Month: November 2017

Today’s Meeting:  – Scott Maginella – Precious Life

Future Speakers:

December 5^th – Jonathan O’Harrow – Interim Director of Strategic Communication and Marketing – Penn State Altoona

December 12^th –

December 19^th – Christmas Party – No noon meeting

December 26^th – No noon meeting

 

Whacha’ May Have Missed Last Week:

…..Last week the speakers were Bob Bilger and Jim Foreman of We CARE/ProCare. Bob, who is the president of the We CARE Foundation Board of Directors, spoke first stating that they have filed the necessary paperwork to become a charitable 501(c)(3) foundation. Since June 30^th they have occupied the former Easter Seals building, owned by Blair County, and expect to become the sole lessee. He said that the We CARE board was not aware of the stoppage of funding by the Tyrone Hospital to ProCare until the dispute became public knowledge. The intent of the We CARE board is to reinstate the therapy sessions at the center and once their 501(c)(3) status is approved, to establish a scholarship program for those that cannot afford treatments. The monies for the scholarship program will come from fundraising activities such as the annual Softball Marathon and the Winter Blues and Brews event that’s scheduled for February 10th. Bob stated that nearly 40% of the patients that are treated need financial assistance. Finally, he noted that there are several trust accounts that are involved in legal proceedings….one in particular which has nearly ½ of a million dollars that is designated for the maintenance and upkeep of the facility. Jim then took the podium and said that it has been nearly a year ago to the day that ProCare was notified by the Tyrone Hospital that it would not be paying them for their 9 months of therapy services that they provided. But echoing Bob’s comments, Jim said that the therapy efforts at the center are now up and running, citing the fact that over 200 people have been served in just the last 1½ months. Jim clarified that there is a separation between the two entities with ProCare paying for the therapy equipment, providing the therapy staff, and paying rent; all supported by insurance and client payments, while We CARE will ultimately offer the scholarships to those patients that need financial assistance. He also spoke of the numerous therapy services being offered, in particular the Miracle Movement Center, which provides for a series of treatments to aid in movement issues. He finished by praising the dedication that Kristan Zolnoski brings to the center stating that she has been a driving force in the newly arranged collaboration between We CARE and ProCare Therapy.

Guests of the Day:

There were none.

 

News of the Week:  

…..President Rachael reminded everyone about our annual Christmas candy sale. Orders are due December 5^th with delivery set for December 12^th. If you want to sell a carton of chocolate covered pretzels or Peanut Butter Meltaway bars, contact Kathy.

…..Speaking of Christmas, mark your calendar, as the annual AMBUCS Christmas party will be held on Tuesday evening, December 19^th at Park Hills. Cash bar will begin at 6:00 PM, dinner at 6:30 and a visit from Ol’ St. Nick himself around 7:00. A sign-up sheet began its distribution last Tuesday. There will be no noon lunch that day or on December 26^th.

…..Last week the raffle ticket of Dave Aikens was chosen. With all of the confidence he could muster, Dave strode to the head table and made his selection…..which was the Queen of Spades. One more card gone, so this week you can have the chance to take home a pot of around $275 by picking a Joker out of the remaining 40 cards. With the two Jokers remaining, your chances are 1 in 20 to take home some holiday cash.

…..Michele Lloyd announced that two Amtrykes were delivered last week to therapy patients at Kids First in Hollidaysburg. One tryke went to Rowan Brower, age 3, from Tyrone and the other to Cameron Tinker, age 5, from Williamsburg. Michele has also received requests for two other Amtrykes, at least one of which will be presented at our Christmas party on December 19^th.

…..Do you shop on Amazon? If so, why not designate the Altoona AMBUCS as your charity of choice in their Amazon Smile giveback program? The Altoona AMBUCS are now registered with Amazon and consequently they will donate a portion of your purchases to us as a charitable recipient. The final details haven’t been worked out yet, but stay tuned for more information.

…..Didn’t see any 33 Club winners this week! But there is still the Monday night football game, so we might have a winner!

