Helping others has never been so smooth!! For a $25 donation, you can taste various Bourbons side by side along with great socializing with old and new friends and 100% of your donation will go to the Ankeny Service Center to help with winter and holiday expenses for Ankeny residents in need. The tasting will take place on Monday, December 9th from 6:30 PM to 8:00 PM at 2514 SW Westwinds Blvd, Ankeny. Thank you to Todd Eipperle for organizing and hosting this fun event. |
In his June 1917 address at the annual Convention of Rotary International in Atlanta, Georgia, Arch Klumph asked his fellow Rotarians to "not to live for themselves alone, but for the joy in doing good for others". And so was born the motto of The Rotary Foundation: "Doing Good in the World". Inspired by Klumph's admonition, members of The Rotary Club of Kansas City, Missouri, made the first contributin to the Foundation in the amount of $26.50. Over a century later, more that 35,000 clubs, comprised of over 1.2 million members, have followed the Kansas City example. They have made monetary contributions in a concerted effort to promote world understanding through the improvement of health, the support of education and the alleviation of poverty. According to the November edition of The Rotarian, the following represent the top 6 (out of over 200) donors to The Foundation over a five-year period by US dollar amount: United States $395,699,358 India $ 88,875,333 Japan $ 84,467,802 Korea $ 79,249,818 Taiwan $ 53,105,767 Canada $ 40,799,946 The icing on the cake is about these donations is 92% of the funds are spent on programs, awards and operations. (Charity Navigator 4-Star Rating). |
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On November 10, 2019, the District 6000 Nominating Committee interviewed candidates for the District Governor Nominee Designee 2022-2023. The committee selected Steve Wieneke of the Rotary Club of Ankeny. Steve is currently serving as the President of the Ankeny Evening Club. Congratulations Steve! |
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Special guests attending the Rotary Club of Ankeny's meetings last month included: 11/5 - Larry Laughlin, Blood, Sweat, & Beers, Speaker 11/5 - Tim Mauro, Blood, Sweat, & Beers, Speaker 11/5 - Maverick Biga, guest of John Biga, "Evening" 11/5 - Maddux Biga, guest of John Biga, "Evening" 11/12 - Bonnie Castillo, Iowa DOT, Speaker 11/12 - Craig Clarkson, visiting Rotarian from Des Moines AM 11/12 - Maverick Biga, guest of John Biga, "Eveninig" 11/12 - Maddux Biga, guest of John Biga, "Evening" 11/12 - Sierra Ross, prospective new member, "Evening" 11/12 - Matt Ross, prospective new member, "Evening" 11/12 - Beverly Ross, guest of Sierra & Matt Ross, "Evening" 11/12 - Violet Duke, guest of Jacquelyn Duke, "Evening" 11/19 - Melisa Valle, RYE student from Mexico, "Evening" 11/19 - Amanda Alcocer, RYE student from Mexico, "Evening" 11/19 - Violet Duke, guest of Jacquelyn Duke, "Evening" 11/19 - Willow Duke, guest of Jacquelyn Duke, "Evening" 11/19 - Maya Duke, guest of Jacquelyn Duke, "Evening" 11/19 - Jason Duke, guest of Jacquelyn Duke, "Evening" 11/19 - Alex Entin, guest of Nick Testino, "Evening" 11/19 - Savannah Potts, guest of Renee Potts, "Evening" 11/19 - Rick Sibbel, guest of Kathy Sibbel, "Evening" 11/19 - Annette Burnham, guest of Nate Burnham, "Evening" 11/19 - Shannon Magner, guest of Jeff, Magner, "Evening" 11/26 - Don Goering, visiting Rotarian from Ames 11/26 - John Johnson, National Pork Board, Speaker 11/26 - Grace, 2020-21 Outgoing Rotary Youth Exchange Student, "Evening" 11/26 - Karen Grieshein, Grace's mother, "Evening" |
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The December Board meeting for the Rotary Club of Ankeny will be: When: Thursday, December 12th Time: 12:00 PM Where: Wig & Pen, 2005 South Ankeny Blvd. All members are welcome and it counts as a make-up! |
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Rotarians throughout District 6000 will be ringing bells for our local Salvation Army units this holiday season. The Rotary Club of Ankeny will be ringing bells on Saturday, December 14th at the North Ankeny Hy-Vee, 410 N. Ankeny Blvd. There will be 5 two hour shifts from 10:00 AM until 8:00 PM . We would like two people for each shift. If you have questions or to sign up want to work a shift, contact Anne Porter at 515-571-4213. There will also be sign up sheets at the next few Rotary Meetings. |
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The Evening Club held their weekly meeting on November 19th at B & B Theatres/12 & B-Roll Bowling. No one is bragging about their bowling score, but everyone had a strikingly good time!!   |
The following Ankeny Rotarians will celebrate birthdays in December: 2nd - Chuck Stewart 3rd - Scott Port 12th - Rich Job 14th - Tim Cox 15th - Dylan Dyer 21st - Doug Beech |
Each year beginning in 1980, Rotary International has had a float in the Rose Bowl Parade. Completion of the float is dependent on generous donations of over 7200 volunteer hours provided by more than 900 individuals from around the world. The theme for the 2020 Rose Bowl Parade is "The Power of Hope" and the theme for Rotary's float is "Hope Connects the World". It will highlight the progress of Rotary and its partners in our quest to help people around the world. Tune in to the Rose Bowl Parade on New Year's Day and watch for the Rotary Float. |
Current member Dave Mercer agreed to change his individual membership to the Primary Designee of a new corporate member Iowa Realty Company. President Job also inducted Dylan Dyer and Scott Obstarczyk as new members of the club and as Secondary Designees for Iowa Realty. With these new members the club's number of members is now 102. |
Steve SchraderBachar was named Ankeny "Rotarian of the Month" for November by President Rich Job. Steve was recognized for his work as the club's chair of the Foundation Committee and in particular the success of the club's special PolioPlus campaign. This campaign has resulted in over $2,900 being raised for PolioPlus. Congratulations Steve! |
The Evening Rotary Club of Ankeny grew to 15 members when Steve Wieneke inducted Renee Potts into the club on November 5th. Renee is a Teacher Associate at Northview Middle School in Ankeny. She was proposed for membership by Darius Potts. There are now three husband/wife teams that are members of the Rotary Club of Ankeny. Welcome Renee!! |
The 2019 Christmas social for the Rotary Club of Ankeny will be on Thursday, December 5th at The Fletcher at 1802 N. Ankeny Blvd, Ankeny. The evening will start with a social hour beginning at 5:30 followed by dinner at 6:30. The cost will be $45 per member and each guest which will be added to the members invoice in January. Registration is now available on-line through the club's web site but formal invitations will be sent soon. |
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The November Board meeting for the Rotary Club of Ankeny will be: When: Thursday, November 14th Time: 12:00 PM Where: Wig & Pen, 2005 South Ankeny Blvd. All members are welcome and it counts as a make-up! |
Jan Franck, Sally Schroeder, and Shar Dunlap celebrated Halloween at the Rotary meeting on October 29th by dressing for the occasion. I wonder if they went "Trick or Treating" after the meeting? |
Operation Christmas Child, a project of Samaritan's Purse, collects shoebox gifts - filled with school supplies, hygiene items and fun toys and delivers them to children in need around the world. For many children this will be the only gift they receive this Christmas. Since 2009, more than 16 million shoeboxes have been filled and delivered through this program. Members of the Evening Rotary Club of Ankeny and several guests filled 66 shoeboxes during their meeting on October 29th. In addition to selecting items to put in the boxes, pictures were taken of the person filling each box to be included in the box with a card on which a short note was written. It was a fun night for all for a great service project!! .JPG) |
Steve Wieneke has the privilege of inducting Jenna Lanning into the Evening Rotary Club of Ankeny on October 29th. Jenna teaches kindergarten in the Des Moines Community School District. She is also the Secretary for a non profit organization, the TYH Humanitarian Foundation. This Foundation is named after Timothy Yates Heggen who died at age 17 from Pancreatic cancer. This Foundation has partnered for 10 years with Save the Rain and Rotary International to provide Tanzanian communities with a sustainable water source. She was proposed for membership by Jacquelyn Duke. Welcome Jenna! |
World Polio Day was, October 24th. To celebrate the progress Rotarians have made in eradicating Polio, videos showing the history of Rotary’s PolioPlus campaign were shown at both the noon and evening meetings on October 22nd. Then, instead of the sheriff passing the bucket, members were asked to consider making a contribution to the Rotary Foundation to be designated to PolioPlus. Thank you to the many members that make a contribution or agreed to having a contribution added to their next Rotary invoice to be sent in January, 2020. The total pledged through the end of October is $2,610!! If you would still like to contribute, we will still be accepting the pledge forms and contributions for the next couple weeks. Please remember:
Thank you Ankeny Rotarians!! |
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He founded Panzi Hospital in 1999 with the singular aim of making life much better for mothers and their babies, then war broke out. Working among traumatized women and children of the Democratic Republic of Congo, Denis Mukweze has seen it all: between 100 and 500 women and children raped every day, ranging from 19-month-old babies to octogenarians; with their digestive and reproductive organs totally and brutally impacted. Frustrated by the relentless use of mass rape as a weapon of war and mass destruction of babies, women and entire communities, Mukweze sought for ways to improve medical equipment at the hospital to cope with the overwhelming demands. Speaking in January 2017, at a Rotary Foundation Seminar sponsored by District 1620 (Belgium), the OB/GYN surgeon detailed the atrocities going on in his native country. The Rotary Clubs in attendance donated $120,000 immediately. This was augmented by $40,000 in District Designated Funds and a grant of nearly $100,000 from the Rotary Foundation. Forty-two clubs participated in the project, including the host club, Rotary Club of Bukavu Mwangaza in South Kivu, DRC. In 2018, through a Rotary Foundation Global Grant, the hospital was gifted with a state-of-the-art digital X-ray machine which allows doctors to view results electronically and share them with distant specialists when needed. Today, although rape as a weapon of war has yet to be obliterated from the region, with the help of the new Rotary donated machine, maternal and infant mortality have been drastically reduced with a 99.1% live birth rate. More than 85,000 rape or birth-related complications have been treated, and victims who cannot afford post-rape medical care continue to be treated free of charge at the Panzi Hospital. Your generous donations end up improving lives world-wide. |
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Ankeny Rotarian Gary Welch has a direct line to Santa and Mrs. Claus. If you would like Santa, and possibly Mrs. Claus, to make an appearance at your business or family gathering, you can contact Gary at 515- 419-3707 or welch3002@msn.com and he will check Santa's schedule. We understand any donations Santa receives for making an appearance will be donated to the Rotary Club of Ankeny. |
Dave Mercer has submitted an application to change his individual membership to a Corporate membership for Iowa Realty Company in the Rotary Club of Ankeny. Dave will become the Primary Designee and Dylan Dyer and Scott Obstarczyk will be secondary members. Comments regarding this proposed application may be submitted to any Board member. |
Darius Potts, currently a member of the noon Rotary club has proposed his wife, Renee Potts, for membership into the Evening Ankeny Rotary Club. Renee is a Teacher Associate with the Ankeny Community Schools. Also, since he frequently has meetings at noon and it has been difficult for him to get to the noon meetings, Darius has requested to transfer his membership to the evening club. Comments regarding Renee's membership application and Darius's, transfer may be submitted to any Board member. |
President Rich Job named Renee Murphy the "Rotarian of the Month" for October during the noon meeting on October 22nd. He recognized her for all the work she has done in keeping the club's FaceBook page up to date and also creating a LinkedIn account for the club. Congratulations and thank you Renee!! |
Carmen Davis was recognized by President Job at the noon Rotary meeting on October 22rd for the work she did in organizing the volunteers for the parade set-up during Ankeny's Summerfest Celebration. He recognized her by naming her the "Rotarian of the Month" for September. Congratulations and thank you Carmen!! |
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The Rotary Club of Ankeny has donated to the Ankeny Service Center for their Holiday Assistance program in each of the past 5 years. During the meeting on October 15th, Tom Friedman and Kathy Sibbel accepted a check from the club in the amount of $750 for this year's contribution. These funds will be used to purchase gas and grocery gift cards to add to the gift packages that are handed out to families in need during the holiday season. |
Despite a light rain, those attending the social at the Olofson Shooting Range on October 10th had a fun evening. After a make-your-own taco dinner and a brief training session, everyone got the opportunity to shoot a 22 rifle at a target. Later, everyone got the opportunity to break a few, some more than others, clay pigeons with a shotgun. |
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The Board has approved an application from Jenna Lanning for membership to the Evening Rotary Club of Ankeny. Jenna is a teacher in the Des Moines schools and is very active in TYH Humanitarian Foundation and is currently the Secretary. This Foundation is named after Timothy Yates Heggen who died at age 17 from Pancreatic cancer. This Foundation has partnered for 10 years with Save the Rain and Rotary International to provide Tanzanian communities with a sustainable water source. She is being proposed for membership by Jacquelyn Duke. Comments regarding these proposed memberships may be given to any Board member. |
The following thank you letter has been received form Operation Warm: Thank you Rotary Club of Ankeny for your support of $1,500 to Operation Warm. You've helped us reach a major milestone for our 20th anniversary - more than 3 million children have received brand new Operation Warm coats! You've given a child in need a brand new colorful jacket they will treasure, but you've given a lot more than a coat. You've given laughter, you've given fun, and you've given hope. Here are some other things you've given: Happiness, from the many smiles a brand new coat brings. A feeling of security, from wearing a warm, snug coat. Caring, from someone else's wish for their health, education, and happiness. Partners like you are the heroes who give a gift of warmth to children in your community. As one of those grateful children told us, "We are lucky to have you, because it is very cold outside, and we need warm coats." The world would be a better place if we had more people like you. When committed partners like the Rotary Club of Ankeny give more that a coat, you show these children that they are a part of a community that cares about them. Thank you for your compassion and generosity. - Richard D. Sanford, Founder & Chairman |
John Foster does financial development for The Salvation Army. He was inducted into the noon Rotary Club of Ankeny on October 1st. Ben Digmann will be his mentor. Welcome John! |
John Biga became the newest member of the Evening Rotary Club of Ankeny when he was inducted during the meeting on October 1st. John was recommended for membership by Jacquelyn Duke. He is currently a manager with QuikTrip. Welcome John! |
2019 will be the 6th consecutive year the Rotary Club of Ankeny has purchased coats from Operation Warm. Many Ankeny families lack the funds to purchase winter coats , hats, gloves and snow pants for the kids. With the financial assistance of the Rotary Club, Project Fresh Start has coordinated the receiving and distribution of winter clothing each year since 2015. This year the club provided $1,500 to purchase coats and an additional $1,000 to be used to purchase hats, gloves, and snow pants for the kids. With this year's coats, the Rotary Club will have purchased 594 coats over the past 6 years. |
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The following Ankeny Rotarians will celebrate birthdays in November: 3rd - Steve Wieneke 4th - Nate Burnham 11th - Laura Luetje 12th - Jim Forman 25th - Jan Franck 25th - Del Mohler 26th - Kathy Sibbel 29th - Darius Potts |
The planting of the majority of the new shrubs at the Band Shell was completed on September 7th. The final 10 that were not in stock previously, were planted the following week. All the planting is now complete and 115 bags of mulch have been spread around the plants. The appearance of the area is vastly improved over. The City of Ankeny will pay for the new plantings at a cost of approximately $1,300. The rotary Club of Ankeny, in addition to providing the labor to clear the area, plant the new shrubs and spread the mulch, will be paying for the mulch and upstart fertilizer at a cost of $387. Members of the Evening Ankeny Rotary Club have volunteered to assume the responsibility for the maintence of the area going forward. The city has placed a sign on the site indicating the Rotary CLub of Ankeny has adopted this site. Thank you to the Rotarians and family members that helped with the removal of the old shrubs and the planting the new ones. A special thank you to Mary Cochran and Steve Wieneke for their leadership in the completion of this project. |
The club will be holding a social at DNR’s Olofson Shooting Range northwest of Polk City, 11652 NW Nissen Rd. on Thursday, October 10th. The evening will begin with a social, including a taco bar, at 5:00 PM. An Instruction and safety presentation will take place from 5:30 - 6:00 PM. followed by open range shooting from 6:00 to 7:00 PM. No experience is necessary, and guns and ammunition will be provided. Personal firearms are allowed pending approval from the Olofson staff. The event will be free to members and they are welcome to bring guests but there will be a $12 charge for each guest. A sign up sheet will be available at the next couple meetings. |
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District Governor, Erna Morain accompanied by her partner Steve, made her official visit to the noon Rotary Club of Ankeny on September 24th. During her visit, she asked that club to consider a food project during this Rotary year and encouraged us to use social media since this is a great tool to promote our club and bring prospective new members to our door. What ever we can do to promote our club online will help increase membership. She also suggested we think about club continuity. Each committee chair should have a backup and information regarding committees and projects should be documented so a new person in that role can pick it up easily. The 2020 Rotary District Conference will be June 25-27 at Prairie Meadows and will be a "Festival" celebrating all the accomplishments of the clubs in our District. Each club may select one individual to play the Rotary game and have a chance for their club a significant prize. She also plans to set a Guinness world record by having a passing of the gavel for all clubs in our district at the Festival.  |
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Steve Wieneke surprised Brenda Powell at the Evening Rotary meeting on September 10th by making her a Paul Harris Fellow. Steve had donated recognition points in her name to make this possible. Congratulations Brenda! |
After the meeting on September 24th when DG Erna Morain made her official visit to the Ankeny noon club, Rich Job and Nate Burnham gave her and her partner Steve a tour of some of Rotary projects in Ankeny. They stopped briefly at the Neveln Center and then went to the AMP. From there they walked to the Ankeny Bandshell and then to the Miracle League Park. In a follow-up email she said "They were truly impressed with the AMP, the Ankeny Band Shell with the beautiful shrubbery and great signage around it. Amazing what a club can do in the community to make it a better place." |
Prior to the ISU/Louisiana Monroe football game in Ames on September 21st, several Ankeny Rotarians and guests enjoyed mimosas, bloody Mary's, an egg casserole, and many other snacks at a tailgate. They were even serenaded by the ISU marching band. Additional tailgates are being planned prior to ISU's games on October 26th (Homecoming vs. Oklahoma State) and November16th, (Texas). |
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The Board has approved the following applications for membership to the Rotary Club of Ankeny: John Foster - John is a financial developer with the Salvation Army in Des Moines. John contacted our club directly but Ben Digmann will be acting as his sponsor. John Biga - John is a graduate of Ankeny High School and is active in several veterans organizations having served in Iraq. He is now a manager with Kwik Trip. He is being proposed for membership to the "Evening" club by Jacquelyn Duke. Comments regarding these proposed memberships may be given to any Board member. |
On September 3rd, the club was down to two cards in the deck so when Mary Cochran's number was drawn, she had a 50/50 chance of winning the pot. She did select the Jocker and won the $250 jackpot. Congratulations Mary!! |
Mohamed Khalil from the Rotary Club of Bo, Siera Leone, in District 9101 in West Africa attended the Evening Rotary meeting on September 17th. He is visiting the US for a few weeks and plans to attend the Evening meeting a few more times. President Steve Wieneke presented his with one of the club's new banners. This was the first of the new banners that has been handed out. |
The Board for the Rotary Club of Ankeny approved a nomination for Steve Wieneke to be the District Governor for District 6000 for 2022-2023. If he is selected by the District Nominating Committee, there will be several opportunities for other members from our club to serve on committees and help with the planning of the 2023 District Conference. Congratulations Steve and good luck when meeting with the Nominating Committee. |
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The Club has received new banners that feature the Ankeny Market Pavilion. These banners are in a box in the closet at the AG&CC. If any member plans to visit another meeting, they are welcome to take one of our banners and trade it with the club they are visiting. |
