NEWS RELEASE 9-14-20
Seward Rotary Club Hosts Successful Family Day at the Seward County Historical Society Museum.
It was a beautiful day to ride the free train rides at the Seward County Historical Society Museum’s miniature scale trains at the Seward Rotary Club’s annual Seward Rotary Family Day at the Museum on Sunday, September 13, 2020 from 2:00 to 4:00 pm. Many guests and families enjoyed the museum grounds in conjunction with the Rotary Family Day at the Museum.
The day featured the free train rides on the Chippewa Northwestern Railway Society train system-featuring a 1” scale-1/12 scale live steam railroading program. The rides are always free.
All of the society’s buildings and main museum were open to the public for tours by Historical Society members/ and host Rotarians.
A free ice cream social was enjoyed in the Seward County Historical Society’s meeting room –featuring free ice cream, cake and punch for all who attended and enjoyed the family event.
The day was coordinated with the Seward Rotary Club membership as one of their official “Family Fun” days.
The Historical Society also hosted a “Flea Market” during the event in the Society’s meeting room during the event.
The Seward County Historical Society Museum is open from May through October on Thursday from 10 am to 4 pm and Sundays from 1:30 pm to 5:00 pm. For more information visit their website or the Seward County Historical Society Museum Facebook page.
NEWS RELEASE AUGUST 19, 2020
Seward Rotary Club Honored with Best Youth Project in the District at Conference
The Seward Rotary Club was honored with the Best Youth Project for 2019-2020 in the Rotary District 5650-donating funds to assist in the building of the new Helicopter/ Jeep Children’s Play Area located in Armory Park. The funds to build the project were a combination of funds generated by the Seward Rotary Club and funds budgeted over the years for the park by the City of Seward. The local Seward Rotary Club’s funds were raised with dollars donated by the Rotary Club raised with their annual “Grocery Grab” fund raiser and their annual “Service Above Self” dinner-matched by a District Grant.
“We are so pleased to have this new playground equipment next to the Nebraska National Guard Museum,” stated Gerry Meyer, Historian and Executive Director of the Museum. “The two pieces of playground equipment – the helicopter and jeep are perfect additions to the park area. The City of Seward and Rotary Club “really did it up right” and the project indeed deserves to be honored, as it is a great addition to the Seward Park area and we thank all who were involved.” (It should be noted the jeep is on backorder with the playground equipment company but the space is there for when it arrives!).
The Seward Rotary funds were generated from the annual Rotary Club “Service Above Self” dinner and the annual Seward Rotary Club’s “Grocery Grab” fundraiser last year. The funds were matched by the Rotary District through a Rotary International District 5650 Grant. Leaders from the Seward Rotary involved with this playground equipment addition to the Armory Park located on the corner of 10th and Jackson Avenue, included Rotarians Co-chairs-Jon and Bonnie Kruse, Rotarian Greg Butcher-Grant writer, Kurth Brashear-Seward Rotary Club President, Todd La Velle-Chair of the “Service Above Self” dinner, and Rotarian Shelley Nitz who served as the fiscal agent for the Rotary District Grant and Clark Kolterman-Chair of the annual Rotary Grocery Grab. Local Seward Park Director-Bob Core supervised the project and Jerry Meyer, Nebraska National Guard Museum Executive Director and Historian was also involved in the project’s timeline.
The new Seward Armory Helicopter Playground Equipment was recently honored as the Top Youth Project at the Rotary District 5650 and recognized at the recent Rotary District 5650 Virtual Conference. District Governor Mick Mckinley announced the award at the Awards Ceremony. The award considers all the youth activities and projects of the Rotary Clubs in Iowa and Nebraska.
“This project was a total team effort,” commented Rotarian Jon Kruse-project co-chair. “Our Rotary Club has participated in many Rotary International District Grants for Seward-such as the new William Seward Statue and Plaza project too, and we appreciate the support of the Rotary District leaders. The grant gives us twice as much funding for our local projects and assists our mission of “Service Above Self! It is a great amount of paperwork and we appreciated the efforts of both Greg Butcher and Shelley Nitz for their many hours and effort to this project.”
“Our current Rotary District Grant application is to assist in funding the examination room with furniture and equipment for the examination room for the new pet rescue center-Blue River Pet Rescue.”Commented Rotarian Dr. Ron Wallman, a committee member. “We will be funding this Rotary District Grant match with the same, popular “Grocery Grab”-to kick off on Tuesday, September 1, 2020 and conclude on Wednesday, October 14th at the weekly Rotary meeting at the Civic Center-where we will select eight finalists for the grab. The eight finalist will have a drawing on Saturday, Oct. 24th at 1:00, giving seven consolation prizes of $25 and the winning Grocery Grab at Pac and Save in Seward. Tickets can be purchased at the Jones Bank and at the service desk at Pac-N-Save. The grab will be held on Saturday October 24th, 2020.
For more information contact Clark Kotlerman at clark.kolterman@sewardschools.org or call him at 402-641-8522.
Photo: L-R Gerry Meyer-NENGM, Rotarian Jon Kruse, Parks Dir. Bob Core, Rotarians Todd LaVelle and Bonnie Kruse all join together to celebrate the Top Youth Project for District 5650 awarded to the Seward Rotary Club.