Officers

President
Dave Maloney

Pres Elect
Bill Muffi

Vice President
Mick Hickman

Secretary
Terry Proescholdt

Treasurer
Debbi Matthews

Immediate Past
President
Phil Pople

Directors

2008-2009
Charlie Mertz
Eric Gatrell

2008-2010
Joe Vitanza
Larry Fellows
Christine Semon

Committee Chairs

Community Service
Debbi Matthews

Young Children: Priority One
Ed Crawford

Sponsored Youth
Christine Semon

Public Relations
Dave Maloney

Fund Raising
Joe Vitanza

Membership Growth & Education
Frank Parker

Interclubs
Brenda Edwards

Human & Spiritual Values
Mick Hickman

Dec 4 - Board Meeting / Set up for Giftwrap afterwards

Dec 11 - no meeting

Dec 18 - no meeting

Dec 25 -no meeting

Dave's Corner by Pres. Dave Maloney

As we head into December, all eyes are on our annual FSK Mall giftwrap fundraiser. As you may know, the net proceeds raised from this project will be used for our giving programs in the 2009-2010 administrative year. Net $20K within the next few weeks and we can contribute $20K next year. Net $9K within the next few weeks and we can give only that amount. My point is that without club members filling the #1 slot for each of our gift wrap days, we may need to shut down. And if not enough wrappers are present, we will need to turn customers away. In either case, our take would be reduced. You probably know this site by heart: http://suburbanfrederickkiwanis.org/giftwrap.htm. We still have many slots to fill in the schedule. Have you asked you spouses and children to help out? Have you asked them to ask their friends to help out?

What a day at the airport recently! Frank and I stood by as the winners of our helicopter ride raffle took off into the gray skies of an overcast and drizzling late afternoon. Thankfully, their destination was Harpers Ferry to the southwest where the weather was clearing. See the below article and video.

Check out this month's eBuilder, especially Gov. Tom Ganse's message entitled "What Is A Kiwanian, Anyway?" Tom mention's that KI's CEO Rob Parker wrote recently:

"While we all agree that Kiwanis has a rich history of service and leadership, most of us also recognize the world has changed dramatically since our founding in 1915. Although Kiwanis has adapted to some of these changes, our decline in membership over the past 20 years would suggest that we still have some changes to make to remain relevant to both this generation, and the next. While the development of Kiwanis NEXT is an ongoing process, there are also some things we are working on to "refresh" our classic model of Kiwanis. Leaders and members from all over the Kiwanis world are sharing their ideas with us in answer to the following question: "If you could change anything about Kiwanis, what would it be?"

Following is a brief summary of what people have been telling us:

• Decrease the frequency and length of meetings.
• Create a fun atmosphere that makes people want to come back.
• Design the meeting with a focus on interaction between the members and planning our service projects, rather than around a program/speaker.
• Reduce the reporting requirements and make things simpler.
  Focus service efforts on fewer things that will have a greater impact.
• Stop promoting district and international fundraising projects so often."

Hmmm. Meet less frequently? Focus on planning service projects rather than speaker programs? Lot's to think about. BTW, do you know what constitutes service hours? Here are the rules.

Speaking of service projects, mark your calendar for our April 18, 2009 Spring Cleaning service project at Hope Alive in Sabillasville. I'll be attending a Hope Alive orientation for volunteers at 7PM on Jan 12th. Care to join me?

At this coming December board meeting we will be discussing the pros and cons of an alternative meeting location. I'd like to have your input.

Announcements:

1. Club meetings for Dec. 11 and Dec. 18 are cancelled. I appreciate all the time you spend at the mall, and since we have no speakers for either of those two nights, we can spend the time with our families and save a few bucks as well.

2. The meeting for Jan 1, 2009 is also cancelled. Our January Board Meeting will be held on January 8th.

3. The Annual Holiday party will be held at my house at 7PM on Saturday, Jan. 3rd. Hope you can make it! More details to come.

4. Debbi Matthews has had to step down as treasurer because of compliance issues with her employer. Charlie Mertz has offered to fill the vacancy. This requires board action which we will address at this coming board meeting.

5. VP and Program Chair Mick Hickman will be contacting several of you requesting your assistance in organizing speaker programs for the balance of the year with one person taking one month. You make the initial contact and Mick will do the rest.

