Mrs. Excelsior - Susie Overholt

Our Speaker on September 29th was Susie Overholt who admitted that she is a Packer fan, and that she was raised in Hutchinson. She also is the current "Mrs. Excelsior" and was introduced by Jeremy Huisheere. In the early days of pageants, they were based on beauty only. Now pageants include more than beauty and musical talents. Candidates are judged on their community involvement and dedication to a cause. Ms. Overholt's cause is Juvenile Diabetes. We've all heard of Diabetes Type 1 (aka Juvenile Diabetes). A show of hands during Susie's talk showed that most members knew someone who has the disease. A victim is dependent upon injected insulin for the rest of his life. Insulin is not a cure for the disease, but reduces the immediate effects of the chemical imbalance of the disease. The complications of the disease are not stopped by insulin; kidney failure, blindness, heart disease and other consequences of the disease are not prevented. The JDRF (Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation) is the main organization providing funding for research against this disease. In 2008, the JDRF committed $156 million dollars to a total of over 1,000 projects in 22 countries. They have provided grants exceeding $1.3 billion dollars since their founding in 1970. Our club has helped the JDRF in the past with donations to projects introduced to us by Karen Frazier, who is very interested in JDRF also. (Story by Tad Shaw)