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November 15, 2011: Director of Dubuque's Two by Two Education, Kristen Woodward, shared with the group the progress her organization has been making in teaching character to young elementary students through a love of animals.
There are some interesting new curriculum areas that Two by Two has expanded in including the "Kind Hearted Kids Program" and the Humane Education Program that has been a mainstay of this education initiative. You can listen to the audio of the entire meeting by clicking on either of the buttons at right. The MPG file on the bottom can transfer the file to your MP3 player, tablet or iPod, iPad, what have you. Simple left click on the button and "Save Target As" will guide the saved file onto your hard drive. |
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| Having fun with "puppies," part of the demonstration materials the Kristen brought to the meeting so we could all pretend we were second graders. |
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| It's the Muppets! The puppet is the one on the left. |
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| Date: Mon, 13 Dec 2010 04:31:53 -0600
Merry Christmas/Happy Chanukha/Happy Kwanza/ Merry Winter Solstice to all:
Earlier this week, I hit my half-way point on this deployment. I had promised to provide periodic updates, but have been horribly remiss in doing so and I apologize. I'm fine and all is well. On my last update I was working in Kabul at the NATO Headquarters where I managed all future plans for construction and battle plans. In August, I was asked to relieve a US Engineer in northern Afghanistan at a German base in Mazer-E-Sharif. My current assignment has me directing all planning, design, and development of Forward Operating Bases (FOBs), airfields, heliports, and rail distribution facilities in the Northern provinces. Although I'm an aviator, I have more experience in master planning, funding, design, and construction than most Army Engineers. That's a scary thought.
I have to admit it's a challenging assignment. We're grossly under-resourced at our level to undertake these projects. The shift in policy (force reduction July 2011 vs. 2014) makes things even more interesting. The days are long, 16 hour days, 7 days per week; and no holidays lay the groundwork for burn-out. The battle rages in this so called quiet area. IEDs, rocket mortar attacks, sniper activity is at an all-time high. So the timeliness of our actions to support those front-line troops is crucial. Thus the stress level is high. We're fairly safe here, but the battlefield is fluid.
Morale is high among the troops in spite of the numerous restrictions we have imposed on us. No alcohol, sexual relations, pets, or any traditional means of expressing esprit d' corps (aircraft nose art, flying US flags, mascots, dehumanization of the enemy, etc.). Some of the rules of engagement are flat out contrary to military doctrine and common sense. I'll vent more when I'm out of uniform and my comments are not subject to the military code of uniform justice.
I've set some personal goals and guidelines as to how I conduct business here. I've tried to impose a sense of fiscal responsibility to our projects. We're spending far too much money in this country on unnecessary projects which the Afghans cannot operate or maintain. In the short time I've been here, I have cancelled $52 mil in unneeded projects. I'm considering cutting another $80 mil in other projects too. My efforts are starting to pay off and I'm getting others to start questioning projects as well. More than once I've asked individuals "are you prepared to defend these projects and expenditures before Congress?" That tends to get them squirming.
Other personal goals include weight loss and I'm down nearly 40 lbs. Wow did I get fat. Do not let me regain that weight when I return. Another goal is to get back in shape. That one's still in progress, but I feel pretty good. One side benefit to this assignment I hadn't considered is that I'm using my German language skills which languished for 30+ years since I minored in German. I'm not fluent by any means, but I can engage in conversations which is very helpful since the Germans run this base.
We get 15 days of R&R at our midpoint. So I'm meeting Dawn and the boys in Rome on the 23rd. We'll spend Christmas and New Years in Italy. It was definitely time to cash in those frequent flyer miles. I'm looking forward to it.
I'll send out a new update in early 2011. Until then, Merry Christmas and have a Happy New Year.
Bob Grierson |
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Novemberf 30, 2010 Mary Ann Gassman's neice's husband, Staff Sergeant Salvatore Guinta was the one who received a Congressional Medal of Honor. Army Staff Sergeant Giunta grew up in Hiawatha, IA. He earned the Medal of Honor for his 2007 service in Afghanistan.
Insurgents attacked his squad, cutting it in two. As rifle team leader, Giunta exposed himself to enemy fire so he could pull one soldier back to cover. He also shot two insurgents after seeing them try to carry away another U.S. soldier.
Mary Ann is collecting newspaper headlines to suppliment her collection that of course includes the Telegraph Herald's front page. But here's the Wall Street Journal article someone was thoughtful enough to bring.
Our talk this week was presented by guests of Make-A-Wish Foundation. It's all on the recording in the box above. |
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| Tim Mootheart brought a visiting Rotarian Flag back from China. It's of course made of real silk. Tim tells us that no Chinese can belong to Rotary (it's forbidden), but there are still clubs there populated by foreighers and ex-patriots living and working in China. |
 
Jim Hallenbeck is chair of the Chistrmas Bell Ringing sign up for Christmas Eve for the Salvation Army. See him and sign up your family to experience the true meaning of Christmas. Doing something for those in need, standing in the cold ringing a bell and actually having fun doing it, and oh, did we mention refreshments? |
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Laura Rannels brought her daughter to the meeting this week, and we were all delighted for it. Occasionally she took the opportunity to engage in some artistic enterprise pictured below. (Photos by Gary Olsen) |
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| We had a new member induction ceremony, and Gina Siegert is now officially a member of Rotary Club with her sponsor, B'Ann Ditmar (left) and our president of Rotary, Tanya Bottomley. |
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| Donna Loewen, principal at Lincoln Elementary School, brought the Superintendent to Rotary Club, Larie Godinez. Larie is applying for membership in Rotary Club. Make sure you welcome her and introduce yourselves. |
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Novemberf 16, 2010 Guests from the Dubuque City Mission gave a presentation at this meeting and it was compelling and poignant as we are in the midst of the holiday season. As you will no doubt hear on the audio file (in the box at right) was one of the best examples of how Rotary supports worthy organizations and enterprises in our community. The City Mission will be the recipient of our fund raising from our annual Santa Cash program. Make sure you buy your tickets to win some Santa Cash from the Rotary Club of Dubuque. |
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| Jim brought long time friend Harold Conzett to the meeting this week. |
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| Our Rotary foreign Exchange student, Javiera, celebrated her birthday this past week, and we gave her a lovely gift as a remeberance of her time spent with her Rotary family in the US. |
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November 2nd, 2010, Rotarian Mary Beth Theis spoke of her humanitarian trips to the South, fixing and quite literally rebuilding homes, roofing, plumbing and installing toilets, running water, and you name it. It was fascinating. |
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| Rotary Singers do God Bless America. |
 Guest Photo with Vicki Bechen |
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| Chuck Andracchio introduces prospective member Gina Siegert. |
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November 2nd, 2010, Rotarian Mary Beth Theis spoke of her humanitarian trips to the South, fixing and quite literally rebuilding homes, roofing, plumbing and installing toilets, running water, and you name it. It was fascinating. |
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| Rotary Singers do God Bless America. |
| Guest Photo with Vicki Bechen |
 October 26, 2010 The Voice of the Hawkeyes, Gary Dolphin was our presenter. It's always fun and informative to have Gary Dolphin visit our club. He gave us a "state of the season" report on the Iowa Hawkeyes, providing his take on the mistakes against the Wisconsin Badgers the previous Saturday. But as we all know, Iowa is capable and has enormous talent in the Big 10, as they proved againstg highly ranked Michigan State the following Saturday in a stunning victory at Kinnick Stadium. |
 We provided some additional photos of Gary with friends. Click on them to download printable copies of your own.This is Andy with Benjamin Blankenbeker. Click on the image to automatically download the enlargement.
