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Program for May 20 - Cedar Valley Hospice

Chris Hofeldt with Cedar Valley Hospice will be talking about their 40 years in the Cedar Valley and how they’ve grown through the years. He will also discuss the services that Cedar Valley Hospice provides the community. Chris Hofeldt graduated from UNI in 2012 with a degree in Marketing and Public Relations. Since graduation Chris has worked at several non-profit organizations in the Cedar Valley.

Rotarian of the Week - Dave Holm

Years in Rotary – 1 (what was I thinking two decades ago?)

Hometown – Cedar Falls (Waterloo last 24 years)

College – Pillsbury College, Owatonna, MN

Job – Director of Development, Friendship Village

Fav Food – Farm eggs with Sriracha Sauce

Fav Movie – Lord of the Rings – all

Fave Quote – “There is a God in heaven.” (Bible – Daniel 2:28)

Fave thing about Rotary – the spirit of community service

Something unique – two: 1) I married Annie Oakley, 2) Started my business career as senior in high school under James Dutton in the accounting dept. at Santa Claus Industries, WL

Anahi Rojas Confidently Shines this Year

Posted by Bonnie Smith-Davis

Anahi’s self confident, but quietly positivity shows in her bright smile today as it always does. Her plans are made and completed one at a time. One of her first goal this year was to learn to speak English confidently . When she arrived here with her first interview, her translation app was receiving a real workout and she needed a lot of assistance from her host mom. But, not now. Anahi communicates on her own with me more clearly and understandably than some American students.

Over the 8 months of living in the Cedar Valley, she has had many adventures. In-between a full-time job as a student at West High School in Waterloo. But, she says... “ I can’t believe it is already only 28 days left here. So many friends and incredible places. So many friends. I will miss them all.”

News from District Governor Neil Fell

Greetings,

Congratulations to the following Clubs for earning the 2018-19 Governor’s Excellence Award:

Algona
Bellevue
Cedar Rapids Daybreak
Cedar Rapids Downtown
Cedar Rapids Metro North
Cedar Rapids Sunrise
Cedar Rapids West
Cedar Valley
Charles City
Dubuque
Estherville
Forest City
Fort Dodge Noon
Garner
Guttenberg
Hampton
Iowa Great Lakes
Manchester
Mason City Noon
Mason City River City Sunrise
Monticello
Mt. Vernon-Lisbon
New Hampton
Rockwell City
Spencer
Waterloo
Waverly
Webster City

Be sure to check the District's Facebook page over the next 28 days to see your Club recognized. Better yet, follow District 5970 on Facebook! Also, there is still time to earn the Governor’s Excellence Award. Here is a link to the form for completion.

Thanks to all who assisted with or attended the District Conference. It was great fun and we even learned some new things and got some new ideas! Visit District 5970’s Facebook page here and click on photos to see pictures taken by District Trainer David Drewelow at the Conference.

2019-2020 District Governor Michelle Bell

Upcoming programs

May 27th: No Meeting, Memorial Day

June 3rd: Steve Carignan with the Gallagher Bluedorn Performing Arts Center will be presenting the new shows that will be coming in the upcoming season. This program is always exciting and should highlight the great entertainment available to the Cedar Valley.

June 10th: Jessica Christensen with the Cedar Bend Humane Society will have pets in need of homes as well as discussing the services that the Humane Society provide.

June 17^th: Pending

June 24^th: Mark Oliver from Bergan KDV will be presenting on the “do’s and don’ts” of cybersecurity.

July 1^st: Norman Usery and the Waterloo Community Playhouse Preview of Beauty and the Beast.

July 8^th: No Meeting, 4^th of July.

May 13 Program - JSA Development

David Deeds from JSA joined us to review the great things that JSA has done with revitalizing downtown Waterloo including the new Anton's Garden and future projects that they are planning.

