| Back to Home page NEWSLETTER Cedar Rapids Downtown Kiwanis Club Wednesday, July 2, 2008 The meeting was called to order by President Kelly Moore. 25 Members in attendance. Guests: Bob McAvoy; Mark Holub (John Locher guest) from the Glitter Gulch Kiwanis Club in Henderson, NV. Mark was in town visiting family. He presented us with a $200 check from his club to be put toward flood relief as we see fit. Birthdays: Dr. David Graeff on 7/3 Anniversaries: Dick & Charlene Boardman (Breitbach) 7/2/02 Announcements: 1. Ron Sunderman – We netted $63 from the cell phone collection.
2. Sister C – asked everyone to check her revised email and phone list
3. Dan Breitbach – Ray Vaughn was in St. Luke’s Hospital with respiratory problems, Rm 576.
4. Mary Corkery – needs one more volunteer for Friday, July 4. We’ve made $180 so far wrist banding at Kernels games.
5. Kelly Moore – at our board meeting yesterday, we decided to focus our philanthropic efforts toward agencies affected by the flood that we have relationships with: Boys & Girls Club, Taylor Elementary, HD Youth Center and the two playgrounds that we built on the west side. International also has a relationship with the B&G Club and funding is available for help. The DeKalb Kiwanis Club is interested in joining us for a one-day volunteer effort if/when we get something set up. The district convention is Saturday, August 9 in Coralville and encouraged all to attend. Janet Blackledge’s American Red Cross challenge netted $134, the Club threw in $16 to make it an even $150. The board also approved $150 for a HOBY student and $900+ for 22 pairs of shoes, plus a $100 or so for eyeglass bills. Happy Bucks: John Anderson announced that Janet Blackledge is continuing her American Red Cross challenge with an additional $5 to which John matched; as did the following – John Schweitzer, Charlene Boardman, Sister C, Pam Landon, Ron Sunderman, Keith Sutherland; Dick Boardman – for his anniversary; Jim Moriarity for savings on his mortgage; Kelly Moore – for Dr. Graeff since Kelly’s family got its second puppy; Dr. Graeff – for the impending revenue off of Kelly Moore; and Doug Dix for his 30th anniversary to his lovely wife. Next Week's Program: Next Wednesday, July 9 is a program on the Rome Holocaust Speaker: Greg Graham, our new police chief, gave a very informative talk on his perspective as the new guy on the block. He comes to us from Ocala, FL where he spent 25 years on the force. He is married to Amy, they have three children, all teenagers and they live in the Kennedy school district. Greg spoke very highly of his staff, not only on how they’ve risen to the immense task at hand with the flood, but in general in terms of their professionalism. He feels blessed to be here. He answered several questions, one being the shift change from 12 to 10 hour shifts. He gave a humorous answer about the various departmental reactions across the country when faced with shift change: regardless of whether you’re going from 10 to 12, 12 to 10, 10 to 8, the response is the same: it’ll never work, you’re messing with our personal lives, you’re out of touch with reality. In essence, he said it has nothing to do with length of shift, it has everything to do with the fact that it’s a change. He also indicated that technology was an area that needed to be upgraded. He said that all aspects of his department will be evaluated for effectiveness and that includes the helicopter program. I think all of us were impressed by his demeanor and sincerity. Welcome to CR! Word for the day: Kevin Carlson subbed in admirably for Don Grimm with “shebeen”. Jim Moriarity came so close that Kevin accepted his answer, a rare event. Definition: an Un-licensed drinking establishment. Submitted: Dan Breitbach |
