Erin Dickerson’s Prayer
Today’s prayer is a combination of Irish blessings and prayers in honor of St. Patrick’s Day.
May God give you…for every storm, a rainbow; for every tear, a smile; for every care, a promise; and a blessing in each trial.
For every problem life sends, a faithful friend to share. For every sigh, a sweet song, and an answer to a prayer.
May the dreams you hold dearest be those which come true and the kindness you spread keep returning to you. May the strength of God pilot us, may the wisdom of God instruct us, may the hand of God protect us, may the salvation, O Lord, be always ours, this day and forevermore, Amen.
Trial Run for President Elect Paul Boeckman
Today we were treated (subjected?) to what it will be like for CNO President-Elect Paul Boeckman to run our meetings starting in October, 2024. President Joan Cordonnier could not make it today and she volunteered Paul to run today’s meeting.
Seriously, he did a great job, and he definitely puts a smile on your face with his style! I love it!
Announcements
- Tom Novak announced that in two weeks he needs volunteers to call people who have not yet renewed their flag subscriptions. Reach out to Tom to help. He said it will take about an hour of your time.
- Paul Boeckman announced that the egg stuffing for the annual community egg hunt will be on March 23, 2024, from 9 AM to 11 AM at St Leonard Franciscan Center. Come and help stuff the eggs and enjoy coffee and donuts. Sign up using the Member Calendar. The co-chairs for the event are Ashley Simeone and Emily Duke and we thank them for their hard work.
- Paul Boeckman announced that the annual community Egg Hunt will be held on March 30, 2024, at Oak Grove Park. There will be 8000 eggs distributed into multiple age group lanes and about 250 kids will pick them all up in about 5 minutes. Volunteers are needed the day of the event from 8:30 to 10:30 AM. sign up using the Member Calendar.
- Debe Dockins announced that the Oratorical Zone Contest will be held tonight (3/12/2024) and the regionals will be on April 9, 2024.
- Scott Langer thanked all the volunteers that made 78 children happy at the Tri-Star Basketball event last weekend.
- Jane Fiehrer announced that the 2024 Visual Arts contest is open. Let young people and parents of young people know about the contest for drawings and paintings. Details are on the website.
Adaptive Sports, Lisa Followay
Debe Dockins introduced Lisa Followay, the Founder, CEO and President of Adaptive Sports Ohio.
Lisa’s son Casey was born with spina bifida and she is very passionate about the rights of individuals with disabilities and is driven to use her experience, knowledge and training to make a difference for them in Ohio. Her vision is to see individuals with disabilities accessing adaptive sports and recreation in schools and communities across Ohio. Since 2009, she has developed and implemented community based and interscholastic adaptive sports serving more than 400 individuals with disabilities across the state.
Slides
The slide deck has more information than is listed in this article.
You can view the slide deck of the presentation here.
About Adaptive Sports Ohio
Adaptive Sports Ohio is a non-profit founded in 2009 that provides a variety of sports opportunities for those with physical disabilities. These disabilities include spinal cord injuries, spina bifida, amputee, cerebral palsy, scoliosis, and more. Of their athletes, 90% are everyday wheelchair users. Some athletes may have single amputation that allows them to move without a wheelchair.
Typical sports are “adapted” by adding a piece of equipment and/or modifying a playing rule.
Adaptive Sports programs are not the same as Special Olympics.
Mission
Adaptive Sports Ohio mission is to remove barriers to ensure that individuals with physical disabilities have a chance to play and utilize sport to elevate ability and empower futures.
Presentation
Lisa Followay said that they have helped over 400 individuals across Ohio. They have served people aged 5 to 70, but there are no limits based on age.
Her son (who is now 26) has spina bifida, which is a condition you are born with that is like a severe spinal cord injury. They originally lived in Indiana and had an adaptive sports program there.
Despite having a background in law and no experience with non-profits or sports, when her family moved to Ohio to be close to family, she felt compelled to start the program in Ohio. She is passionate about helping people with disabilities. She quickly realized it would be very difficult to get funds with so many programs competing for the same pool of money. Everyone understands hunger and knows there are escalating mental health challenges. She educates people to understand how important the gained self-esteem is from playing sports for the disabled population.
Lisa reminded us that disabilities can happen to any of us or a close family member at any time. The world is designed for those that can use both legs and arms. A child with a disability will have a challenging life.
She checked out the Special Olympics, but they were not a fit for her son’s goals and challenges.
Adaptive sports programs opened possibilities for her son, including activities like repelling and tennis. It changed her perspective. Instead of thinking about what he can’t do, she thought in terms of what he can do.
