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Guests for First SWIGgy Dinner 'n' Discussion -- GRATE!
Tue, 08/21/2012 - 9:41am
A bit like a 'coming out party' or 'dress rehearsal' to see how it goes to talk with/educate and BE EDUCATED further by other people in Grand Junction about water among other things, the newly-named SWIG group (Safe Water is Great) had our first dinner 'n' discuss in July. Our official 'statement and story' is at this link FYI about who, what, why: www.lumigrate.com/forum/swig-safe-water-great-our-official-statement
Once again, we were well-served and welcomed at Dolce Vita in downtown Grand Junction in their beautiful 'Atrium Room'.
Closest counterclockwise from heads of table -- Jim Kennedy (DDS), Jeff McCloskey (DC) -- Analii Cunningham, Eleni Sica, Jerry Sica, Karin Gookin, Mardy Ross (OTR), Lani Wallace (LE), Liz Kennedy, RN (and later in one of the middle chairs arrived the overbooked Kevin King, co-founder). It is important to mention that SWIG co-founder Kevin King was able to slide in after I'd taken photos and we were all eating and 'enjoying ourselves'. He's a busy guy and THANKS to all three busy co-llabor--ators founding SWIG, we all know this is important work for the wellness of all involved.It was 'right on' service and food, but I am 'middle aged' for the group and am the first to admit it was difficult to hear -- not impossible for me but it was a strain. I wonder if that (tinnitus/ringing in the ears and being HOH/hard of hearing) is something that comes from fluoride in the water, or if that was too much rock 'n' roll music in our past! 
Liz Kennedy (RN), Candace (RN student at Colorado Mesa University), Jim Kennedy (DDS). Fun fact: Liz' DDS father, in Denver in the early 1960's, was the first person to get a license and produce wine in Colorado (someone else got the first state license but never produced), and was essentially one of those 'there for' the 'brainchilding' of the Colorado wine industry in the 1960s!)
Liz Kennedy (RN), Candace (RN student at Colorado Mesa University), Jim Kennedy (DDS). Fun fact: Liz' DDS father, in Denver in the early 1960's, was the first person to get a license and produce wine in Colorado (someone else got the first state license but never produced), and was essentially one of those 'there for' the 'brainchilding' of the Colorado wine industry in the 1960s!) I'm pretty sure most of the people having dinner have had their share of loud music 'in the day', and maybe sometimes still do. I'm also pretty sure all of the health providers in SWIG and others we 'know and invited' see overall wellness/illness as a lot of contributing factors, not 'one thing being held accountable as THE cause'. Fluoride in water, per the information we have provided at Lumigrate for people to learn from and cite suggested places to study further if desired, appears to contribute to many different issues in bones, nervous system tissues, endocrine/thyroid tissue, etc.
So maybe our hearing difficulties in the room was from a LOT of different things and not 'that music' our parents forewarned us about. Aha .. maybe it was the music while drinking beer in college, and maybe the distillery's water quality, as with any produce we have purchased our whole lives to consume, has contributed. 
. Truly, just lightening things up here -- 
. Learning about "all this stuff" can be UGH!, and I hear it from people as they become educated about safe water related to fluoride and otherwise -- just what kind of water filter works or doesn't and what kind of containers to transport and drink from becomes a whole 'learning unit'.
. Truly, just lightening things up here -- . Learning about "all this stuff" can be UGH!, and I hear it from people as they become educated about safe water related to fluoride and otherwise -- just what kind of water filter works or doesn't and what kind of containers to transport and drink from becomes a whole 'learning unit'. If it were people "listening" to a "speaker", a microphone will solve that problem and fortunately I have something that is perfect for the task, so perhaps the next time we'll try it again and collect a bigger group of 'audience'. I refer to the old concept of 'chitaqua' when I think about how people are seeming to 'want to come together' to talk about things relating to their growth and science, health, etc.
I forsee there being a group of people who will regularly want to come and learn together and have dinner discussions, about subjects that can lead out from safe water and wellness. I can also forsee that we'll want to encourage different clusters of people to be involved and it will be advantageous to 'move around a bit' to other appropriate locations. (Food quality is also one of our standards as is having it be an enjoyable way for us to spend our "off-work" time, which relates to our work in many cases one way or another. I only wish that owners Rick and Susan and our trusty server every time, Candace could come with as we venture out to other establishments in the Grand Valley! THANK YOU for having such a lovely place for us to have gotten SWIG together and off the ground! 
