President's Message
September 7, 2012
Hello fellow LIDA professionals,
It’s hard to believe it is the start of another year in our organization – possibly our 61st year. Records are scarce and historians from those days are departed, but from what we can piece together, LIDA began when a few dietitians started meeting back in 1952. We’ll be celebrating this at our next Networking meeting.
I look back on the past year with pride in seeing some great program delivery and in starting a new venue for LIDA – its first Networking meeting devoted solely to mentoring and socialization. We garnered 24 new members that morning and attendees enjoyed meeting other fellow practitioners, learning a bit about their paths, and asking questions of the more “experienced” resource people who could foster more understanding of the various fields dietitians and DTRs can move into. The Irish Coffee Pub provided an elegant background and a diverse, almost meat-free breakfast for this event. Yes, there will be better signage at the next one which will be on November 10, same place. Stay tuned for more details.
Our Culinary Meeting in October was another first and allowed us to taste various appetizers demonstrated by Chef/Humorist Andrea Glick out at Suffolk County Community College’s new Culinary Center in Riverhead. The Medicare meeting in November left a lot to be desired in that it wasn’t really helpful in showing us how to become a Medicare provider, something our profession needs more of. Marie Keogh, RD, CDN, our president – elect, has been busy this summer planning next year’s meetings and we will be combining a Medicare Clinic with a Legislative Update on the status of licensure on Tuesday, Dec. 4. This meeting promises to be more useful than last year’s and we hope to offer 2.5 to 3 hours ceu for attending.
Our “Weight Management on the Web” webinar was our most attended of the year’s events and provided us with a large amount of usable website information. We received only positive feedback from this and hope to present a Part 2 of this topic within a few years.
Gastrointestinal Motility Disorders was provided by Dr. Bhawna Halwan, a gastroenterologist from Winthrop Hospital in Mineola. Attendance was too low for the wealth of information she had to share with us.
Josephine Connolly-Schoonen, PhD, RD, of SUNY StonyBrook, presented “The Creation of Childhood Obesity” at our dinner meeting in May; cutting edge statistics, slides and causes as well as SUNY StonyBrook’s programs to address this issue.
Marie has orchestrated our meetings for this coming year. See recently mailed schedule. A few events will need pre registration such as the “Taste of Greenport” Sustainable Farm Tour Day on Long Island’s North Fork, Saturday, September 29 and the 2 webinars coming up this winter. Look for the evites to the webinars approximately 3-4 weeks prior to the sessions wherein you’ll be able to register through the evites. These webinars are free for current LIDA members. There is a $25 fee for all others, except students where the fee will be $5 upon emailing a copy of your current student ID card.
LIDA is continuing its outreach to the hungry on Long Island by collecting non-perishable items at all of its regular member meetings. Anyone registering for the “Taste of Greenport” Farm Day, please remember to bring food items to donate.
There is a new member benefit to start this year to allow LIDA members to showcase their own original work at member meetings. If you have written a book or compiled patient handouts or anything relevant to our members, you can now sponsor a member meeting for a cost of $75. This is in contrast to the corporate sponsorship rate of $300. If you wish to sell your own work, you just need to let me or Marie Keogh know by 2 weeks prior so we can have a table set up for you. The only member meeting this is possible for in the Fall will be the Legislative/Medicare Clinic on December 4.
We are looking forward to a wonderful year of education, advocacy and networking. We always welcome suggestions for member events and educational program requests. We are an offshoot of NYSDA and we exist to help meet your needs, so let us know how we are doing.
Joan Stollberger, MS, RD, CDN, CDE
LIDA President 2011-13
nutritionwisdom@aol.com
