FOR YOUR HEALTH: New Survey Reveals Knowledge Gaps About Breast Density and Cancer Risk

/0 Comments/in /by

Ashley Dedmon looks at family photos with her father. With a family history of cancer on both her mother and her father’s side, Dedmon underwent genetic testing and learned she is a carrier of the BRCA2 mutation that predisposes her to breast cancer.

(NAPSI)—The latest Cancer Risk Survey: Breast Cancer Edition from Myriad Genetics shows that more than half (63 percent) of women do not know that breast density can reveal an increased risk of breast cancer.

Though dense breast tissue is normal, women who have it are at a slightly elevated risk for developing breast cancer. New FDA guidelines require that by September 2024, all breast imaging facilities must alert patients by letter if they have dense breasts, and provide recommendations that they contact their care provider for follow-up and risk assessment.

For women with dense breasts, additional screening methods such as ultrasound or MRI may be recommended in addition to mammograms to improve cancer detection rates.

Dense breasts present unique challenges in breast cancer screening, but awareness and proactive management can help mitigate these challenges,” said Dr. Ifeyinwa Stitt, an OB-GYN physician in Annapolis, MD. “By understanding their breast density and cancer risk, women can make informed decisions about their screening options and take proactive steps to prioritize their well-being.”

The survey also revealed that the majority (92 percent) of women understand detecting cancer early means they have more treatment options, which means a higher chance for better outcomes. However, only 66% of women believe annual breast checks are necessary.
While many women (40 percent) think they should receive additional screenings like MRIs or ultrasounds if they are if they are identified as having dense breasts, only 33 percent of those would consider genetic testing.

These findings expose a critical gap in understanding, as insights gathered through genetic testing may reveal patients at increased risk that would benefit from additional screenings to identify cancer at its earliest, most treatable stage. By combining genetic insights, family history and other clinical factors like breast density, MyRisk® Hereditary Cancer Test with RiskScore® calculates a woman’s 5-year and remaining lifetime risk of breast cancer. If a woman is found to be at high risk, she then has multiple options available to her, including a change in medical management.

“Breast cancer has impacted my family since before I was born—my great grandmother, grandmother and mother all passed away from breast cancer. My mother lost her battle at only 42, when I was only 21-years old,” said Ashley Dedmon, a patient advocate for Myriad’s MyRisk with RiskScore test. “I want every clinician in the country who may not think genetic testing is necessary to hear my story. Your patients want and need this screening.” Know your risk, plan for your future. Learn more by visiting getmyrisk.com.

OPINIONS: Open letter to Vassalboro residents

/0 Comments/in , , /by

COMMUNITY COMMENTARY

by Christopher French
Selectboard member Town of Vassalboro

To the respective Voters of the Town of Vassalboro:

In addition to the Presidential election this upcoming November the [Vassalboro] selectboard has presented three referendum questions for your consideration and support. The purpose of my letter focuses on the two questions seeking permission to allocate funds towards a bridge repair.

In the Fall of 2023 engineers connected with the State of Maine alerted the town of the most recent inspection report of the “Dunlap” bridge located on Mill Hill. This culvert-style bridge traverses Seven-mile Brook connecting Webber Pond to the Kennebec River. The report stated, “The culverts are deteriorating at an accelerated rate, and they have dropped from fair condition to serious condition in just a couple of years.” The engineers strongly recommended that the town take action to replace the bridge. Additionally, the engineers advised the town that it may be necessary to “post” the bridge or restrict the maximum weight to as low as “3-tons”. Due to the minimum amount of traffic on this bridge it does not qualify as a state responsibility and replacement falls squarely on the shoulders of the Town.

In the wake of the report the town has taken the following steps.

• Established a committee of local citizens to assess our options.
• Opened communication with our partners at the state level.
• Allo­­cated American Rescue Plan Act funds and hired an engineer to present bridge replacement options.
• Option #1: $1.8 million full span bridge, designed to last 75 years.
• Option #2: Dirigo Timberland design estimated cost $700,000.
• Option #3: Replace the bridge with the existing twin culvert style estimated cost $500,000 and expected to last 30 years.
• The selectboard and budget committee recommended establishing a capital expense fund budgeting $40,000. This request was approved at the annual town vote in June.
• Secured a $200,000.00 grant. This grant may only be used if the town chooses to construct either option #1 or option #2.
• Applied for additional grants, including Federal based.
• Public works removed debris and cut back any jagged or distorted portions of the culverts
• The town has negotiated a contract in the amount of $58,000 with a local engineer pending voter approval.

