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Kathy Austvold led off with our invocation while Wally Cole was our song leader. Dave Peters introduced as his guest Denise Mower, whom he met when he started to play pickle ball about a month ago. Dave described Denise as one of the most enthusiastic persons he has ever met and indicated she was excited to come to Rotary. Keith Olson provided a Rotary Minute, sharing some thoughts his father had on three make-up visits he experienced and indicating that Keith himself has probably done 15 international make-ups in his years in Rotary. "Making Up is Not Hard to Do," with Keith describing membership and attendance as a "cool thing." Those who have done make-ups surely agree, whether it is locally at the Sunrise Club's meeting on Tuesday mornings or in some other community, either here in the U.S. or abroad. From the picture above, you know that Brian Tjaden was inducted into our club and a warm welcome extended to him. Anthony Nordan passed around the sign-up sheet for ringing Salvation Army bells at Service Food on December 20th, with every spot filled by at least one person by the end of the meeting; there is still space for a second person for almost every spot. Wally Cole led off the bragging, indicating his wife and daughter took him and his son-in-law out for dinner the night before in a belated celebration of his birthday. Anthony talked about the kick-off of the Salvation Army bell ringing which has now occurred this past Friday. Kathy Austvold reported she and Steve celebrated their 19th wedding anniversary the past Sunday, making it 16 years they have been in Fergus Falls. Mary Pettit congratulated Dean Monke for another successful Veterans Day program, her husband for celebrating his 69th birthday and the 4th year of retirement and Barker Williams raising over $500 at its "Soups On" event. Mary also mentioned the upcoming Dance & Dessert and subsequently added she practiced random acts of roses this year, giving her 10 dozen out to individuals, including a most appreciative friend whom, unbeknownst to Mary until knocking on the door to make the delivery, had just been diagnosed with Stage 3 breast cancer. Denise, our visitor, thanked the universe for letting her and Dave pickle ball on the same day and finally Wally Cole rose again to thank Mary for the "awesome performance" at Cleveland School. Our program was introduced by Katie Johnson, Jodi Lien, the Otter Tail County Director of Public Health, to talk about vaping (Katie's daughter was asked to serve on a task force at the Underwood school on vaping). Jodi described vaping as the use of electronic cigarettes by which a person inhales an areal liquid which is often flavored. The majority of the liquids contain nicotine; other ingredients are vegetable glycerin, propylene glycol, flavorings, and can also contain marijuana. There is a Minnesota student survey done every thee years and the first time there was any question about vaping was in 2016. In Otter Tail County, the 2019 survey saw an average of 26% of 9th and 11th graders indicating they had done vaping; one-third of the high school users also reported recreational use of marijuana through vaping. Three of four young adults reported they never used tobacco before and there is growing evidence that it can prime the brain for chemical dependency. Vaping increases the odds of smoking by four times, with vaping menthol much more addictive than non-menthol. Jodi talked about "EVALI" which stands for e-cigarette vaping associated lung injuries, which you can read more about at www.health.mn.gov/diseases/lunginjuries. Nationally, 2100 cases have been reported to date, with 42 deaths. Many injuries are associated with the use of illegal THC (a component of cannabis). The Center for Disease Control has identified E acetate as a chemical of concern. It was noted that in the 2016 survey 5% of 8th graders reported vaping and now, in 2019, those same students who are 11th graders, reported over 25% had experienced vaping a five-fold increase. Dean Monke also added there was a real explosion of vaping in the schools last spring but then it quieted down a little over the summer because of the bad press it was receiving. |
