Details of this dinner can be found on our calendar of events, or on our new, official webpage! For details, click here!
fund-raising
Louisa County Ruritan Club Makes Life Sparkle
fireworks (free clip art)
If you are in the Zions Crossroads area looking for a place to buy fireworks, and want your money to go to a good cause, please consider supporting the Louisa County Ruritan’s Fireworks stand!
Local Girl Needs Help – Louisa County Ruritan Club Responds
At the June meeting of the Louisa County Ruritan club, the club learned about a local girl in need.
Peyton Daniel
Peyton’s Story
Peyton, a four-year old girl living in the Ruritan Rapidan District area has had many medical issues since birth. These include a VSD and PFO (holes in her heart, both spontaneously closed), prenatal stroke (due to a placental abruption), mild cerebral palsy (right sided hemiparesis), sacral lipoma, previous tethered spinal cord (laminectomy was performed) compound heterozyougs MTHFR, neurogenic bladder with retention and dyssenergia (urethral dilation helped after many failed attempts at cathing her), connective tissue disorder (EDS), and lastly an undiagnosed metabolic syndrome.
Peyton’s parents and doctors have been trying to solve the reason of a sudden onset (August 2013) of bilateral leg pain, numbness, completely absent reflexes above and below the waist, and a severe increase in her pain based on physical activity. She no longer has any sensation on the bottoms of her feet and she got a wheelchair in March for long distances. She has good days and bad days.
Peyton has seen many doctors this last year and had many tests and procedures. When her family took her to Michigan they were told that her spinal cord is attached to scar tissue from her first surgery and that is attached to her tumor, which is called a lipoma. The surgeon in Michigan is willing to be proactive with her surgery and not only de-tether her, but remove as much of her tumor as possible, since it has many nerves in it.
She will also have a muscle biopsy done at the same time, because her neuromuscular docs believe she has a metabolic disorder. On ultrasound her muscles are all abnormal and this could also be the cause of some of her reflex issues. It’s hard to tell right now which are overlapping.
That is leading the family out of state, where they will incur travel, lodging and additional insurance expenses. They just want Peyton to receive the best treatment possible. In Virginia she has been to VCU, UVA, Children’s National, INOVA and the family has contacted multiple other out of state facilities (Shriner’s, etc). This hospital and doctor in Michigan by far have the most to offer her with their vast knowledge of these types of spinal disorders as well as their ability to be as proactive as possible to stop this from happening again.
Peyton has spent so much of her life in doctor’s offices, hospitals, having blood work done, tests, and other procedures. The family is so hopeful that this surgery will help her regain back some of what she has lost this last year physically as well as hopefully find the answer to her metabolic disorder. This could be a condition that is treatable or terminal and the sooner we know the better. Peyton is such a sweet, kind, caring and brave little girl. The family knows she is going to do amazing things one day and they will do everything possible to ensure that.
Any help is greatly appreciated, whether praying, monetary or sharing of Peyton’s story. Thank you so much for your support.
There is a website set up for people to use to donate money to help cover Peyton Daniel’s expenses. To access it, click on the link in the previous sentence.
The Louisa County Ruritan Club has agreed to donate $1,000 towards this worthy cause. The cause was discussed at the Zones 2 & 3 Dinner Meeting held on 6/25/14. The Rapidan District Cabinet will take up the subject at the July meeting to discuss whether the District Cabinet can assist in any way. All Ruritan clubs are being encouraged to consider helping this little girl and her family.
For more information, please use the contact form below:
Preparing For Ruritan Awareness Month
May is Ruritan Awareness Month
From the desk of the Lt. Governor:
Turning the calendar page from March to April this morning, one of the first thoughts that came to mind (after the “Uh-Oh, it’s April’s Fools Day, I better keep a sharp eye, watch my back, and stay on my toes!”) was that Ruritan Awareness Month is just around the corner. Thoughts turned to preparing to celebrate, and promote, Ruritan Awareness Month in May.
