2-21-2013 meeting of the Rotary Club of Chickasha

The Feb. 21, 2013 meeting of the Rotary Club of Chickasha opened with a prayer, pledge and a verse of Home on the Range.

Guests included Lilly Oberlender.

Prayer concerns include Jerry Mottinger and Bill & Janice McVey. Also, the family of Cody Alexander, an 18-year-old Alex High School who was killed on Wednesday on his way to school.

President Cody White said that the college students interested in getting a Rotoract Chapter created at USAO suggest that the effort start in the fall rather than now or in the summer.

Conrad Duprez was Rotarian of the Day and introduced Conrad Duprez as guest speaker.

Conrad is the club's Polio Plus chairman and has done some extensive research on polio and Rotary's effort to eradicate it.

Polio first hit epidemic proportions in the early 20th century.

President Franklin Roosevelt, who himself was stricken by polio, helped launch the March of Dimes campaign in 1938 to help fight polio.

Jonas Salk created the first successful vaccine in 1955 which was administered through a painful injection. Later, Albert Sabin developed a vaccine that could be delivered in only two drops orally.

Rotary International launched Polio Plus in 1985 and the number of polio-free countries has declined steadily.

Today, there are only three countries -- Afghanistan, Nigeria and Pakistan -- were polio remains a threat.

Rotary and major partners like the World Health Organization and the Bill Gates Foundation are committed to finished the fight and completely eradicate polio.

Conrad said the club can do its part to help raise the $250 million needed. He plans to make that recommendation to the board to assess each member an amount quarterly to go to Polio Plus.

You can find more information about Polio Plus and how you can help by going to endpolionow.org.

The meeting adjourned after recitation of the Rotary 4-Way Test.