We are professional and business people from our community !

30 Active Members and Growing!!

Rotary Membership Data (Past 4 Years)
July 1, 2008                 27 members
January 1, 2009            26 members
July 1, 2009                 26 members
January 1, 2010            26 members
July 1, 2010                 28 members
January 1, 2011            30 members

A Message from Our Membership Chairperson
The Bellevue Rotary is a group of professional businessmen and women who meet once a week for lunch and fellowship.  The meetings are fun and informative, and the programs presented are always up-to-date and interesting.  We also have social and fundraising activities going on throughout the year.

Rotary is definitely an avenue of service that gives back to our community.

Happy to be a Rotarian!
Peter Meder

Becoming a Member
Rotarians are members of Rotary clubs.  Rotary clubs are members of Rotary International.  There are 1.2 million Rotarians worldwide.  To become a Rotarian, you must be invited to join a Rotary Club by a member of that club.  A qualified candidate for Bellevue Rotary Club membership is an adult of good character and good business, professional, or community reputation.

Membership Costs, Meeting Place, and Times
Meeting Place:  Riverview Hotel
Date:  Every Friday
Time:  11:30 a.m.
Cost: $7 for meal
Dues: $7.50 a month includes district and international dues
Billing: Every 2 months for meals and dues

BELLEVUE ROTARY CLUB HISTORY
Bellevue, Iowa
Club No. 2182 – District 5970

      The Bellevue Rotary Club was organized on February 15, 951.  It received its charter admitting it to Rotary International on March 5, 1951 with 21 members.  The Maquoketa Rotary Club sponsored the Bellevue Rotary Club.  The Bellevue Rotary Club currently has 30 active members who meet each Friday at 11:30 a.m. at the Riverview Hotel.  Linda Nudd is the current president.  We have 6 members who have contributed $1,000 to become Paul Harris Fellows, and several are close to becoming Paul Harris Fellows.  The Bellevue Rotary Club has actively supported Rotary’s challenge for polio eradication by donating over $23,000 to Polio Plus since 2003.

      During its first 25 years, the club was responsible for planting flower beds in Riverview Park, helping install a boat landing in the city’s downtown parking lot, various beautification projects, marking the site of the Bellevue War with a plaque, and sponsoring the annual children’s Halloween parade.

      Four International Study Exchange Groups have visited the Bellevue Rotary Club.  A group from Australia was here in 1968.  In 1989, exchange groups from Africa and India visited the Bellevue Rotary Club.  A group from New Zealand was here in the l980’s.

      The Bellevue Rotary Club hosted a foreign exchange student for 24 consecutive years starting in 1976.  During the same time period, 7 Bellevue students spent a year in a foreign country.  The latest exchange student was from Germany during the 2004-2005 school year.

      Since 1988, the Bellevue Rotary Club has awarded a scholarship to a high school senior from each of the two high schools in Bellevue.  Bellevue High School and Marquette High School award these $1,000 scholarships in May.  In 1989 at Christmas time, the Bellevue Rotary Club had a raffle that contributed several thousand dollars to the scholarship fund.  Additional funding comes from the July 4 Heritage Days food booth manned by Rotarians each year.  Duck Club raffles and large garage sales have also provided additional money for the scholarship fund. 

Other Bellevue Rotary Club Projects/Activities:

• Lighted Stone Signs at Bellevue Entrances (North and South signs $3,000; West sign $6,000)
• Rotary Halloween Children’s Parade Sponsorship since 1952
• Little Mr. and Mrs. Christmas Parade Sponsorship since 2007
• Foreign Exchange Students
• Two $1,000 Scholarships -  Bellevue High School and Marquette High School Graduates
• Donated Highway Signs for Bellevue Churches
• City Cemetery Cleanup and Tombstone Repair
• Started the South Riverfront Beautification Project
• Coordination of Red Cross Blood Drive 4 times each year
• Designed and Built Sign Below Overlook Platform Welcoming Boats to Bellevue
• Collaborated with Maquoketa Rotary Club on a Hurstville Interpretive Center Project
• Donated $7,500 for a Water Well Project in Haiti
• Literacy - ServeHAITI Education Mission and Dolly Parton Imagination Library Sponsors
• Highway Ditch Cleanup 2 times each year
• Polio Plus – Donated over $23,000 since 2003 to Rotary Foundation to eradicate polio
• Support Toys for Tots
• Sponsor 2 High School Students to the Rotary Youth Leadership Award Conference
• Support Archery in the Schools Program
• Contributed to Installation of 2 City Bicycle Racks
• Read to 3rd Grade Classrooms and Provide Books to Elementary Libraries
• Heritage Days Parade Float and Food Stand
• Brat Stand at Bender’s Food Store
• Annual Golf Best Shot Event

Priorities of Bellevue Rotary Club

• Meetings – Relevant and informative programs
• Membership – Active members who support the mission and vision of Rotary
• Club Operations – Cordial fellowship at 11:30 a.m. each Friday
• Service – Support for Polio Plus, Haiti mission trips, and local community projects

The Rotary Foundation/International Service
This Committee assists the governor in educating, motivating, and inspiring Rotarians to participate in Foundation programs and fundraising activities.  It serves as a liaison between the Foundation and club members.  The Rotary Foundation’s Humanitarian Grants Program provides a set of tools that Rotary clubs and districts can use to build community projects that help improve the lives of people throughout the world.  Projects funded through the Humanitarian Grants Program must:

• Involve the active and personal participation of Rotarians
• Assist in the development of strong Rotary networks
• Demonstrate sound financial stewardship
• Address humanitarian needs

Regularly updated information about the Humanitarian Grants Program can be found at www.rotary.org.   The Committee Chairperson for the Foundation Committee is John Hoff.

District 5970 History
District 5970 is a rather new designation for Rotarians in northern Iowa.  As the organization grew, several re-alignments were made to serve clubs.

      Rotary came to Iowa in 1911 when a club was formed in Des Moines.  It was the 27th club worldwide.  A year later, Rotary leaders decided to divide clubs in the United States into 5 regions.  Iowa was placed in the central region.  The first club in the current district 5970 was Cedar Rapids, now Cedar Rapids Downtown, formed June 1, 1914.  Waterloo followed on July 1, 1915.  Also in 1915, District Governors were initiated and clubs in Iowa, along with North Dakota and South Dakota.  Nebraska became district 10.  That arrangement lasted only three years when we were moved to District 16.

      New Rotary clubs were formed rapidly in Iowa, so in 1922 we broke away from District 10 and became “the new District 11” with 46 clubs in the eastern two thirds of the state.  That arrangement lasted 27 years.  The alignment remained the same, but the designation was changed to District 132 in 1937.  In 1948, we became 133 until July 1, 1949 when 133 was split one last time into 597 in the north and 600 in the south.  In 1991, district 597 became 5970.

      The first Governor from a community now in our district was Fred Northey of Waterloo who was Governor in 1918, only three years after his club was formed.  This history of the evolution of our district is courtesy of a book written in 1997 by PDG Bill Reese from West Des Moines entitled, “Rotary. . .The Iowa Influence.”