Birthday Machine Ready To Go

Thanks to Steve and Liz Thorpe, our club has a new easier-to-use Radon detector and YOU can take it home for a week. Simply press the reset button and set it in your basement or other area where you want to test fro Radon. After about 6 hours, it will display a short term reading, and after 24 hours, you'll see a long-term reading. If your long-term average is more than 4 pCi/L you should consider steps to reduce the Radon level to a safer level. The Iowa Radon Survey has indicated that Iowa has the largest percentage (or 71.6%) of homes above the US Environmental Protection Agency action level of 4 pCi/L. It is also designated by the US EPA as an entirely zone 1 state, which means that at least 50% of the homes are above US EPA's recommended action level.

Mason will bring the new detector to the meeting today, but asks that you send him an email to RSVP your week to make more birthdays in your home!

May 6 Program - University Ave

Michelle Sweeney, Project Manager for the University Avenue project in Waterloo shared details on the phases of design and construction on this major project for the City of Waterloo.

EJ's duck is a WINNER!

Waterloo Rotarian EJ Gallagher bought a duck with his District Conference registration and it turned out to be a very LUCKY DUCK. He has won 1,000 Paul Harris points for our club. Way to go, EJ!

831 Rotarians from 31 clubs in our District purchased a duck for this year’s Duck Race! The district raised a total of $4,172 for the PolioPlus fund. The three winning clubs were Waterloo, Garner and Cedar Rapids clubs.

May Birthdays

Help us celebrate all the Waterloo Rotarians born in May!

Marty Stoakes	May 3
Bob Bitter	May 5
Sue Armbrecht	May 13
Cyd McHone	May 19
Vicki Mueller	May 19
Troy Smith	May 22
Beverly Hinders Trost	May 26
Todd Wordel	May 31

Rotarian of the Week - Beth McCrindle

I’ve been an “official” Rotarian for less than ten years but have been active for over forty!

Born in East St Louis, Illinois, I grew up south of Chicago in Park Forest. It’s amazing to me that I’ve lived in Waterloo over half my life!

My undergrad was at St Olaf College in Northfield, Minnesota. I planned on law school after that but married a lawyer instead. I was close! Ha! My MA is in public speaking from UNI after starting a curriculum endorsement at Loyola of Chicago. I love school!

I’m now retired after thirty-five years as a public educator. Teaching was the right fit for me! I enjoyed every day!!

I love to cook AND eat AND travel so not surprisingly I have many favorites. Always at THE top, however, is South India’s masala dosa! Not fancy—just delicious!

Kevin would say that I’m addicted to the Hallmark Channel which isn’t far from the truth this past winter! Actual movies would be any version of Pride and Prejudice.

My favorite Bible verse is Philippians 4:6 which encourages us not to worry about anything while turning those cares over through prayer. My favorite quote is the Arabian proverb: “All sunshine maketh the desert.”

I like lots about Rotary! Especially having lunch with Kevin once a week! During his busy seasons that’s a blessing!

April 29th Program Husome Strong Foundation

Steve Husome was our guest and presented on the Husome Strong Foundation which is committed to helping the amputee community through peer support, education, advocacy and financial assistance.

Nominate Hops & Grapes Non-Profit Beneficiaries

Hops and Grapes is going to be on September 26 from 6-9 PM at The Isle!

Save the date!!!! More details to follow.

The first step on our planning process will be to nominate your favorite Nonprofit to receive funding from the Event.
Once we have the nominations the Club will vote for the 2 non-profit organizations we would like to receive a portion of the proceeds from our event.
50% - will go to Rotary projects (to be determined) 50% will be split by two nonprofits the club chooses through voting.

Qualifications: A 501c3 organization that is either 1. A member of the Rotary club or 2. Has a Rotarian that is a board member.

Process: to nominate a non-profit (or your non-profit) please write a short description, not more than a paragraph, describing the organization and its impact. It’s like an elevator pitch for the organization. Please be concise, as we will likely have several to choose from.

Deadline: please have this back to us no later than Friday, May 3rd at noon. They can be emailed to Barb Prather at bprather@northeastiowafoodbank.org or Chuck Rowe at crowe@acesiowa.com

Download the nomination form here.

Once we have accumulated the nominations, we will put together a survey for Rotarians to choose their 2 favorites from the list! It’s that simple!

