Events

DRC After Hours Sponsor: Shannon Duncan

Sherrie Keating is the Community Outreach Representative for DuTrac Community Credit Union and a member of the Dubuque Rotary Club. She will be presenting information on how Decorah was chosen by DuTrac as the site for their next location, the basics of credit union operations and the services they offer, and how they differentiate themselves from banks and other credit unions.

Ms Keating is dedicated to fostering meaningful connections and driving positive change within the communities DuTrac serves. With 35 years of experience as a successful small business owner, she brings her entrepreneurial spirit and passion for helping others succeed to her role. Her work focuses on innovative initiatives that emphasize community engagement and impactful outreach, contributing to DuTrac's reputation as a trusted financial partner. In addition to her role at DuTrac, she serves as the Secretary and Service Committee Chair for the Rotary Club of Dubuque. Despite her many accomplishments, her most cherished title remains "Mom."

More information about DuTrac can be found at https://www.dutrac.org/.

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DRC Sponsor: Ivan Hackman

Detra Dettmann serves as the Northeast District Supervisor for the Parks, Forests, and Preserves Bureau of the Iowa Department of Natural Resources (DNR). She will be sharing information about Fort Atkinson, a nationally significant military post from the 1840s, now managed by the Iowa DNR as a state preserve. The DNR recently completed a large project at the preserve that focused on repair of remaining structures to preserve them for future generations. Please join us to learn about Fort Atkinson's history and these recent preservation efforts.

U.S. Government authorities originally envisioned Fort Atkinson as a neutral territory for interactions with the Winnebago People during their forced displacement from Wisconsin into northeast Iowa. Resettlement played prominently in U.S. policy in the 1800s; Fort Atkinson is significant in understanding the historically poor treatment of native peoples.

For more informationon Fort Atkinson please visit the state preserve website at Fort Atkinson State Preserve.

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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 advace to all members by email.

We are looking forward to this year's Decorah Rotary Club Holiday Party on Tuesday, February 11, 12PM, at Rubaiyat.. Rotarians and their significant others are invited to attend.  Registration is open through 5PM on Feb 3, 2025. Rotarian meals (both noon and after hours members) are covered in full.  Significant others will be billed at $22.

Details TBA

DRC After Hours Sponsor: Shannon Duncan

Cheryl Johnson, President of Iowa Grotto, member of the Cave Research Foundation - Eastern Operations, and member of the National Speleological Society will present on the discovery, exploration and preservation of Winneshiek County's Coldwater Cave, the largest cave in the Upper Midwest.

Ms. Johnson's interest in the science of speleology began as a child. She could hear water running through the ground near sinkholes on her family farm and was fascinated about what might lay underneath. A grade school field trip to Niagara Cave in Harmony, MN opened her eyes to the world below the karst topography of the Driftless. Due to a lack of available scholarships in the field she was unable to pursue a career in Geology; however, now that her children are grown she has the opportunity to pursue her passion for caves as a leisure interest. Her interest has grown into her involvement in cartography projects at both the local and national level.

Born and raised in rural Decorah, Ms. Johnson graduated from Decorah High School in 1999 and studied accounting at Luther College. For the past 10 years she has served as the office manager for the Chiropractic Offices of fellow Rotarian Kelly Reagan.

For more about the Iowa Grotto and the National Speleological Society please visit https://caves.org/grotto/iowa-grotto/.

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DRC After Hours Sponsor: Shannon Duncan

Jeff Wilkerson is a Professor of Physics at Luther College. In addition to his extensive research and teaching, he is an accomplished author and plans to present excerpts from his book 23 Woodcock in 22 Years: Reflections on Hunting, the Night Sky and Our Place in the Universe, highlighting the passage of time as both birds and the stars overhead come and go season after season. He will lead our members in discussing the behavior of birds, stars as the origin of the material around us, the nature of our Milky Way galaxy, the history of the universe, and what can be observed in the night sky right now.

