Editor: Marilyn Bedell and note taker, Bruce Pacht...Again...Thanks for the help!
Upcoming Programs/Speakers
November 12, 2020: Willian Nisen - Associate Director, Institute for Security, Technology and Society - What we need to know about Cybersecurity?
From the Dartmouth Web Page: Nisen joined Dartmouth in 2014. Nisen's research interests center around exploring disruptive technologies while concurently searching for new applications for digital information and encouraging a grassroots approach to innovation. He is also pursuing the research agenda he launched as the founder of the Kelvin Institute in Glasgow, Scotland with particular emphasis on the convergence of mobile communication technology, adaptive learning and contextual analysis.
November 19, 2020: Tony Abbate speaking on What's Going On with the Stock Market
From the https://seekingalpha.com/ web page: Tony Abbate, CFA is founder and Managing Director of Granite Value Capital, a Hanover, NH based investment management firm. Tony received his BBA in Finance and Business Economics from University of Notre Dame in 1992. He received his Chartered Financial Analyst designation in 1997. Prior to starting Granite Value Capital, he worked for nine years as a Portfolio Manager in Fleet/Bank of America's Private Wealth Management division.
David spent many years in Connecticut, until he moved to New Hampshire in 2019. He has been married 29 years and he has two, twenty-something children who live in Boston. Dave’s father-n-law had a condo at Eastman where they used to visit. Dave preferred the tax environment of NH so they found a place in New London and love it – they hike and ski, but prefer the pizza in Connecticut.
Dave came here 7 months before his wife finished nearly 40 years of her teaching career. In Connecticut. In Connecticut he was a member of the Exchange Club. Once he moved here, he visited the Odd Fellows club which seemed like a sinking ship. At the Elks, he played some cribbage and drank cheap beer, but finally connected with Rob Taylor who brought him to a couple of meetings where, “I got to know a couple of you and joined anyway.”
Dave was an English major at Gettysburg College, editor of the newspaper, and wanted to do something with writing until he stumbled into fundraising. He did some grant writing with an organization in NYC serving folks who had no homes. He finds fundraising an easy thing to do!
Dave got to work with the American Museum of Natural History doing solicitation of corporate sponsorships – Exxon or IBM would sponsor an expedition or a field project. He got to go behind the scenes of this enormous museum, 2/3 of whose enormous buildings are not open to the public. It sounds like behind-the-scenes at the museum is a fascinating place to explore.
Phase 2 of Dave’s career was fundraising at independent schools. He did this for 25 years working for three private schools. At each he was director of development. He ran capital campaigns, created publications, etc. Also coached 7th grade hockey, did some substitute teaching, chaperoned field trips -- every day was something new, and his two kids got to attend the Canaan Country School!
Phase 3: Dave interviewed at 3 places in the UV but settled at APD because of how supportive the community is of APD. No capital campaign is running now, but he’s raisin money for community health, medical equipment, nursing scholarships. Dave raises a bit under $1 million a year from grateful patients and people in the community. He said that Sue Mooney is a great leader and runs a terrific organization.
On the side, Dave did some sports writing in CT once a week about high school sports and he loved it. The students loved to be profiled. Families loved to read about students in the local paper.
Other unknowns about Dave:
He plays trombone; has been in 2 community bands.
He loves fly fishing, bass fishing, saltwater fishing, though less here in NH
Loves going to sports – NY Giants, NY Mets, NY Rangers; when kids were young, he took the kids to one game of each year
Enjoys film noir – has watched over 250 of them; attends the film noir festival in Boston, and is a member of the film noir foundation. Usually watches 1 per week.
Bermuda – Dave and his wife went there for their honeymoon and they’ve been there 4 times since, especially last year after his wife’s retirement. They sit on the beach and read books. Jimmy said, “Feel free to give me a call next time you’re here.”
Q&A
Willie Koppenheffer – I grew up in central PA, north of Harrisburg. We took a road trip to Gettysburg and Shippensburg State. Of the 25 kids who went to college, 13 of them went to Shippensburg where we had a great tour. Why Gettysburg?
Dave – I was into history at the time and I just loved everything about it. I did see a ghost there once: junior year in newspaper office with 2 exams the next day for which he wasn’t ready; walking back to his dorm, looked up at main building, PA Hall with a cupola and a US flag. Next to the flag, he saw a soldier keeping guard in the April mist. Then I learned that there was a myth of the Sentinel of PA Hall.
