Cumulative Member Participation
(Minimum criteria for membership participation is 60%)
                                 

Ed Blumenauer 100
Leslie Bruchey100
Ed Crawford 100
Ken Dell 100
Larry Fellows 90
Eric Gatrell 100
Mark Gaver -
Carl Harbaugh -
Bud Jackson Senior
Jerry Jenkins 100
Jim Krysiek 100
Glenn Magaha 100
Dave Maloney 100
Charlie Mertz 100
Frank Parker 96
Phil Pople 100
Bob Rankin -
Austin Rippeon Senior
Christine Semon 100
Paul Sheets Leave
Ellis Stroup 100
Rob Summers 100
Jim Wiggins 100

Click here for District-wide Calendar of Events

June 1 - Christine's Crazies- Board Meeting

June 8 - Mark Williams, Advance Car Control Techniques

June 15 - Cathy Beeler, Monocacy National Battlefield - Spouse/Guest Night

June 22 - Mike Corrigan: "Service organizations - Democracy's Little Platoons - and the Reclaiming of America"

June 29 - Dr. James Krysiek - "Jim's Surprise"

Christine's Connections by Pres. Christine Semon

The month of May included rainy and sunny days, cold and warm days and lots of new beautiful flowers popping up all around us. As of today, May 30th, as I am writing this article, I just heard the radio announcer that is 96 degrees outside! It is looking like we might be skipping quickly through Spring and jumping right into the middle of Summer! Only time will tell here in our lovely state of Maryland!

The month of May was very busy for our club and for me. On May 11th, we celebrated with students from all 12 Middle Schools in Frederick County at our annual Middle School Appreciation Night. See the article below for more information and pictures. Administrators, teachers and counselors at their respective schools voted for these students. The students were not chosen because of their grade point average, as are many awards out there. The administration chooses the student who has improved their attitude, character, attendance record and/or citizenship the most in their school. Often their grades tend to improve as some of these other characteristics adjust; however this would be the icing on the cake, but not a requirement for this award. Frank Parker did a fabulous job organizing and orchestrating the students, family and school representatives in being there. I have been there, done that and know it is a lot of work. Great job Frank! Charlie Mertz single handedly cheerfully welcomed all guests and checked everyone into the meeting, as they arrived. Dave Maloney helped out with creating the certificates we presented to each student and played photographer during the event, capturing wonderful memories for all attending. He even had all the photos linked to our website the next day! Also, again this year, Helen Maloney helped out with presenting certificates and gift bags to the winners. Thanks to everyone that had their hand in putting this great and inspiring event on this year. We had about 100 people attend the event this year, including our club members and it looked like all had a good time!

The next week Father Elias Yelovich from Mount Saint Mary’s University spoke to us about Orthodox Christianity and how it compares with other religious sectors. He educated, informed, quizzed and inspired us with his knowledge on this topic. Hopefully he will be able to come back again soon to speak to our club on this or related topics. (Pictured right, Father Elias, left, shares images of an Orthodox religious service with Club Pres. Christine Semon and speaker host, Jim Krysiek.)

The following week George DeBois (pictured right shaking hands with Phil Pople) came to speak to our club about ‘Why Americans did not embrace socialism’. I am told it was very informative. Unfortunately, I missed this program because I was at Mount Saint Mary’s University preparing for the Hugh O’Brian Youth Leadership seminar (H.O.B.Y.) that started very early the next morning.

At H.O.B.Y. we had about 175 high school sophomores from around Maryland attend the seminar this year. Although Hugh O’Brian wasn’t able to visit us personally, as he did last year, the excitement and enthusiasm of the youth was wonderful! There were about 40 volunteers helping out this year and we all spent four days that were thrilling, exhilarating, and exhausting. LOTS of energy, not very much sleep. I think we figured that we averaged a total of 10 hours each in the 3 nights we were there!! Good thing Monday was a holiday! The students were busy from 8am-11pm each day. Very little free time is put into their schedule. Some of the activities we had for the students during the seminar were: 5 panels with professionals and volunteers attending to speak on the specific topic; opportunities to ask probing questions to the speakers; break-out sessions to discuss each topic more in depth; a variety of leadership labs; essay writing; a service project (beautifying the Grotto); a dance/ice cream social; 3 inspirational speakers; and a thank-you letter writing session. The Kiwanis Club of Suburban Frederick sponsored 3 ambassadors this year (from Middletown, Walkersville and Tuscarora high schools). By connecting with other Kiwanis clubs, I know that 20 Kiwanis clubs in Maryland sponsored 42 high school ambassadors this year. Great job Kiwanis!! It costs about $30,000 to put on the seminar each year and the support of Kiwanis and other civic organizations (like the Optimist, Jaycees, Women’s clubs) makes this a reality. These current and aspiring leaders are and will be doing amazing things in our community and the world! I can’t wait to hear the wonderful achievements!!

I was again amazed by our ambassadors this year and found a few quotes that I felt were appropriate for us as well as them. Rich Devos once said "The only thing that stands between a person and what they want in life is the will to try it and the faith to believe it possible." I know the youth I spent the weekend with won’t let anything stand in their way of achieving their amazing goals! An unknown author once said the following about Enthusiasm: “Many things will catch your eye, but only a few will catch your heart… pursue these.” This past weekend, we discussed the concepts of passions, visions, dreams, integrity, and tapping the power, deep inside you, throughout the weekend, in many different venues. I know that the success stories that will be coming out of this class of sophomores will be amazing. Let’s continue to applaud and support our youth in this program to help develop and let them think out side the box about their current and future paths they choose to take. Keep up the great work Suburban Frederick Kiwanis!!