The Marshalltown Rotary club hit the road for another October field trip. The Oct. 22 destination was the Marshalltown Municipal Airport. Rotarians and a number of guests assembled in the hanger attached to the terminal for a sack lunch.

Zach Tomesch reported that more than 5,000 food items were picked up around town Saturday in conjunction with Scouting For Food. The club is using the Scouting For Food event as part of a food and security project with other clubs in its district. Membership heard from Greg Desaulniers last week describe the history of Scouting For Food. Desaulniers administered this critical programing in Marshalltown from 1993-2017. He noted that the items that the Scouts gathered last year in Marshalltown lasted 12 weeks. Members have contributed $2,000 and need to get to $3,500 to secure matching funds from an anonymous Rotarian.

Host and Rotarian Steve Valbracht kicked off the day’s program by explaining Marshalltown Aviation’s role of providing support to the airport in an industry with some favorable trends. The $15-30,000 in operating support provided by the city does not include capital improvements. Valbracht explained why an upgraded hanger is important as well as the role of the terminal.

The terminal is often a person’s first impression of Marshalltown. Public Works Director Justin Nickel described how city dollars will be leveraged to fund the project with additional moneys coming from the Department of Transportation and Federal Aviation Administration.

Clapsaddle-Garber Associates is in the midst of the engineering phase of the project. Mike Bearden with CGA was on hand to share conceptual slides. The options displayed tie the terminal and hanger projects together.

President Jim Goodman noted World Polio day was observed this week. Rotary is committed to raise $50 million a year for the next three years complete eradication work. Rotary is making a difference.