Quick, call People Magazine! Isn't this an absolutely lovely couple? They were photographed at the Rotary Club Christmas Party, and wow, what a party at the Diamond Jo Casino! It was lovely, too, and it was great getting to see the new facility. But it was really great seeing all of the Rotarians and their spouses.

Thanks to Tim Loeffelholz, Kim Tully, and Lori Bahl for their work on making the party special. It was great seeing you all there.

Gary Olsen took some snaps of couples. You can access the whole album of photos by clicking on the reindeer. Go ahead. Put your mouse on his nose. He won't bite.

Dave Solberg, here with his spouse, Diane, received Paul Harris honors at the December 16th meeting of Rotary. Barry Bromberg presides over the presentation.

Don't you love when members bring their children? Here's Gery's two, Jan and Jon Kremer. Happy Holidays to the Kremer's.

Here's a lovely photo of Jeanne and David Moessner. Happy Holidays! We love when members bring their spouses. Okay everyone, let's sing, "We are Fammmm-i-ly...!"

Peter Hanlon was a guest of Dr. John Chapman.

Our Rotary Club Songsters belted out a fine Christmas carol which you can hear on our audio file for December 23 above left column.

Mike Brannon told a lovely story about his father-in-law who went deer hunting, didn't shoot a deer but hit one with his car on the way home.

Scott Steiner brought Rick Knapp to Rotary this past week. Photos on this page are linked to larger printable ones.

The Rotary Singers, Karin Moldenhauer, Bob Casper and Mary Ann Gassman. You can hear them on the audio file for this meeting in the right column. Photos on this page are linked to larger printable ones.

November 18, 2008 Gareth Johnson, violin virtuoso and soloist with the Dubuque Symphony Orchestra, was introduced by the DSO's Maestro, himself, William Intrilligator (below). Gareth is an accomplished musician for only 23 years old.

Nov 11 Meeting Audio

November 11, 2008 This meeting featured an excellent presentation by Jackie Preston of the Brain Injury Association of Iowa. You might be surprised at the number of people suffering from brain injuries who now must cope with certain inabilities.

Oct 21 Audio

October 21, 2008 Ken Koleck is an enthusiastic speaker and has travelled extensively on behalf of Rotary. He knows of what he speaks. Of course you can hear the whole program including the rest of the weekly meeting by clickin on the button at right.

Oct 13 Audio

October 13th, 2008 Matt Booth, one of Dubuque's outstanding young leaders, spoke on his favorite topic "Mattitude." Actually that's the name of his company which specializes in team building, group problem solving and motivation. He is a real force of nature as is evidence on our audio file. Just click and get motivated.

Sept 30 Audio

September 30th, 2008 Tim Moothart spoke on the topic Dubuque's Mentoring Partnership, an amalgamation of agencies and organizations in the Dubuque area that sponsor and administer various forms of mentoring such as Big Brothers, Big Sisters to name two. Tim, himself, has been a mentor to a boy in his formative years, and according to Tim, this has been one of the most rewarding experiences of his life (not to mention the young man's).

Above, Tim with one of his affiliate sponsors, Ann Hedrick (Big Brothers/Big Sisters. Introductions were by Brent Johns, Program Committee.

Aggie Tauke (right) brought her daughter, Tara, to Rotary Club (a past Rotary Scholarship recipient). Tara studied in France, graduated from Iowa with honors in May, is a published poet, and she's journeying to Antarctica as you read this.

Sept 16 Audio

September 16th, 2008 Cindy Steinhauser, Paul Schultz and Deb Buol provided us with information on Dubuque's "Green Initiative" and our economic and urban development quest toward more sustainability. It's among the city's core values in all things from waste management to new architecture and engineering projects. Learn more by listening to the meeting audio file in the box on the right.

August 26 Audio

Aug 26, 2008 Kelly Meyers (with Brend Johns), from Maquoketa and a lay employee of the the New Mellary Abby (she's the upholstery supervisor for casket manufacturing). Kelly spoke on the history of the monestary and the casketmaking facility that has grown significantly on their substantial property (3,400 acres) southwest of Dubuque. The abby has a long (160 year) history in our community. The Trapest Casket business is helping to sustain the monestary. Caskets are made from wood harvested on their land. This is a fascinating program.

