Torch Club of The Fox Valley

Meeting Minutes
Torch Club of the Fox Valley
Minutes
14 November 2013
Atlas Coffee Mill & Café

Notes taken by: Jude Kuenn, secretary
Attendees: Jim Baumbach, , Nancy Bodway,  Al Button, Janet Wullner-Faiss Cloak, Dwight Easty, Paul Freiburg, Jean Jepson, Barbara Kelly, Jude Kuenn , Amy Oberg, Mary Poulson, Richard Schoenbohm, Webb Shaw,  Bob Swain, Peter Thiel

Guests: Bryan Bradley, Elizabeth Keggi, Marge Swain

BUSINESS MEETING

1. Meeting called to order at 6:32pm
2. Welcome new guests
3. Minutes from 10/10/13 meeting were accepted, motioned and approved.
4. Treasurer’s report: 11/01/13 balance $2,468.46.Report accepted, motioned and approved. Barb routed membership list with address, phone and email information, and asked each member to review and update details.
5. Several announcements were shared -
   Rich – Torch International is selling merchandise online with Torch logo.
   Barb – our updated Torch website includes minutes, upcoming presentations, photos and bios of club members (please submit to Barb any personal changes), organization history and more.
   Mary – recent contributions to non-profit organizations include Hamilton Wood Type Museum in 2012 and Green Lake Music Series in 2013. Total over two years is >$500.
   Dwight – Torch Foundation emails received encourage year-end donations.
   Mary – Amy Oberg to talk at 12/06/13 Noon Hour Philosophers meeting.
   Next Torch convention will be 6/19-22/14 in St. Catherines (Niagara), Ontario, Canada. “200 Years of Peace Between Friends” is program’s theme. Several members expressed interest in attending. Estimated car time via Chicago would be 10-11 hours; add two hours if driving through the Upper Peninsula of Michigan.  
   Business segment adjourned at 6:52pm for a short tour with Sue Bogenschutz to view new Atlas Mill space across the hall, then for dinner.

Bob presented Compassion Fatigue, a condition which can be defined as a psychological overload, weariness from being compassionate from continual events of exposure to trauma.
Symptoms may include depression, secondary traumatic stress disorder (STSD), primary- or post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), burnout, impairment or inability to function at work/home, and doubts of confidence and worth.
Public servants such as lawyers, district attorneys (DAs), assistant DAs, Public Defenders, assistant PDs, work on cases with horrific facts, meeting clients face-to-face, day after day, dealing with the darker side of human nature. Clients are the reason for the burnout when these professionals can no longer feel positively about their clients/cases.
WisLAP or Wisconsin Lawyers Assistance Program of the state bar offers psychological support to individuals challenged by CF.
Awareness to the possibility of CF, rotating cases, taking sabbaticals, reducing case load are some of the ways to manage and possibly prevent CF in this field. 
Evening adjourned at 9pm.
 
Next meeting Thursday 12/12/13.