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Congratulations to the officers and directors of ICUFR elected for the 2006-07 Rotary year. We welcome to the Board new members Dan Mooers and Peter Sotheran. Continuing on the Board are Carl Cardey, Robin Chapple, Dick Nathan, Shirley Pozzuoli, Stella Russell and Tom Telfer. For those of you who stood for election and didn't make it, please come back and try again in the next election. It still seems that we need to revitalize interest in our ICUFR Forums (http://www2.icufr.org/). This is not intended to replace the Taranto mail lists; but offers an additional form of communication with a different flavor. If you haven't already checked in, please give it a try. This is a great way for us to communicate our thoughts and ideas, both Rotary related and otherwise. Aside from a few regulars in the "Friends and Fun" section and an occasional "business matter" discussed by the Board in its private section, there hasn't been much activity of late. I would be particularly interested in hearing some thoughts about the Forums themselves. Are there too many sections? Too few? What else would you like to have there? If you're thinking of coming to Ithaca, New York in October of 2006 for the annual ICUFR Conference (and I hope many of you are), if you would like a taste of what else is going on in the area, please take a look at www.visitithaca.com. If you're not sure yet if you will be able to come, or even if you're just thinking about it, please drop an email to Dave@starflinn.com so that I can get some idea of the interest. Also, if you think you might have a program you'd like to present, please let me know about that, as well. Over the next couple of months, we will be firming up the details of the entire weekend, so stay tuned for more information. |
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| FROM THE EDITOR - CHANGES & UPGRADES: | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
WEBSITE- This is your chance to tell me what sections/folders and parts of the website are important and that you want to keep, and also any ideas for new sections/folders you might like added. Please send all suggestions to me at ccardey@verizon.net and I will forward them on to Robin when the timing is appropriate. I doubt you can imagine how grateful I am to have Robin undertake this job. HELP WANTED: You can see that we have a lot of information on the website; current and archival. Keeping it up-to-date is just too much for one person - webmaster. What Robin envisions is a series of HELPERS to keep track of different folders on the site. One is the Computer Tip page. Will someone volunteer to take this one helper job? Look at http://www.icufr.org/main/tips.html and you will see how outdated it is, and yet it could be a very powerful page. A helper should be a member who can look at the folders and pages within, and tell us what is worth keeping. He/She does not necessarily need to prepare any copy, BUT it would be much more beneficial if suggestions are made for new material when appropriate. If there are offers for URLs about useful information Robin will tailor them to suit the site. Robin made a "What's New" web page to illustrate the way our web helpers will perform. He assumed that one of them has found this "news" that was worth spreading. A visitor who uses this page on a regular basis will know that something new has been added. He also added it to the original page for the subject which, long term, will finish up as an index for the specialised subject. He deliberately did not mention the page location, just to see if the system works. The entry is dated so that we can retire it after a reasonable interval. The source will be acknowledged. Check the website Folders and if there is a folder/section that you would be willing to watch, PLEASE email back to me ccardey@verizon.net and I'll forward on to Robin when appropriate. NEWSLETTER If this newsletter is to be appropriate to our members, I need to know what you really want each month. A plea in our Taranto mail list, and in the Forum, did bring me several articles this time, and I am going to add all of them. You will see that they are from wide-ranging topics. I have tried to segregate them into different subjects. Help Wanted: Please think about the different subjects that were presented this month, and think about the subjects that you would like to see covered in the newsletter on a regular basis. HELP WANTED: So, here are the three newsletter subjects in this edition: Computer Tips: Projects: Requests for Assistance: Do you want them? Do You not want any of them? Are there other subjects you would like included? The newsletter will serve you better if members would volunteer to be a REPORTER for a specific subject, and collect or write an article each month and send it to me. Another idea is for a reporter for each of our major geographic areas, especially about usage and/or needs for computer and internet use. Please email me back at ccardey@verizon.net with your comments and desires. If you belong to a Fellowship that does not currently have a forum of your own, we have space available that you can use on our ICUFR Forum at http://www2.icufr.org/ , in the Other Fellowships folder,. Just let me know and I'll get it set up. |
