2024-25 Officer/Director Installation

Officers 2024 2025

2024-25 Officer/Direction Installation Ceremony. The Ames Golden K Kiwanis Club
recently held it 2024-25 Officer/Director Installation program. The elected official began
their term on October 1, 2024 which is the beginning date for the Kiwanis year. Officers
have a one-year term while directors are elected to a two-year term. Brian Bappe,
Division 11, NE-IA Kiwanis, installed the officers/directors . Installed officers/directors
are listed below.
Returning Directors – Keith Folkman, Tom Peter, Dennis Tice
Incoming Directors – Gary Erbes, Bob Larson, Gary Meyer
Past President – Gina Spohnheimer
Webmaster – Kent Ziebell
Treasurer – Ron Skrdla
Secretary – Steve Johnson
Vice President – Kevin Miller
President-Elect – Jeff Witt
President – Dick Wilson

Ames Downtown Christmas Star project

Ames Golden K helped Ames downtown by restringing lights and painting the holiday decorations.

Lowell Yager

Lowell Lee Yager age 89 peacefully passed away on September 18, 2022.

Born on November 5, 1932, he was the third son of Clare and Grayce (Owen) Yager. Lowell graduated from Viola High School in 1951. He was active in sports, baseball & basketball as well as theatrical plays. He attended Drake University for two years before he served two years in the US Army during the Korean War. Thereafter, Lowell completed his graduate studies at Iowa State University, graduating in 1958 with a BS degree in Ag Education.

Lowell married Louise Hardie on April 27, 1956. Following graduation, he taught Ag Education in Irwin and Atlantic, IA.

Lowell’s love of farmland led him to a successful life in farm management, farm real estate, and farm appraisal. At the age of 60, he and Louise moved to Champaign, IL. There, Lowell left the Midwest crops of corn and soybeans to join the Westchester Group where in addition to corn and soybeans, he managed various crops like grapes, oranges, almonds, rice, and cotton throughout the US.

Lowell encouraged his daughters and anyone around him to enjoy a good joke, to be lifelong learners, and to value family and friends.

He is preceded in death by his parents, brother, Bob, and his loving wife of 66 years, Louise Hardie.

Lowell is survived by three daughters: Linda Richards (Ralph), Carol Yager, Susan Yager; grandchildren Emma Fox, Patrick Fox: brother, William Yager (Marky), brother-in-law, Hugh Hardie (Marlene) and numerous nieces, nephews, and friends.

Services will be at the Ames First United Methodist Church, Ames, IA on October 4, 2022, with a visitation from 10-11 AM, followed by a Celebration of Life from 11-12 PM. A lunch will be provided at the church from 12-1:00 PM to visit with the family. A graveside service will take place at the Maple Grove Cemetery, Audubon, IA on October 5, 2022 at 3:00 p.m.

Memorial Contributions can be made to the Kiwanis Golden K Foundation of Ames. 516 Kellogg Ave, Ames, IA 50010.

GK Listeners Program, 2022

Like other Kiwanis clubs, Ames Golden K’s primary focus is service to children. In Winter 2014, Golden K leadership began considering a more direct outreach to students in Ames and proposed a new reading service project for elementary school students. In Spring 2015, Golden K contacted the Ames Community School District, Director of Raising Readers of Story County and other local educators to explore ideas. Dave Peterson, Edwards Elementary Principal, and Golden K leaders agreed to pilot a reading project with Edwards First Graders in September 2015. After 2 successful years working with Edwards First Graders and Kindergartners, the program expanded to Sawyer Elementary in 2017.  The project has continued at both schools except for a break in 2020 due to Covid.  All requirements {orientation, background checks, photo nametags, close interaction with classroom teachers} by Ames Community School District for participation in the Listeners program have been met each year.  There are currently 30 Ames GK members who help make this project successful.

In recognition of this partnership, three Edwards Elementary teachers {L to R, Brooke Dalen, Amy Simonson, Selena Montag} spoke recently at Golden K’s weekly meeting.

