The conference will be held at the Days Inn
2500 6th St East
Brookings, SD

605-692-9471
1-877-831-1562 (toll free number for our Days Inn)

Directions:  Take exit 132 from Interstate 29 (I29).  Go west when you get off the highway, the hotel is right beside the Interstate.

Hotel reservations should be made directly with our Days Inn at  1-877-831-1562 (local toll free number) no later than April 1, 2010, for the Altrusa rate of $72.00 plus about 10% tax per room (valid for single to quad occupancy).  Please indicate you are attending the Altrusa Conference.  If you have any special needs or limitations, please let the hotel know when you register (no elevators to second floor). 

www.brookingsdaysinn.com  Indoor pool and whirlpool, sauna, game room, exercise room, restaurant (serves lunch weekdays only) and lounge.  Pets allowed.

Registration Form

Astra Registration Form

Our Friday night dinner at the Country Club will be Hats, Hats, Hats.  The decorations will be hats.  The entertainment will be hats.  And we invite you to wear your most interesting hat (if you can get it into your luggage) to dinner to impress our hat ladies.  I can't wait to see what Dr. Lori is wearing!!

Great Speakers

Go For the Gold
One of the first female generals who had opportunities to break the glass ceiling.  She shares her unique experiences with personal and often humorous anecdotes about leadership and what she learned on her way "to the top" making her much in demand as a motivational speaker.

Head coach for the South Dakota State University football team.  His topic is "This is Your Life."

The Emptiness of Our Hands
Phyllis will be talking about her book, co-authored with James Murray, which  chronicles the 47 days that the authors spent living voluntarily on the streets of Columbus, Ohio, the nation’s fifteenth largest city and their home at the time. Phyllis and James went out on the streets for one primary reason: to be as present as possible to every person they met. Doing so, they were reminded just how difficult the practice of compassion can be, not only because of external obstacles and  physical hardships, but even more because of personal judgments, assumptions, fears and desires, all of which harden one’s regard for and behavior toward other people.

The Joy of Spring: what's new in annuals and perennials

Owner of very successful Medary Acres Greenhouse with her husband Brian.  She will be showing us the new plants/flowers that will be hitting the market this year and discussing their ability to withstand the varying weather conditions of the midwest.  They plant over 10,000 hanging baskets each year in their greenhouses.

Visit their website at:  http://www.medaryacres.com/

Her topic is Who Gets Grandma's Yellow Pie Plate, a discussion of the distribution of nontitled possessions.

Who Am I and Why Do I Do the Things I Do?
The benefits of therapeutic massage.

Owner and operator of Settle Therapy Center.

Insure Altrusa’s Future: Build A New Club
It’s easier (and more lucrative) than you might think to build a new Altrusa club.  Together we’ll learn the basic steps in starting a new Altrusa club and role play the meetings with prospective members in the new community.   We’ll also review the special 2009-2011 incentives designed to encourage club building.

Donna C. Johnson, President of Altrusa International, Inc. 2009-2011

Donna has been a member of Altrusa International, Inc. of Gainesville, Florida since 1984 and in that time has held many offices and chaired various committees.  She was Governor of District Three from 1999-2001 and is currently serving as International President for Altrusa.

Donna retired in 2008 as the Director of Information Technology at the University of Florida Warrington College of Business Administration. During her retirement she continues to work half time as Associate in Information Technology with the Associate Provost for Distance Education and E-Learning.

Ruth Weiner, 2nd Vice Governor District Seven
First Timers Orientation

Here is your opportunity to meet other "First Timers" and learn how to get the most out of your conference experience. A brief overview of the conference agenda and time for questions.

Nancy Stellpflug, Treasurer
Hats off to good records

The treasurer’s workshop will show you how to keep members satisfied and happy, by effectively handling the Club’s financial matters.  Come and see if this workshop can help you pull money out of a hat for the club.   Probably not, but can you take the chance?

Lori Beirl, Secretary
"Put on Your Hard Hats...
Tips to Constructing Successful Fundraising Events"

Whether you hope to raise $10.00 or $15,000.00 there are basic blue prints to follow to architect a successful fundraising event. Learn the right tools: tips, ideas and strategies that will help determine the success of each event as well as your entire fundraising campaign. We will discuss how to set goals; look at fundraising resources; find volunteers; advertise, advertise, advertise; and manage money. 

Wearing our Altrusa hard hats and toolbelts, we will learn to raise funds, have fun, and get the Altrusan name out in our communities!

Dara Vadnie & Sara Lepp
"Put on Your Technology Hat"
Googling Makes My Facebook Twitter
 

Technology 101 for Altrusans:  Gain a basic understanding of the different social media tools
Learn ways to:
-Incorporate modern technology and social media into your Altrusa club's mission and goals.  
-Gain new members and publicity for your organization through websites and social media

 

Great Tours/Activities During the Conference

Wine Tasting at the Schade Vineyard

Taste the unusual and great homegrown fruit wines (rhubarb, chokecherry, honey and their new blackberry, etc.).  Appetizers will be served.  Cost is $15.

http://www.schadevineyard.com

Altrouser Activity

Hats off to the Past

Visit the Pipestone National Monument with us

The pipestone quarries are a significant site for many American Indian cultures.  Even today, the site is still considered a sacred place by many who come to quarry or visit.  Today, as in the past, it is a place treated with reverence and respect.

Learn more about the historic use of the quarries, pipemaking, and why the site came to be protected as Pipestone National Monument.

