Two Kearney clubs

working together

on annual fundraiser

Kearney Kiwanis Club and Dobytown Kearney Kiwanis Club worked together once again recently for the benefit of both clubs.

There were busy flipping pancakes and cooking sausages on Feb. 10.

This was their annual fund raising event. 

Submitted by Lou Maxson,

Kearney Kiwanis Club

Cedar Falls Rough Risers help local schools

It is popping season in Cedar Falls and the Kiwanis Rough Risers are busy at work! The Cedar Falls Rough Risers have already popped over 400 bags of kettle corn for three local elementary and middle schools.

The schools will sell the delicious bags of kettle corn at their local spring fundraising events. Each school gets 100 bags to sell. Sold at $7 a bag, that is $700 of profit for each school!

Stay tuned for more popping as the club continues to help five more schools this spring! That will be almost 1,000 bags of kettle corn!

Submitted by Holly Humke-Williams, Cedar Falls Rough Risers Kiwanis Club 

Lincoln Kiwanians drive train for Children's Zoo

For several years, a number of Lincoln Kiwanis members have been engineers for the train at the Lincoln Children’s Zoo. The Lincoln Center, Lincoln Northeast, Lincoln Sunrise and Wavery Kiwanis clubs have members who are currently engineers or who have been engineers in the past.

For Lincoln Northeast, Jack Chapin and Bob Marshall are active now. Jack is the certified trainer and he and his wife, Donna, coordinate the scheduling. Don Edwards used to be an engineer but is no longer active. Jack Schinstock was an engineer until his death.

These members at Lincoln Center drive the trains at the zoo: Herb Angell, Bruce Chapman, Jim Schiefelbein and Charlie Wortman. Jim Budka is now on honorary status and is no longer driving the train. Andy Sonneland is now retired from driving the train. He noted that last year he volunteered for a stint caring for the baby cheetah cubs to help them become acclimated to humans before they went on exhibit at the Cheetah Run.

For Lincoln Sunrise, Harold Dorssom, Don Cunningham, Jim Dickey and John Willey drive the train.

What got them interested in being an engineer at the Children’s Zoo? Many, if not all, started with the gas-powered train that could go 12-15 miles per hour.

Stories are told about it having some trouble making it up the hill on the NW corner of the zoo. Now they drive the battery powered engine named “Jim”, that has a max speed of 8 mph. It also has a speed governor to keep the engineers from going too fast. One of the big tasks in training for the new battery powered train is to learn how to line up the battery on the engine with the charging position on the track just past the depot.

What satisfaction do they take from volunteering to drive the Train?

Jim Schiefelbein noted that his first motivation was to drive his grandchildren. He noted it is a rewarding volunteer job that makes kids and adults happy to be on the train.

Charles Wortman noted that “the interaction with kids and their expressions of joy before, during and after rides makes it fun and very rewarding for volunteers. We often hear that it is the main zoo attraction although the giraffes sometimes rate higher.”

Jim Dickey noted that “the reward is definitely the high fives, smiles, and even hugs from the little ones. Also, when a parent or grandparent tells you that you have the best job around.”

During the ride one of the longtime traditions is to yell as loud as you can in the tunnel. Jim Dickey noted, “I was the conductor on a round with a group of school kids and some teachers/sponsors…I said ‘Here's the tunnel. I hope everyone knows what to do.’ Of course, the kids yelled like crazy. We just got outside the tunnel and…I said ‘What was all the yelling about? I thought everyone knew when going through a tunnel you were supposed to kiss the person sitting next to you.’ Boy did I ever get a bunch of strange looks. Even from the adults.”

Everyone has a great time on the Children’s Zoo Train. The adults, the kids and the engineers who drive the train.

Submitted by Ted Ericson, Lincoln Sunrise Kiwanis Club secretary 

Grundy Center raises money with breakfast

Last spring, the Grundy Center Kiwanis donated $5,000 to the local high school to upgrade the auditorium sound system. The vocal music director and Kiwanis member, Mark Falker, thanked the Kiwanis from the stage at the vocal concert and included an ad in the spring musical program.

Submitted by Tim Melloy, Grundy Center Kiwanis Club secretary

Ames Golden K tours facility, adds new member program

For the Ames Golden K Kiwanis Club’s Fifth Thursday Program, more than 60 club members, spouses and special guests attended their weekly meeting at the Child Serve campus in Ames, where currently more than 1,000 children with special health needs are treated. 