The Evening Club grew to 11 members on September 10th with the induction of Rachel Panzi. Rachel will be a Secondary Designee for corporate member A Plus Home Care and Services. Welcome Rachel! |
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The October Board meeting for the Rotary Club of Ankeny will be: When: Thursday, October 10th Time: 12:00 PM Where: Wig & Pen, 2005 South Ankeny Blvd. All members are welcome and it counts as a make-up! |
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The following Ankeny Rotarians will celebrate birthdays in October: 1st - Jessica Kuil 5th - Mary Cochran 16th - Abbi Rickelman 20th - Kristofer Orth 24th - Shar Dunlap 24th - Brenda Powell 27th - Mark Densmore |
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Most Rotary clubs throughout the world, including the Rotary Club of Ankeny, follow the colorful tradition of exchanging small colorful banners, flags or pennants. Rotarians visiting other clubs take banners to exchange at make-up meetings as a token of friendship. The Rotary International Board recognized the growing popularity of the banner exchange in 1959 and encouraged participating clubs to ensure that the design of their banners are distinctive and expressive of the club's community and country. they recommended the banners include pictures, slogans or designs portraying the territorial area of the club. Ankeny's supply of trading banners has been diminished and a new banner design was approved by the Board. The old banner had an outline of the bandshell. The Board decided the new banner should emphasis the club's newest large project, the Ankeny Market Pavilion. A new supply of banners has been ordered and should be on hand in a couple weeks. Any member that plans to visit another Rotary club may request a banner from the club President or Secretary to take with them and exchange with the club they are visiting. |
The last reported Wild Polio case in Nigeria was on August 20, 2016. Nigeria is to be congratulated on reaching three year without a Wild Polio case! As recently as 1996, over 75,000 children were paralyzed all around the countries of Africa and now with the three year anniversary of the last Wild Polio case in Nigeria, the entire continent of Africa could become certified as Polio-Free as soon as early 2020. This leaves two countries that are still considered endemic. In Pakistan, 53 cases have been reported in 2019 with the most recent case being reported on July 12th. In 2018, there were 12 Wild Polio cases reported in Pakistan. In Afghanistan, there has been 13 new polio cases reported in 2019 compared to 21 in 2018. The most recent case in Afghanistan was reported on July 16th. |
The September Board meeting for the Rotary Club of Ankeny will be: When: Thursday, September 12th Time: 12:00 PM Where: Wig & Pen, 2005 South Ankeny Blvd. All members are welcome and it counts as a make-up! |
On Wednesday, August 28th, nine members of the Rotary Club of Ankeny, three prospective new members and 5 family members, met at HyVee Hall in Des Moines and packaged were part of packaging over 1 million meals for the day for Meals From the Heartland's 12th annual "Hunger Fight". This was the third consecutive year the club participated in this event. The members also delivered a check in the amount of $200 from the club for a donation to help cover the cost of the ingredients, packaging, and transporting. The goal for the "Hunger Fight" is to package over 4 million meals in four days. |
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In tune with its mission to enable Rotarians to advance world understanding, goodwill and peace, the Rotary Foundation, emphasizes "..improvement of health, the support of education, and the alleviation of poverty" as the utmost importance. To this end, Rotary clubs worldwide continue to fundraise to make these objectives a reality. The Burnside Breakfast Rotary of South Australia, organized a golf tournament that raised $15,000 used to support non-governmental programs like the Can-Do Canines, Summer Camp Scholarships, the Burnside High School Brainpower in a Back-Pack/Snack, the Feed My Starving Children, and a Humanitarian Global Grant in Tanzania. The Coldwater Township Sunrise Rotary Club has awarded a $15,000 grant to the Kellogg Community College in Battle Creek, Michigan, to establish scholarships. These scholarships will be known as the Coldwater Township Sunrise Rotary Promise Scholarship, and is designed to help financially strapped students enrolled in an eligible KCC health or skilled trade programs. To further the intention of THe Rotary Foundation, you can donate by visiting www.rotary.org/donate. |
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Tuesday evening, August 3rd, turned out to be a perfect evening for a picnic. The weather was perfect and the food was great. Thank you to everyone that attended and in particular thank you to Jeff Manger, Noel Fiscus, Steve Wieneke, and Kristofer Orth for overseeing the grilling.  |
President Rich Job attended the Evening Club meeting on August 13th to present Steve Wieneke with a certificate stating he was being named the Rotarian of the month for August . This was in recognition of the leadership he is giving to the Evening club, helping to organize the bandshell clean up and assisting with the grilling at the club's picnic. Congratulations Steve! |
The Board has approved a request from Anne Porter to change her individual membership in the Rotary Club of Ankeny to a Corporate membership for A Plus Home Care Services. She would be the Primary Designee and Steve Wieneke and Rachel Panzi would be the Secondary Designees. Steve is currently a member of the Evening Rotary Club of Ankeny and has recently become the Human Resources Manager for A Plus Home Care Services. Rachel is the Director of Operations and would be a new member for the evening club. Comments regarding this proposed change in membership and new member may be give to any Board member. |
The following Ankeny Rotarians will celebrate birthdays in July: 7th - Teri Crist 7th - Tom Friedman 7th - Mark Martin 8th - Kent Patterson 9th - Jacquelyn Duke 15th - Reece Lewellen 16th - Todd Wehr 20th - Brooks, Kevin |
Twelve Rotarians and seven of their family members met at the Ankeny band shell Saturday morning, and in about an hour cleared all the weeds and dead or dying bushes from the site. The Ankeny Parks and Recreation Department has proposed a landscaping plan for the replacement of the plantings. Assuming the plan can be finalized and funding is available to purchase plants, another work day will be necessary to plant the new shrubs and is tentatively planned for September 7th. The pictures below are the before and after of the cleanup.  .JPG) .JPG)  |
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District 6000 DG, Erna Morain and partner Steve Morain, made their official visit to the Evening Rotary Club of Ankeny at Wig & Pen on July 30th.  .JPG)  |
Mark Densmore presented a check from the Ankeny Chamber of Commerce in the amount of $500 to President Rich Job during the meeting on July 30th. The check was a thank you to the club for their assistance in helping to set up the Summerfest parade. Thank you to Mark for his leadership in organizing the volunteers for this service project and to the 24 Rotarians that helped with the parade set up early Saturday morning. |
Sally Schroeder recently returned from a cruise on the Cunard Cruise Lines' "Queen Mary 2". While on the cruise, on the way to South Hampton, UK and Reykjavik, Iceland, she made up two Rotary meetings and was given an official make-up from the ship's Captain. Several other Rotarians were in attendance at each meeting. It shows that whereever you go, there is almost always the opportunity to make up a Rotary meeting and meet other Rotarians from around the world. |
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The sixth annual Rotary Club of Ankeny family picnic will be held on Tuesday, August 6th, 2019 at the shelter in Sunrise Park, 506 SE Peterson in Ankeny. A social hour will begin at 5:30 PM and we will plan to eat about 6:30. The meat, hamburgers and hot dogs, and paper plates, napkins, and plastic silverware will be provided by the club as well as iced tea and lemonade. Everyone should bring any other beverage they may want and a salad, side dish, or dessert to share. There will be games for kids provided. Both the noon and evening Rotary meetings are canceled for that day, August 6th, and all members are encouraged to attend the picnic and bring all family members, guests, and prospective new members.  |
The Rotary Club of Ankeny is recognized as one of the more successful clubs in District 6000 in both membership and accomplishments. This is certainly borne out in our just completed fundraiser where we exceeded all expectations in bringing in funds we can use to better our community and the world. One of the things identified in the meetings put on by the district governing personnel for 2019 is that to continue to be successful we must define what we do well and find out what your membership considers important. To prepare for the 2019-2020 Rotary year, President Rich Job asked the club's members to complete this survey to give some directions to him and the Board as to their thoughts and feeling as to how we are doing as a club. He presented the results of the survey during meeting on July 16th. If you missed that meeting or would like to review the complete survey, it is posted on our web site but is only available to member. To view the survey results go to our web site and log in. Then click on "2019 Survey" under "Site Pages" on the Home Page. There you will find both the complete survey results and a summary. |
The Rotary Club of Ankeny donated $1,000 to the New Horizon Day Center to help sponsor their annual golf outing. The following thank you letter was received from Vicki Engh, Executive Director: "Dear Ankeny Rotary Friends: Thank you so very much for sponsoring our 8th Annual Golf Outing Fundraiser! Your Event Level Sponsorship of $1,000 is greatly appreciated. It was a hot day, but everyone said they had a good time. Because of people like you who recognize the importance of taking care of those with differing abilities, we were able to raise over $13,000 with this fundraiser. The funds raised will be used to provide programming for our participants. Some of the things programming includes are activity and craft supplies, outings into the community and entertainers who come to our center to perform. Thank you again for the generosity of the Rotary family to our family at New Horizons Adult Day Center." |
Six of the seven students the Rotary Club of Ankeny provided scholarships to allow them to attended the Rotary Youth Leadership Awards conference were introduced to the club during the June 4th meeting. They were Sophie Bergan, Jordan Su, Allison Su, Mallory Leazer, Natalia Figuerua Portal and Jesus Davila. The RYLA Conference was held July 14-19 at Grinnell College. |
Sara Thompson, owner of phClean has been a member of the Rotary Club of Ankeny since 2017. On July 2nd she changed her membership to a corporate membership and added Jessica Kuil, Manager Ankeny and Daniel Pixley, Manager Ames as Secondary Designees. Welcome to Rotary Jessica and Daniel! |
The Rotarians scheduled to be the "Greeter" and "Sheriff" for the next several weeks has been published as a story in the Ratchet for the past several years. It has now been added at the top of the "Home Page" of our web site. You can find the listing in the upper left corner. This listing will also appear in the same location in the Ratchet that is published the first Monday of each month. 8/6 - Shar Dunlap 8/13 - Todd Eipperle 8/20 - Jim Foreman 8/27 - Tim Hawkins 9/3 - Tracy Frette 9/10 - Tom Friedman 9/17 - Jason Gassmann 9/24 - Jan Franck |
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Through the Rotary Foundation amazing things happen! In Afghanistan to break the cycle of poverty and social imbalance, Rotary members in the US partnered with ProLiteracy Detroit to recruit and train tutors after a study showed that more than half of the local adult population was functionally illiterate. Rotary members helped develop the SOUNS program in South Africa, Puerto Rico and US which teaches educators how to improve literacy by teaching children to recognize letters by sounds instead of names. And Rotarians are providing clean, fresh water to every public school in Lebanon, so students can be healthier and get a better education! According to Rotarian Mark Wilson, “When you teach somebody how to read, they have that for a lifetime. It ripples through the community, one by one.” Your contribution to The Rotary Foundation enables this to happen. Thank you. |
In recognition of the completion of a great Rotary year, new president Rich Job named past president Ben Digmann as the Rotarian of the month for July. Congratulations Ben! |
The club's fundraising co-chairs, Laura Luetje and Stacey Koeppen were busy during Ankeny Summerfest. To celebrate the success of the 2019 fundraiser, "Raise the Steaks for Ankeny" and promote the 2020 fundraiser, sponsors were obtained to give away a special edition cherry red Weber Grill and three packages of steaks. All you had to do to enter the contest was to "LIKE" the Rotary Club of Ankeny's Facebook page and comment "Raising the Steaks for Community Casino Night" and you were entered into a random drawing. Thank you to Ankeny Hardware and Ankeny Farewary stores for donating the prizes. Laura and Stacey also made an appearance in the Summerfest Parade. |
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A total of 9 new members were inducted during July. They were: July 2nd - Daniel Pixley and Jessica Kuil - Secondary Designees for corporate member phClean. July 9th - Desiree Claypool - Secondary Designee for corporate member The Bridges at Ankeny July 9th - Brenda Powell - Retired teacher, Evening Club July 16th - Noel Fiscus - Fiscus Jewelry, Evening Club July 16th - Reese Lewellen, Connor Strobe, James Warner, & Justin Morgan - corporate member B&B Theatres Welcome new members! |
The golf ball drop at Ankeny Summerfest was held Sunday evening July 14th. A total of 538 balls were sold and the winners were: 1st Prize - $1,000 - Renee Murphy, ticket sold by Renee Murphy 2nd Prize $375 – Kim Mercer, ticket sold by David Mercer 3rd Prize $250 – David Mohler, ticket sold by Del Mohler 4th Prize $125 – Michelle Knoll, ticket sold by Tim Cox Thank you to Leaning Tower of Pizza and Tim's Amoco for donating the coupons on the tickets and to Steve SchraderBachar for donating $2,000 towards the prize money. The estimated profit from ticket sales and donations was $5,497.20 which will be split $3,287.52 to the Ankeny Service Center and $2,191.68 for Rotary. Some interesting facts about the golf ball drop are: In the last 6 years, approximately $19,900 has been raised for the Ankeny Service Center and $13,250 for The Rotary Club of Ankeny. No number/ball has ever won money more than once. Balls numbered 101-199 have won money 9 times, but never 1st place and most often 4th place , 4 times. Tom Friedman has sold the most winning balls (3), Kevin Brooks, Tim Cox, Tim Hawkins and John Peterson have all sold 2 winning balls The most balls sold was 712 in 2015, and the least balls sold was 268 in 2016. Average number of balls sold has been 555. |
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The August Board meeting for the Rotary Club of Ankeny will be: When: Thursday, August 8th Time: 12:00 PM Where: Wig & Pen, 2005 South Ankeny Blvd. All members are welcome and it counts as a make-up! |
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The following Ankeny Rotarians will celebrate birthdays in August: 5th - Jeff Magner 5th - Jess Reynolds 5th - James Warner 6th - Renee Murphy 12th - Dale Port 13th - Tracy Frette 16th - Mark Land 16th - Pat Timmons 18th - Welch, Gary 22nd - Brian Tiernan 28th - Ben Digmann |
The Rotary Club of Ankeny currently has 68 Paul Harris Fellows of which 37 are multiple PHF's. Seventeen individuals were recognized at the annual meeting for becoming new PHF or for being a multiple PHF and reaching the next level. In addition, Mary Cochran and Todd Wehr made a donation in the name of their spouses to make Danny Cochran and Cindy Wehr new PHF's. Others that were recognized included: New PHF - Andrew Larson, Doug Parker, Chuck Stewart, & Sara Thompson PHF+1 - Mary Cochran, Renee Murphy, Laura Luetje, & Stacey Koeppen PHF+2 - Stacey Koeppen, Jim Ramsey, Mike Goedeke, & Tim Hawkins PHF+3 - Del Mohler & Roger Spahr PHF+5 - Gary Welch PHF+7 - Sally Schroeder During the 2018-2019 Rotary year, the Rotary Club of Ankeny and it's members donated $12,850 to the Rotary Foundation's Annual Fund and $4,620 to PolioPlus for a total of $17,470 to the Foundation. This is an average of $198 per Active member for the past year. The club's all time contributions now total $274,745 to the Annual Fund and $55,550 to PolioPlus. |
President Ben Digmann joined the Centennial Rotary Club of Littleton, Colorado in 2005. He was proposed for membership by Randy Pote. Randy is currently a member of the Las Vegas WON (Where Opportunity Knocks) Rotary Club and a past District Governor of Rotary District 5300 which is located in the Los Angeles, California and Southern Nevada area. He is also the chair of the Rotary International's Rose Bowl parade float committee for this year. Randy did not want to miss Ben's "Demotion Celebration" and came to Iowa to surprise him and Rachel, which he did. |
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The July Board meeting for the Rotary Club of Ankeny will be: When: Thursday, July 11th Time: 12:00 PM Where: Wig & Pen, 2005 South Ankeny Blvd. All members are welcome and it counts as a make-up! |
Jim Ramsey, the Rotary Club of Ankeny's 2017-2018 "Rotarian of the Year", had the honor of introducing the "2018-2019 Rotarians of the Year" at the club's annual meeting on June 25th. In past years, the club has usually recognized only one member for their outstanding contribution to the club as the Rotarian of the Year. For this year, the club decided to recognize the co-chairs for the 2019 fundraiser, Laura Luetje and Stacey Koeppen, for the overwhelming success of this event. Not only was there nearly twice the number of guests in attendance as in previous years, but the event generated over $72,000 in net income for the club to distribute within the community to other non-profit organizations and service projects. This was also more than twice the amount generated in previous years. Congratulations Laura and Stacey! |
"One of the special obligations of membership in Rotary is regular attendance at the weekly meeting; it is the basic method of fulfilling the principle of fellowship as well as a way of representing your vocation". No member is expected actually be in attendance every week but there are numerous ways of completing a make-up such as attending the meeting of another Rotary club, attending a Board meeting or Friday morning coffee, participating in a club sponsored service project or social event or completing an on-line make-up. During the 2018-2019 Rotary year, the member of the Rotary Club of Ankeny completed 553 make-ups. This enabled twenty-six members to be recognized during the annual meeting for achieving perfect attendance during the past year. They were: 1-Year - Todd Eipperle & Stacey Koeppen 2-Year - Jacquelyn Duke 4-Years - Carmen Davis & Ben Digmann 5-Years - Rich Job 6-Years - Tim Cox, Kristofer Orth & Steve Wieneke 7-Years - Jim Ramsey, Steve SchraderBachar & Todd Wehr 8-Years - Damon Miller 9-Years - Kathy Sibbel 10-Years - Doug Beech, Mary Cochran, & Tim Hawkins 11-Years - Sally Schroeder 13-Years - Dave Mercer 14-Years - Pat Timmons 15-Years - Nate Burnham & Tom Friedman 20-Years - Gary Welch 23-Years - Jim Gocke 29-Years - Shar Dunlap 30-Years - Mike Lydon |
The final duty that 2018-2019 President Ben Digmann completed at the end of the "Annual Meeting and Awards Banquet" on June 25th was to pass the gavel to 2019-2020 President Rich Job and give him the president's pin that he will be wearing for the next year. Rich then gave Ben a past president's pin and a framed golden gavel. Thank you Ben for leading the club for the past year and we look forward to Rich leading the club for the next year! |
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Everyday Rotarians continue to "Do Good In the World!" They look for ways to make a difference in their communities and in communities around the world. They use their knowledge of local issues to identify areas of need, then apply their expertise and diverse perspectives to find solutions. In Korea they established a mentoring project to prepare students with autism and intellectual and emotional disabilities for careers in horticulture. In Brazil, Rotarians offered judo classes for youth to funnel their energy avoiding violence in the slums. In Canada, a Rotary club is helping Syrian refugees start new lives, and in Australia clubs are helping to end domestic violence. Your contribution to The Rotary Foundation enables this to happen. Giving to the Foundation is much easier - just go to rotary.org/donate, Thank you. |
The Rotary Club of Ankeny recently delivered a check in the amount of $500 to the Ankeny Chapter of Days For Girls International. These funds will assist this group of ladies from Ankeny with the purchase of materials used in the making of feminine hygiene kits. After the kits are assembled, they are given to Blessman International for delivery to women in South Africa. The ladies will make about 200 kits including washable, reusable pads for young women in Africa. Included in the picture, left to right, are Sandy Schmitt, Bonnie Ficek, Marilyn, Scroggins, Margie Lamb, Annette Burnham and Jan Uttterback, in front. |
The Club will meet on July 2nd at the AG&CC as usual. However, the AG&CC is not available on July 9th and 16th. The meeting on July 9th will be hosted by The Bridges, 3410 NW Abilene Road and the meeting on July 16th will be hosted by B&B Theaters,1580 SW Market Place. We will be back at the AG&CC on July 23rd. |
Jacquelyn Duke was named the 2018 "Outstanding New Member" for the Rotary Club of Ankeny at the 2018 annual meeting. On June 25th, she had the privilege of introducing Renee Murphy as the 2019 winner of this award. Renee has only been a member of the club for three years and has assumed the responsibility for managing the Club's FaceBook page. Congratulations Renee!! |
