Railbelt Mental Health & Addictions

Nenana Wellness CoalitionMINUTES 

April 28, 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: Maryellen Robinson, Andrea Tommy, Carl & Tim Horn, Felicia Musick, Bonnie Reed, Mary Alexander, Miles Martin, Rebecca & Bill Troxel, Laura Vance, Kat McElroy, Ester Smith & Carol Gallo. We enjoyed lasagna, potato salad, mixed greens salad, sliced cheese with crackers and home-made chocolate brownies for lunch. 

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

INTRODUCTION OF GUESTS: No new-comers today.

           

 

SPEAKERS/TOPICS:

 Community Needs Assessments: Laura Vance passed out Community Needs Assessments she is administering as part of her Rural Human Services practicum. She will use them to help develop her RHS project. Her goal is to have 15 completed assessments by the first week of May. The needs assessment was regarding activities for women in Nenana. She will take assessments to Shauna at Head Start as well as to Robin at Nenana Native Council. It was suggested that she also take them to the Civic Center for Ice Classic workers as well as to the school for teachers. 

Clean Indoor Air poster/t-shirt design contest: Maryellen Robinson brought t-shirts she has had made up using the winning design by 3^rd grade student Breanna Nelson. She has them in various colors, sizes and formats. Everyone agreed that the t-shirts look good. She will take them to the school to show the 3^rd and 4^th grade students. The shirts will be used as tobacco education give-away items.

  

Swine Flu & Yous: Felicia Musick, our public health nurse, gave us a brief overview about flu in general. It is caused by a virus which is a strand of RNA that has to get into a cell to replicate itself. For this reason, flu viruses tend to be species specific. It has to match up with the host DNA top replicate itself. However, pigs can get avian flu and human flu. This has happened in the current round of swine flu for which Mexico City is apparently ground zero. This flu has mutated enough that it is now spreading by human to human contact. Any time you have close quarters, you have a more rapid spread of a virtus. Epidemiologists are speculating that it appears more deadly in Mexico than in USA because of the much denser population in Mexico City; the task is to determine how many people are actually infected compared to how many people die. The ratio would determine actual lethality.

The old flu shots are not effective for this strain of flu virus. Symptoms are usually: sore throat, a cough, muscle aches, headache, and fever. Sometimes one would also experience vomiting and nausea. If you suspect you have the flu, they are recommending that you call your health care provider rather than going into a clinic or hospital. Tell the health care provider that you are experiencing flu-like symptoms. This allows them to do a throat culture to determine if you are infected, and will help prevent unintended contamination of others. Preventative measures suggested, as always, are: frequent hand-washing, keep a six foot distance from people that may be infectious, use of surgical face masks, “if it is wet and it is not yours, don’t touch it.” Remedies include: stay at home, plenty of rest, take fluids (lots of fluids) and use of saline solutions. Taraflu is prescribed as an antiviral for treatment as is Relenza which is a preventative nasal spray. Anti-virals are most effective is used within 48 hours of contact. Viruses don’t like hot weather so summer is our ally.  The virus can only last a few hours on surfaces. A quarter cup of bleach to a gallon of water can be used to disinfect surfaces commonly used such as door knobs, phone receivers, light switches and key-boards. Florence Nightingale was right: fresh air and sunshine really help. Hang out the bedding. Open the windows. As always, taking simple, common-sense precautions, is the best preventative.

 

Sustainable Enery/Chena Hot Springs Tour: Paul Verhagen was unable to be with us today but his daughter Ester was able to provide some information. She is willing to take point on organizing a field trip to Chena Hot Springs to talk with Bernie Karl and to tour his sustainable energy production facilities at the hot springs. Kat volunteered to assist with telephonic organization. It was agreed to keep this item on the agenda for further discussion and organization, to determine when would be a good time for the most people to take a tour.