Guests this week included Toby Weiscup and Lief Carlsen (Dubuque Community Y) and their host was Guy Gard.

August 12 Audio

Aug 12, 2008 The fine folks from Hills & Dales, Marilyn Althoff and Char Eversoll, came to Rotary Club on August 12, and we have their program right here. In addition to wonderful and informative programs, we also manage to capture significant events such as the presentation ceremony to Dr. Roger Shafer, upper left, that designates Dr. Shafer as a Paul Harris Fellow. Barry Bromberg (right) made the presentation, and below this photo is a shot of Geri and Barry. Dr. Shafer's wife and fellow Rotarian also received a Paul Harris + honor at the same meeting.

July 29 Audio

July 29, 2008 Cheryl Kramer travelled to New Orleans to help victims of Hurricane Katrina, and she brought us an extremely informative show featuring new photos of the devastation and the efforts people are making on behalf of the thousands of victims who are still reeling from the effects of one of the worst hurricanes in modern history.

July 22 Audio

July 22, 2008 Mike Blouin, who heads up Dubuque's economic development efforts, made a wonderful presentation on workforce development among other accute issues we face in the coming years. If workforce turnover continues apace (more residents retiring than new workers are settling here to fill those existing and future jobs, we will lose employers who will go where the workers are. That will include overseas, of course. Listen to this insightful program as well as the rest of the meeting we record and post on this Web site every week.

July 15, 2008 Carrie Tedore is the energetic and extremely talented marketing guru for the Diamond Jo Casino, which is becoming a land-based opertion by October. Construction is on schedule and Carrie shared some news on the facilities' exciting new features.

July 15 Audio

Jim Purdy received his Paul Harris Fellow designation from Marian Walker. Congratulations Jim Purdy, our most recent Paul Harris Fellow. Click on it to reveal the printable enlargement.

I took a recent trip to Delhi to meet with the Government of India's National Institute of Disaster Management (the equivalent of our FEMA in India) and to accomplish other academic research. While in Delhi I stayed with Sushma, my friend's mother. Sushma is a teacher at Sarvodaya Vidyalay, which is a public school in the nation's capital of over 16 million people. I went to school with here for the entire day and became the primary teacher. Sushma teaches science, so I instructed about the tsunami to all of her classes. The students took great interest in the tsunami because it affected the Andaman and Nicobar Islands and the southern portion of their country. However, they were more interested in the fact that I can speak, read, and write in Hindi, which is the national language and a prominent language in Delhi. After teaching each class I had to sign autographs (in English and Hindi) and pose for photos! I'm having a great time!

Left, Scott Schneider contratulates one of our Rotary Club Scholars, Ashley Thibadeau. Congratulations, Ashley! Accompanying her to Rotary Club were her parents, Gary and Cathy. The Rotary Club provides scholarships to area high school students in both Dubuque and East Dubuque.

July 8 Audio

July 8, 2008 We had new members inducted this week. Left Photo is Vinod Seth and his sponsor is Kent Renier. Right photo is Ginger Sakas is pinned by our president while her sponsor, Kerin Moldenhauer looks on. Congratulations Ginger and Vinod, and welcome to Rotary Club!

From time to time, Rich Bugalski, our intrepid manager of the Dubuque Golf and Country Club and a Rotarian, mans the camera for Gary Olsen who may be delayed or what have you, and so he took a couple of practice shots of two members of the club's fabulous wait staff we thought we would include on this week's Web page.

July 1 Audio

July 1 , 2008 Grace Couch spoke to Rotary about compulsive gambling. She's with an agency that intervenes when gamblers finally admit they've lost perspective and control. She was introduced by Chuck Weber.

Photos on this page are linked to printable enlargements. Just click on them.

Bob Woodward brought guest Mike Terrill to Rotary Club this week.

June 24, 2008 The Iowa Transportation Museum was the topic this meeting of Dubuque Rotary. Chuck Brook, left, is the sparkplug in the engine for this project.

June 24 Audio

One of our wonderful scholarship students, Ann Osterberger with our scholarship coordinator, Kim Tully. Learn more about this fine student by listening to our audio file above. Click on the photo to reveal a printable enlargement.