Jane Mason: What years were you doing sports?
2010-2016 – Jane’s Mason cousins grew up in Darien where one cousin was the only girl on her baseball team and was the homerun champion.
JoAnn – There’s a super-secret NH conservation trust with at least 4 ponds that are stocked for fly-fishing. JoAnn is willing to send Dave a newsletter. Tim says, they have something like 5,000 or 8000 acres.
Marilyn said she’d introduce Dave to the son-in-law of a former Lebanon Rotarian who knows about NH fishing.
Moorings
Prior to the start of the meeting, conversation revolved around the snow storm of last week. Dan Affeldt showed us a picture of 4 feet of snow on his deck. JoAnn Lemieux shared news of a dam breech near her home that caused damage. It then led to several memberstalking about longing for spring; and thoughts of pond peepers and tree frogs. We spend a few minutes talking about vaccines, and having to wait to get our vaccinations. We tried to estimate when they may make it on the list to get vaccine. We reflected on memories of polio national immunization days in the USA in the 1950s.
We rang the bell at 12:04. Ed Friedman recited the 4-Way test. We then established that we had a quorum present for the meeting. (quorum = 1/3 of membership or 14 members). Marilyn Bedell, secretary stated we had 19 members signed in to the call. Thus a quorum was established. We then proceeded to vote on the revised club bylaws, and our club's constitution.
Constitution and Bylaws of the Rotary Club of Lebanon – Bruce Pacht
Bruce reviewed the following information:
TWO POINTS OVERALL
Organizational documents aren’t as fluid as our every day actions require us to be, but neither are they carved in granite to stand forever. Over time, new understandings and interpretations arise of how our values are to be represented in the rules we apply to our internal operations and our external relations. Basic organizational documents should be reviewed about every 5 years to make sure they still express the Club’s view of itself at the present time in the into the foreseeable future.
Constitutions and bylaws provide our operational framework. However, complicated operations areas beyond the framework require establishing “policies” and “procedures” to make sure that our actions reflect the values captured in the framing documents. Examples may be found within the areas of Club finance, such as a policy on investments, or a policy and procedure on charitable giving. A procedure for orienting new members is another area where we believe uniformity and comprehensiveness is essential to success, so therefore needs to be preserved so it can be replicated.
CLUB CONSTITUTION –
Rotary International promulgates a “Standard Club Constitution,” which allows club personalization in certain areas. The Club Constitution reflects the club’s relationship to RI and provides the structural framework within which Rotary Clubs must operate. The proposal you all received is in full compliance with RI’s requirements plus some of our own allowed adaptations.
CLUB BYLAWS –
A Club’s bylaws reflect the specific values of an individual Rotary Club as reflected in its internal and external operations. Our bylaws required revision to implement the new organizational structure and relationship between Charities and the Club, and to streamline and clarify our administrative practices.
Separate votes were taken.
Bruce Pacht made a motion to have the club approve the Bylaws. The motion was seconded by Bill Secord. the motion passed unanimously with no abstentions
Bruce Pacht made the motion to have the club approve the Club Constitution. The motion was seconded by Paul Boucher. Rhe Constitution was adopted unanimously with no abstentions.
The Charities Trustees have approved giving $5,000 to the Ray Pecor fund of Listen. The Chair of the Trustees brought this proposed expenditure to the club for a vote.
Background: Our Charities bylaws require that “Requests for funding in an amount of$1,001or more, in whole, or in aggregate to a single recipient in a single year, must be approved by the members.“ So far in 2020, Lebanon Rotary and its members have donated $4,395.84 to Listen, including a total of $2,800 for the Christmas baskets.
We received a request from Kyle Fisher, executive director of Listen for a donation to the Ray Pecor Fund. Ray was the kitchen manager at Listen and is currently recuperating at home from a severe motorcycle accident. Ray used monies from this fund to provide motel shelter for the homeless, food for needy families, and other means of support for people in crisis. Ray’s recovery is still progressing, but slowly. He has some advocates now at Dartmouth Hitchcock that seem to be pulling him through and ensuring that he makes it to appointments. He is applying for social security disability and hopes that his need for it is just temporary. Ray’s wife, Barbara, still works for LISTEN and we get regular feedback from her on his progress.
In Ray’s absence, the new community dinner manager, Larry Lowndes, will be identifying needs amongst the community dinner guests. The guests then work with our program staff to get checks issued for the specific need. A lot of temporary housing and dental issues lately.