In Closing:        We all know these products, symbols, or companies, but do you know what their acronyms really mean? How many did you know?

Yahoo!             Yet Another Hierarchical Official Oracle

Taser               Thomas A. Swift’s Electric Rifle

Zip                   Your Zip Code is actually your Zone Improvement Plan code

IKEA                The founder’s initials & hometown, Ingvar Kamprad Elmtaryd Agunnaryd

Laser               Light Amplification by Stimulated Emission of Radiation

GEICO              Government Employees Insurance Company

NERF               Non Expandable Recreational Foam

SPAM              Shoulder of Pork and hAM

EPCOT             Experimental Prototype Community Of Tomorrow

AFLAC             American Family Life Assurance Company of Columbus

SOS     Fooled ya! SOS doesn’t stand for anything. It was chosen as a sign of distress for its unmistakable Morse code representation of three dots, three dashes, and three dots.

Today’s Meeting:  – Jim Foreman and Bob Bilger of We Care/Procare

Future Speakers:

November 28^th – Scott Maginella – Precious Life

December 5^th – Jonathan O’Harrow – Interim Director of Strategic Communication and Marketing – Penn State Altoona

December 12^th –

December 19^th – Christmas Party – No noon meeting

December 26^th – No noon meeting

 

Whacha’ May Have Missed Last Week:

…..Last week the speaker was Dr. Bert Altmanshofer – discussing cold laser treatments and a new means of wound healing. The first portion of his discussion was on the emerging use of lasers in surgery and treatments. Dr. Altmanshofer uses lasers as a means to treat various painful and debilitating foot conditions. Its use can provide rapid relief of pain and due to its anti-inflammatory effect, can reduce the need for stronger drugs and additional surgeries. While not covered by insurance, Dr. Altmanshofer stated that he can often work with the patient’s co-pay to make the procedure cost effective. He went on to say that over 3,500 clinics world-wide now use this effective technology. The second part of his talk centered on his use of an unconventional treatment of wounds…..using cod fish skin as a skin graft. The product comes from an Icelandic company called Kerecis, which began commercial export of the fish skin in 2013. The skin is rich in Omega3 polyunsaturated fatty acids and its use in skin grafts recruits the body’s own cells, ultimately converting it into living tissue. According to Dr. Altmanshofer, this skin offers improved circulation and provides a good barrier to MRSA. The cod fish skin graft material costs about $35 per square centimeter which is much less expensive than conventional stem cell skin and is applied directly to a wound with just glue and tape. The Nason Hospital currently is the procurer of this product locally and along with Dr. Altmanshofer, is being used by about 18 doctors nationwide.

Guests of the Day:

Paul Dick introduced his guest, Terry Albright of M & T Bank.

 

News of the Week:  

…..President Rachael reminded everyone about our annual Christmas candy sale. Orders are due December 5^th with delivery set for December 12^th. If you want to sell a carton of chocolate covered pretzels or Peanut Butter Meltaway bars, contact Kathy. Speaking of Christmas, mark your calendar, as the annual AMBUCS Christmas party will be held on Tuesday evening, December 19^th at Park Hills. Cash bar will begin at 6:00 PM, dinner at 6:30 and a visit from Ol’ St. Nick himself around 7:00. A sign-up sheet will be distributed soon. There will be no noon lunch that day or on December 26^th.

…..Our Christmas Candy sale always features an opportunity to participate in what’s referred to as the “500 Club”….named this due to recognition of those members who sell $500 worth of candy. Since our profit on $500 of candy is around 40% or $200, a member can become a “500 Club” member by selling $500 of candy, making a $200 donation or some combination of sales x 40% and a cash donation, the two totaling $200. All “500 Club” members enjoy a recognition steak dinner at one of our regular lunch meetings during the first quarter of the year.

…..Congrats to two of our fellow Ambucs….Tim Parnell was chosen to receive the Pennsylvania Physical Therapy Association’s Vincent Imperatrice Private Practice Special Interest Group Award by his peers in the field. Alex Seltzer was recently named to a three year position on the Blair County Chamber of Commerce’s board. Way to go Tim and Alex!

