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Club Announcements:
It is with great sadness that the Rotary Club of North Jackson announces the death of former member Thomas C. “Tom” Turner, M.D., who died November 20 at the age of 96. Dr. Turner was born August 5, 1924, in Europa, MS. He was a graduate of the University of Mississippi and of the Jefferson Medical School in Philadelphia, PA. (1948). He completed an orthopedic residency at the Campbell Clinic in Memphis, TN, a residency in hand surgery in Los Angeles, and practiced medicine in Jackson until he retired in 1993.
The Rotary Club of North Jackson is holding in-person meetings at The Rickhouse. The meetings continue to be available via Zoom. Please let Admin. Secretary-Treasurer Don Roberts know if you will be attending the in-person meeting by the Friday before the meeting.
Zoom meeting invites with the link and password will be sent to all club members on Mondays. The Zoom meetings will continue to start at noon on Tuesdays with club member fellowship with the meeting starting at 12:15 p.m. If you have any issues connecting to the Zoom meeting or would like the link sent to you, please email Past President Greg Campbell at gregcampbell2@comcast.net.
We reserve the first 15 minutes for fellowship and give our speakers nearly 30 minutes for their presentations.
Please remember to sign up to "Ring the Bell" for the Salvation Army at the Corner Market location at 1200 E. Northside Drive in the Maywood Mart Shopping Center. We will be "ringing" December 1 -3 from 10 AM to 5 PM. Call Rob Whitley at 601-362-8844 to sign up.
Birthdays and Anniversaries.
Birthdays
None
Wedding Anniversaries:
Tom & Betty Parry Dec. 1
Membership Anniversaries
Lee Carney 25 years, Dec. 1
Joe Dove 40 years, Dec. 1
Edward Erlich 25 years, Dec. 1
Nelson Atehortua 2 years, Dec. 4
Prayer.
Gracious God, as we enter and reflect upon the final month of the year, we give thanks for having been escorted providentially by your Spirit through times of turmoil and of triumph. Even in times unrealized by us, you have been our Guardian, our Source of comfort and strength, our everlasting Hope.
As we enter the season which has religious significance for so many, we pray that as these days unfold, we will not allow the commercial aspect of this month to over-shadow whatever religious tradition we embrace. Let the spirit of "peace, goodwill toward men" prevail throughout this month, and inspire us as Rotarians to work to bring that to pass. Material things are so much with us, while spiritual realities are allowed by many to be elusive. Help us to reverse that order regardless of the particular religious tradition we follow.
We give thanks for the food we take so much for granted, and for the gift of fellowship which lifts our spirits. Amen.
Michael “Mike” Carraway, a CPA and partner with GranthamPoole CPAs spoke to the Rotary Club of North Jackson about the 2020 Cares Act (the Act) at the club’s November 24, 2020 meeting. Carraway is a Summa Cum Laude Graduate of the University of Mississippi with Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees in Accountancy. He focused his talk on the Payroll Protection Program (PPP) authorized by that Act. Per Carraway, the Act initially authorized the issuance of $349 billion in PPP loans to small and businesses with 500 or fewer employees. The authorization was subsequently increased. He said that as of April 15, 1.7 million loans were made and that as of August 8, 5.2 million loans were made totaling $525 Billion. Currently, the authorization is $659 billion with some of the funds unallocated. If certain rules are followed, the loans are interest-free and do not need to be repaid.
The purpose of the PPP was and is to keep people employed and to keep money in the financial system. He gave the example of a client who said that he had told his receptionist to stay at home. The client asked if he could continue paying the receptionist with PPP funds. Carraway responded affirmatively saying that paying the receptionist was consistent with the spirit and rules of the PPP.
Carraway further elaborated that Congress still has work to do with PPP since forgiving a loan creates income under existing tax law. For that reason, Congress needs to fix the legislation so that forgiven PPP loans do not create income. That still has to happen.
We thank Carraway for his presentation and for his service to the businesses of Mississippi. The complete meeting including his presentation can be viewed by clicking on the following link https://vimeo.com/483931050.
Thoracic Surgeon Dr. Galen Ohnmacht, of the Mississippi Baptist Medical Center, spoke to the Rotary Club of North Jackson about Lung Cancer at the club's November 17 meeting. Dr. Ohnmacht recently moved from Maryland to Jackson. He commented that he got tired of digging out of the snow in winter and was looking forward to a winter in Mississippi. Dr. Ohmacht completed medical school at the University of Texas Medical School in Houston and his residency at Mayo Foundation in Rochester, Minnesota.
Dr. Ohmacht's bottom line was that if you don't want lung cancer, don't smoke. He said that people aged 55- 77 years in age who have 30 pack-years or more of smoking should have lung cancer screening. He defined a pack-year as the length of time smoked times the number of packs of cigarettes smoked daily. Thus 30 pack-years for a two-pack a day smoker would be 15 years. He described the screening process as a non-invasive low dose CT scan.
