Rotary International Theme 2024-2025	THE ROWEL Rotary Club of Durham		Rotary International President: Gordon McInally Rotary District 5160 Governor: Clair Roberts Durham Rotary President: Glenn Pulliam _____________ Editor: Phil Price Publisher:  Jen Liu
	November 5, 2024	Crab Feed 2025 Will be held on Date: January 25, 2025

The Meeting Opening We met at the BCCC. The meeting was called to order by President Peggi.  Peggi asked Glenn Pulliam to lead the pledge, which he did.    Larry Bradley led us in singing “America”. Following that, Jim Patterson presented the invocation in which he gave thanks for all the improvements that have happened in Durham. President Peggi then asked Tom Knowles to recited the 4-Way Test from memory.  He did.  Wow!

Peggi reported that Mike Wacker is having some serious health problems, so cannot attend all our meetings.

She also reported that Ravi missed this meeting because he is bringing his mother back from Arizona.

Regarding our project at the Memorial Hall, the TVs have been purchased.  A substantial part of the electrical work is being done by an employee, saving us approximately $5,000

Peggi disclosed that she is holding the Grinder, which she recovered from Tom Knowles, for Steve Heithecker, when he returns to a meeting.  He was the successful bidder at the last meeting.

Crab Feed Silent Auction Donations

Larry Bradley reminded members that it was time to contact all those who donated last year and others for donations to the Crab Feed Silent Auction.

Introduction of Visitors

Tom Knowles introduced our program, Dairy Princess Aubree Eddy, and her parents Kyle and Lea Eddy.

Jen Liu introduced our Student of the month, Seanna Cunningham, and her mother,Jamie Cunningham.

Larry Bradley introduced Imogen Hinds, soon to be a member..

Recognitions

Tom Knowles was recognized for his 22^nd anniversary.  He contributed $22.

Jen Liu was recognized for being a member for 34 years and for his anniversary.  He contributed $100 be become aBell Ringer.

Larry Bradley got visitor Imogene Hinds to contribute $25 for having retired from Stanford University.

Your editor contributed $25 for having been in Nuevo Vallarta last week.

Student of the Month.

Larry Bradley, after spending a lot of time talking about her accomplishments,presented the Student of the Month for October to Seanna Cunningham.  She was here with her mother, Jamie Cunningham.

Tonight’s Meeting Program 

Tonight, the California Milk Advisor Board, District 3 Dairy Princess, Aubree Eddy, was our program.  District3 includes Butte, Colusa, Glenn, Lassen, Modoc, Nevada, Placer, Plumas, Shasta, Sierra, Siskiyou, Sutter,Tehama, Trinity, and Yuba counties.  During their one-year term, the Dairy Princess are ambassadors representing the dairy industry in several local and state activities.

She talked about what it took to be selected as the Dairy Princess and about the California Milk industry.

Our Next Meeting

Our next meeting will be at 6:00 pm, on November 19^th at the BCCC.  We will have the Durham High School Interact Club present.  They will be running our meeting

Prior to the meeting, there will be a Board Meeting at 5:00 pm

Membership

Bring guests who you think you can interest in becoming a member.  Your dinner and your guest’s dinner will be paid for by the Club.  Also, bring a guest to one of our occasional social gatherings.

District 5160 Governor, Dan Geraldi is asking each club member to bring at least one guest to a meeting this year.

Go to the following Rotary International web site for information on membership development:  https://my.rotary.org/en/learning-reference/learn-topic/membership .  From this website there is access to membership development and other related information.

The Rotary Foundation Donations

You can make a difference in this world by helping people in need. Your gift can do some great things, from supplying filters that clean people’s drinking water to empowering local entrepreneurs to grow through business development training.

The Rotary Foundation will use your gift to fund the life-changing work of Rotary members who provide sustainable solutions to their communities’ most pressing needs. But we need help from people like you who will take action and give the gift of Rotary to make these projects possible.

When every Rotarian gives every year, no challenge is too great for us to make a difference. The minimum gift to The Rotary Foundation is $25.00.   An annual $100.00 gift is a sustaining member.  Once your donations accumulate to $1,000 you become a Paul Harris Fellow.

If you have any questions ask Steve Heithecker.

It is possible to learn more about The Rotary Foundation on the Rotary web site. 

Your gift can be made online or by sending Jessica Thorpe a check made out to The Rotary Foundation to Durham Rotary, P.O. Box 383, Durham, California 95958.

