Rotarian Meyer provided the Second Opinion article for the Wednesday "Messenger," Ann's weekly newsletter was reprinted to provide an excellent summary of Legislative activities and possible trends.
Cleaning Is In Jerry’s Blood
Jerry’s Beginning:
Jerry McMahon was born and raised in the cleaning business, with his father owning a cleaning business. After convincing his father to purchase a truck-mounted carpet cleaner in 1989, Jerry was hooked on carpet cleaning. In the early 1990s he went into business for himself cleaning carpets, started doing some restoration after floods, and was approached to consider owning a ServPro franchise. In October 2010 he bought the franchise, and has appreciated helping people through disasters. His business has 18-20 staff normally, with extra temp staff at times when there’s a disaster. In addition to carpet cleaning, his business does HVAC cleaning, graffiti removal, fire restoration, and flood restoration.
ServPro’s Beginning:
ServPro (and Service Master!) had an interesting beginning. There were two painters in California that started cleaning drapes, then carpets. In 1970 they had a disagreement. One ended up starting ServPro and the other started Service Master. ServPro has 1900 franchises in the USA, Canada, and even Europe.
Inquiring minds wanted to know:
- Yes, ServPro cleans oriental rugs and steps
- Equipment and products have changed, over time, for carpet cleaning. Truck mounts come a lot bigger, have more heat and more spray.
- There are some carpet fibers that should not have heat extraction but dry cleaning.
- Dry cleaning, or “chem dry,” has been big. That process uses “encapsulation,” where a dry product is scrubbed into carpet, attaches to soil, crystalizes, and then crystals are vacuumed up.
- The best vacuums are not necessarily the cheapest vacuums. In Jerry’s opinion, they all seem to break at the same time, so why spend the extra money?
- Scotch Guard is a great product in the right circumstances. It must be applied after carpets are cleaned and must be properly applied to be effective.
- To get your carpets cleaned, just call the office and book an appointment. That’s how to get the process started.
Rotarian Fierke was pictured in the Friday "Messenger" accompanying an article outlining Council approved funding for the Arena being built in the Corridor of Commerce.
Whenever administrations change in Washington D.C. (Especially when the "party that was previously in power is no more" uncertainty over funding agreements granted by the previous administration is generally put on hold by the incoming administration for scrutiny and purpose. That process is especially true this change of administrations and agencies with program hold letters are rightfully concerned. Rotarians Ulrich and Fierke were pictured in the Tuesday "Messenger" as they attempted to provide what information they may have. Time will tell, but generally, these issues work themselves out fairly quickly.

Are Emergency Medical Services “Essential?”
All voters in Webster County will have the opportunity to weigh in on this question, as well as their willingness to pay $.75 more per 1,000 of taxable property valuation.
Historically, first responders were volunteers. The State of Iowa, in 2021, gave counties the ability to declare Emergency Medical Services (EMS) an essential service. When declared an essential service, it will need funding. In Webster County, EMS was provided on a volunteer basis except in Fort Dodge. The problem is that there are fewer who are able/willing to volunteer, fewer are qualified, a higher number of calls, and some outlying areas like Clare losing services.
Should voters decide that EMS is an essential service, the vision will be to add funds to Fort Dodge, Dayton, and Gowrie. Fort Dodge would gain nine staff and a three-bay satellite building on the west side of town. It would be responsible for calls in the northern part of Webster County. Dayton and Gowrie would use dollars to enable each to cover an identified, southern portion of the county.
Should voters decide that EMS is not an essential service, emergency services outside the Fort Dodge city limits would be impacted. Two examples were given of such an impact:
- A toddler in an outlying area had an allergic reaction, the Vincent first responders only had one epi-pen, and the child needed more than that just to get to the hospital.
- In a train-versus-car accident at an unmarked railroad intersection, Vincent first-responders could stabilize the situation but could not offer the advanced care needed like pain management.
As a voter, its always important to be well-informed before deciding on an issue.
Rotarian Mary Kay Daniel announced that the next Tacos and Trivia night would be held on Thursday, April 24th at River Hops Brewing on Central. Those who have attended past sessions of comraderies and fun by Rotarians report they are looking forward to the next one. Within the coming months Mary Kay and the Social Committee will be bringing forth more details. Rotarians have a championship to defend.
President Knight announced that the Club has been awarded additional tree planting funds from Rotary District 5970 that we will use to purchase trees to then be planted by Rotarians and City staff this summer in locations chosen by the City Forester where the best impact for our efforts can be seen. The city will auger the holes and Rotarians will then place the tree and fill-in the dirt. Some light watering follows. Spades and rakes will be used.
February 10th 2025 - Mel Schroeder
February 17th 2025 - John Garton
February 24th 2025 - Rene McDonald
Secretary Teresa Naughton has been uploading Minutes and Financial Reports for the 2022-2023 Rotary Year to the members only section of the Website (Found under Folder Organization and then Subfolder Documents) and are available for viewing by accessing the Members Only Section. Please contact Steve if you need to refresh your password.
Your Rotary Club provides an easy way for you to contribute to the Rotary Foundation, the major financial arm of Rotary that does Polio Plus and Foundation Grants. The program permits you to ask the Treasurer (Elizabeth Stanek) to add an amount each quarter to your quarterly dues statement as a contribution to the R.I. Foundation. The Treasurer then collects these amounts and writes a joint check to the Foundation for all funds contributed by members. If you are interested, please contact Treasurer Elizabeth Stanek or Foundation Chair Bill Kent.