RI President's Message

Presidential Message

President 2022-23

February 2023

Recently, I spent time in the Nakivale refugee settlement in Uganda. As the "settlement" in its name suggests, the people living there are free to move around and integrate as best they can — one thing that makes the place unique.

I had a chance to play soccer with boys and girls from about a dozen nations and talk with women who had fled areas of conflict. It was a tapestry of human experience shared through both laughter and tears.

As I walked across a school campus at the settlement with a teacher, she shared with me the dire statistics on girls' education. Most don't get through grade school. Many are sold into child marriage to pay for food for their families. As I looked around at these young girls, I was gutted.

Our work with empowering girls and women is much more than creating equity — sometimes, it's about health or education. Other times it's about providing safety. Regardless of the path, it's always about basic human rights.

We can do more to empower girls and women, and we can expand how we share the progress Rotary members and our partners have made toward this goal.

RI President's Message 2023-02-14 06:00:00Z 0

Rotary Centennial Disc Golf Course

To celebrate its 100th anniversary, the Rotary Club of Indianola is the lead sponsor of a new disc golf course to be located at McCord Park in Indianola. The front 9 is being designed and built with Indianola Parks & Rec and area disc golf enthusiasts for beginning players to learn basic skills, while the back 9 will introduce timber challenges at an intermediate level to help players develop their skills.
 
Rotary Club of Indianola, which has been parking cars, Donors, Indianola Parks Friends, the Indianola Community Foundation, Warren County, and early sponsors have helped fund all but approximately $4,000 of the anticipated cost. There will be an entrance sign with a course layout map where $1,000 sponsors are recognized. There will also be signs at each tee box recognizing group and individual contributors.
 
Anyone who is interested in creating a new sport venue in Indianola that will assist individuals who are new to disc golf may help fund the course by:
o Sponsoring one hole for $750
o Be recognized within a group of 3 per hole for $250 each
 
A Sponsorship/Donation form is at https://givebutter.com/RC18
Thank you for your support.
Rotary Centennial Disc Golf Course 2022-11-05 05:00:00Z 0

Rotary Club of Indianola Celebrates Centennial Year

 

Rotary Club of Indianola was chartered on September 26, 1922. 

In September 2022 our club celebrated its Centennial as a member of the Indianola Community.

The Four Pillars of Rotary

  Of the things we think, say or do:

  •      Is It the TRUTH?

  •      Is it FAIR to all concerned?

  •      Will it build GOODWILL and BETTER FRIENDSHIPS?

  •      Will it BENEFICIAL to all concerned?

The Rotary Motto:   

  Service Above Self  

Rotary Club of Indianola Celebrates Centennial Year 2022-11-05 05:00:00Z 0

2022-2023 Club President

 
 
 

Paul Dalluge (left) accepted the gavel for the 2022/2023 Rotary Year from current president Michael Kleene at our June 17th Rotary Noon meeting.

2022-2023 Club President 2022-06-22 05:00:00Z 0

Rotary Peace Garden

Rotary Club of Indianola Established a Peace Garden at McCord Park

World Peace is one the pillars of Rotary International.

By carrying out service projects and supporting peace fellowships and scholarships, our members take action to address the underlying causes of conflict, including poverty, discrimination, ethnic tension, lack of access to education, and unequal distribution of resources.

As a humanitarian organization, peace is a cornerstone of our mission. We believe when people work to create peace in their communities, that change can have a global effect.

To honor that legacy, Rotary Club of Indianola has established a Peace Garden at McCord Park.  The Peace Garden is a place where individuals may visit to reflect on how they can become part of the solution in our own community.

Click this link to learn more and follow the progress of our Peace Garden
Rotary Peace Garden 2022-06-06 05:00:00Z 0

Foundation Moment

Because of our generous donors around the world, The Rotary Foundation has raised more than $10 million dollars to provide food, medicine, clothing and shelter for the people forced to leave their homes in #Ukraine.
 
In Rotary,
Olabisi Gwamna, Club Secretary
Mount Pleasant Rotary,
Editor, Foundation Minute
Foundation Moment 2022-05-06 05:00:00Z 0

Regrets

Obituaries in Des Moines, IA | The Des Moines Register  It is with deep regrets that we learn about the passing of long time member Charles (Chuck) Kerr.  