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COMPUTER TIPS: 1. Use PowerToys To Disable Automatically Playing CDs and DVDs Most of us using IBM Compatibles have the Auto Play feature disabled or hold down Shift key when loading a disc so it will not play. However, you may choose to use the unsupported PowerToys or Tweak UI feature offered by Microsoft for free. 2. AUDIOGRABBER: Audio conversion Probably like many of you I have accumulated quite a number of music tracks, lectures and stories on audio cassette tapes. I mainly use these when I am driving. Recently I bought a new Subaru and high tech as it was, no cassette player only radio and cd. I assumed it would be easy to use windows media player to convert but surprise, surprise it will only record line-in for 60 seconds. With a bit of help from my son I accessed a website named "tucows.com" which has an amazing amount of freeware and shareware. I found and downloaded a freeware program called "Audiograbber". It is amazing; it will accept any line-in data and convert it to a wav file or mp3. It will also do timed recordings, so if I go out and wish to tape my favourite radio serial it is done. I can then either listen to it on the computer with speakers or cut a cd. Ralph Roseman 3. DIGITAL CAMERA COLOR SHIFT As digital cameras evolve we tend to trade for new. Have you considered how the new CCD (image sensor) will affect the pictures you are producing? There will always be color shift between image sensors, usually minute, but when you have "the really great shot" your old techniques of color adjustment might not work. Several solutions come to mind. Do not change cameras ("But I just bought a new one", so that won't work), buy two of the same model and put one in the freezer until the other one dies (but, "It will not upgrade while waiting to be put into service", so that won't work), or, compare the old sensor's stix with those of the new sensor and hope to find a way to make adjustments with your photo program. Unless one wants to go to a lot of expense, perhaps the best is to be aware of the possible color shift, then keep the possibility of change in mind as one shoots. Study images side by side from the old and new camera on your monitor. Notice which colors seem to be different and learn how to make the changes in the color of the new camera to compensate. Do you have another solution? 4. MAC HELP WANTED: I know there aren't many members using MAC's, but I have received requests for articles regarding MAC use. I don't have or use one, so would like to see a MAC user volunteer to be the MAC Reporter and send an article every month. 5. WHERE TO GO IF YOU MAY HAVE BEEN SCAMMED (USA): If you filled out a form or provided personal or financial information in response to an email request and you think you may have been the victim of a fraud, call the company that appeared to be requesting the information right away. Explain the situation. If fraud is involved, the bank, credit union, or other financial institution that was spoofed (gained access to a network or network services by posing as a legitimate user) should freeze your accounts to protect your funds. You also should report the incident immediately to the FBI at www.ic3.gov. Would a list of where to go for governmental agencies in other countries be helpful? We might compile a list and post them in the Computer Tips folder on the website. IF you think so, find out the equivalent agency in your country and send the URL address to me at ccardey@verizon.net Copyright © 2006 Sandhills Publishing Company |
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US National Bone Marrow Donor Program In 1992 Carolyn Shandle-Cobb, the daughter of Mentor Rotarian Cliff Shandle, was diagnosed with leukemia and told she would need a bone marrow transplant. Such transplants could only be accomplished when certain aspects of the donor's blood matched those same aspects of the recipient. There were two possible sources of marrow; When a family match was not found for Carolyn, Cliff and his wife Shirley did some research on marrow transplants in general and the US National Marrow Donor Program in particular. What they found was that the registry was essentially a numbers game. The more potential donors registered, the better the chance of finding a match. At this point, Cliff turned to his fellow Rotarians to ask that they pitch in to become possible donors. To get one's name on the Registry it was necessary to have a simple blood test, a test that could be administered by the Red Cross. However, the kicker was the cost of $45 for each test! The Board of Directors of the Mentor club listened to Cliff and decided to embark on a major campaign to increase the number of registrants and better the odds for Cliff's daughter as well as all other potential recipients. It was decided to recruit potential registrants, set up a testing drive with the local marrow donor center at the American Red Cross, and raise the necessary funds to pay for the cost of the test. As it happened, the donor center had community matching funds from the National Marrow Program that would pay half of the cost, bringing the Rotary obligation to $22.50 for each recruit.