The program began with a donation check (given by the club) in honor of Erica Briest, a member of Ames CYCLONE CLUB, for her participation in the 2023 American Miracle League Weekend. 

Following the check presentation, the group toured the facility and heard about the continuum of service provided in four key areas: autism, pediatric rehabilitation, complex medical care, and child-family-community interaction.  Special emphasis is given to autism.  

The club’s Fifth Thursday Program is planned whenever a fifth Thursday occurs during the calendar year.

In other club news, the Board of Directors is searching for more ways to achieve a high retention rate of members. It was decided that publicly thanking and recognizing newer members would enhance that opportunity.  They authorized the establishment of a “New Member Recognition Day”. which was first celebrated at the club’s meeting on March 7.

At this initial meeting, 25 members who have joined since Oct. 1, 2021 were introduced. They were given certificates and a “Kiwanis cap” for belonging and participating in club activities.  Many of them have encouraged each other to become more involved.  Two of them have recruited one new member each since joining themselves.  “Kiwanis caps” were given instead of a “membership pin” after the board decided the caps would hopefully increase the visibility and public recognition of our club in the community.

Following these presentations, the program continued with featured speaker David Hellyer, who was honored as a member since February 2023. His topic, “My Naval Aviation Career” was filled with many interesting slides and stories that provided a wealth of knowledge and entertainment to all members.

Submitted by Larry Trede, Ames Golden K Kiwanis Club 

West Des Moines Kiwanians hold Pickleball tourney

West Des Moines Kiwanis successfully put on its Inaugural Pickleball Tournament on Feb. 10. Twenty-five players had great fun in a round of Crazy Eight. That was not bad since few members knew anything about Pickle ball!

Submitted by Jan Burch, West Des Moines Kiwanis Club 

Ottumwa Kiwanis helps with shoe project

Ottumwa Kiwanis helped sponsor "soles for soles" and donated over 200 pairs of shoes to the Bible Baptist Church in Ottumwa. This was a local promotion to help homeless children and adults in Ottumwa.

Submitted by Tom Shafer, Ottumwa Kiwanis Club

Atlantic Kiwanis hands out more helmets

Kiwanis Club of Atlantic again donated eight bike helmets to the Chamber. These were given away along with the bikes they had as prizes for the Easter Egg Hunt.

Steve Green delivered the helmets to the Chamber.

Kiwanis is well known for bike helmets in the Atlantic area. This will be the club’s 28th year to give bike helmets to third graders. This year, the club added a co-sponsor. Cass Health has donated $500 to help pay for helmets in Cass County for three school districts. They will also help with the safety program the club does when the helmets are given in April.

Submitted by Janice Brown, Atlantic Kiwanis Club secretary

Nevada Kiwanis' K-Kids raise funds for hospital

The Nevada K-Kids were very busy fundraising in March. Every Thursday before school, with the help of their sponsoring Nevada Kiwanis Club, they popped and bagged popcorn to sell on Fridays before school for $1 a bag. 

They chose the Stead Family Children’s Hospital at the University of Iowa to receive the funds they raised. Every Friday, they sold over 300 bags of popcorn. They also raised money by selling the opportunity for teachers to wear jeans to school every day for a week. Their efforts brought in $2,300. 

At their meeting on March 28, the K-Kids zoomed in with an employee at the hospital and “presented” her with a big check. It was a great opportunity to meet someone from the hospital, and for her to be able to see the K-Kids and thank them personally.   

Submitted by Jody Melcher, Nevada Kiwanis Club

Missouri Valley kids help out sheriff's department

The Missouri Valley Builders Club made Comfort Bags for the sheriff's department to have on hand for those cases when kids need to be removed for safety.

Each bag has a toiletry kit, stuffed animal, Kleenex and a note of encouragement from the Builders Club members. Deputy Klutz (left), Deputy Denton (kneeling) and Officer Leo (the most handsome Belgian Malinois) came to thank the kids and take the bags back to the department on April 5.

Submitted by Minnie Fisher, Greater Missouri Valley Kiwanis Club secretary 

Share what your club is doing!!!!

Clubs are invited to share their projects and happenings. Article and photo submissions are due by the 1st of every month to NIKiwanisDistrict@gmail.com.

An online link to this newsletter will also be made available on the District Website, Click Here

QUICK LINKS

NE-IA District Website

NE-IA District Facebook

NE-IA District Instagram

NEBRASKA-IOWA KIWANIS DISTRICT

402-430-9647

nikiwanisdistrict@gmail.com

https://k16.site.kiwanis.org/