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 Gary with our program chairman,
Eric Hilbun.
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| This is Ryan Kane, Paige Reynolds' boyfriend whom she brought as a guest to Rotary Club. |
 Hank Silverkrup left us for his home in Arizona, and we wanted to get a great photo of him. He'll keep in touch, and so will we every week on this Web site. See you next Spring! |
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| Guest this week of Chuck Andracchio was Gina Siegert who is a prospective member of Rotary. |
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Danita Grant brought a guest to Rotary Club. Chris Williams. |
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| Dr. Chuck Weber is planning on a Rotary mission to Africa, and he needs a little help from those among us who have actually been overseas for Rotary. Talk to him. |
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| Cindy Kohlman was a guest iof Sue Chapman this week. |
 Our co-chairs of an important upcoming event, Santa Cash. Join these folks and see what you can do to work off your red badge requirement. |
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| Scott Rausch brought Krisi Pfiffner to our meeting. |
 Tim Loeffelholz is cochair of the Christmas Party event this year. Talk to him about how you can help. |
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| Tom Evans gig in Dubuque is over, and he moves back to Winneka, Illinois. Glad you could join us for as long as you did. Keep in touch. Click on this image to reveal a great printable photo. |
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October 5, 2010: Brendan Quann was our guest this week at Rotary Club. He spoke on the topic of the judicial election process in our three state region. Some judges actually wage political campaigns to ascend to the bench while others are appointed. It has become a huge issue in these more confrontational political times. If a judicial candidate receives support from wealthy and powerful constituents or groups representing a particular ideology or agenda, how is that judge not beholding in certain legal decisions that may come later? There are several movements that are dedicated to changing this situation, and it is itself become an incendiary issue in the courts and legal circles. |
 Sam Yamoah helped this week on the drawing. We raise important revenue each week from this activity, and if you're a new member, this is on your list of duties to perform to lose your red new member badge and earn your permanent name tag like the one Sam is sporting. |
 Guest Dr. Larry Tranel of the Iowa State University Extension Office, asked Rotarians to support the tax measure on the November 2 general election ballot that supports the program for Dubuque County. Don't for get to vote YES for Dubuque County's Extension Program. It helps farmers and youth in our community, and its not just those directly involved in agriculture. |
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September 14, 2010: The police were here! Fortunately no arrests were made. Representatives of our own Dubuque Police Department provided us with a presentation on law enforcement from the front lines in protecting citizens from a variety of mishaps including crime and those situations we inflict upon ourselves while behind the wheel. But the Community Policing Program is much broader than that obviously, according to Rotarian Doug Stillings (left) who is involved with this program. Lt. Scott Baxter is the Community Affairs Officer (right), and the new Chief of Police, Mark Dalsing, was on hand to talk about community safety. |
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September 21, 2010: Our District Governor Dr. Roger Kueter paid us a visit and gave a stem-winding presentation on the state of the district. While he was at it, he presented a drawing for tickets to a show at the UNI Gallagher Bluedorn Auditorium, Cedar Falls to Sam Yamoah. Roger received a standing ovation from club members on this splendid day in Dubuque. Roger also posed with our president Tanya, and our foreign exchange students (pictured lower right). |
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| Guest this week of Doug Stillings was Keith Habel. |
 Guest of Rotary Club, Kelly Faherty introduced by |
 Judy Heiderscheit was a guest of Rotary Club. |
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| Holy cow! We raised $5,000 to give to our fine veterans. |
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| New Rotarian inducted is Josh Jasper with his sponsor B'Ann Dittmar. |
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| Tim Kidde was introduced by Jim Schilling. |
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| Andy, Larry and Benjamin Blankenbeker. Three generations. |
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| Tom Howe introduced our guests, veterans Ron and Craig. |
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A guest of Joyce White this week was Curtis Oldfield. |
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| Diana Schultz was a guest of Patricia Kemner. |
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| Andy Blankenbeker brought along his days old son Benjamin to the meeting. Clearly it is our youngest Rotarian ever. |
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| Rosemary Eager accompanied her husband, Bob, as he received his Paul Harris Fellow designation. Congratulations and a standing ovation were in order as Barry Bromberg and our president Tanya Bottomley, made the presentation. (Photo linked to larger more printable version.) |
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August 17, 2010, NISSOM, The Northeast Iowa School of Music, a recipient of a grant from the Rotary Club of Dubuque, entertained us on August 17th, and we have it all on our audio file for you. The rest of the meeting is here, too, including our guest presenter Dr. Jim Schneider (pictured at right), surrounded by hats of one form or another.
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| Check presentation |
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| Sign up for Fall Weatherproofing Project. |
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 August 3, 2010, the Fighting Saints Hockey executives, boosters and management were on hand for this meeting, and we got to know some new folks on the scene including the manager and team's marketing manager, above. |
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| Our favorite Rotary Club Scholar, Luke Juran, returned to the US and brought his new bride, Dalia, with him. It was wonderful seeing Luke and Mrs. Juran. They are residing in Iowa City. |
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| Guest of Tim Loeffelholz was Dawn Bandy. |
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| A guest of Hank Silverkrup were from right to center Jesus Alvirez from Mystique Casino, and Rich Murkenbhuhl of the University of Dubuque. |
 Guest of Ken Buesing was Kevin Podstawa. |
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| Carol Jefferson was a guest of Gary Gansemer's. |
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| New member inducted into Rotary Club is Dan Pape here with the president, Tanya Bottomley. |
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| Former president of Rotary, Doug Pearce, brought his spouse to a recent meeting. Meet Lois. |
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| Carrie Wooky brought a guest to Rotary Club and one of the unintended results was this fantastic photo taken by club photographer, Gary Olsen. |
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| New Member Induction Ceremony Photo. Details are on the audio file, the link to which is featured above. |
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July 13th, 2010 Mike Budde and Professor Susan Stone, Loras College, gave a presentation on Loras's efforst to create a summer institute for elementary and secondary students to provide them with learning experiences only a college can provide. It's a great marketing tool besides the fact that kids get to taste college life in a unique way. Patterned after the highly successful Loras Sports Camp and UD for Kids (University of Dubuque), schools like Loras all over the country are learning what it takes to build brand identity with potential students that reside in our own back yard and beyond. |
 Guest of Hank Siverkrup (University of Dubuque). |
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July 8, 2010 We had representatives from the Disable Veterans of America on hand for a presentation. This worthy organization is seeking funds to improve the quality of life for veterans in our Tri-State Area. Their are almost 500 affiliated members of the organization. That's quite a lot when you think of the qualifications to become a disable veteran. The ultimate sacrifice for our way of life is sending our young men and women off to war. These guys are Viet Nam era vets who met with Rotarians..
