Rotary looking for interested student

Creston’s Rotary Club is looking for a student who has completed their junior year of high school to represent the club at RYLA this summer.

The Rotary Youth Leadership Awards will be July 27-Aug. 1 at Grinnell College.

Students representing many Iowa Rotary clubs attend to learn about community service, listen to speakers and develop their own leadership skills. Participants are encouraged to interact among each other on team building projects held during the event. Creston had one student attend last year’s event. Creston Rotary will cover the cost of attending RYLA.

The student who attends the event for Creston will receive a $500 scholarship to be used for any post-secondary education. Interested students can contact Creston Community Schools Superintendent Deron Stender or Creston Rotary President John Van Nostrand at 782-2141 ext. 6437 for more information.

Creston Rotary had Keenan Reese as its program for its Feb. 3 meeting. Reese owns Concrete Laser Screed and explained how new technology is helping the concrete business.

A laser screed is used for concrete flooring to level large areas of wet concrete more efficiently and accurately. Depending on technology, the machine is ideal for pouring a large volume of concrete for a floor while maintaining a consistently flat surface. The machine can also be used for specified slopes or gradients, like a garage driveway off a street.

The technology works by projecting a laser grid onto the working area. Sensors on the device detect any deviation from the grid. The computer-controlled system then adjusts the height of the head to compensate, ultimately ensuring a level surface. Reese said the machine, about the size of a traditional skidloader, replaces concrete crews which uses tools to level the concrete after the concrete has been poured. Reese said manual labor is still needed to monitor the screed and do detail work, for example, around manhole covers on streets and near concrete forms.

Reese said the machine also limits manual labor for those “back pains,” typical of concrete work.

Reese said because of the machine’s effectiveness multiple trucks of cement can be emptied faster than traditional, manual labor for leveling concrete.

Laser screed technology is ideal for large areas like loading docks for semi trucks at warehouses and factories.

Union County Development Association Executive Director Mindy Stalker was the club’s guest at its Jan. 27 meeting. She updated the club on her organization’s involvement in various projects. One was the progress on demolishing the vacant Creston Lincoln Elementary school on West Jefferson Street so the lot can be used for new housing. Plans are to have a combined 34 one and two-bedroom apartments.

She also informed the club how recent work on new promotional material for Creston will be used. Signage is being researched to direct visitors to certain areas of town, like parks and the Uptown area.

Creston Rotary meets at noon the first and third Mondays of the month at A&G.