Cedar Falls Kiwanis Rough Risers Launches Blog

In our on-going effort to stay current and keep the group/public informed, the Cedar Falls Kiwanis Rough Risers club has launched a blog. We intend to use this blog to:

• keep you informed of the latest in upcoming events and activities,
• share when and where we will be selling kettle corn,
• feature our speakers and their organizations and
• provide general information that will be useful to our membership.

Kiwanis Rough Risers Donate to "Dollars for Scholars"

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Kiwanis Rough Risers Donate to "Dollars for Scholars" to support student scholarships.

Rough Risers Aid Flood Relief

Rough Risers Help with Sandbagging Against the Cedar River Flood

The river was rising but the people were shoveling.  It was a grueling experience but it demonstrated how people can rally together to confront a shared disaster.  People from all over Cedar Valley, Iowa and even the nation came together to fill sandbags to build walls to protect our city.  Rough Risers could be seen shoveling sand both day and night. Unfortunately, the article below doesn’t mention the Kiwanis Rough Risers specifically, it provides an accurate description of the event.

Click here to read the rest of the story

Hansen School Thanks Rough Risers for Support

Rough Risers Raise 1000s Selling Kettle Corn

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Over 3 years, Cedar Falls Kiwanis Rough Risers has contributed more than $30,000 to the CV Community using funds raised by selling kettlecorn.  Read the article for specifics.

Rough Risers Raise $1000s Selling Kettlecorn

This is a second article about how we raised $30,000 in funds.

Rough Risers Raise $30,000 for Programs in 3 Years

WE ARE MAKING A DIFFERENCE. Through selling kettlecorn and receiving contributions from businesses throughout the Cedar Valley, we have raised $30,000 over the past 3 years.  This money has been donated to multiple youth organizations or to support our work in building and renovating structures throughout the valley.

Rough Risers Kiwanis host District Governor

Kiwanis Clubs Clean Up Hartman Reserve on the First Kiwanis One Day

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This year is the first year of Kiwanis One Day.  What do we do on Kiwanis One Day?  - We Serve!

Our Rough Risers president, Leigh Zeitz, contacted local Kiwanis clubs and the Circle K to go to Hartman Reserve to help prepare it for the coming summer.  You can see from the clothes we are wearing in the middle of April that summer hadn't arrived yet, but that didn't slow us down.

Volunteers from Cedar Falls Kiwanis Club, Cedar Falls Rough Risers, Waterloo Noon Club and the UNI Circle K served that day by building huge piles of twigs, brush 

and logs to create refuge where wildlife can build their homes.

A great time was had by all and Kiwanis' One Day was a Success in Cedar Valley.

Rough Risers Support Troops With Boxes for Bagdad

Wednesday, December 20, 2006 - In an effort to support our troops in Bagdad, we collected materials that we mailed to the troops. Among the items sent were books, wool socks, treats, and implements for writing. Lynn Barnes headed the program. Also on the committee were Reece Conrad, Roger Hazen, and Jim Larson. They met at Sams club to purchase the treats and the wool socks. Over eight boxes were mailed before the closing date of Nov. 10th. We have not heard that they have arrived, but we will keep you updated as we receive more information.

Newly-Chartered Circle K Sell Kettlecorn at Walmart

This article indicates that the Kiwanis Circle K was chartered in 2005.  This was the first time that the Circle K service organization popped and sold kettlecorn at the Cedar Falls Walmart store.  Dr. Greg Stefanich was the advisor for the group at this time.

Rough Risers Pop Kettlecorn to Support Jamie and Jim's Kids

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It's KETTLECORN, NOT POPCORN!!!

Yes, the Rough Risers are at it again. We are popping and selling kettlecorn at WalMart to raise funds for Jaimie and Jim's Kids fund. Review this article to see the many projects we have been doing.

Rough Risers Share Kettlecorn Ambrosia Again!

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Cedar Falls Kiwanis Rough Risers are sharing the kettlecorn ambrosia with Walmart Shoppers again.  Read the article to see what we were doing in March 2005.

Rough Risers Build Access Ramps for Evil House at Rotary Reserve

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In support of the Rotary Reserve Park, the Cedar Falls Kiwanis Rough Risers built 2 30-foot ramps to provide wheelchair access to the annual haunted house.  Proceeds from the haunted house are used to support county park and recreation programs.

Lincoln Bank VP Provides Financial Advice

 

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John Elgin, VP of Lincoln Savings Bank, shared suggestions on "Outliving Your Money."

Rough Risers Popping Kettle Corn at Walmart

Kiwanis Rough Risers are at it again.  We are popping Kettlecorn at Walmart and planning to donate our proceeds to the Cedar Falls Public Library.  Is that really Steve Harding?

Mayor Jon Crews Visits Us at Joe's Country Grill

Rough Risers Make Money Selling Melons or Recycling Newspaper?

Spring, 1991 - Serving the community is not limited to building shelters or reading books to students in schools. We have always been on the search for ways to raise money that we can then donate to programs/projects in the Cedar Valley.

