Reporter:  Paul Martin

Megan Barber, Executive Director

Community Arts Partnership

“Local Arts Update”

 

St. Catherine’s Community Center and on Zoom

Join the Zoom meeting

President Mary Kane called the meeting to order and thanked everyone for joining via Zoom.  She also offered a special thank you to Heidi Goldstein and Geoff Dunn for running last week’s meeting and to Harlin McEwen and the setup crew for handling the unexpected room configuration.

 

Mary then contemplated and led the Four-Way Test and noted that this week includes National Senior Citizens Day as well as National Women’s Equality Day.  Her personal goal for next year is to celebrate a “Young Professionals Day,” as we make efforts this year to grow our membership.

 

Heidi Goldstein introduced Jeremiah Craig.  This is his second meeting with us, and he is applying for membership.

Richard Kops delivered the thought for the day, that was inspired by the windstorms of the last few days.  It comes from one of Percy Bysshe Shelley’s poems which ends with:

 

“If winter comes, then can spring be far behind?”

 

This is a reminder that we live in the present and, at the same time, keep hope for the future.

Loretta Goss has emailed membership regarding an outside social activity on September 17^th when the Cancer Resource Center of the Finger Lakes will hold a Walkathon and 5K.  Loretta has created a team called “Rotarians Make A Difference” so we can be social and raise money, making a difference for a great cause.  You can learn more about the walkathon here.

 

Bob Gravani has informed us that the Highway Cleanup Day is scheduled for Saturday, Oct 8^th (rain date is Oct 15^th).  Meet at 9:00 AM at the Tops on Triphammer parking lot.  Safety equipment will be provided; wear sturdy shoes and bring a water bottle.  For registration and questions, contact Mary-Lynn Cummings: mlcummings101@gmail.com, 607/227-5790.  Note that there are several roles for volunteers who may not want to be involved in direct trash pickup, such as driving the support vehicle, and monitoring supplies and equipment at the gathering point.  Contact Mary-Lynn if you are interested in one of these roles.

 

Mary Kane added that we are building an online calendar to have all of these events available in one place.  Mary also mentioned that we have new membership form, a fillable PDF, which is available on our website.

 

Heidi Goldstein is looking for a few more people who can help with the Rotary Harvest.  Meet at the Ithaca Farmers Market at 8:30 AM and/or Aldi’s at 9:00 AM for the next three Saturdays (ending September 10^th).

 

Richard Kops announced several options for social activities, including walking the Cayuga Waterfront Trail and ending at the Farmers Market, meeting for a bag lunch at a local park, and other activities.  He will send out an email to get feedback on these and hopefully other suggestions as well.

 

President Mary added that some of these options might be helpful in lieu of a meeting or as a location for a meeting during the coming month when we have some conflicts with our home location at St Catherine of Siena.

Angela Sullivan introduced Emme Edmunds, RN, NP, who is a community health nurse with the Tompkins County Health Department.

 

“Scientific, Historical, Practical, Comparisons Between Monkeypox and Covid-19”

 

Emme shared that while COVID-19 and Monkeypox are both spread by a virus, they are quite different.  COVID is both more easily transmissible and mutates (evolves or changes) more rapidly.

 

Both COVID-19 and Monkeypox are zoonotic viruses, which means they can spread from animals to people—so it is important for people to avoid contact with and to not make pets of wild animals!

 

Monkeypox transmission occurs most often from close skin-to-skin contact with an infected person, as well as potentially spreading through contaminated clothing or bedding, and possibly even respiratory droplets.  Incubation is usually 6 to 13 days, but can range from 5 to 21 days.  First symptoms include fever, headache, swollen lymph nodes, and muscle aches, followed by blisters/sores.  Monkeypox usually runs its course without complications and patients are asked to isolate and cover their lesions until symptoms abate.

 

Vaccines are available but in relatively short supply while manufacturing ramps up.  While the young, male gay population is most vulnerable, this is not an STD, nor is it limited to that or any other population.  Anyone can get it.  You can text “Monkeypox” to 81336 to activate alerts from NYS regarding Monkeypox.

 

Emme wrapped up with a PSA regarding rabies.  There are a lot of people getting rabies treatment shots right now because it is “bat in your house season.”  If you are bitten by a wild animal or even wake up with a bat in your room, you should bring it in for testing, to potentially avoid the automatic shots.  And please don’t play with or adopt wild animals!

Through the end of September, all Happy Dollar proceeds are going to the Community Grants, with a matching opportunity to be announced shortly!

Newsletter Reporter:  Paul Martin

Photographer:  Mike Brown

Newsletter Editor:  Loralyn Light

 

Set-up Zoom:  Brett Bossard

Recording Archive:  Paul Martin; click here

Club Service Facilitator:  June Losurdo

 

                                                                                                                                                                    ** Best photo of the meeting:  George Ferrari; photo by Mike Brown **