April 22 - Student Scholars

One of our largest annual meetings happened April 22 as we honored the academic achievements of the area's top students.

The room was filled past capacity and we rolled out more tables to accommodate all the proud parents and supporting administrators.

Click here to see photos from this year's ceremony.

Rotarian of the Week - Kevin McCrindle

Years in Rotary: Between Cedar Falls and our club I’ve been reciting the 4-Way test for more than 40 years!

Hometown: I’ve lived in Waterloo the longest time but I always consider Milwaukee to be my hometown. It’s where the adventure all began!

College: My four years of undergrad were spent at St. Olaf College in Northfield, MN (refrain from Golden Girls comments, please!) and my Law degree is from Loyola of Chicago.

Job: Lawyering since 1975!

Food: Lots of favorites but currently at the top of my list is ahi tuna with grilled pineapple. (We’re just back from Hawaii!)

Movie(s): Going with the Charlton Heston version of Ben Hur (1959) and DeNiro’s The Mission!

Quote: “When you drink the water, remember the spring”. Chinese prob

Rotary tops: Club fellowship and the opportunity for international fellowship through makeups. My favorite make up was in Iguazu, Argentina, where I was the only English speaker at the meeting. After a few awkward minutes we did find a way to communicate through my faint recollections of high school German and French!

Something you don’t know: I actually know our incoming Rotary International President, Mark Maloney. We served on the Agriculture Committee of the American Bar Association together . . . a while ago!!

April 15th Program - North Star

Valerie Schwager from North Star Community Services shared the many great programs that North Star has and we were entertained with a preview of Shrek the Musical -their summer production.

Rotarian of the Week - Rick Morris

Years in Rotary - 42

Hometown - Waterloo

College – University of Iowa

Job - Attorney

Fave Food – My wife’s chicken and homemade noodles

Fave Movie – The Godfather, The Equalizer, John Wick, It’s a Wonderful Life, Miracle on 34^th Street

Fave quote – President John F. Kennedy’s statement to the brightest minds in America at a dinner at the White House: “This is perhaps the assembly of the most intelligence ever to gather at one time in the White House, with the exception of when Thomas Jefferson dined alone.”

Fave thing about Rotary - Contact with other community members interested in helping others.

Something unique about you – When I was a junior in law school at the University of Iowa, I was the Iowa Law School Athletic Director.

April 8 Program - WCF Symphony

Fellow Rotarian Rich Frevert was named director of the Waterloo Cedar Falls Symphony last fall, and has a goal of creating buzz about upcoming performances in an effort to get people to more concerts.

Rich returns to the WCF Symphony after serving as manager in the late 1970s. He's worked with the St Paul Chamber Orchestra, Lincoln Symphony Orchestra, and the Springfield (Mass.) Symphony Orchestra. Rich works closely with WCFSymphony Artistic Director and Conductor Jason Weinberger to develop an exciting series of concerts with a multi-media component. For example, April 13 they will present Concert: To The New World, The story of Antonín Dvořák’s journey to America and his experience living in Iowa as told by visual artist Gary Kelley.

Rotarian of the Week - Linda Laylin

Years in Rotary: I've been in Rotary for 25 years. Bernie McKinley encouraged me to join back in 1994 when we both worked for the Cedar Valley Partnership, which is now the Grow Cedar Valley.

Hometown: Waterloo. I've lived half my life in Waterloo and half in Cedar Falls.

College: University of Northern Iowa

Job: Black Hawk County Supervisor

Fave Food: Brownies (like potato chips, I never eat just one).

Fave Movie: Recent favorites include Green Book, the Upside, and Cold Pursuit.

Fave quote: As long as you're breathing, it's never too late to do some good." Maya Angelou

Fave thing about Rotary: Networking with new and old members who want to make our Community a better place.

Something unique about you: I enjoy participating in the Precieux Art Jewelers Treasure Hunts with my family. Last fall, we found 7 of the many hidden treasures. This picture is of one of our "finds" - a gold nugget. We also found two gift certificates ($50 and $100) , an opal, a red sapphire, a blue topaz, and a diamond. Thank you, Dave Cutler.

