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Back to Home pageNEWSLETTER Kiwanis Club of Cedar Rapids Wednesday, August 5, 2009 The meeting was called to order by President Bob Hatala, Esq. 31 Members in attendance. Guests: None. Birthdays: None Anniversaries: Paula Grady and John Locher Announcements: 1. Barbara Hoffman and Christina Djerf will be inducted next Wednesday by Chuck Wehage. 2. The playground dedication in honor of Duane Kurrelmeyer at Olivet Neighborhood Mission has been postponed until mid-September. 3. The officer induction ceremony will be held Wednesday, September 23 at noon at Elmcrest. Happy Bucks: John Anderson – kissing a deer with his vehicle, good news is the windshield didn’t break but the $3000 damage will bend his pocketbook, buck #2 for the good crowd today; Chuck Wehage for his 48th wedding anniversary and something about 31 years of…, and his daughter and granddaughter are visiting; Keith Sutherland – 1st grandson’s 1st birthday and found out another is on the way in January; Charlene Boardman for 49 years and her “favorite suck up” son’s belated birthday card; Don Grimm – 200 sets of earplugs just to say he’s preparing for the next 50 yrs; Steve Walrath – parents’ anniversary; Jim Platt – high school reunion coming up in Prairie du Chien, WI; Ron Sundermann – for his new and marvelous iPhone IF he can get it to work; Mike Poggenklass – for Ron catching up with 21st century technology; Dan Breitbach – for clarification on his parents’ anniversary years in comparison to his age, ie, a ten year gap. Upcoming Programs: Next week is Dr. Fitzgerald, an optometrist Speaker: Jim Platt introduced Kurt Sickles, recently honored as the VA’s National Director of Special Events. He is married with three children. A native Iowan, he earned his BS degree in communications in San Diego and spent 1980-86 with the Navy. Kurt gave an informative talk on the VA health care plan, who’s eligible and how to enroll. Nationally, the VA has 172 hospitals and over 3200 clinics. The Iowa City VA serves 45,000 veterans, 800+ outpatient visits daily. They are opening a CR branch soon that will offer primary care, mental health and lab services. Special events that the VA holds annually include the summer games in San Diego, wheelchair games (Spokane this past month), the Golden Age games, Creative Arts, Tee Tournament at the Riverside Golf and Casino (he handed out volunteer forms if anyone is interested in helping), and a week of fishing in Minnesota. He also mentioned that a new GI bill is out which not only provides a four year education but also includes up to $1000 montly for expenses. He encourages all veterans to enroll with the VA as it greatly impacts the funding they receive since it’s based on the number of veterans registered. Word for the day: Don hit us with “ebullition”: the state of bubbling agitation into which a liquid is thrown by being heated to the boiling point. If I were to use this in a sentence based on the “Happy Bucks of today”, it’d go something like this: Chuck and Don will feel ebullition once their wives hear their respective anniversary happy buck stories. Submitted: Dan Breitbach - El Verboso Bloviatoro |