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Doug Stillings brought a guest, Dan Pape. Welcome and we believe Dan is seeking membership.
Photos on this page are linked to printable enlargements. |
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| Jackie Oliver brought a guest to Rotary. This is Luis. |
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| Right to left, past president Doug Pearce with current president Tanya Bottomley, and our president elect is Kent Renier. |
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| Outgoing president of Rotary, Doug Pearce, presented presidential citations of appreciation to Lori Bahl and Kim Tully who have helped Rotary Club with many responsibilities including scholarships and making sure we fulfill our obligations to governing bodies of Rotary International. |
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June 29th, 2010 Three representatives from the Potosi Brewing Company, Potosi, WI, were on hand for a presentation and (are you ready for this?) free beer samples. Awesome... and it's lunch time! But seriously folks, the Potosi Brewing Company that was restored from a complete ruin is now a major tourist stop on the Wisconsin side Great River Road. It's truly magnificent, and all the net profits from the brewery go to charity. |
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| Congratulations Doug Pearce who received this fine plaque in appreciation for his year as president of Rotary. Tanya Bottomley takes over and congratulations to her as well. |
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 Our Pres, Doug Pearce, whose term is winding down, presented certificates of appreciation to some likely candidates for such an honor including our loyal DGCC staff members under the direction of Rotarian and Club Manager, Rich Bugalski. Others in the club receiving appreciation were Gary Olsen (right) for his work on the audio system, Web site and photography duties for Rotary Club,
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 and Mary Ann Gassman for her work with weekly dignitaries, guests, and visiting Rotarians. It's a tradition for the outgoing president to provide special commendation letters to members and friends of the Rotary Club who have served the club in various and creative ways.
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| Justin McDonald was a guest of Chad Wolbers. |
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| Laura Rannels and guest Dan Fairchild. |
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Our Pres, Doug Pearce with Bob Schroeder and Deb Borley, Immunization Coordinator for Visiting Nurses Association, our partner on the Super Shot Saturday event. We served 110 children (a record breaker) this year. Bob Schroder was the chair of this event. |
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| Here's a wonderful photo of our area high school Rotary Scholarship Winners. Below, parents of were along for support of their son, Arin Horsefield, who was presented with a scholarship. From left to right above: Arin Horsefield (Western Dubuque High School) attending the University of Iowa, Catherine Mochler (Wahlert Catholic High School) attending St. Mary's College in St. Paul, MN, Jessica Williams (Hempstead High School) attending Trinity International University in Deerfield, IL. |
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May 25, 2010 : Paul Hemmer, Executive Director of the Grand Opera House and on the board of the Dubuque Arts Council, was the presenter with assistance from Grand Opera House Technical Director, Keith Elvin. They shared with Rotary the ongoing success of the Dubuque Arts Council and the work they do bringing a wide variety of performing artists to our community. From Artists in Residence programs aimed at school children to public performances in such unique venues as the Dubuque Arboretum and Botanical Gardens on seven successive Sundays, have added much to the quality of life and liesure in the Dubuque area. |
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| Joey brought a guest to Rotary Club. |
 This was very funny. Strap a box full of ping-pong balls to your butt and try to shake them out before your competition does. It's called "Junk in the Trunk," and it is part of the annual Corporate Games that are being held and in which Rotary Club is fielding a team. We use the term competition loosely because it's all in good fun, and perhaps an excuse to party and raise funds for charity. Laura Rannels and Gary Kramer are managing the team and of course their objective is to bring glory to Rotary Club. So we did a demonstration of this for the meeting and people bet on who would win. |
 Sue Chapman was the only female in the competition, and though there was some debate on the closeness of the competition and who finished first, it appeared that Sue emptied here "trunk" before the others in the field. We checked the photographs taken by Gary Olsen, but there was no definitive evidence other than hearsay. But one thing is for certain, Sue won lots of support from Rotarians in the betting. |
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| Tanya Bottomly and Mike Gantz (guest) |
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| Wendell Ryder and guest. |
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May 18th, 2010 : James Aydelotte, father of Rotarian Marian Walker (left) spoke on Rotary International with which he served on the International Board of Directors. He spoke on Rotary policy changes and the process of making policies in this esteemed organization. Right is his wife and Marian's mom, Margaret, also a Rotarian.
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| Laura Rannals with her sister, Chelsea Steinbeck. |
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| Aggie Tauke brought a guest this week. |
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May 4th, 2010: Above, Eric Hilbun with Deb Rahe. We had a wonderful presentation on Albrecht Acres this meeting. The camp, located just north of Dubuque in Sherril, IA, has come to represent a very special place for developmentally and physically challenged children and adults (from the youngest children to the elderly). Accompanying Deb were Dick McGrain and Randy Judge, President and Vice President of Albrecht Acres.
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| Among the prizes auctioned off at the Golf Outing is this signed Packer Football. |
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| Aggie Tauke with guests, Gus Pshoyos and Bob Schiesel. |
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| New Member! |
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| Another new member! |
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| Wilma Sanders who was Don Sander's Guest |
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| Remember, when you bring a guest to Rotary Club, make sure you let them know that we have a photo of them. Send them a link, or, if you are really trying to make an impression, click on the photo to reveal the printable enlargement, print it out on the home Hewlett Packard, and put it in a frame and present it to them as an incentive to join the one of the coolest service clubs in Dubuque. That's how some of us roll. |
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 Cary Reisch was a guest of Rotary this week.
Below, Karen Lyness brought Bob Steinhauser and Todd Dalsing to Rotary on April 13th
Photos in this column by Rich B. Good job! All images are attached to enlargements. Just click. |
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| Guests Steve Baumhover and Derek Oberding are seated with Dan Raduns. |
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| Cari Campbell, a guest of Doug Stillings. Photo by Rich B. And below, she's inducted as a new member! Wow, that was fast! Excellent! |
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| Doug Stillings sponsored Cari Campbell as a new member of Rotary Club. |
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| Above, David Solberg sponsored Mary Lawyer as a new member. |
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| March 30, 2010: This was a great presentation on Dubuque's initiative to develop more tourism and convention business for our area. Our DCVB (Dubuque Convention and Visitors' Bureau) representatives, Katie Simmons and Keith Rahe (director) made a delightful presentation that included news on all kinds of upcoming events. Eric Hilbun introduced. They have a Web site which is www.traveldubuque.com. It actually provides you with a means of building and printing a personal itinerary of attractions in which you and your family can partake. It's a tremendous new marketing tool. |
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| Pat Kemner (middle) and guests. |
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| New member induction of Jackie Oliver. Pat Kemner, her sponsor is left, and our president of Rotary, Doug Pearce on the right. We got her surrounded. There's no escape, now. |
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| Dr. Pete Sakas accompanied his wife, Ginger, to Rotary. |
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| Karen Lyness and guest, Liz Doland |
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| A new member was inducted into the club this week. Anita Grant, an attorney, has joined us. Please welcome her. |
 This is the Impact Award presented to Dubuque Rotary Club for service to youth in our community. The award was sponsored by Dubuque365 in celebration of contributions to our community that make it a better place in which to live. Each award was hand-crafted, cut from sheet steel and is a work of original art. |
 What the heck is a "Shelter Box?" Well, here's one (click on it to enlarge in your browser). Here's one photographed at the Winetka/Northfield, Illinois Rotary Club by Tom Evans. |
 Celebrated artist, wood carver and builder of original bars (yes, bars), Gary David, attended our meeting as a guest of Kent Renier. Gary resides in Galena, Illinois where he has a studio. If you want to see an example of his work, go to the following Web site, Potosi Brewing Company and see the most magnificent bar ever built. He's currently working on a spectacular bar for the Dubuque Shooting Society's new headquarters north of Dubuque. |
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| This is Global Cooling, our Rotary Club infused rock band who hosted Fun & Frolic this week. It was a riot. The recording we captured at right is worth transferring to your iPod. |
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 Above, Brent Walser with Cheryl Kramer. Left, Steve Bracken with Vicki Bechen.
