Recap from the Feb 14th, 2022 Meeting.
Meeting Run by President: John Kuhl
Invocation: John Kuhl read invocation submitted by Rich Dwyer
Guests: Ben Nietzel, Barth Donald, AG- Gretchen Nollman
Happy News/Announcements: A Reminder the funds from Happy News go towards our scholarships.
Lindsey Phillips- Bowl for Kids Sake is Big Brother, Big Sister’s largest fundraiser and is returning March 26th. Registration is available online https://www.muscatiney.org/big-brothers-big-sisters/ or email Lindsey for paper registration. Help Pack the Lanes! Also held a Big/Little/Staff event at Snow Star. It is under new management and was a great experience. Rebecca Paulsen- New Live Muscatine Guide hot off the presses. Great for new employees or residents in our community, as well as those considering a move to our community. Part of larger Live Muscatine Initiative that will include concierge tour service and Live Muscatine Orientations. Micah Colbert- Attending Rock Island Rotary meeting tomorrow as an invited guest and excited to share the Rotary mission and meet new Rotarians. Naomi DeWinter- Shout out to new member Dan Nietzel for suggesting a guest to attend our meeting. Rob Yant- Had a nice visit to Minnesota and enjoyed seeing family and friends but enjoyed returning to the Iowa weather. Megan Francis- This past weekend ended the Manta Rays- Community Y swim team regular season. Sending over 25 kids to State the first weekend in March.
Club News:
Fundraising: Rob Yant was big winner for Super Bowl squares. No winner at end of 1st or 3rd quarter. Score at half was Cin 10 Rams 13 (0/3)) and score at end of game was Cin 20 Rams 23 (0/3) Big Winner- Rob Yant won $78. Club fundraised about $200. Thank you to everyone who participated and supported Rotary Club Projects.
Reminder: A few weeks ago Mike Ruby extended a challenge to match up to $500 in donations made to Rebuild Together Muscatine County. You can make a donation to Rebuild Together through our club or report an individual donation to the club and we will track the donations and report when the match is met.
Club Announcement:
We are happy to offer a Hybrid option for meetings allowing members who are not able to join us in person to take part in the meeting. Note the Zoom Link remains the same each week, if you can not find the most recent email containing the link any past email will work. Please reach out to John or a board member if you ever have trouble signing in online.
Presentation:
Grant Pippert- Grant is a teacher at the High School. Grant saw a need in the community for our students and started a non-profit all on his own with a project to help our students and athletes in Muscatine. Graduated from Benton Community High School in small town of Keystone, IA. Went on the get BA at University of Northern Iowa. While in Denver, CO coaching and teaching got Masters in Coaching and Athletic Administration.
Program- Literally Athletic Building “The LAB”
Grant’s Inspiration: Started with a James Morris Podcast about how success in athletics in small town of Solon lead to academic success. Grant experienced this firsthand and knows without his dedication to his sports he would not have followed the academic path he did. Inspired to be an educator by the Impact of Reese Morgan. When Reese took over Iowa City West it was not the program became within 2 years of Reese Morgan’s tenue. Following a 3 year loosing streak Reese Morgan took Iowa City West to State and Championships and has become the Iowa City West we know today. The community saw when the athletics improved the academics improved. There is a direct correlation between sports and performance activities and academic success.
The LAB is created based on the Mission- To be proud of our performance and character on and off the playing field. Working on a holistic approach to building competitors, students and members of community. The LAB is an indoor training space in the old JC Penny space- focusing on Baseball and softball right now but see an opportunity to add basketball courts, soccer turf, indoor track. There has been great community support from Jim Howe, HNI and Musco for the project and has allowed state of the art training equipment. Program is a long term investment in the students of the Muscatine Community.
Upcoming Meetings: Feb 21st- Contemporary Issues Facing the Muscatine PD, Feb 21st- Aftermath of December’s Killer Tornado in Kentucky
Missed Today’s meeting? Check out the program recording-
Topic: Weekly Meeting
Date: Feb 14, 2022 11:35 AM Central Time (US and Canada)
Meeting Recording:
Access Passcode: Rotary#1