Home Page | Rotary Club of Waterloo

Girl Scouts is Monday's Program

Monday, August 3rd we'll get to hear Robin Summers with the Girls Scouts (after technical problems delayed her program a couple weeks ago).

I have lived in Waterloo almost my entire life. I went through the Waterloo School system from Kindergarten through high school, graduating from West High. I have a BA in Sociology and a MA in Women’s and Gender Studies, both from the University of Northern Iowa. I have been at the Girl Scouts of Eastern Iowa & Western Illinois since August of 2015 starting out as a community outreach manager and now as the director of community outreach and development. Through my role as the director of community outreach, I oversee our council outreach programming. I started working in development less than a year ago and serve as a major gifts officer.

Rotary Makes Donation to Volunteer Center

The Waterloo Rotary Club just made another $1,000 presentation to the Volunteer Center of the Cedar Valley (VCCV).

Past Waterloo Club President and VCCV Executive Director Lauren Fink accepted the check from past president Mark Durbahn in front of the Volunteer Center on Kimball Avenue. This check will help the center to provide additional resources to recruit new volunteers due to changing volunteer pools caused by the COVID-19 crisis.

Lauren’s Thank You to our Club:

George Wyth Project Update

As part of our District Grant from the 2019 / 2020 Rotary year, we will have a work day out at the Rotary Shelter on August 17!

The committee consisting of Katelyn Tungland, Steve Finegan, Dave Lee, Annie Vander Werff, Mark Kuiper, Gene Leonhardt and James Madison have developed a plan to improve the Rotary Shelter out at George Wyth State Park. Improvements include a new grill, lighting, electrical outlets, counter top and painting. We will have a catered event out at the Rotary Shelter on Monday, August 17^th with Lori Eberhard, Park Ranger making a brief presentation. The work day will be split in to sessions. 8 – 10 Rotarians will be needed from 10:00 – 12:00 to complete the scraping, sweeping, cleaning and arranging of picnic tables. All Rotarians are welcome for the program which will be from 12:00 – 1:00 and include socializing with face mask and proper distancing, catered lunch and presentation. 8 – 10 Rotarians are needed from 1:00 to 2:00 to complete the painting, clean up and moving tables back. Look for an email to sign up for this first in-person meeting for our Rotary Club since March. As an added bonus, Rotarians that sign up for one of the work sessions will receive a free Rotary Face Mask!

How Rotary creates lifelong relationships

Hilary and Kate became best friends when they met through #Rotary. Over the course of a decade, their friendship took them to Brazil, South East Asia and Japan as they worked on projects for peace.

I am constantly in awe of the power of connection. This is what Rotary is all about. We unite in friendship to realize truthful, fair, good-willed, and beneficial outcomes in our communities and the world. For Rotary members and people like me, our lives are forever transformed by this powerful network.

I was 17 years old when Rotary became a guiding force in my life. I was a young woman hungry to see the world outside my own country. Thanks to Rotary, I was granted the opportunity to live in Brazil as a Rotary Youth Exchange Student for a year. The experience was transformative for many reasons, the foremost being the people I met along the way who continue to be central figures in my life.

Updates from President Annie

Three updates you need to know about going forward for Waterloo Downtown Rotary Club:

Pathways Receives Rotary Grant

Waterloo Rotary presents $1,000 to Pathways Behavioral Services.

Mark Durbahn presented the $1,000 check to Kimberly Costarella and Dave Becker with Pathways Behavioral Services. They will use the check to assist them as they provide mental health and addiction services for the Cedar Valley. Their services are more in demand due to the COVID-19 crisis.

August Birthdays

Time for another socially-distanced birthday greeting to all our members celebrating this month! Please reach out to these fellow Rotarians and wish them a warm and healthy birthday!

Harrison Cass	Aug 09
Michael Larson	Aug 09
Shelia Baird	Aug 10
Katelyn Tungland	Aug 15
Kathleen Braun	Aug 16
Norman Ussery	Aug 16
Gil Irey	Aug 17
David Lee	Aug 18
Jack Dusenberry	Aug 21
Michelle Weidner '03	Aug 23
Beth McCrindle	Aug 24
Mindy Hendricksen	Aug 28
Jim Seeley	Aug 30

Also - the Rotary Birthday Machine is available for check-out - just email Mason for details!

Monday's Program is Waterloo Community Playhouse

Our fellow Rotarian Norman Ussery will be giving us an update on the Waterloo Community Playhouse show season.