 Green-house Design: Carol Gallo has a design for dome-shaped, underground, green-houses. They would be in large circles, each connected to six others by spokes, tunnels. In areas where you cannot dig ten feet deep due to ground water, they would be bermed up. The earth provides insulation. Her design includes enclosures for fruit trees, produce, livestock, and bees. Andrea mentioned that Walter is visiting his friend down in the Delta area who lives in an earth house constructed of dirt and hay and heated with a barley-burning heat stove. Miles said that he knew a woman in the Manley Hot Springs area that built her house of willow, visqueen and earth, using less than one hundred dollars of materials, which got the highest R-rating of any structure in that area and is still inhabited now, 30 years later. Kat mentioned the young lady at the Sustainable Agriculture conference last  month in Fairbanks from Chickaloon who showed slides of a banked earth greenhouse they had constructed using stacked broken car tires for walls. It had an arctic entrance and maintained above freezing temperatures year round. Carol will continue bringing information regarding this project.  

WELLNESS THOUGHT:  Together we can do that which none of us could accomplish alone.  USA Folk Saying

 

UPDATES/ANNOUNCEMENTS:

 

Kat: Leon will be returning to Nenana for 8^th grade.

 

Ester: Is looking for a 3 bedroom house in the Nenana area to rent.

 

Tim: Don’t forget the Ice Watch Picnic tomorrow at Noon at the watch tower.

 Prom is May 2^nd, Saturday night.

Here Comes the Sun Fun Run is scheduled for Saturday, May 9^th. There will be a one mile walk along A and C and First and Fourth Streets and a 5 K run beginning at Ninth & K. Streets. For further information, contact Lori Brooks at 832-5400, ex. 221.

Spring Concert will be May 13, 6:30 P.M. at NCPS.

The Village Pride/Community Safety Meeting will be at George Hall May 14, starting at 6:30 P.M..

May 15 is Clean-up Day.

Graduation will be the 17^th, starting at 2 P.M. at the school.

May 18 the Bush Vet will be here.

The 20^th will be the last day of school.

 

Felicia: As always, will be here the 2^nd Monday of the month.

 

Bonnie: Vickie Moyle of the Senior Center just got back from vacation. Bonnie will be gone next week to Nebraska. Google “Carhenge” to see what they are up to there.

 

Miles: Suggests doing a tour of the area out by the airport that the mayor suggested could be used for a community garden. Also says that he talked to Marilyn Duggar who indicated there would be no objection if we used the empty lots by St. Mark’s Parrish Hall to expand the existing community garden.

 

Rebecca: She and Bill will be gone next week from the 5^th through the 8^th. She estimates there were 60 attendees at the Freecycle Saturday night. All untaken clothing and household items were transported by the Verhagen’s to the Women’s Shelter in Fairbanks afterwards. Bill will be in Glenallen to perform a wedding 13-16^th.

The next Freecycle is scheduled for the Saturday of River Days weekend. This will be our second annual. It will be at the Troxel’s. Bill has invited the Minnema family, asked them to bring their instruments, and suggests that everybody else ought to bring their instruments as well.

 

Laura: Everyone will be gone from the RMHA Nenana office the first week of May to attend trainings except Kat who will “hold down the fort.”

  

OPEN FLOOR FOR COMMENTS/QUESTIONS/DISCUSSION: None

 

 