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During their June meeting the Rotary Club of Ankeny's Board approved the following donation requests: New Horizon Adult Day Care - $1,000 - This request is for a sponsorship for New Horizon's annual golf outing fundraiser. The proceeds from their fundraiser will be used to purchase supplies and equipment. As a result of this sponsorship, the club is entitled to register a foursome to play golf. Blessman International – The club has an outstanding commitment to contribute $2,000 per year to Blessman International's “Teach a Child to Fish” project. Since these funds will not be matched by District 6000 or Rotary International, Dr. Jim Blessman had requested that these funds be transferred to a new project they are working on to teach ladies to make their own “Days for Girls” hygiene kits. The new project will be part of a Global Grant which would allow the funds to be matched by the District and Rotary International. This request was approved and the funds, totaling $4,000 will not be disbursed until late this year. |
President Ben Digmann recognized Todd Eipperle during the meeting on June 4th for all the work he has done as Chairman of the Membership committee and for him agreeing to be the club's president elect nominee for the 2021-2022 year. |
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The following Ankeny Rotarians will celebrate birthdays in July: 3rd - Brad Botos 5th - Doug Johnson 9th - James Ramsey 19th - Jason Gassmann 20th - Angi Bright 22nd - Gerry Bair 23rd - Todd Eipperle |
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During their meeting on June 13th, the Board has approved applications for membership to the Rotary Club of Ankeny for the following: Desiree Claypool will be replacing Hannah Guiliford as the third Secondary Designee for corporate member The Bridges. Brody Hanson will be the Primary Designee for The Bridges and Kris Baker and Doug Johnson will continue as the other Secondary Designees. Brenda Powell is a retired school teacher and is being proposed for membership by Steve Wieneke. She will be a member of the Evening club. phClean - Sara Martin is the owner of phClean and an active member of the club. She will become the Primary Designee for proposed new corporate member phClean. Jessica Kuil, Manager of the Ankeny office and Daniel Pixley, Manager of the Ames office will be Secondary Designees. Noel Fiscus - Noel is the owner of Fiscus Jewelers. He is being proposed for membership by Kristofer Orth and plans to be a member of the Evening Club. B & B Theaters has applied to become a new corporate member of the club. Reece Lewellen, Marketing Manager, will be the Primary Designee, James Warner, General Manager and former Rotarian in Neosho, Missouri, Justin Morgan, Operations Manager, and Connor Stobbe, Entertainment Manager will be the Secondary Designees. Comments regarding any of these proposed memberships may be forwarded to any member of the Board. |
On the evening of June 11th, members of the Evening Rotary Club of Ankeny completed a food drive to benefit Ankeny's Holy Trinity Lutheran Church's food pantry. In about one and a half hours the group collected 301 pounds of food and paper products. Last year, 265 pounds were collected. |
Holger Knaack, of the Rotary Club of Herzogtum Lauenbery-Molln, Germany, has been selected to serve as president of Rotary International in 2020-21. The Nominating Committee's decision follows the resignation of President-nominee Sushil Gupta due to health reasons. Knaack has been a Rotarian since 1992 and has served Rotary as treasurer, director, moderator, member and chair of several committees, representative for the Council on Legislation, zone coordinator, training leader, and district governor. He is the CEO of Knaack KG, a real estate company. He was previously a partner and general manager of Knaack Enterprises, a 125-year-old family business. |
On the evening of June 4th, the member of the Evening Rotary Club of Ankeny met at AGAPE Garden and helped pull weeds, plant onions, and erect tomato cages. They plan to volunteer again later this summer when they expect to be harvesting vegetables. AGAPE Garden is s located by Faith Chapel of Ankeny First United Methodist Church at 7384 NW 16th Street in Ankeny. All of the food produced is donated to local food pantries. Last year grew over four tons of fresh vegetables were donated. |
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Sushil Gupta made the following announcement: It is with a heavy heart that I announce my resignation as the president-nominee of Rotary International. While it was my dream to serve as your president, my health prevents me from giving my absolute best to you and the office of the president at this time. I believe Rotary deserves nothing less than that from those elected to represent this great organization of ours. I have made this difficult decision after much soul searching and conferring with my family. This is not only a disappointment for us, but I am also keenly aware that this will be a disappointment for many Rotarians in India who were so proud to see someone from our country again named as president. I know that this is what is best for Rotary International. I have been a Rotarian for more than 40 years and it has given me everything I could ask for. I can think no higher honor than to have been selected by the nominating committee as president of Rotary for 2020-21 Rotary year. I will continue to proudly serve as a Rotary member and pursue some major initiatives that I wanted to accomplish during my year as president, because I know that we are poised to achieve more great things in the future. I wish nothing but the best to the candidate who is succeeds me as president and thank you all for the support and encouragement you have shown me in the past year. - Sushil Gupta |
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The June Board meeting for the Rotary Club of Ankeny will be: When: Thursday, June 13th Time: 12:00 PM Where: Wig & Pen, 2005 South Ankeny Blvd. All members are welcome and it counts as a make-up! |
Gary Welch has coordinated both the RYLA and Rotary Youth Exchange programs for the Rotary Club of Ankeny for the past several years. As Gary recognized the two exchange students from Kopan, Mexico, Sofia Marales and Jesus Esteban, for having gone through graduation from Ankeny High school, President Ben Digmann recognized Gary as his choice for Ankeny Rotarian of the month for May. Congratulations Gary! |
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During their May meeting the Rotary Club of Ankeny's Board approved the following donation requests: Prevent Child Abuse Iowa - On April 23rd, the speaker at the noon meeting was from "Prevent Child Abuse Iowa". After her presentation the club agreed to donate that day's fines to them. $129 was collected and the Board agreed to round this up to $250. American Cancer Society - The Ankeny Robotics team will be participating in the American Cancer Society's "Relay for Life". The Board agreed to provide a $500 sponsorship for them. CIVITAS - The Des Moines area Rotary clubs sponsored a forum on Hunger in Central Iowa on May 29th. Approval was granted to provide a sponsorship for this event in the amount of $1,000. Days For Girls, Ankeny Chapter - $500 was approved to assist an group of ladies in Ankeny with the purchase of materials used in the making of feminine hygiene kits. After the kits are assembled, they will be given to Blessman International for delivery to women in South Africa. A donation request from the Iowa State University Chapter of Engineers Without Borders for a water distribution project in Ghana was declined. |
More than 24,000 Rotary members from 170 countries are gathering in Hamburg, Germany, June 1-5 to attend the 110th annual Rotary International Convention. Those in attendance will be able to "Capture the Moment" while exchanging ideas, making new connections and renewing old ones. During the convention, they’ll be part of the conversation on pressing world issues like polio eradication, pollution, refugee migration, disease prevention, and literacy. They’ll be inspired to enhance their skills in areas that Rotarians value like fellowship, integrity, diversity, service, and fellowship. But you don’t have to be in Hamburg to "Capture the Moment". You can follow all of the RI convention coverage — photos, videos, social media posts, speeches, and more — as the action happens by going to the Rotary international web site, www.rotary.org. You can even stream the general sessions and key breakout sessions, either as they happen or at a later time. If you are looking forward to the 2020 Rotary International Convention June 6-10, in Honolulu, Hawaii, a special registration rate of $395 is now available until 11:59 PM June 5th. Also, book your hotel as soon as possible as many hotels are already sold out. |
The 11th annual "Senior Festival" presented by the Ankeny Senior Services committee will be held on Thursday, June 13, 2019 at the First United Methodist Church, Christian Life Center, 710 NE 36th Street from 9:00 AM to 3:00 PM. The event is free and will include over 50 exhibitors dealing with health resources, educational services housing experts, transportation, and leisure activities for seniors and caregivers. There will also be refreshments and food trucks serving lunch. |
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The Membership Committee will be holding a social on Tuesday, June 18th at the Ankeny Golf & Country Club. Each member is encouraged to invite at least one or two individuals that may have an interest in joining our club or would just like to learn more about Rotary to attend. The evening will begin at 5:30 PM with social time including free appetizers and drinks. At 6:00 PM there will be a very short program. Contact Todd Eipperle, todd.eipperle@scouting.org if you have any questions. |
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The club will be conducting a "New Member Orientation" on Thursday, June 6th, at the Ankeny Golf & Country Club. It will begin at 5:30 with some appetizers and drinks followed by a discussion on Rotary International and the Rotary Club of Ankeny. This is an opportunity to learn more about Rotary, the service projects we participate in, other no-profits that we support, and the Rotary Foundation. There wil also be a short demonstration on how to access the club's web site and the information you can find on it. This event is specifically designed for newer members, those that have joined in the last three years, but all members are welcome. |
Rotary International is a global organization in nearly every country in the world and deals in twenty-nine currencies. Rotary takes stewardship of its funds very seriously. Money is spent on life-changing, sustainable grants, as well as programs and services that support its members' transformative work. Three billion dollars have been invested in thousands of projects over the past years. Rotary International is a member organization and is overseen by its Board of Directors. As a separate part of RI, The Rotary Foundation is organized as a public charity operation exclusively for charitable purposes and is governed by a Board of Trustees. RI and TRF are both tax -exempt organizations' The headquarters of Rotary International is in Evanston, Illinois, USA. There are associate foundations in Australia, Brazil, Germany, India, Japan, and the United Kingdom. Rotary International is a member organization and is overseen by its Board of Directors. As a separate part of RI, the Rotary Foundation is organized as a public charity operating exclusively for charitable purposes and is governed by a Board of Trustees. RI and TRF are both tax-exempt organizations. (The former is new for RI) |
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Members of the Rotary Club of Ankeny plus a couple spouses made root beer floats at the two Ankeny HyVees on May 25th. Donations, that will be forwarded to Special Olympics, totaled $708.52. This compares to $893.18 collected last year. A total of 31 liters of root beer and 29 tubs of ice cream were used. |
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Nineteen Ankeny Rotarians and one family assisted the City of Ankeny employees in unloading cars, pickups and trailers during Ankeny Clean Up Days on May 18th and 19th. The City reported 871 vehicles were unloaded on Saturday and 444 on Sunday. Everything went well, the rain held off, and we have not heard of any injuries. We do know there were several treasurers taken home by Rotarians and city workers. It is amazing what some people throw away. The city has allowed the club to accept donations in each of the past 10 years. The amount collected this year was $2,145.24 and a Namibia (African) half dollar. This compares to $2,369.88 last year and $2,118, $1,932 and $1,953 in the previous three years. These donations are designated to be forwarded to the Rotary Foundation as part of the club's contribution to PolioPlus. Donations during Clean-Up Days over the past 10 years, since we started collecting donations, have now totaled $17,147.05. Thank you to all Rotarians and family members that helped and to Justin Carlton for his leadership on this project. .jpg)    .JPG)  .jpg)  |
The following Ankeny Rotarians will celebrate birthdays in June: 6th - Ben Norman 14th - Sue Gibbons 17th - Dave Mercer 20th - Steve Van Oort 21st - Mike Lydon 26th - Carmen Davis 28th - Carolyn Formanek 29th - Jim Ramsey |
The Ankeny Leadership Institute is a cooperative effort between the City of Ankeny, The Ankeny Area Chamber of Commerce and the Ankeny Economic Development Cooperation. Each class of future leaders chooses a project to complete during the year they participate in this class. The 2019 class choose to conduct the first annual "Engage Ankeny" . The event was held on May 16th at the Ankeny Market Pavilion with 43 Ankeny area service clubs and non-profit organizations participating including the Rotary Club of Ankeny.   |
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The May Board meeting for the Rotary Club of Ankeny will be: When: Thursday, May 9th Time: 12:00 PM Where: Wig & Pen, 2005 South Ankeny Blvd. All members are welcome and it counts as a make-up! |
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The Rotary Clubs of the greater Des Moines area have sponsored a forum in each of the past three years. The topics of these forums have been water quality, human rights, and mental health. This year's forum will be held on Wednesday, May 29th at the West Des Moines Hilton Garden Inn and will focus on Hunger in Central Iowa. The forum will begin at 4:30 PM. The club will pay the registration fee for all members that attend and a sign up sheet will be available in the next couple weeks. |
At the time of his death at age 97 on January 28, 2010, Paul E. Hellwege had been a past District Governor and a Rotarian in District 6000 for 55 years. During those years the Boone Rotarian provided continuity, consistence, and credibility to Rotarians young and old in District 6000 as a friend, mentor, story teller and redoubtable source of the history and traditions of our district. To honor Paul's many contributions and to promote the ideals of ethics and integrity, which his life exemplified, District 6000 established the Paul E. Hellwege Guardian of Integrity Award in 2011. All 65 clubs in District 6000 are invited to nominate a member whose life exemplifies the attributes and passion for ethics and integrity in his or her vocation, business and personal life that Paul exemplified. The Rotary Club of Ankeny nominated Sally Schroeder for this award and she was selected as one of eleven recipients in the District for this award. She was recognized for this award during the District 6000 convention on May 3rd. The certificate she received stated, "In recognition of outstanding contributions that foster the development of Rotary's core value of integrity and ethical practices, as exemplified by past District Governor, Judge Paul E. Hellwege." Congratulations Sally! |
The three "Paddle Raisers" during the club's fundraiser, "Raise the Stakes" netted a total of $19,635 which was more then double the amount donated in any of the previous eight years the club has been having fundraisers. Representatives of each of these organizations were present during the noon meeting on April 30th to accept checks for these donations. Matt Adams, Chief Operations Officer for Ankeny Schools, accepted a check in the amount of $2.750 for FUEL, John Peterson with the Ankeny Service Center received a check for $4,975, and Mary Mendenhall-Core the Area Director for Pinky Swear was presented with a check in the amount of $11,910. .JPG)   |
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The following Ankeny Rotarians will be celebrating birthdays in May: 1st - Cory Johnson 12th - Damon Miller 13th - Kurt Backes 19th - Rick Andriano 26th - Jon Lowman |
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The May board meeting for the Rotary Club of Ankeny will be: When: Thursday, May 9th All members are welcome and it counts as a make-up! |
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Polk County Superviser, Steve Van Oort, was instrumental in obtaining a $5,000 sponsorship from Polk County for the club's fundraiser, "Raise the Stakes for Community". Steve also obtained several auction items including: A Backyard Dinner to Remember with Simon Estes, Dinner for Four with Van Harden, Behind the Scenes with Van & Bonnie, Do it Yourself Experience, and the Principal Charity Classic Golf Package. He also purchased a Double Diamond Table Sponsorship and donated it to "100 Women Who Care - Ankeny" and assisted with producing the videos used the night of the fundraiser. This resulted in over $9,000 being generated for the club. In recognition of his efforts and contribution to the success of the fundraiser, President Digmann named Steve the "Rotarian of the Month for April". |
Ankeny Clean Up Days for 2019 will be Saturday, May 18th, from 8:00 AM to 4:00 PM and Sunday, May 19th from noon to 4:00 PM. Members are encouraged to sign up for a two hour shift and wear their Rotary shirts. The City will provide donuts, water, and soft drinks. Members will be credited with a make up for each shift they work. Sign-up sheets will be available at the next several meetings. Contact Justin Carlton if you have any questions. |
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The 2019 annual meeting and awards banquet for the Rotary Club of Ankeny will be held on the evening of Tuesday, June 25th at the Ankeny Golf & Country Club. There will not be any golf this year. The evening will begin at 5:30 with a social hour including drinks and appetizers and the meal will be served at 6:30. The charge will be $15 per person with the club paying the balance of the cost. The meeting will begin at approximately 7:00 PM and will include "Perfect Attendance Awards", the naming of the "New Member of the Year" and "Rotarian of the Year" and the "Passing of the Gavel" to next year's president. Registration is available on-line. |
Each year the Iowa Parks and Recreation Association recognizes one service club in Iowa with a "Service Club Award". The Rotary Club of Ankeny was honored on March 27th as the 2019 recipient. This was in recognition of the numerous service projects the club conducts each year including selling root beer floats to aid Special Olympics, conducting the golf ball drop to aid the Ankeny Service Center, coordinating the setup of the Summerfest parade, assisting with Ankeny Clean Up Days and several other fundraisers and service projects. The most noteworthy was the leadership the club provided in the fundraising, design, and construction of the Ankeny Market Pavilion. Nick Lenox and Ryan Harkema represented the Ankeny Parks & Recreation department and Dave Mercer, Doug Beech, and Terry Peter represented the Rotary Club of Ankeny at the awards ceremony. |
The Evening Rotary Club of Ankeny offered a free yard clean up as a silent auction item at the club's "Raise the Stakes" fundraiser. They completed the yard clean-up on April 23rd. This turned out to be a big project as the winner of the auction item had a one-acre lot. But the work was completed and the club members and guests were treated to a barbeque meal complete with drinks and great fellowship. |
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The lack of access to clean water, sanitation facilities, and hygiene resources is one of the world’s biggest health problems – and one of the hardest to solve. Rotary has worked for decades to provide people with clean water by digging wells, laying pipes, providing filters, and installing sinks and toilets. But the biggest challenge has come after the hardware is installed. Too often, projects succeeded at first but eventually failed. Rusted water pumps and dilapidated sanitation facilities are familiar sights in parts of Africa, South America, and South Asia – monuments to service projects that proved UNSUSTAINABLE. That is why Rotary has shifted its focus over the past several years to emphasize education, collaboration and sustainability. Now TRF requires clubs and districts that apply for grants in other countries to show that local residents have developed a project plan that includes sustainability. In doing so, projects are successful. Your contribution to TRF enables this to happen. Giving to the Foundation is easy – just go to rotary.org/donate. Thank you. |
Jack Pennington became the newest Paul Harris Fellow in the Rotary Club of Ankeny one April 2, 2019 when the club's Foundation Chairman, Steve SchraderBachar, presented him with a pin and certificate. This signifies that contributions to the Foundation in his name of both recognition points and dollars now exceed 1,000. Congratulations Jack!! |
The Rotary Club of Ankeny's 2019 fundraiser, "Raise the Stakes" for Community, not only broke every record for fundraisers, but we shattered them. This was all made possible due to the involvement of nearly every member for ticket sales, obtaining auction items and volunteering. Of course, this would not have been possible without the ideas, leadership and many hours of service by our co-chairs, Laura Luetje and Stacey Koeppen. We cannot thank them enough. We hope everyone that attended “Raise the Stakes” this year had a good time and will want to return for a similar event next year. The date is set and the FFA Center has been reserved for April 18, 2020. Its not too early for you to “Save the Date” and to ask your guests to do the same. To keep the momentum going, the committee would ask each of you to send thank yous too your guests and anyone that you obtained an auction item from. The event was sold out with approximately 400 in attendance compared to about 200 last year. There are still a couple final bills we are waiting on but here is an estimate of our final numbers compared to last year. 2019 2018 Total income $108,442 $43,168 Total Expenses 33,712 13,120 Net Income $74,671 $30,048 Paddle Raisers Pinky Swear $11,910 ASC 4,950 FUEL 2,750 Total $19,635 Perhaps the best news of all is that Laura and Stacey have agreed to co-chair our 2020 fundraiser with the idea that it will be a similar event with casino or some form of gaming again.
