The Rotary District 5650 consisting of Eastern Iowa and Western Nebraska will hold its Fall Conference at the Mid American Center in Council Bluffs this weekend, August 20 and 21. I will be attending the Friday session and report the highlights back to the club at our next regular club meeting on August 27th.
Our August 13 meeting was held at Western Douglas County Chamber of Commerce offices because of our temporary LOCKOUT from the Common Ground Facility. It is understood that we will be allowed back in to our regular room at our next meeting on August 20th. We hope that no one arrived at Common Ground wondering where we were, except for the staff at Common Ground, of course. We are grateful to Jenni for making her offices available, except perhaps for the aforesaid folks who showed up at Common Ground.
Jim Tomanek, our Chief of Staff presided in the absence of our President, Roger Breed. Our treasurer reported that there was $14,134.54 in the bank. Rex Moats commented that it was his parents 66th Wedding Anniversary and he was taking them to Estes Park, Colorado for the occasion. CONGRATULATIONS TO REX'S FOLKS.
Mike Ough made another attempt at humor and that is good. Jim Tomanek reported on the Lunch Bunch meeting on the 12th (see story elsewhere in the bulletin). It was noted that Jill Muegge was on a trip to Viet Nam, we are hopeful that Jill will be our speaker of the day in the near future to tells about her trip.
Deputy Jay Wingler, Community Services Officer with the Douglas County Sheriff's Office provided us with an interesting presentation on the various ways that identity thieves and other nefarious individuals from around the world can steal from vulnerable people and computer systems. He had literature available to assist us in taking precautions to avoid hackers and identity thieves, including home and mail box protection. One precaution notable was that there are thieves who roam our streets at night stealing mail from mail boxes and we should always remove mail from our boxes as soon as possible after it is delivered and not leave it over night. Jay noted that about 90 percent of theft in Douglas County is from garages and motor vehicles.
Regarding the adjacent photograph of Jay, notice the AA emblem in the upper right, representing a program focusing on substance abuse, and a tray of donuts in the lower left, within arms reach of a profession notorious for adddiction or at least a strong lust for donuts.
Last Wednesday the 12th we had lunch with Brett Pollock, Manager of Baseball Operations for the Omaha Storm Chasers. In attendance were Steve Davis, Roger Breed, Ron Mortensen, Ariann Brown, Steve Kucirek, Doug Heim, Steve Tomanek, Duane Prorok, Jenni Chleboun and Jack Ott. Brett shared details on his job with the Stormchasers, including the great program they offer for baseball fans and families. He explained the complexity of process of transporting the team from city to city. It was ironic that Brett commented that it would be a great boost to their program if the stadium had sports bars and restaurants located nearby. (Author''s commennt: Recall the debate about locating the Royals/Stormchasers downtown at the TDAmeritrade Park)
Bret commented that the Omaha Stormchasers (and predecessor The Royals has been in Omaha since 1959 which is a record for their league.
Information from the Western Douglas County Rotary Club
