Kiwanis
The weekly Kiwanis meeting was held 12:05 p.m. Tuesday, May 1, at the Windrow meeting room with 24 members and five guests. President Korina Loudon presided and gave the prayer and Jim Morris was the finemaster.
Two new members were introduced and welcomed into the club, Chelsea Sorensen and Chris Gordy.
The program was given by Ginny Lents and Kim Frain, diabetic information nurses with Greater Regional Medical Center. They discussed how they help newly diagnosed diabetic patients learn new, healthy eating and lifestyle changes. They also handed out a test to check to see if you are high risk for the disease, and if you have any symptoms that need checked out by a doctor. The three types of diabetes were also discussed and explained.
The club presented Betty Jungst and Betty Wallace, Creston Bloodmobile coordinators, with a $400 check to help with their expenses for the coming year.
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Beta Sigma Phi
Iowa Alpha Sigma Master Chapter of Beta Sigma Phi (BSP) met Thursday evening, April 26, at the Pizza Ranch for the traditional Founder’s Day observance with all members in attendance.
Following the opening ritual and the BSP grace, the group enjoyed selections from the buffet before the formal program.
President Loretta Kelly was assisted by Patricia Fils, who led the Founder’s Day pledge, and Marilyn Larimore, who read the letter from Laura Wingfield Ross announcing the theme for the coming year – a quilt of friendship.
Kelly was crowned “Woman of the Year” by the previous recipient Dorothy Eyberg. Members were reminded the Mother’s Day observance will be held Friday, May 4, and the program ended with members repeating the closing ritual.
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The Book Club
The Book Club met April 2 at the home of Velma Riegel. President Carolyn Derrick presided. The minutes of the February meeting were read and approved. The treasurer’s report was read and approved. Collection was taken up for the library donation.
Roll call was answered by nine members noting books read recently: “Wonder” by R J Palacio, “Never Give Up, Never Give In” by Louis Zamperini and David Rensin, “Orphan Train” by Christina Baker Kline, “The Life She Was Given” by Ellen Marie Wiseman, “So Shall We Stand” by Elyse Larson, “Perfectly Yourself” by Matthew Kelly, “Mary Poppins” by P.L. Travers, “The Longest Ride” by Nicholas Sparks, “Sacred Secular” by Dottie Escobedo and Frank Rob Rynders, “Hollow Faith” by Stephen Ingram, “The Way of Being Lost (A Road Trip to My Inner Self)” by Victoria Price and “Nell’s Cowboy” and “Lone Star Baby,” both by Debbie Macomber.
Discussion of the book “Mayflower” by Nathaniel Philbrick was led by Meg Crawford as facilitator. This book covered the Pilgrims just prior to their voyage on the Mayflower, then the trials and tribulations of settling in the new world. The book ends right after King Philip’s war.
This is a very interesting and informative account of the life of the early settlers of what was to become the United States of America. It provides an honest, not sugar coated, picture of how stubborn, courageous and determined these people were and also shows how cruel and outright malicious some were. We are immersed in the real world of all the people involved. It was an eye-opener for some of us, and a moving account of real life. Considering the length of the book, it is anticipated the movie will cover only a small part of the book. It will be interesting to see the treatment of the book by the makers of the movie.
Following the review, members enjoyed refreshments served by Riegel.
The next meeting will be held 6 p.m. May 7 at the home of Pat Pokorny – note change of time and location. The club will view the movie, “Mayflower,” based on the book. Everyone will bring movie snacks to share.
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Ladies Literary Circle
March 2, 2018
Creston Ladies Literary Circle met at the home of Vera Fengler with Vera hostessing and 17 membes present.
President Judith Wachter opened the meeting with roll call. The minutes of the Feb. 16 meeting were read and approved. Linda Hartsock made a motion to change the March 16 meeting. Motion carried.
Meeting locations were clarified, and Judy Gile said she would take an open meeting if needed. The May luncheon was brought up and it was suggested to check with Humanities Iowa for speakers. We also will invite other clubs as well to the luncheon to listen to the speaker.
Treasurer Vera Fengler gave the treasurer’s report.
The meeting was adjourned
Jean Ide said Gibson Memorial Library is having a fundraiser for the building fund on St. Patrick’s Day, March 17, at the Eagles. There will be door prizes, auctions and other things.
Program committee member Vanita Moberg introduced Gwen Buck, who moderated the group discussion on the novel “The Giver” by Lois Lowry.
