Gallipolitan
Dr. Gerald Vallee Speaks to Gallipolis Rotary
Gallipolis Rotary welcomed two special guests from the Gallia County General Health District–Melissa Conkle, Director of Nursing and Gallia County Health Commissioner, Dr. Gerald Vallee. Gallipolis Rotary annually supports the efforts of the county health department with the funding of the liquid Tylenol which is given to children receiving immunizations. President Deb Rhodes opened the club meeting and Rotarian Matt Willis gave the invocation.
To accommodate our speaker, President Deb rearranged our normal meeting format and hear from our speaker, Dr. Gerald Vallee, Commissioner of the Gallia County General Health District. Our speaker was introduced by VP Bonnie McFarland. Dr. Vallee spoke about the mission of the health department in improving public health in our county. The health department has been keeping birth/death records since 1908 and with the increased security on identity records, the department must take care in securing and issuing birth records. The department operates 14 mandated state programs as well as a number of local initiatives such as the mosquito spraying. All this with limited manpower.
One program that our Rotary club knows well is the TB testing that is performed for food service workers in the county. Today our club hosted Melissa Conkle, Director of Nursing, who administered TB tests to a number of Rotarians in preparation for the upcoming Bob Evans Festival. Those receiving the TB tests at the meeting need to have them read by the health department on Thursday. Dr. Vallee praised the efforts of the health department nursing staff and said that over 2048 TB tests were administered in 2007. The busy staff administered nearly 2000 flu shots and 3306 children immunizations last year.
Dr. Vallee described the planning the department is required to conduct. In case of a pandemic flu outbreak, the health department is prepared to vaccinate 90% the population of Gallia county in three days. The plans have been tested using the clinics to administer flu vaccine. The department has a goal to vaccinate 90% of the children in the county under the age of 2. Last year 89.2% of children were vaccinated.
At the conclusion of our speaker’s remarks, President Deb asked Dr. Vallee to sign the book label for a children’s book that will be donated in his honor to one of our elementary schools. Thank you, Dr. Vallee for the interesting update about one of the important county programs.
Club Literacy Project–Rotarian Emily Dailey reminded everyone that 
Wednesday, October 1st is the kickoff for our club’s reading program in the schools. This year we will be reading every first Monday for the next seven months! We have a good supply of books and members are asked to sign up for the school and month of your choice. If you sign up, you need to keep the date! The first graders love to have guest readers and are a great audience. If you haven’t done this yet, get on the list!
Dictionary Project–Our club will be distributing dictionaries to the 5th graders in the county again this year, on October 16th–National Dictionary Day. We will be having a labeling party at the OVB Annex on Third Avenue on October 8th at 4 pm. We will need Rotarians next week to sign up for the schools of their choice and then pick up your supply of dictionaries at the label party on the 8th.
Farm Festival Is Here–How is your scooping arm? We’re going to need everyone’s arms and legs for the Farm Festival, Friday October 10th, Saturday October 11th, and Sunday October 12th. Please plan to give as much time as possible in this effort as this is our main fundraiser for the year. Friends and family are welcome! Remember,we need to bring a hat this year or you’re going to end up wearing one of the paper bonnets.
Happy Buck$–Jenny Evans donated a couple of bucks for the Eagles concert she and her husband recently attended. Shirley Doss donated a buck and encouraged everyone to attend the upcoming Ohio Valley Symphony concert which will be held at the new Pt. Pleasant High School Fine Arts auditorium.
Split-The-Pot–Margaret Evans ran STP for the meeting and the small pot of $5 was won by Tammi Brabham. Tammi missed the big one of $50 by drawing the ace of spades. The Foundation Fine was assessed against anyone NOT signed up to read in one of the schools tomorrow.
Club Fellowship–Our meeting concluded with club fellowship led by Lou Ellen Werry. Lou Ellen collected a few fines for missing pins, badges, and any tardy latecomers. Lou informed the club about some movie trivia, specifically about James Dean. The meeting was adjourned.