The meeting was opened by President Casey Cook at 7:08.

He immediately called on Chris Knapp to lead us in song.  The usual songs, “My country ‘tis of Thee” followed by “Smile”, were sung.

Casey called on Susan Murty.  She has been a member since 2006.  Next Tuesday will be her last meeting with us, since she is moving to North Carolina to help her sister. Casey mentioned that she embodies Rotary International model of Service above Self. She does whatever needs to be done, from cleaning / sanitizing the tables after the meetings, to being a member of the committee that decides who gets our community grants. Casey then called Jim Peterson, who is Susan’s sponsor.  He said Susan has been a valuable member of the club; he mentioned that Susan was one of the Univ. of Iowa professionals who was immediately interested in the Xicotepec project.  Jim described her as having a sunny disposition, but never losing sight of the serious aspect of the work at hand.

Susan said she visited the Rotary Club of Black Mountain, North Carolina, but it is not Iowa City AM.

Sergeant-at-Arms report

Jack mentioned there were fewer members today; we need to remind members that we meet on Tuesdays, in the mornings.

Guests: Ann Romanowski, guest of Bryan Clemons.

As every Tuesday, Tae-Sung Yun, Timmy, our INBOUND student from South Korea, was in attendance.  Chris made it a point to thank everybody in the club who helped during the year to make Tae-Sung’s stay possible and good once here.

Today was Timmy’s last day with us, since he returns to his home country on June 2nd.  Good luck, Timmy.

Announcements

Casey read two thank you notes from the recipients of the books donations. Lisa, who is the Director of the “I can read” program, said that the books touch many lives. She thanked the club for the $250.00 the Program was given during one of our March meetings.

Casey reminded us that the Auction will take place at the club's year-end celebration on June 28th.

Roger said nobody signed today to do dishes. Dishes were done, nevertheless.

Sue Cronin informed us that the money collected from the recycling of cartridges, $400.00, will this time be donated to the Kiva Project.  Said project gives grants to entrepreneurs in low income areas around the world so they can start their projects.  The money is then returned to the group, and the cycle begins again.  If we go to kivaproject.com, we can see the requests for grants, and suggest the one we like to Sue.  (Note:  Sue’s sister passed away after the accident).

Nenu mentioned that whoever does dishes should make certain he / she has the key to lock the room.  It is also requested of the members who do have keys, to make sure the member in charge of doing dishes has a key to lock the room.

Happy Bucks

Many Happy Bucks were donated for a variety of reasons.

Program

Liz Loeb introduced the speakers, the two Project Green Chairpersons Diane Allen and Cindy Parsons, who are to talk about said project.

At the start, the two members mentioned that this is a very informal presentation, with a power point.

The Project was started in 1968, by three founding members.  It is now an urban renewal project.  There are no members per se, thus no annual dues.  Everybody who volunteers is a member, and no experience is necessary.

They work very closely with the City of Iowa City officials.

The object is to beautify Iowa City, its most visible areas.

On Saturday, July 12th, the Garden Tour will take place between 3 and 8 pm.  The ticket is $5.00. 

Project Green has an educational side to it.  Among the educational programs, they have: Kindergarten Trees, which allows children to choose and plant a tree in their school grounds.  The students then get to see its growth during the time they are at that school.

Another educational project is “Sunday Garden tours.”  It is a collaboration with the Iowa City Public Library. Its object is to talk about everything related to gardens.  This project attracts good crowds.

The gardens selected to participate this year are all on different terrain / grounds, they face different challenges. 

The Garden Fair is Project Green’s main source of funding.  There are assorted plants that were donated by volunteers, and there are experts and resources available on site. There are also artists who donate their artwork for gardens.

Whatever is left over from the Fair is taken to Ashton House.

The funds collected since inception amount to approximately $2,000,000.00. We must keep in mind that maintenance is very costly.

Project Green has been involved in the following projects:  Iowa Avenue (it continues), Melrose Ave, North Dubuque Street, Hwy. 6 Bypass planting, Gilbert and Hwy 6 intersection, Terry True Blood Park, Normandy Dr., the Court House, MidAmerican project, West High school, and Ashton House, a historic place that was donated by the city to Project Green.  It is a dream come true, they said.

Q & A. 

Does the city help Project Green?  Yes, it does. The city mows the lawns, gives mulch when needed, and stores tools, among other things.

The meeting adjourned at 8:00a.m.

Respectfully submitted by Nenu Piragine.