Below, Patricia Kemner with guests, Jackie Oliver and Marianne Krause. |
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 Gary Churnovic with John Donovan.
Below, Connie Seyer receives a check from Rotary Club. |
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| Applause and, in fact, a standing ovation, when Mike Seyer announced the news to everyone that the Dubuque Rotary Club was named by Dubuque365 as the Service Club of the Year. |
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| Ken Bickel, of First Congregational Church, received a check from Rotary Club for a community improvement program that originated there. |
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| Sistern Bertha Bonert received a check on behalf of Stonehill Care Center for $3,000. |
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| Josh Jasper and Don Vrotsos were on hand to receive a check that will go to programs that meet the challenge of domestic violence in our community. |
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| The Multicultural Family Center was a beneficiary of a Rotary check, and Tara Velez represented the MFC. |
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 February 16, 2010: We had Rotary member vocational talks this week, and they included Charlie Green and from the Boy Scouts, Dustin Ferris, executive director. The talks were, as we've come to expect, enlightening. In Dustin's intoruction, he asked how many people in the room were ever a scout or scout leader, and more than half the room stood. Charlie Green comes to Dubuque from among other places, Alaska, where he was a geologist. His story was fascinating and wonderfully entertaining.
Audiophiles Please Take Note: We now offer our meeting recordings in MP3 file format as well as traditional Windows Media format. This audio file should behave like any other audio file in most up-to-date browsers (playing almost instantly), but you can also download this file into your resident MP3 music folder (right click and choose "Save target as," and point the download directly to that folder on your computer).
Once it resides on your computer, your MP3 software (like iTunes) will treat it as a music or podcast file allowing you to add it to a playlist, audio database, etc. from which you can download the file into your iPod, Zune, or similar portable audio device. Give it a try and let us know how it works for you.- Gary O. |
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February 23, 2010: Central Alternative is presenting their annual seminar, and this year's topic is "The 1960s, A Decade of Promise and Protest." The students gave a wonderful presentation to Rotary and received a check for $500 to help them with costs of bringing in special speakers for the program. The decade of the '60s was so much more than hippies, riots, and the Viet Nam War. Central Alternative High School is fast approaching its annual seminar program which will examine the decade of the 1960s. But Central's take on this tumultuous decade will veer sharply from what everyone expects. Yes, there were protests, campus riots, the Viet Nam War, but there were also the most innovative scientific advancements in history. Man travelled through space, landed and walked on the moon, and the US built an extraordinary jet plane whose sole purpose was to spy on our enemies and flew at the very edge of space. Seminar speakers will include astronaut Scott Carpetner , and project engineer for the Blackbird spy plane project, William Fox . Plan to be at the Grand River Center on March 16th, 7 PM. Admission is $5. Students $2 with ID. |
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Photos on this page are linked to printable enlargements! Just click on them. |
| Above, Eric Hilbun brought Cole Schmelzer as a guest this week. |
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| Gary Olsen, who represents the Dubuque Community Schools, seized the moment for a photo and a quick interview when Kent Renier brought his son, Nathan, to a meeting on his birthday. Nathan announced that at his birthday party, he asked his friends not give him presents but the equivalent in donations they could make to relief efforts conducted by Rotary Club in earthquake ravaged Haiti. The acorn does not fall far from the tree. |
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| Guest of Joey Anderson this week was Kari Bahl. |
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| Gary Gansemer brought one of his Hillcrest Family Services colleagues to lunch at Rotary... Carol Jefferson. |
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January 19, 2010: Vocational talks introduced by Jennifer Moen. Doctor Chuck Weber (physician), and Les Oelke (banker). This was one of the best meetings in a long time (or at least since last week's meeting). It is really wonderful when our members step up and tell us what they've done, what they do, and how they got here. It's among the best things a Rotarian can do and is in the true spirit of the founder of this club. Plus, this audio file is quite entertaining. You never miss a thing when you log on to the Rotary Club Website.. |
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| B'Ann Ditmar (right) with guest. Click on the photo to download a printable enlargement. |
 Dave Adams was a guest of Mary Ann Gassman |
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| Gary Olsen in a rare appearance on this Web page (since he takes most of the photos), but this was a special occasion. His guest was Bill Burdt, and he's on the board of Dubuque's favorite Storybook Hill Children's Zoo. Bill approached Gary some months ago with a design challenge. Could Gary design a new gateway sign for the zoo? He did, and it's currently under construction. Click here to see the sign. |
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January 5. 2010: Wow, are these people fit! Well they ought to be. Sue Chapman brought Michele Malone, Jim Halihan (with the US flag on his sweater), Megan Dalsing, Jolene Stackis, Steve Day and Jan Friedman who represent the local and state Live Healthy Iowa group. It's the most ambitious project in America, the goals of which are to reduce childhood obesity, and encourage healthy weight and exercise among all Iowans. Iowa is perhaps ahead of the curve on implementation of a program, but we have a long climb according to our speaker, former coach Jim Halihan. Jim says that former Governor Robert Ray was perhaps the earliers proponent of a state-wide fitness initiative, and he was among the first state officials to formerly identify obesity as a growing epidemic, and this was more than a decade ago, according to Jim. |
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| Santa arrived thanks to Trolleys of Dubuque, one of the sponsors of Santa Cash this year, and the jolly old saint poses with two of the winners, Amy Gerhard (right) and Ken Snodgrass. Congratulations! More photos below. |
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| You know how there is always one Girl Scout that sells more cookies (typically by a humongous margin) than any other Girl Scout? Well our Girl Scout was Kent Renier. He sold 25 Santa Cash tickets at $100 each. He deserves some kind of prize for that effort. Maybe a flat screen TV or home entertainment system (several of you have already gotten this joke). |
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| Our esteemed president pulls out the winning numbers with Stanta and project co-chair Jack Hansken looking on. |
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| Master of ceremonies for the awarding of Santa Cash was project co-chair Pat Udelack. |
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| Santa, Jack and Doug |
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| Among Gary Olsen's better photos, this father and son shot of Tom and Nathan Howe. Remember, printable enlargements are always available by clicking on the photos featured on this page. |
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| Flanking Chuck Andracchio are guests Marc Pichik (left) and Jason Schuster (right). |
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 This is Hobie Wood, guest of Tim Loeffelholz. Hmmmm? Is Hobie Wood what skateboards from the 1970s were made of? Just wondering. Google it: Hobie Wood Skateboards. Here's what we found! (The Rotary photographer had one in 1965, and that's why the name rang a bell). |
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| Don't ask. You'll have to listen to the audio file. Click one of the buttons in the audio box above right. |
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| December 14, 2010: The Senior High School Madrigal Singers, a group that has been performing continuously for more than three decades. Founded by Dan Nye, retired, the group is under new direction with vocal music teacher, Chris Marple, and the vocal performances are as vibrant and beautiful as ever. This is one of our most popular meetings all year, and we had nearly 200 in attendance. You can listen to their performance only, or you can listen to the entire meeting at the end of which is the permance which lasts about 20 minutes. Click here for the Madrigal Singers Performance Page and Photo Album created by Gary Olsen. |
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December 7, 2010 Tanya Bottomley with guest presenter, Keith Rippy from Advanced Medical Transport. This is a growing business in our community that uses private enterprise to fill in any gaps that may exist in a community's ambulance and patient transport services. Keith was accompanied by Scott Rausch.