ADJOURNMENT: 2:15-ish

Nenana Wellness Coalition
Minutes
April 14, 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 fifteen in attendance today, including: Tim Horn, Bonnie Reed, Mary Ellen Robinson, Paul & Merrily Verhagen, Kat McElroy, Bill & Rebecca Troxel, Adam White, Wilbur Brown, Jessie Harvill, Miles Martin, Mike Smith and Mike Anderson. We had baked chicken, potato salad, mixed green salad and cheese & crackers, and raisins and nuts for lunch.
WELCOME followed by the READING OF MISSION STATEMENT: By this week’s chairperson.
PRAYER was lead by Bonnie Reed, followed by the PLEDGE OF ALLEGIENCE
PRESENTATION OF AGENDA: There was one change to the agenda.
APPROVAL OF MINUTES: Minutes were sent electronically by Kat and posted on the WIN link at the Railbelt web site, www.railbelt.com
INTRODUCTION OF GUESTS: Wilbur and Jessica from the Alaska Tobacco Control Alliance.
SPEAKERS/TOPICS
HAM Radio-Emergency Communications—Carl Horn explained to use some of the basics about how radios work, what radio waves are, those things that impede radio waves from being received and what promotes reception. He did some history of radio, with a focus on the various types of radios and how they are used, including AM, FM, and short wave. He talked about Ham radio specifics. Nenana, he noted, has the highest numbered of licensed ham operators per capita of any other community in the state. Ham radio operators can patch you through for long-distance contact anywhere around the world. He described the process by which one may become a licensed Ham operator. Miles interjected with some comments regarding his experiences becoming a licensed operator. Carl said that the test itself was not that difficult. He is willing to teach people who are interested in becoming Ham operators. He gave several examples of how Ham operators can help when mainstream communications systems fail and why it is a good idea to have many Ham operators in any given community. He passed out material that explained about Ham use. One described how Ham operators were an important communications link between Alaska and the rest of the world during the infamous Easter Earthquake in 1964. He noted that dozens of Ham operators from around the state check in on a special frequency every day at 8:30 A.M. to make sure that the emergency Ham frequency is up and running.

Quit Line, Tobacco Cessation—Maryellen introduced her guests, Wilbur Brown and Jessie, from the Quit Line in Anchorage, who are in Nenana to interview Athabascan Elders abut traditional cultural values and attitudes regarding tobacco use. The Quit Line people gave a very nice presentation on their program, answered questions and passed out some literature. You can find out more about the Alaska Tobacco Control Alliance at their web site: http://www.alaskatca.org/index.htm

WELLNESS THOUGHT: When I look into the future, it’s so bright it burns my eyes.
Oprah Winfrey
Other Announcements-
*Book Fair is going on at the school all week this week; Bingo For Books/Family Reading Night is on Thursday, April 16th, from 6 to 7:30 p.m.

*The 7th through 12th grade band members at the school will be going to the Regional Music Festival in Anchorage Thursday through Saturday (arriving back late Saturday night/early Sunday morning). A spring concert is reportedly being planned for mid-May.

*Secret Sister luncheon (for those who are participating in this activity) will be held on Sunday, April 19th at the Mondo at 2 p.m.

*The Baha’is of Nenana will be hosting a celebration of the Holy Day, the First Day of Ridvan on Monday, April 20th, at the Horns’ home (707 Market Street -the Purple House), beginning with dinner at 6 pm., followed by a program of prayers, songs, stories and games.

*Brent Mitchel will be presenting at the next Wellness Coalition luncheon on agricultural projects in Nenana.  We talked some about the various proposals that are circulating — across from the airport, in town, etc. A point was made that the land across from the airport could not have any fruit trees or sheds, etc. be planted/installed (Adam White mentioned this — he is going to try to attend next week).

*Tae Kwon Do Tournament in Nenana sponsored by the local TKD school, will be on Saturday, April 25th (starting in the morning until early afternoon — specific times weren’t known). The school is having an auction at the same time in the red building across from the Rec Center. Also, there will be a rummage sale in the Rec Center at the same time/same day, put on by one of the student groups (leadership team?). The Freecycle will be held that afternoon, 5 p.m. at the Tribal Hall (featuring baked potatoes).

*Ice Classic will have its next meeting on Monday, April 27th, usually starting at 5:30 p.m.

*Mara Bacsujlaky will be presenting the next Envisioning Wellness topic on Tuesday, April 28th.

*Ice Watch picnic will be held down by the riverside on Wednesday, April 29th at noon.

*Prom will be held on Saturday, May 2nd (with Grand March just before).

*Here Comes the Sun Fun Walk/Run on Saturday, May 9th, starting at 10 a.m.

*Kristy’s Quisine will be reopening on Friday, May 15th.

*Clean Up Day scheduled for Friday, May 15th.

*Graduation will be on Sunday, May 17th at 2 p.m.

*Bush Vet will be in town on Monday, May 18th — call Pam Samash for appointments.