We have raised funds and sponsored a blood testing drive each year since 1993. The annual totals have not been as large as in the early years, as more of the willing and potential donors in our area get signed up. However, by 2005 Mentor Rotary has been responsible for adding more than 3,600 names to the national registry. Thus, we have made steady progress in our objective of helping the NMDP reach its goal of having enough potential donors so that, when a request for a transplant is made, an immediate positive response will be routine. While we are not there yet, by the end of 2005 there were more than 5.5 million registered potential donors, more than six times the 1993 total. In addition to the names we have added directly, the publicity we have generated for this program has caused other clubs in our area to sponsor testing drives. Of course, adding names to the Registry is not the whole story. From the 3600 names we have directly added to the Registry, 28, less than 1% have been called upon to donate marrow or blood stem cells. According to Linda Eckenbrecht, Program Coordinator for the US National Marrow Donor Program for Northern Ohio and Indiana,, these 28 names equate to more than 10% of the total number of marrow and stem cell donors from her region since its inception in 1987. These statistics bear witness to the fact that this work is nowhere near finished.
This is a project that requires a significant effort by club members, to run the fundraisers and to man the administrative functions on the day of the testing drives. However the rewards are immense and, in some cases, are almost immediate. A letter from Dean Peska, who was tested at our original drive in 1993, in some ways says it all. In his letter to Cliff Shandle dated November 10, 2001, he describes his experience as a donor in November of 2000 as follows: "Outside of my marriage to Ellen and the birth of my children, Margaret, Molly and Dan, this is the accomplishment that I am most proud of in my life. I now have a little of the feeling a mother feels with birthing a child, the feeling of giving life." Information on the US National Marrow Donor Program in the U.S. can be found at www.marrow.org. For information on the world-wide Marrow Donor program go to www.worldmarrow.org. For more information on how the Mentor Club handled this project contact Cliff Shandle scshandle@ncweb.com or Fred Lariccia fred.lariccia@att.net. To learn how you can set up a similar project with your club, contact Linda Eckenbrecht, Program Coordinator for the US National Marrow Donor Program for Northern Ohio and Indiana, leckenbr@nmdp.org Rotary Club of Mentor, Ohio |
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The Tobac - er, I mean Produce Auction "I got ten, who'll give me fifteen, I heard twelve, I got twelve, who'll bid fifteen?" Harry Jones wipes his brow to keep the perspiration from reaching his eyes. "Come on now, quit making me work so hard, give me the fifteen so we can move on. Fifteen, I got fifteen, looking for sixteen." Harry smiles as he points his finger at the bidder and searches the crowd of buyers for the next bid. "Okay we got eight boxes left at fifteen dollars a box, who wants them?" Historically, Harry would have closed this segment of his auction with "Sold American or Sold Lorillard." A tobacco auctioneer extraordinaire, who relives a little of the past each Thursday, from late May until October, in Oxford, NC when he auctions off produce for local farmers who are converting from growing tobacco to growing outstanding produce. The fresh produce ranging from Asparagus to Watermelon is lined up on palettes, grower by grower, just as tobacco was displayed and auctioned item by item as the auctioneer and recorder walks down each row. Each week new items can be seen as other pass from harvest. Fruits like strawberries are replaced by blueberries and peaches in August, apples in September and pumpkins as the leaves begin to turn color. Buyer number 50 is Kaye Brown who represents the Rotary Club of Chapel Hill/ Carrboro. Kaye is Past President of her club and has attended the auction for the past two years spending an average of one hundred dollars each week. The Chapel Hill/Carrboro Rotary Club in turn delivers the food from the auction to the Interfaith Council or the Durham Mission or other local food kitchens and pantries to feed those in need of a helping hand. "I try to keep my bid competitive, often I'll support at the floor price to insure the farmer recovers costs," says Brown, "we would really like to see this venture expand and grow. This is our third year and it seems to be getting bigger every week. Lots of smiling faces can be seen when the Rotary mini-van pulls up at IFC kitchen or the Food Mission headquarters and they unload the fresh produce. Many hands are most willing to carry the fresh groceries into the kitchen, some of the peaches and plums are sampled for sweetness along the way. The entire process takes about three to four hours. How many projects do you know that gives you that warm fuzzy feeling at both ends? |