…..If you are wondering who that young lady was that videoed our Open House meeting several weeks ago….the answer is Jillian Lemme, daughter of Karen Lemme. Jillian was nice enough to do the filming and Doug Ickes has agree to take the video and edit it for future use by the club and to post it on our AMBUC Facebook page. Once finalized, Doug will let us know when we can view the final result. A big thanks to both Jillian and Doug for their expertise.

…..We have 33 Club winners again this week! The Patriots scored 33 against their opponent, the Raiders, earning Lisa Drzal $30 and Andy Miller and Tony Miller with $10 each. But wait…….there’s still Monday night football, they may have to share!

…..Last week Dean McKnight’s raffle number was chosen. Striding confidently to the head table, Dean made his selection which turned out to be the Ten of Diamonds. You could almost hear the two Jokers chuckling! This week you can have the chance to take home a pot of around $265 by picking a Joker out of the remaining 41 cards. With the two Jokers remaining, your chances are about 1 in 20 to take home some holiday cash.

In Closing:

 

 

Today’s Meeting:  – Dr. Bert Altmanshofer – Wound healing and cold laser treatments

Future Speakers:

November 21^st – Jim Foreman and Bob Bilger of We Care/Procare

November 28^th – TBD

December 5^th – Shari Routch – Director of Enrollment Management – Penn State Altoona

December 12^th –

December 19^th – Christmas Party – No noon meeting

December 26^th – No noon meeting

 

Whacha’ May Have Missed Last Week:

…..Last week the speaker was John Seely – Co-Founder & Co-Director of Empowering Lives Foundation. John stated that he and his wife began the foundation two years ago. They have a son, Nicholas, who has Down syndrome. John stated that one in five Americans have a disability and that the Empowering Lives Foundation helps them overcome their physical and/or intellectual obstacles. The group does this by “discovery”, a term they use to describe their procedure to identify interests and abilities of individuals. They then use those results to find meaningful employment for their job-seekers. Though employment, these individuals can have money to spend, pay taxes, and can ultimately save the state thousands of dollars through the decreased need for state benefits. The foundation also works with these individuals in finding opportunities for their spare time when not working. Social activities such as the arts, drama, and book clubs, sports and fitness activities, and urban gardening and spirituality are just several examples. For more information on the foundation, contact them at 814-232-1730, via email at info@empoweringlivesfound.org or on their Facebook page…Empowering Lives Foundation.

Guests of the Day:

Alex Seltzer introduced his guest, Rebecca Culp.

Kristan Zolnoski introduced her guest Justin Kubina, an OT student at PSU.

 

News of the Week:  

…..President Rachael thanked everyone who had a part in last week’s open house. The event was very successful, but she reminded everyone to continue to bring guests to our meetings.

…..Hopefully everyone by now has an AMBUCS Christmas candy sale order form. Orders are due December 5^th with delivery set for December 12^th. If you want to sell a carton of chocolate covered pretzels or Peanutbutter Meltaway bars, contact Kathy. Speaking of Christmas, mark your calendar, as the annual AMBUCS Christmas party will be held on Tuesday evening, December 19^th at Park Hills. There will be no noon lunch that day or on December 26^th. A sign-up sheet will be distributed soon.

…..Our Christmas Candy sale always features an opportunity to participate in what’s referred to as the “500 Club”….named this due to recognition of those members who sell $500 worth of candy. Since our profit on $500 of candy is around 40% or $200, a member can become a “500 Club” member by selling $500 of candy, making a $200 donation or some combination of sales x 40% and a cash donation, the two totaling $200. All “500 Club” members enjoy a recognition steak dinner at one of our regular lunch meetings during the first quarter of the next year.