Because the pandemic has curtailed some of Lebanon Rotary’s budgeted charitable expenditures (such as support for Interact club and other youth activities), plenty of money remains unallocated.
Vice-president Ed made the motion to donate $5,000 from our charities account to the Ray Pecor Fund along with a request for suitable publicity. Past President Marion seconded the motion which was adopted unanimously with no abstentions.
Review of Club Web Page – Rich
Rich shared his screen with our web page. Click here to see the page as it has been constructed to-date.
The idea is for this web page be “outfacing,” to speak more to the public than ourselves. After the opening scene, we have News and a calendar for our external activities. Some photo galleries show the BrewFest, the Bedell Golf Classic, building homes in El Salvador, River clean-up. We’ll continue to add photos.
These are some of the subpages/topics that will be posted on the web page.
ABOUT OUR CLUB
History of the club is in the workings. Ernst Oidtmann is working on this.
Countdown calendar to the 100th anniversary
President’s greeting to be updated annually.
Meeting schedule and how to get to it
Members and their work affiliations
Links to Rotary, Rotary District 7850
WHAT IS ROTARY
Automatic feed from Rotary International will update.
How to join a meeting
Upcoming events
Annual events highlights and links to photo galleries
News and updates
Food drive for Listen
Need to add in the clothing donation.
Calendar – which is linked from our gmail email account.
Donations/links
Who we help: Organizations we have supported and a link to those organizations
Questions:
John Yacavone (JPY): A page where people can ask questions or communicate directly with us?
Rich: We will answer through Facebook and social media. We can add a link for email for more information or questions. Social media will drive people to THIS page instead of ClubRunner. Digital advertising should help more people see it.
JPY: UV Alliance emails highlight their sponsors at the bottom of their emails.
Rich: We will for events, but right now we have no sustaining sponsors. As people donate to an event, we can put up their logos and links.
Cindy Jerome: Can we solicit Sponsor ads - $$ for appearance for three months?
Rich: We can put ad spots in. After the design, we will pay only around $70/month for the service. We can go down the advertising route to help cover this.
Hank Clarke: There’s no reference to PHF, to how much money we’ve given to the community over the last 5 years.
Rich points out where we say how many hours we put in and how much we gave in 2019. We could put something more in there if we have it. A lot of this website is about what we do for the local community, and also what we do internationally.
Steve Whitman: What’s the date to go live? Is there a members-only section?
Rich: After 1 January we go live – next meeting with the developer is January 4. For “Members-only,” we would have a link on this site to the ClubRunner site.
Bruce Bergeron: A lot of info in the weekly notes should be available to the public. Also concerned re: doubling effort – shouldn’t have lots of extra effort with two websites.
Rich”: Our biggest success is linked to changing content on the new site.
JPY: Is there a counter?
Rich: We will have analytics on the system so we’ll know where inquiries are coming from.
New Member Inductions
Dipak Niroula & Sharmila Niroula (Sponsor Ron Bedell) and Ariel Horowitz (Sponsor Marilyn Bedell & Paul Tierney) have been accepted for membership. They will be formally inducted at our next meeting on Thursday January 7th at 5:30.
Paul Harris Fellowship Celebration
JoAnn Lemieux received her Paul Harris Fellow Plus 2 award as a result of our November campaign. JoAnn expressed how much good Rotarians can do around the globe and here at home with funds from the Rotary Foundation. She is compelled to make the Rotary Foundation one of her charities of choice.
Upper Valley Senior Center
Seven members went to the Upper Valley Senior Citizens help give out meals on 12/30/2020. Here are a few pictures. More can be found on our Facebook page.
Cookies were given to Listen’s Holiday Dinner
Between Marilyn Bedell and Bruce Bergeron, we donated at least 18 dozen of homemade cookies to Listen's Christmas meal. If other made cookies, please let Marilyn know.
Upcoming Meetings:
Our next meeting will be at 5:30 on Thursday January 7th.
We will have the Speech Contest Contestants at our Thursday January 14th meeting which will be at NOON instead of 5:30. – Phillip Rentz
Sean Fleming will be the speaker at our January 28th meeting. He will give us an update on the Lebanon Libraries.
