Polio cases have been reduced by over 99.9% worldwide, but the fight isn't over. In this video, we explore why it is critical to remain vigilant. Hear from WHO advisor Dr. Sunil Bahl on the role of surveillance in preventing outbreaks, visit a government lab in India, and follow the collection of an AFP (acute flaccid paralysis) sample. Discover how ongoing efforts are keeping the world closer to a polio-free future.
Welcome to the Mason City Noon Rotary!
UNITE FOR GOOD
We meet In Person
Mondays at 12:00 PM
The Manor
4 3rd St NW
Mason City, IA 50401
United States of America
Mason City, IA 50401
United States of America
Phone:
(641) 420-6819
Email:
A Message From the President
October 2026
From the President: A Club of Action
Wow! What a start to our Rotary year!
As I look back over these first three months, I am filled with pride in what our club is accomplishing together. We have started this year with a flurry of excitement, engagement and, most importantly, service.
In just three months, our club has already made a meaningful impact in our community. We were honored to present:
- $2,100 to the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention
- $5,000 to the Mason City Police Department for Peer Support and Critical Incident Training
- $2,000 to North Iowa Southern Minnesota Stand Down for the September 26 Operation Golden Hawk Project
These financial gifts represent more than dollars. They represent our commitment to organizations that are doing important work and addressing real needs in our community.
But what makes me even prouder is that we aren't just giving our money—we are giving ourselves.
Our members have volunteered their time and talents at these events and through many other service opportunities, including Meals on Wheels, Coffee with a Cop, and other projects throughout our community.
Three months into our Rotary year, more than 50% of our members have already participated in a service project. Together, we have logged 175 service hours since July 1.
And here's the exciting part:
We are only getting started!
Rotary is not simply about writing a check or attending a weekly meeting. Rotary is about seeing a need and asking, "What can I do?"
It is about showing up.
It is about lending a hand.
It is about giving our time, our talents and our resources to make life better for someone else.
That is Service Above Self.
I believe our club has an incredible opportunity this year to build on this momentum. Imagine what we can accomplish if we continue to engage more members, take on meaningful service projects and work together to make an even greater impact in Mason City and throughout North Iowa.
Every hour matters. Every dollar matters. Every act of service matters.
And when we put all of those efforts together, we can make an extraordinary difference.
October: Ending Polio
October is also Polio Awareness Month, giving us an opportunity to focus on one of Rotary's greatest global missions.
Rotary has been a driving force in the fight to eradicate polio around the world. We have come an incredible distance, but we are not finished—and we cannot let up now.
Throughout October, our club will be collecting donations to support Rotary's continued efforts to eradicate polio worldwide. Every dollar helps us move closer to the day when no child will have to suffer from this preventable disease.
Together, we can finish the job.
As your President, I want you to know how proud I am of this club. I see the difference you are making—not only through the checks we present, but through the hours you give, the people you meet, the hands you shake and the lives you touch.
You are making a difference in our club, and our club is making a difference in our community.
Thank you for continuing to show up, step up and serve.
Let's keep the momentum going.
Let's keep finding ways to make a difference.
Let's keep being a club of action.
SERVICE ABOVE SELF.
Janet Johnson
President
Mason City Noon Rotary
President
Mason City Noon Rotary
Today, on Aug 17th, Mason City Noon Rotary was proud to present a $5,000 donation to the Mason City Police Department Captain Logan Wernet help launch a new Peer Support Program for area first responders.
First responders are routinely exposed to traumatic and critical incidents, often carrying the effects of those experiences long after the call is over. According to First H.E.L.P., more than 1,100 first responders and correctional officers died by suicide between 2020 and 2025, including law enforcement officers, firefighters, EMS professionals, dispatchers, and correctional officers.
Our donation will help fund a three-day Peer Support/Critical Incident training conducted by The Peer Support Foundation. Participants will include members of the Mason City Police and Fire Departments, Clear Lake Police and Fire Departments, and Cerro Gordo County Sheriff’s Office, helping establish a new peer support network right here in North Iowa.
These are the people who show up for our communities on some of our worst days. We are proud to help make sure someone is there for them, too.
Service Above Self.
A Brief History of the Rotary Club of Mason City
The Rotary Club of Mason City proudly celebrates 110 years of service, fellowship, and community leadership.
The club was unofficially organized on May 5, 1916, and officially chartered by the International Association of Rotary Clubs, now Rotary International, on July 16, 1916. Its formation was the result of the persistence and vision of Mason City attorney Hugh Shepherd, who believed the growing community was ready for a Rotary club despite initial concerns that the city was too small.
After extensive correspondence with Rotary leadership, Shepherd worked closely with John O. Knutson, District Governor of Rotary's 10th District, and leaders from neighboring clubs. On May 5, 1916, twenty-two business and professional men gathered at the historic Cerro Gordo Hotel to organize what would become one of North Iowa's longest-serving civic organizations.
