District Address: Telephone: Email:
PO Box 445 641-330-3118 des@district5970.org
New Hampton, IA 50659
- The District Conference was held in Decorah on May 2-4. Click on this Kululu link to see pictures from the Conference.
- District Governor Shannon Duncan visited the Rotary Club of Dubuque June 3 for the last The Red Basket Project of Dubuque packing party! 2429 period packs done this year! Thank you Rotary Club of Dubuque and Rotary District 5970 for supporting this transformational project! For more information visit https://www.redbasketproject.com/
- District Governor Ward Budweg and his wife Jack shake a leg at the Winneshiek County Fair after the Decorah Rotary Club served pork chops all day. See the video here.
- This is a picture of six Waterloo Rotary Club members who completed a service project in conjunction with a Habitat for Humanity home build. The Waterloo Club will have four different teams working Monday through Thursdaythis week. Club President Larry Steffens organized the service project.
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The July, 2025 Foundation First Newsletter
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Michelle Bell, District Foundation Chair 
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A New Polio Banner is available for Club Events! See it here. Contact foundationchair@district5970.com to borrow it
Seeking District Governor Candidates
Are you or a fellow Rotarian looking to grow in District 5970 and Rotary International? We’ve begun the search for the 2028-2029 Rotary Year District Governor. As District Governor, you’ll be charged with leading the district, serving as an officer of RI and most importantly inspiring our clubs to reach new heights . Get the complete position description.
To apply, you must meet the following qualifications include:
Be a current member in good standing
Completed 7 years of Rotary membership prior to taking office
Served a term as President of a Rotary Club,
Possess good leadership skills
Have strong interpersonal skills and ability to work with others
Able to speak in public
Desire to promote the good work of Rotary on a local and international level
If you’re ready to take on this Rotary leadership role please complete this Application. It requires your secretary's certification. Please send the completed form by April 6, 2025 to District Executive Secretary Suellen Kolbet at des@district5970.org
Global Scholar Lela UdryJune 1, 2025 This past month, I have mostly been focused on finishing up my thesis. I have met with my advisor a few times over the course of the month to fine-tune my ideas, but I am feeling ready to turn it in next week and prepare for the defense.
Arabic has been going very well lately! I have been trying to take advantage of these last weeks of class by studying as much as I can before our weekly sessions, and I feel that it is paying off. There is an Arab bakery near my home, and I can now converse much more easily with the owners of the store! It is an amazing feeling to be able to connect with people with whom I couldn’t communicate as easily just a few months ago.
This past month, Cecilia and I went to a meeting with the president of Rotary International, Stephanie Urchick. I had the opportunity to present to her and the other attendees a summary of what I did and learned during the RYLA on peace that I did in the fall. It was a wonderful experience, and I had some interesting conversations with Ms. Urchick! I also attended several other Rotary events, including the farewell dinner for the exchange students hosted by the Millenium club and another Barcelona club. I feel very fortunate to have been welcomed by such a vibrant Rotary community in Barcelona.
This past weekend, I attended another trip organized by the university for international students to another beautiful town near Barcelona, Tossa del Mar. It was an incredible trip, and the beautiful weather made it even more special. I’m attaching pictures of both the Rotary meeting I attended and the international students’ trip.
I am still looking for post-graduation jobs and hoping to find something soon! Thank you all for your continued support, I greatly appreciate it 
Lela discussing RYLA at the Rotary meeting with RI President Stephanie Urchick.
Watching a presentation with Cecilia Pertino, President of the Millenium Club.
Scenes from Tossa del Mar.
Rotary Update #3—4/28 Hello from Edinburgh! I am writing this just as I wrap up my last final for my masters classes! It's incredible to me how quickly these two semesters have gone-- I can hardly believe I’m entering the final phase of my degree here at the University of Edinburgh. It has been such an incredible journey so far, and I am so looking forward to the next chapter; writing my dissertation this summer! My course load this semester has been more intense than the last, but I have loved all the class content. I took classes on the anthropology of education, social inequalities in education, and conflict and education, as well as a research methods class in preparation for our dissertation project this summer. The work is challenging, but it is also fascinating and so rewarding.
