SPOKES VOL. LXV NO. 23 December 4, 2018
Bob Boerma and Steve Miles were our greeters this morning.
President Odland opened the meeting with the Pledge of Allegiance and Tom Renner offered our invocation, including special thoughts and prayers for members and spouses with health issues, especially Glenn Pietenpol who is suffering with bile duct problems.
Guests:
Our guests today included prospective members Rosalie Plechaty and Jim Bradford. We also welcomed Michelle Davis from Senior Services of Van Buren County, Heather Chalupa from South Haven Public Schools, guest Ross Woodhams and our speaker Dr. Jeff Postma. Anyone with concerns about Jim or Rosalie’s memberships should contact Mark Odland.
Spotlight:
We did two spotlights this week.
First, we presented Heather Chalupa with a check for $675 to support the “Read to Succeed” program by which teachers can purchase books for students that can be taken home, giving all students the opportunity to own their own books.
President Odland followed that presentation by presenting Michelle Davis with a check for $500 for Van Buren Senior Services. Michelle indicated that this money will be used to support their medical transportation services program. This program provides rides to folks who need assistance getting to medical appointments.
Announcements:
- Blessings in a Backpack volunteers will be needed December 7 and 14.
- On December 11th we will be having our annual Christmas get together, at Beeches Golf Course. There is no meeting that morning.
- We will be working the Thursday Night Dinner at the Congregational Church on December 20..
- December 18th is the Rotary Open Door Christmas Dinner at the Methodist Church and all are invited to come and help serve. We will need lots of help. A sign-up sheet was passed around or contact Jerry Gruber if you did not get a chance to sign up.
- Got your warm clothes? We are scheduled to Ring the Bell for the Salvation Army on December 22nd.
- We will hold election of our 2019-20 officers on December 18, as required by our by-laws and Rotary International. The slate of officers will not change from this year as Steve Larsen will postpone his term as president for two years due to business commitments.
- When you look at the District Newsletter, note the excellent job Tom Renner does getting information about our activities into the newsletter.
- Our box for donating glasses to the Lion’s Club will be at our meeting on December 18th and then be turned in to the Lion’s Club.
- Glenn Pietenpol is in the hospital where he had a stent put in his bile duct and is being evaluated for a growth surrounding that duct. Please include Glenn and Mary in your prayers.
Songs
Bob Boerma stepped in as our song leader again this morning as we were going to finish with his favorite song.First, however, we began with the 1912 barbershop quartet hit, “Moonlight Bay”.You can find a modern recording of this song on the Beatles 1995 album Anthology 1.We followed that with the slightly peppier 1911 ragtime love song “Oh, You Beautiful Doll”.Our last song was a spectacular rendering of Bob’s favorite, “Smile, Sing a Song”.We even added a special ending, singing the last line twice with a big retard at the end.
50/50
With the only other possible person available to draw being a used car dealer, Tom selected one of our prospective members to draw.Rosalie drew Bill Roberts number and he had a chance to win the pot again, but this time drew a face card.He did draw Jim Davis a $2 winner.
Fines:
- Tom Ruesink announced that the 50/50 drawing at the Christmas Dinner will be contributed to We Care. You can write checks to either We Care or Rotary and if you have a specific ministry in mind, note that on the memo line.
- Rosalie Plechaty is celebrating her son’s birthday this week.
- Richard Swanson celebrates his sister’s birthday this week.
- Tom Fleming reminded us again: Don’t forget that Big 10 Tuesday has commenced and you can save $.10 a gallon on gas from now through basketball season.
- The basket was passed to allow our speaker a little more time.
Jerry Gruber introduced our speaker, Dr. Jeff Postma, who presented us information about replacement parts.
Jeff spoke to us about some of the new things in orthopedic surgery.
He mentioned that one of the newer methods is the injection of platelet rich blood into areas of concern, but it is a very expensive procedure, not covered by insurance.
The most common procedure is the removal of diseased bone and then replacing the joint with a new joint. He indicated that the biggest advancements in replacement technology involve the material that is used in the orthopedic devices. The newest metal is Oxinium, which is oxidized zirconium. This is a very hard, long lasting metal that does not leave ridges if it gets scratched, which protects the plastic parts of the new joint. Even the plastic is better as it is irradiated which cross links the plastic molecules inside the device.
Jeff said that 90% of the work of surgery is done ahead of time, using technology to picture the bone and to plan the exact cuts that will be needed once the surgery begins. This patient alignment uses an MRI to build a specific jig for each knee so cuts can be extremely accurate.
Partial knee replacements can even be custom made.
The use of injections is beginning to be more commonplace, using specific acids or other fluids to provide a cushion. Cartilage can be grown in labs and then inserted into a joint. He did indicate that the use of stem cells to regrow cartilage in a joint was a way off at this time.
He had a question about insurance and responded with a reminder that the goal of insurance companies is to keep us healthy and out of emergency rooms and their procedures and approvals are focused on that.
Jerry Gruber thanked Jeff for his informative presentation and presented him with our speaker’s gift.
Mark Odland closed the meeting with the Four Way Test
No Meeting next Tuesday morning.
December 18th program: Melinda Gruber “Insights from a Health and Aging Fellow”
December 18th’s Greeters: Bob Stickland and Dan Thompson
Editarian: Dene Hadden