As Mason City grew, so did Rotary's impact. Meeting locations evolved over the years, from the Cerro Gordo Hotel to the Soda Grill, the Chamber of Commerce, the Globe-Gazette Building, the Hanford Hotel, and eventually the Sheraton Motor Inn, now the Historic Park Inn Hotel.
Since its inception, the Rotary Club of Mason City has embraced Rotary's guiding principle of "Service Above Self." Early club efforts focused heavily on youth development, mentoring pre-delinquent boys, and supporting the Boy Scouts. Throughout the decades, members expanded their service through educational initiatives, vocational guidance programs, scholarships, community fundraising efforts, and international humanitarian projects.
Watch our short FB video - Click Here
Among the club's many accomplishments:
- Established vocational guidance programs for local students and schools.
- Supported youth education through scholarships and mentoring.
- Raised funds for organizations serving children and individuals with disabilities.
- Contributed to YMCA capital campaigns and transportation projects.
- Planted more than 1,000 trees throughout the community.
- Raised significant funds for Rotary International's PolioPlus campaign to eradicate polio worldwide.
- Supported local organizations including Central Gardens and numerous community improvement projects.
- Continued a long tradition of fundraising through auctions, raffles, and special events benefiting North Iowa.
The club has also produced distinguished Rotary leaders, including several District Governors who helped guide Rotary throughout the region.
At the heart of Rotary remains the Four-Way Test, a simple yet powerful ethical guide adopted by Rotarians around the world:
- Is it the Truth?
- Is it Fair to All Concerned?
- Will it Build Goodwill and Better Friendships?
- Will it be Beneficial to All Concerned?
For more than a century, these principles have guided Mason City Rotarians in their commitment to service, integrity, and leadership.
As the Rotary Club of Mason City celebrates 110 years of service, we honor the vision of those original twenty-two members and the generations of Rotarians who followed. Their dedication has strengthened our community, enriched countless lives, and demonstrated the enduring power of service above self.
We look forward to continuing that legacy for many years to come.
Thank you to Shanna Sieck with Mason’s Lighthouse for coming to speak with us today. Many families have medically fragile children that need 24/7 care and kids who need hospice care. Their goal is to provide a loving, "home away from home" while giving professional nursing care. They are currently fundraising to build a home for families in Iowa City for all Iowans. Visit masonslighthouse.org to donate and learn more.
Congratulations to Marsha Gordon on being recognized as a Paul Harris Fellow presented by her brother, Steve Dakin, a fellow Rotarian from Boone and Rotary District 6000 Foundation Chair.
This past Friday, Nov 14th, local Rotary Members Paul Gordon, Heidi Kuhl, Margo Underwood and Mary Hackman, former Rotary Club Member spent the afternoon painting rooms in a new Habitat for Humanity Home! 
Peter Teahen and John Ockenfels, longtime Rotarians, will share highlights of flying around the Atlantic Ocean in a 1976 Cessna 210 to raise funds and awareness for polio eradication!Northern Lights Alliance for the Homeless Shelters(NLAHS) is an amazing organization that provides emergency and long term shelter services for our Mason City Community. 
Mason City Noon Rotary members will be at Ruby's Pantry volunteering during their pop up pantry tomorrow, Sept 9th, 2025. See you there! How does Rotary help? We assist by boxing up the grocery portions and hand out to people who come to purchase them. We assist with loading into vehicles a well!
Here you can post little tidbits of information, reminders, or anything else!
If you have never heard of 43 North Iowa....please visit their website to get a small glimpse of what these amazing people do in our Mason City community. Visit --> https://43northiowa.org/ We took a fantastic tour of their new facility after a short talk outlining the work that is being done from John Derryberry. Mason City Noon Rotary presented them with a donation check to support this great organization!
Welcome! I'd like to announce we are moving forward with overhauling the old, Mason City noon Rotary website (the one you are looking at right now!) 
and updating it with fresh content to stay relevant with the community. Earlier this year, discoveries were made regarding our website, social media postings and accessibility to the club. These discoveries lead to the overhaul of the Mason City Noon Rotary website.
and updating it with fresh content to stay relevant with the community. Earlier this year, discoveries were made regarding our website, social media postings and accessibility to the club. These discoveries lead to the overhaul of the Mason City Noon Rotary website.If you're newer to the Mason City area and haven't heard about Cannonball Day yet, don't worry you will! Every year towards the end of June, the Mason City Noon Rotary Club, along with the Mason City Kiwanis Club, Hy-Vee and other sponsors host a Chicken BBQ at East park. It draws thousands of visitors and it serves enough Chicken BBQ to fill a truck or two...seriously! We'll post again next year as we get closer to the 2026 event date! If you've never been to East Park - You can't miss the train!
We could never learn to be brave and patient, if there were only joy in the world.
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