The Decorah Rotary Club, along with the Decorah Parks and Recreation Department, recently added two covered benches to the Dunning’s Spring Park area, one at each end of Ice Cave Road. As Dunning’s Spring Park, Ice Cave Road and River Trail areas continue to grow and improve, our club hopes the placement of these benches will add to the use and aesthetics of this busy area of Decorah’s park system.

 

We particularly thank John Geiger, Parks and Facilities Superintendent, for creating the bench design and selecting the locations; the Decorah Parks and Recreation employees for setting the posts; Decorah Rotarian Kent Klocke for pre-cutting and preparing all the lumber for the builds; Decorah Rotarian Bruce Ventura for his expertise and help with the onsite assembly; and Brian Franzen for helping with the onsite assembly.

Our club is indebted to everyone who helped bring this project to fruition!

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The Decorah Rotary Club hosted its fourth annual Pork Chop Fundraiser at both the 2026 Winneshiek County Fair on July 14-18 and again during Decorah's 2026 Nordic Fest on July 23-25. As in the past, the two combined events excelled at quantities served, funds raised, good fellowship shared, and satisfied customers. The club extends its thanks to event organizers Brecka Putnam and Shannon Duncan who conducted the planning, coordination, acquisition of supplies, and generally ensured everything worked like a well oiled machine. We thank Alan Lerstrom for his leadership and energy in establishing Rotary's "Toe Truck" mobility service during Nordic Fest. We also extend our gratitude to Hy-Vee Grocery and the meat market staff for their tireless efforts in keeping us supplied as well as the multitude of Rotary volunteers manning the booths and running errands and the generous support of all of our close friends, spouses, and partner organization volunteers assisting with the equipment preparation and repair, grilling, sales, promotion, currency handling, cooler space, etc. The list of names needing thanks is far too long to enumerate here but we know our fundraising efforts would not be possible without the valuable help of these generous folk and we sincerely thank each and every person for their support.
 
For a nice collection of photos showing many of our volunteers in action, see the companion photo album: Rotary Pork Chop Booth 2026 - County Fair and Nordic Fest.
Photo credit: various
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The Decorah Rotary Club, in collaboration with the American Red Cross and Decorah Lutheran Church, sponsored its annual blood drive at the church on Monday, March 23, 2026. Our club thanks the long list of blood donors, volunteer assistants, and snack suppliers who supported this event. The blood donors ended up giving 16 more units of blood than the original goal, and together the donated blood could help save up to 123 lives. Well done to all!

 

More photos may be found in the companion photo album at Decorah Rotary Club Blood Drive.

 

 

At the Decorah Rotary Club's noon meeting on January 27, personnel from the Decorah and Ridgeway Volunteer Fire Departments provided an inside look into the work of a volunteer firefighter including the required training and the commitment it takes to serve the community in this role. They recapped some of their most noteworthy calls and showcased a broad assortment of their tools and equipment.

 

The Decorah and Ridgeway Volunteer Fire Departments provide rapid, high quality emergency services through teamwork and leadership, utilizing trained volunteers dedicated to the well being of the community twenty-four hours per day. We thank them for their extraordinary service!

 

The Decorah Rotary Club is partnering with Decorah Human Powered Trails (DHPT) to complete construction of a new addition to Decorah's extensive trails system on the east approach to Dunning's Spring. In addition to the volunteer labor, Decorah Rotary's contribution included a $5,000 gift along with a matching $5,000 grant from Rotary District 5970.

 

For anyone who has hiked the trail on the right flank of the 200 ft waterfall, the ascending path is challenging but the hike down can be treacherous. This new trail will create a loop with a safer descent and an alternate option for hiking above the falls. Decorah Rotary and DHPT were supported by Pine Creek Trail Builders, runners from the Luther College Cross Country team, and other volunteers in completing technical preparation work to have the trail area ready for the Rotary and DHPT trail construction volunteers to complete the final phase of the project.

 

Dunning's Spring and its associated waterfall are listed on Tripadvisor as #1 on its list of “The 15 Best Things to Do in Decorah.” The park offers hiking trails, picnic space, and scenic views.

 

For more photos of the Rotary and DHPT volunteer team in action please see the companion photo album at Dunning's Spring Trail Service Project.

 

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The Decorah Rotary Club hosted its 10th Annual Trout Run Trail (TRT) Tour Day on Tuesday, August 26, 2025. This annual event provides an opportunity for local senior citizens, those with physical limitations, and anyone with limited access to the TRT to experience the beauty of the entire 12-mile circuit. The weather was perfect and the scenery spectacular. Participants enjoyed coffee and rolls breakfast and tasty barbecue luncheon hosted at the Chuck Gipp Decorah Fish Hatchery pavilion. Over 100 guests enjoyed the scenic tour that stated and finished at the hatchery.

 

The club extends its sincere thanks to the machine owners and drivers who generously provided their time and equipment -- Paul Nichols, John Kerndt, Tade Kerndt, Tom Kuennen, Les Askelson, Greg Rude, Dacia Monson, and the Dyskra family, Larry Hauber, and Decorah Kawasaki. Other participating drivers included Bill Brenning, Mike Harman, Darrel Branhagen, Ron Snell, and Dacia Monson. Thanks also to Decorah Parks and Recreation for posting signage around the trail on that day, to the Chuck Gipp Decorah Fish Hatchery for offering the pavilion, and the many Decorah Rotary volunteers who teamed up to make the event such a success.

 

Check out the many photos of this wonderful event in the companion album at DRC Trout Run Trail Tour Day 2025.