With that in mind, I’d like to share some of those thoughts:
Celebrate, Thank, And Appreciate Your Members!
Celebrate the 50th (and more) Anniversaries of our members! (free clip art)
One way to promote Ruritan Awareness within the Rapidan District has already been set into motion; membership longevity pins were ordered from Ruritan National Supply for fourteen club members in the Rapidan District that have fifty or more years of membership!
Ruritan Awareness Month would be a great time for Golden Jubilee celebrations for these loyal, long-time members!
Club Presidents and Secretaries have been requested to consider presenting these pins as tokens of appreciation for loyal membership during their May meetings, as part of their Ruritan Awareness Month celebrations.
Take pictures! (free clip art)
Suggestions have been made to take photographs of the presentations, and submit press releases to various media. Examples include local newspapers, National Ruritan magazine, local news websites, (for example Patch.com,) all forms of Social Media possible, and their local Ruritan websites, (including this one.) This will help to promote Ruritan Awareness.
Who Wants Ice Cream? (free clip art)
Side note: An additional thought to consider, as part of the May meeting celebration, how about throwing an ice cream social, inviting friends, neighbors, relatives? I can’t think of any better way to celebrate Ruritan Awareness Month than holding an ice cream social and honoring our long-time members!
Celebrate Ruritan Awareness At A Local Restaurant
Promote Ruritan Awareness With A Spirit Night (free clip art)
Another idea to promote Ruritan Awareness is for Ruritan clubs to reach out to local restaurants, such as Chik-Fil-A and Pizza Hut, and arrange for a fund-raising “Ruritan Awareness Spirit Night” to be held in May. These fun, family-friendly restaurants are available, and willing, to hold fund-raising “Spirit Nights” for organizations such as ours. All of the clubs in a close geographic location could join together and share the same “Ruritan Awareness Spirit Night” at that restaurant.
With just a little collaboration between clubs, the clubs could jointly promote the event in the local newspapers, free PSAs on the television and radio stations (and their associated websites,) Social Media, Club and District websites, etc, and encourage all of the Ruritan members in the area to attend the “Ruritan Awareness Spirit Night.” This would promote Ruritan Awareness, raise money, (divided between participating clubs) and provide some great fellowship opportunities!
Make a YouTube Video From Your Pictures!
If your club has lots of photographs of the events and activities done in the past, one great way to use them to promote Ruritan Awareness is to use them to create a YouTube Video, then embed that video on your club’s website. Then share it with your District’s website, your state’s “Association of ‘your state” Ruritans website, share it to Facebook and other Social Media pages. Two examples of that are included below:
These types of YouTube videos can be made using Windows Live Movie Maker software (Free Download)
Show Your Ruritan Pride And Spruce Things Up!
What better way is there to celebrate Ruritan Awareness Month than with a display of Ruritan Pride?
Brand New Ruritan Sign! (photo credit Linda Bradshaw)
Spring is a great time for each club to go outside and look at the Ruritan sign that hangs outside of their meeting location. Is it missing? (Did someone steal it and is trying to sell the used Ruritan sign on Ebay for $300?) Is the sign old, faded, cracked, and rusted?
This is the perfect time to retire that old eyesore with a brand new Ruritan sign for only $60 from Ruritan Supply. Replacing a missing or dilapidated sign could be included in the press release that is prepared for the membership longevity
Put Out a Fresh Welcome Mat (free clip art)
Side note: Now that spring has officially arrived, this is a good time to inspect the overall condition of the outside surfaces of the buildings, and other club signage. Is paint peeling, or does the building need to be power washed? Will a potential member really be interested in joining a club that does not have the pride to keep the meeting location in good condition?
Consider how important first impressions are. Try to make the building and signage look their best, and put out a fresh welcome mat while you’re at it!
These are just a few ideas that have come to my mind. Please feel free to leave a comment (at the bottom of this post you can click on the “Comments” link to leave a comment) to share YOUR ideas about how to promote Ruritan during Ruritan Awareness Month!
Ruritan Rapidan District 