Past Dist. Governor Marty Peters happily lost his hat to polio-free kids.
The Rotarians went back in time using the Back to the Future method. A beautiful silver school bus with a Rotary sign gathered everyone onboard. The dashboard displayed a series of buttons, and Past District Governor chose March 8, 1952. At a high speed, there was a FLASH! In 1952, nine-year-old Marty enjoyed playing outside with his friends. On March 8th, he had to finish his school work so he stayed home. All the other kids on the block got to play Kick the Can and Hide & Seek until the streetlights glowed at dusk.
The next day, Marty’s mom got a phone call. Marty’s best friend, Marshall Lims, woke up stiff as a board. He had gotten Polio. Eventually, he laid in an iron lung in the dining room with his head facing away from the front window. The machine covered his body with his head free and his neck surrounded by a rubber ring. This allowed Marshall to breath. Above the iron lung sat a mirror so Marshall could see the other kids play outside. Marty and friends used to stand at the window hollering their hellos. Marshal finally passed away at 48 years of age at Rancho Los Amigos hospital.
Later in life, Past District Governor Marty Peters joined Rotary in the polio eradication. He started remembering and realized, “That was tough!” All of all the moms who were terrified of Polio. There were no iPads back then, so moms stayed tied to telephones hooked to the kitchen wall by a cord. Kids couldn’t go out to play for multiple summers. They closed the public pool. It lasted every summer with kids locked in the house. This continued until there was a vaccine in America. The recent COVID shutdown mirrored the tough Polio closure.
It all began in the 1970s when two Rotarians worked to stop Polio in the Philippines. They found a cheaper way to transport the vaccine in more cost-effective cases that still kept the drops cold enough to be effective. It only cost a few cents per drop! Rotary International took up the cause, and Rotarians travelled to all the countries giving out the vaccine. When Marty Peters became District Governor, he wanted to raise money for more polio vaccines and asked each club for funds that were matched by polio-survivor Jack Campbell, who just sold his company.
Past District Governor Marty Peters had the opportunity to go to Eritrea—in Africa by the Red Sea and just north of Ethiopia. Once he and other Rotarians arrived, he learned he had to travel by camel up and around a mountain’s narrow path. Tanks littered the roads as a monument of winning the war. The king had a palace covered with lapis that had been bombed. All of the Rotarians gave away their hats and shirts to the children who crowded around them. Seeing the mother’s both trust of the Rotarian volunteers and concern for their children was a humbling blessing.
Past District Governor Marty Peters and President Don Weeks after the presentation.
To see the video presentation, check out our Rotary's Facebook page.