Also, it was reported that about 70 people attended the Community Easter potluck on Easter Sunday, and that there are plans to make this a yearly event. A suggestion had been made to the Troxel’s that they also start having the annual Thanksgiving potluck that hasn’t been held for several years, so plans are being made for that as well.

About 35 people attended the Easter Program sponsored by the LDS Church on Sunday evening — it was well received. Merrily also mentioned that there seems to be quite a lot of interest in starting up a community choir and having fun, safe parties for youth, so both are in the works.

People also reported enjoying the Passover Seder hosted by the McDonald family last Wednesday — about 34 or so people attended.

The Quit Line people who attended gave a very nice presentation on their program, answered questions and passed out some literature. Maryellen could give you more details on that.

OPEN FLOOR FOR OTHER COMMENTS /QUESTIONS/DISCUSSION: None
ADJOURNMENT: 2:00 P.M.

Nenana Wellness CoalitionMINUTESApril 7, 2009The 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 eleven in attendance today, including: Virginia Young, Carl Horn, Bonnie Reed, Bill Troxel, Mary Alexander, Kat McElroy, Miles Martin, Walter & Andrea Tommy, Maryellen Robinson, and Mike Smith. We enjoyed pasta with chicken and mixed vegetables, green salad, sliced apples and cheese with Ritz crackers and raisins with walnuts for lunch.

 

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

 

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

 

PRESENTATION OF AGENDA AND CALL FOR MODIFICATIONS: There were no modifications of the agenda.

 

APPROVAL OF MINUTES: Minutes were submitted by Kat to the WIN e-list and posted on the WIN link at www.railbelt.com with no suggested changes or addendums.

 

INTRODUCTION OF GUESTS: There were no guests today.

           

SPEAKERS/TOPICS

 

Clean Indoor Air—Maryellen Robinson showed us a jar which contained a year’s accumulation of tar the equivalent of what would collect in a human’s lungs if they smoked 20 cigarettes a day for one year. This is one of the visuals she has for talking to people about tobacco use. She handed out brochures that explained about the dangers inherent in 2^nd-hand smoke. She also described what is being termed “Third-and smoke” from the residue that collects on clothing or in the walls, furniture and carpets in any area where tobacco products are smoked which can then be transferred environmentally to others. She mentioned that 2^nd-hand tobacco smoke is considered to be a Class A carcinogen and contains over 50,000 chemicals. She said that the students at the Health Fair on Wednesday were very interested in the information she provided about smokeless tobacco, very receptive to being educated about the potential dangers of how chew or dip affects your body.  Lastly, she announced that we would have visitors from the state next Tuesday attending our WIN meeting. They are especially interested in meeting with Athabascan elders who would be willing to talk to them about traditional attitudes, values and behaviors regarding tobacco use.

 

Nenana Health Fair—Bill Troxel reported that Phyllis Tugman had commented that in Fairbanks the Health Fairs usually do not have as presenters as our Nenana Health Fairs, and that all of the presenters are professionals. She was impressed with the number of presenters we had (32 educational stations) and with the number of those that were community members (50% of them) were organized by WIN and motivated by a desire to improve the well being of their own community. Thank you notes were sent out yesterday to our volunteers. Names were drawn and prizes were awarded to those volunteers who won. Prizes included passes to the Alaska Club and gift certificates to Sunshine Foods, The Monderosa, Coghill’s Store and Workshop Acres.  The elementary school students will be decorating their classroom doors to depict what they learned at the Health Fair which will be judged on Friday. The winning classroom will be awarded a Wii party.

