Railbelt Mental Health & Addictions

Nenana Wellness CoalitionMINUTES

March 31, 2009

                            

The Nenana Wellness Coalition is an alliance of representatives from various organizations, government agencies, community groups and individuals that meets weekly to discuss, evaluate, coordinate, consolidate, celebrate and help implement plans for improving the wellness and quality of life in Nenana Alaska.

There were 14 in attendance today, including: Tim Horn, Bonnie Reed, Gloria Johnson, Miles Martin, Virginia Young, Maryellen Robinson, Kat McElroy, David Poppe, Willie Lord, Bill & Rebecca Troxel, Walter & Andrea Tommy and Merrily Verhagen. We had chicken wings, scalloped potatoes, mixed green salad, Ritz crackers and sliced cheese and sliced apples for lunch.

 

WELCOME followed by the READING OF MISSION STATEMENT, by this week’s chairperson: Tim Horn

 

PRAYER was lead by Bill Troxel, followed by the PLEDGE OF ALLEGIENCE.

 

PRESENTATION OF AGENDA AND CALL FOR MODIFICATIONS: There were three items added to the agenda.

 

APPROVAL OF MINUTES: Minutes were submitted electronically to the WIN e-list by Kat and posted to the WIN link on the Railbelt web site at www.railbelt.com with no changes.

 

INTRODUCTION OF GUESTS: No new guests this date.

           

SPEAKERS/TOPICS

 

Clean Indoor Air T-Shirt Contest —Maryellen Robinson had picked Willie Lord, Gloria Johnson and Merrily Verhagen as judges for the Clean Indoor Air T-shirt Contest posters. They all agreed that picking winners was difficult as the 3^rd/4^th grade students from Mr. Black’s classroom had created some vivid and playful images after Maryellen’s presentation to them regarding Clean Indoor Air. Finally, they were able to narrow it down to one first place and one second place winners and four third place winners. The first place winner’s image will be used for the t-shirts.

 

Nenana Health Fair—WIN at large. We are fairly well set-up for the Health Fair tomorrow. Set-up will be at the gym tonight after the community dinner at NSLC (around 6 P.M.).  We will be using the lower gym door (at the far end of the elementary wing, next to the shop). Tables and chairs will be brought from the tribal hall, the YERC and from around the school. Some exhibitors will be providing their own chairs. Kat has done the shopping for the food and picked up the helium tank from Party Palace. Tim read the names and topics of the various exhibitors. We have a good variety and are all especially pleased at having five exhibits that are being planned and executed by students from NCPS.  We have volunteers from across all domains of the community, thanks to successful recruiting efforts by Rebecca and the other members of the planning committee.

 

Community Agriculture Project (Food Conspiracy—Kat McElroy gave a short presentation of what she is calling The Little Red Hen Project, a kind of food conspiracy. Miles, Tara, Kat and David have made an extensive seed order from three seed sources. They ordered primarily organic, heritage, open-pollinated seeds as they want to be able to save seeds at the end of the season for next year. Miles has volunteered the use of his green house for starts. He has a small Toyo stove to use to keep the greenhouse warm, which he needs to take to town for maintenance and refurbishing. Tara has made a spread sheet so that we can keep track of what starts have been planted where. So far, we envision being able to put plants into Miles garden, Kat and David’s gardens, Tara’s garden, as well as plots at the community garden. There is also a desire to open up land at the old TCCC site where the berry project is for more plants. The hope is that as we get started, other people will become interested. We have even discussed erecting some hoop houses at the community garden site. The goal is to see how much food at the end of the season we are capable of producing. We would like to be able to have food enough to share with the Senior’s lunch and meals-on-wheels program, the Nenana Student Living Center and Nenana City Public School as well as to Elders and others in the community who may be interested in receiving wholesome, home grown vegetables. We have discussed the likelihood of being able to get some manner of root cellar or other long-term storage facility in place as potatoes, cabbages, beets, turnips, rutabagas and carrots seem to do well in the Interior. Miles said that he understands all new soil will be brought into the community garden plots although soil testing conducted after the flood last summer all indicated that the community garden soil was not negatively affected by floodwaters. Tim said that Mara Bacsujlaky from the Cooperative Extension had sent her an email indicating she has information she would like to share with WIN members regarding available USDA Community Food Projects grants funding currently available.