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Once again this year, the Rotary Club of Ankeny will be making and selling root beer floats at both Ankeny HyVees on Saturday May 25th to benefit Special Olympics. A sign up sheet to work the booth will be available the next couple weeks. Contact Tom Friedman with any questions. |
The 2019 District 6000 Conference will be held at the Sheraton West Des Moines from Thursday, May 2 through Saturday May 4th. If you cannot attend the entire conference, you are encouraged to attend the Friday, May 3rd luncheon and the club will pay the registration fee for your lunch. The tentative agenda for the Friday lunch includes the Flag Ceremony for the Rotary Youth Exchange students, a Rotary moment by a West Des Moines Valley Interact student, and the key note speaker, Suku Radia, former Banker's Trust CEO. Club awards including the "Guardian of Integrity Awards" will be presented later Friday afternoon.
Registration forms will be available at next week’s meeting or let Nate Burnham know if you are planning to attend. |
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Our 2019 fundraiser, "Raise the Stakes" will be Saturday night April 13th which is now only 12 days from today. All auction items received to date have been entered onto the on-line bidding site. We have a few more pictures to take but should have the site activated so bidding can begin by Friday, April 5th. If you have committed to providing an auction item or need to provide a description or certificate for an item, please give it to Rich Job or Nate Burnham as soon as possible. We need to make sure all items are described correctly. Once we go live and bidding starts, we can not change it. We have some fantastic auction items including: Free LASIK eye surgery, 100th anniversary Green Bay Packer autographed football, box seats to the Twins, Cubs, Cardinals, and Royals, a baseball personally autographed by Mike Trout, a ride with an Ankeny police officer, dinner for 6 with Simon Estes, four tickets to watch an ISU football game from AD Jamie Pollard's balcony off the Jacobson building, and many more unusual items as well as many repeats form last year. Ticket sales are going well but we know there are still several members that have not gone on line to purchase their tickets. Again, please do so as soon as possible. We will need to give our caterer a number early in the week of April 8th. To purchase tickets, go on line to https://bidpartner.net/rotary/. Individual ticket sales are $60 each or you can purchase a table of 8 for $440. Remember each Rotarian is responsible for two tickets. We hope everyone is planning to attend and will bring some guests. If not, you will be invoiced for two tickets. A few more volunteers are needed. Contact Laura Leutje or Stacey Koeppen if you can help with set up at 9:00 AM at the FFA Center or the night of the event. |
Rotary exchange student Sofia Marales from Kopan, Mexico was the speaker at the evening meeting of the Rotary Club of Ankeny on March 26th. She made a nice presentation titled "Where My Heart Is". She showed her home town in Mexico, her family both back home and her new family in Ankeny, and the foods she enjoys. |
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The April board meeting for the Rotary Club of Ankeny will be: When: Thursday, April 11th All members are welcome and it counts as a make-up! |
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Jacquelyn Duke gave birth to a future Rotarian on March 2, 2019. The little bundle of joy, Violet Joy Duke was 9 lbs., 8 oz, and 20.5 inches. Both mother and baby attended the evening Rotary meeting on March 19th where Presidnet Steve Wieneke presented Jacquelyn with a certificate naming her the Rotarian of the Month for March. The club members also presented her with a onesie with the words "Future Rotarian" on it. Congratulations Jacquelyn and Jason .    |
The Evening Rotary Club of Ankeny completed a service project on March 19th by providing a fun evening for the senior citizens at Penelope Park. The group served punch and snacks and provided word games. They also played Jenga and Yatzee with the residents. |
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Andrew Testino, Cory Johnson and James Benda were inducted into the Rotary Club of Ankeny on December 4th. Unfortunately, the fourth designee for the company has had meetings on Tuesdays and has been unable to attend the noon meetings. Nick Testino now plans to attend the evening meetings and attended the meeting on March 19th. During the meeting, the Evening Club President, Steve Wieneke, officially inducted Nick into the club. Welcome Nick! |
During their meeting on March 14th the Board approved a donation request to the Mid-Iowa Council Boy Scouts of America in the amount of $1,250. This donation is in support of their 2019 Friends of Scouting campaign. The Rotary Club of Ankeny has been a supporter of Scouting since 2011. |
Juan Arias recently transferred his Rotary membership from San Pedro Sula, Honduras to the Evening Rotary Club of Ankeny. While in Honduras, he had completed the first two parts of Rotary Leadership Institute classes. On March 23rd, he attended the RLI training in Mt Pleasant, Iowa and successfully completed Part 3. Congratulations Juan! |
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Clean water, sanitation, and hygiene education are basic necessities for a healthy environment and a productive life. When people have access to clean water and sanitation, waterborne diseases decrease, children stay healthier and attend school more regularly, and mothers can spend less time carrying water and more time helping their families. Through water, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH) programs, Rotarians mobilize resources, form partnerships, and invest in infrastructure and training that yield long-term change. Rotary has partnered with the US agency for International Development in Ghana, Madagascar, and Uganda to implement such programs. It has done the same in Belize, Guatemala, Honduras, India, and Kenya. Since 2013, the Foundation has invested in more than 1,000 such programs in more than 100 countries. 2030 is the year Rotary hopes to finish providing everyone with safe water, sanitation, and hygiene. Your contribution to The Rotary Foundation enables this to happen. Thank you for your generosity. |
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The following Ankeny Rotarians will be celebrating birthdays in April: 9th - Juan Arias 16th - Dean Lange 17th - Rocky Anderson 18th - Sara Thompson 20th - Ron Bode 20th - Brodey Hanson 22nd - Julie Todtz |
During the meeting on February 26th, Foundation Chair Steve ShcraderBachar recognized three members for their contributions to the Rotary Foundation. Eric Pasanchin was presented with a pin and certificate in recognition of his becoming a new Paul Harris Fellow, Mark Martin received a pin with three sapphire stones representing that he has achieved the level of Paul Harris Fellow +3, and Gary Welch received a pin with four sapphire stones to signify that he has reached the level of Paul Harris Fellow +4. Congratulations and thank you, Eric, Mark, and Gary! |
The two exchange students from Kopan, Mexico, being hosted by the Rotary Club of Ankeny, were the guest speakers at the regular meeting on February 19th. They are Sofia Marales and Jesus Esteban. They made an excellent presentation showing some slides and talking about their families, home town, experiences during their exchange and differences between school in Kopan and Ankeny. |
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While the Ankeny Golf & Country Club was completing their remodeling, The Bridges hosted four of our noon meetings. As a thank you, President Digmann presented Kris Baker, Community Relations Director for the Bridges with a check in the amount of $1,400. Thank you Kris Baker for coordinating these meetings and to The Bridges for taking such good care of us. |
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Our 2019 fundraiser "Raise the Stakes" will be April 13th which is now less than 40 days away. Here are some things to keep in mind: Beer & Wine - Two of our live auction items will be a "Wall of Wine" and "A Tower of Beer". We are asking each Rotarian to bring a bottle of wine, or case of beer to add to this auction item. WineStyles of Ankeny will also be donating tastings and club memberships to these auction items. Please bring your wine and beer to a Rotary meeting in the next couple weeks. Ticket Sales - For this event to be a success, we need to fill all the seats with bidders. Our goal is to set a new high with over 300 ticket sales. To purchase tickets, go on line to https://bidpartner.net/rotary/.Ticket sales are $60 each or you can purchase a table of 8 for $440. Remember each Rotarian is responsible for two tickets. We hope everyone is planning to attend and will bring some guests. If not, you will be invoiced for two tickets. Auction items - Thank you to everyone that has already turned in auction items. We have received several unique items but we still need more. Please bring your items to a meeting as soon as possible. We would like to have all items turned in by March 19th to allow time for the committee to select the live items and put together the order of the auction. Then the brochure still need to be completed and printed. Volunteers - Several volunteers will be needed the night of the event. Be ready to sign up to help with set up, registration, hosting, selling 50/50 tickets, clerking, or clean up in the next couple weeks. |
During their February meeting, the Rotary Club of Ankeny's Board approved a donation to the Epilepsy Foundation of Iowa to be a bronze sponsor for the "Walks to End Epilepsy" in the amount of $500. As a bronze sponsor, the club's name will be on the t-shirts and the club will be recognized recognized on their web site and at the event. |
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The 2019 Rotary District 6000 conference will be held May 2 - 4 at the Sheraton West Des Moines. Early registration is now available. To take advantage of the early registration discount go to the District 6000 web site, https://rotary6000.org/. Then go to the story "District Conference 2019" to call up the registration form. |
On the evening of February 19th, members of the Evening Rotary Club of Ankeny, volunteered to sell 50/50 raffle tickets at the Iowa Wild Hockey match. All the net proceeds from the ticket sales benefits Adaptive Sports. Pictured are Rick Sibbel, Rachel Panzi, Kathy Sibbel, Anne Porter, Kristofer Orth, and Jeff Manger. |
Steve Wieneke inducted Juan Arias into the Rotary Club of Ankeny's Evening club on February 26th. Juan first joined Rotary in 1993 and is transferring his membership from the San Pedro Sula, Honduras Rotary Club. He is a software developer for PurFoods and his wife is a teacher in the Des Moines School District. Welcome Juan!! |
The Rotary Club of Ankeny has donated $2,000 to Dollars for Scholars. These funds will provide two $500 scholarships at each Ankeny High School. We have asked that at least one scholarship at each high school go to a student with some relationship to Rotary such as a RYLA or Interact student, Rotary Youth Exchange student, or the student's parent or grandparent is a member of the Rotary Club of Ankeny. If you have a child or grandchild that is a senior in Ankeny High School, be sure to encourage them to apply for the Rotary scholarship. Contact Mary Cochran, dcochran@mchsi.com, if you have any questions. |
President Digmann inducted Hannah Guilford and Darius Potts into the Rotary Club of Ankeny on February 26th. Hannah Guilford will be a third Secondary Designee for the Bridges and is their Community Relations Representative. Doug Johnson will continue to be the Primary Designee for The Bridges and Kris Baker and Brody Hanson will continue to be Secondary Designees. Darius Potts is the Ankeny Police Chief and was proposed by Kathy Sibbel. Welcome Hannah and Darius!! |
Members of the Evening Rotary Club of Ankeny volunteered to entertain kids at the Youth Emergency Shelter Services in Des Moines on February 12th. They put puzzles together, read books, and made Rice Kispie bars with the kids that ranged in age from two to eleven. |
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The following Ankeny Rotarians will celebrate birthdays in March: 7th - Andrew Larson 8th - Craig Block 9th - Trent Murphy 11th - Kendall Sather 12th - Zane Smith 18th - Stacey Koeppen 21st - Troy Boelman 27th - Raj Reddy |
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The March board meeting for the Rotary Club of Ankeny will be: When: Thursday, March 14th All members are welcome and it counts as a make-up! |
The Rotary Club of Ankeny has received a certificate from The Rotary Foundation in recognition of our support of the "End Polio Now: Countdown to History Campaign". The certificate reads: "Ankeny is presented a certificate of appreciation for its financial support of End Polio Now; Countdown to History Campaign. Together, we will fulfill our promise to the children of the world and eradicate polio." During the 2017-2018 year, the Rotary Club of Ankeny contributed $5,100 to the PolioPlus campaign which equals $60 per Active member. |
District 6000 Assistant District Governor, Corrine Lambert, attended the noon meeting of The Rotary Club of Ankeny to present a banner to the club in recognition of the club's contributions to The Rotary Foundation for the 2017-2018 Rotary year. Ankeny is distinguished from more than 35,000 Rotary Clubs worldwide as being one of the following:
During the 2017-2018 Rotary Year, Ankeny contributed $12,780 to the Foundation's Annual Fund and $5,100 to PolioPlus. This totals $17,880 to the Rotary Foundation and equals $210.35 per Active member. Congratulations and thank you Ankeny Rotarians! |
Juan Arias recently relocated to the Des Moines area from Honduras where he was a member of the Usula Rotary Club of San Pedro Sula, Honduras. He attended our noon meeting on February 5th and presented the club with a banner from his former club. He also attended the evening club on February 12th and plans to transfer his membership to the evening club. |
Kris Baker volunteered The Bridges to host our meetings for as many weeks as the Ankeny Golf & Country Club needed to complete their remodeling. In total they hosted 4 meetings during January and February with Kris coordinating all the arrangements. In recognition of her efforts, President Ben named her Rotarian of the Month for February. Congratulations Kris! |
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It is now only 10 weeks until the Rotary Club of Ankeny's 2019 fundraiser "Raise the Stakes" for Community. For the event to be a success, each member of the club needs to participate with the sale of tickets and obtaining auction items. Brian Tiernan and Doug Beech are co-chairing the ticket sales and auction item aspects of the fundraiser. They have divided the club into two groups, last names beginning with A-K on Doug's team and M-Z on Brian's team. There will be some competition between the teams for who sells the most tickets and obtains the most auction items. The ideal auction item is something unusual and desirable that cannot be purchased in a store. These might include a hot air balloon ride, fishing trip, time share vacation home for a week, autographed items, etc. The more unusual the item the better. Rich Job will be storing auction items in his basement. As items are received, give them to Rich or bring them to a meeting and we'll get them to him. The first thing they ask of each member is to provide them with a list of four people they want to see at the event, four people they are inviting, and four people they want to see that they have a connection with to invite. The goal this year is to have over 300 people in attendance. Your list can be sent to Doug at doug.beech@Caseys.com or Brian at brian@cjmfinancial.com. Remember the money we raise from this event enables us to help many individuals and organizations in Ankeny and around the world. |
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Todd Eipperle has invited all Ankeny Rotarians to join him for an inspirational luncheon for Scouting, Wednesday February 6th, with featured speaker Mary T. Mack, Senior Vice President, Consumer Banking, Wells Fargo, along with Governor Kim Reynolds. The event will be at the Iowa Events Center Ballroom, 833 5th Avenue, Des Moines. Check-in for the event is between 11:30 and 11:45 AM, the program will begin at noon and will conclude by 1:00 PM. There is no cost for the luncheor as Rotary has been a great sponsor to local Scouting for several years, but there will be an opportunity if you would like to make a personal donation/pledge, although it is not required. Todd has reserved a table for Ankeny Rotarians. All you need to do is contact Todd to let him know you plan to attend so he can get you added to the check-in-roster and your seat reserved. RSVP to todd.eipperle@scouting.org. |
The District 6000 "Guardian of Integrity" award is named for Boone Rotarian and Past District Governor (1954-1955), Judge Paul E. Hellwege, who passed away in 2010. This award was established to promote the ideals of ethics and integrity which were Pauls' fervent passions. The award is presented annually to Rotarians who have been a member of a club in District 6000 for a minimum of three years and who have made outstanding contributions that foster the development of integrity. It singles out persons who have made contributions in business, media, academia or government and who have, by their actions, writing, policies and public pronouncements, strengthened and fostered development of integrity and ethical practices in their vocational, business and personal lives that Paul exemplified. Each club in District 6000 may nominate one member each year. Sally Schroeder has been selected to be the nominee for the Rotary Club of Ankeny for 2019. She will be recognized at the 2019 Rotary District 6000 Conference to be held May 2-4 at the West Des Moines Sheraton. Congratulations Sally! |
 The Rotary Club of Ankeny's 2019 fundraiser, "Raise The Stakes" for Community Fundraiser will be held at the FFA Enrichment Center on the campus of DMACC in Ankeny on Saturday, April 13, 2019. Silent auction items may be viewed and bid on a week prior to the event by going to https://bidpartner.net/rotary/. They will also be on display and open for bidding until 7:45 PM the night of the event. The evening will begin at 5:00 PM with appetizers and professional Las Vegas style gaming tables open for action. Everyone purchasing a ticket will received chips to play the games which will include Black Jack, Roulette, Craps, Poker, Three Card Poker and Let It Ride. The gaming tables will close at 7:45 PM. Complimentary wine and beer will be available throughout the evening and a buffet dinner will be available from 6:30 to 7:45 PM. The live auction will begin at 8:00 PM and will include, "Heads or Tails", desserts, paddle raisers, "100 for 100 Raffle", and Casino chip prize winners in addition to several live auction items.