Brian Dalziel brought along Tony Wernke to Rotary Club this week.

Inducted as a Paul Harris Fellow was Mike Seyer who was accompanied by his wife, Heidi.

We love when members bring their kids to Rotary. This is Reza Ehtessabian's son, Jared.

May 13 Audio

May 13, 2008 Annual State of the Club Report Rob Apel and Committee Chairs. Besides the fact that this was the longest meeting we've had all year, it was worth it. We actually ran out of disc capacity with about five minutes left (sorry about that, but who knew this was going to be marathon?). But most of it is right here, so enjoy.

On another note, Amy, here, was wearing a tee shirt which is the official Team Rotary Club tee that you get to wear in the upcoming organizational olympics fund raising contest coming up. Learn more from Amy who is helping chair the team and she's looking for competitors.

Click on the images on this page to view printable enlargements.

May 6 Audio

May 6, 2008 Jim Jelinske, an instructor at Northeast Iowa Community College, is a strong advocate of "bully intervention." Personal tragedy motivated Jim to evangelize on this topic because he feels it is so destructive but largely preventable. Jim speaks on the topic to teachers as well as students, and he had the entire club's attention when he told a story about a young man who was bullied to the point of no return. Hear this compelling story on the audio file we've provided of the entire meeting and the presentation.

April 29 Audio

April 29, 2008 Our mayor receives a pin from one of our Rotary guests from India. We had a delightful time with these visitors who, it turns out, had so much fun on the US tour, they have modified their plans to return to Dubuque. Below is our president elect Chuck Andracchio receiving flags from our guests.

April 22 Audio

April 22, 2008 Sustainable communities was the discussion at Rotary Club this week. Assistant City Manager Cindy Steinhauser and developer John Gronen were guests of Deb Buol this week. The City's initiatives were outlined in an extremely complete program that covered everything from Downtown Redevelopment to environmental "green" projects that all contribute to making Dubuque a wonderful place to live. This is a lively and informative program which you can listen to by clicking on the logo in the box at right. Also, photos on this page are linked to printable enlargments. Below is Deb with her husband, the Mayor of Dubuque Roy Buol, and City Councilman, Kevin Lynch.

Guest this week of Charlie Miller is Ryan Kilburg.

April 15 Audio

April 15, 2008 Brent Johns introduced Kris Carne abd Paula Trudeau, representing The Village Cooperative, a retirement living facility that is emblemic of a growing trend in this kind of development, especially in our area. We have the entire meeting for you as an audio file you can listen to on your computer by just clicking on the media button in the box at right. The photo, by the way, is linked to a printable enlargement.

Below, Bob Schroeder introduced his guest, Kathy Kueter to Rotary Club this past week.

April 8 Audio

April 8, 2008 Illinois Pork Producer, Darrell Stitzel (above with host Brent Johns), spoke to Dubuque Rotarians on the topic of modern pork production. It was utterly fascinating and one of the best presentations we've had in a long time (note to program committee... we apparently love farmers and agriculturalists). Darrell admitted he was rather new at this public relations business, but he put aside the brochures and U.S. Pork Producers prepared remarks in favor of plain talk, and it was insightful and remarkable all at the same time. It's apparent that modern pork production is an enterprise not without risk. But it was interesting to discover how clean and efficient enclosed pork operations are thanks to modern technology. Today in the US, pigs are raised in cleaner environments than most children in third world countries. They thrive in controlled temperature and humidity controlled buildings year 'round. As a consequence, today's pork is far leaner and, in fact, competitive with chicken in health benefits. There is far less cholesterol in the pork when compared to pigs even 20 years ago. We have the entire meeting for you as an audio file you can listen to on your computer by just clicking on the media button in the box above.

April 1 Audio

April 1, 2008 Greg Yoko (here with Rotarian Jennifer Uptegraph), a local publisher of specialty trade publications, spoke on the topic of sustainable land development. What really is sustainable development? Well, you may be surprised to know that it's not just about environmental protection or that including a sustainable development strategy in your land development plans increases costs. In fact, real tangible savings can be the result, and your development can continue to reduce cost of operation for those residing on the property for generations to come. At the same time, the impact on the environment is significantly reduced, and that is always a good thing. For example, let's say you have a 40 acre parking lot. Typically it must contain storm sewers and tiling beneath the pavement to channel rainwater away from the parking lot. If you use permeable concrete, the water soaks through the pavement into the earth thereby reducing runoff that can become someone else's headache. The cost differential is negligible since you don't need underground storm tiling if your concrete is water permeable. Also puddles and winter ice are virtually eliminated reducing your liability. Listen to the presentation by clicking on the Windows Media button above.

