Speakers
Heather Bristow
Jul 22, 2025
Osher Lifelong Learning Institute (OLLI) at ISU
Two Minute Tuesday
Jul 29, 2025
Get to know your fellow Rotarians!
RYLA
Aug 05, 2025
Student Presentations
Luke Hoffman
Aug 19, 2025
Iowa Bicycle Coalition
Kelli Paskert
Aug 26, 2025
"Take the Vacation!"
Club Assembly
Sep 02, 2025
Whitney Warne, Ivory House Photography
Sep 09, 2025
Community-focused Marketing
Morganne Reinboldt & Todd Misel
Sep 16, 2025
Iowa Donor Network
Two Minute Tuesday
Sep 30, 2025
Get to know your fellow Rotarians!
Dr. Erick Pruitt - Ankeny CSD Superintendent
Oct 14, 2025
Update from Ankeny Community School District
Ken DeYoung
Oct 21, 2025
GoServ Global
Chad Bruntz
Oct 28, 2025
Update from Casey's General Stores
District Governor Norlan and Cindy Hinke
Nov 04, 2025
Official Visit by DG
Jed Gines, Vice President of Operations
Nov 11, 2025
Highmark Senior Living
Rosalind Fox, Factory Manager - Des Moines Works
Nov 18, 2025
Update from John Deere
Club Assembly
Dec 02, 2025
No meeting
Dec 23, 2025
No meeting
Dec 30, 2025
 
Club Information
Welcome to the Rotary Club of Ankeny!
 
Ankeny

Service Above Self

We meet In Person
Tuesdays at 11:45 a.m.
Ankeny Golf & Country Club
314 SW Irvinedale Dr.
Ankeny, IA 50023
United States of America
Home Page Stories
Twenty-five Rotarians rose early, some before 5:00 AM on the morning of July 12th to assist with lining up the floats and other entries for the Ankeny Summerfest Parade.  It was a beautiful day, and thanks to the efforts of the Rotarians the parade got off on time and it was a huge success with over 100 entries.    
 
Thank you to Rich Bergez and Marie Kline from the Evening club for coordinating the parade line-up and to all of the Rotarians that volunteered!
   
   
The first order of business at the July, first meeting of the Rotary Fiscal year, was to approve the addition of Jamie Silver to the Board of Directors and assign her with the responsibility of Chairperson for Public Relations committee.   This position was open due to Sara Wilson, the former chair, agreeing to be the President Elect Nominee, 2027-2028, for the Club.
 
Congratulations Jamie!! 
The Club's monthly board  meetings are held on the 2nd Thursday of each month at noon at Wig & Penn, 2005 South Ankeny Boulevard.  The August meeting will be on Thursday, August 12th.  All members are invited to attend, especially new members .   Not only is it a great way to learn more about Rotary and the projects the Club is involved in but it also counts as a makeup for attendance.
The following Rotary Club of Ankeny members will celebrate birthdays in August:
 
3rd - Katie Claeys
12th - Dale Port
13th - Paul Romanelli
16th - Mark Land
16th - Pat Timmons
18th - Darin Haack
18th - Erick Pruitt
22nd - Brian Tiernan
28th - Ben Digmann
On June 8th Ruby Palmer Rankin was born.  Her parents are Sam and Haley Rankin.  She weighted in at 9 lbs. 7 oz.   The Club presented Sam with a candy bouquet and a pink onesie with the wording "Future Rotarian" on it.   Congratulations Haley and Sam! 
  
The following thank you was received from Tyler Zhang who received a $1,000 scholarship from the Rotary Club of Ankeny:
 
Dear Rotary Club of Ankeny,
First and foremost, thank you so much for your generous scholarship award!  I fell extremely honored to have been chosen for this scholarship and this offer will go a long way in my academic journey, especially  as an out-of-state student!  I think what all of you guys  do is amazing and this specific opportunity will help make higher-level education for many others like me more accessible.  Not only that, I also want to express my gratitude for being selected to attend the RYLA  experience!  During my time there, I met and connected with all kinds of people and learned many valuable lessons that weren't only about leadership but also about compassion, communication, tolerance, and more.  These are all very important life skills and are traits that I will continue bear moving onwards.  This is what truly made RYLA an unforgettable experience!  As a little bonus, it also gave me a little taste of college life - especially the dorms...still a great experience nonetheless.   As for me, I plan on studying Computer Science at the University of Minnesota twin Cities.  Eventually, I hope to earn a PhD in Computer Science at a school like UC Berkely or UIUC!   this is all to get my dream job of working at the forefront of ethical artificial intelligence development!  Once again, thank you so much for everything that you have done and al the opportunities you have provided me with.  Your'e not just supporting my future, your'e supporting the future. 
Wirth Sincere gratitude, Tyler Zhang  
Iowa State Athletic Director, Jamie Pollard, will be the guest speaker at the noon Rotary Club of Ankeny on July 1st.  This will be a great opportunity to invite a guest or prospective new member to attend a Rotary meeting!   
 