Her son was a very fast sprinter in the 60-meter wheelchair race.
Adaptive Sports Ohio partners with school districts and Beavercreek was the first in the Dayton area. So far, Lisa has worked with 13 school districts and Centerville is great to work with. The Centerville High School wheelchair basketball team is called the “Swerving Elks.” Last fall, the Centerville Washington Foundation awarded its community impact grant of $10,000 to Adaptive Sports Ohio. The funds were used to purchase a trailer to store and transport the specialized equipment.
A wheelchair basketball tournament was held last Saturday. Here is a video of the championship.
Even though most team sports start in middle school, Adaptive Sports Ohio starts helping kids in 1st grade to impact them early to help them developmentally and to Improve their self-esteem.
Disabled students have lots of opportunities. They just need someone to open the doors. There are scholarships available for disabled athletes at lots of colleges.
When these students play, they forget that they are different. She has seen entire stands empty after a game and everyone comes down to give all the athletes high fives.
There are 600 school districts in Ohio and Lisa thinks they should all be doing something to offer programs to those with disabilities.
Here is another video with a chance to hear directly from the athletes.
Why Adaptive Sports?
Lisa said we know the more sports a student plays the better they do in school. One of the first interscholastic programs was started in Maryland and it was a track team. All kids love wearing their school’s colors.
“A chance to play” is their primary focus and they use the statement all the time.
They know there are thousands of kids across Ohio that can benefit from their services.
Challenges for Disabled Athletes
Currently Adaptive Sports Ohio is helping 130 kids participate in school sports. They provide equipment and training for the students and their coaches. There are many things to learn, and it is expensive.
A typical athlete may have costs of about $100 for a good pair of running shoes to join a team. A racing chair is $4000. Adaptive Sports Ohio has built up an inventory of equipment. The children can try out different types of sports with their equipment to figure out what they like.
Thank You
Thank you, Lisa Followay, for educating us about how Adaptive Sports Ohio is empowering those with physical disabilities to give them a chance to play.
Welcome Guests
| Guest | Guest Of |
| Cindy Lowndes | Jean Pummill |
| Lisa Followay | Speaker |
New Member Readings and Inductions
| Name | Sponsor | 1st 2nd 3rd Reading or Induction |
| Cindy Lowndes | Suzanne Werts | 2nd Reading |
Happy Bucks
| Member | Reason |
| Paul Boeckman | Don Stafford’s daughter runs the Incarnation Fish Fry and last Friday it was again a great success. |
| Nancy Lehren | Her daughter has completed 18 months of treatment for breast cancer. |
| Debe Dockins | She spoke to Ralph Young last week. He celebrated his 99th birthday on 3/4/2024. He is being inducted into the Ford Oval of Honor at the Air Force base this summer. He says life just keeps getting better and better. |
| Charlie Goodwin | Heading to Antarctica this week. This will mean he has visited all seven continents. |
| Katie Calloway | Her son’s Destination Imagination team got 4th place in tournament. |
| Katie Calloway | She is the Destination Imagination coach for her daughter’s team and thankfully it is now over for this season. |
| Larry Lynde | Finally got his boot off after his ankle replacement. |
| Tom Novak | He said that 75% of flag subscriptions have been renewed which is a really good rate for this time of year. |
| Bob Collins | Happy to be at the meeting after five days in the hospital. |
| Bob Collins | Celebrating 60th Wedding Anniversary with Karen. |
| Tim Clemmer | Thank you to the social committee of Beth Duncan, Julie Rado, Sue Jessee, and Sarah Umbreit for a great adult egg hunt social last Friday. |
Sergeants at Arms
| Member | Infraction |
| Everyone who didn’t stand up pays a dollar. | Sergeant Nancy Lehren asked without explanation for one volunteer at each table to stand up. The rest were fined. |
| Bill Williams and Cadance Lowell | Handling the badge boxes even though they are not sergeants. |
| Scott Langer | He did not shine the bell for today. |
Membership Anniversaries
| Member | Joined | Years |
| Bob Glavin | March 12, 1993 | 31 |
| Steve Kohls | March 14, 2003 | 21 |
| Shane Wilken | March 14, 2003 | 21 |
| Julie Rado | March 18, 2021 | 3 |
Birthdays
| Morgan Schiffhauer | March 12 |
| Andrea Bublitz | March 14 |
| Gareth Dickey | March 14 |
| Vida McDowell | March 15 |
| Bob Foster | March 16 |
| Brian Nolan | March 16 |
| David Brookman | March 18 |
CNO Donations – Since 2013
Click here to see a summary of donations the club has made since 2013
Thank You Notes Received this week
No Thank You Notes received this week.