 

Envisioning Wellness—Carl Horn has offered to speak to us on Ham Radio 101/Emergency Communications, about a 30 minutes presentation, April 14th. Brent Mitchel has offered to present on agriculture. He is also interested in talking to us about an organization to which he belongs that attempts to document UFO sightings. His email mentioned such an event in the Nenana area in 1952. Tim will contact him to see if he would be available on April 21^st. It was agreed that WIN would most like him to address us on agriculture efforts, in light of our recent efforts and interests. Tim Horn has Mara Bacsujlaky from Cooperative Extension scheduled for April 28^th.

 

Free-cycle—Rebecca announced that our next Free-cycle is scheduled for 5 P.M. on Saturday, April 25^th, at the Tribal Hall. It will be a pot luck and they are open to suggestions for a movie to view that evening.  After that, the next Free-cycle will be during River Days, Saturday, June 6^th, and will be held at the Troxel’s residence.

 

Weed’N’Seed—Tim referenced a Fairbanks Daily News-miner article she read that described a neighborhood clean-up effort currently underway in Fairbanks. She said that basically the focus of the project is to encourage people individually and in groups to take on the responsibility of walking an assigned area, block or street, weekly and conducting litter patrol. Doing this as an organized effort helps strengthen community ties and relationships. She said that it would be efforts such as this that she had hoped the Nenana Neighborhood Watch efforts would engender. Bill said that he and his family have conducted litter patrol on their walks down along the Tanana River, back along where the fishwheels are. He said they enjoy the outing as well as the exercise and everyone feels good about the results. He suggested exploring incorporating clean-up activities into the Free-cycle, in addition to our once-a-year Nenana Clean-up.. Rebecca said that she had been talking to Jeannie Bennet who suggested forming a Neighborhood Work Coalition. This would entail organizing up to six families to join forces and use their collective effort to do deep-cleaning or major maintenance or repair chores for each family in turn. This would turn otherwise drudgery chores into a social opportunity.

 WELLNESS THOUGHT:  Nothing to it but to do it. Eleazar Baker

UPDATES/ANNOUNCEMENTS:

Gloria announced the community dinner at NSLC, 5 P.M., tonight.

David: Just wishes Clara would have her calf. The birthing has become an item of communitywide interest.

Bill: Easter pot luck meal, Easter Sunday, at the Tribal Hall, April 12^th, beginning 1:15 P.M.  Everyone is invited. He suggests people issuing personal specific invitations to others as this seems to be more effective.   People are encouraged to bring board games and to make it an afternoon of family fun. He also said that he would be going bald Tuesday as the AWANA youth had memorized more than 200 sections. In fact they have memorized 260. If they hit 300, Kelvin Schubert shall lose his beard. AWANA Awards Ceremony will be May 1^st, 6 P.M., at the Schuberts

Miles: Saturday, April 11^th, will be the annual Nenana City Library Easter celebration at the library. There will be food, games, and prizes.

Rebecca: Will be up in Fairbanks next week with Tim, proctoring tests. April 13^th begins Book Fair week at the school. Family Reading Night will be Thursday, 6 P.M. and will include Bingo For Books. The Nenana Patchers have completed the blocks for Catherine Marks quilt. The blocks have a Heart theme so Catherine will know how much she is loved. Karen Marks is in the process of quilting the top. Rebecca thanks Bonnie reed for her donation of potlatch fabric.  

Merrily: Kristi’s Quisine will open for the summer season May 15^th and shall close at the end of August. The Troxels are test-driving the Community Calendar web site.

Andrea reported on the vending of their arts that she and Walter did last week at the TCC and Doyon annual meetings and at the Festival of Native Arts. They were disappointed in FNA as the vendors were stationed in the Woods center instead of in the Great Hall. They felt that this disrupted the traditional cultural aspects of the event. She also reported on progress with the 4-Mile sober camp/culture camp project.

