During the month of October, District Governor Alka Khanolkar will be visiting both Ankeny Rotary Groups.   She will visit the Evening group on October 12th and the Noon Group on October 19th.   

 

Also, the Board will be meeting with DG Khanolhar on the 19th at 11:00 AM at the AG&CC prior to the regular noon meeting.   All board members should plan to attend and be prepared to discuss the activities of our club and learn of the goals for this year for our district.

Doug Ripley joined the Rotary Club of Ankeny in August 2003.   After serving as President in 2007-2008, Doug resigned in 2013 when his kids became involved in school activities.  He decided to return to Rotary and was inducted back into the club on September 7th.   Welcome back Doug.

President Todd Eipperle presented a certificate to Sally Schroeder during the noon meeting on September naming her the Ankeny Rotarian of the Month for September.  This was primarily in recognition of her leadership as chairman of the Membership Committee.  Thank you and congratulations Sally!

The Club has received a letter from the Trustees of The Rotary Foundation thanking our club for our generous support of the Annual Fund of the Rotary Foundation for the 2019-2020 Rotary year.   (Receipt of this recognition is a few months late due to COVID.)  It stated our club is distinguished from the more than 35,000 Rotary Clubs worldwide as being the following:

Congratulations and thank you Ankeny Rotarians for making the the Rotary Foundation a continued priority in your club.

It is now only 39 days until the Rotary Club of Ankeny's "Raise the Stakes for Community" Fundraiser which will be held at the FFA Enrichment Center on Saturday October 16th.  The evening will begin with appetizers, a signature drink, and professional Las Vegas style gaming tables open for action at 5:00 PM.  Everyone purchasing a ticket will receive chips to play the games which will include Black Jack, Roulette, Craps, Poker, Three Card Poker and Let It Ride.  Prizes will be awarded to the guests accumulating the most chips for the night.  A new feature this year will be aerial performers in the atrium as you play at the tables.  Complimentary wine and beer will be available throughout the evening and at 6:30 PM a buffet dinner will be available.

 

  

 

There will be about 100 silent auction items to be sold on-line and the program will begin at 8:00 PM.  It will include "Heads or Tails", a dessert auction, and several live auction items which will include: a set of four new tires, Broil King gas grill, kids flying experience, Mike Trout autographed ball and jersey, ISU Sukup football tickets, opportunity to watch ISU football from AD Pollard’s balcony, Green Bay Packers autographed football and club seat tickets, skybox tickets for Cowboys at Chiefs, free installed high efficiency furnace, ride with police officer, free Lasik eye surgery, 10-day service trip for two to South Africa, Eric Church concert VIP seating, and more.

 

Tickets may be purchased from any Ankeny Rotarian or on-line at https://bidpartner.net/rotary/.  Individual tickets are $60 each or reserve a table for 8 for $440.  Sponsorships are also still available on the web site.     

The noon Rotary meeting on August 17th was devoted to Blessman International and the projects they have completed and are still working on in South Africa.   Dr. Jim Blessman gave an update on some of these projects including, drilling water wells, "Teach a Man to Fish" (training individuals to care for gardens), sanitation projects for early childhood development centers, and a feminine hygiene project.   Guests in attendance via Zoom were Allen and Trish Anderson who were major contributors to Blessman International including $100,000 to the sanitation project.    After Dr. Blessman's presentation, Ankeny's Foundation Chair, Tim Hawkins, announced that Allen Anderson was being recognized by the Rotary Foundation for his contribution and presented him with a crystal and a pin with four stones as symbols of his being recognized a "Major Donor - Level 4".  Jacque Andrew, District 6000 Foundation Co-Chair, was also in attendanace via Zoom and thanked Mr. Anderson for his support of the Rotary Foundation and the projects they supported.

Steve Wieneke was named "Rotarian of the Month" for August by President Todd Eipperle.  This was in recognition of all he did to arrange for the Iowa Veterans' Band concert that was held at the Band Shell on July 24th.   Congratulations Steve!