Events

DRC Sponsor: Kim Bonnet

Founded in August of 2014, the Oneota Valley Community Orchestra (OVCO) is a volunteer ensemble open to all area (and non-area) residents who wish to perform great music in an orchestral setting. From symphonies to opera, the OVCO presents orchestral music from a variety of different styles and time periods ranging from the baroque era through newly commissioned works. A typical season consists of three to four "Masterworks" concerts, which include the full orchestra, and a few small venue concerts for their chamber music series.

OVCO Director Matt Cody instructs Band for the Decorah High and Middle Schools. He is a 2014 graduate of Colorado State University with a Masters Degree in Music Conducting and Music Education. While finishing his coursework at CSU, he also conducted members of Opera Fort Collins and Fort Collins Symphony in a concert production of The Secret Garden. He has studied with Wes Kenney-music director of Fort Collins Symphony, Opera Fort Collins, and Denver Youth Symphony; Jason Weinberger, music director of Waterloo Cedar Falls Symphony; and Dr. Robert L. Larsen, founder and music director of Des Moines Metro Opera and professor emeritus of Simpson College. In 2016 he received the American Prize in Conducting Award, Community Orchestra Division. In addition to his instrumental music proficiency, Matt occasionally performs as an operatic vocalist (baritone).

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**Please complete your meal sign-up prior to the meeting, preferably not later than close of business Monday. Our face-to-face meeting will be hosted at the VFW. The meal sign-up, meeting announcment, and any other logistical information will be distributed in advance to all members by email.

DRC Sponsor: Kim Bonnet

Ross Evelsizer, Natural Resources Projects Director for Northeast Iowa Resource Conservation and Development (RC&D), was recently honored as a New Voice in Water Quality by the Conservation Learning Group, a think tank based at Iowa State University Extension and Outreach dedicated to addressing conservation and environmental challenges. The award, inaugurated in 2022, recognizes Iowans who have shown a commitment to advancing conversations, taking action, and advocating for water quality improvements that benefit all Iowans within the past 10 years.

Ross has facilitated watershed and landscape resiliency planning for the Turkey, Upper Iowa, and Wapsipinicon watersheds, leading to the installation of dozens of best management practices that have reduced the impact of flooding and improved water quality in the region. He has also been instrumental in helping Northeast Iowa farmers expand their agricultural production through multi-cropping, working with growers to implement cropping systems that project soil heath, reduce flooding, and improve water quality while expanding market opportunities by planting and harvesting multiple crops from the same field in the same growing season. Ross will speak to our group about the Northeast Iowa RC&D and his focused efforts addressing conservation and environmental stewardship.

Northeast Iowa RC&D is a 501(c)(3) organization serving a seven-county region including Allamakee, Buchanan, Chickasaw, Clayton, Fayette, Howard and Winneshiek counties, as well as outside the area when benefits are expected to come back to the region.

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**Please complete your meal sign-up prior to the meeting, preferably not later than close of business Monday. Our face-to-face meeting will be hosted at the VFW. The meal sign-up, meeting announcment, and any other logistical information will be distributed in advance to all members by email.

DRC After Hours Sponsor: Shannon Duncan

In August of 2022, retired Decorah Police Deputy and Drug Abuse Resistance Education (DARE) instructor Tim Felton completed an eight-day trip to the war-torn country of Ukraine, assisting in the conduct of humanitarian and community relations training for local police and military departments. This was the second such trip for him, having previously traveled there in 2019. He shared his captivating and fascinating experiences at our noon Rotary Club meeting in February and will re-join us at Pulpit Rock for the benefit of our After Hours membership.

The 2022 Ukraine training team was comprised of Felton; Greg Young, Chaplain for the Federal Bureau of Investigation and Head Chaplain and Critical Incident Stress Debriefer for the Germantown Police Department in Germantown, Wisconsin; Ukrainian translator Alex Gerasimov from Atlanta, Georgia; and John Sheahan, an educator for DARE America and an ordained Lutheran pastor in Roland, Iowa. Gerasimov fled Ukraine in 2014 and has been back to the country on humanitarian missions three times since the war started. The team traveled around the country and trained with police recruits, officers, civilians, and soldiers on Critical Stress and Moral Injury Debriefing. Moral Injury Debriefing is geared towards combat veterans who have emotional burdens and guilt, and Critical Incident Stress Debriefing focuses on individuals like first responders who saw people get hurt or killed.

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DRC Sponsor: Kim Bonnet

Speakers Julia Schleicher and Abby McCarthy were participants in the 2023 Luther College January Term (J-Term) Paideia 450 course Building Ethical Futures through Architecture, Design, and Narrative in Norway. They will recap their exciting experiences traveling abroad during this J-Term trip to Norway.

The course explores transdisciplinary approaches to imagining, constructing, and communicating about structures and infrastructures in Norway. The participantsl work through ethical values and arguments that shape plans for built dwellings, transportation systems, and public venues and works. Relatedly, they critique how these objects and the stories attached to them concretely realize those ethical foundations. Student work includes active contributions to site visits and events with local experts and a mix of informal journals, a research-informed formal essay, and a creative group collaboration.

The J-Term Program at Luther College is a unique 3.5-week term that provides a break from the fast-paced regular semesters so students can spend time on one topic or experience. Students are able to take classes, study abroad, get internship credit, and perform research in a way that provides the student greater freedom and responsibility for their learning.

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**Please complete your meal sign-up prior to the meeting, preferably not later than close of business Monday. Our face-to-face meeting will be hosted at the VFW. The meal sign-up, meeting announcment, and any other logistical information will be distributed in advance to all members by email.

Our annual Spring Roadside Cleanup event is scheduled for Saturday, April 15.  Please meet at Whalen Cabin at 8am to pick up bags and safety vests.  A light snack and beverage will be available, and we will take a group photo. If you would like to assist with the project but are unable to participate on the 15th, please sign up for the section of your choice.  You may then pick up bags and safety vests at 702 East Broadway (Ward's house).  Bags and vests will be in the tote by the garage door. If you plan to do clean up on a different day than April 15th, please let me know either via email or at a meeting so that we don't wait for you the day of the event.

DRC After Hours Sponsor: Shannon Duncan

Francisca Munoz is from Santiago, Chile and is spending the year in Decorah as our Rotary International Exchange Student. Fran will share some of her experiences here thus far as well as her life in Santiago with the After Hours Rotarians.

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