You can click on either of the buttons at right to listen to Keith's presentation. Photos on this page are linked to either albums or printable enlargements. Our compliments. |
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| New member, Larie Godinez, inducted with sponsor Donna Loewen, right. Larie is Superintendent of Schools. Donna is the principal of Lincoln Elementary. |
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| Dr. Chapman knocks 'em out of the park with his reminiscences of his medical practice. |
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| Eric Thomas introduced his guest, Sister Delores Ulrich. |
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| It's the Jim Hallenbeck family. |
 John Donovan and a very special guest, Natalie Berg. This photo is linked to an enlarged version you can print, put in a frame, and give to someone for Christmas. Just a thought. |
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| Tim and Kim Loeffelholz. He promised his wife lunch and a concert. |
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| Wally Brown with visiting Rotarian from Galena, Illinois, Helen . Kilgore. |
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| Kim Burros introduced Shawn Bommen (sp? if so apologize), one of our parents who volunteered to house one of our Rotary Club international exchange students. It was her first time, and she says she loved every minute of it. |
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| Mike and Sherry Loveless are flanked by officers of Dubuque Rotary Club President Tanya Bottomley and Barry Bromberg, on the occasion of Mike's induction as a Paul Harris Fellow. |
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| Dr. Shafer brought a guest to this week's Rotary Club, Dr. Bill Kutler who is going to join our organization. |
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Novemberf 23, 2010 This was a very special program that occurred quite by happenstance since the speaker who was supposed to be here on this day was unable to make it. It so happens our own Dr. Chuck Weber had just returned from his humitarian trip to Africa, and he agreed to step up to the mic and fill in. And we are glad he did. It was a fascinating off-the-cuff report on his adventure in West Africa, where modernity classhes with ancient and conservative religious belief systems that occasionally conspire to prevent humanitarian aid from reaching those most in need. Click on the appropriate audio button at right and listen to the entire meeting. |
 Javiera Alcaino, our Rotary Club Foreign Exchange Studfent from South America. You may click on this image and a printable enlargement will automatically deploy in your browser. This is true for nearly all of the photos featured on our Web site.
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A new member was inducted on November 23. Here, flanked by his sponsor, Vicki Bechen, and the Rotary Club president , Tanya Bottomley, is Dave Storey. Dave is a retail advertising sales manager for the Telegraph Herald. |
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Don Sanders brought is wife, Wilma to a meeting as his guest. |
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| We had a new member induction ceremony, and Gina Siegert is now officially a member of Rotary Club with her sponsor, B'Ann Ditmar (left) and our president of Rotary, Tanya Bottomley. |
| Click on images to automatically reveal printable photos! |
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Gary Olsen, center, flanked by the City of Dubuque's Jenny Ostwinkle and Paul Schultz. The trio were at Rotary to discuss their efforts in marketing local agricultural food sources in the Dubuque area through a project on which the three are involved. |
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November 9th, 2010, Rich Lalley, President of Operation Warm, a service club partnership that provides brand new warm winter coats to children who cannot afford them. Rich has been employed in the advertising field and he was a brand marketing manager for Discover Card. Rich is a man on a mission talking to service organizations from coast to coast developing partners for these projects that are conducted in the sponsoring organization's community. Listen to the recording to learn more about this fascinating and noble effort. |
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Tim Loeffelholz brought Hobie Wood to Rotary Club. |
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| This is Dave Storey introduced by Vicki Bechen, his sponsor for new membership. |
 Rotary Club is on Linked In which is a professional social network on the Web. Tom Haeger started it, and you should talk to him or email him for particulars. Join the 21st Century and get on Linked In.