Available sponsorships include:
Individual tickets are $60 each or reserve a table for 8 for $440. Tickets may be purchased from any Ankeny Rotarian or on line at https://bidpartner.net/rotary/. |
The Evening Club assembled 25 literacy kits for Ankeny's Head Start program at their meeting on December 18th. Each kit included a children's book. The following thank you has been received: "Rotary Club of Ankeny, Thank you for the wrapped book you gave the children that are in the Head Start programs in the Neveln Center. It is our hope that families read the book together over winter break. The children were so excited to receive the gift. Thank you for thinking of the Head Start programs! Miss Heather and Miss Anderson." |
Nathan Porter the General Manager for Ankeny Golf & Country Club has provided us with an update on their sewer project. The asbestos removal began on January 21st and most of the floor tiles have been removed from the ballroom, ladies locker room, and front entry. They will prepare the space for the asbestos removal and hope to be done by Jan 26th. After this is completed they need to have concrete poured throughout the clubhouse to fill the trenching that was cut for the new sewer pipes. When this is completed flooring will be installed in the bar, ballroom, entryway, and the ladies locker room. Here is the current timeline for the project: Jan. 21st - Start asbestos mitigation (Had to wait 10 days due to regulations.) Jan 25th - Asbestos mitigation finished. Jan. 28-30 - Pour concrete and let cure Jan 31st - Start installation of carpet and ball room flooring Feb 4th - 8th - Finish flooring installation and clean building Feb 9th - 12th - Open Clubhouse Rotary will likely need to continue to meet off site until the meeting on February 19th. We are asked to please not go to the clubhouse while it is closed. You will not be able to enter the building and there are safety concerns if you do. |
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Rotary International President Elect, Mark Daniel Maloney explained his version for building a stronger Rotary, calling on leaders to expand connections to their communities and to embrace innovative membership models. Maloney, a member of the Rotary Club of Decatur, Alabama unveiled his 2019-2020 presidential theme, "Rotary Connects the World" to incoming district governors at Rotary's annual training event, the International Assembly, in San Diego, California on January 7th. “The first emphasis is to grow Rotary — to grow our service, to grow the impact of our projects, but most importantly, to grow our membership so that we can achieve more,” Maloney said. Maloney believes that connection is at the heart of the Rotary experience. "Rotary allows us to connect with each other, in deep and meaningful ways across our differences." Maloney said. "It connects us to people we would never otherwise have met who are more like us than we could have known. It connects us to our communities, to professional opportunities, and to the people who need our help." |
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Recently, The Rotary Foundation was inducted into University of Oxford's Chancellor's Court of Benefactors for its continuous support of the university. Since 1949, the Foundation has provided scholarships to more than 200 Oxford scholars including a former American ambassador to the United Kingdom, a Pulitzer Prize winning author and investigative reporter for the New York Times, and a director and Senior Fellow at the Ansari Africa Centre. For almost 70 years, this support has enabled students from around the world to benefit from all that Oxford has to offer. Membership in the Court of Benefactors is conferred by the Chancellor on those who have been outstandingly generous towards the university. The Rotary Foundation joins a prestigious list of over 250 members including Thomson Reuters Foundation and the Skoll Foundation. The members are from around the globe whose significant contributions have assisted Oxford in being the world's institution that it is today. Your contribution to The Rotary Foundation enables this to happen. Thank you. |
Gary Welch volunteers to make Santa available for several families, functions and organizations each year during the holiday season. This year he collected donations totaling $1,135 for his services and he in turn donated all of these funds to the Rotary Club of Ankeny. In recognition of this donation, all the work he does as chair of the club's youth committee, and all the other volunteer work he does, President Digmann named him the club's Rotarian of the month for January, 2019. |
Andrew Stumbo was inducted into the Rotary Club of Ankeny on January 8, 2019 by President Ben Digmann. Andrew is a Wealth Management Advisor with Benson Wealth Management in Ankeny. Welcome Andrew!! |
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The February board meeting for the Rotary Club of Ankeny will be: When: Thursday, February 14th All members are welcome and it counts as a make-up! |
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The Rotary Club of Ankeny donated funds for two $500 scholarships at each Ankeny high school at the end of the 2017-2018 school year. Recently, a thank you note including pictures was received from Dollars for Scholars. It read: "Thank you for making a difference! Your generous financial support to Ankeny Dollars for Scholars is an investment in the life of a young individual. It allows the graduates from Ankeny and Ankeny Centennial to pursue their educational dreams. As the president of Ankeny Dollars for Scholars, please accept my heartfelt thanks. As a community, we donated $73,406 in 2018 and awarded 132 scholarships to the graduates. You were an important of this success. Ankeny Dollars for Scholars in such a worthy cause and thank you for being such an integral part of our success, We could not do it without you." Sincerely, Kristen Gray    Pictured is Rotarian, Mark Land with scholarship winner Rachel Leon, Rotarian Gary Welch with Eva and Meredith Long, and Mark Land with his daughter Nicolette Land. |
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Several Ankeny Rotarians took turns ringing the bell for the Salvation Army at the North HyVee on December 15th. Last year, Rotarians rang the bell for 6 hours and received donations totaling $305.76. This year we rang the bell for 12 hours and had $707.67 dropped in the red kettle. Thank you to all of the Rotarians that helped ring the bell and to Anne Porter for coordinating this service project. |
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The following Ankeny Rotarians will celebrate birthdays in February: 2nd - Mike Goedeke 5th - Eric Hockenberry 6th - Doug Parker 8th - Terry Peter 12th - Kris Baker 21st - Ryan Bach 26th - Jody Savage 26th - Steve SchraderBachar |
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The Rotary Club of Ankeny's 2019 fundraiser, "Casino Night" will be held on Saturday, April 13th. The event will be set up similar to previous year's and will include a meal, drinks and both silent and live auctions. Co-chairs, Laura Luetje and Stacey Koeppen, are working hard to create new energy for this event in hopes of gaining new faces in attendance and generate a community buzz about Rotary and what we do and, of course, raise more dollars for the club! Thanks to their efforts, they have already received $10,000 in sponsorships. These include $5,000 from Polk County, $3,000 from Prairie Meadows and, most recently, $2,000 from Karl Chevrolet. Each member of the club should be thinking about what businesses they can ask to donate auction items and who they can invite to purchase tables and attend the event. We will soon be hearing from Doug Beech and Brian Tiernan regarding auction items and ticket sales. Also, Laura and Stacey plan to meet with committee chairs every other week at 11:00 AM prior to our regular Tuesday meetings beginning on January 8th. |
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The January board meeting for the Rotary Club of Ankeny will be: When: Thursday, January 10th All members are welcome and it counts as a make-up! |
 May the dawn of this New Year fill your heart with new hopes, open up the new horizons and bring to you promises of brighter tomorrows! Have a wonderful and "Happy New Year"!!! |
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There are over 122 million children in the Nepal the world that are illiterate. In addressing the problem, Rotary realizes that bringing children into schools isn't enough to solve illiteracy. Consequently, it has turned to mentoring and coaching teachers! The Guatemala Literacy Project and the Nepal Teacher Training Innovation are two global projects that lead the effort to advance childhood reading by empowering teachers to teach better. The projects plan lessons that ensure students will actually learn. The entire effort is part of a larger goal to reduce extreme poverty, because knowing how to read and write increases a person's earning potential and ability to build a better life. These projects can succeed thanks to your generous contributions to the Rotary Foundation. Thank you. |
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During the last meeting of the year on December 18th, President Ben Digmann thanked Cindy, waitress, and Brian, chef, for serving us for the past several year. Ben presented each of them with a thank you card. Inside each card was a $100 bill. Thank you Cindy and Brian!! |
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The following Ankeny Rotarians will celebrate birthdays in January: 6th - Jack Pennington 20th - Sally Schroeder 25th - Justin Carlton 25th Bruce Kimpston 27th - Jeff Damman 28th - Roger Spahr 31st - Jim Gocke |
President Ben Digmann named Laura Leutje and Stacey Koeppen "co-Rotarians of the Month" for December. Ben recognized Laura and Stacey for all their hard work and generation of new ideas as co-chairmen for the 2019 Rotary Fundraiser. They have already received $8,000 in sponsorships and have organized committees for sponsorship, ticket sales and soliciting auction items. |
The annual Rotary Christmas social was held on Saturday evening December 11th at The Fletcher Full Service Restaurant & Bar. The food was good and the company was great. We also enjoyed the guitar playing by former Rotarian David Crabbs. Thank you to Tim Cox and Stacey Koeppen for making the arrangements and hosting the event. You can view more pictures on our web site under Photo Albums.     |
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Contributions to the Rotary Foundation are included in most members quarterly invoices. A few members prefer to forward their donation directly to the Foundation and there are a few new members that have not as yet made a commitment to contribute. The club forwards these donations on to the Rotary Foundation in November and May each year. The contribution the club sent in November this year was $5,915. For the past two years, the Rotary Club of Ankeny has been a "100% Club" which means every Active member has made a donation in some amount during the year. If you have not as yet made a commitment to the Foundation, please contact Foundation Chair, Steve SchraderBachar, 515-360-5197 or sschraderbachar@stearns.com. |
For the past 8 years, a Ratchet has been published twice each month. Prior to that a Ratchet had been published nearly every week. Beginning with the January 1st edition, the Ratchet will be sent to members and Friends of the Club by email once each month on the first Monday of the month. Special announcements and other reminders will also be sent by email to all members as appropriate. All stories, lists of speakers, and greeter schedules can also be found on our web site. |
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Several members of the Rotary Club of Ankeny rang the bell for our local Salvation Army units on Saturday, December 15th at the North Ankeny Hy-Vee. Thank you to everyone that participated and a special thank you to Anne Porter for coordinating this service project. |
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Whenever a global grant is awarded, a global grant consists of a project with a budget over $30,000 up to $200,000, The Rotary Foundation provides technical expertise. Called the Global Grant Cadre of Technical Advisors, it maintains a registry of individuals that serve in countries other than their own. These Rotarians are qualified in area of health, education, literacy, small business, micro-credit, and financial auditing - in other words chartered accountants and certified public accountants. Cadre members are fluent in a variety of languages which include French, Spanish, Portuguese and other language skills. They conduct on-site project visits for two to three days with written reports upon their return. This technique assures the validity of the project and its sustainability. The Rotary Foundation welcomes individuals who might wish to join the cadre. If you are interested, contact the Rotary Foundation at 847-866-3000. Thank you. |
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During the Board meeting on December 13th, approval was given to purchase 25 books for Head Start. The Evening Club will be assembling a take home kit for students which will include these books. The students will be encouraged to read the books at home with their parents. Each book will have a sticker stating the book has been donated by the Rotary Club of Ankeny. The cost of the books is $49.15. |
The Board has approved an application for membership to the Rotary Club of Ankeny from Andrew Stumbo. Andrew is a Financial Wealth Advisor with Benson Wealth Management in Ankeny. He is being proposed for membership by Kathy Sibbel. Comments regarding Andrew's proposed membership may be forwarded to any member of the Board. |
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As a Rotarian, you may visit any of the more than 35,000 Rotary clubs located in over 200 countries throughout the world. It is customary when visiting another club to exchange banners. If you plan to visit another club, ask Nate Burnham for a banner to exchange. Mark Martin recently had the opportunity to visit the Sunrise Rotary Club of De Mar - Solana Beach, California. While there he exchanged Rotary banners. He presented the banner he received to the club during our meeting on November 13th. Thanks Mark. |
The Testino Agency became the newest corporate member of the Rotary Club of Ankeny when they were inducted into the club by President Elect Rich Job on December 4th. The Testino Agency is the Allstate Insurance agent in Ankeny. Andy Testino will be the "Primary Designee", Nick Testino, James Benda, and Cory Johnson will be the "Secondary Designees" for this corporate membership. Welcome to Rotary, Andy, Nick, James and Cory! |
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On November 11, 2018, the District 6000 Nominating Committee interviewed candidates for District Governor Nominee Designee 2021-2022. The committee selected Alaka Khanolkar of the Rotary Club of Keokuk. |
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Aaron Houng was a Rotary Exchange student to France for the 2017-2018 year. On November 29th he reported on his exchange to the noon Rotary club. Aaron felt this trip changed his life and will be forever grateful to Rotary for making it possible. |
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Now that the holiday season is upon us, many of us are scurrying around trying to find the best gift for our families, our neighbors, teachers and more. Here is an idea that will save all of you a great deal of time and give you an enormous feeling of satisfaction! In place of that gift, why not give the gift of Rotary through The Rotary Foundation? A $100 contribution can help [rovide textbooks for one elementary school in Zambia, provide a hearing aid for a deaf child in Pakistan, buy de-worming tablets for 112 children in the Philippines , pay for cataract operations for three blind people in India, or provide 230 blankets for the elderly in the winter months of Korea! And there are many opportunities even within our own country! For more information contact our Foundation Chair, Steve SchraderBachar or call The Rotary Foundation at 866-976-82279. Thank you for your generosity. |
Eradicating Polio in India was a feat of dedication, commitment, and doubling down on immunization activities. Given India's vast population, tropical climate, and other environmental challenges, it would be easy to imagine that if Polio couldn't be stopped, India would be the place to fail. After all, India constituted over 60% of all polio cases as recently as 2009. However, in 2014, India was officially declared Polio-free, along with the rest of the South-East Asia Region. Success in India really changed the game, and now serves as an example that eradication of Polio is indeed possible when the world marshals political will and commits adequate resources to the cause that effects everyone worldwide. Pakistan - No new Polio Cases reported since 10/7/18. Eight cases reported in 2018, all from just four districts. Twenty years ago the entire country was affected by polio, and every year, more than 35,000 children were paralyzed for life by the disease. Nigeria - No new Wild Polio Cases have been reported in 2017 or 2018. Most recent case was reported on 8/20/16. Nigeria is to be congratulated on 2-1/4 years without a Wild Polio case! Afghanistan - No new Polio cases reported this week. Nineteen cases reported in 2018 with the most recent case with the onset of paralysis on 10/2/18. Zero is the magic number! The three year "Countdown to History" starts after the final Wild Polio case. As of last week, we count seven weeks since the report of the most recent Wild Polio case. |
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The December board meeting for the Rotary Club of Ankeny will be: When: Thursday, December 13th All members are welcome and it counts as a make-up! |
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Due to the holidays and the construction taking place at the Ankeny Golf & Country Club, there will several changes to our normal meetings and locations: Here is the schedule for the next couple months: Dec. 4th - Meeting at Ankeny Golf & Country Club Dec. 11th - No Meeting - Christmas Social Saturday Dec. 8th Dec. 18th - Meeting at Ankeny Golf & Country Club Dec. 25th - No Meeting - Merry Christmas! Jan. 1st - No Meeting - Happy New Year! Jan. 8th - Meeting at The Bridges, 3510 NW Abilene Rd, Ankeny Jan. 15th - Meeting at HyVee Distribution Facility, 2741 PDI Place, Ankeny Jan. 22nd - Meeting at The Bridges, 3510 NW Abilene Rd, Ankeny Jan. 29th - Meeting at Casey's Headquarters, One SE Convenience Blvd. Feb. 5th - Meeting at The Bridges, 3510 NW Abilene Rd, Ankeny, (If Necessary) Feb. 12th Meeting at Ankeny Golf & Country Club (We hope) |
Laura Brassell, Assistant Vice President and Branch Manager for Lincoln Savings Bank in Ankeny was inducted into the club on November 27th. She will be an additional Secondary Designee for LSB, a corporate member of the club. Doug Parker will continue as the Primary Designee and Rick Andriano and Tracy Frette are the other Secondary Designees. Welcome to the club, Laura. |
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The following Ankeny Rotarians will celebrate birthdays in December: 2nd - Chuck Stewart 3rd - Scott Port 12th - Rich Job 14th - Tim Cox 21st - Doug Beech 25th - T.J. Brand |
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Now that the holiday season is upon us - many of us are scurrying around trying to find the best gift for our families, our neighbors, teachers, and more. Here is an idea that will save all of you a great deal of time and give you an enormous feeling of satisfaction! In place of that gift, why not give the gift of Rotary through The Rotary Foundation? A $100 contribution can help provide textbooks for one elementary school in Zambia, provide a hearing aid for a deaf child in Pakistan, buy de-worming tablets for 112 children in the Philippines, pay for cataract operations for three blind people in India, or provide 230 blankets for the elderly in the winter months of Korea! And there are many more opportunities even within our own country! For more information contact The Rotary Foundation at 866-976-8279. Thank you for your generosity. |
The 2018 Christmas Social for the Rotary Club of Ankeny will be held on Saturday, December 8th at The Fletcher Full Service Restaurant & Bar, 1802 N Ankeny Blvd. The evening will begin at 5:30 PM with a social hour followed by dinner at 6:30. The cost for members and guests is $45 per person. You can sign up on-line or there will be a sign-up sheet at each Rotary meeting prior to the social. |
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Wishing you the happiness of good friends, the joy of a happy family, and the wonder of the holiday season. Have a memorable thanksgiving! |
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We're so close to eradicating Polio. But to fully eradicate this deplorable disease we still need $1.5 billion to finish the job. Why? Even if the last case of polio is identified this year, a huge amount of work will remain to ensure that it stays "GONE", which means vaccinating children for at least three more years. To ensure that polio is truly eradicated forever, it must be detected. This requires continuous surveillance that is complicated and costly. First doctors and community health workers must monitor children for acute flaccid paralysis and second is the process that involves local authorities collecting samples from sewage systems or in places that don't have adequate sanitation facilities, including rivers and bodies of water near a large group of residents. In addition, large scale vaccinations are enormous undertakings that require money as well as thousands of volunteers on the ground and in places where the vaccination programs have been successful, the challenge is to locate and vaccinate that small percentage of children who have been missed. The vaccine itself isn't the biggest expense, it's the distribution of the vaccine - i.e. transportation and staffing. A vaccination campaign is almost mind-bogglingly complex. Rotarian's contributions pay for planning by technical experts, large-scale communication efforts to make people aware of the benefits of vaccinations and the dates of the campaign, plus support for volunteers to go door-to-door in large cities as well as in remote areas that may not appear on any map. Yes, we are 99.9% there. Now is the hardest part and with your help our goal to eradicate polio will be accomplished and celebrated. Thank you for your support. |
The Board has approved an application from the Testino Agency to become a new corporate member of the Rotary Club of Ankeny. Andrew (Andy) Testino, and his twin brother Nicholas (Nick) Testino are co-owners of the agency. Andy will be the "Primary Designee" and Nick, James Benda, Licensed Sales Professional, and Cory Johnson, Licensed Sales Professional, will be "Secondary Designees". The Testino Agency is a new Allstate insurance agency in Ankeny. It is located at 110 N. Ankeny Blvd. Suite 700. Comments regarding this proposed membership may be submitted to any Board member. |
The members of the Evening Ankeny Rotary Club packed 756 meals for Meals From The Heartland on August 30th. The club also donated $100 to help cover the cost of shipping of the meals they packaged. In 2017, Meals From the Heartland distributed 20.5 million meals throughout the world. The following thank you was received form Susan Bunz, Executive Director of Meals From the Heartland: THANK YOU! Two very powerful words that come from my heart. Your recent donation of $100 along with the help of countless volunteers will allow us to package meals for hungry people her in Iowa, throughout the United States and around the world. With one decade of hunger fighting in our rear view mirror, we are now setting our sights on the years to come and we can't do what we do without the ongoing support of loyal donors. So again, thank you for being a hunger fighter we can continue to count on for your time, treasure, and talent. |