We Can Trust The Rotary Foundation

Don Meyer, District 5970 Foundation Chair

Dear Rotarians,

Saturday, March 30th, I and several others from our District Leadership Team attended a fundraising event held by the Cedar Falls Rotary Club. The proceeds will be used to fund a global grant to provide water wells in several Honduran villages. During the event, an eight year-old girl named Lyra Benjamin was honored for her charitable work to help people in need. To celebrate her First Communion, she chose to raise charitable funds instead of receiving personal gifts. Lyra raised nearly $1,800 to help victims of Hurricane Irma. The really impressive thing she and her family did was to research which charitable organizations she could trust to handle disbursement of the funds. What did her research tell her? Trust Rotary International!

Lyra gave the funds to the Cedar Falls Rotary Club to make sure the funds made their way to the disaster fund of The Rotary Foundation. We are honored and humbled by Lyra’s story. If you are inspired by her story, you are welcome to give to Rotary’s Disaster Response Fund at rotary.org/en/donate. Thank you, Lyra, for your inspiration!

OFF SITE MEETING APRIL 1ST

April 1^st: Hawkeye Community College – Rotary at the new Van G. Miller Adult Learning Center downtown.

We'll celebrate April birthdays with these Rotarians:

Barbara Prather	April 2
Linda Allen	April 4
Bill Robert	April 4
Bette Wubbena	April 4
Megan Kugler	April 14
John Berry	April 16
Duane "Lindy" Lindberg	April 16
Jack Locke	April 24
Steve Finegan	April 25
Jane Lindaman	April 25
Jeremy Kauten	April 30

TOP TEN REASONS TO ATTEND THE DISTRICT CONFERENCE

TOP TEN REASONS TO ATTEND THE ROTARY DISTRICT CONFERENCE AND ANNUAL CELEBRATION ON APRIL 26 AND 27, 2019 IN CLEAR LAKE

10. You will be reminded of Rotary’s Global impact.

9. You will regain your focus on why Rotary is important to you.

8. You will have an opportunity to network with other Rotary members in District 5970.

7. By attending breakout sessions, you will meet experts and mentors face to face and learn current strategies that are working for other clubs.

6. You will meet District Leadership and will have the opportunity to learn how they can help your club become more engaged and vibrant

5. You will have to opportunity to bid on awesome silent auction items donated by Rotary Clubs in District 5970 and the amount of your purchase will be applied to your Foundation Recognition points.

4. You will “Be The Inspiration” (2018-2019 Theme) and learn how “Rotary Connects the World” (2019-2020 Theme)

3. At the Rotary Showcase on Friday, April 26 from 6:30 p.m. to 9:00 p.m. you will learn everything you ever wanted to know about Rotary…and more!

2. You will hear great speakers on Saturday, April 27 – Rotary International Foundation Trustee Mary Beth Growney Selene, and Rotary Ambassador Wooj Byon.

AND THE NUMBER ONE REASON YOU SHOULD ATTEND THE DISTRICT CONFERENCE IN CLEAR LAKE ON APRIL 26 AND 27…

#flatpaulharris will be there!

To register, click here!

Member services help needed

If you are interested in helping out the member services desk please let Norman know. He is in need of helpers for the next several weeks. This opportunity is a great way for you to get to know you fellow Rotarians and put a face to a name! We only ask you arrive early (11:30am) and work the desk by handing out badges, greeting guests, etc until noon. Fun and easy way to get involved!!!

Email Norm here: norman.ussery@wcpbhct.org

March 25 program - newcomer populations

Mark A. Grey is Professor of Anthropology at the University of Northern Iowa. Mark has conducted research on immigrants, refugee and other newcomer populations in Iowa, the United States and internationally for more than 30 years. Mark is a widely recognized scholar on mobile populations and a highly sought-after speaker, trainer and consultant. In addition to UNI, Dr. Grey is on the teaching faculty at the Iowa Law Enforcement Academy and he holds an adjunct professor appointment with the U.S. Army War College.