Members present at the meeting:
Marilyn Bedell
Ron Bedell
Bruce Bergeron
Paul Boucher
Hank Clarke
Dave Crandall
Jim Damren
Rudy Fedrizzi
Jean Wulpren
Ed Friedman
Cindy Jerome
Will Kopenheffer
JoAnn Lemieux
Bruce Pacht
Phil Rentz
Bill Secord
Marion Steiner
Rich Wallace
Steve Whitman
John Yacavone
Meeting adjourned at 1:00 PM
Happy Thoughts/Concerns
Hank Clarke: On Thursday, a favorite Veteran friend, Harry, 93 years old, will be one of the first 5 VA patients to receive a COVID vaccination.
JoAnn Lemieux: My sweetheart is the president-elect of Brattleboro Rotary. JoAnn volunteered to help with their Christmas tree sale. This week, they sold out a full week before Christmas, meeting their somewhat scaled-down goals, but a big success and JoAnn didn’t have to stand out in the cold helping!
Marilyn Bedell: Jimmy Brock is at his own noontime meeting in Hamilton Bermuda today; temps in the mid-70s with golf every day. On Christmas Day, Bev was playing basketball in the driveway with her grandkids.
Bruce Bergeron: He is reinstituting a random raffle for a free car wash at our weekly meetings. He has a fancy random selection application on his phone. Ed Friedman is the inaugural winner!
Jean updated us on her newest family members: Molly turned 16 months on the 19th; all over the place with a language all her own. Jake turned 5 weeks on Saturday; happy and growing like a week. They get along fine! 8-year old Jamison, had a wonderful Christmas.
Will Koppenheffer: For years, we met at noon and now have been meeting at 5:30. Have we considered meeting a other times? This lead to the following comments:
Ron Bedell: Last meeting of the BOD, we decided to experiment with one at 7:30 AM and one at 5:30 PM. We will discuss the results at the next Board meeting to decide if we make any changes.
Dan Affeldt: Some big Internet providers are going to meter use of the band width.
JoAnn Lemieux: The broadband committee in Alstead disbanded. We put out an RFP for fiber optics and no providers responded.
JPY: I always thought that the 5:30 meeting would be better and have been surprised at the 18-19 we were getting, but we haven’t gotten more at noon and even fewer a 7:30 AM. We have another 20 members who aren’t attending at all.
Rich Wallace: I’ve been reaching out to members who haven’t been coming with a wide variety of responses: I’m with my family, I’m Zoomed-out by 5:30. We have to work around work and family responsibilities.
Hank Clarke: Well, part of it is personal responsibility.
Jean: I’m a fulltime employee and have to be a part-time Rotarian. I attended only when I had days off. I have a lunch time, and could make the early morning meeting for half an hour. If you want younger people you have to either flex or meet when they can attend.
Dan Affeldt: There are clubs that have rotating meeting days and times.
Rich Wallace: suggests we do a poll. Ron will put together a sheet of options.
Ed Friedman: Noon works better for me than the “leave work and get things together at home” time.
“Stay safe, stay distant, and wear masks.”
Club Updates/Announcements
Membership — Rich Wallace
Rich Wallace discussed bringing new members into our club.
We have 3 new members proposed to the board for vote on 11/17/20. If approved, you will receive an e-mail announcing them as proposed members. You then will have 7 days to raise objections.
If you have contacts, or businesses you think should be represented in Rotary, please send their names to Rich and the membership committee.
We are exploring a couple of other days and times for meetings to see if more Rotarians and others would find it more convenient to attend.
Rotary Foundation — Ron Bedell
Remember to make your contribution to the Rotary Foundation by November 19th. All Rotarians who make their $100 donations will receive 100 points towards their next Paul Harris Fellowship. You can just make out you check to THE ROTARY FOUNDTION and send it to Ron Bedell 35 Lily Lane, West Lebanon, NH, 03784, or Rotarians can drop-off their checks at Phillips office at the Service Credit Union (It would be best if Rotarians put their check in an envelope marked Philip Rentz/Rotary Foundation). If you prefer to pay by credit card you can go to rotary.org, click on DONATE and then click on ANNUAL FUND. (Make sure you sign into MyRotary first to set up an account before making the donation, so the donation is recorded as a donation for our Club. Once you sign in, a lot of the donation form will self-populate.)
Meeting Schedule for December…NOTE CHANGE IN TIME AND DAY OF WEEK — Ron Bedell
We do not have a scheduled zoom meeting between December 10th and January 7th, almost a month. So, this would be a good time to try some different days of the week and times to see if we can get better attendance. We therefore are adding Wednesday December 16 at 7:30 A.M. and Tuesday December 29th at NOON to our zoom schedule.