Luke Nelson was a member of the Rotary Club of Ankeny for 5 years from June 2013 until July 2018 when he moved to South Carolina and joined the Rotary Club of Fort Mill, South Carolina. Prior to Luke leaving Ankeny he qualified for a Paul Harris Fellowship but we were unable to present it to him before he moved. The certificate and pin were sent by UPS to the Foundation Chair for Fort Mill. There was some concern that these items may be lost since they were sent about the same time hurricane Florence ripped through the Carolinas and UPS could not find any tracking information on the package. Ultimately, the package was received and they had the items framed and their president, Patrick White, presented it to Luke. Congratulations Luke! |
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Several Ankeny Rotarians came to the Rotary meeting on October 30th ready for "Beggars' Night". The costumed Rotarians included Santa, Spiderman, a Spider lady, a monk, and a couple of show girls. |
The Rotary Club of Ankeny has been awarded a Presidential Citation for 2017-18 from Rotary International President Ian Riseley. Since this Citation refers to the last Rotary year when Sally Schroeder was president, 2018-2019 President Ben Digmann presented the citation to Sally during the noon meeting on November 6th. This recognition is given to clubs that successfully achieve goals in the areas of Membership, Foundation Giving, Online Tool Adoption, Humanitarian Service, New Generations and Public Image. The certificate reads: "2017-2018 Rotary Citation from the RI President Awarded to the Rotary Club of Ankeny for helping Rotary make a difference in the lives of people all over the world." There are 65 clubs in District 6000. Ankeny was one of six clubs in the District to receive a Presidential Citation for last year. This is the third year in a row the Rotary Club of Ankeny has achieved this award. In 2015-2016 the club was one of only 3 in District 6000 to qualify. In 2016-2017, the Rotary Club of Ankeny was the only club of the 66 clubs in District 6000 to qualify for the Presidential Citation.  |
Project Fresh Start is an Ankeny based volunteer program that has provided free school supplies, backpacks, prom dress and more to students for over a decade. In the fall, many Ankeny families are faced with a significant challenge, Iowa winters, but lack the funds to purchase winter coats, hats gloves, boots and snow pants. To assist these families Project Fresh Start has coordinated the receiving and distribution of winter clothing each year since 2015. Dave Kissinger, Project Fresh Start Chairman, was in attendance at the noon Rotary meeting on November 6th to accept a check from the club for coats and snow pants. The total donation to Project Fresh Start from the club was $2,512. $1,512 was used to purchase winter coats and the other $1,000 will be used to purchase snow pants. |
Mary Cochran assumed the responsibility of chairing the Services/Donations committee in January, 2017. Since then she has done an excellent job of presenting donation request to the Board and notifying the recipients of the action taken by the Board. In recognition of her efforts, President Digmann named her the "Rotarian of the Month" for November. |
Foundation Chair Steve SchraderBachar recognized Raj Reddy as a new Paul Harris Fellow and Dave Mercer as a Paul Harris Fellow + 2 during the noon meeting on November 6th. Congratulations Dave and Raj! |
The Rotary Club of Ankeny will be ringing the bell for our local Salvation Army again this holiday season. We will be ringing bells on Saturday, December 15th at the North Ankeny Hy-Vee, 410 N. Ankeny Blvd from 8:00 AM to 8:00 PM. Ideally, we would like two people to sign up for each two hour shift. If you can help contact Anne Porter at 515-571-4213. You can sign up your spouse, child, co-worker, or a friend to work with you. |
District Governor Tom Narak and his partner Carol made their official visit to the Evening Ankeny Rotary Club on October 30th. Acting President Steve Wieneke presented a list of the service projects and other activities the club has completed during the past year. DG Narak indicated he was quite impressed and encouraged the club to "keep up the good work". |
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The Ankeny Golf & Country Club will be completing some construction in January 2019. They will be eliminating their sewer lagoon and hooking up to the City sewer line. They will also be installing a new grease trap and changing some interior plumbing which will make the kitchen and our meeting room unavailable for our meetings for at least January 8th, 15th, 22nd, and 29th. The club is planning to meet at The Bridges, 3510 NW Abilene Rd., just off NW 36th Street on January 8th and at the new HyVee Distribution facility on South Delaware on another Tuesday. The Bridges has offered to allow us to meet at their facility on the additional Tuesdays but if any member would like to host the club at their place of business, please let President Ben Digmann know. |
In March 2018, a joint meeting was held of all of the service clubs in Ankeny. Those in attendance were able to learn about some of the projects each club was participating in. Representatives form each of these clubs have continued to meet and have selected a project that all clubs can work on together. It is Avenue of Flags. This is currently a project of the Optimist Club. For $35 they set a flag at dawn in your yard and remove it at dusk on these five holidays: Memorial Day, Flag Day, Independence Day, Labor Day, and Veterans Day. The flag is 3' x 5' and is flown from a 10' pole. They are placed in a permanent grommet set in your yard. The grommet is set low and will not interfere with moving or other activity. The poles and flags are property of the Optimist Club and are stored and maintained by the club. The project has been approved by the City of Ankeny. All proceeds will go to help support Ankeny's youth and families. |
Gary Welch received the following message from Ankeny's outgoing Rotary Exchange Student to France, Conner Grau: Hello, I have been in France for over two months now. It is beautiful, and exhausting. Thankfully we have a two week break off of school right now. My host family is really nice and understanding of everything, which is great. Because of where I live, in the west part of France, we live really close to the ocean and I have never been or seen the ocean in real life before and I finally got to do that. The food is amazing, my favorite thing is raclette, which is cheese melted on potatoes and it's so good. Communication is difficult and weird, but getting better as my language ability get's better. I am definitely not fluent but I am learning so much and can understand most of what is happening around me now which is good. I am feeling myself change and grow in ways I never thought before. All is well. Connor Grau |
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The November board meeting for the Rotary Club of Ankeny will be: When: Thursday, November 8th All members are welcome and it counts as a make-up! |
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Nick Lenox, Parks & Rec Director for the City of Ankeny was in attendance at the noon meeting on October 23rd to accept a check in the amount of $4,784 to be used to purchase additional benches at the Ankeny Market Pavilion. These funds are being provided by a Rotary District 6000 Community Improvement grant in the amount of $2,392 which was then matched by the Rotary Club of Ankeny. |
Two new Secondary Designees for corporate member Lincoln Savings Bank were inducted into the Rotary Club of Ankeny on October 23rd. They are: Tracy Frette, Mortgage Lender, and Nick Andriano, Portfolio Manager. A third new Secondary Designee, Laura Brassell, Branch Manager, will be inducted on November 13th. Doug Parker will continue as the Primary Designee for Lincoln Savings Bank. |
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Rotary is Here are a few projects that have been funded by Rotary's global grants in the USA: 1. Dental Equipment and oral healthcare services were provided to low-income residents in Ventura, City California. 2. In Pittsburgh, PA, and Richmond, California, Rotary provided free longitudinal care for 75 patients at two Rotacare Free medical clinics. 3. It provided a baseball clinic with a focus on teamwork and anti-bullying among youngsters ages 7-16 in Yonkers, New York. 4. It developed and implemented a school based dental model within two schools in Cabell County, West Virginia. 5. And it created a "Kids Club Literary Project" to promote age/grade level reading for children living in Loveland Housing Authority apartments in Loveland, Colorado. These projects had a budget of over $30,000 and were initiated by clubs and districts within the United States with financial support from countries outside the US. Your contribution to The Rotary Foundation enabled this to happen. Thank you. |
The Rotary Foundation transforms your gifts into projects that change lives both close to home and around the world. As the charitable arm of Rotary International, we tap into a global network of Rotarians who invest their time, money, and expertise into our priorities, such as eradicating polio and promoting peace. Foundation grants empower Rotarians to approach challenges such as poverty, illiteracy, and malnutrition with sustainable solutions that leave a lasting impact. Strong financial oversite, a stellar charity rating, and a unique funding model mean that we make the very most of your contribution. Give and become a part of Rotary's life-changing work! The collective leadership and expertise of our 1.2 million members helps us tackle some of the world's biggest challenges, locally and globally. Our efforts are directed in six areas to enhance our impact. Our most successful and sustainable projects and activities tend to fall within the following areas:
The first donation in the amount of $26.50 was made to the Rotary Foundation in 1917. Since then the Foundation has received contributions totaling more than $1 billion. |
For the past three years the Evening Rotary Club of Ankeny has been presenting a certificate to each of their speakers stating that a book will be donated to the Terrace Elementary Library in their name as a thank you for them having presented to the club. Sheryl Dales a Digital Learning Teacher at Terrace Elementary attend the meeting on October 2nd and accepted a check from the club in the amount of $350. This will enable the club to continue donating a books in the name of speakers for approximately another year. |
Five representatives from the Ankeny Library were in attendance at the noon meeting of the Rotary Club of Ankeny to accept a check in the amount of $5,220. This check represents the proceeds form a District 6000 Community Service Grant in the amount of $2,610 and a match from the Club. These funds will be used to purchase a virtual reality processor, a laptop cart, with five laptop computers for use in classrooms for children as part of the Hatch Program. The Hatch Program is a library program for students to utilize the library for various education uses such as CAD drawings for redesigning buildings, bridges, digital sewing machines, creation of videos using a green screen, and other uses. Also, the equipment will allow after school hours use for students who are unable to access a computer or a network at home. Pictured are Natalie Brincks, Elissa Hodges, Rotarian Kent Patterson, Rotary President Ben Digmann, Sam Mitchel, Cami Brazelton and Gina Rooney. |
Heather Rowley, a central Iowa volunteer with Samaritan's Purse attended the Rotary meeting on the evening of October 16th at Wig & Pen. She talked to the club about a project called Operation Christmas Child. For the past 25 years, this project has been filling shoeboxes with gifts and delivering them to children in need around the world. After her presentation, the Rotarians and guests present filled 40 boxes with items that had been donated including, hygene items, toys, pencils, calculators, stuffed animals, cayons, note pads and more. Also, pictures of those filling the boxes were taken and attached to a Christmas card that was placed in the box. Our two exchange students from Mexico, Sofia Marales and Jesus Esteban and two of last year's RYLA students, Aaron Haung, and Benton Renaud also helped fill the boxes. .JPG) |
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The following Ankeny Rotarians will celebrate birthdays in November: 3rd - Steve Wieneke 4th - Nate Burnham 11th - Laura Luetje 12th - Jim Foreman 21st - Lowell Vine 25th - Jan Franck 25th - Del Mohler 26th - Kathy Sibbel |
The Board has approved a request from Lincoln Savings Bank to add three new "Secondary Designees" to their corporate membership in the Rotary Club of Ankeny. Doug Parker will continue to be the "Primary Designee. The new members will be: Tracy Frette, Mortgage Lender; Laura Brassell, Branch Manager; and Nick Andriano, Portfolio Manager. Comments regarding these proposed memberships may be submitted to any Board member. |
The invoices for the Second quarter of the Rotary year, October through December, were forwarded on October 5th by email to each member. Let Jim Ramsey know if you did not receive your invoice. We know some invoices find their way to spam folders. If you find yours in your Spam folder, try adding jramsey.bank-northwest.com@clubrunner.email to your contact list. Prompt payment of your invoice allows the club to stay on budget and reduces the number of follow-ups necessary by our treasurer and secretary. Remember, payment of your invoice is due by October 26, 2018! |
Former Iowa Hawkeye quarterback Chuck Long was the guest speaker at the noon Rotary Club of Ankeny on October 9th. Chuck is a member of the College Football Hall of Fame and played professionally in the NFL for the Detroit Lions and Los Angles Rams. After his professional career, he served as an assistant coach at Iowa and Oklahoma and head football coach at San Diego State. Long is the CEO and Executive Director of the Iowa Sports Foundation, the organization that runs the Iowa Games, the Senior Games and the Live Healthy Iowa challenge. Chuck highlighted some of the stories contained in his recently published biography “Destined for Greatness – The Story of Chuck Long and Resurgence of Iowa Hawkeyes Football” including taking a snap in a record five college bowl games, claiming a last-second win over No. 2 Michigan in 1985, finishing runner-up to Bo Jackson for the 1985 Heisman Trophy and being selected in the first round of the 1986 NFL Draft by the Detroit Lions. The book relives his life and career as one of the Hawkeyes' greatest players and the resurgence of Iowa football under Coach Hayden Fry. The book also includes perspectives from Fry, Kirk Ferentz, Hap Peterson, Mark Vlasic and Jonathan Hayes and their reflections on a variety of topics including the farm depression that impacted Iowa in the 1980s. Also in attendance was the author of the book, Aaron Putze, a visiting Rotarian form Waukee. Chuck and Aaron brought several books which were purchased by members and guests and autographed for Chuck. He also autographed a Hawkeye football which along with an autographed book will be sold at the club's 2019 fundraiser on April 13th. |
The Club's monthly Friday morning coffees are held on the third Friday of each month at 7:30 AM at Wig & Pen, 1005, South Ankeny Blvd. The coffee for October will be on Friday, October 19th. All members are welcome and it counts as a make up! |
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In 2017, the majority of The Rotary Foundation's global grants were awarded to clubs and districts outside the United States; however many of our districts have recognized immediate needs within our own country working within the grant process: 1. A health service center was created in Salinas, California to assist homeless residents in their community and helped them obtain references to healthcare professionals. 2. In Greensboro, Alabama, Rotary provided financial literacy and small business development trainings for at risk youth. 3. Rotary provided a social skill program targeting unemployed and underemployed residents of West Coconut Grove, a Bahamian founded community in Miami, Florida. 4. It equipped a mobile vision unit to serve patients in a region of rural Appalachia. 5. And in Up State New York, it developed a grant to address the severe epidemic of opioid/heroin abuse. Your generous donations to the Rotary Foundation enable this to happen! |
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Laura Meeker, with the University of Iowa Community Credit Union was inducted into the Rotary Club of Ankeny on October 9th. She was a member of the Rotary Club of West Des Moines and is transferring her membership now that the UICCU has opened their new office in Ankeny. Welcome Laura! |
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The following Ankeny Rotarians will celebrate birthdays in October: 1st - Eric Pasanchin 4th - Kraig Vry 5th - Mary Cochran 16th - Art Moeller 16th - Abbi Rickelman 20th - Kristofer Orth 24th - Shar Dunlap 24th - Cameron Fitzgerald 27th - Mark Densmore |
The October board meeting for the Rotary Club of Ankeny will be: When: Thursday, October 11th All members are welcome and it counts as a make-up! |
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The following thank you was received from "Operation Warm" in response to the club's donation of $1,512 to purchase winter coats to be distributed by Project Fresh Start. Genuine joy at the sight of bright, warm coats piled on cafeteria tables. Stunned surprise that you get to choose your own to take home. Smiles that are contagious. Walking through the halls of school, sitting on the bus or playing at the playground all become different experiences when a child has a new coat on. Thanks to the Rotary Club of Ankeny's support of $1,512 to Operation Warm, moments like this happen, and begin a new story about expression, confidence and generosity! Our clothes can show the world what we like, who we think we are, and where we belong. Partners like you give kids the chance to pick out their favorite color and style, and leave with what could be their first piece of brand new clothing. You give them something to wear that makes them feel great and sends a message that they are worth it. Giving an Operation Warm coat is giving a tangible token of empowerment. Committed partners like the Rotary Club of Ankeny make it possible to give children a gift of warmth. Thank you for giving children not only warmth for the winter, but hope and happiness, and warmth to last a lifetime. |
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All of the club's remaining calculators have been donated to Samaritan's Purse to be used in their Operation Christmas Child project. A calculator will be placed in each shoebox to be distributed this Christmas. The final count was 16,000 calculators that were picked up last week by Heather Rowley, a volunteer with Operation Christmas Child. The following thank you note has been received from Heather: Dear Ankeny Rotary Club Members, Thank you so very much for the wonderful donation of solar calculators and for the opportunity for me to share my heart for Operation Christmas Child with you. Calculators are cherished and valuable as part of the Operation Christmas Child shoebox gifts. May God bless you and thank you. |
Would you like Santa and Mrs. Claus to attend your family or business Holiday party? Gary Welch is now reserving dates for Santa Claus to make guest appearances. If you would like to reserve a date, send Gary an email, at gwelch3002@msn.com or call him at (515) 419-3707. |
At the regular meeting on September 25th, Foundation Chair Steve SchraderBachar recognized Mark Densmore, Jody Savage, Renee Murphy, and Kent Patterson for becoming new Paul Harris Fellows. Mark Martin was also recognized for becoming a Paul Harris Fellow plus 2. |
On behalf of the Ankeny Service Center, Tom Friedman accepted a check from the Rotary Club of Ankeny in the amount $3,278.71. This represented 60% of the net proceeds from the golf ball drop held this summer at Ankeny's Summerfest. Thank you to Tom for his leadership in conducting the golf ball drop. |
The Board has approved an application for membership to the Rotary Club of Ankeny from Laura Meeker. Laura is currently a member of the Rotary Club of West Des Moines and would like to transfer her membership to Ankeny. She is the Regional Branch Manager for the University of Iowa Community Credit that recently opened in Ankeny at 2610 SW White Birch Rd. Comments regarding Laura's proposed membership may be forwarded to any Board Member. |
A vote was taken at the noon Rotary meeting on September 18th to decide the theme for the 2019 fundraiser. "Casino Night" received the most votes and will be this year's theme. It is anticipated there will be a number of casino type games to play. Any suggestions for these games should be directed to co-chairs Laura Leutje or Stacey Koeppen. |
Two new Secondary Designees for corporate member, The Bridges at Ankeny were inducted into the Rotary Club of Ankeny on September 18th. They were: Kris Baker, Community Relations Director and Brodey Hanson, Administrator. Doug Johnson will continue as the Primary Designee. |
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Rotary is a global network of 1.2 million neighbors, friends, leaders, and problem solvers who see a world where people unite and take action to create lasting change across the globe, in our communities and in ourselves. Solving problems takes real commitment and vision. For more than 110 years, Rotary's people of action have used their passion, energy, and intelligence to take action on sustainable projects. From literacy and peace to water and health, we are always working to better our world, and we stay committed to the end. Impact starts with our members who are people of action coming together to strengthen their connections to friends and neighbors and their commitment to improving lives. Becoming a Rotarian offers many benefits including: Connecting you to a diverse group of professionals who share your drive to give back to their communities. Through regular meetings and events, you’ll:
For more information on how to become a Rotarian, or propose a new member, contact our Membership Chair, Andrew Larson at andrew@ankenysanitation.com |
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Through academic training, study and practice, The Rotary Peace Centers program develops leaders who become catalysts, for peace and conflict prevention and resolution in their communities and around the globe. Each year, up to 100 Rotary Peace Fellows are chosen to participate in a master’s degree (lasting 2 years) program or a certificate program (lasting 3 months) at one of our partner universities. Fellows study subjects related to the root causes of conflict and explore innovative solutions that address real-world needs. As of 2016-17, there were 1247 Rotary Peace Fellows working around the world. Peace centers can be found in Bangkok, North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Tokyo, England, Australia and Sweden. Your contribution to The Rotary Foundation enables this to happen. Thank you! |