Must Be Present to Win Drawing:

Glenn Pulliam drew Steve Heithecker’s name.  However, he was not present so the money stays in the drawing pot.

Peggi then closed the meeting.

From District 5160

Candidates for District Governor

World Peace Conference – January 24-26, 2025, Rohnert Park (Sonoma Wine Country)

World class speakers including RI Past President Jennifer Jones, panelists, instructors and others working in the field of peace are coming together for the region's first ever Rotary Peace Conference on January 24-26. Registration opens Aug 31 atPeace25.org

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From Rotary International’s News and Features Website

{Note that the following may not be the complete article.  See the complete article on Rotary International’s News and Features web page}.

‘When,’ not ‘if’: Progress continues toward ending polio

On World Polio Day, Rotary International leaders and public health experts reiterate their commitment to global eradication

By Etelka Lehoczky and Arnold R. Grahl

Eradicating polio around the world is still an attainable goal, Rotary International President Stephanie A. Urchick and public health experts said as they commemorated World Polio Day in the city where the vaccine was developed.

“I know it is a question of when polio will be eradicated, not if,” Urchick told the audience at a live stream event on 24 October in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA. 

“Our Action Plan talks about improving our impact. That’s really where our polio eradication program shines,” Urchick added. “Millions of children won’t get this crippling disease. Billions of U.S. dollars won’t be spent on ancillary health care costs as a result of this disease. We have made so much progress.”

Rotary leaders, including RI President Stephanie Urchick (middle), and global health experts discuss the future of the polio eradication effort at a World Polio Day event in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA, 24 October 2024.

Photo credit: Rotary Zones 33/34

Donate to help eradicate polio

World Polio Day raises awareness and funds for the Global Polio Eradication Initiative’s work to eliminate the disease. Since Rotary and its partners formed the GPEI in 1988, the number of wild polio cases has decreased by 99.9%.The event highlighted Rotary’s continuing efforts toward complete eradication.

Polio remains endemic in two countries, Afghanistan and Pakistan. In 2024, increased case counts of wild polio virus and the first case of paralytic polio in Gaza in 25 years served as a reminder that until the disease is fully eliminated everywhere, it remains a threat to children everywhere.

Despite the challenges, Michael K. McGovern, chair of the International PolioPlus Committee, said he remains confident as ever that global eradication is within reach. “We’re in a bumpy period, but we’re going to get this done by continuing to focus on Afghanistan and Pakistan and doing the things that were done so successfully by Rotarians,” he said.

The event included videos featuring polio vaccination workers in the field. Urchick said she was inspired by them during a visit to Karachi, Pakistan, earlier this year.

“Men work diligently to immunize thousands of children every day at traffic checkpoints,while women go house to house to reach families directly,” Urchick said. “Some workers literally climb mountains to vaccinate children in remote locations,and their determination never wavers.”

The live stream event was part of a two-day Rotary zone institute. RI Director Patrick Eakes, who convened the institute, said Pittsburgh was a perfect location because it’s where Dr. Jonas Salk developed the vaccine. “We realized we were in a unique position,” said Eakes, a member of the Rotary Club of Crescent (Greensboro), North Carolina, USA.

Dr. Peter L. Salk, president of the Jonas Salk Legacy Foundation in La Jolla, California,and a part-time professor at the University of Pittsburgh School of Public Health, talked about what drove his father to develop the first inactive polio vaccine.

“He just never let go,” Salk recalled. “It was his personality to have a dream and get things done.”

Salk said his father wanted to make a difference in the world from a young age and became interested in science. After working in the U.S. state of Michigan on an influenza vaccine, he came to Pittsburgh in 1947 to work at the virus research lab and received a grant for polio research from the National Foundation for Infantile Paralysis. That led to his work developing the inactive polio vaccine.

Other presenters at the live stream event included 2016-17 RI President John Germ.Several members of Rotary’s eradication effort also sent video messages.

In a video shown at the event that was originally recorded for the 2023 Rotary International Convention, Gates Foundation co-founder Bill Gates lauded the commitment toward eradication. “When polio is eradicated, it will be one of the biggest advances in public health in human history,” said Gates. The Gates Foundation, a partner in the GPEI, matches up to US$50 million that Rotary raises each year at a 2-to-1 ratio, which means up to US$150 million for the effort each year.

Salk, too, said he was honored to be in a room full of Rotary members who have a passion for solving tough problems.

“Every time I get together with Rotarians,” he said, “I am just uplifted by the quality of humanity that you all radiate and the dedication you put in all the different realms helping the world become a better place.”

— October 2024