Willie Lord: Reported that the Alaska Native Veteran’s Association have obtained funding and are in the process of having manufactured eight statues to commemorate and honor the Territorial Guard members who served in an all-volunteer force during WWII. These people were never paid for their service to our nation and in fact only just recently were they awarded veteran status and benefits. Many of them have already passed on. Their families can now request headstones to honor their service. One of these statues will be placed here in Nenana, at the Alaska Native Veteran’s Honor Bridge. There will be a dedication ceremony June 6^th. This marks D-Day, as well. NNC is paying for the costs of transport. Another statue will be placed in Delta Junction, on the Purple Heart Trail there. Willie also reported on their efforts to create a flag with the Nenana Alaska Native Veteran’s logo. Togeltele has paid for a tailor to sew this flag. They are also working to redesign the flag pole, to have it lit at night when the national flag is flying as well as to be able to lower the state flag on state occasions without dipping the national flag as well.

Walter reported on the Care-givers training he attended. He said that they learned a lot about diet, diabetes, grief, and other issues vital for people caring for the ill and dying. He said that there were trainees from all over the Interior including Tanana, Kaltag, Galena, and Tanacross.

Tim: Reiterated the schedule for set-up and training for Health Fair volunteers and reminded people planning to have blood work to do a 12 hour fast. There will be a judging for Health Fair door banners at the school Monday at 1:30 P.M. Winners will get a Wii party. There will be a Passover/Seder celebration Wednesday, April 8^th, 6:30 P.M. at St. Mark’s Parrish Hall. Movie night at NCPS, 10^th April, at 7 P.M.; they will be viewing Bolt. Don’t forget the Here Comes the Sun Fun Run/Walk May 9^th. There will be one mile and five K divisions.

Bonnie: Ice Watch Picnic 29 April, Noon, at the Ice Watch Tower. The Senior’s new van is back in service again.

Tae Kwan Doh fund-raiser tournament Saturday, April 25^th, 9 A.M. – about 2 P.M. at Nenana School. This is also the day the school is having its annual auction.

OPEN FLOOR FOR COMMENTS /QUESTIONS/DISCUSSION: None                                                                         

ADJOURNMENT: 2:15 P.M.

Nenana Wellness Coalition
MINUTES

March 24, 2009

The Nenana Wellness Coalition is an alliance of representatives from various organizations, government agencies, community groups and individuals that meets weekly to discuss, evaluate, coordinate, consolidate, celebrate and help implement plans for improving the wellness and quality of life in Nenana Alaska.
We had a total of 27 participants today, including: Adam & White, his wife and their three daughters, Billy James, Tim & Carl Horn, Larry Jensen, Virginia Young, Art & Terry Thompson, Bonnie Reed, Bill & Rebecca Troxel, Maryellen Robinson, Kat McElroy, David Poppe, Hilary Houghton, Miles Martin, Felicia Musick, Paul & Merrily Verhagen, Mike Anderson, Gloria Johnson and Mike and Ester Smith. We had moose, mushroom and barley soup with mixed green salad, cheese and crackers, raisins and nuts and home-made cookies for lunch.

WELCOME and READING OF MISSION STATEMENT: By this week’s chairperson, Tim Horn.

PRAYER was followed by the PLEDGE OF ALLEGIENCE.

PRESENTATION OF AGENDA AND CALL FOR MODIFICATIONS: There were no additions to the
original agenda.

APPROVAL OF MINUTES: Minutes were submitted electronically to the WIN e-list as
well as posted to the WIN link at www.railbelt.com

INTRODUCTION OF GUESTS: Introductions were made all around and everyone was welcomed.

SPEAKERS/TOPICS

Preparing for the Unexpected - Paul Verhagen lead a short introductory discussion
regarding disaster preparedness. He cited specific local examples of disasters our
community has experienced. He suggested planning for the future, educating ourselves and others, capitalizing on our experiences to prepare our community to deal proactively with future problems. He cited the example of the 1918/1919 flu pandemic which devastated Nenana and other villages in Interior Alaska. All the experts agree that the world will experience future pandemics as well. It is important that as individuals and communities, we take the responsibility to prepare for emergencies such as these.

