A total of 559 golf ball tickets were sold including 31 through the Ankeny Service Center web site.  This is 21 more total balls that were sold in 20219.  Since there was no Ankeny Summerfest this year, the balls were dropped on July 30th.  The winners are now known. and they are:

 

1st Place - $1,000 - Molly Lydon (Sold by Mike Lydon) 

2nd Place - $375 - Brad Norwood (Sold by Tom Friedman)

3rd Place - $250 - Laura Luetje (Sold by Laura Luetje)

4th Place - $125 - Troy Boelman (Sold by Troy Boelman)

 

The net proceeds from this year's event will be split 60% to the Ankeny Service Center and 40% to the Rotary Club of Ankeny.  Thank you to Wig & Pen and Tim's Amoco for donating the coupons on the tickets and to Andrew Larson, Ankeny Sanitation, for donating $2,000 towards the prize money.   Also, a big thank you to Tom Friedman for coordinating this fundraising event.

The news this week centers on the efforts undertaken, so far, by The Rotary Foundation in combating COVID-19.  The excerpts below are from the report by the 2020-21 Trustee Chair of the Rotary Foundatin, Mr. K.R. "Ravi" Ravindran, in the current issue of The Rotarian: 

 

“If a honeybee faces a giant hornet alone, the bee has a problem.  But if the honeybee faces a hornet with a swarm of other bees, then it is the hornet that has a problem.  The COVID-19 pandemic seemed like a situation that might overwhelm The Rotary Foundation.  But as things have progressed, we have not allowed it to do so. As of 4 June, we have funded 208 disaster response grants for $5.2 million and 169 new global grants at $13.8 million - all in three months. We have leveraged individual Rotarians' generosity with Foundation funds and in many cases other corporate funds to make projects larger and more impactful.  We never allowed the pandemic to overpower us.  Indeed, history shows that Rotarians are a curious breed.  We are visionaries, an idealistic lot that dreams big dreams of a better world.  At the same time, we are resilient and able to withstand challenges that others might succumb to.  We were not idle during the pandemic lockdowns.  We raised funds and did projects just as we would have if there had been no lockdown.  We remembered that it's the same business that we always do - reaching out to people in distress - except the methodology by which we did it changed.  The Rotary Foundation is more than 100 years old and has already weathered many storms - some of them mild and others devastating to the world.  Thanks to the strength, sacrifice, and compassion of Rotarians and the level to which they have extended themselves, I believe the Foundation will continue to face the future with renewed hope and inspiration.  Our Foundation will emerge from this pandemic much stronger and more resilient as long as you continue to have trust and faith in it.”

The August meeting of the Board of Directors of the Rotary Club of Ankeny will be held virtually at noon on Thursday, August 13th.   All members are welcome to attend and it will count as a make-up.  The Zoom link is

Rotary District 6000 Foundation Chair Chris Knapp, virtually attended the Evening Rotary Club of Ankeny meeting on July 28th.  He joined in the meeting to present information regarding the Rotary Foundation and to also recognize Juan Arias for his commitment to the Rotary Foundation.   Juan is a Paul Harris Fellow+4 and has also become a Paul Harris Society member.  As a member of the Paul Harris Society, Juan has committed to contribute at least $1,000 to the Rotary Foundation for 10 years when he would become a Major Donor.

 

The Rotary Club of Ankeny now has six Paul Harris Society members.  They are: Juan Arias, Nate Burnham, Tim Hawkins, Steve SchraderBachar, Sally Schroeder, and Zane Smith.  These six Rotarians contributed nearly 40% of the total contribution made to the Rotary Foundation by the Rotary Club of Ankeny in 2019-2020.   Thank you to our Paul Harris Society members!!

The Evening Ankeny Rotary Club enjoyed a relaxing and fun social night with a barbeque at the home of Amanda and Noel Fiscus on the evening July 21st.   Noel grilled burgers and brats for the group which included twelve Rotarians and 7 guests.

      

The Rotary Club of Ankeny's 2019-2020 "Rotarian of the Year" was out of town the evening of the club's annual meeting and awards banquet but he did attend the club's July 21st meeting via Zoom.  Laura Luetje and Stacey Koeppen, the club's 2018-2019 Co-Rotarians of the Year, took that opportunity to announce that Dave Mercer had been selected for this recognition for 2019-2020.  Dave has been a member of the club for 14 years and has volunteered for a number of service projects and committees.   For the past 6 years, he has been the club's representative at the District's Grant Management Training Meetings and in that capacity he has written several community development grants and oversaw the required reporting.  He has also coordinated the club's purchase of coats and snow pants for Project Fresh Start, served on the AMP fundraising committee, assisted with the donations to the local food banks, and several other service projects.  Congratulations Dave!!       

 

5th - Jeff Magner

5th - Jess Reynolds

5th - James Warner

6th - Renee Murphy

12th - Dale Port

16th - Mark Land

16th - Pat Timmons

18th - Gary Welch

22nd - Brian Tiernan

28th - Ben Digmann

 

The leadership of the Evening Rotary Club of Ankeny was turned over to Juan Arias by outgoing president, Steve Wieneke during the club's annual meeting.   Thank you Steve and we look forward to Juan's leadership of the evening club in the 2020-2021 year.

The club's "Annual Meeting and Awards Night" held on June 30th at the AG&CC concluded with the Rich Job turning over the leadership of the club to Todd Wehr.  After being sworn in, Todd presented Rich with a golden gavel as a token of the club's appreciation for his leadership during the past year.  Thank you Rich and good luck to Todd as we look forward to his leadership in the 2020-2021 year.