Per Dr. Ohnmacht, Lung Cancer is the leading cause of cancer deaths in the U.S., accounting for 25% of U.S. Cancer deaths. More people die of lung cancer than of colon, breast, and prostate cancer combined. In 2020, medical experts estimate that there will be 229,000 new cases and 136,000 deaths from lung cancer. The number of deaths is decreasing because of fewer people smoking and early detection. In Mississippi, the estimated number of new lung cancer cases in 2020 is 2500. Risk factors associated with lung cancer are smoking, exposure to secondhand smoke, asbestos, diesel exhaust, coal products, arsenic, vinyl chloride, radon, radiation (especially radiation therapy to the chest), air pollution, and a family history of lung cancer. He said that lung cancer can be very advanced by the time people have symptoms.
The stages of lung cancer are
Stage I - cancer remains in the primary organ
Stage II - cancer is large and may or may not have spread to the lymph nodes and other structures
Stage III - cancer has spread to the lymph nodes and other structures
Stage IV - cancer has spread to other areas of the body
There are several imaging tests that can be used to screen for lung cancer, chest X-Ray, Computerized Tomography (CT) scan, and Positron Emission Tomography (PET) scan.
The treatment for lung cancer depends on the subtype, stage, molecular characteristics, patient co-morbidities, and other factors in combination or alone. Possible treatments include:
surgery
radiation therapy
chemotherapy
targeted therapy
immunotherapy
Dr. Ohnmacht listed the following preventative steps:
don't smoke
avoid secondhand smoke
avoid radon exposure
avoid exposure to known cancer-causing agents in the workplace
eat a healthy diet with lots of fruits and vegetables
We thank Dr. Ohnmacht for his informative presentation and for his moving to Jackson. He is shown following his presentation in the following photo.
Shown in the photo from the left are Club Member Dr. Nelson Atehortua, Dr. Ohnmacht, Baptist System Community Outreach and Special Events Coordinator Caitlin Hayden, and Club President Lee Carney. The entire meeting, including Dr. Ohnmacht's presentation, can be seen at the following website: https://vimeo.com/481056960.
Major General J. Durr Boyles, Adjutant General, Mississippi National Guard, spoke to the Rotary Club of North Jackson at the club's November 10, 2020, meeting in observance of Veterans Day. MG Boyles is an Eagle Scout and a graduate of Mississippi State University in Biological Engineering and of the United States Army War College with an MSS in Strategic Studies. In his civilian life, he is president of Boyles Moak and Stone, Inc. dba Boyles Moak a regional independent insurance agency located in Ridgeland, Mississippi. MG Boyles has been in the MS National Guard since May 1982 and has been Adjutant General since Sept. 2016.
The subject of Boyles' presentation was the Mississippi National Guard, its role, its mission, and its deployments. MG Boyles, himself, has been deployed to Kosovo and Afganistan. He (right) is shown with club member MG (Ret.) Erik Hearon, who introduced him, and club president Lee Carney in the following photo. We thank him for his service to our state and our country and for his presentation.
Marcus Ginn, Donor Relations Manager, Canopy Children’s Solutions, spoke to the Rotary Club of North Jackson at the club’s November 3, 2020 meeting. The subject of his presentation was “Mental Health." Ginn is an alumnus of the University of Mississippi and is the Treasurer of the National Association of Mental Illness (NAMI).
Canopy was founded in 1912 as the Mississippi Children’s Home Society with the mission of placing orphaned children into permanent, loving homes.
In 2016, the name of the organization was changed to Canopy Children’s Solutions which more accurately reflects the current mission of the organization. That mission is to help children thrive and families overcome extraordinary challenges by providing a continuum of behavioral health, educational, and social service solutions.
Canopy employs a diverse group of mission-driven employees committed to honoring the voice of Mississippi children and families. We work to keep these voices heard by our state and national leaders. Its employees are published academics and research journalists in behavioral health and social service issues.
Ginn gave a brief history of the organization and its current status. He said that today Canopy has 18 locations in Mississippi ranging from
two Cares Schools, one in Jackson and one in Hattiesburg,
two Child Advocacy Centers, one is Pascagoula and one in Gulfport,
Community offices throughout the state,
an emergency shelter in Vicksburg,
a residential center in Jackson, and
corporate offices in Jackson.
Per Ginn, one in 54 children are diagnosed with being on the Autism spectrum, and one in five children in Mississippi, or 131,000, have behavioral health challenges. Eighty percent of these do not get the needed care. Mental health is not treated as a “real” disease. We need to shine the light on mental health.
To increase the attention on mental health, Canopy is sponsoring “Share Hope” November 13 - 15 at Highland Village in Jackson. This is a weekend of outdoor activities focusing on mental and physical wellness. The CSpire Foundation is the primary sponsor of the weekend’s activity. Ginn encouraged people to “be congruent”, “Be realistic”, and Be Nimble” with respect to mental health. Being congruent is to put things in the proper order, being realistic is to accept the facts, and being nimble is to adapt to a changing environment.
We thank Ginn for his presentation and for what he is doing to help improve mental health. He is shown the following photo during his presentation.
The following is a link to the November 3 Club meeting, including Ginn’s complete presentation: https://vimeo.com/475517579.
North Jackson Rotarians packed food boxes for distribution to needy families at the Mississippi Food Network on Friday, October 30. The following photos are from the event. Shown are Club Service Director Lori Greer, Public Relations Director Bill Osborne, and Past President Greg Campbell.
