Granted, summer has gone and appears to have taken too much of fall with it, but the winds of the last few days had died down, the temps were getting a bit better, and the fellowship was excellent when we gathered at the Wakonda Club for our weekly meeting. After our typically good lunch, President Shawn Mullen brought us to order and called on Susan Scharnberg to share some words of inspiration. Given that our speaker for the day was the major owner of the I-Cubs, Susan chose baseball as a topic for her comments, quoting from a number of film actors who in their roles portrayed famous persons from that sport. She also led us in the Pledge of Allegiance and the Four-Way Test. Brook Smith then complimented us on the impressive results of our efforts to provide for our fellow citizens, (our commitment being to those who have children at GW Carver & Edmunds Schools) who may need some help in ensuring that they and their families have a nice Thanksgiving meal. Brook also reminded us that we still have a couple of weeks to add to our total funds for that purpose and encouraged us all to help. President Shawn introduced two new members, Travis McCurnin and Karter Smith, whose information is provided elsewhere in today’s report.
Art Filean introduced our speaker of the day, Michael Gartner, including reference to their many years of acquaintanceship, going back to the 7th grade in Des Moines schools, then cited some other salient facts about Michael’s education and vocational adventures in the following years. Michael is a Des Moines product, through and through, who has served in an array of important positions and leadership roles in journalism, business and government. But through it all, he has had the ability to see life in a clear perspective and recognize the importance of each day and of the relationships with those around him. He told us that turning eighty years old recently has caused a certain reflection on that fact and as a result he wanted to share some thoughts on growing up when and where he did and about some of the things that have happened along the way since then. As a matter of historical perspective, he shared that by comparison, that makes him ten years younger than Mickey Mouse and forty-five years older than Mozart was when he died. World War II began just before he entered primary school so at that impressionable age he was tempered by many of the restrictions and happenings of that time. He noted many of the differences in lifestyles and social relationships between then and now, including lack of conveniences and services we take for granted today. He once asked his father why they didn’t have a car, to which his father replied, “It’s better to walk through life and enjoy it than to drive through life and miss it.” Well, there was that questioning side comment from his mother about the horse that had gotten run into, but that’s another story for another time. After finishing at Roosevelt High, it was on to Carlton College, after which he joined the Wall Street Journal as a copy editor in New York. One of several good advice quotes he shared with us during his presentation came from that experience, when he was advised by a senior officer at the WSJ that, “The easiest thing for a reader to do is to stop reading.” In 1974, following several years at The Journal, where after beginning as a copy editor he had risen to a senior editor position, he was approached about returning to Des Moines to take the position of Executive Editor, and later Editor and President of the Register and Tribune.
In 1988, he was recruited to head NBC News. After a stint there, he returned to Iowa again, this time to take an ownership position and to run the news side of the Ames Tribune. In 1999 he and Mike Giudicessi bought the Iowa Cubs, providing a role which has obviously been a delight for him since. Other positions in which he has served include seven years on the Iowa Board of Regents, which he headed for three of those years. Perhaps the one which has created the greatest satisfaction for him was helping to create and facilitate the Vision Iowa Program, under the leadership of former Governor Tom Vilsack. The Vision Iowa program created the vehicle through which public and private funds could be pooled and leveraged for greater impact, resulting in an array of new projects and facilities throughout the state.
Before we conclude, there are another couple of quotes worth mentioning. One was, “Rarely is something the best or the worst.” And, “If eventually, why not now?” In his only reference to baseball except for reminding us of how many days before the next season begins next spring, he quoted the late Chicago Cubs owner Phil Rigley in that, “Baseball is too much of a business to be a sport and too much of a sport to be a business.” It was a wonderful meeting, an excellent program and we sincerely thank Michael Gartner for joining us and sharing his experiences and outlooks with us today.