Recommendations for Sustainable Environmental Projects with Rotary

Rotarian Karen Kendrick-Hands answers five questions about Environmental projects with Rotary! She is the communications director for Environmental Sustainability Rotary Action Group (ESRAG)

1. How does the environment fit into Rotary’s areas of focus?

Any project in any area of focus will benefit from having environmental sustainability as one of its watchwords. It’s a lot harder to supply clean water to people if your watershed is compromised— if your river is full of industrial, human, and animal waste.

2. Why did ESRAG publish a handbook with environmental project ideas?
A lot of people say they’d like to do an environmental project, but they don’t know where to start.

3. Can you describe some of the project suggestions?
We looked to address topics that we thought were important, topics that fit well with existing areas of focus, and topics that expanded Rotary clubs’ reach into the UN Sustainable Development Goals.

4. What inspired ESRAG’s collaboration with UNEP?
Rotary and UNEP decided to work together to create a handbook for Rotary clubs that want to participate in World Environment Day, which is 5 June.

5. Are Rotarians getting more involved in environmental projects?
People interested in environmental solutions could go out and work with other groups, and many Rotarians do. But what we’re seeing is a real desire to do their environmental work within the Rotary framework.

• This story originally appeared in the July 2020 issue of The Rotarian magazine.

Black Hawk County Health Department Town Hall

A recent virtual town hall discussion educated people in our community regarding business protection. Given the recent changes in the Iowa law regarding business protection from COVID-19 liability and the current increase in reported cases of the virus, Black Hawk County Health Department team presented and responded to questions from Cedar Valley businesses.

Click link below to watch the recording.

Rotary Shelter Meeting held Last Week

A small but mighty group of Rotarians got together to discuss doing Rotary Shelter project in near future. Annie, Dave, Katelyn, Mark and Steve had a great time chatting with Lori of Iowa DNR.

Former Rotary International President Dies

Mateo Armando “M.A.T.” T. Caparas served as RI president in 1986-87 with the Rotary theme, “Rotary Brings Hope.” He was the first and only Filipino to become president of Rotary International, he was 97.

Caparas launched the worldwide anti-polio drive aimed at eradicating the deadly disease that has killed and paralyzed tens of thousands of people. The campaign has become a huge success and has drawn the strong support of Microsoft’s founder and philanthropist Bill Gates.

The Filipino socio-civic leader was instrumental in the acquisition of the One Rotary Center in Evanston, Illinois. He led the two-year fund raising campaign for the project and was able to raise $130 million, surpassing the target by $70 million. It was also during Caparas’ term that the RI board allowed membership of women in Rotary.

Grout Museum Program

Our program July 13th will be Billie Bailey sharing the latest and the greatest on the Grout Museum!

The Grout Museum District has reopened the Grout Museum of History and Science and the Sullivan Brothers Iowa Veterans Museum.

Click here to learn more...

https://www.groutmuseumdistrict.org/about/covid19.aspx

Future Programs

Check out the upcoming programs we have at Rotary!

July 20 Girl Scouting in our Area...Robin Summers

July 27 Waterloo Community Playhouse Update...Norman Ussery

Better Together

Scientists think the need to connect across generations may be baked into humans’ DNA — that grandparents, in particular grandmothers, played a critical role in our evolution. The reason women live so long beyond reproductive age, some anthropologists theorize, is that the care they provide for their daughters’ children frees up their daughters to produce more children sooner. “You can argue that older people connecting with younger people is something that goes back to the beginning of humanity,” says Marc Freedman, author of How to Live Forever: The Enduring Power of Connecting Generations.

A survey by Generations United and the Eisner Foundation — a nonprofit focused on intergenerational programs —found that 53 percent of American adults regularly spend time with few people who are much older or younger than they are, aside from family members. The figure is even higher for people ages 18 to 34, with 61 percent reporting few younger or older acquaintances. Grandparents often live hundreds of miles away from their grandchildren, and there aren’t many places to go to meet people across the age spectrum.

This is where Rotary can help.

NO MEETING JULY 6th

Good morning Fellow Rotarians,

I hope you enjoyed a fun, cool and safe holiday weekend. In observance of the holiday, we will take today off from meeting and will resume our regular meetings on Monday, July 13. Through discussion with the board, we will continue meeting online via Zoom conferencing.

Please reach out to one of your fellow Rotarians whom you have not seen at a meeting recently and invite them to join an upcoming meeting - it's easy and ... FUN!

Have a great week,

Annie

New Rotary Year Message

Begin the new Rotary year with these words of wisdom from 2020-2021 Rotary International President Holger Knaack

July Birthdays

Coronavirus can keep us from meeting in-person, but it can't take away our celebration of these fine Rotarians that have traveled around the sun AGAIN!

