Once polio ranked as one of the most feared diseases in the United States. Today most Americans don’t give the disease a second thought.

The first recorded polio outbreak in the United States was in 1894 when Vermont reported 132 cases. In 1916, 27,000 cases in New York City resulted in 6,000 deaths. Researchers began looking for the cause of the incurable disease and for ways to treat it.

Polio is a wild virus that spreads through contaminated food and water, and can only reproduce inside humans. Polio affects a type of cell in the spinal column. When the cells die, the brain can’t send messages to affected muscles which wither from disuse. If the affected area is the chest or diaphragm, the patient can’t breathe.

In 1927 the first Tank Respirators, generally called Iron Lungs, appeared to maintain respiration until the patient could breathe independently. Hospitals had Tank Respirator wards for those affected. In 1959, 1,200 Americans relied on Iron Lungs.

In 1938 President Franklin Roosevelt, himself a polio victim, founded the National Foundation of Infantile Paralysis, which led to the March of Dimes campaign to raise money for research. HIs successor, Harry Truman, declared the war on polio must be nation wide. “It must be total war in every city, town and village throughout the land.”

In 1952, 60,000 children contracted the disease. More than 3,000 died with thousands more paralyzed.

VACCINES ERADICATE POLIO IN U. S.

Researchers Jonas Salk and Albert Sabin conducted separate research projects to develop a vaccine. The Salk Vaccine, released in 1955, is injectable using an inactivated virus. The Sabine Vaccine, introduced in 1961, uses a live, weakened virus given orally.

I’m old enough to remember when my elementary school nurse inoculated every student in every class. While most of us calmly waited our turn, one boy flat-out refused to participate. We stood transfixed as he threw an amazing tantrum. Eventually, a teacher removed him from the line.

I also remember the Sabin Vaccine administered at what I believe was the local public park. The pink vaccine was administered in a sugar cube. No one seemed distressed by the process.

In the early 1950s, the U.S. had approximately 20,000 reported cases per year. In 1960, the figure fell to 2,525, and in 1965 only 61 cases were reported. The last outbreak in the U.S. was among Amish communities in several midwestern states. In 1979 polio was eradicated in the United States.

Such dramatic results led to discussions of how to eradicate polio worldwide. In 1988 the World Health Assembly resolved to eradicate polio by the Year 2000, giving birth to Global Polio Eradication Initiative. It was the largest public health initiative in history, but the goal wasn’t reached. In 2012 the GPEI declared polio eradication a public health emergency.

Rotary International has participated in the fight against polio since 1985. Rotary raises funds, but more than that, Rotarians throughout the world provide the facilities and public health workers to distribute the Sabin vaccine. Two drops in a child’s mouth provides immunity.

In 2012 Rotary International began an on-going partnership with the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation to fund global polio eradication. At the 2017 Rotary International Convention in Atlanta, Rotary International and the Gates Foundation announced a combined pledge of US$ 450 million over three years. Rotarians will raise US$ 50 million annually for three years with a two to one match by the Gates Foundation.

“WE’RE THIS CLOSE”

In 1988, there were 350,000 reported cases of polio world wide. The disease paralyzed over 1,000 children. Since then 2.5 billion children have been immunized with the cooperation of over two hundred countries, 20 million volunteers, and international contributions of over US$ 11 billion.

In July 2017 the number of polio cases worldwide was eight. The global incidence of polio is down 99 percent. The disease remains endemic in three countries: Pakistan, Afghanistan, and Nigeria. Polio’s continued existence anywhere is a threat everywhere.

Rotary International likes to say, “We’re This Close.” That’s the point. We’re close, but until polio is eradicated world wide for three years, the goal isn’t met.

Rotary International established World Polio Day on Jonas Salk’s birthday to honor the man who developed the first polio vaccine and remind everyone that polio still exists.

This year the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation hosts the annual World Polio Day event at their Seattle campus. You can watch the event live on October 24th at 2:30 Pacific Daylight Time. [21:30 GMT]

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Illustrations from Wikimedia Commons and in the public domain.

Physical Therapy for two children with polio, 1930s.

Iron Lung.

President’s Birthday Ball – So We May Dance Again, 1939.

Pediatric Polio Vaccination, India, 2002.

?Rotary’s 5th Annual World Polio Day Live-Streamed.

Gates Foundation to Host 2017 World Polio Day.

Iron Lung and Other Equipment.

Polio. Gates Foundation.

Polio Global Eradication Initiative

World Polio Day. World Health Organization.