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Background: St. Paul, Minnesota and Nagasaki, Japan have been sister cities since 1955. The relationship is one of the oldest, if not the oldest, sister city relationship and has fostered numerous exchanges of gifts over the years. In 1981, Boy Scout Troop 90 carved a totem pole as a gift to Nagasaki. This was apparently to replace a much smaller totem pole already in existence in Nagasaki. (Marge Griffing, our Rotary club president, recalls having her picture taken as a Rotary youth exchange student in 1979 in front of a totem pole that was about 7 feet tall. The origin of this earlier pole is unknown to this writer. The 1981 pole was about 32 feet in length with the bottom 5 feet buried in concrete.) The 1981 pole has deteriorated significantly. We were told that the "white ants" were affecting it. Eventually we determined that the white ants were termites, so their effect on the wood is quite understandable. For the past several years that totem pole has required stabilizing cables to keep it from blowing over. It was definitely time for a replacement. This was relayed to me through my friend Shigetoshi Nakamura of the Nagasaki Rotary Club. My first call was to John Andrews of the Indianhead Scout Council (since merged & renamed Northernstar Council.) His response was almost immediate… "Yes, we can carve a new totem pole. We'll get a tree from our Tomahawk Scout Camp and have one of our leaders do, or coordinate, the carving. If any Nagasaki Scouts are able to come, they would be welcome to participate in the process." The combination of Boy Scouts, Rotary, and the sister city relationship would help bring numerous people into the project over the next several months.
In August, we coordinated the display of the totem pole at Sister City festivities at the Minnesota Historical Center and Como Park. The totem pole has been written up in the Highlander neighborhood newspaper, and in September received a 1/3 page article in the local section of the Pioneer Press. We learned that NBC (Nagasaki Broadcasting Company) wanted some video footage to report on the progress, so Rotarian Jim Miller arranged for Jon Carlson, an independent news and commercial videographer with his own company EPIC Media, to donate the filming and editing of video footage including interviews of the mayor, the carver, and some Rotarians at the Como Park Sister City festivities in August. To get a professional drawing, I turned to Rotarian Larry Morgan (of TKDA Engineering), who gave me the name of engineer Paul Bredow, a retired Roseville Rotarian who agreed to take on the project. He looked at my pencil sketch and said politely "Bill, we need to do much better than this." He then spent about 60 hours over
the next three weeks engineering a better base for the pole. I'm glad it was donated time, because we couldn't have afforded it! The totem pole is carved from basswood. He couldn't find any data on the structural properties of basswood, so we had to generate data by testing some of the strength
Certified welders… let's see… St. Paul College certifies welders… A call to Rotarian Donovan Schwichtenberg, the president of St. Paul College, quickly arranged the welding. Instructors Rick Dahlstrom and Dave Fitzgerald would supervise advanced welding students Robert Mold and Blake Govro to complete the project. I called South St. Paul Steel Supply and asked the salesman if they could provide the specific steel materials that the new design called for including 1 inch thick steel plate, 10 inch steel I-beams, and some smaller pieces, all cut to size with large holes as needed. "You can? Good. Now I'd like you to donate it. Who should I talk to?" I was referred to Dave Berg, the president. The combination of Scouts, Rotary, sister city, and especially St. Paul College, won his support and he donated about $2000 worth of steel for the base and for packaging of the finished totem pole assembly. Dave has been on the board of trustees of St. Paul College and an advisor to the welding department there for many years.
