Week of Thursday, February 16, 2012
Anamosa McDonalds honored at Jones County Dairy Banquet
By Becky DirksHaugsted
ANAMOSA — Jones Regional Medical Center (JRMC) Auxiliary annual meeting proved to be a great success with over 90 members in attendance. Lori Shelton, President of the JRMC Auxiliary, called the meeting to order at noon on Wednesday February 8 at the St. Paul Lutheran Church.
Eric Briesemeister, CEO of Jones Regional Medical Center, was the guest speaker at the Jones Regional Auxiliary luncheon Wednesday, February 8. Briesemeister gave an update on the growth of the hospital and its facilities. (Journal-Eureka photo by Becky DirksHaugsted)
After an invocation by Pastor Katie Lowe-Lancaster, the luncheon was served. The meal was a delicious chicken-rice casserole with a multitude of salads and desserts to choose from. The decoration committee outdid itself with inspirational messages, chocolate kiss roses and scattered hearts at every table.
Lori Knuth brought students from the West Middle School music class to provide entertainment. They sang “The Chocolate Song” and “City of New Orleans” then Mrs. Knuth accompanied them on the accordion for “Camptown Races,” “Home on the Range” and “Barrel of Fun.” The entertainment was concluded with everyone joining in for “The Chicken Dance.”
Door prizes were the beautiful note cards sets featuring scenes from Jones County. Anna Adams, Vernice Shada and Patty Kehoe were the lucky winners.
The business portion of the meeting started with the previous annual meeting’s minutes and the financial report. A financial boost to the auxiliary was the Ann Wegman memorial gift. The auxiliary’s main fundraisers include the no-bake sale, chicken noodle luncheon and, now, the note card sales. These have provided funds for a library cart, an optical chair and for the renovation of the specialty clinics, just to name a few projects. Since its establishment in 1957, the auxiliary has donated more than $96,000 for hospital needs.
Auxiliary by-laws are required to be reviewed every five years, making 2012 a review year. There were six changes recommended that primarily dealt with wording changes for clarifications and definition of duties. The members approved the changes and they will be forwarded to the JRMC board for final incorporation.
The guest speaker was Eric Briesemeister, CEO of JRMC. He gave an update about the upward trend in the use of the hospital facilities. In 2004, the emergency room received approximately 4000 visits. In the year 2008, there were over 8000 visits. The cardiac/pulmonary rehabilitation grew from 2,500 visits to over 8,000 in the same time period. Surgery, Radiology, Lab Visits, Speech have each seen 30% growth. Briesemeister gave full credit to the dedication of the Auxiliary volunteers. “Jone Regional is more than a nice little hospital,” said Briesemeister, “Jones Regional provides a family feel to its care and that’s why people come here.”
The meeting concluded with a few questions for Briesemeister and then formal adjournment.
The officers of the Jones Regional Auxiliary are Lori Shelton, president; LaDean Osterkamp, vice president; Jan Swanson, treasurer and Marty Rowland, secretary. Jones Regional Auxiliary has more 250 men and women from all over the county, that promotes and advances the welfare of Jones Regional Medical Center, through service to the hospital and its patients.
Strawberry Hill Elementary to launch Watch D.O.G.S. program
ANAMOSA — Fathers (and father-figures) of Strawberry Hill students are wanted to start a new program at the Anamosa elementary school.
A new initiative of the National Center for Fathering called Watch D.O.G.S. (Dads of Great Students), has been inspired by one father’s desire to increase male involvement in his children’s school. With the help of schoolteachers and the administration, the Watch D.O.G.S. program was created in 1998 at George Elementary in Springdale, Arkansas.
Since then, the program has spread to more than 2,267 schools and 41 states and countries abroad.
Anamosa is kicking off their father involvement program Thursday, February 16, with a dads and kids pizza party where information about the Watch D.O.G.S. program will be handed out.
Studies by the U.S. Department of Education have demonstrated that a positive male role model will have a uniquely positive impact on the development and educational success of a child. A positive male role dramatically increases the child’s likelihood of graduating and getting mostly A’s along the way, while at the same time dramatically decreases the likelihood of that child living in poverty, getting involved with drugs and alcohol, and avoiding potentially devastating choices that result in the criminal record or teen pregnancy.
The U.S. Department of Education has identified the Watch D.O.G.S. program as an effective way to increase male involvement in our nation’s schools.
Dads, granddads, uncles, step dads and adult brothers are wanted to start this important program in Anamosa.
Anamosa McDonalds honored at Jones County Dairy Banquet
By Becky DirksHaugsted
MONTICELLO-McDonalds of Anamosa was awarded the Golden Butter Knife Award Friday Saturday, February 11, during the Jones County Dairy Banquet for being a business that supports the dairy farmers. The evening began with dinner catered by Marilyn Hawkins with pork chops provided and grilled by the Jones County Pork Producers. Garry Zumbach, President of the Jones County Dairy Association, welcomed everyone to the banquet and made introductions. Sister Ruth Kleitsch gave the invocation. The guest speaker was Moller Pelzer, Senior Vice President, Health and Wellness at Midwest Dairy Association. Iowa Dairy Princess Gina Fisher addressed the crowd about programs that support the dairy business. Awards for Jones County Dairy Herds above state average were presented followed by the coronation of the 2012-2013 Dairy Royalty.
