| Christine's
Connections by
Pres. Christine Semon
 About
a year ago I had envisioned that I would be writing my last
article for The eChatter and alas I had another year to go
(as situations in our club changed). As you have been stuck
with me for this additional year (I know that I needed lots
more training to figure it out — hopefully I have learned
a few things this time around) to me it felt like it went
by pretty quickly and I have enjoyed it tremendously. Well
as they say, you have come a long way baby and this article
will be my last one written as the President of the Kiwanis
Club of Suburban Frederick. Do you see my big crocodile tears!?!?!
LOL
August proved to be a very busy month for us. On August
9th, we had our very own Bill Muffi step up to the plate
(or podium) and share with us his personal knowledge of the
furniture industry. It was very informative for all and we
all are a lot more knowledgeable about his business and how
it has become a more global industry, weather we like it
or not. Thanks Bill!
At our meeting on August 16th, we were honored to have Don
Easterday, from the Myersville Trolley Festival visit us
and share about his crusades about with obtaining and restoring
one of the only trolleys left in the area. Go Number 150!
He shared a lot of the state history and our own Ed Crawford
spontaneously helped with the presentation from his own knowledge
and experiences. Please see Ed if you want to view one of
the best Trolley books out there, according to Mr. Easterday,
because he has his own copy and brought it in that evening
for extra points with show and tell!
From August 17-19, several of our club members and many
other Kiwanians gathered in Rockville, MD for the Capital
District Convention. Thanks Ellis, Dave, Phil, Frank and
Paul! To highlight a few of the many exciting events, our
own Past LTG from Division 9 (and current President of the
Westminster Club) Art Riley was installed as the next Governor
for the Capital District (starting October 1st). The new
LTG for Division 9 Bill Breichner from the Hagerstown club
was also installed with the other incoming LTG's in his class.
Special thanks to Fred Lohnes as our outgoing LTG (from the
Greater Westminster Club) for all he did this year to support
our division and club.
On the 23rd of August, John Fieseler, the director of Frederick
County Tourism Council came to visit with us. He had a very
informative presentation and updated us on the new plans
for the new Tourism Center which is to be built on East St.
across from the train station. Many new things were learned
by all attending!
Most of the club members and their significant others also
gathered our annual club picnic on August 25th at our very
own Larry Fellows home! Thanks again to Larry and Judi for
offering the use of their home for this wonderful event!!
Thanks to all that attended and brought a dish and/or helped
prepare the wonderful food! The weather person did a good
job again this year-no rain during the festivities, and it
cooled off towards the end of the party also. Thanks to all!!
On August 30th, we had a full docket. Our newest member,
Joe Vitanza was inducted to our club officially by our visiting
Division 9 LTG Fred Lohnes. Several of our own members also
assisted with the ceremony in the special way we at Suburban
Frederick like to welcome new members into our club by reading
one of the objectives of Kiwanis. Thanks to Ed (for orchestrating
it all), Debbie, Jim W, Frank, Paul and Terry (I think I
got everyone listed correctly) for reading the objectives
individually during the ceremony. A special thanks goes to
Dave for tracking down a copy of the objectives - at the
last minute - as no one in our meeting had a copy (not even
Ellis or Fred) for us to read and to Bill Muffi for introducing
new-member Joe to us!! At this meeting we also had Erika
Dirk from Walkersville High and Anna Verdi from Middletown
High speak to us about some of their experiences from the
HOBY seminar which was held this past May at MSMU. Our club
had assisted them with their sponsorship to the seminar.
They are currently juniors at their respective schools. They
impressed the crowd with their presentations, posturing of
themselves and stories of what they have done and are planning
to do in the future!! They shared about some good ideas for
leadership and some new roll models they met during the weekend.
It was a great honor for me personally to listen to them,
as I spent the weekend with them (and about 150 other high
school sophomores that same weekend). I was also blown away
by them and what this generation of youth is and will be
doing going forward. Erika and Anna are some of the reasons
I am so passionate about the HOBY program. It encourages
and supports them to think outside the box, to look into
the future and actually sit down and write some goals on
which they would like to work. It also exposes them to many
topics like volunteerism, media, education, health and nutrition,
and a variety of careers. The seminar offers resources for
them to look into and a network of people to associate with
who have gone through the program, that think the same way
they do and want to continue to give back to their communities.
There is something to be said about the power of networking!
During the past 2 years I have had the privilege of saying
to all (that asked) that I am the President of the Kiwanis
Club of Suburban Frederick. In about a month, I guess I will
have to change that intro to the Past President. A special
thanks goes to the Board of Directors and our club officers.
You know who you are. Without you we could not have done
all the great work we did in our community this year. I would
also like to really thank all that supported me with this
honor during the last two years - the members of the club.
You all put up with my occasional tardiness (well maybe more
than occasional recently), last minute begging for someone
to do the weekly invocation, the sometimes unconventional
way I chose to do most things and antics as to whose table
gets to go to the buffet table first each week! In reviewing
my first article in The eChatter, as President, I recall
having lots of goals and I believe that we actually met most
of them! Yea for us! One of my main goals, the last two years
was to HAVE LOTS OF FUN - I know that I did and I hope you
did also!
