Judge Templeton was raised in the heart of the East Texas Piney Woods (Jasper). After completing his business degree at The University of Texas, he married his high school sweetheart, Janelle Smith Templeton, and continued his education at The University of Houston Law Center. The Templetons have raised two sons in Beaumont public schools.

Judge Templeton practiced civil and criminal trial law for 28 years before running for his current office. He was an associate with the Strong Pipkin and Benckenstein & Oxford law firm before becoming a founding partner of Chambers, Templeton, Cashiola and Thomas.

Judge Templeton now serves as the Presiding Judge of the 172nd Judicial District Court in Jefferson County, Texas. He is the first Republican ever elected to a district bench in Jefferson County. Although a Beaumont resident for over 30 years, Judge Templeton and his wife spend a significant amount of their spare time at family homesteads in Jasper County. Judge Templeton also enjoys driving horse teams and riding dual-sport motorcycles.

Today Mitch Templeton talked about a very personal subject - his Aunt Ginger and his mom Linda. Polio effected his entire family after his aunt contracted the disease in 1946. His account of his family experience with Polio touched everyone in the room and for some was a bit unfamiliar. Many of our recent generations have had no one in their circle of friends or family with Polio. They have not seen the disease and its effects. The vaccine has been so effective that in this country Polio is largely considered a third world problem.

Some have no symptoms, but some are paralyzed. Some have lifelong disabilities as well as advancing Polio nerve damage. Some do not live.

There is reason to celebrate - Rotary treats the disease and is a leader in providing the vaccine worldwide. Also, Rotary has been a leader in the other factors such as clean water and sanitation which contributes to reducing the spread of the disease. However recently Polio has returned to the US. The few cases in New York means that there are perhaps hundreds or thousands of unknown carriers. This is not just in other countries. We need to be concerned about our own country.

Outsmarting the Virus is the cover story of an issue of The Rotary magazine. The picture is typical of the way the vaccine is given to children. Drops in the mouth administered to third world country children. The success of the campaign is a miracle. The article describes the other important issue of public hygiene as well as the vaccine. It also requires monitoring of the global travel and transmission trends of the disease. It is thought that some of the New York cases came from the United Kingdom and that it is extremely contagious.

The Polio virus destroys nerve cells in the spinal cord. It causes muscle wasting and nerve damage. Since taking pictures was less common than today and there was of course no way to post them like we do today, many of the victims of the disease are not chronicled. The nature of their recovery and post-polio disabilities were not seen on social media. Mitch said that his Aunt Ginger was clever with her poses for pictures and was able to hide her short leg, the four inch lift of her shoe and her braces. She didn’t have pictures taken with her crutches very often.

As a result of the way she walked she wore out her hip and had to have a hip replacement. This was not as routine a surgical procedure as it is today and offered less than an ideal outcome. The other result of using the crutches was that she wore out her elbows. Her shoulders and arms were damaged by the crutches and surely, she was in chronic pain.

Aunt Ginger married Sonny who was a gregarious, outgoing fellow. They eloped on his Harley, and he is credited with taking her everywhere on his motorcycle. They were entrepreneurs and eventually adopted two children. He loved her and his family with enthusiasm. They bought a small farm, and it appears that neither of them had any idea that she had limitations. She was a happy woman with optimism and a “can do” attitude. With Sonny’s six foot three frame, he was able to help her and as Mitch says “haul her around” everywhere.

His mother probably had Polio since she and her sister slept in the same bed and the disease was so contagious. She didn’t have the early symptoms of the disease but after many years her spine began collapsing and she had to have it supported with pins. She had a ten hour surgery to correct her spine. This also allowed her to breath more easily since she had been compromised by the bone structure collapse. She gained over three inches in height because of the surgery.

The fear of the 1950s about Polio was also paralyzing. The cause was unknown, but the effects were widely known. The transmission was misunderstood but clearly it was highly contagious. One small Texas town warned drivers to not put air from that town in tires because it could cause Polio. The interesting fact of Polio is that it is tracked in humans. Other viruses can be found in animals, but this virus is unique to humans.

Prevention of Polio is currently the best and only treatment. There is no cure. The vaccine, clean water, and good sanitation is the best way to prevent the spread of the disease. It is not clear why a cure or better treatment hasn’t been discovered but for now prevention is the only option. So please donate to the Rotary Foundation Polio Fund. These donations are matched two to one by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. These funds are vital to preventing the spread of this disease which has found its way back to our United States citizens. We do not want to return to the horrors of the 1950s and we do not want our children and our grandchildren to suffer the devastation of Polio.

Thank you, Mitch, for sharing your very personal account of what Polio does to a family. The message needs to be shared with those of our younger generations who only think of Polio as a

third world disease. It is not eradicated, and it could be our next medical battle. As Mitch said – “We need to watch our Ps and Qs to stay on top of this”. He speaks from personal experience.