| Back to Home page NEWSLETTER Cedar Rapids Downtown Kiwanis Club Wednesday, February May 7, 2008 The meeting was called to order by President Kelly Moore 27 Members in attendance. Guests: none Birthdays: Keith Sutherland 5/8 The choir sounded great in singing to the tie boy Anniversaries: 5/10: Mary Corkery (8 yrs); and the BIGGIE: Ray Vaughn joined exactly 50 years ago today, May 7, 1958. In his honor, Pres. Moore questioned the club on it some dates in history, Dan Breitbach presented him with 50 white, generic golf tees and we all enjoyed a piece of celebratory cake. The sad news is that Ray, due to health reasons, announced that today would be his last luncheon. Fifty wonderful years of service, over 40 new members to the club – Ray, you’ll be sorely missed. Announcements: 1. We need speaker coordinators for August and September.
2. State Kiwanis golf outing is June 9
3. Next week we will hold nominations for officers for the 2008-09 year and May 28 will be the annual club meeting to elect the officers.
4. Dan Breitbach announced two fundraising opportunities:
A. Freedom Festival – need minimum of 10 volunteers to work a specific event to earn $250. The initial signup was 10 members so next week, we’ll select 2-3 events to submit, listing them from first choice to third. B. Hawkeye football games event staff – starting a sign up sheet to gauge interest. Can earn minimum of $7.35 per hour. Four signed up today.
5. Ron Sundermann is continuing the cell phone program another week or so. If you have an old phone, bring it to next week’s luncheon. Happy Bucks: John Schweitzer – 2 cents for every year Ray’s been in the club. Joe Schmall – in honor of his dad and the his thanks to the club for the kind words and caring. Keith Sutherland – 2 bucks for the wonderful time in NY at his son’s wedding and the opportunity to walk his son up the aisle along with his wife. Ron Sundermann – grandson in 7th grade is an outstanding trackster with a 2:31 in the 800 meter. Chuck Wehage – for defying death and making the roundtrip to N. Carolina and back. Dan Breitbach – for his parent’s retirement fund. Ray Vaughn for his years with the Club. Dick Boardman – in tribute to Ray Speaker: Jim Platt introduced Gail Loskill, director of the Parks and Rec department. Gail has been with the Parks and Rec for 16 years. She’s a native Iowan, is married and has three kids. Gail gave us a rundown on the changes and focus of her department. With the many changes in local governance, Parks and Rec is undergoing a major reorganization. Where there once were four separate departments, there now is one. There has been a $340,000 reduction in subsidy to her department and $137,500 in the golf department. Fortunately, a strong group of volunteers has stepped forward to help fill the gaps with the cut in funding and resources.
The Parks department includes the parks, Bever zoo, the trails, riverfront and the urban fishery. Currently underway is the creation of a master plan for parks. The process will hopefully culminate in October with the plan being adopted and implemented.
The Rec department includes aquatics, Ushers Ferry, adult and youth programs, Ambroz and Time Check, the Rec Center and Farmers Markets. Over 1500 programs are offered annually through this program. Aquatics, with the completion of the new pools has performed extremely well financially with a cost recovery rate between 97-106%.
The Golf department includes four courses, the clubhouse operations and course maintenance. Snow and ice this past winter took its toll on the fairways and greens and Jones Park took major hits with flooding three separate times this spring. Only the one nine is open at this time.
Challenges facing the Parks and Rec:
-Replacing old physical and technological infrastructures. The Ambroz Center is over 100 years old. Bender Pool is very busy and very old, being built in ’68.
-Trail expansion. Great demand for additional trails but very costly at $8,000 per mile.
-Seasonal staff recruitment and retention. They rely on over 300 seasonal staff in the summer. Word for the day: Procrustean: “aiming or tending to produce uniformity by violent and arbitrary methods”. Submitted: Dan Breitbach |
