Brainstorming ideas for what to call our group was the focus of meeting #2, as last week's good descriptor 'flunked' on the test of acronyms that people could remember. We did better this time with having a 
: SWIG -- Safe Water is Great. Do you like it? Naturally, for our purposes here at Lumigrate I can't help my compulsion to add on "and it's GRATE too!" 
Drs Jeff McCloskey (D.C.) and Jim Kennedy (D.D.S.), shown on the left and right respectively, clearly were 'in their element' as we bounced ideas off each other while enjoying the perfect weather in downtown Grand Junction on the patio of Dolce Vita. 
We also strategized a bit about what to do next and have a plan to pick some 'brains in the business' and have invited someone to the table for next time -- I'm currently working on merging the five of our schedules -- and then Jeff's taking the lead on drafting up a document to explain the who, what, why of SWIG, which will refer readers to Lumigrate.com for the education and further details we have collectively provided for those who wish to read in more detail. So far, two of the topics are by these two local experts, plus another two are by medical and science expert providers at Lumigrate.com, Robin Thomas of Raleigh, NC, and Wm. Marcus Spurlock, MD, of Dallas, Texas.
You can find all the topics about water, including one by me that is 46 reasons water is important to health in general, in this forum -- just navigate with the link on the right end of the 'route' getting to this topic here in forums (seen above this 'article'/topic.
My major contribution to the evening was bringing with me and introducing our new "Love Blanket"; this is shaping up to feel similar to 'The Summer of Love' from 1967, all over again. 
The 1960s were a time when many people questioned the old ways and brought attention to changes they thought or felt were important to become active and vocal about for moving us forward collectively.
For SWIG, educating the public about the history of flouride supplementaion and the positive and negative effects on our bodies, including our teeth, caused by the type of fluoride that has been 'fed' at the water treatment plants for decades and creating change as far as we will be able to move it forward is our contribution to the effort for improved wellness for all who consume it.
Photography credits: First and foremost, credit to Jeff McCloskey, D.C. for doing such a great job grabbing the 'real photographer's' camera shown with me, below, to take a photo at my request to include Jim Campbell/ photographer (and the blankey on the gorillas) so he could be seen and get credit for his photograph/above and the others from the meeting, as he was branching from his usual form of photography to 'pitch hit' at this meeting, since my usual photographer was off doing 'summer vacation'. Our thanks to Jim Campbell, with link to his Facebook BizPage if Y-are-I: www.facebook.com/pages/high-mountain-photographycom/158347334198861 [1]
AND MOST OF ALL THANK YOU TO OUR PREDECESSORS IN ART and in GRAND JUNCTION, who have created this FUN downtown experience for us to enjoy at the end of a long day via the 'Art on the Corner' which was one of the first in the US to turn dying downtown streets into a beautiful and relaxing enterprize zone.
SWIG looks forward to making our community better for those in OUR footsteps, whether human or nonhuman... ~~ Mardy
Mardy's note: I am happy to report mid-summer 2012 that this was another step toward what has resulted in the group of four of us locally which named our group "SWIG: Safe Water is Great", we have prepared a logo, mission statement and story of the group, and we have set out navigating our way to educate people 'out there' -- locally and beyond. The three medical providers in SWIG Grand Junction, Colorado created education on Lumigrate, and then I reached out to include two medical/science experts from Lumigrate who live "beyond Colorado" too (North Carolina and Dallas, Texas).
Dr McCloskey then took the key concepts from ALL our educational pieces here at Lumigrate, after we had thoroughly discussed things over our FUN and challenging dinner conversations, and prepared a 'organization/business-level statement letter' to be used as needed in the future. I volunteered to work that into a multi-purpose "statement and story" about SWIG to post here at Lumigrate for all who come to find it.
