Blackhawk Golden ‘K’ General Meeting
Minutes
April 29th, 2026
President Richard Johnson presided, and called the meeting to order with a ring of the bell at 9:30AM.
An Executive Board meeting occurred today.
Richard Johnson led with the singing of America, the National Anthem, and the Pledge of Allegiance.
Invocation: Carl Cramer, mentioning thanks for Spring and letting the children enjoy it.
Raffle: Maury Frey oversaw the ticket sales and drawing this week.
The weekly pot was $17 and the big (Joker) pot was $89.
Nikki Bennett drew a ticket from the bucket, ticket number 591. Congratulations to the winner, Luci Cramer.
The deck of cards has 47/53 cards remaining. Luci Cramer drew the 9♣.
Richard Johnson thanks greeters Dave Calverley and Tom Neuman, invocator Carl Cramer, rafflemaster Maury Frey, and server Bob Knudson.
Happy Box: Luci Cramer announced she is happy because she won the raffle, and is donating the proceeds to the Truck on Ice!
Jokes: Joker Ryan Lewis had a good joke about mimes.
Committee Reports: John Janes announced the Tree Sale, Sunday, made $1,200! Help is needed for May 8th and 9th.
John Janes announced that the Fourth of July parade will have some new designs for the Truck on Ice, for the 250th year of the country. Please assist with the banner.
Jim Farrell introduced the day’s speaker, Carthy Erdman. Cathy is an advocate for SNOW Janesville, which stands for Southside NOW. Cathy is speaking upon many topics regarding Janesville city’s Southern side, which is one quarter of the city’s population. She will have multiple points about the ongoing GM/JATCO development, including intent to slow the data center development plans.
The South Side has three and a partial census tracts, equating to around one quarter of the Janesville population, around 17,500 people.
Until last year, the South side was a food desert.
Cathy presented upon many statistics about the city, the South side’s food and housing situations, and SNOW’s goals for GM/JATCO.
Kiwanis member Jim Farrell asked Cathy, “What happened to the proposed housing projects?” Cathy responded, “Census showed income levels dropped, and HUD pulled grants, removing part of the developer’s motivation – and community pushback existed.”
Kiwanian John Sarnow inquired, “Has SNOW any ideas about why the South side are how they are?” Cathy replied, “Census tracts’ income levels are low. Our data is limited, due to the cost to attain that data.”
Kiwanis member Mel Lemirande stated, “In regard to the data center referendum, I am against it. In the 1950s, Dwight D. Eisenhower said “let’s build an interstate” and it was done. We just had people visit the moon.”
Kiwanian John Janes spoke, “Who else can clean GM/JATCO? It has been years.”
Jim Farrell thanked Cathy Erdman for speaking and presented her with a Kiwanis Parker pen.
Richard Johnson adjourned the meeting with a ring of the bell at 11AM.
On this day:
1707 English and Scottish parliaments accept Act of Union; creates the United Kingdom of Great Britain (comes into being 1st May)
1769 Scottish engineer James Watt’s patent for a steam engine with a separate condenser enrolled (Patent 913)
1813 First US rubber patent is granted to Jacob F. Hummel
1834 Charles Darwin’s expedition sees the top of the Andes Mountains from Patagonia
1845 Macon B. Allen and Robert Morris Jr. are the first African Americans to open a law practice in the US
1852 First edition of Peter Roget’s Thesaurus is published in Britain and has never been out of print since
1853 Comet C/1853 G1 (Schweizer) approaches within 0.0839 AUs of Earth
1872 Jesse James’ gang robs a bank of $1,500 in Columbia, Kentucky, killing bank employee Robert A.C. Martin during the crime
1892 Charlie Reilly becomes one of baseball’s first pinch hitters
1905 Two inches of rain falls in 10 minutes in Taylor, Texas
1927 Construction of Spirit of St Louis (the monoplane which Charles Lindburgh was to fly across the Atlantic) is completed
1930 Telephone connection between Britain and Australia enters service
1932 First broadcast of “One Man’s Family” on NBC radio, the longest-running dramatic serial on US radio (ends 1959)
1937 Symbolic ‘Golden Rivet’, completing the Golden Gate Bridge connecting San Francisco and Marin County, is driven (later replaced with a more structurally sound steel version)
1953 6th Cannes Film Festival: “The Wages of Fear” directed by Henri-Georges Clouzot wins the Grand Prix du Festival International du Film
1962 16th Tony Awards: “A Man For All Seasons” (play) & “How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying” (musical) win
1967 Aretha Franklin releases her single “Respect” (written by Otis Redding), Billboard Song of the Year 1967
1968 Galt MacDermot, Gerome Ragni, and James Rado’s hippie musical “Hair” opens at the Biltmore Theatre in NYC and runs for 1,750 performances
1971 Boeing receives a contract for Mariner 10, a mission to explore Mercury
1985 17th NASA Space Shuttle Mission (51-B): Challenger 7 launches
1986 800,000 books destroyed by fire in Los Angeles Central Library
1990 US 66th manned space mission STS 31 (Discovery 10) returns from space
1990 Wrecking cranes begin tearing down the Berlin Wall at the Brandenburg Gate
1991 “Don’t Rock the Jukebox” single released by Alan Jackson (ASCAP Award Country Song of the Year, 1992; Billboard Song of the Year, 1991)
1995 Longest sausage ever, at 28.77 miles, made in Kitchener, Ontario
International Dance Day is a day of celebration for those who see the importance of dance, and is a day to enjoy dance and share it with others. It is used to encourage politicians, governments, and institutions to recognize the value of dance to individuals and the economy, and is also used to promote dance around the world. It was created in 1982 by the Dance Committee of the International Theater Institute ITI, which is a performing arts partner with UNESCO. The date of April 29 was chosen because it is the birthday of Jean-Georges Noverre, the creator of modern ballet.
National Peace Rose Day – Known as the most popular rose of the twentieth century, the Peace rose is honored and celebrated today, on the anniversary of the public announcement of its American trade name. On April 29, 1945, the name “Peace” was announced by the Conard Pyle Company in Pasadena, California, at the Pacific Rose Society’s first rose show. At the same time, on the other side of the world, the city of Berlin was falling to the Allies, which was one of the final turning points of World War II. The rose came to symbolize the hope that sprouted as the war ended.
Founded by the International Federation of Guide Dog Schools for the Blind, which now is the International Guide Dog Federation (IGDF), International Guide Dog Day provides the opportunity to celebrate guide dogs and the work they do. It honors the dogs for their skill and loyalty and raises awareness about the importance of the services they provide to help those who are blind or visually impaired be able to live their lives to their fullest. First celebrated in 1992, it was created in honor of the anniversary of the founding of the International Federation of Guide Dog Associations on April 26, 1989. On International Guide Dog Day, guide dog organizations are encouraged to put together local events to celebrate their work. Open houses are sometimes held at dog training centers. There have also been themes for different years.
Minutes by Ryan Lewis.
Credit: Dave Figi, and Ryan Lewis, photographs.
Note: Kiwanis and its members are not responsible for errors or omissions. We are open to discussion if you would like to request an alteration. This content may only be reproduced without alteration and with credit to the original author(s).
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