Meeting Minutes for October 12

The last couple of weeks have been of completion:

The Bridge work is completed.  I was wondering if our crew could work on the Seerley bridge by Peet?  That is the only way it will get done.


The Habitat House has a roof thanks to some dedicated workers last Friday.
Thanks to Marv Heller who had the lead on these projects.

We will be popping Kettle Corn this Saturday at HyVee and Scheels.  There are a lot of openings including the need for a popper for the first shift.  Contact Steve if you can help.

A big thank you to Lynn and Dennis who brought a guest (possible new member).
A warm welcome to Nathan Link.  Hope to see him next week.

Benie Spann from the Black Hawk VA gave an interesting talk on what that department does, how it works and the challenges they face.  Thanks to Reece for scheduling this program.

Next week will feature Bill Hartley coordinator for NE Iowa Operation Christmas Child.

Our greeter next week is Dale Waack.


Have your best week ever !!

Rough Risers Restore Railroad Bridge on South Main

Click article to enlarge

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 Commit to Support the El Dorado Trail

Click article to enlarge.

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 Complete Bridge Renovation

Click article to enlarge 

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.)

Developing Our Website into a Digital Scrapbook

Our Kiwanis Rough Risers website has been online since January 2009.  It has been a wonderful communication tool for us to share what we have been doing for the past 10 years.

The topics have included a wide variety of content.  The most popular topic has involved spotlighting our weekly programs.  At the beginning of each month, I post a list of programs that we can expect to enjoy.  Weekly, we post a photo and a description of what our presenter shared.  I must admit that this has been regularly done only in the past five years with the assistance of Lynn Barnes and Dan Conklin. (Thanks, Guys)

These pages also share an on-going record of periodic events, annual donations to youth organizations, commercial sponsors of our club, kettlecorn poppings, service projects, new member initiations, conference involvement, and remembrances of members who have passed on.  (Click each topic to see a collection of postings in that area.)

A Digital Scrapbook

The more that I have developed our website, the more I have realized that it contains the ongoing narrative for our club. These are the stories that give our organization meaning.  These tales share our accomplishments and portray our beliefs and vision. The challenge is to capture this characterization as thoroughly as possible.

Recently, I have expanded the scope of our website to include postings that include historical events going back to our original charter in 1980.   We began by prospecting through physical scrapbooks over the years so that we can scan newspaper articles onto the pages of our chronicle (Thanks, Lynn and Stan).  

I wanted to expand our database of history so this summer, I subscribed to newspapers.com to enable me to search the archives of the Waterloo/Cedar Falls Courier for articles about the famous (sometimes infamous) Cedar Falls Kiwanis Rough Risers.  I have been fortunate enough to find over 35 articles spanning the past 39 years which I have included in our historical narrative. I learned a great deal in reviewing these historical documents. Here are some of the events I uncovered (along with links to their postings):

• Rough Risers donated Cedar Falls Library's first computer - Apple IIe (1985)
• Our Newspaper Recycling Bins were set Ablaze by Middle School Students (1982 & 1986)
• Camp Fire Members Recycled Paper with Rough Risers (1987)
• Rough Risers were Rechartered in 1984.
• Rough Risers Funded and Rebuilt the Ice House Balcony (1985)
• Rough Risers were the First to Offer $$ and Labor to Renovate the Train Bridge for the El Dorado Trail. (1986)

Along the way, I decided to identify the many historical postings that were uncovered through research with the label, History.  Click Here to see most of them.

BUT WAIT A MINUTE!!!  The search doesn't end here. The richest source of stories lies within your hearts.   You are the living proof that the Rough Risers make a difference in the community and we would love to hear your stories.  Here is what YOU can do to expand our historical record:

1. Read through our Digital Scrapbook
2. If you have more to add to a posting, enter them into the Comments box below. Tell the story as you remember it and add your name at the end. 
3. If you have further ideas that you want to share, send an email to Leigh Zeitz (zeitz@uni.edu) to tell him of your memories of the event.

This is where we can share our history so people will better know who we are and what we represent.  Help tell our story . . . 

Leigh Zeitz