In the above scenario, Paul spoke of how the pandemic would set into motion other
dynamics that would stress our response ability: people would become fearful for
their own and their family’s personal safety and may elect to isolate at home to
avoid potential infection. Thus, essential services would slow and creep to a halt.
This would create food shortages. Medical issues would become problematic as EMT
responses were taxed beyond their ability to respond adequately. The solution is to
get people interested in planning and preparing now, in advance. He used as an
example the information available now online from Red Cross instructing people how
to deal with the ash from the eruptions of Mt. Redoubt.

Mike and Ester Smith presented on current resources available. Mike said that FEMA
already has a CERT program. CERT = Community Emergency Response Training. He used as an example the two bridges that are primary routes to supply Nenana. The highway bridge is over 40 years old. Alaska has 12 thousand earthquakes a year; this is 30 earthquakes a day. Every year we have at least one earthquake with a magnitude over
7.0. Every 13 years we have one with a magnitude greater than 8.0. What are the
odds that a quake could damage our bridge enough to make transportation impossible?

How long would transportation be impeded? What resources do we have organized to
respond to this scenario? The railroad bridge is even older, dating back to the
early 1920’s. How great a jolt would be required to knock it out of commission? We
should all be asking these questions and examining our response.

In the above emergency, we could reasonably expect to be affected for several
months. During that time, we would need to know: Who has boats and is able to ferry
food and other essential supplies from the far side of the river where the highway
would end if the bridge went out. Who has vehicles and the wherewithal to supply
other communities down the highway: Anderson, Clear, Healy, the Park, Cantwell,
etc.? What emergency communications system do we have in place?

Tim interjected that Carl Horn is a certified ham radio operator and is always
willing to instruct people interested in learning how to use that system for
communication purposes. Discussion ensued regarding how our community experienced
and attempted to deal with communication systems failure during our recent flood
and the wild fire two years ago.

Mike talked about basic safety information that every family should know to be
prepared and able to respond to earthquake, fire, flood. Maybe 5 % of families and
individuals do forward think these issues and are prepared. Miles pointed out that
Nenana has a disaster/emergency response plan; it may need to be updated. Adam
White pointed out that during the wildfire, initially many hours were spent just
identifying on the map where inhabited structures were located. Basic signage on
roads would be helpful, along with a master list of who lives where. There are
people in our community who, for various reasons, do not want others to know where
they live. This adds to the challenge of collecting such information.

Mike suggested that we initiate classes to help prepare our community for
emergency/disaster response. Basic topics such as CPR/First Aid, Fire Safety, Water
Sanitation/Conservation, Food Storage, Energy Efficiency, Earthquake Safety and
Community Clean-up and Safety would be topics our people may be interested in
learning. It was pointed out that WIN and the Community Safety/ Village Pride
meetings are already in place and in small ways providing such information, so
perhaps what we need to do is formalize the process.

Ester provided handouts she downloaded from the internet, including:
bio-terrorism/bomb blast response, earthquake, snowstorm, fire escape plan, family
emergency communication plan, disinfection of water, 72 hour plan and 72 hour
emergency food kit, 3 month food supply, and one year food acquisition and storage
plans, among others. She encourages everyone to explore these and other issues
online and to obtain the information needed to help our family and community to be
safe and able to respond to any given emergency. Ester suggested that people always
have a bag at the door prepared for emergency departure that would include copies
of important papers, winter gear, comfort items for family members, and any other
necessary gear or supplies. Paul suggested that each of us take this issue to our
church family, business organization or other entity and encourage those people to
become interested and active participants in these efforts. He used as an example
of the power of organizational response his church’s regional warehouses which
create a system that allows for immediate global response when disaster strikes. He
suggested people look at the Provident Living web site for further information
about this: http://www.providentliving.org/channel/0,11677,8033-1,00.html

Kat mentioned that she and David read a book this =winter, When All Hell Breaks
Loose, by Cody Lundin. This book has much basic survival and disaster response
information. People interested in knowing more about this can get information from
his web site: http://www.codylundin.com/

Tim asked Felicia, who is our public health nurse, if she would be willing to be
our Envisioning Wellness speaker in August, addressing community response to a
pandemic and universal precautions. Felicia said she would be glad to do this and
suggested that we have a town-wide “emergency response party.” She said that in
case of pandemic, medical supplies would just be “dumped” onto communities and
each town or neighborhood would be expected to get the medicine into the community
as needed without further support. She said that doing this could be a dry run
exercise to determine efficiency and logistical organization for an infectious
outbreak. She suggested using flu shots as a vehicle to organize around and said
she could give M&M’s to those who do not with to take the flu shot. Interest was
expressed in this idea.

