What Our Rough Risers Accomplished in 2021-2022

2021 - 2022 was a Wonderful Year for 

Our Cedar Falls Kiwanis Rough Risers Club.  

Dale Jansen provided insightful leadership for the club.  Before he left his post, Dale reflected on our accomplishments this year.  The table below depicts our activities.  

Enjoy it!!

Our Programs were Informative in July

In July, we were blessed with a wonderful set of program presenters. 

Roger White 
Cedar Trails Partnership - July 8

Valerie Petersen 

Hawkeye CC's  Workforce Development - July 15

Jason Mehmen 

Cedar Falls Lodge of the Odd Fellows - July 22

Tom Wickersham  

Rooted Carrot - July 29

We are Popping Again!!

 We are "Back at the Popper Again."

The Popping Season has begun and the Mighty Rough Risers are cooking their Krazy Kettle Korn again to support our schools.  How do we support schools with Kettle Korn? 

We pop 100 bags for each school's annual carnival and donate them to the school to sell for $5 each.  This can yield $500 for the school.

Since we aren't selling the Kettle Korn at the schools, we move our trailer and popper to a warm place where we can pop and then shuttle the bags of Corny Gold to the schools.

This past Friday, Feb 25, 9 members arrived at the Cedar Falls Maintenance Building at 3:30 to begin popping.  A great time was had by all and the kids were a-glee when Jim Larson dropped them off at Peet Middle School.

We will be at the same place at 3:30 next Friday too. 

Join us!

Expect to be Inspired by February's Program

Feb. 8, 2022 – The Cedar Falls “Rough Risers” Kiwanis Club will be addressed this month by three local leaders, who will talk about their years of commitment to kids and what they’ve accomplished beyond the classroom.

Frank Darrah, a former special education administrator at the local area education agency, will join Kiwanians on Wednesday to touch on his past profession, but mostly his four terms on Cedar Falls City Council and a stint on the Planning and Zoning Commission.

        Frank Darrah

His ability to listen to others and remain even-keeled were attributes, Kiwanis program organizer Tony Reid notes, that were evident during his time in education dealing with stressful situations, and ones that transferred over to his past career in public service.

“I have invited him to reflect on his work for the city, especially on aspects of city government that often aren’t apparent to the average citizen,” said Reid. “What wisdom has he gleaned that he would like to share with us that will help us be better citizens, and better understand how city government works?”

“I hope he’ll reflect on how we can all be better citizens,” he added.

            Dave Welter

Dave Welter, a retired Holmes Junior High principal and high school varsity baseball coach, will be the club’s keynote speaker at its Feb. 16 meeting.

Reid said his life is a fascinating one, having beaten cancer, and also spent time as a baseball scout for the Atlanta Braves. He wrote a book, “Staying Positive When Life Throws You a Curve!” which reflects on his cancer experience, “with a baseball twist,” according to Reid.

“It is always rewarding to hear what Dave has to say,” said Reid. “He’d been through the wringer when battling cancer years ago. He’ll bring a nice, inspiring message to the group.”

Jen Sigrist

The Feb. 23 speaker, Jen Sigrist, is the executive director of educational services at Central Rivers Area Education Agency, who Reid says is one of the “brightest young women he’s ever met.”

Before joining CRAEA, she was director of personalized learning and innovation at Van Meter Schools for ten years.

What’s most impressed Reid about Sigrist is her expertise in curriculum and instruction, and her work in helping CRAEA reach its goal of all students being “future ready.”

“Jen will tell us how schools are preparing students to be contributing citizens,” he said.

The local Kiwanis Club meets every Wednesdays at 6:30 a.m. inside Lifestyle Inn at 5826 University Avenue. If interested in attending a meeting, send an email to: leigh.zeitz@gmail.com.

Walk-Through of Robbery Investigation Kicks Off January Program

Cedar Falls -- Local Kiwanians went on a "job shadow" with Special Agent Scott Reger, a 24-year veteran of the Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation (DCI),  at their meeting last Wednesday.

Special Agent Scott Reger speaks last Wednesday.

He led them through a real-life investigation into a 2016 armed robbery of several thousands of dollars from a bank in Hopkinton, and how investigators and law enforcement went about tracking down the "bad guys," and ultimately putting them behind bars.

Reger kicked off Law Enforcement Month for the Cedar Falls Kiwanis “Rough Risers” Club. Two more with public safety expertise will join the group this week and the following one, before the club moves onto its February program, which will include speakers with experience in city government and education.   

Cedar Falls Police Chief Craig Berte will join Kiwanians Wednesday, Jan. 19 at 6:30 a.m. at Lifestyle Inn, 5826 University Avenue, where weekly meetings are held, to talk about the city’s public safety officer (PSO) model, its role in helping protect citizens, and more about his law enforcement background.

The following Wednesday, Jan. 26, Black Hawk County Sheriff Tony Thompson will stop by a meeting to also share additional details about what his job involves.

** Click "Read more>>" below to learn about what Special Agent Reger shared with the group. **