Polio Returns to the United States! - You may have recently read a headline something like this from your local or national news source.  And you may have wondered - is real and if so, what's being done about it?  After all, Global Polio Eradication is still Rotary's # 1 Priority - isn't it?  First, let me thank all of you for the amazing work you have already done to bring us that much closer to our goal of a Polio-Free world.  We have already saved over 20,000,000 children from being paralyzed by Polio!  We have reduced the yearly number of the Polio paralyzed by over 99.9% since 1988 and Rotarians have donated over $2 Billion to this effort.  But we have not yet reached our goal. 

Yes, this case is very real and serious.  The U.S. was declared polio free in 1979 and a case had not originated in the country since then, but travelers have occasionally brought the virus into the U.S. The Global Polio Eradication Initiative (GPEI) was informed of a case of paralytic Polio in an unvaccinated individual in Rockland County, NY in July, 2022 and since that time, Poliovirus has been detected in the sewage water in Rockland County and in other areas in and around New York City.  The CDC has confirmed that the Poliovirus causing the paralysis in the individual and in the environmental samples is Type 2 Vaccine Derived Polio Virus - not the Wild Polio Virus.  That means the source of the Poliovirus had to be the live virus, Sabin-like Oral Polio Vaccine given in a country outside of the US, as the injected Polio vaccine given in the US is a killed virus vaccine which is not capable of mutating to a live-infectious form.  The Vaccine Derived Polio Virus can spread and cause paralysis and death  just like the Wild Polio Types.  Additional unvaccinated, infectious individuals could be carrying the virus as most Polio positive cases show mild or no symptoms. 

What is being done about it?  Investigations are underway to determine the extent of the spread of the virus and the potential risk associated with the environmental samples.  Residents in the areas near the Polio positive samples (and everywhere else!) are being advised to make sure that they and their children are vaccinated for Polio   And finally, environmental surveillance for the Poliovirus is being strengthened in order to rapidly detect any new virus importation. 

What can you as a Rotarian do?  This is a wake-up call to the unvaccinated.  Encourage your family and your friends to be vaccinated for Polio.  The individual in New York would not be paralyzed if they had been vaccinated.  Childhood Polio vaccinations last a lifetime.  You can also remind your friends and associates of the great work Rotary has done to get us to this point of nearly eradicating this terrible disease and the work left to reach our goal (with only two remaining Polio endemic countries - Afghanistan and Pakistan).  And finally, responding to outbreaks is costly so please DONATE to The Rotary Foundation's PolioPlus Fund.  You can do so at Rotary.org/myrotary or Rotary.org/donate.    With the continuing Gates Foundation $2 to $1 match on all Rotary related Polio eradication donations, this time of year, as we approach World Polio Day, is a great time to encourage your club members and friends to donate to Rotary's # 1 priority - Global Polio Eradication!       

 World Polio Day!  October 24, 2022

Co-Chair Barb T called the meeting to order around 12:40. There were 18 members present, plus 7 on Zoom, and we had one guest, Peter Hansen.

ANNOUNCEMENTS: The Glencoe Community Garden harvesting project is Oct. 6th at noon with a box lunch to be served—the harvesting will take about one hour; the New Trier Township food pantry still needs more essential items like nonperishable food items and hygiene supplies—contributions can be made at any of our regular meetings for the next couple of weeks and donations can be dropped off at the WCH every other day of the week.

DIG N GRIN: Connie gave several riddles involving parents and school children coming home after their first day back from summer vacation.

HAPPY BUCKS: Robert was so happy that the WCH parking lot was full of Rotarians who attended today’s meeting; Rich thanked Robert for letting him win the Cubs tickets at our recent benefit and for Moha donating some Opus One wine to the Operation Warm Benefit which is coming up Oct. 14th at the Valley Lo Club in Glenview; David Birkenstein endorsed the eating and entertainment activities at Fred’s Garage every Wednesday night from 7:00 to 9:30 pm and what the Village has done to draw people to its downtown merchants and restaurants.

PROGRAM FOR THE DAY: Co-Chair Patti first encouraged members to continue bringing their pop tabs from cans and chips from bread to the WCH. Then she introduced Amy Skalinder, our membership Chair who, along with a small group of members, created a survey that was sent to members a couple of months ago. Amy reviewed a video showing the results of such survey which is available through David Grant. Her general conclusions were: 28 out of our 40 regular members took the survey; that the members thought that the time, type of meetings and the logistics of same were generally very good with the only negative comment being about our lunches; 64% of our members have been attending our recent meetings in person with the rest using Zoom; about 70% were generally satisfied with Rotary and was a “good use of their money”; 70% think our speaker program is very important; and most members agree that recruitment of new members and retention of current members continue to be very important.

GROUP SUGGESTIONS: At this time the members were divided into 4 groups and their reports at the end of the meeting were:

• Terry Dason’s group—our speakers are generally good but more of our members need to help recruit them; our corporate members should be urged to speak at one of our monthly meetings at least once a year and they should send a representative to our meetings at least once a month; and we should all try to go to the Winnetka Farmers’ Market as often as possible to showcase Rotarians involvement in the community.
• Robert’s group-- reported that we should consider having more different kinds of meetings (e.g. more sociable events like a “fireside meeting in the winter”, attending or sponsoring an event at a Northwestern football game, involving our “significant others” more in our Rotary activities, and having joint meetings with other Rotary Clubs.
• The Zoom Group-- they suggested creating a community activity that would benefit and get the attention of its residents—the example given was helping residents dispose of old electronic equipment.
• Bob Baker’s group—we should go after corporations (especially small businesses in the community) for new members; we should study why our local Chambers of Commerce are so successful in getting members; we have a good brochure about Rotary that we should use more; and we should initiate programs/activities locally that our new/young residents can observe and appreciate the importance of Rotary in the community.

Patti thanked Amy for all the work she and her committee did on the survey project and recommended that Rotary get more involved with the WCH’s “Thirsty Thursday” gatherings as a way of promoting Rotary, the next one being September 8. The members also thanked Amy and our officers for their work on the survey and suggested that we have more “Club Assembly” type of meetings in the future.  A recording of the Club Assembly can be viewed: https://youtu.be/KHygk_taqag

The meeting was adjourned with the reciting of the Rotary 4 way test.