On this night, we shifted plans, as our reality shifted a bit due to a number of people who had things come up and could not attend as desired -- more couldn't come than could from the original invitation list of 'low hanging apples' as I called them -- people who I knew were already 'in our ballpark' thought-wise about wellness overall, they simply had not yet learned about fluoride specifically OR wanted to learn more about it. For instance, I know that the Seca's of Crossroads Fine Food and Drink, as I jokingly modify their business names, have developed an incredible seafood and meat aspect to their business and spoke passionately to me individually in the past about what is in the water that we get the seafood we eat from! So that earned them an invitation, and I'm thankful they took the time to come and that BOTH of them could get away from their busy store at the same time. "Date night" Lumigrate style! 
As you can see, we simple sat around the tables 'family style' and had dinner 'n' discussion. It was helpful to see people's knowledge level and what their 'put in point' was by the questions they asked right away to get things started. There was an eagerness to learn, and we were wanting Jim Kennedy, our primary spokesperson, to do the talking -- he really was like 'Google' about this subject off the top of his head and then rolled up his sleeves and delved in to deepen his knowledge of it when we formed SWIG and prepared our individual topics about water safety and fluoride.
Ultimately, what I obvserved in this discussion and other conversations I have now had on the topic elsewhere, is that people have an interest and 'concern' about overall wellness. They're seeing people who have 'healthy lifestyles' becoming ill with some form of chronic illness or another, whether that is cancer or fibromyalgia or scores of others, and they are surpised and then RAPIDLY say 'okay, so another thing that was started in the past whose time is done now that we know better, we can do better, what do I do?".
Their interest is beyond piqued, so to speak! They want to take action not only for their own liquid consumption but to help bring this forward for attention and change for others. SO THANK YOU FOR THAT! If YOU are reading this, whether you've joined us personally or are reading about it for the first time on your computer, THANK YOU. Please tell others about "fluoride at Lumigrate.com" and they can find us and the information and get going on doing the same!
Thank you, again, to those who came or followed up about not, we'll catch YOU the next time as well as inviting the first group again because everyone was thrilled to be included and gave that feedback that inspires US further.
And just like being a provider/consumer versus 'doctor/patient', I felt we learned as much from those who were with us for the first time as we were able to impart upon them.
Lani Wallace (LE) and Analii Cunningham, who have known each other for a long time were happy to exchange cards with their new business/contact information. Lani was the FIRST to thank me the next morning with a text and Analii saw and commented on a toopic I shared on Facebook about SWIG. Lani was SO thrilled to hear about Analii's new education space, and as Lani ventures into integrating more progressive wellness strategies into her esthetician work with people, it is just GRATE to see the 'growth' and development in the direction of more wellness programs and providers! "Uncle Jerry" from Crossroads Food/Beverages with me in this photo: 
Jerry had good suggestions from his history navigating making change within organizations that set policy and procedure, and most of all enlightened us as to the quandries he has experienced from the aspect of his business which has to do with alcohol and the unfortunate abuse of it due to addiction.
Expanding their repertoir at Crossroads in recent years to include Fine Food as well as 'wine and spirits (and beer)' was a GRATE move, I think and that clearly is a trend in the last decades; liquor stores used to be separate just like dentists were always from the rest of 'medical' ... look at the INTEGRATION, the 'coming together' going on in so many industries, not just 'medical'? Interesting! Change takes time though! They are both a wealth of information and enthusiastic about life and wellness and FUN too, and they're good about connecting people that make the world a better place as well.
And last but not least, just one of my favorite photos I've taken in a long time; to me, "THIS is Jim Kennedy epitomized". I hope this conveys why we had no debate or discussion about having him be at the top of our list of in-person spokes-person educators about fluoride. He just LOVES to talk about health and in particular 'the great fluoride debate'.
I hope this has been a FUN and informative accounting of yet another step in our getting 'out there' in this 'summer of love 2012' to educate the public and providers, and presumably create some change if that's what makes sense to people now! ~ MardyLook for SWIG's official 'statement' in this forum as well as ALL the topics we have created individually for education about fluoride in water's history, health effects, and controversies as well as how SWIG came to be, and even how it came to be called SWIG! Our hope is that people in other communities, when given the tools we've created together and make available at Lumigrate, will do similarly in their 'home towns'.
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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 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!
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