Once the base was galvanized, it was time to mount it to the totem pole and crate it. A phone call to Rotarian Dan Fesler, president of Lampert Yards, resulted in the donation of all of the lumber we needed to build a protective crate for shipping. The picture at the right shows Will Cammack helping me weld a steel skeleton and attach the protective plywood to form the 32foot long shipping crate. A phone call to a Bob Terry of Terry Enterprises, a long-term supplier of freight services for my company, resulted in the donation of the delivery of the crated totem pole (along with some other sister city art materials) to Long Beach, California, where my Nagasaki friend had a freight forwarder waiting for it. They combined the totem pole and his commercial goods into a container on Thursday, November 3rd, and by Monday, November 7, the pole was on-board the ship and underway towards Nagasaki. In November, somebody proposed the good idea of sending Ray Lefto and his son Kabel to Nagasaki for the unveiling of the totem pole. Mark Thompson of BSA Troop 90 used the services of friends at Target Corporation, where he is employed, to arrange the best fares. Mark then lead the fund drive. The major funding came from the Northernstar Council, but significant contributions were also made by Immanuel Lutheran Church Mens' Club and Harry Lefto, a business owner in Minneapolis. Once again, there were a lot of "yes" responses! Housing for them in Nagasaki was provided by Nagasaki Rotary. The result of this is in the picture to the left. As I hope you can read on the street signs, the Totem pole resides in Nagasaki on "Saint Paul Street", just around the corner from "Nagasaki Atomic Bomb Museum". It is approximately 300 yards from the atomic bomb "hypocenter" so it has been given a very prominent and respected location in Nagasaki.
This has been a very rewarding project. At every turn, as the project became more complex and required further resources, we were able to find people to donate those resources. Every person that I asked for help has responded with a heartfelt "YES!" to my requests. Many were Rotarians that I knew; others were simply people that had the ability to provide what the project needed. Regardless of the connection, they all said yes! To those of you who helped, I want to give you a big THANK YOU from myself, our Rotary Club of St. Paul, the St. Paul - Nagasaki Sister City Committee, the Northernstar Council of Boy Scouts, the City of St. Paul, the Rotary Club of Nagasaki, and the City of Nagasaki. All of these organizations are the beneficiaries of your help and generosity, and we all appreciate your contributions. Sincerely; |
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REQUESTS FOR ASSISTANCE: 1. District 7820 seeks assistance District 7820 in the past 3 years has sent 5- 40' containers of used hospital equipment to Cameroon. We now have gathered enough to send a container to D9110 Nigeria. Our problem is not getting enough equipment but finding the funds to pay for the shipping. If any club or district would like to help us, we are in need of aproximately C$5000 to cover shipping. The material will be distributed in Nigeria by Past Centennial Governor Olumayowa Olukoya. Thanks all for your consideration. If you are interested in lending a hand please contact Past Centennial Governor Gord Hankin at gord@hankin.ns.ca. |
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2. Peter Sotheran writes from the Rotary Club of Guisborough & Great Ayton (D-1030) in the UK.
My Club is supporting the RC of Grenada East in the Caribbean in their efforts to provide a new library for a school that was extensively damaged in Hurricane Ivan 16 months ago. The East Grenada Club planned to acquire a 40ft. shipping container, set it adjacent to the school and fit it out as a library. With the support of a District Simplified Grant, we have provided funds for the fitting out and a contribution to an initial stock of library books.
Unfortunately, the local offer of a gift of a shipping container has not come good. They have the funds, they can arrange duty-free importation of a container, they have a project team ready and raring to go. But no container. If anyone has good contacts and can persuade a shipping company to deliver a container to the island of Grenada or can persuade a company to write-off a container that is already on the island, please let me know - as soon as possible. The two pictures were both taken in January 2006. Some schools are still roofless shells Children are taught in the open air, sheltering from the heat of the day below UNICEF's tattered canvas Toodle-pip - Peter Sotheran |
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first, from a family member who matched, where the odds of finding a match were one in four, or secondly from an unrelated donor who had registered with the US National Marrow Donor Program. At the beginning of 1993 there were 912,851 potential donors registered and the odds of finding a match from this source were said to be one in twenty thousand!