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Jim Hallenbeck is chair of the Chistrmas Bell Ringing sign up for Christmas Eve for the Salvation Army. See him and sign up your family to experience the true meaning of Christmas. Doing something for those in need, standing in the cold ringing a bell and actually having fun doing it, and oh, did we mention refreshments? |
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| Mike brought his spouse and business partner to Rotary Club this week. Hi Cheri! |
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| Members of the Platteville Rotary Club came to our meeting to see how we do things. Here they pose for photos with our President and (get this) the Voice of the Iowa Hawkeyes Gary Dolphin! In your face Badger fans! It just shows there are no hard feelings. |
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October 19, 2010 Dave Gaylor, a pilot with the Angel Flights Program, was on hand to tell us of the joys of being a real live angel. This man uses his skills to ferry those among us who are gravely ill or in need of special therapies to hospitals and clinics across the country. There legions of touching stories that go along with his experiences, and considering there are more than a few pilots who are members of Rotary, sujpporting this organization would be a wonderful thing. |
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Our foreign exchange students joined us for lunch this week. |
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| Jim Curoe brough guest, Bob Carrall to our meeting. Former member who retired and moved to Florida. |
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October 12, 2010 Greg Orwoll, Rotarian and executive director of the Colts organization, was our presenter (left of program chair, Eric Hilbun). This energetic and creative community leader provided us with his insights into the Colts youth organization (they no longer refer to themselves as just a drum and bugle corps). The organization is in its 26th year and employs music as the centerpiece for opportunities to guide youth to extraordinary purposes in life. Music programs for youth teach them that through practice, teamwork and collaboration, they can become part of something that is greater than themselves. The long-standing organization is an iconic fixture in Dubuque, certainly one of our community's great treasures. |
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Bob Casper, our Sergeant at Arms, leads everyone in singing the Star Spangled Banner. It's on our recording of the meeting above. It's pretty amazing. |
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| A young Rotarian Blankenbeker catches a nap during proceedings. This is Benjamin. Photo by Gary Olsen. All photos on this page are linked to larger more printable versions you can print at home. |
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| Dr. Bill Kuttler was a guest this week of Dr. Shafer. |
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| Gina Siegert, the new owner publisher of Jullien's Journal, our area's popular culture magazine, was a guest of B'Ann Dittmar. |
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| Patricia Kemner brought guest Jennifer Davidson to Rotary Club. |
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| Our newest members are combining forces for an upcoming project. To learn more, click on the audio file above. |
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September 28, 2010: Secretary of State Michael Mauro was our guest. This officer from the State of Iowa provided members with an extraordinary and informative overview of the responsibilities of the office. More importantly, he explained the progress that has been made both administratively and technologically in one of his most important areas of responsibility, elections. The extraordinary logistics and enforcement of fraud protection are uppermost in Michael's mind as he goes about this enterprise. Here he poses with our president, Tanya Bottomley. |
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September 7, 2010: Shelby Wartich and Barb Zoeller, Hospice of Dubuque provided an insightful look into the world of Hospice. The growth and popularity of this service in our nation and our community has been encouraging. The knowlege personal support this organization brings to families with a member who is near the end of one's life, has become extraordinary valuable. We have the entire meeting on our Web site. Just click on the appropriate button in the box on the right. The Windows Media file will streaminto your browser as will the MP3 player version below. That one can be transferred to your portable MP3 player. |
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| Tony Zelinskas brought Keith Pearson to a meeting this week. |
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August 31, 2010, Steve Davis (left), Medical Associates Health Care, provided us with some expert interpretation of the new federal Health Care Bill. It was refreshing to hear from someone who actually has studied the bill and weighed its impact and implications for the rest of us citizens. Introducing Steve was Eric Hilbun, our program chair. Steve, by the way, is a fellow Rotarian. It's always nice when we can draw expertise and informative programs from within our ranks. Every member has a story to tell or a unique experience from which we can draw knowledge. The complete recording of the meeting is available in the box at right. |
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| Javiera Alcaino, an exchange student from South America, attended our meeting and was hosted by Kimberly Buros who coordinates this enterprise for our Rotary Club chapter. |
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| Meet Benjamin Blankenbaker, days old son of Andy Bankenbaker, visiting Rotarian from Galena, Illinois. |
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| August 17, 2010, It was hat for Beliz. dentist Dr. Jim Schneider gave a presentation on his humanitarian trip to Beliz, and thanks to generous Rotarians, he collected all of these caps and hats to be shipped to that country to protect the residents from the relentless sun. |
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August 24, 2010 Gene Tully, the founder of "Voices from the Warehouse District" that features a wide variety of visual and performing artists, gave a wonderful presention extolling the virtues of arts in our community and the grassroots effort that evolved into one of the arts calendar's most exciting and popular events all year. Jeri Shaffer, very involved in the arts in our community, introduced Gene to club members. There are two types of files for listening to audio of the meetings. The Windows Media file can stream into your browser. The MP3 file can be listened to on both browser and your personal MP3 Listening device. |
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| Guest Karen Trueke, right. |
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| Galena Rotary couple, Andy and Melissa Blankenbaker. |
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| Kyle McCain visiting from Brazorsport, Texas. |
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| New member, Paige Reynolds with her sponsor, Bob Woodward. |
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| Mike Lavin, new member, here with our president Tanya Bottomly and his sponsor Kevin Lynch. |
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August 10, 2010 Brian Meyer, the executive director of Dubuque Boys and Girls Club,, was on hand to present the new campaign video and answer questions of this most venerable of community charity organizations. He was introduced by Eric Hilbun, our program chairman.
There are two types of audio files, and both will play in your browser. But the second one, the MP3 version, is transferrable to your personal audio device like an iPod |
| Photos on this page are linked to printable enlargements. |
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| Former president, Doug Pearce, took this opportunity to present a certificate of appreciation to Brent Johns for his long service as program chair of Rotary Club. |
 B'Ann Ditmar introduced Josh Jasper as her guest this week at Rotary Club. |
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| Mike Lavin was a guest this week. He learned about our club on the Web, and he came to this meeting and was introduced to everyone by Kevin Lynch. |
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| New member induction photo! Click to download a free enlargment suitable for printing. |
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July 27th, 2010 Joanne Gebauer, here with Eric Hilbun, did a presentation on the Residences at Asbury project that provides maintenance free living for retirees. The units are spacious, you can completely customize them to your tastes and special needs, and you don't have to lift a finger for inside or outside maintenance. Learn more about it by listening to our audio recording of the meeting.
There are two types of audio files, and both will play in your browser. But the second one, the MP3 version, is transferrable to your personal audio device like an iPod |
 Guest this week was Dorian Dickinson. |
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| A guest of Kim Buros was Melanie Flesch. |
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| Paige Reynolds, with the new Hockey organization, was a guest of Bob Woodward's. |
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| Justin McDonald was a guest of John Knox. |
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July 20th, 2010 Rotary Youth Exchange was the topic of our presentation this week, and a student from Brazil was our key-noter. The Rotary Club does a fantastic job of building understanding between cultures through this and many other programs, but the Youth Exchange Program is one of the oldest and best in the world, putting students with host families throughout the world. Below, Kim and our Presidente, Tanya Bottomley, hold up the new banner that was donated to promoting our efforts from Dubuque Sign Company. Thanks for supporting Rotary Club and Youth Exchange. |
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Doug Stillings brought a guest, Dan Pape. Welcome and we believe Dan is seeking membership.
Photos on this page are linked to printable enlargements. |
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| Matt Strelo was a guest of Doug Stillings last week |
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| We have many guests each week at Rotary Club, and we love to feature them in our Web site. |
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| Our esteemed district official, Kent Renier, presented Tanya Bottomley with the Membership Award from Rotary International and Region 5970. We got the award for outstanding recruitment of new members and very low turn-over. |
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| Three presidential citation recipients at a recent meeting. Congratulations, Gary Kremer, Gery Shafer, and Doug Stillings. |
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| Kevin Althaus brought his lovely wife, Joan, to the meeting. |
 Kim Buros brought a guest to Rotary Club this month.