Questions were asked regarding how can we sustain interest over time in preparing
for community-wide emergency preparedness. It was suggested that WIN could have a
monthly portion similar to our Envisioning Wellness segments, dedicated to the
issue. This could help build and sustain support. Discussion ensued regarding ways
to implement these strategies. No one person was willing at this time to take lead
on the entire project but various individuals were willing to take on smaller
portions of the whole.

WELLNESS THOUGHT: Expect the best; prepare for the worst. USA Folk Saying

UPDATES/ANNOUNCEMENTS: None

OPEN FLOOR FOR COMMENTS /QUESTIONS/DISCUSSION: None

ADJOURNMENT: 2:35 PM

Nenana Wellness CoalitionMINUTES

March 10, 2009

                            

The Nenana Wellness Coalition is an alliance of representatives from various organizations, government agencies, community groups and individuals that meets weekly to discuss, evaluate, coordinate, consolidate, celebrate and help implement plans for improving the wellness and quality of life in Nenana Alaska.

We had a total of 17 participants today, including: Terri Thompson, Kat McElroy, Leon McElroy, Aurora and Olivia McElroy-Ruchti, Laura Vance, Walter & Andrea Tommy, Gloria Johnson, Bonnie Reed, Bill & Rebecca Troxel with Aerin and Ethan Troxel, Tara, Miles Martin and Mike Anderson. We had cream of asparagus with ham and potato soup, pilot bread, Ritz crackers, cheddar cheese and raisins and pecans for lunch.

 

WELCOME and READING OF MISSION STATEMENT: By this week’s chairperson, Laura Vance.

 

PRAYER was lead by Bonnie Reed, followed by the PLEDGE OF ALLEGIENCE.

 

PRESENTATION OF AGENDA AND CALL FOR MODIFICATIONS: There were two additions to the original agenda.

 

APPROVAL OF MINUTES: Minutes were submitted electronically to the WIN e-list as well as posted to the WIN link at www.railbelt.com

 

INTRODUCTION OF GUESTS: Terri was welcomed and introductions made all around.

           

SPEAKERS/TOPICS

 

Nenana Health Fair—Rebecca reported that the next Health Fair planning meeting will be at 11 AM, Friday, March 13, at the Nenana City Library. The Ice Classic awarded 500 dollars per our request, which will defray the site fee to Alaska Health Fair, Inc. in Fairbanks. They will be providing the technicians and phlebotomists for the blood tests and lab work, which will be 7-8:30 AM. Susan is suggesting that people call her at the school to schedule blood draws to avoid a last minute rush on the morning of the event. Laura will cut a check and get it to Alaska Health Fairs, Inc. in Fairbanks tomorrow. We are working on confirmation of our presenters and will be finalizing the floor plan, the time line for posters and other last minutes details. Rebecca will be going to Fairbanks tomorrow and will be able to talk directly to Phyllis who has information and prizes for us. Rebecca will ask about vouchers for lab work. She will also coordinate with Kelvin at the school regarding set-up.

 

Sober Camp/Culture Camp—Walter Tommy and Andrea have had carburetor and fuel tank problems with their truck, so have not been out to the property. They would like to organize a work party planning committee. Immediate concern would be creating a plan of action delineating a tasks list and itemizing what resources are currently available to the endeavor locally. They are focused right now on preparing to vend their crafts at the Festival of Native Arts as well as Tanana Chiefs’ Conference and native corporations annual meetings which all take place in March. Anyone interested in being part of this planning should contact them before April. Mike Anderson will access the canvas wall tent. Bill Troxel will talk to his church elders and the mission to ascertain how many hours a week they will allow him to devote to this project. Mike Anderson suggested we might want to talk to the people who inherited the old Tripod Hotel. Discussion ensued. Some questions generated in discussion regarding this: how many lots are there to that property? What price do they want? What condition are the units in at this point in time? Andrea suggested they try to set up a date in April for interested parties to view the property.

