April 14, 2010 at 10:03 pm was the Great Wisconsin Fireball. A meteorite exploded and showered an area near Livingston with fragments. Tim Boldt found 2 on property he owns there.

There have been 2 meteorite scientists from Chicago that have been in the area to look for fragments. This is a rare find. Normally there are 3 – 4 meteorites each year, but most land in the water. It is a historical event because scientists will be studying the fragments for a long time. They are trying to discover the “big chunk”.

The scientists believe the fireball started as a 2 ton rock. Most of it broke up and disintegrated. The rocks are billions of years old.

They believe the majority of pieces broke up near the Iowa-Grant School. One child found a fragment worth $1,000 in the playground. I suppose it is one way to raise money instead of a Referendum!

Kathy says that Dr. Philipp Heck (one of the scientists) was beside himself! He is from The Field Museum in Chicago, but he was in Europe when the meteorite hit and couldn’t get back due to the volcano in Iceland! They are teaming with UW- Madison to come here on weekends to look for more fragments. They intend to be here in the fall when the crops are harvested to look for more.

Thanks for the wonderful speech!

UPCOMING EVENTS

UPCOMING SPEAKERS

Dave Jones was selected. He drew the 2 of Spades and won $2. The next card was the Joker. His luck is a lot like the Cubs’. Good Luck to next week’s winner.

We need a volunteer to sign up to get program speakers for the month of December. Tom Nall volunteered for July.

Gary Engelke volunteered to help Rhonda Viney so she can pass along to others. The event will be Thursday July 29. Sign up on the web site.

The District Essay Winner took 3rd place at the Optimist International competition. She won a $2500 scholarship as the District winner and an additional $2250 scholarship for 3rd place at OI.

The next Board Meeting will be on Thursday, June 10th at 7 AM at Badger Brothers.