Therefore, please follow this link to that 'key document' from our group efforts:
www.lumigrate.com/forum/swig-safe-water-great-our-official-statement [2]
...(and I am putting a similar note in each topic we have at Lumigrate about this fluoride and water safety issue -- we have a growing number of topics, please look around if you're wanting to learn more details about fluoride and the history, topically/in toothpaste, or how we went about each step!) ~~ Mardy
Live and Learn. Learn and Live Better! is my motto. I'm Mardy Ross, and I founded Lumigrate in 2008 after a career as an occupational therapist with a background in health education and environmental research program administration. Today I function as the desk clerk for short questions people have, as well as 'concierge' services offered for those who want a thorough exploration of their health history and direction to resources likely to progress their health according to their goals. Contact Us comes to me, so please do if you have questions or comments. Lumigrate is "Lighting the Path to Health and Well-Being" for increasing numbers of people. Follow us on social networking sites such as: Twitter: http://twitter.com/lumigrate [3] and Facebook. (There is my personal page and several Lumigrate pages. For those interested in "groovy" local education and networking for those uniquely talented LumiGRATE experts located in my own back yard, "LumiGRATE Groove of the Grand Valley" is a Facebook page to join. (Many who have joined are beyond our area but like to see the Groovy information! We not only have FUN, we are learning about other providers we can be referring patients to and 'wearing a groove' to each other's doors -- or websites/home offices!) By covering some of the things we do, including case examples, it reinforces the concepts at Lumigrate.com as well as making YOU feel that you're part of a community. Which you ARE at Lumigrate!
Links:
[1] http://www.facebook.com/pages/high-mountain-photographycom/158347334198861
[2] http://www.lumigrate.com/forum/swig-safe-water-great-our-official-statement
[3] http://twitter.com/lumigrate
[4] http://www.lumigrate.com/forum/swig-safe-water-great-our-special-interest-group-named#comment-2395
[5] http://www.lumigrate.com/forum/swig-safe-water-great-our-special-interest-group-named#top
[6] http://www.lumigrate.com/user/login?destination=node/1984%23comment-form
[7] http://www.lumigrate.com/user/register?destination=node/1984%23comment-form
Comments
Our homework after the meeting, above, was for Jeff to work up a draft 'statement' letter, which would be used as a 'boilerplate' in all our interactions with educating and learning from the public, the press, and the "powers that be", which will include at some point, the three entities in our area which are currently adding/'feeding' fluoride into the water supply at the treatment plants. Again, one at the far east side of the Grand Valley, the little, progressive town of Palisade, has already stopped; the story was picked up by one of the two local newspapers and for a while it turned into a little 'feeding frenzy' (pun intended
) with the media, created by the local paper that is not 'free'. That article's impact lead to my being contacted to be aware and 'hop in and help' as I have, and asked doctors Jim and Jeff to help; Jeff knew of Kevin King who was not at this meeting due to his work taking him out of town (wastewater systems stuff of some sort, very interesting and innovative).
This most recent meeting I am focusing on in this comment was much shorter meeting this time, with Kevin King being able to join us (photo to come of him, I promise), but he was wolfing food and having to watch the time due to an offspring needing to be picked up. Jim Kennedy was able to come by at the start for the discussion but had dinner plans with his wife, so we were much more 'efficient' this time. It was a "Turbo meeting" and so we didn't have time to do photos.
Most important to mention: Candace was, once again, our service professional at Dolce Vita, and it's getting to feel very 'comfortable' for us to meet up at at Dolce Vita, like a home away from home. Thanks to owners Rick and Susan and the staff for creating the space and place!
This is what we came away with from this step of the process for those who want to know what we did and perhaps follow suit in some ways or all in their community:
We think it best to have a very simple statement of our intentions/mission and the most key issues which we feel would be enough for most people to look at and form their opinion about fluoride being added to water.
We will literally say that the debate is going to go on in the U.S. for a while about the efficacy of adding fluoride to water and we don't want to get our time/energy resources tied up in that. We just want to say that it's an option many do not want to have, and for those who do want it, it's better to get a proper dose based on a tablet a person takes .. a measured dose... rather than this willy nilly "it depends on how much tap water you drink".
Our next step will be to gather some people we know through the LumiGRATE Groove of the Grand Valley's Facebook page together -- which naturally includes the other professionals whose work has warranted them an invitation to be included at Lumigrate.com. We're thinking of holding it as a 'dinner discussion' at Dolce Vita, naturally, when their private Atrium Room is available, and invite some lively discussion from people we know and respect for their interest about wellness. On 'their dime', we are doing this out of our own funds so far.
