October 25th Parkridge Hospital

Lynn Campbell



Marty Bridges from Palmetto Baptist Hospital

Danny Morales and Larry Stohs


The Cotton House

Last Meeting
October 25, 2006

Reporter – Barry Johns

President Molly Cousins called our meeting to order, the invocation was given by Dr. Carey Hite. John Hanson introduced our guests. Lyman Whitehead gave us words of wisdom with his Health and Happiness presentation.

Dr. Lynn Campbell quizzed us with information about Rotary and its history. Herb Harrison reminded us about the Fall Social that will be held at Inglewood Manor on November 1st at 6:00 pm. Directions are on the BLOG. There will be no Wednesday morning meeting on November 1st.

President Molly announced that the Interact Club was delivering dictionaries today for the Dictionary Project. She also reported a decision made by the Board last week concerning the funds reimbursed by D’s for the two weeks of breakfast meals that we did not receive. The funds will be used to provide scholarships to Lexington 5 District Honors Choir.

Blount Shepard announced that we will have another trash pick up on November 11th. Lyman Whitehead reminded everyone to vote on November 7 and to use absentee ballots if necessary.

Dr. Carey Hite introduced our speaker, Julian Gibbons, Director of Pubic Relations for Palmetto Health and another special guest, Marty Bridges, C.O.O. for Palmetto Health. Mr. Gibbons informed us that Palmetto Health, which is a 501C Non-Profit, had filed a new application with the S.C. Department of Health and Environmental Control (DHEC) for a Certificate of Need (CON) to build a full service hospital on current Palmetto Health property at the intersection of I-26 and SC Highway 60/Lake Murray Boulevard.

Palmetto Health Baptist Parkridge plans to include:

76 licensed acute care beds.
A four story state of the art facility built on a 68 acre site.
Services for residents in and around Irmo, Dutch Fork, Harbison and portions of Lexington and Little Mountain.
Medical staff of physicians who can serve a broad range of patient needs.
Proposed services include: Emergency Department; Orthopedics; Ophthalmology; Endocrinology; Pulmonary Medicine; Ear, Nose & Throat; ICU; Gastroenterology; Cardiology; General Medicine; Obstetrics/Gynecology; Nursery; Plastic Surgery; Rehab.; Urology; and Helipad.

If approved, the hospital facility will be completed sometime in 2010. Mr. Gibbons closed by asking the community for the three types of support: 1) to write letters to DHEC, 2) to educate and encourage neighbors, and 3) to fill out the “I’m for Parkridge” forms.

The meeting was concluded with Happy Dollars and adjournment by President Molly Cousins.

October 18th

Last Meeting
October 18, 2006
Reporter – Herb Harrison

President Molly called our meeting to order, the invocation was given by Barry Johns. Sergeant-at-arms, Harvey Hoots introduced our guests to include Congressman Joe Wilson along with his assistant, Micah Edmond. Lyman Whitehead provided a little Health and Happiness splattered with a little wisdom.

President Molly announced the Interact Club will be heading up The Dictionary Project next Wednesday. Any members wishing to assist are welcome. Also, the Board will be meeting at 7:30 a.m. on Thursday, October 19th. Molly also stated that we will continue to meet at The Cotton House through the end of the year.

Herb Harrison announced the Fall Social will be held at Inglewood Manor November 1st at 6:00 p.m. Oysters, chicken bogg, libations and fellowship will be served. Although Herb did not seem to know how to get there, a map will be provided on the website.

Judy Johnson introduced our speaker, Craig Stoxen from SC Autism Society. Craig provided many enlightening facts about autism, its effects and prevalence in society. Autism is a developmental disability that typically appears in the first three years of life affecting 1 in 166 Americans, with 6,000 in South Carolina. This number is consistent with the other states. There is no known cause or cure. This disability interferes with the development of the brain in reasoning, social interaction and communication skills. Autism is considered a spectrum disorder meaning that the symptoms and characteristics of autism can present themselves in a wide variety of combinations, from mild to severe. Those affected by autism can be very "rule" oriented, stopping in the middle of the street when a walk sign turns to don't walk. Time perception is also a common trait; individuals may speak of something that happened years ago as if it happened yesterday. Some individuals do not speak, or speech is usually impaired.