We anticipate a larger than normal attendance and will need to provide the AG&CC with an estimate of the number planning to attend.  Please advise Nate Burnham, nfburtnham@gmail.com, if you plan to attend and how many guests you will be bringing.   Space is limited!!
Kent Patterson's term as President of the Rotary Club of Ankeny came to an end during the club's annual Celebration and Awards Banquet on June 24th.  To mark the end of his term, he passed the gavel to Brandon Converse and gave him the president's pin.  Brandon then gave Kent a past president's pin and presented him with a gavel on a golden name plate.   Thank you Kent for a great year .  We are now looking forward to the 2025-2026 Rotary year with Brandon as our President.
 
Assistant District Governor, Marie Pipes was in attendance at the gavel passing and presented gifts to both Kent and Brandon.  A thank you to Kent for his leadership during the past year and a leadership book for Brandon to help him during the coming year as she looks forward to working with him.
   
Brian Tiernan the club's 2023-2024 Rotarian of the Year had the privilege of introducing Todd Wehr as the Rotary Club of Ankeny's "Rotarian of the Year" for 2024-2025.  Todd has been a member of the Club for 22 years and served as president during the difficult COVID year of  2020-2021.   He has had perfect attendance for the past 13 years and is a Paul Harris Fellow +3.  He has been in charge of registration at our fundraisers for over 10 years.   He was also one of the original members of the fundraising committee for the AMP project and has been a liaison between the City of Ankeny and our Club on numerous projects.

Todd is a Washington County, Iowa native, attended Mid-Prairie Community School District and graduated in 1980.  He attended Iowa State University and acquired a B-Arts in Architecture in 1985.  Todd and his wife Cindy have 5 children and 8 grandchildren. He works for Shive-Hattery Architects and Engineers in the West Des Moines office as a Architectural Group Leader and is a registered Architect in Iowa, Wisconsin, Illinois, Kentucky and Nebraska with varied project experience over a 38 year career but is currently specializing in Healthcare related projects.

Sar Wilson joined the Rotary Club of Ankeny on April 23, 2024.  She is the Executive Director of the On With Life Foundation. Since joining Rotary she has stepped up to join the Board as the chair of the Public Relations committee and has been responsible for updating our Face Book page including taking numerous pictures at meeting and she played an important role on the fundraiser committee.  Now she has agreed to be our president elect nominee for next year which means she will be our President in the Rotary year 2027-2028.  In addition she will have earned perfect attendance for her first year as a member of the club.   Because of her willingness to provide "Service Above Self" for the club, Hans Hoeksema, the 2024 recipient of the Outstanding New Member Award had the honor of announcing that Sara was the recipient of the Club's Outstanding New Member of the Year Award for 2005.  In addition to receiving a trophy, Sara was made a Paul Harris Fellow by the Club.   

Congratulations  Todd and Sara!

     

When a Rotarian contributes a total of $1,000, 1,000 recognition points or any combination of dollars and points totaling 1,000 they are recognized by the Rotary Foundation as a Paul Harris Fellow.  They are then recognized for each additional 1,000 recognition amount.  District 6000 Foundation Co-Chair Neil Fell announced at the Annual Awards and recognition Banquet the names of seven Rotary Club of Ankeny members who were becoming a new Paul Harris Fellow or had achieved a new Paul Harris level.  They included:  Sara Wilson and James Warner - New PHF, Damon Miller PHF +2, Mark Land - PHF +3, Kevin Brooks - PHF+4, Mark Martin - PHF+5 and Rich Job - PHF+6.
 
Pictured are Neil Fell, Sara Wilson Mark Martin, Mark Land and Damon Miller.
Twenty members of the Rotary Club of Ankeny were recognized at the Club's "Annual Celebration and Awards Banquet" for having perfect attendance for the 2024-2025 Rotary year.  No one was actually present at all 47 noon meeting the Club held during the year but Steve SchraderBachar was present at 45 of the meetings.   This was one more than President Kent Patterson.   During the year members received over 500 make-ups to improve their attendance and for some to achieve perfect attendance.  make-ups included board meetings, Friday morning coffees, committee meetings, social event, new member orientations, service projects, and on-line make-ups. 
 
The members with perfect attendance were:  1 Year - Wendy Chapman, Andy Schnurr, Amy Ratekin & Sara Wilson;  2 Years -Rich Bergez Brandon Converse, 3 Years - Kent Patterson, 7 Years - Todd Eipperle,  11 Years - Rich Job, 12 Years - Doug Beech, 13 Years - Jim Ramsey, Steve SchraderBachar, & Todd Wehr - 14 Years - Daman Miller, 15 Years -  Mary Cochran, 16 Years - Kathy Sibbel, 17Years - Sally Schroeder, 21 Years - Nate Burnham & Tom Friedman, 35 Years - Shar Dunlap.  
 