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the 6th annual Rotary Foundation Dinner will be held on Saturday, November 3rd at the Sheraton in West Des Moines from 6:00 - 9:00 PM. The keynote speaker will be Carl Chinnery, a polio survivor and Past District Governor of District 6040. We will join in Rotary Fellowship and "Be the Inspiration" through the Rotary Foundation! Registration will open on October 1st. |
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A few years ago the club acquired about 25,000 small solar powered calculators from past District Governor John Ockenfelds. These calculators were destined to be trashed if Gary Welch had not said our club would take them. For the past 3 years, we have been giving a calculator with each dictionary that we distributed annually to 4th graders. A few of the calculators found there way to Cozumel with Dean Lange and others some have been donated to churches for mission trips to Africa but we still have over 14,000 in storage in a warehouse being provided by CJM Financial. The club has now been contacted by a representative of Samaritan's Purse about our club donating some or all of the remaining calculators to their organization. Samaritan's Purse is a nondenominational Christian organization that provides spiritual and physical aid to victims of war, natural disasters, disease, famine, poverty, and persecution in more than 100 countries. They are headquartered in Boone North Carolina with affiliate offices in Canada, the United kingdom, Germany, and Australia as well as field offices in 16 developing countries. Their President and CEO is Franklin Graham, son of Billy Graham. Samaritan's Purse has a project, Operation Christmas Child, that collects gift wrapped shoeboxes filled with gifts such as school supplies, hygiene items, and fun toys and delivers them to children in need around the world. For many of these children the gift filled shoebox is the first gift they have ever received. We believe a small solar powered calculator will make a great addition to the gifts in the shoeboxes. At their September meeting, the Board for the Rotary Club of Ankeny agreed to donate all remaining calculators to this project. A local volunteer from Operation Christmas Child will be the speaker at our noon meeting on September 25th to provide us with more information regarding this project. |
Former Iowa Hawkeye quarterback Chuck Long is scheduled to speak to the noon Rotary Club of Ankeny on October 9th. Chuck is a member of the College Football Hall of Fame and played professionally in the NFL for the Detroit Lions and Los Angles Rams. After his professional career, he served as an assistant coach at Iowa and Oklahoma and head football coach at San Diego State. Long is the CEO and Executive Director of the Iowa Sports Foundation, the organization that runs the Iowa Games, the Senior Games and the Live Healthy Iowa challenge. Chuck will be talking about his recently published biography “Destined for Greatness – The Story of Chuck Long and Resurgence of Iowa Hawkeyes Football.” It relives his life and career as one of the Hawkeyes' greatest players and the resurgence of Iowa football under Coach Hayden Fry. The book also includes perspectives from Fry, Kirk Ferentz, Hap Peterson, Mark Vlasic and Jonathan Hayes and their reflections on a variety of topics including the farm depression that impacted Iowa in the 1980s. Chuck plans to share his memories of taking a snap in a record five college bowl games, claiming a last-second win over No. 2 Michigan in 1985, finishing runner-up to Bo Jackson for the 1985 Heisman Trophy and being selected in the first round of the 1986 NFL Draft by the Detroit Lions. This would be a great opportunity to invite a guest and prospective new members to attend a Rotary meeting!! |
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At their meeting on September 13th, the Board approved a donation to Meals From the Heartland in the amount of $100. This donation is to help pay for the cost of the food ingredients, packaging, and transportation costs for the meals the Evening club packaged on August 23rd. That evening they packaged 756 bags. Each bag will provide 6 meals which equals a total of 4,536 meals packaged by Rotarians and guests.. The meals that are packaged contains rice, soy protein, minerals, and dried vegetables including carrots, onions, tomatoes, celery, cabbage, and bell peppers. The packages are distributed globally, most commonly to orphanages and schools. Oftentimes, children in developing areas will only eat one meal a day and when these meals are distributed at schools it ensures they get nutrition and an education. The cost of each package is $1.20 which equals $.20 per meal. A total of 3,626,208 meals were packaged during the 4-day period of Meals From the Heartlands 11th annual hunger fight. |
The Rotary Club of Ankeny has distributed dictionaries to Ankeny 4th graders in each of the past 12 years. This has amounted to a total of 9,912 dictionaries. This service project has been one of the club's most popular activities with great participation from members to help facilitate the distribution and the dictionaries have always been well received by the students and their teachers. However, we now understand each Ankeny 4th and 5th grader has received a Chromebook which would mean the dictionaries would be used very little. The Board has, therefore, decided to discontinue distributing dictionaries to Ankeny 4th graders. |
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Lowell Vine took the opportunity to attend the Estes Valley Sunrise Rotary Club in Estes Park, Colorado while traveling recently. On September 1st, he presented a banner that club gave him in exchange for a banner from the Rotary Club of Ankeny. Our club has a supply of banners that are available for any member to take when they are traveling and planning to attend a meeting of another Rotary Club. Just ask Nate or Ben for a banner before you leave and they will get one for you. |
During the meeting on September 4th, President Ben Digmann named Carmen Davis the "Rotarian of the Month" for September. This was in recognition of her coordinating the volunteers for the parade set up at Summerfest. |
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The Rotary Foundation has a unique funding cycle that utilizes contributions for programs three years after they are received. The three-year cycle gives districts time for program planning and participant selection, and allows The Rotary Foundation to invest the contributions. The earnings from those investments help pay the Foundation's administration, program operations, and fund development costs. At the end of the three year period - say in 2021-22, 1/2 of district's contribution made in Rotary year 2018-19 is returned to the district for district projects while the other half is placed in the World Fund which is used to match project expenses and support the fight to eradicate polio. This approach of using donations wisely has won a four star rating from Charity Navigator for many years. Please consider supporting The Rotary Foundation now and get involved in planning future projects. Thank you. |
Members of the Evening Club, along with some guests, participated in the packaging of meals for Meals from the Heartland at HyVee Hall on August 30th. A total of 21 cases, 756 meals were packed during their 2-hour shift.  |
The Board has approved a request from The Bridges at Ankeny to add Kristina Baker and Brodey Hanson as Secondary Designees to their corporate membership in the Rotary Club of Ankeny. The original Secondary Designees are no longer employees of The Bridges and have terminated as members of Rotary. Doug Johnson will continue as the Primary Designee. Kristina is the Community Relations Director and Brodey is the Administrator. Comments regarding Kristina and Brodey's proposed membership may be forwarded to any Board Member. |
About one year ago the Rotary Club of Ankeny agreed to participate with other Rotary Clubs in a Rotary Global Grant for the Blessman International. The grant will fund a project called "Teach a Man to Fish". A total of $10,000 was committed with $4,00 being disbursed last year and $2,000 disbursed this year and the next two years. Dr. James Blessman, founder of Blessman International was the guest speaker at the noon meeting on August 28th and provided an update on this project and other activities of Blessman Ministries in South Africa. He will also be the speaker for the evening club on September 25th. |
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The September Board meeting for the Rotary Club of Ankeny will be: When: Thursday, September 13th All members are welcome and it counts as a make-up! |
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The following Ankeny Rotarians will celebrate birthdays in September: 7th - Teri Crist 7th - Tom Friedman 7th - Mark Martin 8th - Kent Patterson 9th - Jacquelyn Duke 13th - Adam Boeding 16th - Todd Wehr 20th - Kevin Brooks 20th - Lewis Todtz 25th - Jim Hudson |
Vicki Engh Executive Director for the New Horizon Adult Day Center was attended the noon meeting of the Rotary Club of Ankeny and accepted a check from the club for a Sponsorship to the annul golf fundraiser in the amount of $1,000. |
President Digmann named Tom Friedman "Member of the Month" for August 2018. This is in recognition of all the work he did to organize and complete the golf ball drop during Summerfest. This project resulted in $5,315 being raised to benefit the Ankeny Service Center and the Rotary Club of Ankeny. |
Jeff Manger was a member of the Rotary Club of Ankeny from 2004 to 2009 and then transferred his membership to the Rotary Club of Des Moines when he had difficulty attending our noon meetings. Has now transferred his membership back to the Rotary CLub of Ankeny and plans to attend the Evening meetings. Acting President Steve Wieneke inducted Jeff into the club during their meeting on August 21st. Jeff is a Consulting Engineer with Terracon of Des Moines. |
Two new exchange student from Kopan, Mexico arrived in Ankeny on August 15th and attended their first Rotary meeting on August 21st. They are Jesus Esteban Rojas and Sorio Portillo Haaks. |
The Board has approved an application for membership to the Evening Rotary Club of Ankeny from Jeff Manger. Jeff was a member of the Rotary Club of Ankeny from 2004 to 2009 and then transferred his membership to the Rotary Club of Des Moines when he had difficulty attending our noon meetings. He will now be transferring his membership to our Evening Club. Jeff is a Consulting Engineer with Terracon of Des Moines. Comments regarding Jeff's proposed membership may be forwarded to any Board Member. |
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The following letter has been received from Vicki Engh, Executive Director of the New Horizon Adult Day Center: "Dear Rotary Club Members, New Horizon Adult Day Center would like to thank the Rotary Club for once again blessing us at our Sixth Annual Golf Outing Fundraiser. We are blessed to have you as friends, and appreciate your $1,000 Sponsorship for our event. The outing was a great success. People mentioned how much fun they had with the "just for fun" holes. The weather was perfect this year, and one player even got a "Hole In One"! Because of generous donors like you, we raised over $11,000, which will be put toward furnishings, as well as costs that are not covered any other way. The participants of New Horizon Adult Day Center are just like you and me. with a need for socialization and friendship. They often feel disconnected from their community due to the challenges they face physically and/or cognitively. The atmosphere at our Center is family-like, compassionate, comfortable and caring, providing activities that are therapeutic, as well as fun. Thank you for your continued support of our program, which strives to help families keep their loved ones at home and as independent as possible. God Bless." |
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The kids in attendance at the Rotary family picnic had a good time playing some fun games. These included Jenga, water balloon toss and an egg race. There were even some bigger kids that participated.    |
Despite some light showers, about 50 Rotarians and guests attended the 5th annual Ankeny Rotary Family picnic at Sunrise park in Ankeny. Thank you to Steve Wieneke and Kristofer Orth for purchasing and grilling the meat. Also thank you to Gary Welch for bringing some extra tables and Jacquelyn Duke and Kathy Sibbel for providing some games for the kids. .JPG) |
The Club has been notified of approval of two District 6000 Community Service Grants. They are: Ankeny Library Electronic Equipment - $2,608.23 - These funds will purchase a virtual reality processor, a laptop cart with five laptop computers for use in classrooms for children as part of the Hatch program. The Hatch program is a library program for students to utilize the library for various education uses such as CAD drawings for redesigning buildings, bridges, digital sewing machines, creation of videos using a green screen, and other uses. Likewise, the equipment will allow after school hours use for students who are unable to access a computer or a network at home. Also, the mobility and networking of the equipment allows home bound citizens of the community the chance to access the library resources as well as th 3-D capabilities of the virtual reality processor. Ankeny Market Pavilion Benches and Bike Rack - $2,391.77 - The purpose of this is to fund the purchase of additional benches and another bike rack for the Ankeny Market Pavilion. This will allow participants at the Ankeny Farmers Market and riders along the High Trestle Trail a place of respite, especially elderly attendees of the market and young families along the trail. The Rotary Club of Ankeny will be donating a total of $5,000 towards these two projects to match the funds being provided by the grants. |
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Ricardo Roman was shopping with his wife at a department store in Chile in 2012 when a women in her early 20's approached him. He didn't recognize her for two good reasons, he had last seen her more than a decade earlier and her smile had changed drastically! Roman, a member of the Rotary Club of Renaca, Chile, is the national coordinator of a program that has helped thousands of children in Chile with cleft lips, palates, and other birth defects, including the stranger who now wanted to give Roman a hug. She told me, "This is my Rotarian smile." Roman recalls, his voice full of emotion, "It was a very gratifying moment." Since 1993 Rotarians in Chile and the United States have teamed up to provide life-altering reconstructive surgeries. The project was started by California Rotarians and has evolved into a nonprofit organization that has since sent teams to 26 countries. This is another example of Rotary's People of Action and how Rotarian's ability to give works! Thank you. |
During its meeting on August 9th, the Board of Directors for the Rotary Club of Ankeny approved two donation requests. They were: Project Fresh Start - $2,500 - These funds will be used by Project Fresh Start in Ankeny to purchase snow pants and warm coats for children in need in Ankeny. The club has made a similar donation in each of the past 4 years. Terrace Elementary Library - $350 - The Evening Club has been donating a book in the name of their speakers to the Terrace Elementary Library for the past three years. This donation will allow them to continue this practice for at least the next year. |
Sushil Kumar Gupta, of the Rotary Club of Delhi Midwest, Delhi, India is the selection of the Nominating Committee for President of Rotary International for 2020-2021. He will be declared the president-nominee on October 1st if no challenging candidates have been suggested. Gupta says he wants to increase Rotary's humanitarian impact as well as the diversity of its membership. |
Gary and Colleen Welch recently returned from a trip to Italy to visit with Silvia Pellegrino and her family. Silvia was a Rotary Exchange Student to Ankeny in 2013-2014. While in Italy, they visited Silvia's home club of Ragusa Hybla Heraea on the island of Sicily and exchanged banners with them. Gary presented the banner he received from Ragusa to the noon club on July 17th and then presented it to the evening club on July 31st. |
Past District Governor Chris Knapp is the Chairman of District 6000's Foundation Committee and plans to visit every club in the District during this year to talk about the Foundation. He and his wife, Vernette, made their official visit to the Evening Rotary Club of Ankeny on July 31st. He plans to also attend the noon club to talk about the Foundation on November 13th. |
The fifth annual Rotary Club of Ankeny fall family picnic will be held on Tuesday, August 14, 2018 at the shelter in Sunrise Park, 506 SE Peterson in Ankeny. A social hour will begin at 5:30 PM and we will plan to eat about 6:30. The meat, hamburgers and hot dogs, and paper plates, napkins, and plastic silverware will be provided by the club. Everyone should plan to bring their own beverage and a salad, side dish or dessert to share. There will be games for kids provided. The other service clubs in Ankeny and RYLA students and their families have also been invited to attend. Both the noon and evening Rotary meetings are canceled for that day, August 14th, and all members are encouraged to attend the picnic and bring all family members, guests and prospective mew members. |
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The golf ball drop at Summerfest was held on July 15th. The winners with the first balls in the hole or closest to the pin were: 1st Place - $1,000 - Julie Ann Cochran, sold by Mary Cochran 2nd Place - $375 - Gerald Freetly, sold by Tom Freidman 3rd Place - $250 - Shawn Rourick, sold by Tom Friedman 4th Place - $125 - Adam Gudenkauf, sold by Kristofer Orth A total of 545 balls were sold which will result in a net income of $5,314.41 to be split 60%-40% between the Ankeny Service Center, $3,188.71 and the Rotary Club of Ankeny, $2,125.80. Thank you to Sterns Home Loans and Steve SchraderBachar for donating $2,000 for the Prize money. |
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CJM Financial added Brian Tiernan as a Secondary Designee to its corporate membership in the Rotary Club of Ankeny. Brian was inducted during the noon meeting on July 17th. Welcome Brian! |
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The August Board meeting for the Rotary Club of Ankeny will be: When: Thursday, August 9th All members are welcome and it counts as a make-up! |
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The following Ankeny Rotarians will celebrate birthdays in August: 5th - Jess Reynolds 6th - Renee Murphy 12th - Dale Port 16th - Mark Land 16th - Pat Timmons 18th - Gary Welch 28th - Ben Digmann |
The Rotary Club of Ankeny received a $500 donation for volunteering again this year at Ankeny Chamber's Summerfest Grand Parade. This marks the 24th year the Rotary Club of Ankeny has been a key partner in bringing the parade to the city. Each year, approximately 30 Rotarians arrive by 6:00 AM on parade day to check in, organize, and release floats on to the two-mile parade route. Each year, more than 18,000 residents and their guests gather to watch the parade. Thank you to Carmen Davis and Mark Densmore for co-chairing the parade committee and to all the Rotarians that volunteered. |
Reminder – The noon meeting for the Rotary Club of Ankeny, on July 17th, will be at the offices of the Iowa Soybean Association, 1255 SW Prairie Trail Parkway. You will not want to miss this meeting. We will be joined by 10-12 farmers who will present a panel discussion on the soybean industry in Iowa and the effects of the current political issues. Lunch will be catered by HyVee. Their parking lot and main entrance is on the south side of their building. There should be adequate parking, but if their lot is full you may park anywhere along the curbs in their lot or on the street. |
During its meeting on July 12th, the Board approved a donation request from the New Horizon Adult Day Center. The request is for $1,000 to be an "Event Sponsor" for their annual golf outing fundraiser. |
On June 12th, the Evening Rotary Club conducted a food drive. A total of 265 pounds of non-perishable items were collected and $40 in cash. The items collected were then donated to the Holy Trinity Lutheran Church for their food pantry. The following note was received from the church. "To Rotary Club - Thank you so much very much for your donation of food to our food pantry. We are able to help many people through your kindness. Marie Witt, Coordinator, Holy Trinity Lutheran Church" |
On July 10th, new District Governor Tom Norak and his wife Carol made their official visit to the Rotary Club of Ankeny. Prior to the noon meeting, they met with the Board and had a good discussion regarding the status of the Rotary Club of Ankeny and ways District 6000 can provide better support to our club. While visiting with the entire membership, he issued a challenge for every member to invite at least one guest to a meeting sometime during the 2018-2019 Rotary year. He also advised us he would like to put emphasis on literacy, child abuse, and polio prevention during his term as district governor. Tom & Carol will be visiting the evening club on October 30th. |
Past President, Sally Schroeder, was named "Rotarian of the Month" for July by President Ben Digmann. This was in recognition of the great job she did as president of the club for the past year. Thank you Sally. |
Kathy and Rick Sibbel and Nate and Annette Burnham represented the Rotary Club of Ankeny at the Rotary International Convention in Toronto June 23-27. They were just 4 of 25,262 people from 125 countries that registered for the convention. Kathy and Nate look forward to making a presentation to the club regarding their observations and experiences during the convention. |
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The Rotary Foundation was founded by Arch Klumph in 1916 and left us with these words: "The Rotary Foundation is not to build monuments of brick and stone. If we work upon marble, it will perish; if we work on brass, time will efface it; if we rear temples they will crumble into dust; but if we work upon immortal minds, if we imbue them with the full meaning of the spirit of Rotary... we are engraving on those tablets something that will brighten eternity. Your contribution to The Rotary Foundation will make this happen. Thank you. |
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What does The Rotary Foundation do with its money? It spends its charitable contributions on multiple programs - from the eradication of polio, to scholarships, vocational training teams, Rotary Peace Centers, and humanitarian projects. The funds are used for programs and projects about which Rotarians fell passionate. With a four-star rating by Charity Navigator for ten years in a row and over 1.2 million Rotarians over-seeing the funds at a grassroots level, its funds are in amazing hands doing amazing work in our communities and abroad. Your contributions enable this to happen. Thank you! |
