District Governor Lowell Stoolman from Rockwell City will be our guest speaker at our March 10 zoom meeting.  Let's make this a special day by having a record zoom turnout for him!  

Board minutes are availabe on our website.  A number of things were discussed at the meeting, including:

 

a.  A few people have not yet paid their dues.  Reminders have been sent by Dave.  It would be appreciated that those are brought current.

b.  Janette and Tom discussed Big Drop planning.  Please let Larry or Tom  know if you are willing to help.  Also if you have sponsor ideas please let Larry or Janette know.  We are looking at the possibility of returning to the Farmer's Market for the event and holding it either early August or late July.  The grand prize will be $3000 again this year.

c.  The Kirkwood Rotaract Club that we cosponsor with the Downtown Club is being terminated for lack of activity this past year.  The primary reason for this is the pandemic.  It can be recertified in the future if the situation at Kirkwood changes.

d.  The Washington Interact Club remains active but it is meeting sporadically this year because of Covid concerns.  It has been decided we will not have a joint meeting with them this year and will try to get things reorganized in the fall.  Our Club will continue to support the Interact Club financially, but we need a Rotarian to step forward to be our contact person with the Interact Club.

e.  A plaque for the piano lab will be ordered shortly with Matt and Penny working out the details.  We will have a program about the lab in the near future.

f.  The Kirkwood scholarships will be awarded in May.  They will be recognized by letter only and not be in attendance at a Wednesday meeting this year.  Mary S is handling the details. 

g.  The format for future meetings continues to be under review.   We hope to have an in person service meeting at the Nature Center on April 21 in honor of Earth Day.

h.  We will be donating a gift card for the silent auction that is part of the District Virtual Conference to be held April 30-May 1.  Registration for the conference is currently open at no cost.  The Board encourages members to attend.

i.  Rhonda will no longer be Secretary after June 30 so we are looking for a new Secretary to serve alone or possibly with another person.  Please let Larry know if you are interested.

 

Our thanks go to Mike for the news, Jane for the invocation, pledge, and 4way test, and to Chuck for leading us in Happy Birthday to Matt T. 

 

Other March birthdays are Doug F, John N, Bruce H and Jerry S.  Happy Birthday to all!

 

Metro HS administrator Dan DeVore introduced teacher Ann Van Etten-Janey.  Ann is being recognized by our club for her outstanding work at Metro.  Ann teaches English and was described by Dan as a "go-to person" for both students and teachers at the high school when they need support.

 

Janette introduced our speaker Jill Boogerd.  Jill spoke to us about "Team Recharge"  which is a program she started in 1997.  She mentioned a number of things to make our health and wellness better.  She stated that it starts on the "inside" with your mindset and what you put in your gut.  Further, you need to make long term choices that allow you to live up to your potential and break cycles involving bad habits.  Developing a spiritual side to your life is important.  A daily diet plan involving the 80-20 rule (80 healthy and 20 splurge) was recommended by her.  She left us with three questions to ponder (which I paraphrase):

1.  Is there an emotion or thought that adversely affects our self-control and overall health?

2. What are three potential changes that we can make in our lifestyle that will benefit our health and create a better pattern?

3.  Is there anything that we are eating, drinking, or thinking that adversely affects our health?

 

The book Katya's Busy Day will be presented to Van Buren in Jill's honor.

Rhonda has been organizing our teacher recognition program.  So far the following teachers have been scheduled for our zoom meetings.  

 

February 3--Kat Power from Linn-Mar HS

February 10--Dennis Hynek from Kennedy HS

February 17--Joe Link from Jefferson HS

February 24---Erica Ireland from Xavier HS

March 3--Ann Van Etten-Janey from Metro HS

March 10--Gretchen Mundorf Marion HS

March 24--Jason Nell Washington HS

March 31--Colin O'Brien from Prairie HS

 

Congratulations to each teacher.  Also thank you Rhonda for organizing and Jim C for doing the certificates they are receiving.