…..Our speaker last week noted that one in five Americans has a disability. On the National AMBUCS website an article states that the Center for Disease Control reports that nearly half of all adults with disabilities gets no aerobic physical activity, an important health behavior to help avoid chronic diseases such as heart disease, stroke, diabetes, or cancer and children with disabilities are 38% more likely to be obese than others their age. Amtryke recipients, parents, and therapists report that Amtryke therapeutic tricycles provide increased strength, mobility, and coordination as well as self-confidence and positive peer interaction. That all adds up to great exercise, the opportunity to be outdoors and to just have fun. The AMBUCS passion is to create a world where everyone who chooses, can ride!  Why not consider becoming an Amtryke Wish List contributor for just a dollar a day? It’s the best dollar you’ll spend tomorrow.

…..President Rachael also displayed the numerous awards that the club won at the national convention she recently attended. She also noted that a change to the Big Hat rules, now requires all Big Hatter’s who attend a Big Hat breakfast auction to have their membership card, a new member application and $2 tucked into the inner hat band…..or…risk being fined (as if you weren’t going to be fined anyway)! The change increases the money from $1 to $2. I wonder what the Sergeant-at-Arms would think if you had a two dollar bill?      

…..We have some 33 Club winners this week! The Rams scored 33 against their opponent, the Texans, securing Jim Huff with $60 and Mark Ford with $20. But wait…….there’s still Monday night football, they may have to share!

…..Last week president Rachael’s raffle number was chosen. Unfortunately for her, good for the rest of us, she chose the King of Spades. I guess being president doesn’t help in  finding one of those elusive Jokers. This week you can have the chance to take home a pot of around $250 by picking a Joker out of the remaining 42 cards.

 

In Closing:

A Love Story

Father to Son:                                                    “I want you to marry the woman of my choosing”.

Son to Father:                                                   “No”.

Father to Son:                                                    “The woman is the daughter of Bill Gates”.

Son to Father:                                                   “Then OK”.

Father to Bill Gates:                                        “I want your daughter to marry my son.”

Bill Gates to Father:                                        “No”.

Father to Bill Gates:                                        “My son is the CEO of World Bank”.

Bill Gates to Father:                                        “Then OK”.

Father to President of World Bank:           “I want you to name my son CEO of World Bank”.

President of World Bank to Father:          “No”.

Father to President of World Bank:           “He is the son-in-law of Bill Gates”.

President of World Bank to Father:          “Then OK”.

Today’s Meeting:  – John Seely – Co-Founder & Co-Director of Empowering Lives Foundation

Future Speakers:

November 14^th – Dr. Bert Altmanshofer – Wound healing and cold laser treatments

Whacha’ May Have Missed Last Week:

…..Last week the club hosted a very successful open house. Nearly 60 members and guests (see list below) enjoyed a buffet lunch, followed by two excellent speakers. First Amy Detterline, Volunteer Coordinator of the VA Hospital, spoke of the Memorandum of Understanding that was recently established by National AMBUCS and the National Veteran’s Hospitals. This agreement will open the doors for AMBUCS chapters nationwide to provide therapeutic Amtrykes to our veterans. She stated that from 2010, the AMBUCS have provided vets with over 600 Amtrykes nationwide. Amy also went on to thank the Altoona AMBUCS for starting the monthly get-togethers for the resident vets at the hospital. The plan is to hold the AMBUCS night on the 4^th Tuesday of each month. Amy ended with a request for volunteers & donations to assist the vets.

Next…Marcy Hardinger, mother of Hanna, spoke about Hanna’s lifetime struggles since her birth 20 years ago. Hanna began life with numerous maladies including lung issues and a lack of hip sockets. The first 14 years of Hanna’s life included countless surgeries, yet all failed to provide relieve to her immense pain. Following years of surgeries and therapy sessions, all of Hanna’s doctors gave the family no assurance that Hanna would ever walk. However Marcy, a woman of great faith in God and fervent love for her daughter, never gave up hope. After being turned down so many times, a doctor in Pittsburgh agreed to a five year surgical plan and put a team together to perform the initial 18 hour surgery. Despite the many hours of surgeries and the many years spent in hospitals, at age 14, Hanna took her first steps. Hanna’s therapy sessions in Pittsburgh included the use of a therapeutic tricycle and according to Marcy, that tryke was a key element in Hanna’s improvement. When weekly trips from Cumberland to Pittsburgh to ride the tryke became too much, Marcy began the search for a tryke for Hanna. Turned down by a number of agencies, one of Hanna’s therapists informed Marcy that the Altoona AMBUCS would surely help her. Consequently, Hanna was presented with her very own Amtryke at our Regional Conference this past spring at an Altoona Curve game and she now rides her tryke every day. Marcy could not thank the Altoona AMBUCS enough for providing her daughter with the Amtryke. We can all use Hanna and her dedicated, loving mother as shining examples of just how important our efforts as Ambucs can be!   

