Page 2A
The Kings Mountain Herald
Wednesday, February 25, 2009
Rotarians rally to send vets to D.C.
By EMILY WEAVER
Editor
The Kings Mountain Ro-
tary Club decided weeks ago
to sponsor three local veter-
ans to send on a “Flight of
Honor” to visit the World
War II Memorial in Washing-
ton, D.C. With the help of the
community they raised
enough money to secure this
special trip.
But a fourth WWII vet-
eran caught their attention .
last week. Steve Padgett, who
is organizing the “flight”, told
the club at their Thursday
lunch that they needed to
raise $500 for this new re-
cruit.
“We’ve got the money for
the first three,” he said,
adding that they had raised
$1,700 so far. “And we’ll get
the money for him.”
Take time
By Ginger Baity Ervin,
MSN, FNP-BC
Ervin Clinic
Special to the Herald
February, the month of
candy hearts, chocolate and
love, is also a Healthy Heart
observance time of year.
The large vinyl heart clings
and rows of Hallmark
Valentine cards are great re-
minders to each of us to
spend just a few minutes
thinking about heart health.
Think of it as the time of
year to review your stan-
dard maintenance plan for
heart and blood vessels.
There are a number of
factors we immediately
think about such as main-
taining regular EKG’s or
blood work to keep up with
heart rhythm, cholesterol
levels and inflammation
markers in our body. Most
of us will consider our exer-
cise or lack of it, medica-
tions we take, our last blood
pressure check in the phar-
macy or the pamphlet the
nurse gave us as we left the
last office visit. It is also
likely that most of us pon-
der whether ,we have
stopped eating red meat or
fried foods, changed our
salad dressings to the low-
fat version or converted
everyone in the family to
Splenda-filled “sweet tea”.
It’s here, in the arena of
foods and drinks, that we
often miscalculate our ef-
forts. Many times, we mis-
calculate because we are
targets of savvy marketing
efforts. Sometimes, it’s
simply because we don’t
know or understand all the
facts and ignorance is bliss.
Sometimes, it’s because the
well-meaning people in our
lives who help us make de-
cisions about health in
terms of foods and drinks
have also been influenced
by the same factors or have
never thought deeply about
the physiology and we fig-
ure if “they” say so, then
who’s to argue with
“them”?
Did you know that your
eating habits contribute to
your heart health in ways
you never imagined? We
have never had more avail-
ability of foods. Fast foods,
organic foods, home-
cooked foods, mail-order
foods, lovely restaurant
foods, hole-in-the wall
diner foods; the list goes on
and on. We have never had
such accessibility to low-
Before adjourning the
meeting, club President Earl
Lutz told the Rotarians that
he believed they could raise
the money within the next 15
minutes. It only took 14 min-
utes.
Padgett said that after the
meeting, several club mem-
bers approached him. with
open wallets. One Rotarian
gave him a blank, signed
check and told him to fill in
the difference needed to
make up the total.
He said that the quick and
generous responses of club
members shows that Kings
Mountain Rotarians are be-
hind these brave veterans all
the way. Others, who gave to
the cause, throughout the
community can feel equally
as proud.
The four deserving veter-
ans that will fly to see the
fat, fat-free, diet, light,
sugar-free and low calorie
products as we have avail-
able on our grocery shelves
today. Obesity affects 25%
of the American population,
with the Southern region
being the most obese by
more than 30% over other
regions of the country.
Sixty-five percent of Amer-
icans are overweight and
well on their way to obesity.
Obesity leads directly to
some of the most deadly ill-
nesses of our time. Type II
Diabetes is almost always
related to weight and
lifestyle issues and can al-
most always be controlled
by improving those factors.
This disease leads directly
to increased risk of heart
disease, high blood pressure
and vessel claudication (or
clogging). The most alarm-
ing fact is that this disease
was qualified in college,
just fifteen years ago, as a
disease that affects persons
ovet the age of 35. Today,
the estimate of Type II dia-
betic 14-year-olds is just
over 15% of all 14-year-old
teens in the U.S. In the past
20 years, we have seen an
increased morbidity of this
illness and a lowered “start-
ing” age by more than
twenty years! All the while,
marketing experts at large
and small companies alike
have trained us on the pris-
tine qualities of the new
low-fat, sugar-free products
and the benefits for our
weight and. health. Just
think about the trends we
have seen in foods and the
parallel trends in weight
gain and Type II Diabetes. It
is quite clear. I don’t mean
to sound like a conspiracy
theorist or the bearer of bad
news; it is simply important
to consider the same facts I
am considering when you
make 2009 the year you
commit to a nutrition-re-
lated Health Heart reality
check.