They enthusiastically endorsed and elaborated on the many benefits of the GK Listeners project, and how it plays a direct role in building positive relationships with First Graders while working on literary skills through reading books and playing games. A typical day includes GK Listeners spending 60-90 minutes primarily listening to the students read and not reading to them. They work on a 1-1 basis as much as possible either outside the classroom in the large hallway or in the classroom.  Brooke, Amy and Selena noted that Kids and Teachers simply adore the Listeners program.  Another Edwards teacher observed “It’s been a really good program. Honestly, I think there is a lot of academic gain that comes along with it, but , really, I think a lot of our kids just want someone, especially males because a lot of our kids don’t have a strong male role model in their life, so even just the mentoring that happens is really huge for them.” Golden K member Pete Peterson commented “As a Listener, I could tell that the 1st Graders word pronunciation rhythm and expressiveness showed improvement as the school year went by. We gave the students an opportunity to practice reading out loud to a willing set of ears. It was fun for both the students and myself.” 

Ames Golden K is looking forward to continuing its partnership with Ames Edwards and Sawyer Elementary Schools, and perhaps expanding the program to other grade levels within these schools.      

Ed Augustine, 1941-2022

Edwin J. Augustine of Ames, Iowa, died Sunday, July 31, 2022, of complications from Parkinson’s disease. He was 81 years old.

Ed, as he was known to his family and friends, lived most of his life on his family’s farm in Washington County, Iowa. He loved farming, teaching his children, nephews and nieces that a farmer was far more than someone working the land. The farmer had to be business savvy, a veterinarian, a mechanic, a meteorologist…he could go on and on making that point. And he often did.
But Ed took that notion of a farmer wearing many hats to heart, pivoting away from the land in the mid-1980s, eventually embarking on a career in international business working for the Iowa Department of Economic Development. His work fostering trade between agricultural businesses in Iowa and overseas led him on travels to Brazil, Ecuador, Peru, Mexico, Ukraine and China to name just a few.

Ed graduated from West Chester High School and Iowa State University. Two extraordinary associations began during his time at Iowa State: the lifelong friendships and brotherhood of FarmHouse Fraternity, and meeting the love of his life, Gwyneth Jones. They were married July 3, 1965, and recently celebrated their 57th wedding anniversary.
Ed was deeply involved in Farm Bureau. He was the Washington County president and served several years on the Iowa board of directors. He was a veteran, serving in the U.S. Army Reserves.

Ed was a baseball coach, a lifelong Chicago Cubs fan who loved watching them play at Wrigley Field (and where he developed an uncanny ability to multiply by 35…ask his son about this), a passionate rooter for Iowa State athletics, hosting hundreds of tailgate functions prior to football games and cheering madly at those and at basketball games, eagerly walking to each one from his home near the Iowa State Center. He never missed a track meet, basketball or football game, theatrical performance or band concert of his children, Amy and Martin. If you were a fan of community theater, you would often see Ed on stage acting, singing and dancing in many musicals and plays in Washington, Iowa. One of his favorites was South Pacific.
He loved to fish, casting his lines in waterways as varied as the Skunk River, the Great Lakes and central Canada. Like all fine anglers, he fibbed remarkably well to his large circle of fishermen cronies about the fish that he caught.

If you knew Ed for any time at all, you learned quickly that he was engaging, smart, loquacious, caring, witty and stubborn…very stubborn. That quality served him well in much of his life, especially when sorting cattle, and while an admirable trait–it was less so if you were on the other end of his obstinance. Even he would stubbornly acknowledge that.
Ed was immensely proud of his family, who will cherish their countless memories and re-tell the endless stories of him, including his wife, Gwyn; children Amy (Aaron) of Seattle, Wash., and Martin (Lisa) of Kansas City, Mo.; grandchildren Andrew, Otto, Seth and Rowan; sister, Janet Ferguson of Pueblo, Colo.; sisters-in-law Miriam (Greg) Kenning of Richfield, Minn., and Nancy Jones of Cedar Rapids, Iowa; five nephews and three nieces. He was predeceased by his parents, Marion and Vera Augustine, a sister, Ruth Bainbridge, and brothers-in-law, Eldon Bainbridge and Joseph Jones.

Burial and celebration of life services pending for later this fall.