Nancy Smith Addresses Gallipolis Rotary
March 9th, 2010
Pictured above are PDG Mel Simon, Speaker Nancy Smith, and President Bonnie McFarland. Ms. Smith spoke to Gallipolis Rotary concerning the importance of executing Medical Care Advanced Directives.
President Bonnie McFarland welcomed Rotarians and guests to the regular morning meeting of the Gallipolis Rotary Club. ADG Matt Willis gave the invocation. President Bonnie welcomed our special guest speaker, Nancy Smith, to the meeting.
Welcome Back PDG Mel—Bonnie welcomed back PDG Mel Simon who arrived this past weekend from the annual Operation We Care medical mission to the Philippines. Mel briefly updated the club on the results of the medical mission. During the very busy one week medical portion of the mission, there were 135 major surgical procedures, 90 minor procedures, 90 hearing tests performed by Lisa Koch (wife of Rotarian Paul Koch), and a distribution of 1100 pairs of eyeglasses. The highlight of the trip was the reception with the President of the Philippines, Gloria Arroyo. Our club will hear from the volunteer nurses from the University of Rio Grande who accompanied Mel and Lydia this year, in a couple of week.
Literacy Month PR—Gallipolis Rotarians were the focus of a feature in the Sunday Tribune which detailed the history of the club and six photos of literacy related projects. This week President Bonnie, Debbie Saunders, and Emily Dailey will be heard on ‘The Talk Of The Town’ program with Marianne Campbell. The program airs on the local radio station on Wednesday and Friday from 10-11 am.
Relay For Life Auction—Dan Whiteley reported our club netted $47 to go to our club’s fundraising for this year’s Relay For Life. We need MORE ITEMS for this effort, so look in your attic, look in your garage or basement and give Dan a call or email. He’ll even pick them up!
Possible Rotary Youth Project—Jeff Lanham announced there may be a potential youth project for the club supporting girl’s softball for 9-10 year olds. He is looking into what our club might be able to do.
Fellowship—Gordon Amsbary ran club fellowship for the meeting and collected a buck for arriving after the bell rang. Gordon also arranged a sextet of vocalists to sign HAPPY BIRTHDAY to Denise Shockley (who is now back from her leave of absence) and Debbie Saunders. Pictured her are: Resty Alonzo, Shirley Doss, Emily Dailey, PDG Mel Simon, Dan Whiteley, and Paul Koch who provided a hearty rendition of the birthday tune! Under Happy Buck$, Jim Morrison, bought a ‘sad’ buck for missing next week and a Happy Buck for being able to see his Granddaughter. Gordon concluded with a salute to ‘National Celebrate Your Unique Name Day.’ Where does he get this stuff!
Split-The-Pot—STP was handled by Jim Morrison today who announced the small pot totaled $6.00. There was a moment of uncertainty until Shirley Doss located her winning ticket! Shirley missed the ‘big one’ of $116.00 by drawing the seven of spades (or clubs) and the remaining deck of cards is getting smaller! The Foundation Fine was assessed against anyone who has not listened to the interview on the radio!
Program—PDG Mel Simon presented a certificate to President Bonnie
on behalf of the club received from the Rotary Club of Marikina, Philippines for our support of Operation We Care. Pictured here are PDG Mel with ADG Matt Willis and President Bonnie McFarland. The Marikina club was the host club and one of 11 Rotary club in the city of 100,000 people. Mel personally presented a number of Gallipolis Rotary banners to the clubs which hosted the OWC group.
PDG Mel introduced our speaker for today, Nancy Smith, who spoke to our club on the subject of advanced directives—living wills and medical powers of attorney. These documents differ from state to state, but cover the individual according to the state of residence. The form in West Virginia is one page, but the document for Ohio is comprised of some 44 pages. The document travels with you and covers you in other states.
Nancy emphasized the importance of completing this document and had copies on hand for Rotarian who may be interested. While the information in such a document is unappealing to most, the completed document is a gift to families who have to make the eventual end of life decisions about feeding tubes and end of life care. These documents should be witnessed and notarized for completion. She concluded stating, “Everyone should inform their family of their feelings about life prolonging care as well as organ or tissue donation.”
President Bonnie presented Nancy with a Rotary Books For Schools certificate for her program today. A book will be donated in her name to one of the elementary schools in Gallia county.
