Mary Roda did a great job of introducing today's guests: speaker, Dr. Stephen Sallow, along with Dr. Louisa Thompson and Tara Tang all from an Alzheimer's research program at Butler Hospital.

Hurricane Disaster Relief:  The Ad Hoc Hurricane Committee had an email request sent out to members to make a donation at today's meeting. Our members contributed checks and cash totalling:  $1,071.00! This is on top of a few Wakefield Rotarians who've already given at the request of District Governor Steve Certa's email to make donations to Disaster Aid USA - Rotary Sponsored projects: "Donations are needed and can be made by check mailed to - Disaster Aid USA, 9817 Lanham Severn Road, Lanham, MD 20706 or by visiting their website - www.disasteraidusa.org  and clicking-on the Pay Pal button. More information on D7950 web site http://rotary7950.com."

 

So, the collected funds will also go to Disaster Aid USA.  Thanks Marion Humphrey, Doug Wardwell, Joe Dziobek, and Jay Shartenberg!

 

 

At the special Board of Directors' session on Sept 14th, a consensus was reached based on the data compiled and reviewed from the May 2017 survey of club membership and from an availability-review of a variety of venues in our area:  

 

--Thursday lunchtime for regular club meetings would be the most favorable meeting-time to a majority of club members.  

--Three venues - the Holiday Inn; Arturo Joe's (140 Point Judith Rd, Narragansett, RI 02882), and Camden's Bar & Grill (756 Kingstown Rd, Wakefield, RI 02879) were the most suitable locations to hold our meeting based on a variety of criteria detailed in a handout distributed at the meeting.

 

Therefore, Thursday, October 19, 2017, @ noon will be the beginning of the new meeting time, but a team of three board members (Jay Shartenberg - treasurer; Tom Tarzwell - Prez-Elect; and Bob Cruz - Vice-Prez) will be handling further review of the three restaurants and will make a final recommendation very soon based on cost-negotiations to mitigate budget deficits.  So stay tuned!!!

 

During discussion about meeting time and place, proposals for prepaying meals quarterly, monthly, etc., via recurring credit card payment through the club's website was also addressed.  This will be further examined by the Board of Directors and a payment plan will be presented to the club.

 

 

Membership Dues for 2017-18:  Invoices will be sent soon.

 

Hurricane Relief -  ad hoc committee report:  As mentioned in "Meeting Highlights" in this newsletter, $1,071 collected will be sent to Disaster Aid USA, for more info click here. The committee will NOT collect more funds at next week's meeting, but they will likely be working on further projects to address natural disaster relief as hurricane season continues until early November. 

 

Vocational Service - The Student Community Service Committee:  Peggy Benz & Marion Humphrey updated the club with further plans to implement & support this new committee.  Two main points were: 1) implement this grant and service committee concept at just one of eight possible middle schools or high schools in the area; 2) establish a small sum, just $250, for service project support through $125 coming from Vocational Services' budget & $125 from Community Services' budget.

 

 

On Wednesday, September 20th, today's greeter, Elizabeth Candas, will be with her husband and our fellow Rotarian, Sezgin Candas, as he undergos eye surgery in Boston.  They will remain at the hospital as Sezgin recuperates for at least a day.

 

It was good to see Community Service Chair Harvey Whitley back with us to do today's prayer after returning from Oklahoma to be with his terminally-ill sister.

 

More details about Dr. Salloway, click here. More information about the Memory & Aging Program including volunteering for studies click here. Or call the program at Butler Hospital: ".... discuss how you or your loved one can join us in the fight against Alzheimer’s. Our caring staff looks forward to speaking with you: (401) 455-6403."
 
Alzheimer's and Dementia (AD )is our # 1 public health problem. It is estimated that 125 million people will have dementia worldwide by 2050. Facing this unacceptable future, the US Congress has created a National Plan to fight Alzheimer’s with a major goal of developing breakthrough treatments by 2025. Advances in brain imaging and genetics allow us to detect changes in the brain many years before memory loss opening the era of Alzheimer’s prevention. Treatments are being developed to lower the plaques and tangles in the brain. Treatment breakthroughs will bring hope to dispel the fear and stigma associated with AD. To be successful we need hundreds of thousands of individuals who may be at risk to volunteer for prevention studies. This presentation will review the challenges we face and the options available to prevent Alzheimer’s disease.

 

During the Q & A portion of Dr. Salloway's presentation, Russ Bertrand mentioned the recently developed Rotary International program Alzheimer's/Dementia Rotarian Action Group (ADRAG) whose mission is to support research and public education toward a cure for Alzheimer's.  For more on Alzheimer's/Dementia Rotarian Action Group, click here.

 

After the meeting, several Rotarians signed up with Dr. Salloway and his guests,  Dr. Louisa Thompson and Tara Tang,  who assisted with recruiting interest and volunteers for the Butler Hospital program.

 

Note:  The meeting of September 25th will be a regular weekly meeting -- NOT a board agenda meeting as previously noted.