Kent Renier is going to be working at the Rotary District level in the coming year. Congratulations to Kent!

March 25 Audio

March 25, 2008 Mike Budde introduced Samantha Harnack of the Iowa Marrow Donor Program to speak to Rotarians this week. There is one big myth associated with donating bone marrow, which, by the way, is one of the most popular strategies in treating cancer and diseases of the blood. Does giving bone marrow hurt? Most who have donated it say, "no!" In any event, the delightful Ms Harnack spelled it all out on how to be a donor and save lives through their computer aided Donor Matching Program which is international in its reach. So how many members of our club are already enrolled in the donor program? At least four we know of at this meeting! One was Patrick Donovan (below) who brought a guest this week, Jim Rang.

Guests this week included John Freivalds with John Luckstead (right).

March 18 Audio

March 18, 2008 Jerry Enzler, Executive Director of the National Misssissippi River Museum and Aquarium located at the Port of Dubuque, spoke on America's River Phase II that is going into motion as we listen. Jerry is one of our Rotarians we are proud to say. He was introduced by Brent Johns. Phase II is all about expanding the displays and exhibits, obviously, but it's also about a new emphasis on an important message that is tied to the environment. The implications and impact the rivers have on our global environment are critical to the overall health of our oceans. "The impact man and his enterprises have on the rivers is something we need to examine more closely," explained Jerry. We are looking not just at our river but the entire hemisphere's rivers and the inexorable links they have to our very survival. Listen to the audio and learn all about the NMRMA's plans. Also joining Jerry at Rotary this week was Ginger Sakas, Development Director for the organization.

March 11 Audio

March 11, 2008 Central Alternative High School's Tim Ebeling brought two of his students, Ron Sanders and Tanya Davis, who are involved in a massive project of developing a book and seminar on global terrorism. Central has a long tradtion of noteworthy research projects of this sort (Tuskegee Airmen, The Cold War, The Shot Tower Project), and this year is no exception in terms of quality and educational value. Their presentation and a report on the progress of their research is on the recording. Click on the button. The photo above is linked to a printable enlargement.

New member induction: Our president elect, Chuck Andracchio, and sponsor, Kim Tully, welcome Heidi Aird to our fine club! Welcom Heidi who is with Aflac (yes the company with the duck logo).

Three Musketeers (we call them that because they are all sweet like the candy bar), Kim, Vicki Bechen, and new member, Heidi Aird. Photos on this page are linked to printable enlargements.

March 4 Audio

March 4, 2008 Veterans & Military Families for Progress with Tom Howe (above) who gave an emotional speech about the state of veterans' affairs in our nation. Tom, himself, a Marine veteran of the Viet Nam conflict, has dedicated his life to veteran's welfare issues. "It's the soldiers who do the heavy lifting in preserving our democracy," explains Tom. Amen to that.

Also, Tom was inducted into our Rotary Club on this day. Congratulations, Tom, and welcome to our club.

Mike Seyer, our Humanitarian Projects Chair, presents a check for $1,000 to the Project Linus organization. As the name implies, the group creates and makes and collects blankets to distribute to children. Photos on this page are linked to printable versions. Just click on them.

March 4, 2008 These are three of the most influential non-profit organizational professionals in the Tri-State Area. They include (standing) Don Gereau (interem Director of Hoffman Development Center), (right) John Romaine (Director of ARC), and Kevin Stevens (Director of Hoffman Development Center).

Feb 19 Audio

The topic of their presentation was the work that has been done to merge these two institutions (ARC and Hoffman Development Center). Don outlined the process that was employed to facilitate the merger. These fine organizations have served the community well in the area of developmentally disabled and mobility disabled resident adults. We, as a community, can be proud of how well we take care of those in profound need. It is the measure of our community's quality of life. But it's also professionals like these who help raise the money, manage the funds and administer to these people in need that deserve a lot of credit.

