Milwaukee, WI

If you missed the June Meeting in Milwaukee, you missed a good one.  The  Ductile Iron Society celebrated its 50th Anniversary.  The meeting got started on Thursday June 19th morning with a tour through Kohler Industries in Kohler, WI.  The tour also included a visit to the Kohler Design Center.

If you were thinking of renovating any of your bathrooms in your home, you  missed a great opportunity to see different displays by Kohler.  Also included was a visit back in time with the different products Kohler produced.  Thanks go out to Jana Fogarty for organizing the tour and also the management and staff of Kohler Industries and the Design Center.  We also brought back the spouses program and they were treated to a stretch Limousine ride from Milwaukee to Kohler and back.  The spouses visited the Design Center and then were whisked off to lunch at the famous American Club and then finished the day with some shopping at the nearby Woodlake Shops.

The group returned to the Radisson Inn in Milwaukee to be presented with seven outstanding technical presentations over the two days.  On Thursday evening during the banquet, we celebrated the 50th Anniversary of the Ductile Iron Society.

DIS President, Joe Farrar kicked things off by welcoming everyone and then introduced our new members to the Society, who were in attendance.

DIS President Joe Farrar with Andy Porter of Elyria Foundry

DIS President Joe Farrar with Richard Stewart of Roberts Sinto

Next, Joe asked all the retiring Directors to receive their service awards.  We all thank them for 3 years of service to the society. 

DIS President Joe Farrar with Mike Galvin of Buck Company

DIS President Joe Farrar with Patricio Gil of Blackhawk de Mexico

DIS President Joe Farrar with Dr. Kathy Hayrynen of Applied Process

DIS President Joe Farrar with Anhua Yu of Hitachi Metals Automotive Company

President Farrar  then introduced the new incoming Directors starting in October and serving for three years.  They are;

                                                           William Juergens of T B Woods
                                                           Jean Bye of Dotson Company
                                                           Larry Carmack of Grede St. Cloud
                                                           Richard Hicks of Farrar Corporation
                                                           Rich Nelson of Superior Graphite

Joe then handed over the podium to  Dick McMinn of Buck Company.  Dick is also a past president of the Society from 1993 to 1995.  Dick entertained the group by going back over the last 50 years of history of the Ductile Iron Society.

 Dick McMinn

Dick’s presentation can be found on the left hand side links on this page.  Thanks Dick for all the memories of the past.  I believe everyone there enjoyed your talk.

Next, Joe introduced a few special guests including our past Technical Director, Lyle Jenkins’s wife Joan and his son Rob Jenkins.  Joan and Rob graciously donated back to the Ductile Iron Society Keith Millis’s award that was given to him in 1983 in recognition of his role in the invention of Ductile Iron. We appreciate the time they took to visit the Society’s meeting and be part of the celebration.

 DIS President Joe Farrar with Joan & Rob Jenkins

Jim Wood, Executive Director of the Ductile Iron Society, presented a special tribute to the group of photos taken over the past 50 years.  This included a picture of all the past and current Presidents of the DIS, past and current Executive Directors, past and present Technical Directors, and past Service Award Winners.  There was also an assortment of photos that were taken during many meetings. Current members who are interested in receiving a copy of this DVD can contact Jim Wood at jwood@ductile.org for a copy.  

Gene Muratore of Rio Tinto made the special presentation of this year’s Ductile Iron Society Annual Service Award to Paul Gerhardt of Rio Tinto.  Paul was very surprised as we kept this a secret from him.  Paul has been a very active member in the society over the years.  Recently, he has been very active in promoting the marketing of Ductile Iron.  Congratulations Paul!!!

Gene Muratore with Paul & Marken Gerhardt

The Next Ductile Iron Society meeting will be held on October 20-22, 2008 at the Orleans Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas, Nevada. This is a special meeting because it is the 4th Keith Millis Symposium on Ductile Iron. Go online through our website to register for the meeting. The hotel room blocks are only good until September 28th, 2008. The DIS has negotiated a special rate of $130/night for Friday October 17th and Saturday October 18th. There is only a limited amount of rooms blocked for that weekend. Starting Sunday night the rate is $67/night for the weekdays. The DIS has blocked 30 rooms for Wednesday night if anyone would like to stay in Las Vegas. Please watch the DIS website at www.ductile.org for more details.