Let's
briefly review some others: I was hoping we could have
more publicity in the papers, to let the community (and
prospective members) know what we are up to. With the assistance
of Dave and also the Community Foundation of Frederick County,
I believe this goal was achieved with lots of pictures and
press releases. I asked that we personally advertise our
commitment to Kiwanis in the community by wearing pins, hats,
shirts, whenever possible (and appropriate). Thanks to Leslie,
we were able to purchase new club shirts to wear, just in
time for the Gift-Wrap (!) When people ask you about what
your K symbol means, we all now know what to say, right??
All together now: "Kiwanis is a global organization
of volunteers committed to changing the world, one child,
one community at a time." Good job!! Recently, when
Kiwanis International changed its marketing materials with
the new images, I wanted to make sure everyone had an updated
name badge. I believe we all do now! Please wear them proudly!
I had suggested that we update our Club Directory and this
didn't occur in paper form, however one can go to our website
for an updated club member list (if you know the secret password
- roster!) I had hoped to get some brochures and/or business
cards to offer to people that might be interested in our
organization. About a year and half ago, we came up with
great business cards, just in time for the gift wrap, that
displays the basics of our club meetings and our website
and the potential to personal invite someone to visit a club
meeting. Dave is now having a chance to start working on
a club brochure (Governor Cressy has kept him very busy
with his roll in the Capital District this year!) I have
seen a rough draft and it looks great! Look for it soon!
Another goal of mine was to participate more with our Sponsored
youth clubs (Builders Club, Key Clubs and Circle K) and we
have and we even were able to charter a new Key Club at Tuscarora
High School last year! We hoped to have more speakers and
a good variety of presentations. Phil and Dave (in their
respective years at their roll as Vice President) did great
jobs accomplishing this goal. The club chairpeople and members
also did a great job to step up to the podium with some presentations
also. Thanks! We also created a Club Policy Statement (thanks
to LTG Fred Lohnes's template from his club to work off of)
to put down, in writing, some basics guidelines about our
club. This covers such topics as our location and meeting
time, which special guests' meals we agree to pay for, our
membership fees and our general and senior membership guidelines.
Finally, membership development, which is our clubs ongoing
challenge, was, of course, a goal. Over the last two years,
our club has gained some great new members, we had one come
back after taking a few years off (thanks Mick) and we unfortunately
lost a few members due to moving out of the area or moving
on to the next phase of their lives. We all know the situation
and we all know it is a challenge for our club and this organization.
I believe it is the roll of each member to support this challenge.
We all have acquaintances we talk to, work with, shop with,
see around our neighborhoods, and belong to other organizations
with. Lets keep talking and keep asking! Strive to keep up
the positive momentum and continue to strengthen our great
club with active, creative, and interested members! I purposefully
chose not to 'preach' about this topic weekly at meetings
for these reasons however I did mention it in many of the
monthly articles (as a subliminal reminder). Please continue
to support the growth of our club, keep sharing about it
with others and asking your acquaintances to visit. I believe
Phil (as your next year's President) would appreciate the
support and I know the community needs the contributions
and resources we offer! We need to keep growing to do what
we do best: giving back.
To
conclude (yes, finally!) I wanted to finish up with a few
quotes
(surprise, surprise)! To quote Abraham Lincoln: "And
in the end it's not the years in your life that count. It's
the life in your years." I know that given who we are
as people and Kiwanians, how we support our community and
how we support the youth in this area; we have definitely
played a large role to many lives, during the 36 + years
our club has been in the Frederick community! Lets keep it
going!! According to Dale Carnegie, "People rarely succeed
unless they have fun in what they are dong." I know
I had a great time and had lots of fun the past two years,
and I hope you did too! We are all successful at being great
Kiwanians and servants to our community! Thanks to all members
and friends of the Kiwanis Club of Suburban Frederick for
everything you do and who you are and how you contribute
to this world! As the song goes (and I challenged our club
in my initial goals two years ago), I had hoped to take some
risks, to take some chances and to make some changes. I believe
we did it! Together we can, together we will AND together
we did (to quote Past Distinguished Capital District Governor
Yvonne Holley) THANKS TO YOU ALL! |
Furniture industry
expert and wholesale furniture sales rep Bill Muffi spoke
recently to the Kiwanis Club of Suburban Frederick. Himself
a club member, Muffi explained the role China is now playing
in supplying much of the furniture now being sold in the
US. He also gave valuable consumer tips for those purchasing
new furniture. Pictured is fellow club member Debbi Matthews
with Bill Muffi.
Don
Easterday, Hagerstown & Frederick Railway expert
and Myersville resident, recently visited the Kiwanis Club
of Suburban Frederick to share the history of Frederick county's
trolley system that was begun in the late 1800s and continued
in operation serving central Maryland until the mid-20th
century. Easterday also told those gathered about the upcoming
annual Myersville Trolley and Bluegrass Festival scheduled
for October. Pictured, Don Easterday (L) shares old Frederick
trolley stories with long-time Frederick resident and club
member, Ed Crawford, as they hold a scale model of the restored
H&F trolley #150 now owned by Easterday.
Erika
Dirk (left) from Walkersville High and Anna Verdi from
Middletown High spoke to our club recently about
their experiences from the Hugh O'Brien Youth Seminar
HOBY which was held
this past May at MSMU. Our club sponsors one student from each
of two high schools each year to HOBY.
Div. 9 Lt. Gov. Fred Lohnes recently inducted our club's newest
member, Joe Vitanza. Tag-teaming the candles were Phil Pople,
and Joe's sponsor, Bill Muffi. Pictured from left to right are
Pople, Vitanza, Muffi and Lohnes.
