|
 It
is always a pleasure to welcome young people to our
organization. Today we were honored with two young people
who represented Youth as Resources, Koreann Martin an Karl
Robson. Also visiting was scholarship winner Tyler Rose. The
YAR speakers were at Sertoma to spread the word about their
fund-raiser which is part of the July 4th festivities in the
Brainerd area. The tenth annual Battle of the Bands is
scheduled for Wednesday, July 2, 2008 at the Don Adamson
Field. From 4 to 9 p.m. listeners will be hearing from local
bands some of which will be traveling from places such as
St. Cloud and the Twin Cities. To buy tickets go to:
Brainerd Community Action, Coco Moon, Bridge of Harmony, The
Eclectic Cafe or find YAR member. Tickets are $5 in advance
and $8 at the door and money helps to sponsor YAR
activities. The kids thanked Sertoma for their generous
donation to help with this project.
 Rose
Hauge gave a presentation right after that dealt with
teenage alcohol problems. YAR is a companion group to ARMM
which stands for Addressing, Responding, Managing, Meth and
other related issues with young people. Rose showed us part
of a video that is available for civic and youth groups. It
deals with the issues facing today's parents who have to
deal with an environment that totally promotes drinking.
Problem drinking is starting in children as young as 9 years
old. Children whose brains are developing are much more
susceptible to becoming addicted to alcohol if they start at
an early age. Close to two thousand college students die
each year from overdoses of alcohol. Our president remarked,
"The problem can be solved." He drew the correlation between
alcohol and cigarettes. A 2007 Student Survey indicated that
31% of Crow Wing County High School Seniors reported having
5 or more drinks in a row on at least one occasion within
the Past 2 weeks of taking the survey. Forty Eight Percent
of High School Seniors in Crow Wing county reported using
alcohol in the past 30 Days. This information is from the
2007 Minnesota Student Survey.
Parents and communities need to work together to keep
alcohol out of family events. Parents need to set a standard
of use and communicate it to their children. Corey Ann
reinforced the influence that communication at home has on
the problem. |
Jeff
Fitch, Anna Gorecky and Matt Davis braved a
cold wet windy day to barbecue the winning
ribs at the Jaycee Barbecue contest
on July 7th. The money prize was donated to
Camp Sertoma. Jeff thanked the sponsors: Cub
Foods, Brainerd General Rental, and the Deer
Stand.
Sertoman
of the Day Nanci Williams did not have to say a thing about her
business. She is the proud owner of Chocolates Etc and she
brought everyone a "turtle on a stick" that was to die for!! Her
business is located downtown and she specializes in wonderful
candies for all occasions. Nanci is another one of our Sertoman
who feels blessed to still be here. Her college career was
interrupted by a drunk driver who hit her and threw her thirty
feet. Her traumatic brain injury was not recognize but did slow
her down a bit. However this courageous lady finished college in
1996 , whitewater rafted, backpacked in the Boundary Waters and
generally believes that the most important gift from God is
time. She firmly believes in volunteering and calls it giving
the gift back to God. She is the mother of three boys and enjoys
her peace and quiet in a field stone house in St. Mathias
overlooking the Mississippi. Nanci is concerned about the over
abundance of bright lights in the Brainerd area which are
destroying people's enjoyment of the night sky. She encouraged
all people building homes and commercial properties to consider
eco-friendly lighting. Her hobby of collecting knives was very
humorously presented, especially considering that her one fine
at Sertoma has been for a "knife" incident. Her most
embarrassing moment involved being pregnant and making a
spectacularly public visit to a men's room because she couldn't
wait in line. 
The
Bridge is Open--everyone at the Chap and Cub Foods is
celebrating!!