As I glace back at 2006 the Des Moines Sertoma Club can look with pride at the things our club accomplished. In July we had another successful Fantasy Baseball Camp. August was our annual picnic and we filled Jack Hartle’s car trunk with old clothes that we donated to the Door of Faith. 
And because of the persistence of Bob Simons the Des Moines Sertoma Club had a booth at the Iowa State Fair in the Varied Industry Building for the very first time. We asked if other clubs in the state wanted to take part in this initial voyage and the response was overwhelming so what started as a local venture turned into a state wide event to showcase Sertoma and screen over 200 people for possible hearing problems. Again this year there will be a Sertoma booth in the same location and armed with what we learned last year we intend to make it bigger and better to help more people determine if they have hearing problems. Sertomans manned kettles and rang bells in the skywalk for the Salvation Army to help with their annual holiday fund raising where we collected $542. 
And the years ended with our Annual Christmas Dinner where Martha Willits was presented the “Service to Mankind” award and Rudy Trusheim delivered a truly moving Christmas season message.
Of course the year wasn’t without its lighter moments. Nearly every Tuesday Noon we meet for food, fellowship and conversation. At our noon meetings we are informed and entertained by speakers and last year we had quite a variety. And at out monthly evening meetings we visited several local restaurants, saw Drake basketball games and watched the Iowa Stars. The Sergeant at Arms, Bob Simons, did his best to make us part with our hard earned dollars by fining us for our lack of knowledge or for what ever he deemed worthy. The fines go into our foundation to be used for the various activities the Des Moines Sertoma Club supports.
Well 2007 has gotten off to a fast start, in fact, its April all ready and it’s hard for me to believe that as much of the year is gone as it is. To start the year out our 1st Noon meeting was at ChildServe where we saw a video about ChildServe and what it does. We have also had some great speakers with more in the wings, such as John McLaughlin, Mike Newell, Rick Fredericksen and Dr. Jim Wille. In October we were scheduled to participate in the I-235 beautification program to clean-up our new stretch of road which is near the 31st Street exit on I-235, however, the weather did not cooperate. So April 14th we are going to try again and maybe the weather will be more accomodating. Looking ahead we have our Annual Pitch Tournament to raise money for Ruby Van Meter School and we will set-up batting cages at Ruby Van Meter’s Field Day. Other things we have on the agenda is our officer inauguration dinner, annual picnic, Fantasy Baseball Camp, Des Moines Sertoma at the fair and the popular steak and golf outing at Lake Panorama hosted by Dick Noyce. As I said the year is going fast so jump aboard and enjoy and find out what Sertoma can do for you. In fact, if you are interested in learning more about Sertoma please e-mail Kevin Krause Krause.kevin@principal.com he is our Vice President of Membership and he will be happy to give you all the help you need.
Craig Randall
2006 - 2007 Club President
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