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Rotarian Mary Kay Daniel was pictured in the Wednesday "Messenger" helping to advertise the upcoming "Go Big" fundraiser for the Dodger Foundation. The moneys raised will be used to fund a variety of special projects for which other monies are not available. The picture of Mary Kay was from last year's event.
Lindsay Laufersweiler- Recorder at Webster County
Apr 22, 2024
Digitization, Communication and Collaboration
Eric Anderson- Director at Blanden Museum
Apr 29, 2024
Art Center, New Development, June Festival and More
Welcome to the Fort Dodge Noon Rotary
Service Above Self
We meet In Person
Mondays at 11:45 a.m.
ShinyTop Brewing
520 Central Avenue
Fort Dodge, IA 50501
United States of America
Fort Dodge, IA 50501
United States of America
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John Daniel
Apr. 22, 2024
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Phyllis Thesier
Apr. 29, 2024
President
President Elect
Secretary
Treasurer
Rotary Foundation
Youth Protection Officer
Board Member
Board Member
Board Member
Immediate Past President
Treasurer #2
Board Member
Fort Dodge Noon Rotary Club
James Knight, President
Iowa Business Council
Joe Murphy came to Fort Dodge today to tell us about the Iowa Business Council. It was founded in 1985 and is a nonpartisan, nonprofit organization. It was established during the Iowa farm crisis.
- Its mission is to serve as a catalyst for economic growth in Iowa.
- The Council is comprised of 22 CEOs and top executives from some of Iowa’s largest employers
- The Council’s primary functions are global thought leadership, research, and advocacy.
Iowa’s competitive dashboard is published annually. Joe Murphy reviewed information that can be found at their annual report (link here):
Particular points of interest include:
- Business taxation compared unfavorably in years past but has been improving.
- In health and wellness, Iowa struggles more than most in the area of mental health providers
- Iowa is the only state that has not doubled since 1900. There are more job openings than there are people on unemployment. We need to figure this out.
- Labor force participation is high and unemployment is very low, comparatively. Iowa lost 12K in labor force, and there are not enough workers to replace them. The silver bullet for Iowa would be immigration.
The Iowa Business Council partners with UNI to gather data. It has two employees and no political action committee. It works with the Board, which meets quarterly (for five hours!). They strive to figure out 2-3 key issues that will impact Iowa, rather than “boiling the ocean.”
Rotarian Kuhlman was pictured at Saturday's event at the Laramar Ballroom. The Safe Communities Coalition and the Fort Dodge Community foundation/United Way sponsored showing the movie GridShock about sex trafficking. Such activity is found in rural areas and the signs were discussed to help people identify and help potential victims.
Rotarians Cameron Nelson and Jesse Ulrich appeared in the "Messenger" as they completed their days in Washington D.C. informing legislators and agencies about pending projects in the Fort Dodge area. Past meetings have yielded great results, and the hope is that this year will too.
Rotarian Kuhlman was pictured in the Friday "Messenger" advertising an effort by the Safe Committee on the presence and severity of the sex trafficking industry.
Rotarian Ulrich appeared in picture in the Saturday "Messenger" discussing that the graduating class of ICCC has the best graduation rate of any previous class. Kudos to ICCC.
Rotarian Fierke appeared on the front page of the Tuesday "Messenger" with an article outlining Council action to connect the old Soldier Creek trail to the new trail being built from Fort Dodge to Badger. Specifically, a trail head will be constructed in a scenic setting east of the Cold Storage Plant where the train will be rerouted over the creek and through a wetland area. The wetland area will be enhanced. Another trail enhancement will be the construction of a protective shelter over the trail as it goes under the Union Pacific high bridge along the Des Moines River.
Rotarian Flattery appeared in picture on the cover page of the Tuesday "Messenger" accompanying an article outlining action of the Council on Monday to support the expansion of the NestlePurina plant at Fort Dodge. The article follows closely the information provided by Mr. Thesier to the membership on April 1st.
Dues Informational Updates from Barber and Knight
Before breaking up into committees, Kraig Barber and Jim Knight updated the club on how dues income is used. Dues are currently $640 per year (billed quarterly at $160). Of the $640, $135.82 is spent in this way:
- $75 for Rotary International dues
- $18 for the Rotarian magazine
- $2 council on leg
- $4.82 for Insurance
- $36 for district dues
The remaining $504.18 is available for other costs. The average cost per meal per person is around $17.80, which includes food, beverages, and tip. If a person attended 50 weeks in the year, their food costs would be somewhere around $890.00! The club has an Edward Jones account, which largely funds scholarships. The club also has donated to food pantries through the “Foodraiser” in November, RYLA tuition, and more. Happy Dollars revenue is earmarked for The Lord’s Cupboard. There are 57 members total. In July 2022 there were 56 members, in July 2023 59 members, and in July 2024 57 members. We can keep the dues the same and then ask Rotarians to donate to special projects, or we can increase dues and donate as a club. The club and its Board will need to consider this when thinking about dues.
On April 4th the Tacos and Trivia Social Event was held at River Hops Brewing in downtown Fort Dodge. For the approximate 13 Rotarians in attendance, the night was full of friendship, very good tacos provided by the organizing committee, good drinks, and a very fun Trivia contest. The people in attendance were divided up into approximately 10 teams of 3-4 persons each. A Rotary team of John and Cathy Nielsen and Carol Thatcher was the overall champion. Two Rotary teams were tied for second. There were five categories of questions and the difference between first and second was one more correct answer. The Barber team could not remember that Roger Daltry founded the "Who." What is known is that Carol and Bill Thatcher are trivia experts, and one needs to sit by them in future events. On the Rotary home page scroll down and along the left side find the folder: Club Photo Albums. Underneath this heading click on Tacos and Trivia 4-4-2024. Mary Kay provided a series of pictures for your enjoyment.
The following Rotarians volunteered to secure programs for these months. When a Rotarian is approached by an individual requesting to present to the Club, please refer the individual to the program coordinator for the requested month.
As of this posting the Club is still looking for Program Chairs for April and June. If you are willing to take on that task please contact Renee McDonald.
Overall Chair for Programs - Renee McDonald
August - Justin Mikos
September - Renee McDonald
October - Jim Knight
November -
December - Casey Johnson
January - David Fierke
February - Kraig Barber
March - Randy Kuhlman
April - Phyllis Thesier
May - Teresa Naughton
June -
July - Cameron Nelson
Secretary Teresa Naughton has been uploading Minutes and Financial Reports for the 2022-2023 Rotary Year to the members only section of the Website (Found under Folder Organization and then Subfolder Documents) and are available for viewing by accessing the Members Only Section. Please contact Steve if you need to refresh your password.
Your Rotary Club provides an easy way for you to contribute to the Rotary Foundation, the major financial arm of Rotary that does Polio Plus and Foundation Grants. The program permits you to ask the Treasurer to add an amount each quarter to your quarterly dues statement as a contribution to the R.I. Foundation. The Treasurer then collects these amounts and writes a joint check to the Foundation for all funds contributed by members. If you are interested please complete the following form and provide to Treasurer Kraig Barber/Elizabeth Stanek.
