Des Moines Sertoma Club
April 22, 2007 Newsletter
Dear Sertoma Club members.
Last week will be remembered as a sad week for our nation history due to the tragic shooting that happened at Virginia Tech. I always saw Virginia Tech as a strong sports school that produced great teams in football and basketball. It now must face that it will be remembered as place of a tragedy, such as Waco, Oklahoma City and Columbine. Please continue to have the Administration, Faculty and students of Virginia Tech in your prayers.
As for the Des Moines Sertoma Club, it is great to see that some of the snow birds are trickling back and are attending the Tuesday meetings. We had some great speakers for the month of April and it looks like May is stacking up to have a great line of speakers also.
Upcoming Speakers and Events
Our next evening meeting which will tie in to our Fantasy Baseball camp, this Tuesday April 24th the evening meeting will be at the Iowa Cubs Club. Beginning at 5:30 when we will have the spring event to kick off Fantasy Baseball Camp. We will be eating, meeting some of the campers and their families and there will be time for pitch and you may possibly get to tour the field.
May 1st we will have the pleasure of having Mike Newell speak to our club. Currently Mike is a Senior Producer in Public Affairs at Iowa Public Television where he is in his 17th year as producer of the weekly “Iowa Press” program which focuses on policy and politics on a national and local scale. Additionally he produces debate coverage and other political programs. Mike is a native of Chicago and Milwaukee and came to Des Moines in 1964 as a scholarship football player (never took a snap) at Drake University where he graduated in 1968. He is the 2nd of eight children including brother John, a long-time fixture at KCCI-TV. Mike is married his wife is Mary Christine Newell he has two grown daughters, both in Chicago and two granddaughters. Through the years Mike has done play-by-play, was Jim Zabel’s assistant handling a daily sports report or two, television sports anchor work, and scoreboard and call in shows. In 1974 he went “freelance” and was the first ever to pull it off in our market. His resume is much too long to go into more detail you will just have to come to lunch and hear all about his career and life. I’m sure you will enjoy meting Mike.
Also on May 1st Cindia Badger and perhaps a couple students from Ruby Van Meter School will be there shortly after Noon to talk to us about some things going on at the school while we have lunch. Those include the annual Spring Track and Field Day, the music festival, and a garage sale to help get money to carry on the programs that are so important to the school and students.
May 8th, Jim Zabel will be joining us again. Recently there have been many things in the news that have pertained to sports. Here are a few that come to mind; Steve Alford leaving Iowa for New Mexico, The remarks that Don Imus made on his radio program regarding the Rutgers’s women’s basketball team and most recently perhaps the Masters Victory by Iowan Zack Johnson and I’m sure Jim will have opinions on those subjects and many more. So the day should be interesting and lively.
May 15th KCCI Head Meteorologist John McLaughlin will be our speaker. He is taking time out of a very busy schedule to talk to us. He tells me that between his chopper business in the morning and KCCI in the afternoon and evenings he has little time to himself. I think we should consider ourselves fortunate to be able to have him as a guest so be thinking of questions you might want to ask him.
May 22nd our speaker is a name you are sure to remember it’s Rick Fredericksen. Rick was co-anchor at KCCI-TV on the 6 and 10 o’clock news casts he worked at KCCI from 1970 to 1982. He was paired with Paul Rhoades on the 6:00 News and Russ Van Dyke at 10, for several years. He was the Chief correspondent for CBS news in Bangkok and headed up their bureau. Earlier, he reported on the Viet Nam War in the Marine Corps. More recently he was the News Director of WOI Radio, and is now the Arts and Culture Reporter for newly organized Iowa Public Radio. Rick is a Des Moines native and a graduate of North High School and the Department of Defense Information School. He should have some interesting tales to tell so be thinking of questions for Rick.
May 29th we will have our evening meeting at Calvin Community for the Annual Sertoma Pitch Tournament to benefit Ruby Van Meter School. Earl and Rick will have more on this as the date nears.
June 5th Dr. Jim Wille, who is Certified in Pediatric and Adult Allergy will discuss the allergy season and things you can do and ways to make your life bearable this time of the year.
The June evening meeting will go into July and it will be on Saturday July 8th at the Hyperion Field Club when Keith Anderson will be inaugurated as the new club President. He has lined up a great menu and entertainment so we hope that this year’s event will be well attended.
The evening meeting in July in on the 31st and it is the annual trek to Lake Panorama for golf at the Panorama Country Club and Dick Noyce again will be the gracious host for steaks and all the works. It is always a fun afternoon and evening. Be ready to sign up for a tee time. I may even try to play this year.
We have an exciting schedule for the month of June and as always, would be a perfect time to bring a guest. See you at the next Tuesday meeting.
Carl Bump