Speaker Date Topic
Rex LaFrentz and Kalin Harman Jun 06, 2023 12:00 PM
National History Day Contest Project Descriptions

DRC Sponsor: Alan Lerstrom

Four St. Benedict School Students and their teacher Patty Lein will be attending the National History Day Contest at the University of Maryland in College Park, Maryland on June 12 and 13. Rotary is providing financial support of their participation. Two students, Rex LaFrentz and Kalin Harman, will present their
projects to the noon Rotary meeting.

The National History Day Contest is the culmination of the annual competition cycle and a celebration of student scholarship. After spending months on project research and preparation, and successfully competing at local and affiliate contests, student scholars are invited to share their work at the National Contest. Each year nearly 3,000 students with their families and teachers gather at the University of Maryland for the week-long National Contest. They come from all fifty United States, the District of Columbia, Guam, American Samoa, the Northern Mariana Islands, Department of Defense Schools in the Atlantic, and international schools in China, Korea, and elsewhere.

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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.

Jen Stolka Jun 13, 2023 12:00 PM
Problem Gambling Education and Prevention

DRC Sponsor: Alan Lerstrom

Gambling can be an addictive activity in which people between the ages of 20 and 30 have the highest rate of problem gambling. Jen Stolka, the Prevention Services Director at Helping Services for Youth and Families, will discuss education and means of prevention in problem gambling.

Problem gambling is any gambling behavior that disrupts your life. If you're preoccupied with gambling, spending more and more time and money on it, chasing losses, or gambling despite serious consequences in your life, you have a gambling problem. Gambling addiction—also known as pathological gambling, compulsive gambling or gambling disorder—is an impulse-control disorder. If you're a compulsive gambler, you can't control the impulse to gamble, even when it has negative consequences for you or your loved ones. You'll gamble whether you're up or down, broke or flush, and you'll keep gambling regardless of the consequences—even when you know that the odds are against you or you can't afford to lose.

Since 1973, Helping Services for Youth & Families (formerly Helping Services for Northeast Iowa) has been providing children, teens, and adults with the skills and knowledge to bring about positive change in their own lives and in their communities. They provide presentations, programs and trainings in the following areas: domestic violence and child abuse advocacy, family education for new parents, family-friendly activities in the community, educating the public on latest drug trends, providing training to alcohol/tobacco retailers, youth mentoring programs, and participation in local coalition meetings and finding solutions to local concerns.

For more on Helping Services for Youth & Families please visit their website at https://www.helpingservices.org/.

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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.

Herbert Riedel Jun 20, 2023 12:00 PM
Stories and Photographs from World War II - A German Perspective

DRC Sponsor: Alan Lerstrom

Dr. Herbert Riedel, President of Northeast Iowa Community College (NICC), will present “Traveling with the German Army during World War II." His father was drafted into the German army in 1940 as a mechanic. Dr. Riedel will present stories and photographs of his father's experiences during that time.

Prior to his assuming duties as NICC President, Dr. Riedel previously served at President of Lurleen B. Wallace Community College in Andalusia, Alabama, where he introduced program offerings in advanced manufacturing, healthcare and short-term skills training, as well as an honor's program and the College's first student housing complex. Prior to that, he served as Vice President for Instruction and Student Development for Northeast Texas Community College in Mt. Pleasant, Texas. Dr. Riedel is internationally educated, having attended six schools on four continents. He earned an M.S. and Ph.D. in Pure Mathematics from the University of Waterloo in Ontario, Canada, and a B.Sc. in Mathematics and Physics from the University of Pretoria, in Pretoria, South Africa. He is knowledgeable in six languages, being fluent in German and conversational in Spanish. Dr. Riedel and his spouse Lisa have two grown children.

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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.

Crystal Duffy Jul 11, 2023 12:00 PM
The Community Heart & Soul Project

DRC Sponsor: Shannon Duncan

Community Heart & Soul is a resident-driven process that engages the entire population of a town in identifying what they love most about their community, what future they want for it, and how to achieve it. Through surveys, interviews and demographic awareness we seek to hear from all of our population, including those that are frequently lacking a voice or power within a community. Crystal Duffy is the Project Coordinator for the Postville Community Heart & Soul Project and will visit our club to provide additional insights into this initiative.

Ms Duffy is a recent transplant from southern California. She was a public school teacher for 15 years and retired at the age of 37. She moved to northeast Iowa after falling in love with the area in 2014 when she attended the Seed Savers Exchange conference and campout. Her goal in retirement was to spend time volunteering for non-profits that were important to her, but somehow she ended up as the library director of Postville Public Library, the Community Developer for the city of Postville and the Project Coordinator for the Postville Community Heart & Soul Project. Through her position at the library she hopes to connect the dots for the city of Postville, make sure new arrivals to town feel welcome and bring financial literacy classes and English as a second language classes to Postville. She also hopes to help the town appeal as a tourist destination to those who value diverse grocery and food items not available in most of northeast Iowa.

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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.