 

Freecycle—Scheduled for Saturday, March 14, beginning at 4 PM, at George Hall. We will have dinner and a movie: A Night at The Museum, which will begin at 6 PM. Soup and home-made bread will be provided. People are encouraged to bring a side dish if they are able. Bill suggests that as this is Spring Break we should think Spring House-cleaning and bring all of our un-needed or un-wanted items to George Hall for give-away. “Bring it all on down,” he says. Slowly, the concept of what a Free-cycle is all about has been percolating out into the community. Rebecca provided flyers which people took to post around town. Miles will contribute firewood again. Adam White will be announcing the event on the radio. People are encouraged to give personal invites to people they would like to see attend the event. If people need rides, they may call 832-1000.

 Community Garden—Miles said that he has been talking to Brent Mitchel about the berries and fruit trees that were planted on acreage at the old TCCC site. Although he and his wife have moved from the site, Brent is still interested in helping to care for these items as a “community garden” project and would like for other people to involve themselves as well. Miles and Brent are going to write a proposal to present to the city council to have that piece of land set aside for community garden use. The concern is that if the city were to lease or sell the site, our community would lose the benefit of this experimental garden. Miles has talked to the mayor about this idea, who has encouraged them to put forward a proposal.  Miles and Brent will generate the proposal and then bring it to WIN for community input from others who have been active in the community garden. Miles also asked if anyone is interested in going together on making a seed order for spring planting. Kat said that she and David are preparing a seed order. Tara asked if she could also be involved with this. Tara mentioned that she has a friend who makes “seed balls” with wildflower seeds and mud which can be just tossed out to scatter a variety of wild grass and flower seeds.WELLNESS THOUGHT: May your words be always sweet and tender, for someday you might have to eat them. Anonymous

UPDATES/ANNOUNCEMENTS:

Laura: Railbelt is busy with grant proposals for FY 2010. We have a family systems training tomorrow, which will be facilitated by Wendy Arundale, PhD. Laura and Liz Reeves will begin their last Rural Human Services training for the year, the last week of March and the first week of April.

Andrea: Festival of Native Arts is Thurs., Fri., and Saturday nights, march 19-21, at the Great Hall at UAF, 6 PM – Midnight. She mentioned that Carol Gallo has been dealing with some health/medical issues. She also mentioned that they’ve been talking to Ray Fox and Patty about starting an artisan’s guild, to support one another as local artists and towards their goal of creating a local vending venue and opportunities.  

Bonnie: Said that Bruce Boschert is back after having surgery in Seattle. The Senior’s new bus has broken down so for the time being they are using their old van. The 9^th Army band will be playing at Nenana school at 1:45 PM on March 16^th. Also at Noon on the 16^th, the Senior Center will be having their St. Patrick’s Day luncheon.

Mike Anderson: Community dinner next Tuesday, the 17^th, at 5 PM at NSLC.

Rebecca: Don’t forget Health Fair meeting at the library on Friday at 11 AM. Free-cycle on Saturday at Tribal hall, 4 PM. On the 27^th, Tae Kwan Doh is doing a Pizza Fund-raiser; Virginia Brown has point on this. People can order pizzas delivered. They are raising money to take the Tae Kwan Doh teams to tournament in Washington State. Lori Brooks is organizing a 5 K Run May 9^th in Nenana, tentatively entitled the Here Come The Sun Fun Run. She is soliciting input from interested parties. Lastly, the Nenana Patchers are working on a quilt for Catherine Marks.

Bill: Will be gone to a conference in Palmer next week. Also he has started seminary classes, much bookwork and writing!!!! Food Box delivery the 21^st out of the Senior Center, the Troxel’s will be spearheading this month.

Terri: She and her daughter really enjoyed having a booth at the Tripod Days celebration this weekend at the Civic Center. “It was a good experience.”

