The Des Moines Sail and Power Squadron hosted the District 30 Fall Conference during the first weekend in October. The events were held at a beautiful location at a perfect time in the fall. We had awesome fall weather and the trees were just beginning to change colors. All of us that stayed at the Quality Inn were given a waterfront view on either the 5th floor or the 7th floor. We had the Des Moines River just a stones throw away and the gold domed Iowa Capitol building just across the river. If you looked to the left out your window and across the river you could see the John Anderson White Riverboat which would be the center of our activities on Sunday Night.

Most of the attendees arrived Friday afternoon although quite a few trickled in during the late day and many locals showed up on Saturday. We had two hospitality rooms at this conference. One was on the 5th floor and was hosted by the DMSPS on Friday night. The other was on the 7th floor and hosted by D30.

Activities started at 8:30 AM with a brief Council Meeting. We then adjourned the council meeting and P/D/C Ken Danley gave an excellent presentation of the Rivers, Locks and Dams Seminar. The material was very well put together and Ken did an excellent job of presenting the material. We then broke for lunch. Lunches were catered to us in the meeting room and with full bellies we convened for the Conference in the afternoon.

District business was conducted. We heard the Chiefs message as presented by R/C Greg Korstad and Greg helped give out several awards. One notable award was to Francis Rieber for 55 years as a member of USPS. Way to go Francis! The council meeting and conference were adjourned and everyone retired to the hospitality room.

DMSPS sponsors a 50/50 raffle, a beautiful clock was raffled off which Terry won. It will look great on our hallway wall. There was a great silent auction which had some "guy" stuff but there were purses there that the ladies said were great. "If Millie was here, the competition would have been a lot harder" Peggy took home two purses.

At 6:00 we gathered in the lobby and headed across the bridge to the J.A. White for out trip up the river. The boat skipper of course was Capt. Rex LeCoc, member of the DMSPS. Many of you know Rex. Did you know he is related to Gerry LeCoc of Boulder Valley Sail and Power Squadron. The J.A. White is a small riverboat but she is a beauty. She has a functioning stern wheel complete with the water splashing on the rear window behind the bar. The decor on the boat was really neat and it was warm and toasty inside which was great on a brisk autumn evening. We had a great time socializing on the boat. The Danleys had their daughter Dana on board and her family. On the way back to the dock Ken presented the crew of the J.A. White with an award.

We made the turn and came in to dock. The current was close to 10 knots. We never even felt a nudge as Rex expertly eased his stern wheeler into her berth.

We got into our cars and headed across the river and back to the hospitality room for some late evening chat and some goodbyes. A great time was had by all. The next day we bid everyone farewell and went on our way.

P/D/C Gus Elia, JN