Guests of the Day:     Hopefully I caught them all…..

• Dave Aikens had four guests from the VA Hospital, Amy Detterline (one of our guest speakers), Andrea Young, Jaime Oravis, and George Valdivia.
• Dean McKnight’s guest was Judy Rossman.
• Tim Parnell’s guest was Brian Caporuscio.
• Karen Lemme’s guest was Katie Bovard.
• Bob Reffner’s guest was his wife
• Carl Gingrich’s guest was his grandfather Warren
• Mark Ford’s guest was Vince Shank.
• Doug Ickes had two guests, his wife Anita and his mother
• Jim Huff’s guest was Tyler Rowles.
• Alex Seltzer’s guest was Joe Hurd.
• Other guests included Rob Griffin, Ted and Alice Sunseri, and our other guest speaker Marcy Hardinger, her daughter Hanna, and several other family members.

News of the Week:  

…..Kathy Storm passed out the AMBUCS Christmas candy sale order forms last Tuesday. Orders are due December 5^th with delivery set for December 12^th.  Speaking of Christmas, mark your calendar, as the annual AMBUCS Christmas party will be held on Tuesday evening, December 19^th at Park Hills. There will be no noon lunch that day or on December 26^th.

…..A final tally of the recently completed hoagie/pizza sale showed a profit of $535.

…..Member Birthdays and Club Anniversaries for November:

Birthdays:                                                                   Club Anniversaries:

Dave Aikens & Kristan Zolnoski– Nov. 1^st                 Paul Dick – Nov. 1977

Mike Strait – Nov. 2^nd                                                Dave Mason – Nov. 1981

Linda Horomanski – Nov. 5^th                                     Mike Knote – Nov. 1993

Gary Pfahler – Nov. 12^th

Bob Fiore – Nov. 29^th

Bruce Brower – Nov. 30^th

                       

…..Didn’t see any 33 Club winners this week! But wait…….there’s still Monday night football! Remember, the “33 Club” only runs through the regular season.

…..Last week Scott Schraff’s raffle number was chosen. Scott chose the Seven of Hearts, which was obviously not one of the Jokers. This week you can have the chance to take home a pot of around $230 by picking a Joker out of the remaining 43 cards.

In Closing:                                A Cowboy and His Three Beers

A cowboy, who had just moved to Altoona from Texas, walks into a local bar and orders three mugs of beer. He sits alone at the end of the bar, taking a sip of each one in turn. When he finishes them he orders three more. The bartender tells the cowboy, “You know those beer go flat and warm after I pull them, they might taste better if you ordered one at a time”. The cowboy replied, “Well you see, I have two brothers. One is in Arizona and the other is in Colorado. When we left our home in Texas, we all vowed that we would drink this way to remember those times when we drank together, so I’m drinking three beers, one for each of my brothers and one for me”. The bartender admits that’s a nice gesture and leaves it at that. The cowboy becomes a regular in the bar and always orders three beers at a time, taking a sip from each one in turn. One day, the cowboy returns to the bar and orders only two mugs. All of the regulars take notice and the bar falls silent. When he orders the second round of two, the bartender says “I don’t want to intrude on your grief, but I’d like to offer my condolences on your loss”. The cowboy looks quite puzzled for a minute, then a light comes to his eyes as he laughs and says “Oh no, everybody’s just fine….it’s that my wife and I just joined the church and I had to quit drinking. But, it hasn’t affected my brothers none!”