Invitations should be extended, in my mind, to select medical providers who are at least open minded to this information if not already educated and with an opinion about fluoride's toxic effects on the body, along with providers we don't typically think of as 'providers of health care services'... estheticians and hair stylists and massage therapists -- the 'feel good providers'!.
Also veterinarians ultimately, so I'm asking around to find the most 'green' and 'holistic' veterinarians in town, but ultimately to reach out through their organizations and networks of people they know to reach people who provider services to people and animals who consume water in the area.
I plan to invite
Felicia Draughton, the owner of Roots Salon, the organic concept hair/body products salon which started in Grand Junction in 2011 and who has so beautifully done my hair for the past several months.
Lani Wallace, an esthetician who I have worked with for eight years now, since moving to Grand Junction, one of the most gifted people I know with keeping information in her mind and utilizing it when it's appropriate and connecting people to information, physicians, providers of alternative/complementary medical services.
Jerry and Eleni Sica, owners of Crossroads Fine Foods, Wine, Spirits as they have a particular interest in the well-being of our planet and the beings living on it, which shows in the way they 'sell'/advertise/educate about the amazing seafood and meats and cheeses in their relatively new 'food shop' on the other side of the 'bottle shop'.
Analii Cunningham whose work you can find at Lumigrate.com on 'movement therapies' and 'female pelvic wisdom'; she also provided a REALLY good response to our 2011 question in the forums for fibromyalgia awareness to the question: What is it and is it reversible and/or curable, in your opinion?
So please stay tuned! It's shaping up to be a GRATE 'dress rehearsal' I am calling the upcoming dinnerer meeting, which will be for the purpose of the SWIG group and those who are at the beginning of our 'support group' to get to know each other and then be able to communicate our message to others -- the public or other providers, the media if / when they might get involved (you never know!), and most of all, eventually the decision makers in the entities who we hope to reach out to meet and talk with and see what might come from that; ultimately it will rely a great deal upon the feedback from the folks that consume the water.
It seems so simple to us that long ago someone decided to dump stuff in the water for the reasons people can read more about here in the topics the providers have presented, and today it just seems really 'ludicrous' that a decision about a supplement is made for us at the water treatment plants related to what we take nutritionally! And if that isn't convincing enough, then think about that it's not pharmaceutical grade. Third, 99.5% of the water doesn't even go into people or animals' mouths for consumption .. "kinda" wasteful, eh? And then 'dosing' -- the amoung of fluoride you get into you depends upon how much water you drink that has the fluoride added which makes no sense related to how to dose something.
For those who want to take fluoride supplementally, if they become educated and have the opinion they wish to supplement this chemical/element, pharmaceutical grade supplements are available and can be prescribed by their medical provider just like anything else.
So that's what we're up to next, and I hope you stay tuned to the story and where it goes from here and help us educate others about this topic, even if it's just one person you say 'I learned something today ......'. If you want to be included in some way, let me know -- the 'contact us' at Lumigrate comes to my email.
Live and Learn. Learn and Live Better!! ~~ Mardy
Live and Learn. Learn and Live Better! is my motto. I'm Mardy Ross, and I founded Lumigrate in 2008 after a career as an occupational therapist with a background in health education and environmental research program administration. Today I function as the desk clerk for short questions people have, as well as 'concierge' services offered for those who want a thorough exploration of their health history and direction to resources likely to progress their health according to their goals. Contact Us comes to me, so please do if you have questions or comments. Lumigrate is "Lighting the Path to Health and Well-Being" for increasing numbers of people. Follow us on social networking sites such as: Twitter: http://twitter.com/lumigrate [3] and Facebook. (There is my personal page and several Lumigrate pages. For those interested in "groovy" local education and networking for those uniquely talented LumiGRATE experts located in my own back yard, "LumiGRATE Groove of the Grand Valley" is a Facebook page to join. (Many who have joined are beyond our area but like to see the Groovy information! We not only have FUN, we are learning about other providers we can be referring patients to and 'wearing a groove' to each other's doors -- or websites/home offices!) By covering some of the things we do, including case examples, it reinforces the concepts at Lumigrate.com as well as making YOU feel that you're part of a community. Which you ARE at Lumigrate!