In June/July 2024 our state partners identified Seven-mile Brook as a crucial spawning ground for migratory fish, to include Salmon and Alewives, catapulting our grant request to the top of consideration. A qualifying factor requires the town to have access to the matching $360,000 in funds which cannot be spent until Vassalboro accepts and signs the grant paperwork.

Referendum #1 authorizes the selectboard to spend up to $360,000 from funds already collected through taxation.

Referendum #2 makes a minor change to the 2014 TIF ordinance that allows for the selectboard to divert existing TIF dollars (currently in the ballpark of $170,000) to environmental projects.

Supporting the selectboard recommendations will provide the town with the necessary financial support to move forward with bridge replacement without negatively impacting the property taxes.

The voters can expect the following distribution of town funds

• $115,000 in accrued interest from our surplus account,
• $170,000 from the TIF account
• $40,000 from the bridge capital expense account
• $200,000 in allotted grant funding.

The total amount of $525,000 will satisfy the required grant match and allow the selectboard to hire the engineer to begin necessary groundwork ahead of construction. If we are not successful in receiving the grant we will be in a healthy position to move forward with option #2.

It is important that the town assumes a proactive position with the replacement of the DUNLAP bridge. I hope you will support the selectboard’s recommendation of voting yes. I would encourage anyone who has questions or requires further information to contact the Town of Vassalboro at 207-872-2826 or email the Town Manager Aaron Miller AMiller@vassalboro.net.

THE BEST VIEW: Fan Letter

/0 Comments/in /by
by Norma Best Boucher

Glenna Johnson Smith of Presque Isle died August 8, 2020, at the age of 100.

She had been a potato farmer, an educator, a columnist, an editor, a dramatist, a poet, an author, and a community leader.

At age 90 she published her first book, Old Maine Woman. Her second book, Return of Old Maine Woman, followed shortly after.

I wrote this fan letter to Glenna Johnson Smith in April 2016. I never received a reply. I didn’t expect one. I just wanted her to know how much I appreciated the positive effect she had had on my writing.

Dear Glenna Johnson Smith,

This is an official fan letter from someone you don’t know but from someone who enjoys all of your writing. I am a retired high school English teacher who retired in 1998 after teaching 28 years at Lawrence High School (Fairfield, ME) and Winslow High School.

One of my dearest friends is S.H., who calls you a friend. (He told me that I could name drop his name.) Even my dear 84-year-old cousin Peg told me she knew you years ago when she lived in Presque Isle.

I was expounding to each of them separately about these two great books of essays that I had just read by Glenna Johnson Smith when each of them said, “I know her.”

At first, I was deflated that the writer I had discovered and knew so well through her essays was known and liked by people whom I knew and respected years before I knew her. Then I realized that I had discovered Glenna Johnson Smith and her essays when I needed them.

I have been a writer since I was seven years old.

I had a male English teacher during my senior year who laughed at a male student and me when we said that we were going to be writers. I was 17 years old.

That summer at the MORNING SENTINEL newspaper I published the first of many of my articles proving that I should only listen to those people who believe in me and my dreams.

I vowed that as a teacher I would nourish my students’ dreams. Only they and God know what they will accomplish. I gave my students the best tools and encouragement I could to help them to reach their goals.

I was a reporter during my college summer vacations at the Waterville MORNING SENTINEL during the mid and late 1960s. That was my very favorite job. Bob Drake, editor, was my mentor. He taught me the power of the written word and to respect that power. I was 18-21 years old.

When I was a freshman at Western Kentucky University, I had the privilege of attending a lecture presented by author Pearl S. Buck. I don’t remember all of that speech, but I do remember that through her speech and presentation I felt empowered as a woman. I was 18 years old.

Author/Poet Maya Angelou spoke at a 100-year-old African American church here in Florida. She was captivating, even mesmerizing, with her words, her voice, her total presentation.

She further impressed us when she came out from behind the stage to watch a 12-year-old girl recite Angelou’s poetry. Angelou became one with the audience and allowed that very talented young lady to be the star, which she rightfully was.

