The snow is gone, the buds are greening, and it's a great month to be a Sertoman! We have a full slate planned.
The green flag goes up on the month May 6 with a visit from Craig Armstrong, general manager of the Iowa Motor Speedway in Newton.
Living legend Jim Zabel returns to the club May 13. Jim has seen a lot, and he'll have some thoughts on the singular year in sports we've just had here in Iowa.
Our own Max Thompson has the floor May 20. Max will talk about how mechanization and high tech have changed farming, and he'll discuss and some of the economic, social, and environmental effects that came with these changes.
Our annual pitch tournament is set for Calvin Manor on May 27. Registration at 5:15, play starts at 5:30 SHARP! Sign up now as a player or sponsor. You don't even have to know how to play - trust me, you'll learn in a hurry. All proceeds go to the Ruby Van Meter School, so it's good fun for a great cause.
HIGHWAY CLEANUP! Our annual cleanup of our stretch of I-235 is Saturday, May 3. Meet at the parking lot of Macedonia Baptist Church on 31st Street, just north of the freeway, at 7:45 a.m.
SPEAKING OF RUBY VAN METER: On May 1st at 1:00 PM Ruby Van Meter School will present its Spring Musical, "I Need A Vacation" in in the Ruby Van Meter School gymnasium. It is a great experience.
ALSO SPEAKING OF RUBY VAN METER: Their annual activity day is June 2, from 8:00 a.m. until noon. Our club will be setting up and running the batting cage so help will be needed to set-up and tear down. It is an exciting and fun day for the students and a great way for Sertoma to stay in touch with Ruby Van Meter School.
MEMBER NEWS
At the April board meeting the club Board of Directors approved the membership nomination of John Frandson, a Managing Director at Principal Global. Be sure to give him a warm Sertoma welcome at the next meeting.
Carl Bump has taken a new position at Nationwide downtown, a move that bodes well for him making it to more lunch meetings. Congratulations, Carl!
SUMMER PICNIC
Craig Randall has made arrangements to hold our summer picnic in the air-conditioned comfort of Salisbury House August 26. We'll also get a tour of this great piece of Des Moines history.
CALL OUT FOR AUDIOLOGISTS
Bob Simons asks member contact their audiologists to see if they would be willing to serve giving hearing screenings during the fair. The fair runs from August 7th through August 17th. See Bob or a committee member with any leads or questions.
APRIL: FRIENDS IN LOW PLACES
We had a great set of meetings in September. Bill Stowe took us on a tour of the Des Moines Underworld, showing us the challenges of civil engineering, sewage disposal and road clearing in a 160-year old settlement. Police Chief Judy Bradshaw aquainted us with the problems of a different kind of underworld at our April 15 meeting. Mike Glover from the Associated Press brought us up to date on the legislature and the future of the media on April 22. He made an arresting prediction: that there will be no newspapers made with actual paper in 10 years.
FANTASY BASEBALL CAMP IS COMING UP!
We had a well-attended kick-off event for the 2008 Fantasy Baseball Camp at the Cub Club in Principal Park. Loosen the purse strings and help finance this great Sertoma event through a direct gift or by participation in the skybox raffle.
There's too much going on with the Des Moines Sertoma Club to be selfish about it. Bring a guest!