Des Moines Sertoma Club

Over 600 hearing screenings. 12,000 ear plugs given away. Thousands of pieces of hearing safety literature distributed.

And countless calories!

Iowa's Sertoma Clubs made their mark on the 2010 Iowa State Fair with their hearing education booth in the Varied Industries building. Along with dozens of volunteer audiologists, Iowa's Sertomans spread the word about hearing safety in the era of the Ipod. This year, using our brand-new audiometer, the club provided a record number of hearing screenings to fairgoers.

Thanks to all Iowa Sertomans who contributed time (466 hours!) and money to this important opportunity to reach Iowans with the hearing safety message. Thanks also to Des Moines Sertoman Bob Simons for his exceptional effort to make this happen.

Thanks to everyone who has volunteered to help out at the Iowa Sertoma Clubs hearing education booth at the Iowa State Fair. Click on the links to see the schedules for State Fair volunteers and volunteer audiologists.

August will be a great big month for the Des Moines Sertoma Club! Getting right to it...

Des Moines Mayor Frank Cownie will be our August 3 guest. He's got a big job, facing disasters like floods and red-light cameras, and this will undoubtedly be a great and informative session.

UPDATE: click the links for schedules for State Fair volunteers and volunteer audiologists.

Our August 17 meeting will feature Jeri Le Henry's daughter.

We cap off a great month with our annual Summer Picnic at Salisbury House on August 31. Doors open at 5:30, dinner at 6:00.

Service to Mankind, great speakers, and great fun -- join us!

Happy New Year, Sertomans!

Yes, it is a new Sertoma year. The club nationwide starts its fiscal year July 1. Club President Oliver Knuth steps up to Chairman, while past president Craig Randall steps in for a second term as club President. Minda Barr will be our Vice President of Attendance, putting her in line for the club Presidency in July 2011.

Dick Henry has stepped up to join the board. Jeri Le Henry, who is stepping down from the Chairmanship, will join David Beery, John Badger, Rick Howe and Will Canine on the club Board of Directors, while Treasurer Ron Mountsier, Vice-President of Attendance Bob Simons, and Secretary Joe Kristan will keep their positions for another year. Be sure to thank those who are stepping up for this important work.

We will start the Sertoma year with a July 6 visit from Shane Goodman, publisher of the provocative weekly free paper Cityview. Find out more how they keep this piece of the old media hip, edgy and outrageous. Note the venue change for this meeting. The usual Ruan Center location of the club is closed July 6, so the meeting will be held at the Embassy Club, 41st floor of 801 Grand.

Our July 20 meeting will feature Brett Mills, Director of the Iowa Department of Economic Development. Brett Mills took the reins of this troubled department after his predecessor resigned in the Film Tax Credit scandal. This is your chance to find out how the key agency in Iowa's economic development efforts is dealing with the double trouble of a poor economy and a debilitating scandal. We return to our usual Ruan Center, 34th floor, location for this meeting.

Social Meetings!

Since the club switched to its two-meetings-per-month schedule, some of our members have had a hole in their schedules on the second and fourth Tuesdays of the month. No More! We will try have social-only meetings of the Des Moines Sertoma Club on the second and fourth Tuesdays this month, July 13 and July 27.

We will reserve a table at the Ruan Center location of the Des Moines Club, and members who wish to socialize should just show up and ask for the Sertoma table at the 34th floor reception desk. Lunches will be charged at the same low $15 per-member rate as the club charges (including tip and tax) and the charges will appear as extra billings on the quarterly bills of members who come to the social meetings. We hope this turns out to be popular; we'll keep it going as long as we have members who show up for it.

What Sertoma was up to in June

The tears came easily at the end of this year's Fantasy Baseball Camp for deaf and hard-of-hearing youth. The 12th camp was the last for the club, as bureaucratic obstacles to reaching kids and changes in youth interest have made it too difficult to attract participants, so the club will redirect its efforts in hearing education to programs that can have a wider impact. Thanks to all the Sertomans, community volunteers and Iowa Cubs personnel who have made this such a great program over the years.

