Tag Archives: news

Managing the Greatest City in the Country

Monday Morning

There were 15 members and one guest, Joe Moore at our Monday meeting .Sharon and Gary were our greeters. Dan had the grace. Charlene and Steve had the humor.  Dawn announced that the District WI-UM convention is in Fond du Lac August 18-20th.  She is looking for attendees and volunteers to work the event. Melissa Schmidt will represent the club at the Boys and Girls Club Annual Spelling Bee in October.   Sharon was the winner and a loser. She picked the two of hearts. There are 44 cards left and a pot of $102.00.  Remember that we have a Kiwanis web page and Facebook. If you are on Facebook, like our page.  We have a projector for our speakers; please contact John if you need it. Speaking of programs for the future, get information to Jackie or myself. Member names are being added under Programs for your future dates.

Joe Moore, Fond du Lac City Manager

Joe Moore gave a report on the City of Fond du Lac. Unemployment is at an all-time low, 2 ½%. This accounts for the high number of employers looking to hire. Bad news, based on family income levels, the number of free or reduced school lunch program is at 50%.  The Military Rd roundabout will be done in November. The Second St. Bridge should be done any day. The Retlaw Hotel is hoping to start remodeling soon and be open by next summer. CD Smith is the contractor. . Hwy 23 projects stopped in 2015 and Joe hopes to see it restarted by next summer. Law Enforcement is reporting the lowest crime rate in years. However domestic violence is still increasing. Seven people died from heroin last year and Narcan was used over eighty times to prevent heroin deaths, Both the Combined Building and the two Catholic schools are in the process of being converted to apartments. Feel free to call Joe Moore or any city councilman with any other questions. They can be reached at the City of Fond du Lac web page.

Kiwanis Happenings – May 17, 2012

Here’s a recap of the last two weeks:

Monday Morning
We had 17 members make the trip out to North Fond du Lac Horace Mann High School on Monday morning to visit the Key Club. The Key Club had a great turnout of members who greeted us and directed us to the library/media center where we had our meeting. Jean Hintze, Key Club Advisor, and the Key Clubbers had a great breakfast of bagels, fruit, breakfast breads, juice, and coffee for our Club and their members. No one should have gone away hungry. Gary Miller announced an InterClub to West Bend Morning for Thursday morning for anyone that could make it.

Horace Mann High School Key Club-May 14
Jean Hintze welcomed our Club to Horace Mann High School and introduced the Key Club Officers. Kaylee Lyonns began by talking about the various fund raisers that the Key Club did during the past year. They raised $607.50 from seven fund raisers with a Spring Donut Sale yet to be held. Next, Stephanie Schmitz talked about events where money was raised but then turned over the charity that was involved with the event. The Key Club raised $1,810 and then donated that money to the seven charities that were either running the fundraiser or were designated as the recipient of the fund raiser proceeds. The largest recipient in this category was the Polar Plunge that generated $1,145 for Special Olympics. Last, but surely not least, was Andee Ball who talked about all of the volunteer hours put in by the Horace Mann Key Clubbers. A handout was provided that listed all of the volunteer hours by month by activity. The Key Club put in 2,057.5 hours through April of this year with May still to be counted. An interesting fact about these hours is that 319 of those hours were done during the summer when the Key Clubbers weren’t even in school. What a great example of giving back to their communities by this great group of young adults. A large reason for the resurgence of the Horace Mann Key Club is the great leadership provided by Jean Hintze as Advisor with the help of Co-Advisors Dan Hively and Jim Sandstrom. Thank you for your great guidance and congratulations on a great Key Club year.

Evab Schwalbe, Broken Bread-May 7
Evan Schwalbe joined us to talk about Broken Bread. The mission of Broken Bread is to feed the hungry, purchasing and rescuing surplus food and distributing it to those who are in need. Broken Bread began as an outreach ministry of St. Paul’s Cathedral on January 31, 1991. Following the mandate of Christ to feed the hungry, Broken Bread is an ecumenical, community-supported program dedicated to relieving the needs of the poor and hungry. Broken Bread food program serves approximately 150 families, or about 600 individuals every week. Dozens of volunteers representing a variety of churches and organizations devote hundreds of hours collecting, sorting and distributing hundreds of pounds of surplus food. Broken Bread has no paid staff and could not function without the hard work and educations of its many volunteers. It has been estimated that 20% of all food produced in this country is wasted every day because it cannot be sold. Broken Bread Food Program works in cooperation with area businesses, bakeries, supermarkets and restaurants to utilize food that otherwise would go to waste. By redistributing this “rescued” food, Broken Bread helps both the poor and local businesses. “Rescued” food enables the poor to purchase items at local stores they otherwise would be unable to purchase. “Rescued” food helps local businesses by relieving them of unnecessary disposal costs and allowing them to project a positive image in the community.
The success of Broken Bread depends on the cooperation of everyone concerned.

Kiwanis Happenings – May 4, 2012


Monday Morning
We had 18 members and our guest, Joe Michels, at our Monday morning meeting. Bonnie Baerwald announced that she has the tickets for the August 18th Brewers Game. She has several extra tickets if anyone is interested to get in. The price will be less than originally projected as we’ll not be chartering a bus but rather set up a car pool system. Let Bonnie know ASAP. Gary Miller announced that we had a successful InterClub on May 24th to the Fond du Lac Noon Club. Thanks to John Cooper, Dan Leeds, Dave Lefeber, and Gary Miller for getting this InterClub done. Ron Seidl drew the winning ticket in the 50/50 drawing and drew the King of Diamonds, not a winner. That leaves 44 cards in the deck with 7 being pay cards. The pot will be at least $310. Still a great chance to win.

Joe Michels, Fondy Swim Club
Joe Michels joined us on Monday morning as the President of the Fondy Swim Club. The Swim Club formed about five years ago and is a part of the Fond du Lac Recreation Department. The Swim Club is overseen by a nine member volunteer board. The Swim Club is licensed in both the State of Wisconsin and at the national level to hold competitive swim meets. The Club has a full-time coach and three assistant part-time coaches. The Club is a competitive swim team and was not organized to teach swimming.
They swim year round and break their season down in four sessions. The summer session is help at Taylor Park Pool. The Swim Club has about 80 members with a few less during the summer session. The Swim Club is divided into four skill levels; Beginners, Bronze, Silver and Gold. The level that team members compete at is based on their skill level, not their age. The Swim Club hosts a number competitive meets as a means to help fund the Club’s operations.