Waterloo Rotary Reporter (Jan 26, 2018)

January 29 Program

Luann Alemao is a 30 year veteran Family and Consumer Science professional, educator and national speaker. She is the recent recipient of the National Business Entrepreneur award for the American Association of Family and Consumer Sciences. Luann performs seminars across the country as well as private coaching for the individual. Luann is an author, created “Insightful Living” a one minute quality of life radio and blog show, writes a newspaper column for several business publications and a regular special guest on television. Luann is also the host and producer of “Get Fit” a news magazine cooking show for cable access. Luann develops and uses many healthy foods for the show, develops recipes and just has fun sharing the results.

she shares her philosophy “it is the little things that you do and chew that make the bigger difference” encouraging audiences to embrace a healthier lifestyle.

Luann embodies healthy living and is a visionary in her own community of Cedar Falls , Iowa. There she is an advocate and champion for the Cedar Valley Blue Zones Project. Luann was instrumental in serving on the leadership team and other committees, paving the way for Cedar Falls to be selected as a Blue Zones candidate city and helped lead to the city's certification. Through the Blue Zones Project, Luann developed community gardens. She promotes food diversity in the diet and meal planning through her food and nutrition education for adults and children.

Luann leads walking/ biking Moai community to establish walking and cycling teams in the area where they gather, bond and share as they participate in physical activity. Luann also helps direct the restaurant and nutrition teams in her metro area. Luann serves on the bike/ pedestrian advisory board in Cedar Falls to guide them through more walkability and bikeability. Luann’s own personal goal of visiting the original Blue zones ( Greece, Loma Linda, California, and Costa Rica) is exciting and offers reality to the passion she speaks about. Luann’s own personal stories of Blue Zones happenings create excitement for other cities and touch individuals on a personal level. Her experiences with her city’s Blue Zones process is proof that the Blue Zones is achievable, beneficial and FUN. She often has the opportunity to interact with Dan Buettner and was a driving force in his initial visit to Cedar Falls where he introduced the Blue Zones to the mayor and the community.

Letter from District Governor Smith

January 19, 2018

Dear Rotarians,
I am just finishing a book by a professor Patrick Deneen of Notre Dame University entitled “Why Liberalism Failed”. This is not an attack on progressive politics. In using the term “liberalism” Dr. Deneen is rather referring to a philosophy first articulated by Machiavelli during the Renaissance and later developed by John Locke during the enlightenment. Dr. Deneen’s thesis is that this cult of the individual born in the Renaissance, nurtured through the enlightenment, and coming to maturity in today’s Western culture is the source of present damage to our cultural institutions, inequitable divisions of wealth among our citizens, and significant destruction to our environment. He opines that the emphasis on individual freedom unconstrained by corresponding concern for a person’s place in and responsibilities to culture and society has been the source of the dysfunction which we are presently experiencing in our country.

I mention this book not as an endorsement for his thesis or a recommendation of his book, but rather because it reinforces my feelings about the importance of Rotary in our society and in the world. I do share Dr. Deneen’s concern about a prevailing sense of dissatisfaction among many people, and particularly among young people about conditions as they exist today. Many young people seem frustrated at the lack of opportunity that lies before them. Too much emphasis is put on material accumulation, frustrating those who feel that they are unable to achieve financial security, but often leaving those who accumulate wealth lacking satisfaction for their achievement. There is a prevailing feeling of emptiness among many in our communities.

Rotary provides a connection between people within a community that will always be a source of satisfaction and happiness. Whether one is serving a Meal on Wheels to the elderly, guiding people through a haunted house, or handing out scholarship money at the local school, the act of extending a helping hand to others always provides a connection that warms the heart and provides a sense of fulfillment. Rotary also affords a special opportunity to educate our children in the values that we cherish. When our sons and daughters accompany us as we deliver meals or flip pancakes they experience the fun in contributing to the welfare of others. They see the joy in the faces of the people affected by our efforts.

Perhaps I should write Professor Deneen a letter and encourage him to join his local Rotary Club. It may give him some hope for the future of the society that he otherwise feels is in a state of dissipation. In any case, as you go forward in this Rotary Year, jump in and participate. Take your children with you and have fun.

Yours truly,
District Governor Ralph Smith