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 Hey, look who earned his permanent badge! |
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| One of our scholarship winners here with Kim Tully and Doug. And mom came along with our scholar. |
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| This is a great photo of our president, on his last day, receiving a standing ovation from the club. Job well done.Click on any of these photos to automatically download the printable enlargement. |
 Here's a great photo of Jim Hallenbeck and his daughter who is one of the cast in Annie! |
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| This is a touching tribute from Doug Pearce to his most important colleage, Sheri Clancy who works with Doug in his law practice. Doug read this heartfelt and humorous caption from the presidential citation he presented her, and it was so wonderful. |
 Incredible! Guy Gard celebrated his 100th anniversary as a member of Rotary. He looks terrific. Apparently he sleeps in a cyrogenic chamber, and he admits to using Botox. But seriously, folks, his years in Rotary Club are something a shy less than100 years and he's celebrating this month. Ask him about it, and congratulate him. |
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| DON'T MISS THIS TUESDAY'S MEETING! Members of Potosi Brewing will be presenting, and they promise beer samples! You might want to take a day of vacation and designate a driver. |
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June 22, 2010: Christine Grudmeyer, Finley Home Health Care, was our guest this week, shown here with program chair, Eric Hilbun. Wow, did we learn a bunch from Christine on home health care, a growing trend in health care designed to provide a better set of circumstances and supports for patients who should be home and not in the hospital at certain stages of their treatment. It's not just about eldercare. You can hear all about it by clicking on the appropriate sound file icon in the box at right. The top button is linked to a streaming WindowsMedia File, and the bottom link is to a file you can listen to now or transfer to your MP3 player, like an iPod or iTouch, and listen at your leisure.
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Paul Hemmer, representing the Dubuque Arts Council, received a check from Rotary Club this week.
Photos on this page are linked to printable enlargements. |
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June 15, 2010: Doug Stillings with Mike Hodge of the Community Safety Commission, a group assigned the task of analyzing Dubuque crime data and making recommendations to improve the effectiveness of law enforcement. The talk is one of the more interesting and poignant programs we've had in recent months due to the controversy surrounding an increase in violent crime in certain parts of the community, and the increase in Section 8 (rent subsidized) housing. Steps have already been taken to make the program more accountable, but more importantly, there have been some interesting discoveries in the process of examining crime data, and Doug shared them with Rotarians. Listen to the audio by clicking on the appropriate buttons in the box on the right. |
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Jill Luning, soon to be inducted as a new member of our club, is with Ken Snodgrass before the ceremony.
Photos on this page are linked to printable enlargements. |
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| For good reason Bob Rudzianski wanted to have his picture taken with Mary Ann Gassman before delivering the weekly Fun & Frolic missives. Of course all fines levied are for scholarships. And because these people are so naturally photogenic, it turned out to be a delightful photo. It's linked to a printable enlargement. |
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| Cary Reisch with her sponsor, Patricia Kemner, was inducted as a new member. He was born and raised in Dubuque, and now returns with his family that includes a young son. |
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June 1, 2010: Cheryl Kramer with the Republican candidate for the US Congress House of Representatives, Ben Lange. He grew up Quasqueton, IA, and he practices law and resides in Independence, IA. He has a Web site that is worth examining. During his college years, he joined the frontlines of the conservative movement when he served as policy advisor to U.S. Congressman John Kline, a conservative from Minnesota and a former military advisor who carried the nuclear launch codes for President Reagan. He characterizes himself as a conservative. |
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| Sam Yamoah got his permanent badge this week having met all of the new-member tasks required to obtain the permanent badge. Congratulations Sam! |
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| Sarah Dickenson, Kim Buros and Helen Kilgore |
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| Rose Bowen was a guest this meeting.. |
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Cari Campbell and Jennifer Curtis. |
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| Dave Rusk and his son Ben |
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| Terri Goodman was a guest of her husband, John. |
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May 11th, 2010: This presentation was all wet. Bob Green, City of Dubuque Water Department, spoke on all topics pertaining to city water including a brief history, where our water comes from, and where it's going. As part of our Green Cities Initiative, we are installing new watermeters that have digital telemitry which will detect water waste as well as usage. Learn all about it from the person most in the know. |
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| Bob Schroeder, chair of Super Shot Saturday, spoke on the upcoming opportunity for members to help with immunizations at Finley Hospital. See him if you want to volunteer. It's a wonderful opporrtunity for new members to become involved in core club values. |
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| Chuck Andracchio holds aloft a signup sheet. |
 Karen Lyness introduces a guest from Hormel Foods new plant, Marke Zelle. |
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| Mike Seyer introduces Mike Noel. |
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| Kevin Lynch introduces guest Kevin Cahill. |
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| Dean Beresford and Vicki Behcen |
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| Larry and Andy Blakenbecker, guest Rotarians from Galena. |
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| Pat Kemner introduced her guest, Jim. |
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April 27th, 2010: Iowa State University's Jonathon Wickert, of the Department of Engineering, spoke to us, and it's fascinating that the decline in students pursuing careers involving math, science and physics is causing many schools to reach out to feeder schools. But Wickerts says we must reach students in 4th and 5th grades, both male and female students. ISU has no shortage of students, however. An increasing number are from foreight countries. We educate them and they return to their countries to make them more competitive in the world marketplace. Eric Hilbun introduced. He's our program chair. Contact him if you have a program idea for an upcoming meeting. |
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| In honor Spencer Smith who passed away during his qualifying run for Paul Harris Fellow, the club completed the financial contribution on his behalf and awarded the Paul Harris Fellow to Spencer's wife in an emotional ceremony that was attended by family members. |
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| Carrie with guest Jill |
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| We love when members bring their wives to Rotary. |
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April 20, 2010: The University of Iowa Academic Provost, Wallace Loh, was our guest presenter and he was also on hand to take questions this week at Rotary Club. This was fascinating. This is a really entertaining recording this week, and if you missed the meeting, it's a good way to catch up.
Audiophiles Please Take Note: We now offer our meeting recordings in MP3 file format as well as traditional Windows Media format. This audio file should behave like any other audio file in most up-to-date browsers (playing almost instantly), but you can also download this file into your resident MP3 music folder (right click and choose "Save target as," and point the download directly to that folder on your computer). |
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| Laura Rannals and her husband, Jamey. Our Winnetka, Illinois visiting Rotarian brought a guest this week, Jeff Roberts.. |
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 Jim Schilling's birthday surprise was this ginormous cake from his wife, Inga. It was placed conspicuously in the room to everyone's delight. Jim is 102 years old, but doesn't look a day over 90. Photos by Rich B. |
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April 6, 2010: Bob Woodward, one of our esteemed Rotarians who is at the helm for the new Mystique Ice Center project in our community, brought everyone up to speed on this fantastic resource currently under construction on our glorious riverfront. Yet another great amenity that will contribute to a quality of life heretofore unimagined. Eric Hilbun introduced Bob. Got an idea for a program? Talk to Eric. He's the man.
Audiophiles Please Take Note: We now offer our meeting recordings in MP3 file format as well as traditional Windows Media format. This audio file should behave like any other audio file in most up-to-date browsers (playing almost instantly), but you can also download this file into your resident MP3 music folder (right click and choose "Save target as," and point the download directly to that folder on your computer).