Holiday Basket Helpers — Angela Nelson
Marilyn for Angela Nelson: We are looking for cash donations to go to LISTEN as they aren’t accepting physical donations this year. Write your checks to “Lebanon Rotary Charities”, PO Box 132, Lebanon, NH 03766-0132. Angela will then write a single check to LISTEN. The club will add $450 from our Charities Account in addition to your donations.
Vacccines — Dan Affeldt
Report on the Vaccine Van and Food Drives around Upper Valley – Dan Affeldt
Dan read the names of the many Rotarians who gave time to one or more of the vaccination clinics. We helped more than 1,300 people get shots. (see below)
Youth Services — Steve Whitman
There will be a Youth Service Committee Meeting on November 12 at Noon – Steve Whitman
We would welcome folks to join the Zoom meeting at that time. We especially need individuals to volunteer to be Lebanon’s connection to the District’s plans for RYLA and the Speech Contest. Steve will send the Zoom link to those interested.
Update on Poker Room — John Yacavone
No news at this time – the woman from the state hasn’t responded.
District 7850— District Governor Jamie Milne and District Governor-elect Mike Carrier
Leadership Symposium
Saturday, November 14, 2020, 9:00 to 11:00 am
Green Room opens at 8:30 am for networking and fellowship
Normally, our District would be gathering at Northern Vermont University on November 14th for a Fall Training Event. Since we are not able to meet in person, we have designed a virtual program which we think will provide an engaging opportunity for learning and sharing among Presidents, Presidents-Elect, New Generations Chairs, Membership Chairs, Foundation Chairs...heck, it's really meant for every Rotarian in District 7850!
Speakers:
Rachel Brooks - Rotary Peace Fellow
Billy Roberts - District Governor-elect will speak on Diversity, Equity and Inclusion
Registration is not required! Everyone is welcome!
Time: Nov 14, 2020 open at 08:30 AM Eastern Time (US and Canada)
Meeting ID: 837 6540 0435
Passcode: 547079
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Meeting ID: 837 6540 0435
Passcode: 547079
Community Services Updates— Bruce Bergeron
Here is run down of the events now all completed!
Saturday October 3rdCompleted 8:30 am – 9:30 am. Completed Load clothes we collected 8 weeks ago for Epilogos. We will meet at Jake’s Coffee Shop at 8:30 and then going to Guaraldi Insurance to pick up rest.
9:30 am – 1 PM. Completed Deliver clothes to Savers in Manchester NH.
Saturday October 10thCompleted 8:30 am – 1 pm. Assist with the Drive-thru vaccination event at the Plainfield NH Elementary School. The Public Health Council of UV is coordinating this event.
Wednesday October 14th1 pm – 3 pm. Completed Drive Thru Food Drive at La Salette Shrine Parking lot to benefit Enfield food pantry, managed by Friends of Mascoma. This project will be in conjunction with the Drive Thru Vaccination event sponsored by Public Health Council of the Upper Valley
Wednesday October 14th Completed Drive Thru Food Drive at La Salette Shrine Parking lot 1 pm – 6 pm.
Wednesday, October 21, 2020d Completed Drive-thru Flu Vaccination event. Oxbow High, sponsored by Public Health Council of the Upper ValleySchool from 12-6 PM.
October 31stCompleted Drive-thru Flu Vaccination event. at the Canaan Elementary School, sponsored by Public Health Council of the Upper Valley, From 10 AM to 2 PM.
November 6thCompleted Riverside Park Clean-up
Ron Bedell Willie Koppenheffer & Cindy Jerome
Ernst Oidtmann and John Yacavone
Good Work Lebanon Rotarians!
November 2020. See Holiday Basket Helper Project below
Vaccines and the Van Pictures and Rotarian Volunteers— Dan Affeldt
All Drive-Thru Flu Vaccine Clinic are now completed. Dan Affeldt helped in Orford. Ron Bedell, John Yacavone, Dan Affeldt, Angela Nelson and Marilyn Bedell helped at Plainfield. Paul Boucher, Tim Guaraldi, Bruce Bergeron, Cindy Jerome, Ron Bedell, Marilyn Bedell, Dan Affeldt, David Crandall and Bruce Pacht. Dan Affeldt, Bruce Pacht, Ernst Oidtmann (physician in charge), and Rolf Zuk from the Cohase Rotary Club volunteered in Bradford, VT. Canaan volunteers included Dan Affeldt, Bruce Bergeron, Angela Nelson, Rudy Fedrizzi and Hank Clarke. (It was a cold day in Canaan...burrrr)
Plainfield
Enfield
Enfield — + a Food Drive
We collected 67 lbs of groceries and snacks, AND $306 in cash donations for the Enfield Food Pantry!!
