Speakers
Frank and Phyllis Thesier
Apr 01, 2024
Purina Expansion and How to organize a speech and bridge the gap on Spanish speaking Employees
Committees Meeting
Apr 08, 2024
Joe Murphy- Iowa Business Council
Apr 15, 2024
National Rank vs Iowa in Economics, Workforce/Ed, Governance; Health/Wellness; and Demogra/Diversity
Club Information
Welcome to the Fort Dodge Noon Rotary

Service Above Self

We meet In Person
Mondays at 11:45 a.m.
ShinyTop Brewing
520 Central Avenue
Fort Dodge, IA 50501
United States of America
Invocation Leaders
Club Executives & Directors
President
President Elect
Secretary
Treasurer
Rotary Foundation
Youth Protection Officer
Board Member
Board Member
Board Member
Immediate Past President
Treasurer #2
Board Member
Bulletin Subscribe
Subscribe to our eBulletin and stay up to date on the latest news and events.

 
Enter your email address and the message you want to send.
fields are required
 
Fort Dodge Noon Rotary Club
James Knight, President
 
Home Page Stories
Monday's excellent presentation was provided by Christine Timmerman, Court System Supervisor for the 9 counties of the 2nd Judicial System.  Christine coordinates a staff of eight, with four primarily targeted to Webster County.  Two staff members serve as liaisons with Fort Dodge Senior High and Fort Dodge Middle School.  Juveniles who are identified through the legal system of having behavioral or legal issues are referred to the Juvenile Justice System in which the staff work with each juvenile to determine issues that caused the behavior and solutions to provide corrective behavior.   The goal is to provide intervention counseling to youth in the hope the behavior can be corrected before the individual(s) create more serious issues.   In all cases the system's juveniles aee controlled by the 2nd Judicial District Juvenile Court Judge, who is Rotary's own Joseph Tofilon.  
 
It has been a rough year for the Juvenile Court with the multiple shootings, robberies, and unlawful youthful behaviors.  In addition to the increase in clients, the age of those referred to the program is getting increasingly younger.  The process is further complicated as each Juvenile referred has multiple issues, often beginning with a home environment, influence of friends, and others as numerous as there is juveniles.  Therefore, each referral is an individual issue that takes multiple hours to sort and devise solutions.   From the tone of Christine's message, many are not easy, and success is slow.  A final complication is that Iowa is very short on housing at institutions (such as the Juvenile Detention Center in Eldora) and the availability of professional counselors is a major problem.  Iowa has an extreme shortage of Mental Health professionals which results in insufficient care when needed and none is available and housing for those that must be separated from their home environment.  Iowa has very few facility beds for females, a growing population in the system.
 
Internment at Eldora costs approximately $600 per day, not including the taxpayer expense of transportation to and from the facility for staff.  Another example given was that a recent juvenile was flown to a facility in the southeast portion of the US. at taxpayer expense accompanied by a staff person.  A staff person must now visit the juvenile on a monthly basis - again a costly event.
 
Services can be provided to Juvenile offenders, but even the system cannot provide a percentage of success because success is measured differently for each individual seen.  Therefore, the public system cannot define the degree of success the offender considers acceptable.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
For those members that have wondered how the Fort Dodge Rotary Club (Noon) stacks up with our sister clubs throughout Northcentral and Northeast Iowa (District 5970) a tool is now available for that inquiry.  The District Governor has provided a 25-task outline that when clubs meet at least 8 of the 25 tasks they will be awarded a certificate of excellence.  The Fort Dodge Rotary Club has achieved this designation ever since its conception.  Below please review the charts for the new Rotary Year in which the Club will again be recognized at the District Conference on June 8th in Bancroft.  This year the Club reported to our Assistant District Governor that we had met 11 of the 25 (more than the required 8).  There are others that could be argued, but uncertainties left them off the list.  In the following charts you can review the questions and on the final page a summary of how the criteria is met is posted.  Well done Rotarians.  
 
 
 
Rotarian Meyer appeared in the Monday "Messenger" when she was pictured attending the monthly "Eggs and Issues" session at ICCC. The event brings together area members of the Iowa Legislature on a monthly basis to describe recent happenings at the Capitol.  The sessions are very informative for all divisions of the political spectrum.
 
Rotarian Randy Kuhlman provided the major Second Opinion section of the Saturday/Sunday "Messenger" with a tribute to Uncle Dick Johnson, who served the Fort Dodge area in radio and television announcing, and entertainment venues.  Perhaps his best known was the kiddie TV show that fame to define his time with local television - "Uncle Dick's Fun House."   For those that lived in Fort Dodge those years, and for a host of immigrants to the community, the article is well written and worth your time to find.
Barber on Bad Actors
Bad people (aka “bad actors”) are always trying scam people out of their money. They are clever and sometimes hard to detect. Here are ways to identify scams:
  • If a caller does not clearly identify themselves (says “Warehouse Department,” for example)
  • Popup ads are frequently online scams, even if you are on a legitimate website
  • Misssspellings in the email soliciting money or a purchase
  • If an email address doesn’t jive with who they claim to represent
  • A would-be suitor, who you’ve never met face-to-face, asks for money
  • If you “win" anything but you must send them money to get it (like pay taxes)
  • If you are promised a check but you are asked to wire money before the check has a chance of clearing the bank
  • “Social Security” needs your information
  • If you are being asked to act quickly or to not tell anyone.
  • A fellow who has come to Fort Dodge has begged for cash, with a red gas can, saying he needs fuel to get his family home.
Do business only with people you know. Remember, if it sounds too good to be true, it’s probably not true.
On April 4th the Next Rotary Social Event will be held ty River Hops Brewing in downtown Fort Dodge.  The event will be a "Trivia Night" with tacos provided for a free will donation.  These outings have proved to be very enjoyable so please plan on attending.
 
 
The following Rotarians volunteered to secure programs for these months. When a Rotarian is approached by an individual requesting to present to the Club, please refer the individual to the program coordinator for the requested month.
 
As of this posting the Club is still looking for Program Chairs for April and June.  If you are willing to take on that task please contact Renee McDonald.
 
Overall Chair for Programs - Renee McDonald 
 
August - Justin Mikos
September - Renee McDonald
October - Jim Knight
November - 
December - Casey Johnson
January - David Fierke
February - Kraig Barber
March - Randy Kuhlman
April - Phyllis Thesier
May - Teresa Naughton
June - 
July - Cameron Nelson
 
 
 
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 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 complete the following form and provide to Treasurer Kraig Barber/Elizabeth Stanek.