President Liz Quinn opened our meeting with the Pledge, singing of My Country 'Tis of Thee.  John Walker led us in the prayer.  Great to see Ron Spratt back, also Pat Norry, Elinor Stolar, and Brian Nason who will soon be inducted as our newest member, replacing Johnathan Davis.- Brian works at the Ayrlawn Center of Bethesda YMCA. He is a native of Rhode Island and has been in DC area since 2002- first with the Arlington YMCA and now at Bethesda. He will be getting married in six weeks. Welcome Brian.  Jim Leder's wife, Pat is back home from the hospital and Jim Aylor's mother is also recovering at home.  We look forward to the return of both Jim's to our weekly meetings.

Announcements:

President Liz Quinn asked everyone to check the website calendar as well as their email for the list of forthcoming activities.  We have wonderful speakers and great luncheons at Tragara, but we are more than a luncheon club--your support of the activities is very important and keeps us in touch with the real purpose of being a Kiwanian.  It has been suggested that every member should participate in one or two of these events each month.  Contact Liz at webethemom@aol.com if you wish to participate in any of the following activities:  

Happy Dollars:

Liz Quinn- HD for Pat Norry returning following knee surgery and Ron Spratt.  Ben Schlesinger- HD for Pat Tiede for upgrading our calendar and maintaining our website.  Debbie Van Horn- HD for Pat Tiede and Ron Spratt.  Pat Tiede- HD for  Pat Norry and Brian Nason.  Jeanne Smith- HD for Brian Nason.  Pat Norry- HD for glad to be back. Bob Cressy- for upcoming Potomac Regional Conference of Capital District on Saturday, March 29.  Dick Ruprecht- HD for Brian Nason. John Walker- HD for Brian Nason.

SPEAKER:

Mindy Kursband an attorney formerly with Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine was introduced. She is a vegan now although she grew up eating meat, dairy, and eggs. A vegan diet has many benefits- no cholesterol, less saturated fats, and more fiber.  Vegan diets will help to lower cholesterol and triglycerides which should reduce the risk of heart disease.  Diet and genetics are risk factors for heart disease which someone in the audience paraphrased as our family genes and family recipes can indeed  be risk facts. She surprised our group by revealing that salmon has a high percentage of fat, that the omega oils in salmon are also found in certain nuts.  She passed around different vegan prepared foods- many of which are available in Giant or Safeway.  This was a  provocative talk which generated many questions from the audience.

Bill Pennington won the 50/50.

George Patterson, editor

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