Shelby's Playground Renovation

Boji Brew Fest

Park Cleanup

Food Drives

Event Volunteers

Club Socials

Welcome to Iowa Great Lakes Rotary!

We're Meeting in Person and Online - Please Join Us!

Iowa Great Lakes Rotary is now meeting both in person and online via Zoom with Hybrid meetings. For the summer, our location may vary as we are trying some new locations out so we are able to spread out and meet safely. This week (July 7), we will be meeting at the Maser Monarch Lodge by the Nature Center. Our meeting will also be available to watch via Zoom online as well.

This week, we will welcome our own Rebecca Peters along with Tom Tourville as they talk about their latest books “Rockin’ The Green”-The Music Of Arnolds Park Amusement Park-1989-2019 and “Remembering Okoboji’s Roof Garden Ballroom” 1953-1978. We are sure to hear some great music stories from the Iowa Great Lakes that you won't want to miss!

For those who plan to attend in person, we are doing a pay-as-you-go lunch option. This week we will be having burgers, fries and a cookie from Bruger & Co. If you are interested in joining us (anyone is welcome to attend) and would like a lunch, orders are due by 10 am on Wednesday mornings and can be reserved by emailing Membership Chair Kathy Fahy at krfahy@gmail.com. If you are interested in joining the meeting via Zoom, you can also email Kathy for the link.

Upcoming Service Opportunities

Please mark the following service opportunity dates on your calendar and let Erin (ecatc@hotmail.com) know if you are able to help out with any of them:

Shelby's Playground Cleanup - Rescheduled to July 29th from 4-6pm due to heat. Watch your email for further updates. (Let's keep our playground looking nice for the summer!)
Rotary Boji Brew Fest Fundraiser - August 14 (need volunteers for setup, gate check-in, exit gates, ice duty, brewer check-in and tear down)

Our motto in Rotary is "Service above Self" - we hope that each of you will select an event/project to volunteer a little of your time with. If you have any additional service ideas, please let Erin know!

Organizations to Benefit from IGL Rotary Donations

During our last quarterly club assembly, the club voted to donate $500 each to three organizations. The recipients this quarter are the YMCAs of the Okobojis, SWIM (Safe Water International Ministries), and Next Life Foundation. The donations are part of a new process for distributing member contributions. Each quarter, club members will take an active part in distributing the money via an in person vote and discussion. We look forward to hearing more about how each of these donations has made an impact.

We have a winner!

Jon Collins of Milford possessed the winning time ticket in the Iowa Great Lakes Rotary annual car drop contest.

The Rotary Car Drop is an annual fundraiser for the Iowa Great Lakes Rotary Club. Tickets are sold for each minute of the day with one ticket including both the a.m. and p.m. time. The winner is determined when the car, which is placed on the ice of Smith’s Bay on West Lake Okoboji, falls through the ice. Once the car is retrieved, the official winning time is confirmed by a clock inside the car and the winner receives $1000 cash prize.

According to the clock mounted in the car, the actual winning time was 4:58 on Friday, March 19. The 4:58 ticket was not sold though, so the winner goes to the next closest time - 4:59. Jon Collins, of Milford possessed the winning ticket sold by Rotarian Brad Jungers.

Bob Kirschbaum from Bob's Towing was on hand to retrieve the car on Sunday, March 21. Kirschbaum annually donates the car his time to assist Iowa Great Lakes Rotary with this endeavor to support community projects. Funds raised by Iowa Great Lakes Rotary are used for community projects, recently including the playground upgrades at Shelby Duis Park and the building of an outdoor Pavilion at Camp Foster YMCA.

Pictured in the photo are Rotarian Leo Kofoot, winner Jon Collins and Rotarian John Battern.