Home
Rotarians for Hearing Regeneration; A Rotarian Action Group formerly know as
The International Fellowship of Rotarians Affected by Hearing Loss (IFRAHL), sponsored by Clover
Park Rotary Club, has received Rotary International approval as an
Action Group. RFHR's purpose is to unite Rotarians around the world to
create more awareness of the problems associated with the loss of hearing.
These problems impact the individuals and their families as well as our society
with both economic and personal loss. The Action Group will also promote interest
in research and the funding of the Hearing Regeneration Initiative at the
Virginia Merrill Bloedel Hearing Research Center at the University of
Washington.
|
|
Woodstick 2008
A new record for drummers
Woodstick 2008 had a few changes. It was held at the Juanita Field House
in Kirkland WA, which was well north of our Rotary volunteer base.
Woodstick joined forces with Five Star Drum Shops. Organizer Donn
Bennett thought this would boost participation and we thought it would
give Rotarians for Hearing Regeneration and Virginia Merrill Bloedel
Hearing Research Center at the University of Washington greater
exposure.
We had at least 314 drummers participate, which was slightly more than
last year, but left us hundreds short of breaking our own record. This
year the event was held simultaneously in nine cities across the U.S and
Canada hosted by a Five Star Drum Shop in each city. A total of 1,296
drummers at all 9 events played together under the direction of Dr. Brad
McDavid via a live internet video connection. We created a new Guinness
World Record for drummers playing simultaneously under one director.
Those who participated at Woodstick at the Juanita Field House location
were able to hear Dr. Rubel from VMBHRC speak on stage and the Hearing
Research Center had a busy booth where they handed out ear protection,
information on hearing loss, and certificates for free hearing tests.
Once again drummers proved to be an ideal audience for our message of
hearing protection. We handed out hundreds of brochures and scores of
our DVD, Hope For Hearing Loss. If we are involved in the next Woodstick,
an experiment this year of selling hearing muffs proved successful. We
could have sold hundreds of them for a five dollar profit on each sale.
We made a small profit which was shared with VMBHRC, Seattle Rotary’s
Music4Life project and Mr. Holland’s Opus.
|
"Being blind separates you from things. Being deaf separates you from people".
- Helen Keller
This Rotarian Action Group is not an agency of, or controlled by, Rotary International.