Chuck, a member of Rotary Club of Indianola for over 60 years, was devoted to helping children in our community and around the world.  Chuck challenged club members to donate time and resources to the Rotary Wheelchair Foundation, WeCare, Literacy, The Dictionary Project and most important of all the Polio Foundation.

Chuck's health has prevented him from attending regular meetings of our club for the last several years, but there has always been a chair and a well spoken word about him every week.

Our Club wishes to thank Chuck's family for their dedication over the past decades, helping him and working with him to enhance the Rotary Motto "Service Above Self".

Regrets 2022-05-06 05:00:00Z 0

Polio Eradication

 
 
Quote of the Day
 
"Plant seeds of happiness, hope, success, and love; it will all come back to you in abundance. This is the law of nature."
 
STEVE MARABOLI
 
 

January 30, 2022

Dear Polio Eradication Warriors,

No new Wild Polio cases reported this week.  

This week's Polio Update includes the Polio case and sample changes over the last two weeks.

What is that Polio Picture?  - Polio Survivor & Worker was nominated for the Presidential Honor in Pakistan!  Read more about this exciting news here -  https://polioeradication.org/news-post/polio-worker-nominated-for-presidential-honour-in-pakistan/

Polio Eradication 2022-01-31 06:00:00Z 0

The Question is

"What is Rotary?"

As a Rotarian, one of the hardest questions to answer is 'What is Rotary?'  You would think that after 20+ years as a member it would be an easy question to answer.  But it is not.

Rotary has so many moving parts, in so many parts of the World, in so many different ways, well to be honest, it boils down to the people.  It becomes the question of "Who is a Rotarian?"

With the motto "Service Above Self", a Rotarian is one individual who wants to help those around them, whether it be individuals, communities or countries.    

As a whole, Rotary is made up of three parts: our clubs, Rotary International, and The Rotary Foundation. Together, we work to make lasting change in our communities and around the world.

And yet, it boils down to individuals. 

  • Individuals willing to travel around the world to deliver a dose of polio vaccine to a child. Rotarians have been doing this since 1987 and the wild polio virus has been eliminated from all but one Country - in the World. Think of the millions of lives that have been changed because individuals were willing to help others.

  • Individuals willing to walk a local parade and collect food items for the local Food Pantry - The Helping Hand.

  • Individuals, taking time out of their daily work schedule, to visit five different elementary schools and hand out personal dictionaries.

  • Individuals who raised the funds and furnished the labor to build a shelter at the local recreational trailhead.

  • Individuals who spend nine evenings, in a row, selling tickets and parking cars at the National Balloon Classic, so the Club can afford to purchase dictionaries and sponsor other projects in our community.

  • Individuals who teach leadership skills to High School Youth.

  • A Foundation, supported by individuals, that funds water projects around the world, providing clean water, which in turn decreases diseases among the people who live there.

  • The Rotary Foundation helps Rotary members to advance world understanding, goodwill, and peace by improving health, providing quality education, improving the environment, and alleviating poverty.

So, to answer the question, What is Rotary? Rotary provides a fulfilling system that allows me to help people in my community, in my District and in the World, making this a better place for all.   

Terry Pauling,

Rotary Club of Indianola.

 
 
 
The Question is 2022-01-01 06:00:00Z 0

2021 National Balloon Classic

2021 was an interesting year for flying as the winds cooperated some days and not as much other days.  Even so, the general public understood the new ticket system that was implemented which changed the process Rotarians used to monitor cars as they entered the field for parking.  Several groups help our membership direct traffic each night during the event, for which we are very grateful. The 2021 National Balloon Classic ended on Saturday August 7th with a weather event that canceled flights in the morning and a rain event that canceled all activities in the evening, leaving no alternatives for the public that day.

Due to Covid19 in 2020, the National Balloon Classic postponed their 50th anniversary of ballooning in Indianola until this year with over 100 balloonists registered, along with over a dozen "vintage balloons" during the week. We are looking forward to 2022. 

Service Above Self.

2021 National Balloon Classic 2021-08-19 05:00:00Z 0