Visit:

• Visitor Center

• Gift Shop 

• Interpretive Programs & Demonstrations

• "Pipestone: An Unbroken Legacy," a 22-minute film

The Circle Trail is a delightful walk of three quarters of a mile. Allow 30 to 60 minutes for the walk.  Features along the trail include the pipestone quarries, historical markers, Old Stone Face, Winnewissa Falls, Oracle and the native tallgrass prairie.  Trail guides are available for loan or purchase in the Visitor Center. Several benches are placed along the trail. The trail is not ADA-compliant but may be wheelchair accessible with some assistance.  Cost $5.

visit their website at http://www.nps.gov/pipe/index.htm

Ice Cream and Museums

Antiquing in Brookings

Downtown Brookings has 3 great antique stores and a used/rare book shop within 2 blocks of each other.  See the attached list of antique shops in Brookings.   Free and on your own.

http://www.brookings.net/~trd8pm7k/ -up-to-date listing

2009 Antique Guide (PDF format; will be updated in March 2010

Medary Acres Greenhouse

Visit the greenhouses of owners Lynn and Brian Darnall.  You have a chance to examine/buy some of the plants that Lynn will be discussing during her workshop.  Hundreds of beautiful flowering plants and perennials.  A map will be provided.  Transportation is on your own.  Bring your biggest car if you are a plant lover.

GREAT VACATION STOPS/SHOPPING ON YOUR WAY TO BROOKINGS

Antiquing on your way

Brookings has 3 great antique malls within two blocks of each other, but for the hard core antique hunter a list of antique shops on the way to Brookings is attached for you to download.

http://www.brookings.net/~trd8pm7k/ (most up-to-date listing)

2009 Antique Guide (PDF format; will be updated in Feb 2010

Prairie Star Gallery
207 S Phillips Ave
Sioux Falls, SD

"The gallery...a space for artists to display the depth and excitement of Native American fine art.  Several different Native American nations are represented...Shopping is pricey but quality is high." from examiner.com May 4, 2009 article.

http://www.prairiestar.com

http://www.siouxfallscvb.com

Redlin Art Gallery

An hour north of Brookings on I29 in Watertown, SD.  Enjoy three floors of over 150 original oil paintings by "American's Most Popular Artist", Terry Redlin.  Have a NEW "Comforts of Home" Cabin.  Enjoy the rustic elegance of a home filled with Redlin's new line of furniture.  Free admission.

http://www.redlinart.com; 1-877-Tredlin

http://www.watertownSD.com.

Royal River Casino

Run by the Flandreau Sioux tribe.  About 30 minutes south of Brookings in Flandreau, SD.  Great dinner buffet.

http://www.royalrivercasino.com.

Fishing

Bring your fishing pole and we will give you a map to different fishing spots.  We don't guarantee anything but beautiful quiet country.  Fishing licenses start at $14 for a single day license.  Go to http://www.sdgfp.info/licenses.htm for information on licenses or call 605-773-3393. 

Brookings Service Project

The Brookings Club has decided to collect gently used books and school supplies for children on Native American reservations for their 2010 Service Project.  We hope Altrusa clubs in our district will be willing to contribute to our project.  They can send them with their delegates to the District Conference.  We want to collect them at lunch on Friday.

Recommend books dealing with our land, nature, animals, worms, insects, sports, etc.  Preferably no cowboy books where the Indians lose, are massacred, etc.  They don't think Cinderella books are appreciated.  No books on gangs.

We have an organization in Brookings, Reservation Recreation Project (RRP), which will gladly transport for free our books and school supplies to the Tree of Life Ministry in Mission, SD.  The Tree of Life Ministry distributes school supplies to more than 6000 school children on the Rosebud and Crow Creek reservations.  They are a 501(c)3 and a licensed distributor and warehouser of commodities.  They are affiliated with the United Methodist Church and work with the local Catholics, Baptists, etc.  According to my RRP contact at SDSU, "the Tree of Life Ministry has direct connections to the power structure of the reservations.  They would be sure to put the books and school supplies into the hands of those who need them.  And, there is a tremendous need."

We will also be raffling off a great planter/plant and a pressed flower picture, etc. to collect money to buy more books and school supplies.  Bring your address labels so you can attach them to lots of raffle tickets.

Thai Planter w/Easter Cactus

Pressed Flower Picture

Fake Fur Jacket (size 16)

Churches in Brookings

There are 29 churches in Brookings.  To check out the churches, go to http://brookingssd.com, click on Relocate to Brookings, and then click on Churches.  The list has not be updated since Jan 2008, so the updates are here:

delete  Apostolic Lighthouse
delete Bible Faith Fellowship Church
Add Christian Science Society
add East River Community Church of the Nazarene
add Seventh Day Adventist
add United Faith Student Center
delete United Methodist Student Center
delete United Pentecostal Church

If you need to know the times for church services, email Madeleine at rosem@itctel.com.  Some of the churches have their websites listed.

Silent Auction & Club Displays

The Silent Auction items will be displayed in Rooms C & D where we will have our Business meetings and meals.  You will have lots of time to study each item and make your bids.  You may drop items off 4:00-8:00 p.m. on Thursday April 22, 2010.  We will  reopen at 7:30 a.m. on Friday.

Please bring a display that showcases your clubs great achievements.  The tables will be set out in the foyer area.  You may choose any table and will have at least 4 feet of space.  Since this is a public area and there will not be continuous security, please do not leave any valuable items at the tables.

For more information, contact Carolyn Cotton, seeds@itctel.com