The following were in attendance (13).

Scott Drycimski, KCRG

Jason Walerius. Marion

Lindsay Smith. Marion

Dave Towne, KGAN

Craig Johnson, KWWL

Heather Reid, Onslow, IA

Doug Beadle, Cedar Rapids

William Koellner, West Liberty

Jeff Zogg, Iowa City

Kevin Sullivan, Blue Grass, IA

Mike Liebenstein, Pearl City, IL

David Graves, Freeport, IL

Terry Groves, Freeport, IL

Before the meeting Doug set up a telescope and sunscreen so those present could view the sunspots visible that day. There is a higher than normal amount of solar activity this year.

The meeting began at about 10:20 AM. First on the agenda was Bill Koellner of the US Army Corps of Engineers. Bill gave an extremely interesting presentation describing flood control procedures in Iowa. He gave examples using the Coralville Reservoir, Rathbun Lake and others. He told stories of past flooding in Iowa and past damage that has occurred. He included procedures the Army Corps of Engineers uses to control flooding. He also described how thunderstorms that have occurred in other parts of the country can be "transpositioned" to a different flood plain and used to determine the effect that storm would have had if it had occurred in Iowa. Bill is a very talented speaker and held everyone’s attention for over one hour without the use of any visual aids.

The business meeting began at 11:30 AM. Scott mentioned that no official designation for our chapter has been received from the National Weather Association headquarters. They have, however, put a link to us on their home page, which is probably a good sign.

We also went over the still rough idea of hosting a workshop for junior high and high school students who have an interest in meteorology as a career. The workshop would be held in either Cedar Rapids or the Quad Cities. Their is a possibility of having Bill Gallus of Iowa State University talking to the students on what it takes to be a meteorologist. We also want the workshop to be hands on. We also discussed various ways to contact the schools, teachers and students, e mail probably being the most practical. The teachers would come with the students and we could have activities for the teachers also. We could also pursue the idea of doing the workshops in conjunction with a community college. Tom Ervin may be a contact for science teachers. Craig, Dave, Jeff (all present) and Ray and Jim M (in absentia) agreed to come up with ideas to organize this event. If you have any ideas for this event please let Jeff know.

The business meeting adjourned at 11:50 AM. The business meeting was followed by a brown bag picnic lunch and some very good conversation. Several significant others were also present and everyone had an enjoyable day. The food frenzy ended about 1:30 PM.

Meeting notes by Doug Beadle.

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