Through her unselfish example, Angelou taught us respect, humility and acceptance. I felt empowered as a person. I was 56 years old.

I was writing and publishing in the 80s and 90s. I got so busy with my life and teaching that I just stopped. My friend asked me why I had stopped writing, and I remember saying, “I just haven’t lived enough.”

She thought that was an odd answer. I didn’t quite understand that answer myself, but it proved true. My writing was taking a turn to the personal essay, and I needed to experience more life in order to share.

Then I became ill with breast cancer. I survived, but I had to take stock of how I wanted to spend the remaining years of my life.

My bucket list held only a few things. One experience was to spend a week at the Maine coast. I ended up doing that for several summers all by myself. It was wonderful. I went everywhere around there enjoying the places and the coast.

The next item on my list was writing. I had so many experiences and stories in my head that I had to get them down on paper. Through your books I discovered ECHOES magazine and started submitting. They accepted my work, and I am very blessed to be publishing again.

Right about now you are wondering what all of this has to do with Glenna Johnson Smith.

On one of those coastal Maine vacations, I discovered a book called Old Maine Woman by Glenna Johnson Smith. I devoured the essays. I then bought Return of Old Maine Woman and devoured those essays as well.

By the end of the second book, I didn’t know Glenna Johnson Smith personally, but I felt like part of her life. I had traveled with her on her journey; I appreciated her sense of humor; and I respected her willingness to expose her inner most feelings. Glenna Johnson Smith was a kindred spirit. I was 66 years old.

I am 68 years old now, nearly 69. I am writing again. I am publishing again. I am living my writing dream.

Thank you, Glenna Johnson Smith. You inspired me to keep writing. I will never be too old to tell my stories. You empowered me as a writer, and I promise that I will pay it forward.

Readers, please contact someone who has made a positive difference in your life. Make a telephone call, write a letter, send a text, send an email, or just give a hug. Simply say, “Thank you.” They will be grateful…and so will you.

SMALL SPACE GARDENING: Disposing of problem plant debris

/0 Comments/in /by
by Melinda Myers

You’ve probably read you should remove and dispose of insect pest-infected and diseased plant material to reduce these problems in next season’s garden. This is not as easy as it seems. Most compost piles do not heat up and maintain hot enough temperatures to kill weeds, weed seeds, disease organisms, and insect pests. In many locations burning is not allowed and it negatively impacts air quality. So, what’s a gardener to do?

Start by calling your local municipality and asking about disposal options. Many communities allow you to dispose of invasive plants in the garbage after placing them in a clear plastic bag labeled invasive.

Solarization is an option for managing weeds. Place small amounts of plant debris in clear plastic bags. Then place the bags in a warm sunny location before composting. For larger quantities, set the problem plant debris on a sheet of plastic and securely cover it with a 2- to 6-mil clear plastic tarp. The plastic helps create a greenhouse effect, trapping heat while blocking access to water. The seeds will sprout and then seedlings and other plants are killed by the high temperatures and lack of water. It is most effective when the days are long and hot.

This may be effective if the temperatures are hot enough to kill plant insect pests and diseases. Most plant pathogens are killed when moist soil remains at 145°F for 30 minutes, 160°F for bacteria, and 180°F for weed seeds.

If battling jumping worms, the University of Maryland has found creating a solarization package is effective for managing them in soil, compost, and mulch. Spread a sheet of clear plastic on the ground. Place a 6 to 8″ layer of mulch, compost, or soil on the plastic tarp, leaving enough excess to wrap and completely and securely cover the enclosed material. On a sunny day, the material inside can reach 150°F. Research varies on the number of days needed to kill the jumping worms. Several University sources recommend 3 or more days of at least 104°F or 105°F to kill the eggs, cocoons, and adult jumping worms.

You may want to enlist this strategy when harvesting your compost before applying it to the soil. This extra step may help reduce the risk of introducing problems back into the garden.

Burying diseased material can help reduce the source of future infection of some diseases. Dig a hole, fill it with plant debris, mix it with soil, and then cover it with an inch or two of disease-free soil. Speed up the decomposition of buried material by shredding it before burying it. Avoid growing plants susceptible to the disease in that location the following season.

