Tuesday, December 22, 2015

When to use a comma, or not.

The Club was pleased to give some holiday cheer to Rotary exchange student, Andres Bravo. In addition to a winter coat, he got a gift card. We know how to do it in Rotary.
Andres Bravo and Tsalika Rich
Always good to have Barry Johnson from Wellman Rotary drop by our club meeting.
Barry Johnson

Mary Beth Harris helps us to be less Annoying

Mary Beth Harris is a Washington native currently working on her PhD in 19th Century English Literature at Purdue University (playing January 1st in the "Heart of Dallas Bowl" - tickets still available). Mary Beth was also Washington Rotary's 2005 John Prochaska Rotary Service Award winner.

As a teacher at Purdue, Mary Beth works to help those of us in the 21st Century to improve our communication skills in our e-mail, the most used writing format for many of us.
Mary Beth Harris
10 Common E-mail Errors to Avoid
  1. Missing Subject Line
  2. Missing/Inappropriate Greeting
  3. Missing Identities
  4. Overly Long E-mails
  5. Missing Signatures
  6. Overly Casual Tone
  7. Punctuation Problems
  8. Empty E-mails with no messages and a lone attachment
  9. Crazy Fonts/Colors/Formatting
  10. A Lack of Proof Reading

Yes. Mary Beth is the daughter of Rotarian Dr. Ann Harris.
Mary Beth Harris and Dr. Ann Harris

UPCOMING PROGRAMS

December 24: NO ROTARY MEETING - enjoy Christmas Eve
December 31: NO ROTARY MEETING - enjoy New Years Eve
January 7: Bob Kennedy - TBA
January 14: Lynn Koch - TBA
January 21: Amber Scott - TBA

Tuesday, December 8, 2015

Harvey Holden, SIFT, Salvation Army, and YMCA Christmas


Dennis Hunger brought new WCHC Clinic Manager, Brent Antczak to Rotary again. Welcome, Brent!

Club President, Tsalika Rich welcomes Kurt Sorensen as a new Rotary member! Kurt works at Hills Bank & Trust in Washington.


Tsalika Rich also welcomed Wally Wolanin as a new Rotary member! Wally works at the Hawkeye Area Council of the Boy Scouts of America.


Harvey Holden honored as a Lifetime Member

Rotary celebrated Harvey Holden by honoring him as a Lifetime Member of the Rotary Club of Washington. Harvey first joined Rotary in 1971. He also spent several terms as the Mayor of Washington in the 1990s, as well as serving on the City Council before that.

Harvey also celebrated his 98th birthday earlier this year in May at Rotary. This summer, Harvey resigned him membership in Rotary International due to other time obligations on Thursdays.

Harvey Holden tells it like it is
Thank you Harvey for your service!

Rotary rings bells for the Salvation Army

Thanks to the 10 Rotarians that volunteered to help ring bells for the Salvation Army on Sunday, December 5th at HyVee.


SUSTAINABLE IOWA LAND TRUST

Thanks to Emily Johnson for inviting Suzan Erem to speak about the Sustainable Iowa Land Trust (SILT).

(L-R) Suzan Erem, Emily Johnson, and Amy Adrian Green

Bob & Millie Youngquist
Millie Youngquist and Bob Youngquist from the Washington County Community Foundation

Thank you John Winga for reminding the club that you went to Michigan State...

John Winga

ROTARY CHRISTMAS WITH THE YMCA 

Rotary Christmas this year is $500 donated to the Mentor Kids Program through the YMCA.  We will be wrapping 12 presents for 6 boys and 6 girls on Thursday, December 10th at Hoodwink’s Bowling Alley at 5:30 pm.  Come join us for a beverage!  If you are interested, Rotary is handing out the presents on Wednesday, December 16th at 6:00 pm at the YMCA third floor in the room we meet for Rotary lunch.  You can personally hand out the presents and make a child’s Christmas bright!!  Please come join Becky Harkema and myself for a couple of fun filled evenings! 
-Denise Erpelding 

UPCOMING EVENTS

December 10: Bob Wollenberg - Renella Crawford from HACAP
December 10: 5:30pm at Hoodwink's Bowling Alley for gift wrapping
December 16: 6:00pm Christmas party for Rotary and the YMCA
December 17: Matt Miller - TBA
December 24: NO ROTARY - enjoy Christmas Eve!
December 31: NO ROTARY - enjoy New Year's Eve!



Tuesday, December 1, 2015

Rotary hears about job trends from WEDG

Thanks to Dennis Hunger for having Ed Raber of the Washington Economic Development Group provide an overview into Washington County's historical job trends. Most will remember that Raber was the Rotarian of the Year for 2013.



Raber showed that the number of jobs in Washington County had increased by about 1,500 to almost 8,300 in the 15 years from 1999 to 2014.

He also showed that there has been upward employment trends in most sectors, although manufacturing has had the most volatility.


The Rotary Clubs of Washington and Kalona teamed up with CBI Bank and Trust to raise almost $1,100 for Coats for Kids. This helped to purchase 90 coats! Our partner, HACAP will coordinate the distribution in the Washington and Mid-Prairie School Districts.


We put this card with each coat so that kids would understand where their gift came from.


UPCOMING EVENTS

December 3: Emily Johnson - Suzan Erem of Sustainable Iowa Land Trust
December 10: Bob Wollenberg - HACAP
December 17: Matt Miller - TBA
December 24: NO ROTARY - enjoy Christmas Eve!
December 31: NO ROTARY - enjoy New Year's Eve!