One of the highlights of the semester was a trip to London with my degree cohort, where we visited some organizations working in the comparative education and international development field. We visited the British Council offices, chatted with students and faculty from at University College London, and heard from education advocacy organizers at the Inter-parliamentary Network on Education and Results UK. It was eye opening to hear from people working in the field and get a broader sense of what careers are available after graduation. I also got to go a few days early to sightsee with a small group of friends from the cohort, which was ideal as there wasn’t much time for tourist-ing once we joined the full group for the organization visits. We wandered the city, visited museums, and enjoyed some incredible food in Chinatown.
This semester was a busy one, and I definitely had my nose to the grindstone for a good part of it, but I’ve also had chances to get out and enjoy life in Edinburgh. I visited other parts of Scotland such as Stirling and Glasgow, toured museums, spent time outdoors, got to connect with friends from all over the world, and now as the weather gets warmer and the days get longer, enjoy plenty of picnics and pub gardens with my friends. Another highlight of the last few months was getting connect with Rotarians here in Edinburgh, particularly for their Burns Night suppers in January. Burns Night, which is officially on the 25th of January but takes place throughout the week, is a dinner in celebration of the great Scottish Poet Robert Burns. The evening consists of poetry recitations, bagpiping, a hearty meal of haggis, neeps, (mashed turnips) and tatties (mashed potatoes), whisky toasts, and traditional Scottish Ceilidh dancing. I went to every Burns supper I was invited to, and as a result, ended up eating haggis four times over in the span of a week! My favorite was hosted by my wonderful host club, the Rotary Club of Portobello.
Wishing you a happy spring in Decorah!
Hallie
David Jenson of the Algna Rotary Club has been selected as the District Governor for the 2027-2028 Rotary year. Congratulations David!
Francesco Arezzo
President 2025-2026
July 2025
Francesco Arezzo is an orthodontist in private practice and owns an agricultural enterprise that produces extra virgin olive oil in Sicily.
Arezzo is a graduate of the University of Padua and a member of the Italian, European, and American orthodontics associations, as well as the Italian and European lingual orthodontics associations. He is a dentistry graduate of the University of Cagliari, where he also received a master’s in lingual orthodontics.
He has served as vice president of the National Association of Italian Dentists for the province of Ragusa and was the founder and head for seven years of the Ragusa delegation to the National Trust for Italy.
Arezzo is also the owner of an agricultural enterprise and producer of extra virgin olive oil in the Monti Iblei region of Sicily. He has been vice president of the administrative council of the consortium controlling and regulating quality production of oil in that region. He owns two boutique hotel settlements there. He enjoys modern art and opera.
A Rotary member for 36 years, Arezzo has served as vice chair of the Joint Strategic Planning Committee and as RI director, chair of the 2023 Melbourne Convention Committee, learning facilitator, and district conference presidential representative, among other roles.
He is married to Anna Maria Arezzo-Criscione, an entrepreneur in the tourism field. They have two daughters and two grandchildren. His daughter Raffaela spent a year in Florida as part of a Rotary Youth Exchange. Francesco and Anna Maria are Benefactors and Major Donors to The Rotary Foundation.
At the Cedar Rapids West Rotary meeting on April 17, 2024, Peter Teahen of the Cedar Rapids West Rotary Club was awarded the prestigious "Service Above Self" award. He is pictured here with John Ockenfels, District Governor Carole Bernhard, and Past District Governor Jill Olsen.
2024-25: The Magic of Rotary
RI President-elect Stephanie Urchick celebrates the magic of Rotary. She says members create that magic with every project completed, every dollar donated, and every new member of Rotary.