One of the founders, Lynn Schwandt, always had ideas on fundraising; some good and some a disaster!  One of these ideas involved selling watermelon by the slice during the Sturgis Falls Celebration. This was a good idea on the surface but it took a lot of manpower. Cutting and selling the melons wasn't too difficult, but watermelons were not too portable. Someone had to keep watch over the huge water tank full of melons all night to keep them from being stolen. Even after we figured out how to handle all of the logistical problems, the actual sales of watermelon slices were also in the tank!

The best idea that Lynn Schwandt ever came up for fundraising was recycling newspapers for making attic insulation and at a highly lucrative price of $10 a ton. Fellow members had drawn plan permits and all pitched in to build a newspaper receptacle to gather the forthcoming windfall. 

It garnered much local media attention and was it extremely successful. We even had the newspaper bin as our float at the Sturgis Falls Celebration. We put it on John Deery’s Car Lot on the corner of University and Main in Cedar Falls. It was such a gigantic hit, that we were even considering building another one to double our efforts! 

But, all good things run their course of longevity; the price for used newspaper started to decline in recycled newspapers due to oversupply. We decided to retire newspaper booths and turn our attention towards other fundraisers like selling Kettlecorn. 

C.F. Kiwanis Club Donates Funds for Ice House Lighting

This article is actually about the "Other" Kiwanis Club in Cedar Falls, but Steve Harding soon became an active member in the Rough Risers.

Camp Fire celebrates its 78th birthday with a service project joining our Rough Risers club in collecting newspapers to raise funds for the Camp Fire Bird Summer Camp and donating money to youth activities in the Cedar Valley.

Camp Fire Families Save Papers for Rough Risers

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We are most successful when we work together. Camp Fire girls to the rescue! Recognizing that the Rough Risers suffered a great loss when our newspaper bin was set ablaze last year (September 16, 1986), the Camp Fire families have volunteered to collect newspapers for our Kiwanis club so that we can raise funds to support the youth in Cedar Valley.

Rough Risers Restore Railroad Bridge on South Main

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The Rough Risers contributed 200 hours of volunteer work and a donation of more than $1.700 over three years to restore one of three train bridges on South Main.  This bridge was originally designed for trains to cross the river but now it will be used for walkers and bike riders as part of the El Dorado recreational trail.  The photo above includes Mayor Doug Sharp and Rough Risers President, Dean Primrose. (Unfortunately, this article was not properly scanned by the Courier and some of the text on the right is missing.) 

Rough Risers Complete Bridge Renovation

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The reliable Rough Risers have completed their commitment to renovate the old railroad bridges along the abandoned right of way for the El Dorado Trail. (See the final paragraph.)

Another Kiwanis Newspaper Bin Set Afire

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The Kiwanis paper recycling bin in College Square was set ablaze. This was the final bin for this fundraising program. The junior high students who committed the incident were identified and restitution was made.
NOTE: It should be noted that Nick Teig was misquoted in this article.  Nick said "a Million pounds of newspapers" and the reporter identified it as "a million tons."  This million pounds (only 500 tons) was a "big thing" and buttons were even created to celebrate this benchmark.

Rough Risers Commit to Support the El Dorado Trail

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The Rough Risers supported the development of the El Dorado Trail by committing to donate $750 and 100 hours of labor to renovate the railroad bridge east of Main Street and North of Oregon Street.   This was completed by November 18, 1986.

Rough Risers Fund to Build Ice House Museum Balcony

In the summer of 1985, the Kiwanis Rough Risers donated $1000 and volunteered 100 hours of their time to help motivate other service clubs, businesses, and individuals to give financial support towards building a balcony for the Cedar Falls Ice House Museum. 

Join the Rough Risers and Hartman Reserve Go on a Walk - together.

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This year, 1985, is the second year when the Cedar Falls Kiwanis Rough Risers join with the Hartman Reserve staff to share the many historical buildings in Cedar Falls.  The adventure will begin and end at the Ice House.

Rough Risers Donate Cedar Falls Library's First Computer

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Always on the cutting edge, the Cedar Falls Kiwanis Rough Risers donated an Apple IIe to the Cedar Falls Public Library. This was the library's first computer and it was available for public use.

Kiwanis Rough Risers Receive Our 1984 Charter.

The original Cedar Falls Kiwanis Rough Risers Charter was given on June 4,1980 with 18 members.

The first few years were a hard struggle to maintain minimum Kiwanis Chapter membership levels which we temporarily dipped below and had the first Kiwanis Rough Risers Chapter Charter revoked from the International Headquarters.  We put up a fight and got back to membership levels and have not looked back since!

Written by Lynn Barnes

Rough Risers Newpaper Bin Catches on Fire!!

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We were trying to raise funds by recycling newspapers, but someone had another idea about how to use those newspapers.  There was over $400 lost in damage.  This was the second bin that was burned down this summer.

Service Clubs Join Rough Risers to Renovate Trail