Tara: Nothing to add.

Miles: Is interested in going on a seed order.

Kat: Is having a hard time finding a treatment bed for one of our local people. Feels frustrated because the person is an elder and is medically fragile and very vulnerable to being taken advantage of by people he drinks with. Mike suggested seeing if the Nenana Native Council would allow him to use the Safe House so he could get sober here in Nenana. Mike says he would make regular visits to the Safe House to help keep the drinkers away. Bill Troxel and Walter agreed they would help to see this happened. Kat said she would call Robin at the Council to see if this is a possibility. What we are seeing is a kind of elder abuse.

   

 OPEN FLOOR FOR COMMENTS /QUESTIONS/DISCUSSION: None                                                                         

ADJOURNMENT: 1:35 PM

Nenana Wellness CoalitionMINUTES 

March 3, 2009

The Nenana Wellness Coalition is an alliance of representatives from various organizations, government agencies, community groups and individuals that meets weekly to discuss, evaluate, coordinate, consolidate, celebrate and help implement plans for improving the wellness and quality of life in Nenana Alaska. 

There were 10 in attendance today, including: Bonnie Reed, Kat McElroy, Tim Horn, Merrily & Merry Verhagen, Barbara Carson, Gloria Johnson, Tara, Miles Martin, and Maryellen Robinson. We enjoyed beef stew with vegetables, mixed greens salad, pilot bread, nuts & raisins for lunch.

 

WELCOME followed by the READING OF MISSION STATEMENT: By this week’s chairperson, Tim Horn

 

PRAYER: Was lead by Merrily Verhagen, followed by recitation of the PLEDGE OF ALLEGIENCE

 

PRESENTATION OF AGENDA AND CALL FOR MODIFICATIONS: There was one addition to the agenda

 

APPROVAL OF MINUTES: Minutes were submitted to the WIN e-list and posted electronically at the WIN link on www.railbelt.com by Kat.

 

INTRODUCTION OF GUESTS: There were no guests today.       

 

SPEAKERS/TOPICS

Indoor Air Policy:  Maryellen Robinson requested help from WIN members; she is soliciting ideas for help formulating and implementing a poll for local businesses to ascertain current formal and informal policies regarding smoking and indoor air quality. Maryellen also reported that she will be presenting to the 3^rd and 4^th grade classes at Nenana School about indoor air and the dangers of 2^nd hand smoke. She requested judges for a  t-shirt design contest. It was suggested she might want to make up a short quiz for the kids about indoor air policy and the dangers of 2^nd hand smoke to provide them with information to use in their designs. Discussion ensued regarding strategies for providing education about these risks to the community at large without alienating individuals who engage in tobacco use or frightening children whose parents continue to smoke. Merrily said she would appreciate help articulating indoor air policy for Kristi’s Quisine.

 

Plant Medicine: Kat provided lard; she and Tim both brought in crock-pots. Many small jars and tins were assembled. Tara brought dried herbs. Mike allowed us to melt the lard in a pan on his stove. We then poured the melted lard over the crushed herbs in the two crock-pots and left them on high setting to heat while Tara spoke to us about medicinal herbs and how to prepare various medicines. See attachments for the hand-out she put together for this presentation. We made a lavender/mullein salve which will be good for skin rashes and bug bites. The second salve was arnica and alder and would be good for muscle aches or reducing bruises.  Tara explained that you can make an oil based salve simply by pouring the oil over the herbs and putting it in a sunny window or behind the stove to stay warm. Strain the herbs out and add vitamin E or poplar buds to prevent spoilage. Lard, beef tallow, caribou or bear fat can all be used. Coconut oil can be used as well as any other vegetable oils. You can use olive oil and add melted bee’s wax to solidify the salve.

An infusion is when you pour hot water onto an herbal and let it soak. A decoction is a stronger medicine, usually made from harder parts of the plant such as roots or bark. Boil the plant material in water until you reduce it to half by volume. A tincture is using alcohol, vinegar or glycerin to extract the alkaloids from plant material.

