Senator Charles Grassley Addresses The Club

At its regular weekly meeting on February 18, 2008, the Jefferson Rotary Club was honored to welcome Iowa’s Senior United States Senator Charles Grassley as its guest speaker.  President Ruth Freeman conducted the regular business meeting, and then turned the floor over to Rotarian Rick Morain, who had the honor of introducing Senator Grassley.  Following some initial remarks, the Senator spent nearly 45 minutes answering questions from the Rotarians and guests in attendance.

Topics included the Farm bill, Biofuels, the Economic Stimulus Package, the Savings Percentage Fall, the Mortgage Crisis, and the Economy’s Dependence on China, particularly for manufactured goods.  The Senator, long known for his straightforward answers, provided his insight on these issues as well as sharing his thoughts on the current working relationships in the Senate.  He was particularly proud of the fact that the Bipartisan approach he led as Chair of the Finance Committee has been maintained by his Democratic counterpart since the transition in leadership in 2006.  Overall, though, he noted that both the Senate and the House have become much more partisan than when he first began his service in Congress serving three terms in the House and now in his fifth term in the Senate.  While he is unsure how to reverse this trend, he believes that in the long term best interests of the country, bipartisan work needs to be at the core of the Congressional agenda.

Senator Grassley joined a long list of distinguished speakers who have addressed the Jefferson Rotary Club.  The list includes Governors, Lt. Governors, Legislators, Iowa Department Heads, Iowa Supreme Court Justices, leading businessman, professional athletes, teachers, and students to name just a few.  The club sincerely thanks Senator Grassley for taking the time from his busy schedule to address them, and also thanks him for his long and faithful service to the State of Iowa and its people.

Annual Rotary Auction Another Huge Success

 The 9th Annual Jefferson Rotary Club Dinner and Charity Auction was held on Friday, November 9, 2007 at the Elk's Lodge in Jefferson.  Chairman Tim Heisterkamp once again organized another outstanding event.  It was another great night of good food, fun and even a few bargains!  The club raised a new record total in excess of $26,000 this year, thus bringing the nine year total to over $200,000 in funds raised to be used for local community needs and charities and the Rotary Foundation.

The room was once again transformed into an elegant banquet room complete with linen tablecloths and chair covers.  First came an outstanding dinner served by the Jefferson Does topped off with an awesome cheesecake dessert prepared by Marianne Carlson. Along with the dinner everyone was able to enjoy an outstanding selection of complimentary wine furnished by Mike & Marg Mumma.

Throughout the evening Masters of Ceremony Dave Hoyt and Dave Morain kept the audience entertained with their terrific wit and outstanding sense of humor.  Auctioneer Kevin Lentz did a terrific job of making the bidding fun while helping to bring the large bids that made the auction so successful.  As usual all three looked quite dapper in their tuxedos provided by M & M Appliqué and Jim’s Formal Wear. 

In addition to the auction the club sponsored a raffle with eight drawings at scheduled points during the course of the evening.  Each drawing was for a $250 cash prize, thus a total giveaway of $2,000.  The eight winners were Wes Ehrich, Tom Polking, Chuck Hane, Debbie Folbaba, Deb Geisler, Dean Dozier, Nancy Gerken, and Bob Schmidt.  The club congratulates the winners and thanks them for the support of our community through their participation.

Of course, the biggest thanks of all needs to go to all those businesses and individuals who provided items for the auction.  It is only through your tremendous generosity that we are able to attain the success that we have had with this auction, which in turn, we believe has truly made our community an even better place to live.

You can view a copy of this year’s sale catalog by clicking on the link below.  For a complete listing of all those who donated cash and items, please click the following link  DONORS .   We encourage you to review this list and thank those folks for their support of our auction.  Please let them know that you appreciate their willingness to help us make our community better.

Auction Program & Catalog

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