Remember to disinfect your pots, stakes, and tools that may have housed or touched diseased plants. Disease-causing organisms can survive on these items, increasing disease risk in next year’s garden. Soak pots for 30 minutes in a 10% bleach solution, rinse with clear water and air dry. Store in a clean location. This is much more effective with clay and ceramic pots than plastic. Consider rotating plantings as you would in the garden and changing display areas when using plastic containers if you do not want to dispose of them.

Disinfect garden tools by dipping them in a 70% alcohol solution using rubbing alcohol or something similar for at least 30 seconds. Or you can spray your tools with a disinfectant spray containing about 70% alcohol.

Investing time in prevention will result in fewer problems and better results in next year’s garden.

Melinda Myers has written over 20 gardening books, including Midwest Gardener’s Handbook, 2nd Edition and Small Space Gardening. She hosts The Great Courses “How to Grow Anything” instant video and DVD series and the nationally syndicated Melinda’s Garden Moment radio program. Myers is a columnist and contributing editor for Birds & Blooms magazine. Myers’ website is www.MelindaMyers.com.

SCORES & OUTDOORS: Conversation always seems to turn to the weather

/0 Comments/in /by
Roland D. Halleeby Roland D. Hallee

Isn’t it amazing how when you begin a conversation with someone, inevitably, it always leads to the weather. What would we do if we didn’t have the weather to talk about. Maybe some of us would never speak.

Whether you’re at the supermarket, church, or just bumping into a friend on the street, the conversation always goes something like, “What a nice day,?” or “boy it sure is hot enough.” Get the idea?

Well, the other day, a colleague and I started talking about whether this recent stretch of weather constituted an “Indian Summer.” Which prompted me to think, “what really is an Indian summer and what determines whether we have one or not?”

An Indian summer is unseasonably warm, dry and calm weather, usually following a period of colder weather or frost in the late autumn, in September, October or early November. The Old Farmers Almanac describes it as taking place between November 11 and 20. It states, “During true Indian summer, the atmosphere looks hazy or smokey, and the weather is calm and dry.”

Modern ideas on what an Indian summer constitutes vary, but the most widely accepted value for determining whether an Indian summer is occurring is that the weather must be above 70 degrees for seven days after the autumnal equinox (September 21).

The term Indian summer has been used for more than two centuries. The origin of other “Indian”phrases are well-known as referring to North American Indians, who prefer to be called Native Americans, or, in Canada, First Nations. The term Indian summer reached England in the 19th century, during the heyday of the British Raj in India. This led to the mistaken belief that the term referred to the Indian subcontinent. In fact, the Indians in question were the Native Americans, and the term began use there in the late 18th century.

Indian summer is first recorded in Letters From an American Farmer, a 1778 work by the French-American soldier-turned-farmer J. H. St. John de Crevecoeur: “Then a severe frost succeeds which prepares it to receive the voluminous coat of snow which is soon to follow; though it is often preceded by a short interval of smoke and mildness, called the Indian Summer.”

There are many references to the term in American literature in the following hundred years or so. In the 1830s Indian summer began to be used figuratively, to refer to any late flowering following a period of decline. It was well enough established as a phrase by 1834 for John Greenleaf Whittier to use the term that way, when in his poem Memories,” he wrote of “The Indian Summer of the heart!.”

Or, Thomas DeQuincey, in a republishing of Bentley’s Works of Thomas DeQuincey, 1855, wrote: “An Indian summer crept stealthily over his closing days.”

Also, in his story The Guardian Angel, Oliver Wendell Holmes mentions “an Indian summer of serene widowhood.”

As a climatic event it is known throughout the world and is most frequently associated with the eastern and central states of the U.S., which have a suitable climate to generate the weather pattern. For example, a wide variation of temperature and wind strength from summer to winter.

Why Indian? Well, no one knows but, as is commonplace when no one knows, many people have guessed.

Some say it was from the prairie fires deliberately set by Indian tribes; from raids on European settlements by Indian war parties, which usually ended in autumn; or, in parallel with other Indian terms, it implied a belief in Indian falsity and untrustworthiness and that an Indian summer was a substitute copy of the real thing.

But my grandfather, who could spin a yarn with the best of them, had the best I’ve ever heard.