She explained that there are really two ways of looking at/preparing plant medicine. Some people use the scientific method and are measuring carefully and exactly. Others are more informal. She subscribes to the latter method. She explained that the medicinal qualities of plants are all different depending on the size of the plant,  what time of year they are harvested, what parts of the plant you use, where the plant was growing in relationship to the sun, the environment in which it grows and placement/location of companion plants. A rule of thumb she uses, medicine is stronger in leaves and stems during summer and the day time; it is stronger in the roots during spring and fall and in the night time.

She gave us the names/authors of several books she uses and would recommend for people who want to learn more about medicinal plants. Miles suggested that Darcia could maybe get these books for the community if we asked her to do so.

 

Discovering Wild Plants-Alaska, Western Canada & the Northwest by Janice J. Schofield

 

Wise Woman Herbal Healing Wise by Susun S. Weed

 

Medicinal Plants of the Mountain West by Michael Moore

 

Tara explained various ways to harvest and dry herbs. Some, like leaves, you can just put into bags and hang them to dry. Others, like berries or buds, need to be put onto trays and spread out to air dry. She suggested avoiding direct sunshine as it will leach out the medicine. She spoke at length regarding the properties of dandelion which is good for liver, gall bladder, and appendix and as a general tonic. The roots have the main medicine but leaves and stems are also medicinal. You can eat the leaves raw or make tea. You can make a tincture with the blossoms. They are high in vitamin A and C.

 

Tara gave us lots of information about the medicinal uses of various plants.

 

Plantain: the mother of plants, used as a poultice or salve for cuts, rashes, itches, bug bites, burns, ulcers, good at getting rid of infections, draws out splinters, stingers, and puss, soothing and healing for inflamed stomach tissue and ulcers.

  

Dandelion: Dandelion Root is considered to be a supreme liver tonic. Drink infusion daily when you have bile duct swelling, indigestion, cholesterol-based gall stones, or hepatitis. 80 percent of patients treated with dandelion root in Chinese hospitals recovered from appendicitis with no surgery. It is a tonic for pancreas, stomach, circulatory and lymph systems and an appetite stimulant, a diuretic and urinary system restorative. Dandelion Leaf is good in salad or as a potherb! Used as lymph and circulatory stimulant and as a digestive bitter. Dandelion Flowers used for soups or you can make wine. Relieves pain: back aches, headaches, neck aches, stomach aches, cramps, etc.

 

Chamomile (Pineapple Weed)   For new mothers and babies: to stimulate milk flow, start baby digestion, and tonify the uterus. Soothing for irritated skin, muscles, headaches, and sore eyes. Relieves insomnia and calms irritable children. Ideal for soothing babies with tooth or ear aches.

 

Arnica:  Caution: Use EXTERNALLY only. It reduces, prevents, and heals bruises, relieves pain in muscles and joints.  Use when movement causes pain.

 

Labrador Tea: Caution: Do NOT tincture. Use as a tonic for almost anything.  Relieves digestive distress from eating too much.  It has many antibacterial and antiviral properties when prepared as a tea. Labrador tea has a narcotic toxin called ledol in it.  The ledol is not extracted by water, but it is extracted by alcohol, so use Labrador tea only as a tea and don’t eat the plant itself.

 

Alder:  miracle tree. Alder kills infections, dissolves tumors or slows their growth. Reduces inflammation, digestive bitter (stimulant), use as a general tonic

 

Spruce: Use as a tonic tea. Spruce relieves colds, coughs, and congestion. Inhale steam to break up serious congestion. Use sap to seal and disinfect wounds. Use topically for muscle pain, arthritis, and rheumatism.

 

Willow: Contains salycin, just like aspirin, but unlike aspirin it has the perfect cocktail of other components to sooth and protect your stomach. Use it as anti-inflammatory topically and internally, for headaches, muscle aches, stomach aches, or any other kind of aches, including rheumatism.

 

WELLNESS THOUGHT:  The longest journey begins with the first step. Traditional Chinese Proverb. Watch out for that first step. It’s a doozey! Katie Baker

 

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OPEN FLOOR FOR COMMENTS/QUESTIONS/DISCUSSION: None

 

ADJOURNMENT: 2:25 P.M.