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Kiwanis is a global organization of volunteers dedicated to changing the world one child and one community at a time.
Kiwanis defining statement, adopted October 2004.

NEWSLETTER

Cedar Rapids Downtown Kiwanis Club

Wednesday, February 13, 2008

The meeting was called to order by Vice President Bob Hatala. 22 Members in attendance.

Guests: Laurie Worden (guest of Ron Sunderman

Birthdays: Dan Thies (2/10) and Kay Bloom (2/14)

Anniversaries: John Anderson (2/7)

Announcements: 1. Dan Breitbach gave the Pancake ticket report. 18 members had sold tickets as of today. Prior to today, we had sold 339 tickets, 17% of our goal. With 3 weeks remaining, we need to kick it in gear. The corporate sales people are hustling it and leading the way is Joe Schmall, who turned in sales of 295 tickets sold + the $500 Arby’s sponsorship for a total of $1,975.00. Dan also passed around a worker’s sign up sheet.

2. Jeff Hollingsworth reported that he and 3 others (John Anderson, Janet Blackledge and Bob Dye) did an interclub yesterday morning with the Marion Sunrise club at the Marion HyVee. He thought this was the 4^th or 5^th interclub this year. Thanks gang for doing this.

Happy Bucks: Kevin Carlson gave a buck so he could fine Bob Hatala for appearing in the paper for his recent move to Moyer Bergman; Bob Dye – 2 bucks for his cruise and surviving the 3^rd year since his stroke (he also had some sad news about his 11 yr old grandson who was diagnosed with bone cancer – our prayers are with you, Bob); Janet Blackledge – no “deer in the headlights” confrontations and she’s so happy that the weather is a little chilly since returning from Arizona; Don Grimm – his snow blower is still ticking after all the heavy work this winter; Bob Hatala – hoping that the cold weather won’t be here “furlong” (see word for the day); Keith Sutherland – happy for Bob Hatala’s witty comment; and Dan Breitbach – happy his sister’s surgery went well yesterday.

Speaker: Chuck Wehage introduced Bill Rhodes who gave a very informative presentation on the Iowa-Northern RR (IANR). Bill grew up in Detroit, ran an auto glass business there; worked construction in Miami for several years before joining his brother-in-law, Dan Sabin, with the IANR. He’s been with the company approximately 2.5 years. The company employs 77 people and is continuing to expand its market. He is based out of Waterloo and the line runs from Manly, IA to CR. The IANR is heavily involved in the ethanol transportation business. The Manly Terminal has become a hub for this industry in northwest Iowa and the railroad expects to increase from 4200 carloads to over 33,000 within a year or so. Other products or projects the company is involved in include: wind turbines, warehousing, distiller grains, food grade products and green field opportunities. They also own the Hawkeye Express which transports fans to/from Coral Ridge Mall to Kinnick stadium for football games. Very nice program.

Word for the day: Don Grimm switched gears slightly with “furlong”. Asking how long is a furlong. The answer is 1/8 of a mile or the side of the square of 10 acres.

Submitted: Dan Breitbach