It seems an Indian chief was concerned about a hunting party that was delayed in returning from a late summer gathering of meat for the winter. The year had been an extremely difficult one and the tribe needed the buffalo, deer and turkey meat for their winter consumption, and the hides for clothing and shelters. Fearing the crops in the fields would go to waste before the braves returned to harvest, the chief sat at his campfire and began to feverishly smoke a pipe, and did so for days, until the air was filled with smokey, warm air. Once the hunting party made its return, the air was still warm enough to gather the crops that had not been damaged by frost, that the chief feared would be destroyed by the impending cold weather. By warming the air with the smoke from his pipe, the chief, essentially, extended the summer, and saved the crops.

Makes sense to me.

Roland’s trivia question of the week:

With the possibility this year of an all New York World Series (Yankees and Mets), when was the last time two teams from the same city faced off in the fall classic?

Answer
2000. The New York Yankees defeated the New York Mets. (FYI: It has happened 16 times.)

VETERANS CORNER: Learning from a third world nation tribe

/0 Comments/in /by

Veterans Administration facility at Togus. (Internet photo)

by Gary Kennedy

Beauty is as beauty does. I recently read an article about a tribe in Asian. We will call them the Ubuntu Tribe. An anthropologist proposed a game to a group of very young children. The eldest was perhaps 16 years old. The others were 5 – 7, 8 and 9. A basket of fruit was placed at the base of a tree several yards away. The anthropologist wanted to see the mayhem that would ensue after the race. However, he was in for a big surprise and a lesson well learned. He saw the children sprint to the basket of fruit. What was surprising was when the children started their task they first joined hands and ran only as fast as the slowest to the fruited tree. They then sat and shared and enjoyed the assortment of fruit. They ran as one and enjoyed the meal as one. In his amazement he asked the children why they didn’t seek the prize singularly. They all wanted the fruit and they knew the others in their group wanted the fruit, also. However, they collectively replied Ubuntu, Ubuntu, how can one of us be happy if all the others are sad? You see in this very primitive tribe “their culture dictates”, “I am because we are”.

This so-called primitive tribe has an understanding of the secret of happiness that many societies claiming to be civilized have lost. These were little naked children; how beautiful, uneducated children who for some reason lived by what I believe is a very beautiful touching philosophy. For them it was a way of life perhaps taught by their parents. In any case it showed what we use to relate to as togetherness. What has happened to us? Why are different parts of the world so different than others?

Veterans have seen many different cultures in their travels; cultures as different as night is to day. I know I have seen the best and worst of them. When I started doing humanitarian volunteerism I learned to be very cautious. Some of the countries I would go to had a good side and a bad side. The same is true here in the U.S.A. If you travel, especially if you work with people, you will find the differences I have described.

When it becomes election time here in the USA, as is true in other places, these groups of people begin to show themselves. I noticed the other day that one political party was trying to show we vets why we should vote for them. It became obvious to me one of the groups was not telling the truth. I happen to know the truth as I have personally done the research.

The subject this group was trying to take credit for was I.V.F.. If you remember we talked about this months ago. When you start using veterans as examples make sure you have your facts together. Politics are so immoral these days. It’s never been great but recently it’s been horrific. Anyway, this group stated that veterans were given great benefit because of them, in the area of I.V.F. (In Vitro Fertilization).

Some of you might remember how this subject played out from personal experience. Yes, its true veterans can in some cases receive many great benefits for their contributions to our country. However, before you start boasting about it with the hope of political gain be sure of your facts.

True, veterans have received an I.V.F. benefit. It’s for their part free. The catch is the wife. I spoke with a Medical Specialist, in Portland, and he explains the easy part was the male extraction but the difficult and expensive part was that which was on the female side. Her process became much more complicated and was not paid for by the government. This doctor went on to give me a minimum of many thousands of dollars. The process doesn’t work on every attempt and can be a money pit and a heart breaker for the couple. I have talked to veterans who wanted this possibility so I thought I would share it with you once again. With enough attention perhaps the government will eventually give the entire package. Be aware of the politics. We are a valuable commodity during this time and our friends and family are not the Ubuntu tribe. God bless and have a great weekend.

The views of the author of this column are not necessarily those of The Town Line newspaper, its staff and board of directors.