The following Ankeny Rotarians will celebrate birthdays in July:
 
9th - Jim Ramsey
12th - Brett Hendrickson
17th - Amy Dittmar
17th - Summer Dunham
19th - Jason Gassmann
22nd - Gerry Bair
23rd - Todd Eipperle
25th - Lindsay Szymanski
The Club's monthly board  meetings are held on the 2nd Thursday of each month at noon at Wig & Penn, 2005 South Ankeny Boulevard.  The July meeting will be on Thursday, July 10th.  All members are invited to attend, especially new members .   Not only is it a great way to learn more about Rotary and the projects the Club is involved in but it also counts as a makeup for attendance.
The 2025 Rotary International Convention in Calgary, Canada has been completed.   The 2026 convention is scheduled for June 13-17 in Taipei, Taiwan.
 
If you were planning to attend the 2007 Rotary International Convention in Honolulu, Hawaii, unfortunately, it has will no longer be held in Honolulu. This is due to a recent decision by the Hawaii Convention Center to extend the schedule for a series of critical upgrades and repairs across the convention facility. Rotary is now actively scouting a new city with the necessary infrastructure to host an event of our convention size and scope.  Honolulu had planned to be the site of the 2020 Rotary convention, but it was ultimately canceled because of the COVID pandemic. 
 
The Convention is tentatively planned to return to the United States in Minneapolis on May 27-31, 2028 and again on May 25-29, 2030, in Chicago.  A site has not as yet been chosen for 2029.
The Rotary Club of Ankeny Evening will be hosting a Quilt of Valor Presentation on Tuesday, July 15, at 6:00 p.m. at Magee's Irish Pub.  Five veterans including Todd Eipperle and Del Mohler from the Rotary Club of Ankeny will be honored that evening.    Noon club members are welcome to attend.  If you would like to attend, please RSVP to Anne Porter at 515-954-8180.
 
The wrap up for the highly successful 2025 Rotary Fundraiser has been completed and plans are beginning for the 2026 fundraiser.  The event will be on Saturday April 18, 2026 and it will again be held at the FFA Enrichment Center.  Now we need to select a theme.  Please submit your ideas to Brandon Converse or Todd Eipperle.  We hope to have the theme selected by early August. 
 
Our first major fundraiser was held in 2011.  As a reminder, here are the themes from these previous events.  2011 – No theme at White Oak Vineyard, 2012 - Rotary Roundup, 2013 – Saturday Night Fever, 2014 – Fun-Raiser Luau, 2015 – Hollywood Night, 2016 – Biker Night, 2017 – Mardi Gras, 2018 – Rotary Olympics, 2019 – Raise the Stakes For Community – Casino Night, 2020 – Parties With A Purpose (Small in home parties hosted by Rotarians due to COVID restrictions), 2021- Raise the Stakes For Community – Casino Night, 2023 - Raise the Stakes for Community – Casino Night, 2024 – Rotary Runs For the Roses, and 2025 – Rotary Runs For the Roses
             
 
The Rotary Club of Ankeny will not be meeting at the Ankeny Golf & Country Club on August 12, 2025.  Instead, they will be meeting outside at the bandshell. Lunch will be provided.  We will also be entertained by a jazz trio, the Drama Kings.  Plan to attend and bring you spouse and/or a guest!!!
On Thursday, June 6th, members of the Club's literacy committee participated in a book giveaway at the Ankeny Presbyterian church.  Over 150 kids were served lunch and received a free book.  Pictured are Steve SchraderBachar, Rich Job, and Chase Netusil from the Evening club.   Thank you to these Rotarians and also Kathy Sibbel for helping to distribute these books.   Each book had a label in it stating it was being donated by the Rotary Clubs of Ankeny.
Almost all of the guests at the Club's fundraiser, "Rotary Runs for the Roses" were dressed up in their best Kentucky Derby attire.  It was difficult to choose the winners but prizes were awarded in three categories.  The winners were; Gretchen Nollman - "Best Ladies hat,  Matt Davis - "Best Dressed Gentleman", and Steve & Leigh Olinger - "Best Dressed Couple".
  
For the past year the Ankeny Rotary Clubs hosted Ada Sallares a foreign exchanger student from Spain.  This fall Evelyn Forrester will be leaving to spend the 2025-2026 school year in Spain as an outgoing Rotary exchange student.  On the evening of May 27th, a going away celebration was held at Sunrise Park in Ankeny to honor these two young ladies.
 
Ada was honored with a beautiful US flag and Evelyn, received a Spanish flag. The Rotary Club of Ankeny and the Rotary Club of Ankeny Evening each gave a generous $500 contribution to Evelyn to provide some financial support as she embarks on her exciting journey.  Pictured are Ada with her two host families, Juan Arias and Patty Munguia and Brenda and Steve Wieneke, Ada and Evelyn, and Evelyn with her parents and sister. 
  
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