Service to Mankind is what we do year-around at the Des Moines Sertoma Club. We also get to hear first-hand from key business and civic leaders at our luncheons -- and we have a great time doing it. Join today!

This is a big month for Des Moines Sertoma, highlighted by our Fantasy Baseball Camp for deaf and hearing-impaired youth. The camp runs June 21-June 25. If you know a youth who might be eligible (boys and girls are both welcome), please contact John Badger or Paulette Taylor. We also need volunteers and contributions for this great service project.

Our first meeting this month was a great success. We had a great turnout at the Embassy Club for Carol Sipfle, Executive Director of the Greater Des Moines chapter of the Alzheimers Association. The daughter-in-law of former club president Reg Sipfle, Carol provided an excellent overview of this dread disease and the resources available from the Alzheimers Association.

Our June 15 meeting will feature Mike Ralston, President of the Iowa Association of Business and Industry. Mike is also former Director of the Iowa Department of Revenue, and he brings a wise and unique perspective of the issues facing Iowa business.

The social event of the Sertoma season takes place June 26: the Sertoma Inaugural Ball! This traditional event will be at the Des Moines Club this year on the 33rd Floor. Mark your calendar and RSVP!

Coming up later this summer: Sertoma goes to the Iowa State Fair!.

There's always something happening at Des Moines Sertoma. Join us!

Sertoma hits the road May 1 for the spring clean-up of our club’s designated stretch of I-235! Fortunately we don’t have to go too far down the road –- we cover a stretch from 31st street to MLK. This project on one of the busiest stretches of roadway in the state is a great way to help the community and to have fun with your fellow Sertomans. You never know what you’ll find – we’ve seen everything from cash to meth lab remnants – what will you find? Find out May 1-- meet at the church parking lot on 31st just north of I-235 at 7:45 a.m. If you haven’t done so already, contact Craig Randall to let him know that you are going to help out.

We then go indoors May 4 to hear from Polk County Supervisor John Mauro at our lunch meeting. Such up-close meetings with important public figures are one of the great benefits of Sertoma membership.

Our May 18 lunch meeting hits one of Sertoma’s key service areas –- hearing and speech – when we host Kathryn Baumann-Reese, Administrator with the Deaf Services Commission of Iowa. We’ll see how this agency is meeting the needs of Iowa’s deaf and hard of hearing in this age of tight budgets.

We mix fun and service on May 25 at our annual benefit Pitch Tournament for the Ruby Van Meter School Booster Club. Every penny raised in this fun tournament goes to make possible the outside activities of the kids at the area’s school for special-needs kids. If you can be there, play. You don’t have to know how to play Pitch; our own Jack Sink will patiently reach you all you need to know! If you can’t be there, sponsor a player and help us raise $500 for the RVM kids – a bargain at $15 -- and every penny goes to the RVM Booster Club.

Service to Mankind is what Sertoma is about -- and great speakers and fun, too. Join the fun!

The glaciers have retreated and green shoots are shooting up. Like the daffodils, Sertoma always is there in the springtime!

We start our April schedule by welcoming Vickie Barth, Director of Nursing at DMAAC, on Tuesday, April 6. She will discuss the looming shortage of nurses and the status of nursing education programs. The Des Moines Sertoma Club has a long history of assisting nursing education, and this should be an excellent way to reconnect with this important community service issue.

We host Laurie Phelan, President of Iowa Jobs for America’s Graduates (I-JAG), at our Tuesday, April 20 meeting. I-JAG “is a program to specifically reduce the number of students who are at risk of dropping out and help them to become productive youth.”

April 20 will be a day-night doubleheader for Des Moines Sertoma; in the evening we have our annual Fantasy Baseball Kickoff at the Cub Club in Principal Park. The program, in which local coaches and I-Cub players teach baseball skills to deaf and hard-of-hearing youth, is one of our flagship programs, and the kickoff is always a fun program.

