Rotarian Meyer appeared on the frint page of Monday's "Messenger." The article outlined budget negotiations as the end of the Legislative Session is near.
CoriAnn Theroux—Independent Bookshop Owners
CoriAnn gave an interesting review of the Iowa Indie Bookshop Tour, a marketing effort to bring interest and business to mom and pop book sellers.
The vision is to give people a passport that lists participating indie book shops, have them get a stamp from boo sellers, and submit passports for a prize. Using the passports and additional information available, participants can end up touring Iowa and its many unique places as recommended by booksellers. Participating bookshops promoted the event on social media.
Last year’s campaign included 35 bookstores, which paid a $50 participation fee that covered campaign expenses and prizes. The event went for three months, from July through September. There was a $300 grand prize, a $100 second-place prize, and $50 prizes. Each passport stamp equalled one entry into the prize drawing. Last year a grad student completed the whole tour in 28 days and won a bonus prize for being the first to complete the whole passport.
The campaign was quite successful. Data submitted from (about 2/3 of the) participating booksellers showed that about 4,000 passports were distributed, 7,200 stamps given, and about $140,000 earned if each stamp represented a $20 book sale.
CoriAnn owns Fort Dodge’s own Green Dragon Bookshop. It is open from 10am to 5pm Wednesday through Saturday, and from noon to 4pm on Sunday. She is happy to give you a reading challenge (which may have a prize!) and also give book recommendations. CoriAnn heartily recommends All Systems Red by Martha Wells. Goodreads rates it 4.13 and summarized the plot in this way:
“In a corporate-dominated space-faring future, planetary missions must be approved and supplied by the Company. For their own safety, exploratory teams are accompanied by Company-supplied security androids. But in a society where contracts are awarded to the lowest bidder, safety isn’t a primary concern. On a distant planet, a team of scientists is conducting surface tests, shadowed by their Company-supplied ‘droid--a self-aware SecUnit that has hacked its own governor module and refers to itself (though never out loud) as ‘Murderbot.’ Scornful of humans, Murderbot wants to be left alone long enough to figure out who it is, but when a neighboring mission goes dark, it's up to the scientists and Murderbot to get to the truth.”
Disability Services System Redesign
Instead of summarizing Teresa Naughton's presentation, below are links to information.
Straight from the Iowa Health and Human Services website, find information about the redesign of Regions into "Behavioral Health Districts" here:
https://hhs.iowa.gov/initiatives/system-alignment/behavioral-health-service-system
https://hhs.iowa.gov/initiatives/system-alignment/behavioral-health-service-system
Also, straight from the Iowa HHS website, find information about the redesign of Regions into the disability services system. It is complete with a map where "Disability Access Point" districts are located....which is the same as the behavioral health system:
https://hhs.iowa.gov/initiatives/system-alignment/iowas-disability-services-system
Below is the map of Behavioral Health Districts/Disability Access Points:

Yucatan and the “Partners of the Americas”
Watch this video to learn more about the Partners of the Americas Program, started during the Kennedy Administration, whose goal is to “Connect, Serve, and Change:”
It’s likely that several club members have been to Cancun, located on the Yucatan peninsula. Did you know there are three states on the Yucatan peninsula (Campeche, Yucatan, and Quintana Roo), and Iowa’s sister state is Yucatan?
In February, Dr. Janet Secor and 17 others went on a trip to Iowa’s sister state and saw:
- Cooking techniques in Yaxunah, making tortillas
- Mayan pyramids
- Mayan agriculture where a local famer grew corn, squash, beans, hibiscus, and jicama
- A cooking lesson given by two women, Minelia and Paulina
- A pre-college race that included cheerleaders and a band, which started at the crazy hour of 4am
- Alma Danza
- An artist, recognized by the Smithsonian Institute, reproducing Mayan art
- The homeless shelter housing about 65 residents called Casa de la Divina Providencia, to which the group provided service
- Museums and architecture
- A vanilla farm, where the flowers had to be fertilized by hand
- A presentation about Lebanese and German immigration to Merida, followed by Lebanese food from a local restaurant
- Stingless bees that are native to Yucatan
- The Mayan train
- Past scholarship recipients
The group also enjoyed nightly ice cream, poetry reading, swimming, kayaking, bird watching, and more.
This is just some of the information Janet shared. What isn't here are the photos, how the stingless bees live, and lives saved by the program (just to name a few). If you want to learn more, ask Janet. She'll be happy to share her expereinces.
Programs
The following people have volunteered to get speakers for the identified month. There are open slots. Will you consider taking on a month? It's rather easy. Please speak with Programs Chair Renee McDonald, the Club President, or any of the club officers to learn more.
Month | Person Assigned |
January | |
February | Kraig Barber |
March | Randy Kuhlman |
April | Teresa Naughton |
May | |
June | David Fierke |
July | |
August | |
September | Steven Hoesel |
October | Jim Knight |
November | Phyllis Thesier |
December | Casey Johnson |
April 28th - Janet Secor
May 5th - Steve Hoesel
May 12th -
May 19th -
May 26th - Memorial Day - No Meeting
June 2nd -
June 9th -
June 16th -
June 23rd -
June 30th -
Secretary Teresa Naughton has been uploading Minutes and Financial Reports for the 2022-2023 Rotary Year to the members only section of the Website (Found under Folder Organization and then Subfolder Documents) and are available for viewing by accessing the Members Only Section. Please contact Steve if you need to refresh your password.
Your Rotary Club provides an easy way for you to contribute to the Rotary Foundation, the major financial arm of Rotary that does Polio Plus and Foundation Grants. The program permits you to ask the Treasurer (Elizabeth Stanek) to add an amount each quarter to your quarterly dues statement as a contribution to the R.I. Foundation. The Treasurer then collects these amounts and writes a joint check to the Foundation for all funds contributed by members. If you are interested, please contact Treasurer Elizabeth Stanek or Foundation Chair Bill Kent.