REVIEW POTPOURRI: Singers: Ken Marvin; Patti Page and Frankie Laine; John Hammond; Columbo

/0 Comments/in /by
Peter Catesby Peter Cates

Ken Marvin

Ken Marvin

A ten-inch 78 (Mercury 6373) features two country and western songs – (A Heartsick Soldier on) Heartbreak Ridge; and Missing in Action; both sides focused on a soldier fighting in Korea and the horrors of separation from home, wife and family amidst the noise of exploding shells.

The listed singer Ken Marvin was a stage name for Lloyd George (1924-1991) who had originally been part of a popular 1940s country music duo, Lonzo and Oscar, who achieved extra fame and fortune for their 1947 hit record, I’m My Own Grandpa.

While George had a decent singing voice, the songs were of average quality; the record attracted me as yet another document of the perpetually fascinating 1950s both in the United States and abroad.

Patti Page and Frankie Laine

Patti Page

Frankie Laine

Mercury Records began its operations in 1945 in Chicago and had signed up such artists as Patti Page, and Frankie Laine by 1950 . Page’s hits The Tennessee Waltz and How Much is that Doggie in the Window and Laine’s Mule Train were among the several dozen dusty old 78s gifted me by my maternal step-grandfather who retrieved them from a jukebox in the diner run by him and my grandmother back during the 1940s.

Unlike RCA Victor, Columbia and Decca which spent vast amounts of money promoting their records via the radio disc jockeys, Mercury used the less expensive juke boxes.

By 1948, Mercury’s New York City headquarters had work tables occupied by four key record producers – Mitch Miller for pop music, John Hammond for folk and blues, Norman Granz for jazz and David Hall for classical (Hall would, a few decades later, settle permanently in Castine).

John Hammond

In 1929 at the age of 19, John Hammond worked briefly for the Portland Evening News under then-editor Ernest Gruening.

Both Hammond and Gruening shared a passion for social justice.

Within a few years, Gruening moved to the Alaskan Territory, served as governor and, after Alaska became a state in 1959, was elected U.S. Senator. As a Democrat, he was one of two Senators who voted against the 1965 Gulf of Tonkin Resolution and vociferously opposed United States involvement in Vietnam.

Columbo

Peter Falk

Lee Grant

I recently rewatched for the third time what might be my favorite Columbo episode, the pilot March 1, 1971, Ransom for a Dead Man. And with all due respect to the supporting cast, I was enthralled from beginning to end by the most continually captivating collaboration of Peter Falk as the bumbling and never to be underestimated lieutenant, and Lee Grant as the charmingly amoral murderess Leslie Williams.

This pilot may have been what convinced NBC executives to bankroll season one of the series.

 

 

 

.

FOR YOUR HEALTH: What You Need To Know About Vaccines On World Polio Day And Every Day

/0 Comments/in /by

Rotary International says everyone should get the necessary vaccines, and anyone can support efforts to protect more people.

(NAPSI)—In the last 50 years alone, vaccines have saved 154 million lives—six people every minute for five decades. But measles, polio, and cholera outbreaks are on the rise despite being vaccine-preventable, and vaccines still urgently need funding. Measles is one of the most contagious diseases and is often the first indicator of immunization gaps.

About Vaccines

Vaccines are one of the safest and most effective ways to protect people from certain life-threatening diseases.

Unfortunately, COVID interrupted life-saving vaccine campaigns, and now there’s a growing resurgence of vaccine-preventable infections, including polio and measles, around the world, including 13 outbreaks of measles cases in the United States.

Pointers on Polio

Consider that old scourge, polio. Efforts to eradicate it have been going on for decades. At its peak in the 1940s and 1950s, it affected between 13,000 and 20,000 people in the United States every year, many of them children. Thousands died, and many others were permanently paralyzed. Then, in 1955 Jonas Salk and in 1961 Albert Sabin developed and deployed vaccines and the number of cases dropped.

In the years following, Rotary International (https://endpolio.org) a global humanitarian service organization with more than 1.2 members around the world, initiated the global fight to end polio. Since founding the Global Polio Eradication Initiative in 1988, Rotary and its partners have reduce polio cases by more than 99.9% percent worldwide. Partners include the World Health Organization, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, UNICEF, the Gates Foundation, and Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance.

Rotary International and its members have donated $2.7 billion and countless volunteer hours to help immunize 3 billion children and eliminate polio in 122 countries. As a result, in 2023, only seven cases of “wild poliovirus” (two in Pakistan, five in Afghanistan) were found. For the past 30 years, the World Health Organization’s Region of the Americas has been declared polio-free.