.JPG) Steve SchraderBachar, the Foundation Chair for the Rotary Club of Ankeny, gave an update on the Rotary Foundation and then recognized 22 individuals for becoming new Paul Harris Fellows and 12 more for achieving the next Paul Harris level. He stated members of the Rotary Club of Ankeny donated $12,780 to the annual fund and $5,100 to PolioPlus for a total of $17,880 to the Rotary Foundation during the 2017-2018 year. This was $210.35 per active member. The total contributions for the Rotary Club of Ankeny since it was chartered in 1973 is now $252,025 to the annual fund and $50,930 to PolioPlus for a grand total of $302,9553 by the Rotary Club of Ankeny to the Rotary Foundation since the club was chartered in 1973. Also, the club now has 78 Paul Harris Fellows. Steve also introduced the following new Paul Harris Fellows and members that achieved the next level: New Paul Harris Fellows - Angie Bright, Travis Carlton, Carmen Davis, Mark Densmore, Ben Digmann, Jacquelyn Duke, Jim Foreman, Eric Hockenberry, Bruce Kimpston, Andrew Larson, Art Moeller, Renee Murphy, Luke Nelson, Kent Patterson, Scott Port, Raj Reddy, Jody Savage, William Schroeder, Sara Thompson, Lewis Todtz, Lowell Vine, & Kraig Vry Paul Harris Fellow +1 - Damon Miller, Kristofer Orth, & Jim Ramsey Paul Harris Fellow +2 - Doug Beech, Dave Mercer, Mark Martin, Terry Peter, & Todd Wehr Paul Harris Fellow +4 - Jim Gocke Paul Harris Fellow +6 - Sally Schroeder Paul Harris Fellow +7 - Steve SchraderBachar Paul Hariss Fellow +8 - Nate Burnham Also, thank you to Kevin Brooks, Nate Burnham, Teri Crist, Terry Peter, Dale Port, Pat Timmons, Sally Schroeder, Zane Smith, and Julie Todtz for donating recognition points to make some of these Paul Harris presentations possible. |
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Twenty-seven members of the Rotary Club of Ankeny were recognized during the annual meeting for achieving perfect attendance during the 2015-2016 year. They were: |
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The July Board meeting for the Rotary Club of Ankeny will be: When: Thursday, July 12th All members are welcome and it counts as a make-up! |
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During the Board meeting on May 12, 2011, Doug Beech requested ideas for a major for the Rotary Club of Ankeny to participate in. The idea of the Ankeny Market Pavilion was presented to the club in October, 2011 and initial plans were drawn up in early 2012. Finally after 6 years of planning, fundraising and construction, the dedication and ribbon cutting for this $2.4 million project was held on June 14, 2018. Terry thanked his committee, Doug Beech, Damon Miller, Dave Mercer, Mark Martin, and Todd Wehr for their dedication and hard word for the past seven years. Terry also announced the club had donated 1,000 Paul Harris recognition points to each of the committee members in appreciation of the work on this project. This results in Damon Miller becoming a Paul Harris Fellow plus one and Doug Beech, Dave Mercer, Mark Martin, Terry Peter, and Todd Wehr becoming a Paul Harris Fellow plus two. |
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Incoming President Ben Digmann, presented President Sally Schroeder with a golden gavel in appreciation of her leadership during the past year. Sally had four major goals during her term as president. They were: Good job Sally!! It was a fun and productive year under your leadership!! .JPG) .JPG) |
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Kristopher Orth has served as the acting president of the Evening Rotary Club of Ankeny since it was formed in November, 2012. In recognition of more than six years of service, Steve Wieneke, presented Kristofer with a golden gavel at the annual meeting on July 19th. Thank you for your service, Kristofer. Steve plans to assume the position of acting president for the evening club for the 2018-2019 year. |
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The Rotary Club of Ankeny will again be the primary sponsor for the golf ball drop at Ankeny Summerfest. At sunset on Sunday night, July 15th, just outside the Leisure Garden, watch hundreds of golf balls drop from over six stories high in an attempt to become the big winner. First ball in or closest to the hole wins $1,000! Second ball in or closest wins $375, third ball in or closest wins $250 and the fourth ball in or closest wins $125. Tickets are $10 each. Sixty percent of the net proceeds from ticket sales will be donated to the Ankeny Service Center. Sterns Home Loans has agreed to donate the prize money! Thank you Steve SchraderBachar. Plus every ticket has a coupon for a free mini pizza from Leaning Tower of Pizza and $10 off an oil change at Christian Brothers! - A savings of $19.00 for a $10.00 ticket!! Our goal is to sell 1,000 tickets. Contact Tom Friedman, 515-238-4005 if you need tickets. All proceeds from ticket sales should be turned into Tom at First National Bank, 1205 N. Ankeny Blvd. |
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Jim Ramsey was introduced as the "Rotarian of the Year" for the Rotary Club of Ankeny for 2018 during the annual meeting on June 19th. The 2017 Rotarian of the Year, Terry Peter, made the introduction. Jim has been a member of the club for 9 years and has had perfect attendance for the past 6 years. He has also been the club treasurer since January 2011. During that time he has attended approximately 80 Board meetings, prepared over 100 monthly financial reports, 7 annual financial reports, written hundreds of checks and devoted hundreds of volunteer hours to Rotary. Thank you and congratulations Jim!   |
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Ryan Bach the 2017 New Member of the year had the privilege of introducing Jacquelyn Duke as the "2018 New Member of the Year". Jacquelyn has had perfect attendance since joining the evening club in March, 2017. She has been active in numerous service projects and she and her husband Jason hosted a Rotary Exchange student during the first semester of the 2017-2018 school year. Jacquelyn was also made a Paul Harris Fellow by the club in recognition of her service the past year. She truly demonstrated "Service Above Self" during her first year as a Rotarian. Thank you and congratulations Jacquelyn!! |
The following note was received from Diane Green, John Lundstrum's daughter: Dear Rotary Club of Ankeny, Thank you for the lovely Schefflera Plant and your thoughts at John Lundstrum's memorial. I know how much my dad enjoyed being a part of the Rotary Club and it would have meant a lot to him knowing you were thinking of his family during this difficult time. |
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The following Ankeny Rotarians will celebrate birthdays in July: 2nd - Pat Stilwill 3rd - Brad Botos 5th - Doug Johnson 9th - Jim Ramsey 19th - Jason Gassmann 20th - Angi Bright 22nd - Gerry Bair 23rd - Todd Eipperle |
 The Rotary Club of Ankeny will not be meeting on Tuesday, July 3rd. Have a great holiday!! |
The Summerfest parade is one of the greatest annual events Ankeny has to offer for its citizens and those from surrounding communities and Rotarians have assisted with the set up for the parade for the past several years. We will meet in the parking lot of Northview Middle School, the old high school at 6:00 AM (a few volunteers are needed at 5:45 AM) on the morning of the parade, Saturday July 14th. Coffee and donuts will be provided. More volunteers are needed. If you have not signed up yet and are available, please contact Carmen Davis, cdavis@bank-northwest.com or Mark Densmore, mark@densmoreis.com. |
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The 2018 annual meeting and awards banquet for the Rotary Club of Ankeny will be held on the evening of June 19th at the Ankeny Golf & Country Club. For those who have registered, the evening will begin at 5:30 with a social hour including drinks and appetizers and the meal will be served at 6:30. The meeting will begin at approximately 7:00 PM and will include several Paul Harris presentations, perfect attendance awards, the naming of the "New Member of the Year" and "Rotarian of the Year" and the passing of the gavel to next year's president. Due to the annual meeting, the club's regular noon meeting is cancelled. |
During the evening of June 5th, the Evening club completed a food drive to benefit the Holy Trinity Lutheran Church's food bank. In about an hour and half, the drive netted 265 pounds of food and paper products and $40 in cash. |
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The formal dedication and ribbon cutting for the Ankeny Market Pavilion and Wade Franck Plaza was held on June 15th. The ceremony started with comments from Mayor Gary Lorenz. Rotarian Terry Peter then talked about the timeline from the origination of the idea for a trailhead in 2011 to the fundraising and finally the construction. There remains some landscaping to be completed and assuming a Rotary grant is approved, more benches will be added. .JPG)    |
The Board has approved an application for membership to the Rotary Club of Ankeny from Brian Tiernan. Brian is being proposed by Trent and Renee Murphy to be a Secondary Member for current corporate Rotary member CJM Financial. Comments regarding Brian's proposed membership may be forwarded to any Board Member. |
The FFA Enrichment Center has been reserved for April 13, 2019 for the next fundraiser for the Rotary Club of Ankeny. The Board anticipates moving the date from February to April will reduce possible conflicts with basketball games, spring break travel plans, and adverse weather. It will also allow for more time after the holidays to sell tickets and obtain auction items. Put this date on your calendar and plan to attend. |
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Due to a conflict at the Ankeny Golf & Country Club, the noon meeting for the Rotary Club of Ankeny on July 17th will be held at the Iowa Soybean Association offices at 1255 SW Prairie Trail Parkway. Our speaker will be Aaron Putze, Director of Communications and External Relations and Kelly Visser, Communications Specialist and lead of the ISA's Iowa Food & Family Project. |
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Rotary's commitment to eradicating Polio worldwide won Best Nonprofit Act in the Hero Awards of the One Billion Acts of Peace campaign, an international global citizens' movement to tackle the world's most important issues. The campaign is an initiative of peace Jam Foundation and is led by 14 Nobel Peace laureates, including the Dalai Lama, Desmond Tutu, and Rigoberta Mencu tum, with the ambitious goal of inspiring a billion acts of peace by 2020. Each year the campaign picks two finalists in each of six categories for their work to make a measurable impact in one of the 10 areas considered most important by the Nobel laureates. Winners are chosen by people from around the world. Rotary and Mercy Corps were the two finalists in the Best Nonprofit Act category. Rotary and the five other winners will be recognized at a ceremony in June in Monaco. Betty Williams, who won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1977 for her advocacy for peace in Northern Ireland will present the award. We all should be proud to be a Rotarian! You are the people of action and make a difference in the world. Thank you. |
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Two more thank yous have been received from the recipients of the Rotary Dollars For Scholars scholarships. They read as follows: "Thank you for granting me this scholarship. With it, I intend to pursue architecture in the college of design at Iowa State University. As this is a 5-year program, your contributions have benefited me greatly as a student in need of financial aid. I am very grateful for this opportunity to minimize my cost of attendance which will allow me to focus less on working a job to pay for my education and focus more on my actual studies. As I begin my journey at Iowa State, I will continue to work diligently, if not more so, than I did in high school to achieve my goal as a future architect. I will make sure to use this scholarship you have granted me to its greatest potential. Thank you for taking some of the financial burden off of my shoulders." Nicolette Land "I am writing to thank you all for your generosity in awarding me the Rotary Club of Ankeny Scholarship. As a student of Ankeny High School, I have worked hard these past few years to make sure that I leave a good impression on my teachers and fellow students. I have been involved with Rotary in a few different ways, the most significant of which being my exchange to Italy with Rotary's commitment to its purpose; to better the community. Next year I plan to study at the University of Iowa. I am interested in later attending law school, specifically to learn more about international and immigration law. I look forward to visiting with you all again about my studies and how I can further utilize my talents to better my community. I hope to meet you all at our Senior Spotlight Night Ceremony!" Sincerely, Rachel Leon |
On May 22nd, 5 of the 12 students the Rotary Club of Ankeny will be sending to RYLA in 2018 received their certificates indicating they were RYLA scholarship winners. During the meeting on June 5th, the other 7 students received their certificates. These seven students were Christopher Martin, Marie Hanoire, Haley Grubb, Claudio Shachez, Elise Wilson, Andrea Rodriguez, and Chloe Peck. The 2018 RYLA will be held July 15-20 at Grinnell College. |
President Sally Schroeder named Del Mohler "Rotarian of the Month" for June during the June 5th meeting. This is in recognition of all he does for the club including saying a prayer each week. He also files the tax return for the club each year and participates in several service projects. |
A ribbon cutting ceremony to celebrate the completion of construction of the Ankeny Market & Pavilion, AMP, will be held at 3:PM on June 15, 2018 at the Elwell Family Park at Uptown, 715 W. First St. Everyone is invited to attend to help celebrate this great addition to Ankeny!! |
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The following note was received from Mary Jean Cochran: Dear Rotarians: I appreciate the kindness shown with sympathy cards, phone calls, a beautiful plant, and most of all, your support during the loss of my 91-year old mother. She was an amazing lady who lived independently in her own home until her recent illness. Thank you so much for your thoughtfulness. |
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Rotary International and The Rotary Foundation are separate legal entities that comply with the laws and accounting standards of the countries in which they operate. Philosophically and practically, however, they function as one organization. As a global organization that operates in almost every country of the world and in 29 currencies, Rotary takes stewardship of its funds very seriously. Stewardship begins as funds are received around the world through its prudent investment and continues as funds are spent to provide life-changing and sustainable grants, and programs and services for members. You as a Rotary member support Rotary International with your dues, and the Rotary Foundation through your voluntary contributions. We Rotarians are passionate about making positive, lasting changes at home and abroad. Clubs and districts direct the funds provided by the Foundation into grants that serve humanity. Rotary is well positioned to remain the world's foremost membership and service organization while continuing to serve members. Be proud to be a Rotarian. |
Hat's off to you! Thank you for being a part of my life the past year. I've enjoyed being the president and had a lot of fun with projects, events and even a few songs. We gained new members, conducted a survey and had Rotary minutes. Facebook was a leap for us and the publicity was enhanced by reaching out to other service clubs when we had out first "Showcase". It was wonderful to have so many members who said yes to being a part of or chairing a committee. New members gained experience and were able to witness service in action. Hats off to the more seasoned Rotarians for reaching out to the new members. I'm looking forward to the annual meeting where many members will become Paul Harris Fellows. There will also be a recap of the year's accomplishments. Please attend for our last hurrah and our welcome to Ben Digmann as the gavel is passed to him. My hat is off to you, Ben! I hope you have as much fun as I did! |
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The 2018 annual meeting and awards banquet for the Rotary Club of Ankeny will be held on the evening of June 19th at the Ankeny Golf & Country Club. There will not be any golf this year. The evening will begin at 5:30 with a social hour including drinks and appetizers and the meal will be served at 6:30. The charge will be $15 per person with the club paying the balance of the cost. The meeting will begin at approximately 7:00 PM and will include several Paul Harris presentations, perfect attendance awards, the naming of the "New Member of the Year" and "Rotarian of the Year" and the passing of the gavel to next year's president. Plan to attend and celebrate all the accomplishments for the club during the past year. Register by responding to the email invitation you should have received, go to our web site and click on the event, or contact Tim Cox or Nate Burnham. When registering, please indicate your dinner choice of filet, salmon, or vegetarian lasagna. |
The Rotary Club of Ankeny will be sending 12 students to RYLA in 2018. During the meeting on May 22nd,five of these students were presented with certificate acknowledging that they were RYLA scholarship winners. The students in attendance were Ella Hawkins, Stan Renaud, Katelin Meier, and Connor Grau. The other RYLA students plan to attend the June 5th meeting to receive their certificates. |
The Rotary Club of Ankeny will be one of the first clubs District Governor Tom Norak and his wife Carol will make their official visit to in 2018-2019. They will visit the noon club on July 10, 2018. Tom will be meeting with the Board at 10:30 prior to the noon meeting and then address the entire club during the regular meeting time. Mark your calendar and plan to attend. Tom's official visit to the "Evening" club will be October 30, 2018. |
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Jim Foreman won the $250 pot at the meeting on May 8th. Jim was presented a check for this winnings the next week, May 15th. Upon receiving the check, Jim announced hw would in turn donate $50 to the Rotary Foundation and $200 to the On With Life Foundation. Congratulations and thank you Jim! |
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The June board meeting for the Rotary Club of Ankeny will be: When: Thursday, June 14th All members are welcome and it counts as a make-up! |
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The following thank you letters were received from Meredith Long and Eva Long. Meredith and Eva are twin sisters and both attended RYLA in 2017. "I feel so honored to have received the Rotary Club of Ankeny Scholarship. I am so grateful for everything the Ankeny Club has provided for me within the past year. I was lucky enough to be awarded with a Rotary Scholarship to attend RYLA. It had been such as impactful week of my life, and I never shy away from the chance to tell someone about how great of an experience it was for me! After RYLA, I realized that I love to be around people and I love learning new things from all kinds of people. Although I do not know what I am going to major in yet, I know that wherever I end up, interacting with many different people will be a big part of my career. I am very excited for my future at the University of Iowa and for all of the great experiences that I will have in college. I do not have specific goals for what I want to accomplish yet, but I am ready to learn more about myself as I discover my path next year. I am very thankful to have had such a great education and support system leading up to this point. Without the bonds with teachers and friends that I have made at Ankeny Centennial High School, I would not be the person I am today. By awarding me this scholarship, you have reduced my financial burden which allows me to focus more on how I will perform academically and not so much on how much money is being spent. Thank you again for your generous contribution to the betterment for my education, I fell I am now 1 step closer to discovering my passion in life. Sincerely, Meredith Long" "I am honored to have received the Rotary Club of Ankeny Scholarship. Thank you for your generous support of my education and future adventures. I am presently unsure of what I am going to study, but during my time at the University of Iowa , I will be open to ideas and paths that I have never thought about before. At Iowa I will be able to try new things and find my passion with the help of this scholarship. I have previously received a Rotary scholarship giving me that opportunity to attend RYLA, where I was able to meet friends who live in Iowa City. I know I can always go to these people for help or a familiar face. With the money that the Ankeny Rotary Club is awarding me, I will use for my college expenses. There is a great amount of stress on most college students who are unable to easily pay for their college, but with the help of organizations like the Rotary Club, those students can get a helping hand. I can definitely say that the Rotary Club has changed my life for the better, giving me an experience like RYLA, as well as awarding me with a scholarship which puts me at more ease with my college expenses. Thank you Rotarians for being truthful, fair, spreaders of goodwill, and being beneficial people who add positively and leadership to the community. I accept this $500 scholarship with pride knowing that the Rotary Club of Ankeny has provided it for me. In appreciation, Eva Long" |
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The following Ankeny Rotarians will celebrate birthdays in June: 6th - Ben Norman 14th - Sue Gibbons 17th - Dave Mercer 20th - Steve Van Oort 21st - Mike Lydon 26th - Carmen Davis 30th - Jamie Hudson |
The Board for the Rotary Club of Ankeny has agreed to continue the practice of thanking speakers by giving them a pen and a certificate stating the club would be making a donation to tha Ankeny Service Center Food voucher program in the name of the speaker. To facilitate this practice for at least another year, the club presented Kathy Sibbel with a check for the Ankeny Service Center in the amount of $750. |
Kurt Backes was inducted into the Rotary Club of Ankeny on May 22. Kurt is a Mortgaga Loan Officer with University of Iowa Commumity Credit Union. He was proposed for membership by Kent Patterson. Welcome Kurt! |
In five hours, members of the Rotary Club of Ankeny with some assistance from the Our Lady's Immaculate Heart Youth Group, collected $893.18 on behalf of Special Olympics. This was less than the $1,220 collected last year but comparable to the prior years. Donations at the North HyVee which was primarily staffed by the OLIH youth group totaled $395.68 and donations at the Prairie Trail/South HyVee totaled $497.50. A total of 50 liters of root beer and 20 tubs of ice cream were used at the two HyVees. |
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Twenty one Ankeny Rotarians assisted City of Ankeny employees in unloading cars, pickups and trailers during Ankeny Clean Up Days May 19th & 20th. The city allows the Club to accept donations which set a record of $2,369.88 and one parking token. This compares with $2,118, $1,932 and $1,953 in the previous three years. Donations during Clean-Up Days over the past nine years, since we started collecting donations, have now totaled $15,001.81. The Club will use these funds to complete part of this year's contribution to the Rotary Foundation's PolioPlus Fund. Thank you to all the Rotarians that helped and to Justin Carlson for his leadership on this project. |
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Unfortunately, due to continued light rain after heavy rain, wind, and hail Friday night, the city of Ankeny decided to cancel the "Mayors Bike Ride" on Saturday, May 12th. The evening club had received donations of bottled water and bananas and was planning to display the World Bike Relief Bike and hand out pocket calculators. |