Rick Morris	Jul 02
Jerry Maifield	Jul 07
Jay Ginther	Jul 10
James Madison	Jul 10
Lauren Finke	Jul 17
Milton Dakovich	Jul 20
David Holm	Jul 23
Mike Broshar	Jul 26
Heather LaBonte	Jul 27
Bob Manning	Jul 30

The Rotary Birthday Machine should be available to borrow next week, email Mason if you'd like to reserve it to check the Radon levels in your house.

COVID Resources and Updates

Grow Cedar Valley shares resources for local businesses and organizations!

The Department of Labor released a new tool for employees to determine if they are eligible for benefits such as paid sick leave or expanded paid family and medical leave due to COVID-19 under the FFCRA. A tool for employers is scheduled to be released soon.

RI Director Opportunity

Contact President Annie Vander Werff if you are interested in being an RI Director!

1 July 2020

Dear Rotarians:

At the 2021 RI (Taipei) Convention, an RI director is to be elected by club members in your zone. This director will serve on the RI Board in 2022–24.

If your club wishes to submit a qualified Rotarian for consideration by the Nominating Committee for Director in your zone, the club must follow these guidelines:

The club must use the attached Official Suggestion Form.

This Official Suggestion Form must reach the nominating committee convener no later than 1 September 2020 (the address is provided on the form).
The form must also be accompanied by a written statement from a physician certifying that the suggested candidate is in good health and physically able to carry out the duties of an RI director.
The form must be signed by the candidate, indicating that he or she agrees to abide by RI's provisions against campaigning for elective position, and that he or she accepts the attached "RI Board of Directors Job Description."

RI Bylaws section 13.010. states, in part, as follows:

“Rotarians shall not campaign, canvass, or electioneer for elective position in RI, or allow any such activity, for either themselves or others.”

Sincerely,

John Hewko
General Secretary, RI

Monday, June 29 Rotary Meeting on Zoom

Join us for the last meeting of our Rotary year...and what a memorable year it ended up being! Our president-elect Annie Vander Werff is expected to ceremoniously accept the gavel from 2019-2020 president Mark Durbahn. As the world grapples with COVID-19 and finds ways to keep our businesses operating, personal connections intact, and traditions alive, Annie will need each member to support our efforts and come out of this as a stronger club. We've shown that we won't let a global pandemic stop us from fellowship, and service to our community has come in the form of weekly financial support to organizations directly impacted. Look for the good work of our club to continue as we transition to new club leaders!

2020-2021 Rotary Board

Officer Team for 2020-2021 and Board of Directors

President, Annie Vander Werff

President-Elect, E.J. Gallagher

Treasurer, Adam Schaefer

Secretary, Rich Frevert (New Board Member)

Past President, Mark Durbahn

Phil Nash, Assistant District Governor

Dave Lee

Deb Pullin-Van Auken

Heather Labonte

Vicki Mueller (New Board Member)

Holly Johnson (New Board Member)

Outgoing Board Members are Brian Aronson, Megan Kugler, Katelyn Tungland and Jaclyne Heller.

Meet President-Elect, E.J. Gallagher III

Get to know the soon-to-be President-Elect of our Rotary Club. A retired attorney and active Rotarian; Mr. Gallagher has worn many hats in the Cedar Valley community and beyond!

E.J. Gallagher III was born in Washington D.C. and came back with his Iowan parents to Waterloo in June of 1950. He graduated from Columbus High School after kindergarten at Kingsley and grades one to 8 at St. Edward’s. He got an undergraduate degree from the University of St. Thomas in St. Paul followed by a law degree from Georgetown University in Washington D.C. He was admitted to practice law in Iowa in 1974 and spent a year back in Washington D.C. working for a special Federal commission studying wiretapping law.

Summer Brings New District Governor

Meet Lowell Stoolman, Your New District Governor

Lowell is the former police chief of Rockwell City and a former member of the city’s maintenance department. He served more than 30 years on the city’s fire department and is an active member of the Rockwell City Rotary Club.

Lowell's installation celebration is scheduled for June 28, 2020, at the Twin Lakes Golf Club in Rockwell City. Register to attend.

A Message from Outgoing District Governor, Michelle Bell...

As Rotarians, we know this phrase is true: Rotary Opens Opportunities. Chosen as the 2020-2021 Rotary theme, these are words to live by for all clubs. But what does “opening opportunities” mean for individual Rotarians?

I’ve collected a few ideas I’ve observed throughout my tenure as 5970 District Governor:

Rotary Clubs in Italy

Rotary clubs in districts across Italy worked together to procure state-of-the-art equipment needed to combat the deadly coronavirus disease for 26 hospitals around the country.