Guest this week at Rotary included Lynn Decker here with

January 29, 2008 Well, we learned from Kathy Abba all about how we can now log on to a new website and calculate (approximately) what it will cost to get a knee replaced, a heart valve installed, hernia repaired, you name it, they have a formula for you to figure it out. Handy if you like to shop. Seriously, though, Kathy knows her stuff, and the Iowa Hospital Association Price Point website was actually pretty impressive.

Jan 28 Audio

The presentation was given by two of our own Rotarians, Kathleen Abba (Finley) and Tim Loeffelholz, a deft technician on the PowerPoint presentation. Actually we learned quite a bit about this topic as was evident by the number of people actually taking notes during the program.

February 12, 2008 The Rural Heritage Museum was the topic of this week's Rotary meeting. Dave Schmitz, a farmer from Dubuque, is the sparkplug in this particular engine seeking to raise funds and awareness of this project. He has personally contributed land and a barn to headquarter displays, equipment, tools, and educational exhibits that seek to preserve our past, the nearly 200 years of agricultural history in the Tri-State Area. It's a noble and just cause since so much of our rural heritage and architecture is rapidly disappearing. Farmers aren't building wooden Gambrel roof barns anymore. Sure, there are a few preserved on the prairie, but most will be a memory if steps aren't taken.

Feb 12 Audio

The Chamber of Commerce CEO, Molly Grover, gave a report on the recent Washington trip and the delivered details on the news that Northwest Airlines is back at the Dubuque Regional Airport.

Another check presentation was made to the Storybook Hill Children's Zoo.

We also inducted our newest Paul Harris Fellow, Ron Shardt, who was joined in the celebration by his wife, Else. Barry Bromberg made the presentation.

These three officers were elected by the club this past week and they include Lori Bahl, secretary, Doug Pearce, president elect, and Kent Renier, treasurer. They will serve on the Board of Directors as well.

We inducted a new member this week, Karen Dorschkind sponsored Shannon Lundgren. Welcome Schannon back to the warm embrace of Rotary Club.

Jan 22 Audio

January 28, 2008 Scouting was the theme of this week's Rotary Club Meeting, and our club's chief scout, Dustin Ferris, brought Eagle Scout Will Neumeister who showed us his photos and video clips from the Scout Jamboree he attended in England. It's so great to see an organization with such a great legacy continue to prosper and build confidence and leadership skills among young men. And to show our support and appreciation, we paresented the Northeast Iowa Council with a check from our humanitarian projects fund.

An old friend, Steve Horman (right) was a guest of Tom Tully.

Left, we had an induction ceremony this meeting and our new member is John Ambrose. Here presenting his certificate of membership and pin is Denny Hartough (middle) and Chuck Andracchio.

Jan 15 Audio

January 15, 2008 Meganne Masko, a certified music therapist currently working for Hospice of Dubuque, entertained us at Rotary Club, and this was one of the best presentations we've ever had. It was utterly touching. As we know, the Hospice organization is dedicated to making those with terminal illness or those who are preparing to leave this world as comfortable as possible. Music as an evocative and largely inexplicable effect on the proceedings in many cases which was illustrated in story and song by Meganne. This is one of those programs that was perfect for recording and passing along to friends and family. The button in the box above will trigger the download, and all you have to do to let others know of our programs is pass along our Website. It's that simple. Meganne is here photographed with Shelby from Hospice.

Jan 8 Audio

January 8 , 2008 Bob Broshous (right) with Brent Johns, our program chair. Bob is a University of Dubuque recruiting officer. He spent some time with us showing how he sells Dubuque, Iowa to overseas students. It was quite fascinating. Dubuque, by virtue of its location in the heart of the Midwest, is not an easy sell in some parts of the world, but Bob gets the job done and delivers. We have the entire meeting on audio file along with Bob's program, so click the button in the box and learn something. Afterall, he works for an institution of higher learning.

Okay, the topic of this meeting was "Resolutions." Our Fun & Frolic host this week, Amy Gerhard was dressed for the occasion. We can't exactly tell you all of the gags represented in her New Year's Resolutions costume, but you can hear it on the audio file featured above.