



I am so grateful that Mason Fromm reached out to Bill Robert and his family recently.
Had Mason not connected with Bill and his son Mike, we might not have had the chance to lift Bill up, send cards, or share Rotary memories with him during what turned out to be his final days. (Mason compiled a book of the 2020 Reporter highlights for Bill).
Mason shared, "Bill Robert passed away on Sunday morning (January 17th) about 12:30. They had just moved him into hospice Friday evening, and Saturday brought another day of more pain, medications, and "fuss" that Bill didn't appreciate. However, Mike was able to share our Reporter archive with him and he said Bill shared memories about a few of our members.
I'm so glad we were able to get the book in his hands Friday and I hope Bill felt the love of his club in his final hours.
Mike said there will not be a memorial service, but I asked him to reach out if our club can be of any assistance to the family."
67 years to be committed to an organization like Rotary is admirable. We will celebrate the life of Bill Robert at our meeting today with a moment of silence. If you are not able to be with us, please take a moment to remember Bill - and if you're moved to stop by Dairy Queen - I'm sure it would make him smile if you chose to eat an ice cream cone in his memory!
Yours in Rotary,
Annie Vander Werff
President 2020-21
Read Bill's obituary and share memories here

Normally held in the fall, this year's One Rotary Summit has moved to January offering two VIRTUAL 90-minute sessions. Save these dates...
ORS is one of Rotary's best training programs that offer new ideas and best practices to help your club work on three key areas... membership, foundation, and public image.
With the President-Elect Training Seminar (PETS) in March, ORS can compliment pre-training for your incoming presidents, and president-nominees. But, any Rotarian can attend at no cost, plus no travel! So watch for registration info out soon and plan to join us for One Rotary Summit!






The people who fill the truly essential roles in society are often in short supply
By Joe Queenan Illustrations by Sébastien Thibault
From time to time, societies run low on the things — and the people — they really need. We wake up one day and realize that there are too few doctors. Or far, far, far too few nurses. Or it suddenly dawns on us that there aren’t enough teachers, engineers, or plumbers to go around. There are certainly never enough guys who work well with sheetrock.
Other professionals we have in spades. There are always more than enough landscapers, baristas, actors, masseurs, personal trainers, hairdressers, IT guys, and chefs. Nor are we ever in any real danger of running out of hedge fund managers, ballerinas, real estate agents, claims adjusters, standup comics, bartenders, aspiring singer-songwriters, or car salesmen. But the people who fill the truly essential roles in society are often in short supply.
Something like this may already be happening with Good Samaritans. From time to time, societies run desperately low on the kinds of devoted, implacable altruists who are always ready to pitch in and make the world a better place.
Monday the 21st, our last meeting of the year, we will celebrate the season with a holiday performance and presentation by the Waterloo Cedar Falls Symphony!
Please join us virtually and invite some guests! This is a perfect prelude to the holiday season. We will also spend some time reminiscing about our favorite holiday traditions, recipes, and past times.
Please wear your festive holiday hats and attire. There will be prizes!
In March, the Ugandan government moved rapidly to confront the COVID-19 pandemic, issuing a strict lockdown and closing schools before the country had experienced more than a handful of reported cases.
The measures have been credited with saving lives and limiting the spread of the virus in the country, which had recorded only 1,200 cases and five deaths in August as the continent of Africa approached a million.
Still, those measures didn’t come without a cost, including lost jobs and hardships on pregnant women unable to reach a hospital due to the travel restrictions. Reuters reported that one woman in Kampala struggled for 90 minutes to reach a hospital a mile and a half (about 2.4 km) away. Both she and the baby died. In addition, the Women’s Probono Initiative, an advocacy group, reported cases of six other women and two babies dying during the lockdown.
When the Rotary Club of Rubaga, Kampala, heard of the reports, they knew they had to act to provide a safe transport option. The club donated an ambulance to provide medical transport to residents of Kikajjo, about a 40-minute drive southwest of Kampala. Betty Mwesigwa, the club’s immediate past president, says Kikajjo has densely populated, lower-income areas.


ROME, Italy (December 4, 2020) — In the face of surging infections in Italy, Rotary and the U.S. Government, through the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), are taking action to support the country’s COVID-19 response and recovery efforts.
As part of an 18-month partnership, USAID will provide US$5 million to The Rotary Foundation – Rotary’s philanthropic arm, to support Italy’s pandemic response, prepare communities for future outbreaks and address the long-term social and economic impacts of COVID-19.

The Rotary Foundation transforms your gifts into service projects that change lives both close to home and around the world.
Since it was founded more than 100 years ago, the Foundation has spent more than $4 billion on life-changing, sustainable projects.
With your help, we can make lives better in your community and around the world.
November Birthday | |
Hovey Brom | Nov 05 |
Jay Crisp | Nov 06 |
David Allbaugh | Nov 08 |
Luke Jensen | Nov 08 |
Donna Miller | Nov 12 |
Shannon Thies | Nov 15 |
Tavis Hall | Nov 16 |
December Birthdays | |
Frank Seng | Dec 2 |
Jim Schaefer | Dec 6 |
Steve Thorpe | Dec 6 |
Jacob Wittmayer | Dec 12 |
Randy Johnson | Dec 19 |

All equipment has been purchased and installed at the four health care centers. One of the sites, Eastern Iowa Health Care Center has seen a huge increase in patients since the August 10 Derecho that came through Cedar Rapids. Our grant was nearly completed at that time.
Please know that the Rotarians and residents of Iowa thank you for believing in this project and for helping our residents living in poverty gain a basic human right: healthcare.
I personally thank you all for an unprecedented Global Grant collaboration in the US with contributions from India and Brazil and Minnesota.
Yours in service,
Assistant Rotary Regional Foundation Coordinator District 5650, 5970 and 6000 2019-2022


Service Above Self
Waterloo, IA 50701
United States of America