Meeting Schedule Reminder: The club meets for lunch at the Des Moines Club (34th floor) on the First and Third Tuesday of each month. We also have one evening meeting each month. While the traditional date for the evening meeting is the last Tuesday of the month, it varies to accommodate athletic events and other scheduling issues. If you want to double-check the meeting schedule for the month, just visit www.dmsertoma.org, where the current schedule is always posted.

A continuing tradition of Service to Mankind, a great club, and the best speakers in town -- join us!

Spring training is just getting underway, but the 2010 season of the Des Moines Sertoma Club is going strong with a strong slate of March events.

On March 2 with a visit from Brian Brown, Director of the Drake Relays. Des Moines Sertoma has welcomed Relays directors for many years. Find out what’s new at one of the greatest track and field events in the nation!

Mark your calendars for March 16, when we welcome Polk County Supervisor John Mauro. He’s serving his fourth term on the Board, where he is now Vice-Chairperson. Mr. Mauro is a Des Moines native who has also owned his own insurance agency for many years.

But wait, there’s more!

On March 17, the club’s March evening meeting will be held at Wells Fargo Arena,, where we will watch the NBA Developmental League’s Iowa Energy take on Dakota. The Energy is always great entertainment, so contact Joe Kristan for your tickets.

What else is happening at Sertoma? In addition to our own community projects like Fantasy Baseball for hearing-impaired youth, our State Fair Hearing Safety Exhibit, and our work with the Ruby Van Meter School, we also give to worthy local projects. Donations slated for this year include:

1. Mid Iowa Boy Scout council: $300 campership
2. Moingona Girl Scout Council: $300 campership
3. Amanda the Panda: $300 campership
4. Wildwood Hills Ranch: $300 campership
5. YMCA Partner with Youth: $300 campership
6. Iowa Hands and Voices: $300 donation

Good fun, good fellowship and rewarding community service - what are you waiting for? Join Sertoma today!

It’s still cold, there’s still snow on the ground, but things are heating up at the Des Moines Sertoma Club!

We start our February schedule with Des Moines Police Chief Judy Bradshaw on February 2. Find out what’s happening on the mean streets of Des Moines!

On February 11 the club’s monthly evening meeting will be at Drake University’s Knapp Center, where the Drake Women’s basketball team takes on the Evansville Purple Aces. Get tickets at the February 2 meeting or contact Joe Kristan.

Speaking of Drake… our February 16 meeting features Drake athletic Directory Sandy Hatfield Clubb and Jim Noyce, Senior Advisor to the Athletic Director and Major Gift Officer at Drake. Jim is son of our late fellow Sertoman Dick Noyce.

Reminder: With our new schedule, there is no meeting February 9.

Mark your Calendars:

Make plans to see the NBA D-league Iowa Energy on March 17.

Remember: Planning is underway for our 2010 Fantasy Baseball Camp for deaf and hard-of-hearing youth. See John Badger to get involved.

2010 brings some exciting changes to our Club:

New location: We will meet at the Des Moines Club, 34th Floor. We had two meetings at that location as a test, and it proved popular with the members.

New meeting schedule: We will now meet for lunch twice a month, on the first and third Tuesdays each month.

What doesn't change is our commitment to service and our tradition of great speakers and member events. On tap this month:

We kick off our new decade on January 5 with a visit from Tom Kane, director of the Des Moines Metropolitan Planning Organization.

Our evening meeting this month is January 12, where we will go see the Drake Bulldogs Men's Basketball Team take on Missouri State. See Joe Kristan for ticket information.

Our January 19 speaker is Jim Mumford, First Deputy Insurance Commissioner at Iowa Insurance Division. The economy has been tough on this important Iowa industry, so this should be a great, informative presentation from a key insurance regulator.

Great speakers, great outing, and Service to Mankind - don't wait another day. Join Sertoma!