In working with patients
who are trying to lose
weight, it has become quite
obvious that getting back to
the basics is often the best
prescription I can usually
offer. Many times, the prob-
lem with the basics is that
we have all been convinced
of other ideas, so it sounds
strange to hear and difficult
to believe. You don’t need
to just trust me on this; take
a look at the many re-
sources available and de-
cide for yourself! As you
monument are: Ed Campbell,
Sidney Dixon, James
Theodore Ingle and charter
Rotarian Wilson Griffin.
Campbell served in two
branches of armed services.
He served in the Merchant
Marine Academy and in the
U.S. Coast Guard, in the At-
lantic, North Atlantic and
Arctic ocean territories.
Before the invasion of
Normandy in 1944, he said
that his ship was part of a
convoy established to take
weapons and other war-re-
lated provisions to the Soviet
Union. He said that if Amer-
ica was going to join the
fight, they needed to make
sure that the Soviet Union,
which was invaded in June
1941, was equipped to help.
The convoy started with a
total of 69 ships. Only 11
made it, he said, adding that
take a look, here’s a list of a
few true “oddball ideas” to
consider.
Fat is bad. Fatis good?
Know your fats.
Trans fats are bad! They
raise your bad cholesterol
and lower your good cho-
lesterol. Most fast-food
restaurants fry foods in oils
that contain trans fats. Some
companies have marketed
trans-fat-free products and
cooking processes that do
not involve trans fats. It’s a
start. Educate yourself
about trans fats and avoid
them. On the other hand,
look for and increase your
intake of Omega-3 Fatty
Acids. Found in such foods
as salmon, tuna, beans, wal-
nuts, flaxseed oil, broccoli,
cauliflower and spinach,
these fats are beneficial to
your health. Increased in-
take of these fatty acids has
been proven to lower the
risk of stroke, high blood
pressure and heart disease
as well as other illnesses
such as depression, arthritis
and various skin disorders.
It’s not just sugar, it’s
insulin that contributes to
weight gain.
It is difficult to fully
grasp the concepts here
without some detailed bio-
chemistry, but I will try to
leave the biochemistry in
the lab for now. Stick with
me. The debate over artifi-
cial sweeteners and the link
to cancer has been re-
charged again and again
through the years. The jury
is still out on this debate’s
conclusion for most re-
searchers. However, the im-
pact of artificial sweeteners
on obesity and Type II Dia-
betes is clear. The physiol-
ogy is simple. When you
ingest a real sweetener, like
sugar or honey, OR an arti-
ficial sweetener, like the
packets on the table, your
brain sends signals to tell
your body the following:
“something sweet is on
board so go ahead and
pump out the insulin.” It
makes no difference
whether the sweet item is
natural or synthetic, the
brain reads an (almost)
identical signal. The insulin
surge is needed to help your
body’s cells absorb and use
the ‘sugar’ your brain her-
alded. After doing its work
on the actual sugar needed
from the blood stream, the
insulin efficiently starts the
process of fat storage to
“save up” any extra sugars,
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26 million Russians died in
World War II and with a ca-
sualty rate of 85 percent he
had both feelings of guilt and
luck to still be alive.
“It was not in the Lord’s
plan for me to die in that
place,” Campbell said.
He was serving in the Pa-
cific Theatre when the bombs
were dropped on Japan.
Dixon was there too. He
served in the U.S. Navy for
six years during and after =
World War II. He fought in
the Pacific Theatre and said
that they lost 13 planes. They
shot down 554.
I saw a poster once that
read “Join the Navy and see
the world,” he said, “I saw
the world down a gun bar-
rel.”
A young Dixon served
two years and'one month ac-
tive duty in WWII before he
to think about your heart health
fats or proteins currently
congregating in the body
and bloodstream for later
use. Before turning to a
long physiology lecture, let
me make the most critical
point: drinking artificially
sweetened drinks is no bet-
ter for your weight than
drinking full-sugar drinks.
Just because it does not
raise the blood sugar it does
not automatically become
“free”. It raises the insulin
nonetheless and higher in-
sulin means more fat stor-
age. Lay off the artificial
sweeteners to help with
weight loss or maintenance.
Eating late at night is
not the problem, BUT it is
the sign.