Rotary members are business, professional, and community leaders who share a commitment to making the world a better place. Rotary and its partners also use a new vaccine, nOPV2, to address variant polio virus outbreaks. Millions of doses have been administered. Rotary has advocated, distributed, and administered vaccines for 45 years.

More About Measles

Once, measles, too, looked like a success story. It was declared eliminated in the United States in 2000, thanks to a very high percentage of people receiving the safe and effective measles, mumps, and rubella (MMR) vaccine.

However, recent data show that U.S. MMR coverage among kindergartners is below the CDC’s 95% coverage target—much lower in some communities—and decreasing.

The CDC reports that measles is so contagious that if one person has it, The CDC reports, up to 9 out of 10 people nearby will become infected if they are not vaccinated. Common complications are ear infections and diarrhea. Serious complications include pneumonia and encephalitis.

Meanwhile, global measles activity is increasing, meaning there are more chances of an unvaccinated person infected with measles abroad returning to the United States. That’s one reason it may be wise to talk to your healthcare provider about the MMR vaccine, especially if you plan to travel.

Concerning Cervical Cancer

Rotary is also involved in preventing this deadly disease—women diagnosed with cervical cancer are almost twice as likely to die of it than of breast cancer. Fortunately, cervical cancer is preventable and treatable.

The human papillomavirus, which is also called HPV and is responsible for more than 90% of cervical cancers, can linger in the body for a long time and eventually cause cancer. Getting vaccinated against HPV helps prevent most cases of cervical and many other cancers by giving the body a safe way to build immune system awareness of certain HPV strains.

To help, the Rotary Foundation has awarded more than $10.3 million in global grant funding for cervical cancer projects since 2014, and other Rotary projects have tackled this issue outside of global grant funding.

What You Can Do

You can be part of the effort to end polio in four ways:

1. Donate to the End Polio Now Campaign (https://endpolio.org).
2. Contact government leaders and encourage them to prioritize financial and political support for polio eradication and vaccination for other conditions.
3. Every year on October 24 participate in World Polio Day to raise awareness of the importance of polio vaccination and to celebrate the parents, professionals, and volunteers who make eradication possible.
4. Join Rotary. Since 1985, Rotary members have helped immunize up to 400 million children against polio a year. As a result, more than 20 million people who would otherwise have been paralyzed are walking, and more than 1.5 million people are alive who would otherwise have died.

Learn More

For additional information visit: www.polioeradication.org and www.endpolio.org.

MY POINT OF VIEW: Who really discovered America?

/0 Comments/in /by

Christopher Columbus

by Gary Kennedy

Once a year we find time to check out our roots and how we came to be, and who made it all happen. Christopher Columbus arrived in the Americas at Guanahani, an island in the Bahamas, on October 12, 1492. Many do not celebrate this holiday anymore as it is believed that genocide occurred and paved the way to slavery. Although many say that the greater glorification is the exploration. Indigenous people of North America take exception to this holiday as they were already settled here. So now many states refer to this holiday as Indigenous People’s Day. South Dakota became the first to officially celebrate this holiday calling it Native American Day, in 1992. Many cities throughout the United States have replaced Columbus Day with Indigenous Peoples Day. It appears that the change of this holiday is a national work in progress but some still cling to Columbus Day.

An example of conflict on a local level is Boston. Mayor Kim Janey, Boston’s first black woman mayor, had Boston as Indigenous Day to replace what was referred to as Colonial Myths passed down over generations. In 2022 an incoming Democrat, Michelle Wu, under pressure, was compelled to change back and add to this already holiday in conflict. Along with Indigenous Peoples Day was added Italian Heritage Day. This was a clever way of getting Columbus in under another guise. We know during those times slavery was popular and felt needed for the growth of the colonies.

Also, it was very profitable. People basically don’t care much for change. To be honest about it, I don’t care much for it either. As a youth I was taught and learned many lies. The topic was real and good but taught in a non factual manner. I had to get old and experience life to finally see the truth. Sometimes you need to stand on your own and extrapolate from that which the prudent feed you. As far as the reason for Columbus Day it is most likely a happening that is true and the players in this somewhat factual occurrence are probably not even close to Christopher Columbus, period, and even more precisely on the continent.

