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.