Rotary Bulletin for December 2, 2014

Last week's Program:

Our speaker was Todd Fogdall, the director of Des Moines Performing Arts.  He is also a member of the Des Moines AM Rotary Club.

Todd shared the vision of Des Moines Performing Arts (formerly known as the Civic Center Association) to be a national leader in presenting performing arts by bringing world class entertainment, educational and cultural activities to the region.

The primary physical facility for Des Moines Performing Arts is the Civic Center, a 2,744 seat auditorium.  Also located in the Civic Center building is the Stoner Theater, a 200 seat theater for smaller scale productions and also used for educational purposes.  The Temple Theatre is located in the Temple building (think Centro).  It has a 300 seat theater.  The fourth location is the Cowles Commons which used to be known as Nollen Plaza. There are plans for outdoor activities as soon as the renovations are completed sometime in 2015.

As a presenter of arts, the Des Moines Performing Arts Association averages approximately 400 performances a year for the benefit of 300,000 people.

The Willis Broadway Series is one of the top three in the nation, a great honor for the City of Des Moines.  The Des Moines Performing Arts Association also provides education through its Applause Series to over 50,000 teachers and students annually.

In addition to the revenue generated from the ticket sales and performances are all the musicians and staff who make the performances possible.  Then funding for the Performing Arts Association has generated 85% from ticket sales and approximately $2.5M is generated each year from fundraising activities.

Thank you for an interesting program.

ANNOUNCEMENTS:

Member Carolin Gibson is organizing the Christmas gift operation with West Des Moines Human Services.  Please contact Carolin if you would like to assist.

Recent member Fred Maharry has recently made the transition from red badge to blue badge as evidence he has completed the necessary community and club service activities to complete the transition.  Well done Fred.

Bell Ringing:

Our club is scheduled to staff the Salvation Army kettle and ring the bell at the Hy Vee on Jordan Creek Parkway on Saturday, December 6, 2014. Dave Carlson has only one or two slots remaining to fill. Contact Dave for more information.

Bike Shop:

Harold Hulleman reported that there are just two weeks left in December to participate at the bike shop bike in the year 2014.  Volunteers will be working on Thursday evening and Saturday morning in December. See Harold for details.

Chad Eichhorn is spearheading our club’s dictionary project for the West Des Moines Elementary Schools this year.  Chad reports that the delivery is scheduled for the week of December 8th.  He is seeking a few volunteers to help with that part of the project.

Editors Needed:

Our weekly Rotary bulletin is in need of a few good women or men to serve as editor. Typically the editor will be responsible for the bulletin for a month at a time. The process involves taking a few notes at the meeting and posting those notes to the electronic newsletter. If you are interested in taking a turn as editor, please contact Greg Kenyon.

Three Minute Speaker/Sergeant at Arms:

Did you know that Ken Kramer is an Indiana native? That he attended Xavier University in Cincinnati? That he married his high school sweetheart Sally?  That he serves as a volunteer at the YMCA in Clive, and on the Civil Air Patrol?

And on a completely different level, did you know the average weight of a turkey purchased for Thanksgiving is 15 pounds.  The heaviest turkey ever recorded grew to a plump 86 pounds. Wild turkeys can fly but their commercially raised cousins cannot.