Our Greeter today was Bill Weber and he did a marvelous job. President Dan Crane rang the bell at 7:30 A.M. to open the meeting.
Sue Weber gave a very nice invocation including special mention of Dawn Costello, Vernon Fenstermaker, Dale Utt and the Henry family.
NOTE: A special Mike Henry Rotary Scholarship Fund has been established. Anyone wishing to donate may do so by sending Checks to the Keller Funeral Home made out to the AW Rotary Foundation.
And the assembled voices sang a good rendition of our National Anthem along with a flag video. And we said the pledge of Allegiance.
President Dan says the word from the country is “The good life is one inspired by love and guided by knowledge.” Said Bertrand Russell.
GUESTS:
Dave Dries, Spring Township RC.
Donna Beach is having breakfast this morning with Arch Klumph.
President Dan showed many slides of photographs from our last meeting starting with volunteers at the Food Pantry last Saturday. Then there were District Conference pics including Y.E. student, Marti, some PDGs, and the Speech Contest finals. DG Linda Young did a great job.
Dan said that the 2018 District Conference will be held at the Crown Plaza in Reading. Attendees will have many options to choose, including all day Saturday for $99 pp. It’s close; it’s fun; it’s worth it to go.
SCHEDULE:
Dan continues to e-mail us an updated list of volunteer opportunities and future events.
May 11th TOMORROW is Our next THURSDAY EVENING event which is a Mixer at Whole Foods Market.
May 13th, Saturday, we need volunteer “Angels| for the afternoon games at the Miracle League. Contact Barbara Kistler. Bad weather may complicate things.
Dennis Houser on May 20th will lead a work group at the Rodale Cycling Center. Please sign up with Dennis.
May 20th is the annual District Training Assembly at MONTCO CC.
May 24th our regular a.m. meeting will be a club assembly devoted to learning from TT3.
May 25th Thursday Evening meeting will include the induction of a new member.
May 28th, through the generosity of Jerry Frank, there are still 4 seats available for the Iron Pigs evening baseball game. The $70 per ticket funds will be donated to the AWRC foundation. Contact Dan PDQ.
AND, of course, you always can have your breakfast at our meetings sitting with Arch Klumph for a donation of $26.50 --- or more --- to the Rotary Foundation.
NEXT WEEK our Greeter will be Stan Drabick and the program will be
Hope Pearson Presents Scholarships to Award Recipients.
LUCK of the DRAW:
The door prize bottle of wine donated by Bill Weber was won by Len Salines.
Then Bob Gordon’s ticket was drawn and he selected a white marble and did not win the $43 pot of the 50:50.
FINES:
S-a-A in Training, Mitch Huston fined Jeanne Shipe and Ralph Witcher for coming late, and Dale Heffner for leaving early. And Jean Masiko forgot her Rotary pin today.
HAPPY DOLLARS:
Halyna Stegura is doubly happy. Daughter Christina’s cross-country Bike ride has proceeded to Texas now and all is well. And daughter Mary has just accepted a management position at DisneyWorld at one of the Orlando resorts.
Ray and Jeanne Stock have a new grandson.
Jean Masiko reports they have their first Great Grandson.
Herb Klotz had 4 happy dollars, starting with the 3 week visit from Mr. Sengeh of the Centennial School in Sierra Leone that went so well. Next Herb noted the special building fund set up to provide a house for Mr. Sengeh. So far $2,600 have been matched and there is another $900 that can be matched.
Herb noted that President Dan is very close to getting the Presidential Citation for us, BUT we need 3 more members by June 30th.
Herb then asked for volunteers to serve on a District Conference Site Selection Committee for his conference in 2020. It should be selected in the next year.
Sue Weber is happy that there were six AW Rotarians at the District Conference in Lancaster last weekend.
Bob Gordon just returned from Tampa and a visit with his new granddaughter, Avery.
Ralph Witcher is happy that son, Seth, made a special effort and moved from the waiting list to a firm offer to attend Lehigh University in the Fall and study robotic engineering.
Al Lewis thanks everybody for good fellowship as he and Hilda head off to Saranac Lake for the Summer.
Mitch Huston is happy to be going to Maine next week. Then he told a very bad play on words joke.
PROGRAM:
President Dan introduced our speaker for today. Marten J. Edwards, PhD Muhlenberg College speaking about Tick Talk: Lyme Disease & his research on Tick-borne Infections in the Lehigh Valley.
Marten is a Professor at Muhlenberg, having obtained .A degree in Biology from Reed College. And he worked in the Peace Corps in the Kingdom of Tonga, and earned his Ph.D.in Entomology from the University of Arizona He is a Postdoctoral Fellow, Department of Genetics, Case Western Reserve University.
Using a series of slides Dr. Edwards described the Deer and the Dog ticks that are found in the woods. The dog ticks are not a problem. The deer ticks are. He noted that there are lots of ticks at Rodale Park, one of our Rotary projects.
From the Internet:
“Ticks, part of the arachnid family, can be found on every continent. They feed on the blood of their hosts which range from birds and reptiles to mammals both large and small. Of the nearly 900 tick species across the globe, 8 are of major concern in the transmission of tick-borne diseases to humans in North America.
“Though habitat varies from region to region, most ticks prefer to live in areas with dense undergrowth, long grass, leaf litter, fallen logs, and the edge of woods. Ticks don't jump or fall out of trees. They move short distances on their own or on small mammals. Long-distance travel is by deer or birds.
“Lyme disease is a bacterial infection, caused by Borrelia burgdorferi, that may develop after a bite from a Lyme-infected blacklegged tick. The CDC estimates that more than 300,000 new cases of Lyme disease occur each year in the US but only a fraction of these cases are reported to public health officials.”
Dr. Edwards said that the best way to remove a tick is with needle=nosed forceps and grabbing them behind the head.
From 2001 to 2015 there has been a large increase in Lyme disease cases. Here in the Lehigh Valley the cases each year are about the same and stable. Western PA has seen a big increase.
Dr. Edwards, thanks to a Grant, has a “Tick Team” of students who each season gather ticks for DNA testing for the Lyme bacterium. They take proper dress and cleanup precautions as they walk through 11 sites in Lehigh County.
In Lehigh County about 23% of the collected Ticks are infected in the 550 samples each season. The Hudson Valley is about 30%. They are working on a “Risk Index” to keep people informed.
Prevention of tick bites starts with where we live. If near woods, it helps to have a pathway of gravel etc. separating the woods from the house. Then if we are going into a wooded area, there are special clothes and boots to wear, and some chemicals to apply. After potential exposure examine your whole body for ticks, some of which are very small and you may not feel their bite. And immediate hot air over your clothes in a dryer is a good habit.
Lyme disease is a very serious illness and must be detected and treated as soon as possible. And due to mutations of the bacterium someone can get Lyme disease more than one time.
CLOSING:
We closed the meeting by reciting the saying “One profits most who serves best.”
