| Posted by Peter Kantzilieris on Oct 12, 2017 |
Paramus Rotary Club Meeting of Thursday, November 30, 2017 This week's meeting was a busy one! We heard from our friends from the Armory, met 2 of our newest Rotarians and had a presentation about our Polio project! Janis Shaw and her cousin Mille E. Hiller came to thank us for all the help we have provided the Armory. When she was 18 she was asked to go to her local VFW to help out and that is when she realized that she can do more! Women were not really allowed at the time but she was able to get into the war at the time and event became a Commander within 9 months! Fast forward to now, she was appointed as Deputy Mayor of Affairs in Passaic about 6 months ago. Her goal is to get the VFW in Passaic up and running since they have been closed for about 10 years. She to help Veterans get their benefits in that area. Many unfortunately do not have their benefits and since she has been working in that area she even found 4 Veterans living under a bridge. The VFW that Janis works out of is located at 135 Summer St in Passaic.  Karen Peterson Arabia was one of our 2 newest members that gave us a little bio! She was born at Holy Name Hospital and partially raised in Bloomingdale NJ. After moving away for part of her childhood, the family missed the area so much that they moved back to Bloomingdale. She is a proud mom of 5 children go whom one son is 23 and an engineer and her next son is an emergency room nurse and loves helping people. Her son Danny is a Math teach in Butler NJ and is getting married in June! Her one daughter is finishing up her degree in Health and Physical Education and her other daughter is currently finishing up William Paterson. She is looking forward to all upcoming activities with the Paramus Rotary and especially Career Day that she is in charge of putting together! Francesta Dacres was our second new presenter this week. She is that youngest of 17 children and has a 2 year old daughter. She is originally from Far Rockaway and was born in Ridgewood NJ. She was raised in Paterson and is currently working at Columbia Bank. She loves being part of Rotary and helping as much as she can!  Dr. Jim Cole came to speak to us about Polio Plus. Dr Jim Cole is a retired Orthopedic Surgeon who is part of the Englewood Rotary. Dr. Cole discussed the nature of polio, the history of and differences between the Salk and Sabin vaccines and the 30 years of Rotary’s efforts to eradicate polio throughout the world. He has been very involved in Rotary’s efforts to eliminate this dreaded disease. Since 1985, Rotary International has contributed more than $1.3 billion to the protection of more than two billion children. Polio incidence has dropped more than 99% since the 1980s, when the world was seeing about 1,000 polio cases per day. Rotary just pledged another $1 billion to finish off Polio in the 3 countries that may still be present! ************ Weekly Announcements! ~ Diane Vasile-Falcone reminded us that the Tricky Tray is set for February 11th and that she has already started shopping. She is asking anyone who may have baskets left over after the holidays to please donate them to this event! ~ New sign up sheets for Rotary Greeter were sent out so make sure you get your name on that list! ~ Let's not forget the Blood Drive that is all set to go on December 21st! ~ Next Board Meeting is scheduled for December 12th at Domani Restaurant in Hillsdale. ********** |