Dr. Wilkerson earned a B.S. in physics from Indiana University and a Ph.D. in physics from the University of California, Berkeley. He has previously worked on projects searching antimatter heavy nuclei in cosmic rays and developing detector technology for studying X-rays from neutron stars and black holes. For the past 28 years he has served on the faculty at Luther where he has taught a wide range of astronomy and physics courses, supervised more than 60 undergraduate research projects involving the monitoring of stellar brightness, and has served in a variety of administrative positions. In addition to numerous research publications and presentations, he has authored two books and presents a weekly, public YouTube (<- link) video on night sky observing.

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DRC Sponsor: Jim Morrow

Luther College Professor of Biology Scott Carlson and selected Luther College students participating in the 2025 Luther January Term study abroad course offered by the Center for Global Learning entitled "Nepal: A One Health Perspective" will visit our club to share the highlights of their trip to Nepal and selected results from their investigation.

The World Health Organization defines One Health as "an integrated, unifying approach that aims to sustainably balance and optimize the health of people, animals and ecosystems." This course focused on Nepal to study the dynamic relationship between people, animals, plants, and the environment, and how they are interconnected in contributing to the wellness of a population. This course emphasized the work of the Center for Molecular Dynamics Nepal (CMDN), which is the leading public health and wildlife research organization in the country. Students participated in ongoing projects at CMDN involving disease surveillance, biomedical research, wildlife conservation, and environmental health. The itinerary also included travel to Kathmandu, Pokhara, and the Chitwan National Park.

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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 advace to all members by email.

Decorah Rotary is proud to once again partner with local groups in support of the Decorah Community Meal. Our assigned day is April 3, 2025. The event takes place in the Fellowship Hall (lower level) at Decorah Lutheran Church, 309 Winnebago Street.  The sign up includes spots for salads, desserts and workers.  Food items can be dropped off as early as 4:15 in the church kitchen the day of the event.  If you have a container that you need returned, please make sure it is marked with your name.  The event coordinators have requested that children under the age of 14 be accompanied by an adult.

For those of you signing up to work, you may be assigned to any of the following jobs:

Cut and serve desserts, refill dessert table
Mix and pour drinks, refill drinks
Floater/Runner - keep main table stocked with dishes, silverware, napkins, entrées, salads
Serve coffee and greet guests                                                                                                                                              Bus dishes and help in kitchen after meal                                                                                                                            Dry washed pots, pans, bowls, etc.                                                                                                                                      Unload dishwasher and put dishes away                                                                                                                              Wipe tables and chairs                                                                                                                                                        Vacuum/mop and help with take-down                                                                                                                                  Assistance to any of the DCM committee members as needed

DRC Sponsor: Jim Morrow

Luther College Professor of Social Work Britt Rhodes and selected Luther College students participating in the Luther Paideia 450 study abroad course offered by the Center for Global Learning entitled "Forging Paths to Peace (Northern Ireland)" will visit our club to share highlights of their experiences and report on selected results of their investigation.

This course examined the difficult yet inspiring Northern Ireland peace process through the lives of its participants. The participants explored the challenges and potential of political and grassroots peace building, with special attention to issues of identity, culture, and memory as challenges and the principles of compromise, forgiveness, mercy, justice, and peace as potential. An integral part of this course was the conduct of meetings with representatives of the main political parties of Northern Ireland, former members of paramilitary organizations, academic experts, police officers, members of inter-community organizations, and victims of past violence. The itinerary included trips to Derry, Belfast, and Ballycastle within Northern Ireland and Dublin in Ireland.

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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 advace to all members by email.

Our annual Spring Roadside Cleanup event is scheduled for Saturday, April 12. Please meet at Putnam Law Office at 8AM to pick up safety vests and bags.  We will also take a photo of volunteer present at that time.

If you would like to assist with the project but are unable to participate on the 13th, 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 13th, please let me know either via email or at a meeting so that we don't wait for you the day of the event.