 

Community Garden—Kat McElroy said that they have received seeds they ordered from Johnny’s Seeds, Turtle Tree Seeds and Nichols Seeds. There are organic, heritage and open pollinated seeds primarily and the hope is to be able to collect seeds at the end of the season for use next year. Miles has the Toyo stove repaired and in place in his greenhouse. We will be starting the seeds. Anyone wishing to join is welcome. Miles is making his greenhouse available for people wanting to use it for their starts. He estimates he has room for about one hundred flats. Mike Anderson has also said that he will make the NSLC greenhouse available if needed. Virginia suggested May 1^st as a good time for starts to go into the greenhouses. We hope to have people keep records of what plants they started, under what conditions, where they were ultimately planted, what care they received such as fertilization, weeding, irrigation or hand-watered, etc. so that we can obtain data over time to document our efforts and the results thereof. Miles said that Jason has suggested that if we want acreage for an experimental agricultural station we look at the property across the highway from the airport landing strip. This land cannot be built upon as it is a designated approach to the landing strip and must be kept open. It has been brush-hogged and could be put into cultivation fairly easily. Miles suggested that we make a field trip to explore this possibility. Mary asked if anyone read the article in the News-miner about Locavores. She suggested that more and more people are becoming interested in sustainable agriculture and the concept of locally-produced food. She suggested that we need to look into a communal root cellar for cold-storage of foodstuffs we produce. She wondered if we could not partner with the school and develop curricula building upon the community garden efforts. She suggested that the NSLC would be an ideal venue for an expanded garden plot. Andrea asked if it could be possible to enlarge the garden plot behind the Meda Lord Center. There was more discussion regarding the lots next door to the Parrish Hall, by the current community garden plots, if we could get permission to bring these into cultivation, a sort of Adopt-a-lot. It was noted that we have local resources available to help instruct and guide our efforts including Virginia Young, the Minnemas, and the Spencers. Kat noted that much local knowledge has been lost over the years. This is an opportunity to bring that back into being.

WELLNESS THOUGHT:

Inch by inch, row by row, that’s the way our gardens grow.       Dave Mallet.

UPDATES/ANNOUNCEMENTS. 

Mike: Don’t forget the Easter musical at the old Corner Bar, Sunday 6:30 – 8:00 P.M. Also, it seems that after our discussions of last month, he has been sort of picked to spearhead the Community Emergency/Disaster Preparedness efforts. The first focus will be on food preparation and storage and a community emergency evacuation plan. He understands that Nenana has a community evacuation plan but no one is really aware of what that is, so it isn’t as useful as it could be.

Maryellen: There is a Tobacco Summit being held April 16^th and 17^th, in Fairbanks, at the Wedgewood. Registration is only $25.00. Movie night in Anderson is the evening of the 17^th, 7 – 9 P.M. Also, she will be in Bethel April 21-25 to complete the last educational units of her semester. She’ll be glad when it is over.

Bill: He is bald. We all know what that means. Don’t forget the Passover celebration on the 8^th. It will be at the Parrish Hall. Call Franceillia McDonald at 832-1006 to RSVP. Don’t forget Easter day pot luck at George Hall jointly hosted by Nenana Community and St. Mark’s churches, starting around 1:15 P.M. Also, they have a visitor who has volunteered to come to WIN and instruct us in how to purify drinking water using a car battery and table salt. We all agree we want to learn this!

Bonnie: City Council meeting at the Senior Center, 5:30, Thursday, April 9. On April 13 the public nurse will be in Nenana. Carl Horn will be speaking to us next week at WIN about ham radios and emergency communication. Lastly, Harriet Borst is back from her hospitalization and recuperation and everyone is very glad to see her.

Mary: Suggests we consider using the Meda Lord Center for WIN meetings during the summer. It is quiet there and we could get other residents interested in attending the meetings, she believes. We all agree this is an excellent idea.

Kat: Laura and Liz are back from their latest RHS training, which was two weeks long. She will e doing a Community Needs Assessment as part of her practicum and wants to utilize WIN to do this. She is thinking of focusing on women and health issues. Clara cow seems to be in labor, having regular contractions, and a calf is expected soon.

Virginia: Has the community roto-tiller. Mary suggests that we put documentation onto it regarding oil changes and other regularly needed maintenance.

Walter: Robert Charlie who runs the Old Minto Cultural Camp says that he is willing to advise and guide our efforts regarding 4-mile Slough Sober Camp/Culture Camp.

 OPEN FLOOR FOR COMMENTS /QUESTIONS/DISCUSSION: None                                                                         

ADJOURNMENT: 1:26 P.M.