Jason Beaubien. “Wiping Out Polio: How the U.S. Snuffed Out A Killer.” NPR. Oct. 15, 2012.

Frank Belote. “Rotary Celebrates World Polio Day.” Washington Daily News. Oct. 20, 2017.

Eric E Mast & Stephen L. Coach. “For the Record: A History of Polio Eradication Efforts.” Center for Disease Control.

Jay Wenger with Steve Almond. Our Goal: A World Without Polio. The Rotarian. Oct. 2017. 46-51.

The post “We’re This Close” – World Polio Day, October 24th, 2017 first appeared on Sandra Wagner-Wright.

But if you look a little deeper, Kilauea Lodge offers more than atmosphere. It represents a slice of American history from the brief interlude between two horrific world wars. American involvement in the First World War lasted from 1917-1918. President Wilson promised it would be the “war to end all wars.” Americans believed him. During the 1920s and ‘30s most Americans committed to the concept of international brotherhood and desperately hoped President Wilson was right.

Post-war America embarked on a decade long celebration that ended abruptly with the 1929 stock market crash. Yet, people continued to cling to the ideal of peace. The builders of Hale-o-Aloha (the precursor to Kilauea Lodge) believed in that dream. Harold V. Lucas, General Secretary of the Young Men’s Christian Association, and Dr. Thomas A. Jaggar, pioneer volcanologist and Chairman of the YMCA, envisioned a forest camp where boys and young men could be infused with high morals and integrity. At the center of their vision was a cement and lava rock Fireplace of Friendship that continues to draw people. And for a moment, anything is possible.

The men envisioned a lasting edifice with contributions from around the world. Lucas sent letters to every club in the International Rotary and Lions Club International networks. Jaggar contacted the U.S. National Parks network. Could you send us a stone we can put in the fireplace? One hundred clubs and individuals from across the world sent a contribution.

Other items embedded in the massive fireplace are uniquely local, like the kuikui nut grinder.

To raise funds for $1000 cost of construction, supporters sold Friendship Tokens with a price range from 5 cents to $100. (valued at approximately $8 to $1,688 today).

In 1938, four hundred people gathered to dedicate the fireplace, many probably hoping the biblical motto “That they all may be one” would prove to be true.

Alas, in December 1941 the United States again became a nation at war. From 1942-1945 the property became a radio school for the U.S. Army, but its founders never lost hope.

The August 1943 Issue of The Rotarian included an excerpt from a then recent speech by Harold V. Lucas: “The faint hearted and faithless can hear only the roar of guns and see the wanton waste of human life and materials. A true Rotarian is not in this class. He must play the role of a man of courage to face a future challenged with disaster and chaos, of a man of faith in the power of God working through human hearts and of a man of vision to see ahead through the storm. He must plan now for the future with heart and mind unprejudiced by the narrow walls of today’s hatreds and bitterness.”

Neither the world, nor Hale-o-Aloha remained the same. The 1960 tsunami destroyed the YMCA building in Hilo. Leaders decided to sell the Volcano camp to pay for a new building. Virginia and Bill Dicks bought the property and opened a lunch shop famous for its “mile high pie.” When Highway 11 became operational, the property lost its roadside advantage. The Dicks used the building as a private home until they sold it to current owners Lorna and Albert Jeyte.

The Jeytes restored the property and opened Kilauea Lodge and Restaurant in 1988.

Is that the real story? Mostly.

Different sources have varying perspectives on camp ownership. I think the story of the YMCA camp makes the most sense, but some sources differ. The official plaque attributes camp development to the Boy Scouts and states the property was sold to finance a beach camp. Histories of the Fireplace of Friendship are consistent.

Ownership comes and goes, but a massive fireplace of cement and lava rock is pretty much for keeps.

Acknowledgements:
Photos by Author.
Featured Image: Signage for Kilauea Lodge and Restaurant

Kilauea Lodge Website:

Alan McNarie. “Then and Now: Kilauea Lodge.” Keola Magazine. Nov-Dec 2014. Here. 

Harold V. Lucas. Excerpt from Rotary Club Address. The Rotarian. Aug. 1943. Here. 

The post Kilauea Lodge & The Fireplace of Friendship first appeared on Sandra Wagner-Wright.

RAIN FOREST RUN

The Rain Forest Run is sponsored by the Volcano Art Center, and started in 2010. Prior to that, the run was known as the Kilauea Volcano Run. Founded in 1983, the run took place inside Volcanoes National Park. The last year runners met inside the park was 2008, the same year the Kilauea Volcano erupted at Halema`uma`u Crater. The present Rain Forest Run began in Volcano Village in 2010.

