Update on City of Awesomeness

Thanks to John Moenck, Ed Lins, and Bob Ruppert for their coordination work to get the ticket gates staffed by volunteers from Rotary and the community for the Washington County Fair.

John Winga and Harvey Holden congratulate John Moenck for his work on the Fair

Ed Lins humbly accepts the Club's appreciation.

Good Bye Dennis

Rotarian and Walmart manager, Dennis Purcell said good-bye to the club as he is transferring back to run a Walmart in the Illinois side of the Quad Cities.

Several Rotarians complemented Dennis for his involvement in Rotary and the community, and for how well he managed the Washington Walmart.

Best wishes, Dennis!

Dennis Purcell says good-bye

Larry Fishback

Hey, Larry. Good to see you. Your program is on August 21st.

Larry Fishback. At Rotary.

City of Awesomeness

Rotarian and Washington City Administrator, Brent Hinson, gave a fascinating talk about the minutia of the City's improving financial condition. 

The City's general fund, and utility sewer and water funds are financially healthier than just a few years ago, even with all the projects going on around town. Great work, Brent.

Brent Hinson

If you'd like to review a PDF of Brent's presentation, click here.

Club Forum next Thursday!

Don't miss Susan's first Club Forum on Thursday. You know you want to be there.

1. Turkey Dinner—Brief Overview, Nancy Rash

2. “Keep Kids Warm” coat project of DG John Ockenfels, Terry Engelken

3. Relay for Life, Cheryl Kurtz

4. IT  stuff—Any updates/Overview

UPCOMING PROGRAMS

July 31:  Club Forum! 

August 7:  Ray Poe

August 14:  Ryan Walker

August 21:  Larry Fishback

September 15:  Rotary Turkey Dinner!

Rotary tours new Kirkwood Regional Center, hears about ExperienceWorks

Thanks to Sue Basten for arranging for Rotary to tour the almost-completed Kirkwood Regional Education Center in Washington on July 10th.

The facility is going to have a big impact on education of youth and adults around Washington County.

Thanks to potential future Rotarian, Tera Pickens for giving us a great tour!

There will be over 200 students in the new Regional Center, and have over 14 career academies for students to choose from. The new Center will also house the Washington/WACO Assure Center (an alternative high school), as well as many adult programs.

Rotary in Europe

Rotarian & Kirkwood staffer, Kierstan Peck missed the Kirkwood tour last week, but only because she was touring Sweden and Norway. (These are not towns in Iowa.)

Kierstan Peck checks in to Rotary clubs in Sweden!
Uhmmm! Pickeled herring for Rotary lunch!

Rotary at the Fair

Thanks to everyone that worked a shift or two at the entry gates at the Washington County Fair. It was a great event, and we helped to make it a successful (orderly) event. The blurry, telescopic pictures of Mark Kendall actually working on his feet are still being verified to make sure it was actually him in the pictures.

ExperienceWorks

Thanks to Steve Olson for arranging for Robyn Krell of ExperienceWorks to speak with us on July 17th. ExperienceWorks is a nationwide non-profit that provides on-the-job-training opportunities for low-income older workers whose goal is to gain permanent employment.

Robyn Krell of ExperienceWorks

If you know a 55+ person that would like some job training to re-enter the workforce, or if you know of a 501c(3) non-profit organization that might want to host an ExperienceWorks client, be sure to contact Robyn Krell. Her phone number is 319-505-3243.

ExperienceWorks was formerly known as Green Thumb.

Riverboat Foundation Grant

Paul Horak was on hand to accept a $800 check for a Mini-Grant award from the Washington County Riverboat Foundation on July 16. Rotary was one of 52 grants awarded that evening for almost $100,000. Rotary's grant was to help purchase equipment and supplies for our annual Turkey Dinner. That's a lot of napkins!

UPCOMING PROGRAMS

July 24:  Brent Hinson - update on The City of Awesomeness
July 31:  Susan Wellington's first Club Forum!
August 7:  Ray Poe - TBA
August 14:  Ryan Walker - TBA

Rotary Awards Dinner & County Fair

A fun time was had by all at the Annual Washington Rotary Club Awards Dinner on June 25th, held at Marr Park Education Center near Ainsworth.

Becky Patterson (L) and Susan Wellington (R)

THANK YOU to Becky Patterson for your service as Club President for 2013-14! What a wonderful year and increased membership! Susan Wellington is ready to step up to Club President for 2014-15. Best wishes to Susan on her year. She's got some short shoes to fill.

Thanks also to Rotarian John Moenck for whittling the President's plaque out of a tree stump.

A fine looking table of Rotarians and spouses

Another fine looking table of Rotarians and spouses
The Power Table

Rotary Awardees and Paul Harris Fellows

2014 Award Winners

Rotarian of the Year - Jim Mostek
Bill Sitler Rotary Community Service Award - Jim & Margaret Dunn
John Prochaska Rotary Service Award - MaryKate Horak
Rotary Scholarship - Katlynn Wellington
Rotary Youth Leadership Awards (RYLA) - Kyle Basten, 2013 and Kayla Schindler, 2014

Washington County Fair - July 13-18, 2014

Don Lewis of the Washington County Fair board gave an interesting update on July 3rd on what is new for this years fair. In addition to the regular, annual evening entertainment, Lewis said they were hosting well-known Christian rock band, Loftland and Acquire the Fire on Wednesday, July 16th.

He also said that there would be alternative midway entertainment instead of a carnival, since it is so difficult to book quality traveling carnival shows. This includes a Zip line (!!), climbing wall, and paint ball! Check out the full Fair schedule here.

Don Lewis is comfortable speaking in public

Thanks to Bob Ruppert and other Rotarians for lining up the dozens and dozens of Rotarians and other volunteers to staff the multiple entrance gates to the Fair!

UPCOMING PROGRAMS

July 10 - A Rotary Club meeting