One of the most com-
mon weight loss questions I
am asked is “Is it worse to
eat late at night?” There are
different schools of thought
on this question. I am of the
general school that total
caloric intake at the end of
each day, as a whole, gener-
ally correlates to your
weight gain, loss or mainte-
nance. However, I also
know that when you eat
later in the evening, it is
typically because you have
not eaten healthy foods reg-
ularly throughout the earlier
part of the day. When you
do not start your body’s me-
tabolism with a healthy
breakfast or healthy break-
fast substitute, you actually
crank down your metabo-
lism a notch. When you
combine that with a skipped
lunch or a simple sugar
snack or drink, the metabo-
lism revs down to zilch be-
cause your body has no idea.
when to expect food again.
After finally settling in at
night and opening that bag
of chips or frozen dinner,
your body wakes up and
says “Yeah, food.... Let me
turn the appetite up a notch
to make up for this famine
all day!” You are most
likely to overeat at that time
to compensate for the day’s
overall deficiency. My sug-
gestion: start with a High
Fiber, High Protein break-
fast and follow with High
Fiber, High Protein lunch
and dinner. Eaten four or so
See Heart Health
page 3
armike 104852
STADIUM SEATING
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got the chance to see his fam-
ily again. He has never seen
the World War II memorial in
Washington, D.C.
James “The” Ingle also
served in the U.S. Navy in
the Pacific Theatre. He
fought in the invasion of Ok-
inawa.
Griffin was another Navy
soldier. After finishing 11
grades in Kings Mountain
schools, he decided to accept
a scholarship to a military
school in Salemsburg to pre-
pare for pharmacy school at
UNC. While at the military
school, he said that Capt.
Hanes told him and the other
boys “Pearl Harbor has been
bombed...you’re probably
going to see war.”
He traveled across the At-
lantic Ocean to the shores of
North Africa and to different
places to help set up hospitals
during WWIL
Padgett shared a CBS
“Sunday Morning” special
about the “Flight of Honor”
with the club. After viewing
the video, learning about the
special trip which gives vet-
erans a chance to see the
monument in honor of their
sacrifices, and hearing from
the four veterans, the club
rose in a standing ovation for
its WWII heroes.
Even though a grand
monument was erected in
their honor on the National
Mall in 2004, many WWII
veterans have yet to see it.
Those heroes are dying now.
An estimated 1,200-1,500
pass away every day.
These four veterans will
join nearly 100 others from
mid-western North Carolina
in a special trip to Washing-
ton, D.C. in April.
Obituaries
Linda Sanders
KINGS MOUNTAIN -
Linda Rhea Sanders, 70, a
resident of Richburg, SC,
formerly
of Kings
Moun-
tain,
died
Febru-
ary: 21,
2009 at
home.
A native of Cleveland
County, she was the daugh-
ter of the late Grady A. Rhea
and Dora Dixon Rhea and
was also preceded in death
by brothers, Zip Rhea, J. D.
Rhea, Bobby Rhea and sis-
ters, Wilma Hinson, Hazel
Folden and Dot Hamrick.
She was a retired nurse with
Hendricks, Durham and Lee
Clinic in Kings Mountain
and was a member of First
Presbyterian Church.
Surviving are her hus-
band, Bill Sanders, of the
home; son, Mark Sanders
and wife, Sue, of Madison;
daughter, Leanne Strauss
and husband Gary of Rock
Hill, SC, grandson, Houston
Strauss of Rock Hill, SC and
brothers, Clyde Rhea and
Jack Rhea, both of Kings
Mountain, and Bill Rhea of
Alabama.
The funeral service was
conducted Monday, Febru-
ary 23, 2009 at 2 p.m, at
Ollie Harris Memorial
Chapel with Rev. Lee
Thomas officiating. Inter-
ment was in Mountain Rest
Sisk-Butler
Jfuneral Home
704-629-2255
We offer a complete funeral
service package which
includes: Full Traditional
Service (including family
car), 20 Gauge Steel
Casket, Protective Vault.
$3295.00
www.siskbutler.com
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Cemetery.
Memorials may be made
to Hospice Care of South
Carolina, 179 Columbia St,.
Chester,SC 29706.
A guest register is avail-
able at www.HarrisFuner-
als.com. Harris Funeral
Home was in charge of
arrangements.
Parris
Funeral Home
Bessie Page
KINGS MOUNTAIN -
Bessie Page,71, of 109
Meagon Dr., died Wednes-
day, Feb. 21, 2009 at home.
The funeral was con-
ducted Saturday, Feb. 21,
2009 at 2 p.m. at Chestnut
Ridge Baptist Church by
Revs. Greg Neely, Richard
Brown and Keith Lindsay,
_ interment following in the
church cemetery.
Surviving are three sons,
three daughters, four daugh-
ters-in-law, three sons-in-
law, two brothers, two
sisters, 19 grandchildren and
13 great-grandchildren.
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