We began with a publicity blitz designed to sign up people to come to be tested. The initial testing was set for the Mentor Civic Center on May 23, 1993 and we expected about 500 potential donors. We were overwhelmed when more than 800 showed up! We were able to test only 740 during the allotted time and had to turn people away. We set up a second testing for June 23 and tested another 222 on that day. Our program was off to a great start, but it was only a start. Sadly, Cliff's daughter passed away in July, before she was able to get a marrow donation, from a match that had been identified. We vowed to make the recruitment and testing an annual affair.
Four Mentor Rotarians, Mike Ross, Rick Ferris, Elfie Roman and Marty LaMalfa, were among those 28 marrow or stem cell donors. Each of them underwent a relatively simple procedure whereby a small portion of their marrow was harvested to be transplanted into an otherwise terminally ill human being. Ask either of them about the tremendous feeling one gets from being given the chance to actually save a life. Ask them also about the feeling of kinship they achieve with the recipient. This unique bond was never more evident than in the words in a card sent to a donor from the recipient's family a few short months after the procedure had taken place. Since donors and recipients are never identified to one another until a full year has passed, the card was addressed simply to a donor number. Included among the profuse thanks were the words "There isn't a day goes by without us thinking of you."
"I got fifteen once, are you ready, I got fifteen twice, are you done, Sold, for $15 to buyer …. Number 50. How many you want?" Harry turns to watch Billy Yeargin record the sale on the Lot Sheet. "She wants 2 boxes, Billy, how many we got left?" Harry turns to the crowd.
At the close of bidding, each certified buyer "settles up" and load his or her purchases into vans, trucks or cars. Some represent resellers, fruit and
vegetable stands, restaurant chefs, but only one Rotary Club. At the other end of this project, I asked Bob Eberhardt at the InterFaith Council if they were using the food each week,"Your stuff is top quality and our people really appreciate it, it's fresh and it stores well. Most of the produce we get is second hand and can't be stored, we have to use it immediately."
Facilitating a Totem Pole for Nagasaki.
The process began as soon as weather allowed in the spring, harvesting the tree, bringing it to master carver Ray Lefto's home in Highland Park where he
started stripping bark and drying the tree. Over the summer, Ray Lefto, Scout Troop 90 committee chairman, and his son Kabel, a life scout, carved and painted the pole, with some help from Doug Sherman, John Purves, Justin Purves, and a few other scouts and scout leaders. They arranged for Valspar to donate over 20 gallons of paint.
The carver and I envisioned and sketched a simple steel base for the totem pole to hold the pole above ground to prevent the termite attack and prolong the life of the pole. We were having trouble describing the base to our Nagasaki friends, so I asked "Would you like us to provide the base?" The response was a quick "Yes, that would be very nice. Could you please send a drawing so I can show it to the Nagasaki City engineers?"
As the teachers and students at St. Paul College were finishing the fabrication, I turned my attention to protective coatings for the steel base. The best would be galvanizing… I found only one shop in the metro area that does "hot dip" galvanizing. Frank Cassidy, Sales Manager of Zalk Steel said "Yes, we can do it in one week for $300." My response was "I don't have the week, and I want you to donate it." After listening to the story of the totem pole, he agreed and had it done in 30 hours! As you can see in the picture to the left, they are proud of their involvement.
Saint Paul Mayor Randy Kelly and Gail Oberg, St. Paul Director of Cultural Affairs joined other Sister City delegates in Nagasaki for the unveiling in December. Pictured here are: (L to R) Masatoshi Yamashita, Nagasaki City Director of International Affairs; Shigetoshi Nakamura, Nagasaki Rotary project coordinator, Gail Oberg, Mayor Randy Kelly; Kabel and Ray Lefto, carvers; Marge Griffing, St. Paul Rotary President, Bill Cammack, St. Paul Rotary project coordinator; and Takayuki Miyanishi, president, Nagasaki-Saint Paul Sister City Committee.
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