Once it resides on your computer, your MP3 software (like iTunes) will treat it as a music or podcast file allowing you to add it to a playlist, audio database, etc. from which you can download the file into your iPod, Zune, or similar portable audio device. Give it a try and let us know how it works for you.- Gary O. |
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| Mary Lawyer with David Solberg |
 Paul Hemmer asked Gary Olsen to take this photo of Steve Hamilton because he thinks he saw him on America's Most Wanted. But actually he wants to add this photo to our membership directory. |
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| Joy and Pat with a guest Cary J. Reisch. |
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| Prospective member, Mark Noble (left) having lunch with Robert Eager. Quick get Mark our Web site address so he can fill out an online application. |
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March 23, 2010: Tom Flynn was on hand to help Rotarians understand employers' obligations under the law governing the handling of employees who are in National Guard and Reserve units on active and frequent readiness duty. Particularly during these times there are several among us who serve in the armed forces on one capacity or another, and we must provide the support they each deserve.
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March 9, 2010: This is a great meeting because of Bob Burn (author of Memories of a Non-Jewish Childhood and a regular columnist for the TH pictured above with Kent Renier at right) who is a very funny guy, and our musical Fun & Frolic with our own Rotary infused rock band, Global Cooling rounds out this entertaining meeting. What an audio file! Awesome, man. Rotary Rocks!
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March 2, 2010: This is Jan Stoffel and Eric Hilbun who introduced her. Jan is with the City of Dubuque's art in public places initiative, and she spoke to us about the fantastic annual Art on the River project that puts upstart and experienced sculptors works on display in the Port of Dubuque. Some pieces from the collections have sold, making the venture a wonderful showcase for emerging talent.
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| Rotarian from Brazil, Gustavo Marilio, with Kim Buros, was a guest this week at Rotary. |
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| Introducing guest, Josh Herbst, is Julie Florez. |
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| Julie Jordahl, representing Ark Advocates, received a check from Rotary's humintarian projects fund, and Mike Seyer made the check presentation. |
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| New member, Marc Pichik, was inducted by Chuck Andracchio. Welcome Marc!. |
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| Sue Schmitt, with the help of our Pres, Doug Pearce, inducted our newest member, Brian Spannagel. He's an attorney. |
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| Wally Brown represented Project Concern for which he's served as a board member for many years. |
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| Speaking of Wally Brown, the guy goes on vacation to Palm Springs, but he doesn't forget to attend a Rotary Club meeting there and bring back a flag from the Palm Springs Club. |
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| Heidi Aird's guest this week was Jeff Bowling. |
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| Helen Kilgore, from the Galena Rotary Club, and Wally shows some hospitality. |
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| Want a shirt with a cool Rotary logo emblazoned on it in gold thread that was probably embroidered by hand by elves? See Kent Renier above right. These garments are magical. When you put one on we're told you feel like a super hero. And why shouldn't you? You're a member of Rotary Club! |
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| Jackie Oliver was a guest of Pat Kemner. Jackie is with Holiday Inn. |
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February 16, 2010: We had Rotary member vocational talks this week, and they included Jim Hallenbeck, a patent attourney and Tom Jaeger, financial consultant with Wells Fargo. Above, we had an induction of a new member, Pat Kemner, here with our president, Doug Pearce, and her sponsor, Mike Seyer.
Audiophiles Please Take Note: We now offer our meeting recordings in MP3 file format as well as traditional Windows Media format. This audio file should behave like any other audio file in most up-to-date browsers (playing almost instantly), but you can also download this file into your resident MP3 music folder (right click and choose "Save target as," and point the download directly to that folder on your computer).
Once it resides on your computer, your MP3 software (like iTunes) will treat it as a music or podcast file allowing you to add it to a playlist, audio database, etc. from which you can download the file into your iPod, Zune, or similar portable audio device. Give it a try and let us know how it works for you.- Gary O. |
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January 26. 2010: It's president elect Tanya Bottomley, taking the helm of the meeting from Doug Pearce who was indisposed this week. Introducing our speaker was Tim Moothart and our presenter was Josh Jasper with the Riverview Center. His expertise is reducing the potential for violence in the home and particularly that which is perpetrated against women and children. His talk was highly instructional and interactive as he questioned the audience on issues of intervention when witnessing violence in their own neighborhoods or, God forbid, one's own family. It's a fascinating topic and we have it recorded along with the rest of the meeting. Tens of thousands of people from around the world listen to our audios on this Website every week. It's a great way for members to find out what they missed in the event the can't attend a meeting, but, more importantly, it serves as a splendid calling card for prospective members and presenters who wish to become part of our weekly conclave.
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January 12. 2010: It's Rick Dickenson, CEO of the Greater Dubuque Development Corporation (blue tie). He's sitting between our president and Eric Hilbun who introduced him. His candid analysis of Dubuque's economic profile, especially in light of IBM coming online, is extraordinary. Thank goodness we have it on tape, and you can play it right now in your browser window. Click on either of the buttons at right.
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Jack Schuster is now a Rotarian, and his sponsor, Kim Buros, proudly welcomed another member to the fold.
Photos on this page are linked to printable enlargements! Just click on them. |
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| Kim Buros brought her husband Kyle to our meeting. Kyle is in the Galena Rotary Club. |
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| Don't you love when we give things away at Rotary Club like these cool posters from the Hawkeyes? |
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| While we were dining on this fine Tuesday afternoon, we were serenaded by Hempstead student Jack Cole on cello. He sings, too. He'll be performing at Carnegie Hall with some of his classmates, soon, and he's looking to raise money to cover the trip. His performance, including a cool jazz number, are recorded on the audio file provided in the right column. Gary Olsen also asked him some questions about his art. Jack was a guest of Tim MacNamara. |
 Jack Schuster was a guest this week again. We need to make this guy a member. Did you know you can apply for a membership online? Yup. JUST DO IT! |
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| Our Santa Cash Grand Prize Winner was Mel Miller from East Dubuque, Illinois (he's with DB&T), and he promptly rebated $500 of his cash prize to Rotary Club in the form of a donation and Kim Buros has the check in hand. What a guy! |
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Guest of Mike Seyer this week was Patricia Kemner. She's a key Rotorac organizer and sponsor in her home community we found out. |
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| Guest of Scott Gois (right) was Tim Bemis. |
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December 22
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December 22, 2009: Columnist for the Telegraph Herald and Author, Jim Swenson (above left), spoke on grief and losing one's spouse. As part of his therapy, explains Jim, he kept a journal of his difficult journey. Jim's wife died of breast cancer.
December 29, 2009: We learned about how the regional dairy industry is making progress to sustain itself by encouraging young people to pursue dairy careers, and they engage in education and research (research affiliated with Iowa State University). Trying to help dairy families in our area is its top priority. Kelly Boyland is with the Northeast Iowa Community Dairy Foundation. This nonprofit
December 29
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educational facility consists of a fully functioning dairy farm, state-of-the-art calf facility, classrooms and they are in the business of making and marketing their own milk. By offering hands-on education and demonstrations at their Calmar facility, their objective is to encourage dairy's critical role in our economic community. The recording of this meeting is available in the audio box lower right. "We all need to care about the dairy industry," explains Kelly. "Each cow in our area generates approximately $16,000 per year in economic activity. Multiply that over the number of dairy cows in Dubuque County (21,000 cows times $16,000) and it means $336 million in economic activity. And consider that the owner and employees of these cows spend 90% of their income in their immediate communities." |
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