It was Amerigo Vespucci who realized Columbus had found a new land and in 1507 named it America. Texas A&M believes Indigenous peoples discovered America, not European explorers. Some evidence has been discovered that leads some scholars to believe that Polynesians were the first/ others believe Leif Ericson may have been the first to step on the continent, from Europe. However, to say Columbus “discovered” America would be a bit of a misnomer because there were many people already here.

American Archaeology’s Michael Bawaya states the Native Americans came here from Asia probably “no later than about 15,000 years ago. They walked across the Bering land bridge that connected Siberia and Alaska. In those days the ocean was much lower and the bridge was hundreds of kilometers wide. From there they traveled south to America, Mexico and South America. Remnants’ of these migrants were discovered in Mexico dating back 11,000 years. These people were known as Clovis people. If you travel Asia you can see the similarity in peoples of American Indian decent. In any case we still have Columbus Day or Indigenous Peoples Day. Best of all we get another day off to enjoy our family and friends. God bless you and yours and have a fun, safe holiday.

The views of the author of this column are not necessarily those of The Town Line newspaper, its staff and board of directors.

REVIEW POTPOURRI – Pianist: Arturo Benedetti Michelangeli

/0 Comments/in /by

Arturo Michelangeli

Peter Catesby Peter Cates

Arturo Benedetti Michelangeli

Pianist Arturo Benedetti Michelangeli (1920-1995) had, like Vladimir Horowitz and Sviatoslav Richter , a superhuman lightning speed virtuosity at the keyboard that brought much deserved fame. Unlike Horowitz and Richter who left several different performances of certain pieces that varied in style and tempo, Michelangeli would record, for example, the same Mozart or Grieg Piano Concerto and the tempos and timing would be precisely the same.

However, like Horowitz and Richter, Michelangeli brought a heartfelt musicianship and labor of love to his playing; also, like his two colleagues, he frequently programmed a handful of favorite pieces as opposed to a vast repertoire of other pianists.

A 1965 record (London CS 6446), and one of a tiny handful of studio records he left, featured a program of Sonatas by Domenico Scarlatti (1685-1757), Baldassarre Galuppi (1706-1785) and Ludwig van Beethoven (1770-1827).

With all due respect to the earlier composers and their own contributions to the keyboard literature, I have always found the chosen Beethoven Sonata #32 the most deeply personal of the 32 that he composed for the instrument. So much human emotion ranging from agony to ecstasy with moments of frivolity, whimsicality, jumping for joy, melancholy, is conveyed in its 20 minute length.

Technically speaking it is a knuckle buster while demanding a pianist who can communicate its range of emotions. Michelangeli met these challenges with a powerful performance.

During his career, Michelangeli earned several million dollars but may have suffered from manic depression, possibly revealed in a statement he made to his secretary:

“You see, so much applause, so much public. Then, in half an hour, you feel alone more than before.”

I majored in English and graduated in 1973 from the University of Southern Maine with a B.S. degree , roughly 62 hours of literature classes and only the required hours of other subject areas- 18 hours of history as a minor, as little as possible of science and math and not a single course in economics, sociology, philosophy or foreign languages .

I was a very narrow minded jerk when it came to any interest in a well-rounded education.

One course I enjoyed was Shakespeare with Dr. Stan Vincent and the plays I remembered most vividly were Richard the Third, A Winter’s Tale, the Tempest, King Lear, Othello, the especially vicious Titus Andronicus and the singular masterpiece Hamlet.

Hamlet is a character totally imagined, created and given words and situations with others by the brain cells of Shakespeare according to the early 19th century essayist William Hazlitt.

More importantly, as Hazlitt wrote, Hamlet’s “speeches and sayings…are as real as our own thoughts. It is WE who are Hamlet…It is the one of Shakespeare’s plays that we think of the oftenness because it abounds most in striking reflections on human life.”

And Hamlet’s most striking statement – “To be or not to be – that is the question!” strikes right at the heart of life just as much in the 21st century as it did in the 16th through 20th centuries. And being needs to lead to action, a truth just as important as the one from Socrates more than 2,000 years ago – “The unexamined life is not worth living.”

Hamlet remains a play well worth reading and re-reading for its masterful Elizabethan poetry and prose, its range of characters, treacheries and situations and its abiding sense of reality.