SPOKES VOL. LXVI NO. 3 July 23, 2019
We were greeted by Art Ayers and Jerry Gruber this morning..
President Odland opened the meeting with the “America the Beautiful” and Art Ayers provided the invocation.
Guests:
We welcomed a host of guests this morning including, for the second week in a row, Jane Copping. We also enjoyed the company of John Hamilton’s wife Mary Jane and our speaker and his associate, Frank Mumford and Bev Keyson.
Getting to Know You:
Jim Bradford was our “Getting to Know You” segment this week. Jim was born in the twin cities but went to high school in Holland, Michigan before attending Michigan State University majoring in Biochemistry. He then attended Stanford University Medical School before moving to Boston for his residency. He returned to Michigan where he practiced anesthesiology for a number of years before retiring to South Haven. He leads an active live which includes snorkeling and standing paddle boarding.
Announcements:
- Pancake Breakfast Information: Our next breakfast will be August 11th at the airport. This is our biggest fundraiser and we need all hands on deck. There will be a sign-up sheet going around next week. Key positions include coffee maker and utensil washer. There will also be an auction at the breakfast.
- No Meeting August 13.
- Vince Duggan’s membership application has bee accepted by the Board and he will be inducted in August, barring any problems.
Songs
Jim Davis lead us in song this morning, beginning with a kind of lonely tune, the 1927 hit “Me and My Shadow”.We picked up the tempo with “Side by Side” written by Harry Woods in 1927, who practiced songwriting only as a sideline, wrote numerous 1920s standards, including "When the Red, Red Robin (Comes Bob, Bob, Bobbin' Along)", "I'm Looking Over a Four Leaf Clover", and "Try a Little Tenderness". He composed his songs on piano, despite the fact that he was born without fingers on his left handWe finished with “Sing Rotarians” sung to the tune of the Otsego High School Fight Song, “On Otsego”.
50/50
Club President Mark Odland had the lucky ticket and drew the “2” to take home half of the pot.Ross Woodhams collected the $2 prize this week.
Fines:
- Tom Fleming and his lovely wife Dorann celebrate their 52nd anniversary this week.
- Tom Rummel and his lovely wife Donna celebrate their 22nd anniversary this week.
John Hamilton introduced our speaker this morning, Frank Mumford, president of the Kalamazoo Chapter of the National Alliance on Mental Health.
Frank, assisted by his associate Bev Keyson, began by asking us to describe some words to describe people who have survived or ae battling cancer. Words like fighter, battler, full of courage were used.
He then asked us to describe people who are battling mental illness. Words like stigma, crazy, and even more derogatory terms were mentioned, yet mental illness is treatable and it takes the same courage to fight it as it does to fight cancer or other illnesses that don’t have the same stigma.
Frank described his own experience with his daughter who suffers from psychosis and her struggles. He is proud of her fight against the illness and is pleased that she is accepting and undergoing treatment.
He informed us that by 14 years old, 50% of people with mental illness will present and by 24 years old, 75% of people suffering from a mental illness will present. In most cases, their illness can be treated. However, the stigma attached to having a mental illness causes sufferers to refuse treatment.
Mental illness is associated with high criminal numbers, high dropout numbers and high suicide rates. Forty to Sixty percent of jail inmates suffer from a mental illness.
Frank is very active in the organization “Ending the Silence” to give voice to the need for treating mental illnesses with the same perception as other illnesses, encouraging people who suffer to get and accept treatment and encouraging everyone to respect the courage and strength that people with a mental illness show as they battle their disease.
They do this by doing presentations to all kinds of groups – young people, educators, police officers and civic groups with the goal of removing the sigma and move mental illness into the category of “treatable” illness in people’s minds. He is especially frustrated with the court system and judges in their lack of understanding of how treatment works.
He urged us to volunteer to work for “Ending the Silence” in our community to help change the perception of how people with mental illness are treated and perceived and help folks understand the hard struggle the people are going through, both because of their disease and the way they are perceived.
President Odland thanked Frank for his very informative presentation and presented him with our speaker’s gift.
We closed the meeting with the Four Way Test.
Next week’s program: Jim Bradford will present his son Chris who is the CEO of the African Leadership Academy. This will be one of a very rare number of presentations by this organization in this country.
Greeters: Tom Noverr and Art Bolt
Editarian: Dene Hadden