See you at the wrap!

Community Service Committee Report by Debbi Matthews

Great news! First, we have scheduled Sue Oehmig, Founder & Executive Director of Hope Alive and Betsy Day, Executive Director of the Community Foundation of Frederick County to join us at our Feb. 19, 2009 dinner meeting. Sue will share progress and activities at Hope Alive. Betsy will present a fat $800 check from our Foundation account to Hope Alive. (Dave will take lots of pictures and maximize the publicity.) Our donation qualifies our Club for a Bronze partnership status with Hope Alive. The benefits include the Kiwanis name on event materials and recognition in Hope Alive's newsletter, website, and annual report. Most importantly, the donation provides resident mothers with intensive case management, financial and health management; relational, spiritual, and child development; as well as independent living skills, educational, and vocational training.

Next, we have a new service project scheduled! Sat, April 18, 2009 our Club has volunteered to help with outdoor Spring clean-up at the Hope Alive site in Sabillasville. Dave will represent our Club and attend an Orientation meeting on Jan 12, 2009 so we know the rules and such. Please put this date on your calendars now before you forget! (We have two more new Service Projects to schedule to achieve Dave's personal goal, and I have one more in the works...I'll tell you about it when I get my ducks in a row.)

Suburban Frederick Club Raffle Winners Flying High

A recently-held club fundraising raffle resulted in a mother-son team winning a helicopter flight donated by Willem and Alice Meiners of Hellocopter.org. (Willem and Alice have flown "around the world" in this helicopter.) Watch the movie!

2009 Raffle Underway - Fruit to Arrive Soon

Joe Vitanza reported that fruit sales went great. Be sure to be prepared to help unload the fruit truck when it arrives on our about Dec. 6th. This is a all hands evolution. Bring hand trucks and gloves. Also, the annual raffle is underway and will run through March 26. This year we are splitting expenses and selling with the Mt. Airy Club. Winners will receive a 47" LCD HDTV, an XBox 360 (donated by Joe's company), and an 8GB iPod Touch.

Tuscarora Key Club Canned Food Drive
by Andrew Taverner, Key Club Member

Bags, boxes, and cans littered tables, desks, and the floor of the science lab in Tuscarora High School. Upon entering the science lab, one cannot help thinking that one might have inadvertently stumbled upon the fabled hidden-grocery-store of Tuscarora.

The members of Tuscarora High School Key Club perform service projects all year, but right now, food is especially important. Steffi Yen, president of the Tuscarora chapter of Key Club says, "Right now...lots of families are in need and the food banks...are completely depleted of food."

The students had their most successful canned food drive ever, collecting over 2000 cans in the first week. This surpasses the 800 cans they collected last year and the 2000 cans the year before. The students collected over 4400 cans for the Kids Helping Kids, Maryland State Department of Education's food drive over a three week span. The canned food drive was so successful due to a large amount of school spirit and some friendly competition between the teachers. "The competition between several of the teachers got pretty serious," said Key Club editor, Andrew Taverner. In the end, Bradley Gray won the canned food drive, for the third year in a row, beating the runner up, Matt Schumacher, by a mere eight points.

Our sponsoring club, the Kiwanis Club of Suburban Frederick, surprised us by donating a dozen bags of food when we recently visited a club meeting. Pictured left (l to r kneeling) Key Club members Andrew Taverner, Kate Felton, Pres. Steffi Yen, and Div 9 Key Club LTG Marvin Gee. Not pictured is Key Clubber Autumn Bordner. Standing are Suburban Frederick members Christine Semon and Bill Muffi.

The canned food drive was featured on channel 18, the local Frederick County Public School channel. Looking to the future, the Tuscarora Key Club is planning to participate in the annual Kiwanis gift-wrapping. Steffi said, "I speak for all of us when I say that it's our favorite Key Club project."

Topic: South America

Dr. Ray Ediger, a member of the Kiwanis Club of Frederick, visited our club recently and presented a travelogue of his trip to South America, including Ecuador and Peru. As a veterinarian, Dr. Ray was most interested in the animal husbandry he witnessed. From hot, steamy jungles to the mountain top Machu Picchu, Dr. Ray's trip was fascinating to all - even to Eric Gatrell, who (right) enjoyed the colorful attire of the locals.