Minutes for May 16, 2016
Posted by Michael McIntosh
on May 23, 2016
The Casper Rotary Club
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Rotary Club of Casper WY
Meeting Summary
05/16/2016
President John Starnes called the meeting to order promptly at 12:26, with the ring of the bell and welcomed everyone to today’s meeting with a special welcome to our very own “Wild Hogs” Jim Porter and Barry Johnson, from their motorcycle adventures.
Inspiration, Pledge, 4-Way Test:
Rick Diamond
Greeters:
V H McDonald and Jesse Helm were the greeters today, and VH introduced the members who brought guests:
First, our exchange student Elise;
- Eric Easton introduced Tim miller (Attorney);
- Brian Deurloo introduced Nicol Kramer (Attorney);
- Dave Simonson introduced his daughter Bethany Simonson;
Song and Merriment:
Dennis Lower cracked us up with a couple of good jokes, and then Gary Pehrson had us all stand and lead us in singing “Cowboy Joe”
Paul Harris:
Jim Ruble received his Paul Harris Fellow plus one; Barry Johnson received his Paul Harris Fellow; and Brad Cundy received his Pau Harris plus four.
Classification Talk:
Dale Bohren spoke to us today and told us a little about himself. This is his third time joining our Rotary club. He was born here in Casper and reminisced about the refinery and the smell of money and the reflection of the flare ups in the clouds. He is the fourth of five kids and comes from a musical family where mom always made them sing for their dinner. His father was the Goodstein’s building superintendent so Dale got to hang around with his dad and learn a lot about monkey wrenches and pipe wrenches and such. He graduated from NCHS a year early then went to CC to study string bass. He then went to New Orleans thinking a musician could make a good living there, he found out different and went to work as a mud logger. He then moved to Boulder CO and while living there he happened to return to Casper and discovered that Casper was a great place with lots of opportunity. He moved back and started a house painting business which he had for 25 years, he invested in some real estate and restaurants and even at one time started a diaper business which did not last long or do well because of the disposable diaper industry taking over. He worked with the WY Symphony as manager for three years then he went to the Chamber of Commerce where he worked to be on the side of the businesses in town. Each year they looked at what the top five problems were in Casper and each year the negativity of the Casper Star Triune towards local business was one of the top five but not one of the three they were able to address. Seeing this problem he then jumped at the chance to purchase the Casper Journal when it came up for sale. He still operates the Journal today. When the Tribune was purchased and changed perspective he sold the journal to them but stayed on to run it and became also the executive director of the Tribune. He feels that he is now in a position to actually be a Rotarian and participate the way he feels that one should.
Family of Rotary:
Barry Johnson said that their son who has been deployed has returned home safe and sound.
Rob Doane said his Father-in-Law had his hip replaced and is home doing well.
Dave Simonson said that they attended his daughter’s graduation from the Colorado School of Mines where she graduated with a degree in Chemical and Bio-chemical engineering.
Mike Stepp announced that Saturday in Washington Park his oldest Granddaughter is getting married.
Rotarians of the Week:
Roy Cohee nominated and congratulated John Jorgensen on the great article about him and Read Wyoming that was in the newspaper.
Liz Becher nominated Jim Beck from KCWY TV for the great job he did on the Video about Casper that we will be seeing next Monday as a kickoff for the District Conference that will be held in Casper next year.
Announcements:
- Eric Easton reminded us that the Casper Marathon is coming up June 5th and we need Rotary Volunteers to man the Rotary Aid station. Also if you are running for the club to raise money for the International project please let them know.
- Greg Brondos let us know that this Sunday after the District conference in Jackson at 10:00 in the morning will be the annual bike ride so come join in.
- John Starnes announced that Dave Bishop has canoes and kayaks to float the river if anyone wants to do that Sunday morning at 10:00 after the Conference.
- Richard Schwahn let us know that the NCHS Jazz Band will be doing a concert this week at Casper College and it will be the concert they performed at Carnegie Hall in NYC, he will send out an email with more information. He also reminded us that we still need some host families for our two exchange students this fall.
- John Jorgenson told us that the 18th annual “Wyoming Reads” will be this coming Tuesday; Governor Mead has named it Wyoming Literacy Day. They will have first graders all around the state participating and each will be receiving a book. Many Rotarians are volunteering and he thanks all of those who do and encouraged anyone who would like to participate to please come join in.
- Hal Hutchinson announced that the highway cleanup is going to be scheduled again for a day after work since the last one got cancelled due to snow. He will let us know for sure later which date it will be and will have signup sheets on the table. A tentative date will be Thursday June 9th at 5:30. He said it works best to have 24 people so please sign up.
- Dennis Lower spoke to us a little about a young man who was an exchange student that stayed with them 40 years ago. He read us a little of the email this young man sent about how great it was to be an exchange student and how they still have the strong connection that has lasted these 40 years. Dennis encouraged us to become a host family as it turns out to be a lifetime influence on everyone involved.
Program (Dr. David Wheeler):
Jim Ruble introduced our speaker today, Dr. David Wheeler, the director of the Wyoming Medical Center’s Stroke Program. Dr. Wheeler brought along with him, Melody Bower, Stroke certified Nurse at WMC. He said that May is stroke awareness month and so this month they focus on educating the public about strokes and treatments. He told us a story about a patient who started having a stroke on a Saturday afternoon and went to the ER in Douglas. The CAT scan showed a blockage of one of the arteries in the brain. They started the treatment with an IV clot buster drug and then life flighted her to WMC. Her symptoms got better but they did an additional scan and it showed that the clot was still there and then the symptoms began to return. They then put a tube into the artery to take pictures then they inserted a catheter with a stint that grabs the clot and pulls it out of the artery. A couple of days later she went home and recovered nicely with only one visit to OT and is doing great still today. With the organized rapid response she was saved from a life threatening stroke. They are focusing on getting this program organized at all hospitals in the state to ensure that everyone has access to this treatment. He explained what a stroke is; it is an interruption of blood flow to the brain caused by either a blood clot (ischemic stroke) or a burst blood vessel (hemorrhagic stroke). Each one is treated in a different manner. Strokes are the leading cause of long term disability so time is of the essence when you have the symptoms you need to get to the hospital quickly. The best way to improve disability and death is to first take better care of our bodies and also to have faster better care available at all hospitals. They have been able to better determine the amount of the clot buster medication for each individual to have much better outcomes. The stint they use to remove the clot has also helped immensely in improving a patient’s treatment to have a better outcome. He shared with us the efforts they have been making the past couple of years to better prepare the smaller hospitals that do not see a lot of strokes and how they have improved the stroke care at WMC. They have been certified at the highest levels of excellence since 2008 to treat strokes. They have been traveling around the state speaking with the smaller hospitals and encouraging them to work on the certification for the smaller hospitals to be prepared to use the proper protocols to recognize and treat stroke victims quickly and efficiently. It takes commitment from everyone in the hospital to become certified and to improve on the care given and the board and administration have to make a conscious decision to do what it takes to accomplish this. They have a specialized tele stroke where they are able to connect via phone or computer with hospitals and doctors anywhere that needs help diagnosing and treating a stroke. Collaboration like this is extremely important to help treat strokes and other illnesses to help improve quality of care and survival rates with better outcomes. He emphasized that it is better to call an ambulance when you are suspecting that you are having a stroke because the faster way to get treated is by arriving in an ambulance rather than through the waiting room and time is very important when having a stroke.
President John Starnes concluded the meeting at 1:27 with the ring of the bell and reminded us that next week we will be back at the Parkway Plaza. Next week we will hear from our UW President Laurie Nichols.
