Thibodaux Rotary Club | Glen Duncan Business Development Director for Global Environmental Solutions, Inc.
August 14, 2012
By: Luci Sposito
Glen Duncan, Business Development Director for Global Environmental Solutions, Inc. and co-creator of the new state flag, presented the history of the 200 year old flag and described the re-design process.
Duncan explained that Joseph Louviere, an eighth grade student from Vandebilt Catholic High School, researched the state flag and it was determined that there were multiple versions. Louviere persuaded legislators to more adequately outline requirements of the flag and in the 2006 legislative session, a bill was passed with specific requirements for the official state flag.
In 2008, Duncan asked Secretary of State, Jay Darden, to allow him to take on the task of redesign; believing that it was simply a matter of adding three drops of blood to the existing official flag. Unfortunately, Duncan not only encountered multiple versions of the flag and seal, he realized that an entirely new design was needed to accommodate the specifications.
He then contacted Curtis Van, a wildlife artist, to assist with the task and petitioned Secretary Darden to approve a complete re-design of the official flag. Continue reading
Thibodaux Rotary Club | Hugh Caffery-Bayou Lafourche Fresh Water District
August 7, 2012
By: Amy Connor-Flores
Hugh Caffery, Chairman of the Board of Commissioners for the Bayou Lafourche Fresh Water District, updated us on the state of Bayou Lafourche on Tuesday.
In recent decades the bed of Bayou Lafourche has been steadily building up, significantly reducing flow from the Mississippi River.
In 2011 the BLFWD held its first Bayou Lafourche Summit, bringing together 200 customers, partners, citizens, and elected officials to determine what needs to be done to achieve the District’s goal of getting freshwater to the people of the area and to the keep the Bayou clean and beautiful. They developed a Master Plan to provide guidance to the District as it attempts to manage Bayou Lafourche.
$200,000,000 CIAP Funding – The first dredge project is currently underway and has helped to identify additional areas near the current dredge project and above Thibodaux that will require work. Continue reading
Thibodaux Rotary Club | Wendy Adams, Audiologist
July 31, 2012
By: Amy Connor-Flores
Wendy Adams, and Audiologist with Health Innovations presented at our meeting on Tuesday. Her presentation featured a brief anatomy lesson of the human ear.
She also described various types of hearing loss. These include Conductive, which occurs in the outer and middle ear and can be repairable, Sensorineural hearing loss, which is an inner ear or nerve problem and normally not treatable, Mixed hearing loss which is a combination of the two aforementioned types, and Central hearing loss which may be a loss of the ability to process information.
Noise, age, health problem, medications, toxins, and genetic or other diseases can all contribute to hearing loss. Wendy explained that 48 million Americans are affected by it and of these, 9 million are senior citizens. Hearing loss is the 3rd most common chronic condition among older adults and 40% of individuals affected are over age 65. Over 90% of these individuals have a type that can benefit from hearing aids but only 10-20% obtain them.
If left untreated, hearing loss can diminish a person’s ability or desire to stay socially connected and can lead to stress, other undesirable conditions including fatigue, stress, and even Alzheimer’s. It is important to visit a physician as soon as possible when experiencing a significant change in one or both ears, sudden hearing loss, drainage, dizziness for longer than 90 days, or unilateral tinnitus.
