Meeting Notes from October 20, 2015
President Steve Goranson called the meeting to order. Marv Edelstein gave the Thought for the Day. “Listen carefully to instructions”.
Announcements
Bruce Baumberger announced that Friday, Oct. 23 is World Polo Day, and Rotary activities from New York will be streamed live. He also reminded us that this Saturday, Oct. 24 One Rotary Summit will be held at Harper College in Palatine from 8:00 a.m. until 11:30 a.m. The ABC’s of Rotary, particularly good for new members, will also be presented.
Elizabeth Newton, Club Chair for the Rotary Foundation, provided information on one of Rotary’s six approaches to change: peace. Elizabeth explained that there are 42 million people worldwide displaced by conflict. The RI Foundation provides training on conflict resolution, and has a goal of raising $125 million for Peace Centers.
Marv Edelstein, New Generations Committee: Marv showed a short film on RYLA and explained that our club hopes to sponsor 10 students to this always inspiring weekend. He asked members to encourage students in Evanston and beyond to apply for RYLA.
Steve Carlson provided information on the Holiday Sale. Now is the time to solicit corporate orders! We netted $30,000 last year, although we were down $7000 in sales last year, which we hope to recover this year. Lots of information about the sale is available on the website. Ken Green can provide you with your login information for online sales if you don’t remember it from last year, and will have that information for new members next week.
Roasts & Boasts
Jackie Mack, John and Ann Searles and Neil Gambow were boasted for volunteering at Open House Chicago.
Albert Menard boasted Don Gwinn for organizing the theatre outing to his son Peter Gwinn’s most entertaining “The Story of a Story (the Untold Story)”.
Program
Can You Digest Your Life?
Speaker: Larry Stoler
A PhD psychologist, Larry practices alternative or integrative medicine at Budding Springs Healing. His practice combines Chinese medicine and psychology and integrates the teachings of the east and west.
Larry explained that many of today’s illnesses are preventable, like diabetes and obesity, which come together in metabolic syndrome. Seventy-five million Americans are on diets, spending $60.9 billion a year on the dieting industry. Traditional dieting doesn’t work, and Larry suggests another approach, which combines eastern wisdom with modern science.
According to Larry, energy, or chi in eastern thought, is the foundation of everything. Chi is invisible energy, and includes information, force, wisdom and the universal life force. Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) recognizes that bodies are not machines and that everything is connected.
Larry shared a five element chart from TCM that showed that the five major organs are all interconnected and harmoniously linked. He explained that, for example, eating walnuts is good for your kidneys, which then is good for your liver, heart, spleen and lungs. Healthy eating results in many benefits.
Americans are already full of information as well as food. Most of us are bombarded with 34 GB of data every day, the equivalent of 400,000 words (“War and Peace” has only 100,000 words). That is simply too much information to digest every day, and does not leave room for creativity.
Larry teaches programs to achieve more balance in your life. He recommends you eat until you are 70% full, and 30% empty, so you are ready to receive new opportunities. This will help you lose weight, as well as be eager for the next idea. He teaches the Dragon’s Way Program, which combines the principles of Chinese healing and focuses on group qigong, herbal supplements, foods for healing like walnuts, and reducing stress. This program results in increased chi or energy and emotional calmness, and puts your body in balance. This will help you digest the universe so you can take in more and be more creative.
Guests and Milestones
Visiting Rotarians
None
Other Guests
Larry Smoler, speaker and prospective member
Claudia Kammell, from RYLA
Birthdays
Don Gwinn, Oct. 18
Brad Weiss, Oct. 20
Kristin Brown, Oct. 21
Jackie Mack, Oct. 22
Bob Teska, Oct. 23
Anniversaries
None
Set up 6:45
Ira Graham, Mike Massini
Greeters:
Bob Teska, Chip Uchtman
Thought for the Day:
Raissa Bailey
Scribe:
Yves Lassere
Break down:
Elaine Clemens, Gary Schultz
Next Week’s Speaker
Robert Zinser, Rotarian Action Group for Population and Development
