At our club meeting recently fellow club member, Mark Kennard spoke about addiction and how it affects our cities and local communities. He spoke from experience as the Executive Director of Project Cope, a community resource aimed at helping addicts to regain control of their lives and addiction. He spoke about how addiction is a brain disease and how this brain disease has such negative effects on our communities. Addiction if often fueled by break-ins and illegal activity. Addiction has created increases in all kinds of crime and has so often led to deaths in the city too. It was interesting for club members to note how people have come from so many far ranging communities to get drugs here in our city, and often to disastrous results. It was also so interesting for members to hear how this addiction problem has had such a debilitating effect not only on the individual, but on the community. Mark spoke about how, in his opinion, minimum sentencing has not worked in controlling addiction and how it has created prisons full of substance abusers. Mark is in favor of more funds to help addicts regain their lives. He spoke about how drug replacement programs, like Methadone, have been successful with many addicts and have allowed them to live productively in the communities and get the time to get control over their lives and addiction. Club members were appreciative of Mark’s comments and of his efforts to help the people, and thus, the community to improve.
There was some spirited fining today at the Club meeting, but there was also some controversy. As we all know, Mark Kennard’s picture had been in the newspaper recently, and that is a definite finable offense, so Bob Dugas rightly fined him at the meeting. This editor, however, having researched the ancient unwritten annals of Rotary , determined that Bob had violated the GAFF rule (Generally Accepted Fining Factors). Bob fined Mark $2 for his offense, but this was way, way too low!! His fine should have been at least $2.25 or even $2.50!!!! Bob made a GAFF for sure!!! Due to this, President Obie surveyed the club members who unanimously elected to fine Bob for his GAFF. After this rough start, though, Bob systematically fined many members, including this editor who had recommended his earlier fine. There was also a late suggestion to fine Bob again for making too, eh, excuse me, two misspellings of the word “two” in his article posted to last week’s TIPS, but this didn’t happen due to the mass chaos of members heading for the door after the bell had been rung, (trying to avoid Bob’s fines)!! Ultimately, it was Treasurer Arthur Horgan who was happiest as Bob turned over a nice pot of fines to support the club’s activities!!!
Reprinted from "Help, I've Fallen and Need a Good Laugh"
After weighing himself, a man's wife was reading the little card bearing his fortune. "It says here that you are a born leader, that you have great long range vision, that you are a man of character, and will go far in life.......It's got your weight wrong too!"
At our club meeting recently fellow club member, Mark Kennard spoke about addiction and how it affects our cities and local communities. He spoke from experience as the Executive Director of Project Cope, a community resource aimed at helping addicts to regain control of their lives and addiction. He spoke about how addiction is a brain disease and how this brain disease has such negative effects on our communities. Addiction if often fueled by break-ins and illegal activity. Addiction has created increases in all kinds of crime and has so often led to deaths in the city too. It was interesting for club members to note how people have come from so many far ranging communities to get drugs here in our city, and often to disastrous results. It was also so interesting for members to hear how this addiction problem has had such a debilitating effect not only on the individual, but on the community. Mark spoke about how, in his opinion, minimum sentencing has not worked in controlling addiction and how it has created prisons full of substance abusers. Mark is in favor of more funds to help addicts regain their lives. He spoke about how drug replacement programs, like Methadone, have been successful with many addicts and have allowed them to live productively in the communities and get the time to get control over their lives and addiction. Club members were appreciative of Mark’s comments and of his efforts to help the people, and thus, the community to improve.
There was some spirited fining today at the Club meeting, but there was also some controversy. As we all know, Mark Kennard’s picture had been in the newspaper recently, and that is a definite finable offense, so Bob Dugas rightly fined him at the meeting. This editor, however, having researched the ancient unwritten annals of Rotary , determined that Bob had violated the GAFF rule (Generally Accepted Fining Factors). Bob fined Mark $2 for his offense, but this was way, way too low!! His fine should have been at least $2.25 or even $2.50!!!! Bob made a GAFF for sure!!! Due to this, President Obie surveyed the club members who unanimously elected to fine Bob for his GAFF. After this rough start, though, Bob systematically fined many members, including this editor who had recommended his earlier fine. There was also a late suggestion to fine Bob again for making too, eh, excuse me, two misspellings of the word “two” in his article posted to last week’s TIPS, but this didn’t happen due to the mass chaos of members heading for the door after the bell had been rung, (trying to avoid Bob’s fines)!! Ultimately, it was Treasurer Arthur Horgan who was happiest as Bob turned over a nice pot of fines to support the club’s activities!!!
After weighing himself, a man's wife was reading the little card bearing his fortune. "It says here that you are a born leader, that you have great long range vision, that you are a man of character, and will go far in life.......It's got your weight wrong too!"