Due to our year round warm weather, races in Hawai`i begin quite early. The Rain Forest Run starts at 7:00 a.m. We were supposed to be at our aid station by 6:45. So, I left the house at 6:00, mug of coffee in hand, and arrived at the site at 6:30, only to be told the access road was already closed. Guess I missed the memo. I parked the car and started to walk up, thinking I’d arrive about the time my friends were dismantling the station, but at least I’d be there.

Trudge – trudge – trudge.

I arrived at the race start point.

Perking up my spirits were these lovely Volcano Phlox Purple flowers (Phlox paniculata) blooming along the road.

However, despite my joy in scenic flora, I became disenchanted with the hike.  Our station was five – out of six.  The half marathon was 13 miles, which meant that I would have to walk about 4 miles.  *Sigh*

 When, Hark!

I heard a truck – a big, black, bad-#$% truck driven by a fellow Rotarian who was kind enough to give me a lift to Aid Station 5 where we joined other club members.

We had plenty of time to set up before the first runners appeared.  We offered plain water, water with electrolytes called Ultima, and a sticky energy concoction we called “goo” – now available in vanilla flavor.  Our station also featured a purple porta-potty.

These particular runners are on their way back down the hill.  Only about 4 miles to the finish line.  I took this picture of the finish line on the way up the hill.

By 10:00, the last runner had come through and we broke down our station.  It was too early for wine – so I went to one of my favorite places.

HAWAI`I VOLCANOES NATIONAL PARK

Hawai`i Volcanoes National Park, established in 1916, is one of the earliest parks in the system.  I arrived just as Ranger Noah Gomes was about to begin the introductory walk.

Gomes uses the walk to introduce visitors to indigenous and invasive plants in the park.  One of the most invasive species is Kāhili Ginger (Hedychium gardnerianum).  This beautiful and fragrant flower, which is also found along the roadside throughout the Volcano area, is an opportunistic plant native to the Himalayas.  Introduced to Hawai`i as an ornamental, Kāhili Ginger quickly migrated outside garden boundaries.  The Park Service has an active eradication program, but can barely keep up.

Throughout the park, visitors also see the `Ōhi`a-Lehua (Metrosideros polymorpha), an indigenous plant.

The `Ōhia-Lehua is able to grow in places with minimal soil – as pictured here at the side of Halema`uma`u Crater with Mauna Loa, another volcano, in the background.  You can just see the `Ōhia-Lehua on the lower right hand side.

 Gosh – Look at the Time. 

I better hurry or I’ll miss Estate Tea and Wine Tasting at Volcano Winery

“Doc” McKinney planted the first vines in 1986, and opened the winery doors seven years later.  In 1999, Doc sold the business to Del and Marie Bothof who bottle about 6,000 cases of wine annually.  A Hilo Bay Rotarian, Marie invited the club up for a tour followed by wine tasting.

Many wineries display vines at the entry way.  But, I had never seen vines wrapped in netting before.

Although I’ve written a book about the macadamia nut industry, I don’t know anything about growing grapes.  Well, I know they grow on vines, but that’s about it.  So, when I saw these vines wrapped in netting at the winery entrance, I was puzzled.  I asked  Del a question he’s probably tired of answering:

“Why do you have nets around the vines?”

The short answer is that the nets are supposed to keep the birds from eating the red grapes.

The grapes grow in tight clusters, so they need air circulation to avoid mildew.  Turns out the birds are pretty smart – especially mynah birds (Acridotheres tristis).

Mynah birds are very social, and they work together to get at the grapes.  One will pull the net aside while the other eats.  This clever behavior is countered with a tight metal mesh immediately over the grape cluster.

White grapes are not so tightly clustered and can be protected by paper bags.  Of course, this is a bit messy if it rains.

Many thanks to Mary Bergier who organized the aid station for the Rain Forest Run, Marie Bothof who hosted our afternoon at Volcano Winery, and to the Rotary Club of Hilo Bay.

For more information, check out these websites:

Rainforest Runs, organized by the Volcano Art Center  http://www.volcanoartcenter.org/rain-forest-runs

Hawai`i Volcanoes National Park  http://www.nps.gov/havo/index.htm

Volcano Winery  http://volcanowinery.com

Rotary Club of Hilo Bay  http://hilobayrotary.com

Rotary International  http://www.rotary.org/

Unattributed Photos by Author.  All Rights Reserved.

Please feel free to leave a comment.

The post MY ROTARY DAY IN VOLCANO first appeared on Sandra Wagner-Wright.