Speakers

DRC Sponsor: Jim Morrow

Our club has the pleasure and honor of hosting Rotarian pilots Peter Teahen and John Ockenfels. They will visit our club to provide a detailed recap of their history-making, around-the-world, single engine aircraft flight to raise funds for the fight against polio.

On November 1, 2022 Peter and John flew into the Decorah Municipal Airport, where our club hosted them while conducting our regular noon meeting. Their purpose was to describe plans for what seemed like a daunting challenge--a seven week, 20,000 mile around-the-world flight to raise awareness for Rotary International's polio eradication campaign. We were able to view their custom Cessna 210 (N732WP) on the airport tarmac and hear more about their goal of raising $1 million, with 100% of the proceeds going toward Rotary International's Polio Plus Program. Thanks to the 2-for-1 Rotary match from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, they hit the million-dollar mark even before they took off from the Eastern Iowa Airport on May 5, 2023. On July 30th around 9 am, they landed back at the airport after 90 days and 25,323 miles during their circumnavigation of the globe. N732WP had made 37 stops in 19 countries. There were unexpected challenges: John flying solo while Peter completd a short hospital stay; an electrical failure over the Pacific (repaired after a 90-minute detour to Brisbane, Australia); and an encounter with a squadron of armed soldiers in Karachi, Pakistan.

Peter is President of Teahen Funeral Home in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, an author, and a mental health professional. He serves on the faculty at the University of Iowa and is the founder of the Cedar Rapids Freedom Festival. He has served in leadership roles on 67 major disasters throughout the world. He is recognized for his work on aviation disasters and is internationally known for his work in critical incident stress management and the psycho-social impact of disasters. He has served for 19 years as a national media spokesperson for the American Red Cross.

John maintains World War II aircraft, including his own North American Aviation T-6, a Boeing Stearman, and a Cessna 182 Skylane. Prior to his retirement, he served as the chief executive officer of City Carton Recycling, based in Iowa City, Iowa. He attended the University of Iowa and served in the United States Air Force from 1972 to 1976. For two of his four years in the Air Force, he was a crewmember onboard an AC-130 Hercules in Thailand.

For more information on the flight please visit https://www.flighttoendpolio.com/home.

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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.

DRC After Hours Sponsor: Brecka Putnam

 Since 2007 Benji Nichols and his spouse Aryn have been the owners and creative catalysts of Inspire(d) Media, a quarterly publication featuring the positive people, places, and projects of the Driftless Region (NE Iowa, SE Minnesota, and SW Wisconsin). Benji will be joining us to share the information he presented at the noon Rotary meeting on February 6th about another labor of love that began in May of 2022 -- the "Rhymes with Decorah" Podcast.

The "Rhymes with Decorah" Podcast features positive stories, profiles, and exploration of challenges across the upper midwest and beyond. Since its inception over 57 individual podcasts have been released to the public. As Benji states, "The brainstorming session that my wife Aryn, our daughter Roxie, and I had for this podcast title was epic. It could have been called "Nichols & Sense", "Parts Missing", "Dogs, Beer, and bicycles", or "Nichols de Gallo" - But "Rhymes With Decorah" won out. Because after all - what rhymes with Decorah? Our goal is to tell the stories of the communities in our region, share the challenges and successes -- and find a way forward -- together. That's what life in the rural midwest is all about."

For more information on the "Rhymes with Decorah" Podcast please see the website at https://benjinichols.podbean.com/.

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DRC Sponsor: Jim Morrow

Winneshiek County District 3 Supervisor Shirley Vermace will be honoring our club with her presence and will discuss ongoing plans and programs in Winneshiek County of interest to its citizens and our members.

Ms. Vermace is a strong proponent of local control of policies and regulations in Winneshiek County. She serves on several regional boards including the Iowa RC&D, the Upper Explorerland Regional Planning Commission, the Northeast Iowa Community Action Corporation, the Northeast Iowa Rural Housing Trust Fund, Northeast Iowa Behavioral Health, the Winneshiek County Opioid Settlement Task Force, and the county safety committee. She represents Winneshiek County in collective bargaining negotiations with the three unions represented in the county. She has volunteered over the last two decades in several areas including Parent-Teacher Organization President for Decorah Schools, the Decorah Parks and Recreation Board, Decorah Community Meals, and the Winneshiek County Habitat for Humanity.

She is a graduate of Decorah High School and earned her B.A. from the University of Iowa in 1988. She and her spouse Mike returned to Decorah in 2000 to put down permanent roots. She is an avid hiker and can be frequently found with her dog Chop on one of the many trails around Decorah.

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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.