Red Rock Club meets the last Friday of the month, excluding June, November and December, at 11:30 a.m. at Ryan’s Family Steakhouse on 86^th Street in Clive. There is NO prepared program! We are an extemporaneous group, so things just develop from whatever is going on that day.  A few jokes start the fun and conversations. No politics! Sometimes it’s reminiscing, sometimes current events, but always interesting interaction.

Our activity and other involvement are slowing down. The leaders from yesteryear are mostly gone. We are finding it difficult to recruit folks to take leadership roles. We have dropped the Entertainment Book sales for 2008 for just that reason. Map painting on school playgrounds has all but stopped.

BUT HEY‼ We haven’t folded the tent completely. Last

fall we had a group ring bells for the Salvation Army. Also, there was a group who wrapped Christmas gifts for the Heart Connection.

Our club raised $4000 for the Greater Des Moines United Way. We plan to donate $500 to Special Olympics in 2008.

Talking Book machine repair is an ongoing project with a group of dedicated people who meet every Thursday morning. Zeta Haas was the champion for this project for many years. We miss her. Now the group consists of Ray Putz, Sandy Mitchell, Ethel Kolenz, Marty Swigart and Eunice Coppens. There are many others who have been involved over the years as well.

We have a good group who do the labeling and stuffing of envelopes twice a year for Hawkeye Happenings. (A big thank-you to them! --Editor.)

While our monthly meetings don’t have large turnouts, (about twenty-five to thirty), you can see we are still Pioneers, doing some things,  but maybe not as much.

We invite you to join us the last Friday of the month at Ryan’s. Bring a joke and come prepared to talk.