We gathered at RIC this week for another interesting meeting. Rudy, Anthony, Wayne, Brendan, Nav, Stephen and John were joined by guest Wayne King for the singing of O Canada. “Excellent.” Regrets were received from Nora, Merle and Lana (no wifi at RIC).
Bill Clemas’ birthday was announced (happy birthday, big Bill!) and we were reminded about the District Assembly on March 25. Wayne and Rudy are planning to attend and we would like at least three more members to join in. Come out for a day of Rotary fellowship and information, and enjoy a lunch together.
Medical Update with Dr. John
We quickly moved on to our guest speaker this evening, Dr. John Brynjolfson, who spoke to us about dyslipidemia (what?). It is a major contributor to atherosclerosis (what?) and eventually results in heart disease, stroke, peripheral vascular disease, kidney disease and eye disease, so you know it’s not good. Other major contributors to atherosclerosis are smoking, diabetes, male sex (the gender, not frequency of fun), hypertension, family history (I can’t help it), diet, old age (we’re trying for it) and exercise (ouch). John spoke about cholesterol, triglycerides, Framingham risk scores, statins, ezetimibe, Lp[a], and PKSK9 inhibitors. To read the details, check out the attached photos from John’s presentation.
Our good doctor reiterated that the best diet is the Mediterranean diet with lots of chicken and fish, and red wine has some good benefits. He also commented on the value of family doctors versus clinics (pro-active, weighing all the factors vs. firemen dealing only with the immediate concern). Family doctors can recommend tests to help prevent or at least detect possible diseases (e.g. colon cancer, prostate cancer, and pap smears) and the psa test is the gold standard for indicating whether you need further investigation. We thanked John for his presentation and look forward to his next update.
Rotary Moment with Wayne
Wayne read the Foundation Moment provided by Jack Rae.
HOW DO DISTRICT GRANTS HELP AT HOME?
A Rotary club in the United States used a US$3,000 district grant to purchase food and personal care items for a local food pantry that saw a 50% increase in need. A Rotary club in India is using a district grant to provide hygiene kits and training to girls who might otherwise miss school when they are menstruating. The project aims to help 40,000 girls.
Clubs worldwide use district grants to support similar short-term projects in their communities. Our club most recently used a district grant to build a retaining wall at the Langley Community Services Society site. Previously we had a district grant to help provide a commercial dishwasher for the Langley Food Bank.
Every club has the opportunity to create positive change their community with grants from The Rotary Foundation, one project at a time.
What do you want to accomplish in our community?
Light Touch
This week’s Light Touch turned into a session of story telling jokes. I hope I am fairly close to accurate in my recollection.
A termite goes into a bar and asks, “Is your bar tender here?”
A customer, very deadpan, comes in quite gloomy. After a few drinks, he notices a set of Irishmen at the end of the bar finish their pints, pay their tab and get up. The two Irishmen leave the bar.
A dyslexic walks into a bra.
A duck walks into a bar and orders a beer. The bartender looks at him and doesn’t even skip a beat that he’s talking to a duck that can talk. “How do you plan to pay for it?” he asks. “No problem,” the duck answers, “just put it (all together now) on my bill.”
An Englishman and an Irishman entered a bakery and the English fellow proceeded to show off his shoplifting skills. First one, then a second, and then a third large bun disappeared into his large pockets. He boasted to the Irishman, “See, that’s the way to get free bread.” The Irishman told him that he could go him one better, that he could get three buns without breaking the law.
The Irishman then asked the proprietor if he could show him a magic trick, making buns disappear and then reappear again. Intrigued, the owner handed him a bun. The Irishman ate it and asked for a second. He happily ate the second bun and requested a third, which he also devoured. “Okay,” stated the owner, “that’s okay but now show me the buns.” The Irishman, trying to stifle a chuckle, pointed to the Englishman and said, “Just check in his pockets.”
Other updates
Happy and sad dollars were pledged for: hearing Dr. John speak about topics of personal interest; enjoying time away with family at Whistler; getting Russia to finally admit they had poisoned the poor fellow; taking his grandchildren on a Skytrain and Seabus adventure; John’s update and Rudy’s smashing beard; riding with Brendan to the meeting; and another for the presentation and jokes.
We toasted Canada and left RIC without staying for the scheduled executive meeting, as a quorum was not reached. Next week we’re back at Timms and will have hybrid meeting capability.
Late News: Gertrude is now registered for the District Assembly so we’re looking for two more members to sign up.
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