Bradford
Bradford
So you get to see Ernst three times in the newsletter.
Ernst reported that he worked with 15 medical students, three other doctors and a lot of support staff (including Rotarians). They had 6 tents set up and gave over 225 vaccines. Job well done. Bruce Pacht, Dan Affeldt and Cohase Rotarian Rolf Zuk helped at this event too.
Canaan
Dan Affeldt and Hank Clarke
Our final Drive-thru clinic with Dan Affeldt, Hank Clarke, Bruce Pacht and Angela Nelson volunteering.
Total Vaccine Doses Administered 1,354
Orford 10/3 225 doses of vaccine administered
Plainfield 10/10: 340 doses of vaccine administered
Enfield 10/14 – 428 doses of vaccine administered
Bradford 10/21 – 212 doses of vaccine administered
Canaan 10/31 149 doses if vaccine delivered.
Final reminder, the Rotary Club of Lebanon supplied the funds so the Upper Valley Health Council could rent a U-Haul Van to deliver all equipment needed for the Drive-thru clinics to each of the community venues.
2020 Holiday Service Project - Santa needs our help!
Listen Holiday Basket Helpers Gift Card Purchases. We can't be on site for basket review this year and we can't purchase gifts for families. Listen will only be able to give families in need gift cards.
Here is how you can help:
Lebanon Rotarians are asked to make donations to the Lebanon Rotary Charities. Mail checks to Rotary Club of Lebanon, PO Box 132, Lebanon, NH 03766.
Angela will then cut a check with an addition donation of $450 from our charities account to Listen on behalf of the Club.
Here's hoping you can be and elf and help Santa make the holidays a little happier for those in need.
Community Service Planned for 2020/2021
Listen Food Drives
This fall we are doing this for the food pantry in Enfield & Canaan in conjunction with the Flu Shot Clinics. Still trying to find a way to do this for Lebanon.
Tim Guaraldi will organize these events.
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Working with Cover on a Winterizing Project
Winter 2020/2021
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First Grade Reader Distribution
April, May
Bruce Bergeron will organize this event.
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Mascoma River Clean-up &
Rail Trail Clean-up
Summer 2021
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Community Dinner Set-up on December 24, 2020...though this may not be able to happen.
How Rotary is alleviating the effects of isolation during COVID-19
Throughout the pandemic, members are discovering ways to connect, cope, and care for each other and people in the communities they serve.
by Joseph Derr
Social distancing, self-quarantines, and lockdowns, all of which have been necessary to reduce the spread of COVID-19, help keep us safe but also isolate us, creating feelings of loneliness and anxiety
Rotary clubs are rising to the challenge to mitigate these negative effects, both in their clubs and beyond. Along the way, members are discovering new ways to serve.
The science of connection
Physical isolation, compounded by the stress of the health crisis and its disruption to daily life, is having a psychological impact. The Lancet, a leading medical journal, published a review of previous studies that found a high incidence of irritability, depression, and emotional exhaustion among people in quarantine. Another recent study that focused on China in early 2020 found that anxiety increased during quarantines, especially among the elderly, who are more likely to live alone.
Why do we suffer psychologically when we’re isolated physically? For Sylvia Whitlock, a semi-retired marriage and family therapist and member of the Rotary Club of Claremont, California, USA, the answer is simple: “Isolation is a stress-producing state, as one of our human needs is for connections.”
Isolation is a stress-producing state, as one of our human needs is for connections. Sylvia Whitlock, Rotary Club of Claremont, California, USA
The ability to connect is inherent in us, says Mary Berge, a clinical psychologist and member of the Rotary Club of Johnstown, Pennsylvania, USA. “Oxytocin, released when you hug someone, is also released through bonding socially,” she says. As oxytocin is released, these social bonds are strengthened.
Those feel-good chemicals — also produced through acts of altruism — don’t necessarily stop flowing, even in isolation, says Berge, who regularly does smiling exercises with her anxious or stressed clients. These exercises can produce results just like genuine smiles do. Click here to read more
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Thursdays at 5:30 PM
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