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Hawkeye Community College President Greg Schmitz Will Deliver Valedictory Remarks

            Monday we honor the top academic seniors at the local high schools. It's always a great event and reinforces our commitment to the future of the Cedar Valley.

            As an added treat for us, for the seniors and their parents, President Schmitz will provide a focus for the path ahead for them. A nine-year member of our club, Schmitz has provided a stabilizing influence to the 43-year old college. HCC offers 45 academic programs to 5,300 students.

HOPS & GRAPES is scheduled for Thursday, June 11 from 6 to 8 p.m. at the Rotary Reserve.  Enjoy fine wines, specialty beers, and fine cuisine prepared by Martin Vollmer, former owner/chef of Martin's Brandenburg in Waverly, Iowa.  Proceeds raised at the event will directly benefit the CedarValley.  We recently voted and the following charities were chosen: Boys and Girls Club, Boy Scouts of America, and Northeast Iowa Food Bank.  All three charities receive a share of the proceeds!  At the event each attendee will be allowed to cast a vote for their favorite. 

            Last year's event had a net income of $8,425 and the club voted for three local charities.

Your support will make the event a success!  Sponsorship levels are available as follows:

        $500 Merlot Level Sponsor: You will receive four tickets to the Event ($140 value), a bottle of wine, a selection of six specialty beers, and your company's logo and name will appear on the event poster.

        $250  Hefeweizer Level Sponsor: You will receive two tickets to the event ($70 value), a selection of six specialty beers, and your company's name will appear on the event poster.

        Other opportunities are also available for the donation of silent auction items.

Tickets to "HOPS & GRAPES" will be available at our regular weekly meetings for $35 each. They will also be available at the door on the 11^th.

Entertainment for the evening will be provided by Mick Staebell.

If you have any questions regarding the sponsorship opportunities or the event itself, please call Shannon Farlow at 319-291-4490

But More Gifts Are Needed to Meet Second Challenge   

            Funded with donations from several sources revealed at the district conference last week, it appears that Rotarians in our district have matched the first phase of the Gates Challenge.

            The goal was $109,000 not counting two $25,000 transfers from district foundation funds. With $6,350 raised from the duck dash, $8,000 raised at the auction Friday night, and a check for $10,000 from Dubuque Rotarians and funds already acknowledged, the total stands at just under $110,000

            But the job is only half done because last winter the Gates Foundation made a second challenge to Rotarians for another $100 million to match their grant of $255 million. Our club and others will decide on how to meet that challenge in coming months. Certainly revenue from the Perlman concert will help but will not be enough.

            Like most of us, Doug Stanford paid $5 last month to buy a duck for the district duck race. Unlike the rest of us, his was one of 13 selected at random at the district conference which won a $500 donation to his account at the Rotary Foundation.

            Doug was on hand at Monday's meeting to acknowledge the award; but he surprised us by announcing that he would match the winnings with $500 of his own to become a Paul Harris Fellow. It will take a few weeks for the paperwork to be completed.

            It was fitting that at least one member of our club would win; we bought 230 ducks, almost one fifth of all the 1,270 ducks sold to the 3,000 members of 55 clubs in our district. We've led the district in duck sales for many years, but 230 is the new all-time record. And every dollar ($6,350) goes to the foundation.

Our club was well-represented at the conference, and our club has recieved three awards.

District Governor Bill Jacobsen presented President Mason with the Leadership Excellence Award on Friday.  Our club was also recognized with a Club Web Site Excellence Award.  District 5970 is encouraging ALL Rotary clubs in our district to create and maintain their own website. Currently there are less than 20 clubs with websites, and only a dozen deemed "effective".

On Saturday, our club was presented the District Governor's Excellence Award, which was created 5 years ago by then governor Steve Thorpe.  A list of criteria is used to assess each club, and those scoring 80 or above receive the award.  21 clubs were presented the award in 2003, and this year, 40 clubs were awarded.

Have you ever clicked the District Site link at the top of our home page?

               The Waterloo Rotary club has given $1,000 scholarships to students at three local colleges. The awards were made April 27.

            The winners are Stacey Ginn from Waterloo West High, a student at AllenCollege; Matt Ites, a student at HawkeyeCommunity College from Wellsburg studying liberal arts; and Zachery Clark, a student at UNI. who graduated from Waterloo East High. He is majoring in supply chain management.

            Students are selected every year by representatives of their school. Funding comes from the Fred Adams Fund at the Community Foundation of Northeast Iowa. Adams was a member of our Rotary club for over 71 years and the fund was started at the time of his death in 1986.

            Rotary clubs across Iowa are currently seeking candidates for scholarships to study abroad for one academic year with a stipend of up to $25,000. The Ambassadorial Scholarship program is underwritten by gifts made to the Rotary Foundation.

            Candidates for the scholarships should be at least in their junior year of college and not directly related to a Rotarian. Scholarships will be awarded next fall after interviews and are for the 2010-2011 year. Candidates will be asked to list up to three countries where they would like to study, but preference is given to those who ask to be assigned to third-world countries. Interview date (for this cycle is Saturday August 15^th) will be announced this summer.

            Application forms and details are available on the internet at http://www.rotary.org/en/StudentsAndYouth/EducationalPrograms/AmbassadorialScholarships/Pages/About.aspx.

            A unique feature of the Rotary program is that winners are expected to act as ambassadors from their home country to the host country while studying and as an ambassador from their host country after they return to the U.S. While abroad students will interact with Rotarians and have many special opportunities to travel, attend Rotary events and meet other Rotary scholars. They will be asked to attend a weekend training session before they travel.

            Applicants can apply to a Rotary club in their hometown (applications due to local Rotary club by end of July, 2009) or in their college community. If they hope to travel to a country where the primary language is not English, they will be required to pass a proficiency exam. Candidates are asked to contact their local Rotary club for more information or to contact Dr. Roger Kueter at UNI,

Roger Kueter (roger.kueter@uni.edu).Or Leigh Martin at UNI (leigh.martin@uni.edu.

Be the first to email me this Rotarian's name - I'll reveal his identity in the next Reporter, so stay tuned!  

He is working very closely with the city on completing the beautiful RiverLoop Expo plaza as well as extending and beautifying the downtown bike trails.