and answer session. Club members expressed their concern over the possible affects on the educational opportunities for our local students.

Highway Patrol Visit

Sgt. Kay Perkins, a 17 year veteran of the Ohio Highway Patrol, spoke to the Byesville Rotary on Tuesday. Sgt. Perkins is a supervisor. Her job includes both administration and patrolling. She stated that “Public education and patrol visibility are the number 1 aims of the Highway Patrol.” Education efforts include high school programs about driving safety and demonstrations of mock collisions using junk cars.
Sgt. Perkins encouraged the members of the Rotary to “…save lives by observing the speed limits.” Increasing you speed does not save a driver much time. Driving from Cambridge to St. Clairsville at 65MPH will take 42 minutes. Driving the same distance at 75MPH will save 5 minutes, but will double the driver’s chances of being in a wreck.

Reading assigments for next meeting: January Rotarian--"How to Make an Ecostove," p.35, "How to Fundraise without Fear," p. 36, and "How to Plan a Campaign," p.37.

First meeting of new year

Business: Bob passed out a financial report. Chris read a thank you note from the Main Ave United Methodist Church thanking us for the donations to their food program. We gave them the Christmas food baskets that were not picked up. Marty shared a verbal thank you that she got from one of the families who received a food basket.

We welcomed a new member--Jim Vaughn who works for AVC Communications.

Our program was presented by Dalton Summers the new Meadowbrook High School principal.

Gris's reading assignment for next week: in the January Rotarian, read "How to Get Things Done #1," page 32, and "How to Save It Before It Is History #2," page 34.

Suicide Is Preventable

Vickie Hare, Associate Director of the Thompkins Child and Adolescent Services, and active member of the Guernsey County Suicide Prevention Coalition visited the club on Tuesday. She presented information about suicide which is often an unrecognized and serious problem.

She told the club that in Ohio, suicide is the 9th leading cause of death resulting in three deaths a day. In 2004-06, the rate of suicides in Guernsey County was 15.4 per 100,000 people. That is higher than the state average of 11.5 per 100,000.

Ms. Hare also told us that that suicide “is the third leading cause of death for teenagers” and that the group with the highest risk is older white males. In most cases, suicide is preventable because most suicidal people want to live but are just not able to see alternatives to their problems. There is a significant relationship between depression and suicide attempts.

Ms. Hare concluded her presentation with a question and answer session. Several members of the Rotary club shared their experiences with suicide victims. These experiences reinforced Ms. Hare’s statement that “every suicide death affects about six other people.” Help is always available. You can start by calling 740-826-7650 or 1-800-844-4146.

The club members voted to delay having a breakfast meeting until sometime next year.

Pictured: Christina Morris, Byesville Rotary President, Vickie Hare, presenter for the Guernsey County Suicide Prevention Coalition, Chuck Fair, Byesville Rotary member.