“The Giver” was published in 1993 and is described as a young adult dystopian novel set in a society which at first appears to be utopian.
Jonas, a 12-year-old boy, is the main character of the novel and he is chosen to be the Receiver of Memory, a person who stores all past memories of the time before the society took away pain and essentially other emotions and is called Sameness.
The position is a high-status one, and he learns he no longer is close to his friends and he will advise the Council of Elders with any difficult decisions based on the past before Sameness. The Giver, the Elder who is teaching Jonas, gives Jonas various memories, which Jonas has difficulty processing.
Eventually, the Giver devises a plan to help Jonas escape the community. However, the plan changes when Jonas discovers a baby named Gabriel, whom he has been caring for with his parents, is to be killed and Jonas wants to save him.
Drinks, cookies and other delicious desserts were served.
Next meeting will be April 6 at the home of Connie Purdum with Bailey Poolman as reviewer.
April 6, 2018
Creston Ladies Literary Circle met at the home of Connie Purdum with Connie hostessing.
President Judith Wachter opened the meeting with roll call. The minutes of the March 2 meeting were read and approved.
The treasurer’s report was given.
The new program committee and officers were decided and approved.
The meeting was adjourned. Connie Purdum showed a quilt of books she received during the Gibson Memorial Library fundraiser.
Stephani Finley introduced reviewer Bailey Poolman, who reviewed J.R.R. Tolkien’s novel “The Hobbit.”
John Ronald Reuel Tokien was born in 1892. Tolkien and his brother were taught by his mother. He took to learning languages, and his mother taught him what she could of Latin. He was able to read by the age of 4, and he read a lot. He enjoyed fantasy and adventure stories, particularly those written by George MacDonald and Andrew Lang.
After college, he joined the military for a time, worked as a tutor and became the youngest professor at the University of Leeds. He translated various classics such as “Sir Gawain and the Green Knight” and eventually returned to Oxford with a fellowship at Pembroke College.
While at Pembroke, Tolkien wrote “The Hobbit” and the first two volumes of “The Lord of the Rings.” He eventually completed “The Lord of the Rings,” made of six volumes compiled into three novels in 1948. The various languages within the Middle-earth universe were created by Tolkien. He constructed separate languages for the Elves, Men, and Dwarves, each of which are based on real languages.
“The Hobbit” follows Bilbo Baggins, a hobbit, who goes on an adventure with a horde of dwarves to take back a treasure from a dragon.
The novel opens with Bilbo hosting a party for the dwarves, lead by Thorin Oakenshield, who sing of their plan to reclaim The Lonely Mountain and its treasure from the dragon Smaug. Gandalf, a wizard who brought the troupe together, announces he has a map to get inside the mountain and that Bilbo has been promoted to burglar for the expedition. While the dwarves ridicule the idea, Bilbo reluctantly joins.
From Bilbo’s home at Bag End in the Shire, the company travel through the wild. They escape from trolls and find lodging in Rivendell, where the elves tell more secrets of the map. They then pass over the Misty Mountains and are captured by goblins. Gandalf rescues the dwarves from the goblins, but Bilbo is lost in the goblin tunnels and happens to discover a small ring in the dark. He stores it in his pocket before meeting Gollum. The two battle it out in a game of riddles, and Bilbo wins.
The company also meet Beorn, a skin-changer, before entering Mirkwood and becoming captured by the Wood-Elves. Bilbo happened to slip the ring on, becoming invisible and remaining free. He then was able to free the imprisoned dwarves and they escaped in wine barrels that were shipped up a river to Lake Town, a town of men settled on a lake near The Lonely Mountain.
From there, they travel to the mountain and find the secret door. Bilbo scouts the dragon’s lair and steals some gold as proof, but Smaug becomes angry and intent on destroying Lake Town.
“The Hobbit” has been adapted many times in many ways, with the most recent being the live-action film trilogy produced by Peter Jackson, who was responsible for the “Lord of the Rings” films. The trilogy is made of “The Hobbit: An Unexpcted Journey,” “The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug,” and “The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies.”
Fresh fruit and candies were served alongside slices of pie.
Next meeting will be hosted by Jean Ide with Judy Gile reviewing.
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Ladies Lakeshore Auxiliary
Ladies Lakeshore Auxiliary met May 2.
Canasta winners were Joan Chubick, first; Wanda Nash, second; and Shar Leith, third.
Rose Blakesley won the door prize.
Connie Bailey will host cards and chatter Wednesday, May 9.