The Mountain Eagle | February 21, 2020

Windham Foundation Expands Life-Saving Training

By Jonathan MentWINDHAM - After years

of sponsoring free CPR-AED training, and with moreclasses on the horizon thisMay and October, the Com-munity of Windham Foun-dation will introduce a newsort of training, part of theStop the Bleed initiative, onFriday, March 6.

The free class is currentlyplanned for the meetingroom at the WindhamWastewater Treatment Plant,beginning at 9 a.m. Advanceregistration is requested, soorganizers know how manyparticipants to expect.

According to The Amer-ican College of Surgeons,the national group behindthe grassroots training ini-tiative, someone who isbleeding severely can bleedto death in as little as fiveminutes.

“The number 1 cause ofpreventable death after in-jury is bleeding,” accordingto the group, which boastsover one million peopleworldwide have completed“Stop the Bleed” training.

“I saw it on TV, Sheriff(Craig) Apple in Albany wasspeaking very highly aboutit and he wants every school-child in the state of NewYork to be able to take thisquick class. It’s only anhour,” said Community ofWindham Foundation Boardmember Jeri Miltenberger,who helped organize theevent.

“It’s for anybody. Theyhave mannequins wherethey pretend they’re bleeding

and they give you the equip-ment to stop the bleeding,”said Miltenberger, adding,“You can get certified if youneed that - such as coachesfor after school programs.”

Greene County SeniorPublic Health Educator andEmergency PreparednessCoordinator Penny Martinezwill teach the March 6 class.

“Penny had an emergencypreparedness class in thefall and Denise (Communityof Windham FoundationBoard member Denise Mee-han) and I attended an at-tended some things to putin the shelters,” said Mil-tenberger, adding, “Pennywas a speaker there. Weasked at that time if therewas a class available. … Ibelieve she said they wereworking on something(then).”

Fast forward severalmonths and Windham TownSupervisor Thomas Hoythas taken a class as a re-quirement for his work withthe county.

“He knew I was lookingto have this class taughthere and knew Penny wasgiving the class. He put meback in touch with her,” saidMiltenberger.

Scheduling was compli-cated by another instructor’sschedule, that of ReayMahler.

Mahler teaches the CPRand Automatic External De-fibrillator classes for theCommunity of WindhamFoundation, and after un-dergoing the Stop the Bleedtraining in March will be a

certified trainer for this pro-gram as well, Miltenbergersaid.

The activities of the Com-munity of Windham Foun-dation are supported in partby the separate WindhamFoundation, which helpsfund the work of othergroups focused on the well-being of the community.

“This fits into our biggervision of preparedness,” saidMiltenberger, adding. “If youwatch the news it seemslike every day there’s ashooting or a stabbing or aconstruction accident, or aworkplace accident. Withso many restaurants, some-body could cut a finger orget injured with slicers or atthe lumberyard …. Brokenglass… hazards are allaround us.”

The Wastewater Treat-ment Plant can accommo-date about 35 participants,if interest exceeds the avail-able space Miltenberger saidorganizers will ask Super-visor Hoyt about hosing thetraining at Town Hall.

To sign up call Jeri Mil-tenberger at (518) 734 4335or emailjrwest4335@gmail.com; orcall Denise Meehan (518)734 4605 or email denise-meehan14@gmail.com

Registration for the May2 CPR training can be han-dled via the same numbersand email addresses.

More information aboutthe Stop the Bleed initiativeis available at www.stopthe-bleed.org.

Around the Mountaintop onPresident’s Weekend

Photos by Jonathan Ment

Server Sue Ellen McCullar stops by a table at VFW Post 1545. Pancakes,sausage, bacon and eggs any way you like them were on the menu, alongwith hot and cold beverages and various fruits and rolls

Windham Town Supervisor Thomas Hoyt, Jim Scarey and MichaelScarey prepare a plate to order in the kitchen at James F. Cartey, D.S.C.VFW Post 1545 free-will offering breakfast fundraiser on Sunday morn-ing

Friends of the Feathered and Furry Wildlife Center hosted its annualFreeze Your Butt Off for Wildlife Bake Sale on Saturday February 15.It’s a free-will offering event. The macaroons and lemon bars were de-licious…

Banana Trees, Continued from C1

The inside jungle con-sists of banana trees, onewith over 200 bananasand still producing. Du-ane related that the ba-nana tree needs threetrunks, a grandfather, fa-ther and son. As the ba-nana ripen and get har-vested the trunk dies off.The next trunk takes overand a new sprout startsto grow a new trunk andthe cycle continues. Inaddition to bananas,

there are lemon trees,lime trees, fig, orangeand mango trees. Avo-cado and Aloe plantsalong with a multitudeof unusual floweringplants call this spothome.

One special plant is aNight Blooming Cereus.This is a very strangeflowering plant. It bloomsonly once a year and theflower only lasts onenight. Other plants like

the Trumpet Vine roundout the selection.

From the road and un-known to most, this trulyamazing project exists.And thanks to DuaneBanks and his grand-daughter Sophia, itshould flourish and pro-vide fruit and enjoymentfor years to come. Itproves, anything is pos-sible through a little hardwork, research and a bitof luck.