Autism is treatable through behavior management. This type of treatment is provided one-on-one with therapists and is very expensive. Autism is increasing in society. Parents are also affected; upon diagnosis parents will usually go through a mourning process. The SC Autism Society offers assistance in finding treatment and support. Education is a huge issue; with phone calls to the society from parents averaging an hour. The Society helps by providing parent mentors. A fee based Service Coordination Program provides help applying for services and coordinating care. The cornerstone of the Society is to provide advocacy.

The SC Autism Society is an independent non-profit organization. The annual budget ten years ago was $60,000, it is has grown to $1,000,000. Funds are generated with contracts from the Department of Education, donations, fund raisers and fee for service programs.

The meeting was concluded with Happy Dollars and adjournment by President Molly.

October 11th - Dr. Scott AndersEn

October 11, 2006

Reporter – John Wilkins

President Molly called the meeting to order and Ginny Barr provided the invocation. Sergeant-at-arms, Harvey Hoots introduced our guests. We had numerous guests from the Dutch Fork Interact Club with Ms. Kelly Payne. Beetle Bailey brought his better half, Debra, to the meeting this week. Also in attendance was Calvin Elam, President for the Board of Trustees Palmetto Alliance. Lyman Whitehead provided us with some Health and Happiness.

President Molly announced that there would be a Board Meeting afterward the meeting today to discuss our future meeting location with D’s Wings management. Herb Harrison announced the Fall Social is planned for November 1st at Englewood Manor at 6:00 p.m. and stated that more information would be posted on the website. It was also announced that the annual Christmas Social is planned for December 13th at Ascott.

Dr. Carey Hite introduced our guest speaker, Dr. Scott AndersEn, District 5 Superintendent of Schools. Dr. AndersEn has recently taken over the position as Superintendent of Schools for District 5.

Dr. AndersEn addressed some of the research and trends in schools in the United States. One of the most interesting points he raised was that the major difference in test scores was teacher qualifications and training, which makes up 49% of the difference. He also stated that race, poverty and ethnicity make up 24% of the difference in test scores. Dr. AndersEn also focused on building trust between the administration and the School Board, as well as between the teachers and the administration. Dr. AndersEn ended his presentation by taking questions from the members.

The meeting ended with a flurry of Happy Dollars and was then adjourned by President Molly.










Seen here - Dr. AndersEn with Dutch Fork Interact club and Kelley Payne.

October 4th Sherrif Meetze speaks to our club

Last Meeting
October 4, 2006
Reporter – Ervin Ott
President Molly called the meeting to order and Jim Jeffers provided the invocation. Sgt.-at-Arms, Harvey Hoots introduced our guests. We had a good turn out from the Interact Club. Lyman Whitehead provided us with some Health and Happiness.
President Molly announced that the Dictionary Project will take place next Wednesday, October 11th. The interact Club with be very active in the Dictionary Project this year and will receive some training by Rotary Club members in advance of the distribution.
Lyman Whitehead introduced our guest speaker, Sheriff James R. Metts. Sheriff Metts has the second longest tenure for a sheriff currently serving citizens in South Carolina. Just some of the honors he has received include The Order of the Silver Crescent, The Order of the Palmetto, Sheriff of the Year, and Practitioner of the Year. Sheriff Metts also led the effort to create Lexington County’s Criminal Domestic Violence Court.
The Sheriff primarily addressed issues related to school safety and gangs.
He expressed great concern for safety in our schools and suggested that the core of the problem relates back to the home. He predicted that school violence will escalate and that additional security measures will be needed in our schools.
HAVE YOU HUGGED YOUR KID TODAY? Sheriff Metts believes that the # 1 thing parents can do to prevent gang involvement is show love for their children. He said that parents of children today can make the difference as to whether their children become involved in gangs, because children will get love and affection either at home or from some gang. The Sheriff has started a GANG UNIT. He provided some informational hand outs explaining gangs that can also be accessed on line at www.lex-co.com/sheriff. Sheriff Metts concluded his presentation by answering questions from club members.
The meeting was adjourned by President Molly.