Kiwanians,

For those who missed the special evening Weekly Meeting on 1/25/2011, at "Loggerheads", you unfortunately missed a fun time!  (Please see the details of Terry Nolan's suggestion for a fun, "min-fundraiser", based upon Sunday's "Super Bowl" game, and considering getting involved before the big game starts.  Also, see the questions posed during the "Trivia Pursuit" game that Barbara Essenwine hosted as part of the evening's festivities...try to answer the questions BEFORE you peek at the answers at the very bottom!)  Here is a summary of what took place!  For those who were there, here is a recap.

KIWANIS CLUB OF STUART

(Special Evening) WEEKLY MEETING at “Loggerheads”

January 25, 2011

I.                  Pledge of Allegiance led by –  Keith Muniz 

II.                 PRAYER led by – Barbara Essenwine

III.               SONG for the day – None, due to special evening format

IV.              GUESTS Visiting the Club today: 

• invited by Suzy Hutcheson. 
• invited by Kit Tang-Wilcox.  (Kris’ 13 year old son is in the same Boy Scout troop as Kit’s son, and also working towards Eagle Scout.  Kris told Kit that her New Year’s resolution was to get more involved in volunteer work in the community, and is considering becoming a member of Kiwanis Club of Stuart to fulfill that resolution.)

c.     Angie Hasler, who, with her husband, operates a Tour Guide company, arranging trips abroad for fans who follow Formula One Auto Racing, invited by Kit Tang-Wilcox.

d.    Chuck & Sandy McGeary, who have returned, from up North, to spend the winter months here in the Florida sunshine.

c.      Keith Muniz announced that our next community service project will be in February, when our Club will be having a booth at the Martin County Fair.  In addition to trying to make people more aware of Kiwanis, a Fair Committee will be formed to discuss ideas for what to do at the booth, which could include possibly selling some Kiwanis items, as well as offering some children’s activities. Club members who are interested will be asked to sign up, and/or contact Lisa Bebout, as the Community Service Chairperson, to volunteer to participate in this project.  

d.    Al Crake announced that he is still looking for a member to agree to arrange for the speakers, for our Weekly Meetings, for the month of May.  Al further announced that, for the month of February, the speakers will be as follows:

 VI.                 HAPPY &/or SAD DOLLARS:

a.   None, due to special format for evening meeting.  Instead, Barbara Essenwine had everyone present number off, thereby forming 5 teams, and then was the Master of Ceremonies for a game of Trivia Pursuit, which at the outset she assured everyone present, since she had gotten the questions from the “Baby Boomers” version, that they should all know the answers to them.  (Although a good time was had by everyone, all present quickly proved Barbara wrong in her assertion!  For those not present, grab a piece of paper and a pencil…not a pen, as you’ll probably find a need to erase!...and see how well you do answering the trivia questions.  After you’ve finished answering them, you’ll find the correct answers are at the end of these Minutes.  The winning team, consisting of Suzy Hutcheson, Bob Burson, Gary Hawkens, Chuck McGeary and  the “Loggerheads” Bartender, got 12 out of 20 questions right.  John Ritter tried to help his team by using his phone to search for the answers on the Internet…but apparently either he or  his search engine were too slow!  Bill Oughterson admitted he wasn’t as much help to his team as he would have liked…he forgot his hearing aids and couldn’t hear the questions!  Barbara promised the winners a really great prize…well, just like our Guest Speakers for the Weekly Meetings, the trivia game winners will all now be drinking their coffee from their very own Kiwanis coffee cups!)

TRIVIA QUESTIONS

1          What Father Knows Best alumna portrayed Ellie Walker, Andy Taylor’s girlfriend?

2          What motto of the US wasn’t official until July 30, 1956?

3          Who was Sister Bertrille?

4          What author’s complete works were published in the Soviet Union in 90 volumes in 1958?

5          How many men went on the mission in The Dirty Dozen?

6          What organization recruited with the phrase “If you want to change the world, start small”?

7          Who succeeded Nikita Krushchev as top man in the Soviet Union?

8          What was South Carolina the last state to do, in January 1962?

9          What comic-strip character celebrates his 5^th birthday every April?

10         What kind of plane was Lyndon Johnson sworn in on?

11         Who was Dick Grayson’s alter ego?

12         What kind of skirt did Jacqueline Kennedy sport for the first time in 1964?

13         What is Hef’s Hutch?

14         What organization took to placing Bibles in hotels and schools?

15         What actor purchased 7000 acres of Utah including a ski resort and named it Sundance?

16         What country achieved the first soft landing on the moon?

17         Who loved his, loved his, loved his, calendar girl?

18         Who was the first US President to visit all 50 states while in office?

19         Who did Richard Kimball catch on Aug 29^th 1967?

20         What group Took the Last Train to Clarksville for their 1966 career started?

 VII.           A special 50/50 TICKET was drawn, which was held by one of our guests, Justin Flaitz, who won $35.00.  Justin also won the drawing for the prize of the “Helping People Succeed” Art calendar, signed by all of the artists.

Our guests, Angie Hasler and Chuck McGeary each won a prize drawing for a bottle of wine.  All of our guests also took home one, as remembrance of their visit with us for this special evening meeting, one of the Kiwanis Christmas ornaments which featured the Sailfish design. 

(Our normal 50/50 TICKET will resume at the 2/1/11 Weekly meeting…since, unbeknownst to those of us who were not able to attend the Weekly Meeting held right after Christmas, the pot was won at that meeting, it is now relatively small, starting at approximately $30.00.) 

VIII.         TONIGHT'S SPEAKERs, for the benefit of our guests and prospective members, addressed the reasons for joining and/or supporting Kiwanis:

First up was our President, Keith MUNIZ.  Keith advised that the name KIWANIS explains his reasons for joining:

K – stands for KIDS, as helping kids is what Kiwanis is all about.

I -   stands for INVESTMENT back into the community.

W – stands for WORTHY, for joining Kiwanis is joining in the support of a worthy cause.

A  -  stands for ACTION, for Kiwanians don’t just sit back and watch, they get out there and take action.

N -  (initially Keith joked that N stands for Nobel Prize, which he was just certain, based upon his work in Kiwanis, he would now be eligible to win) stands for NON-PARTISAN, in that no matter what a Kiwanis personal beliefs are, Kiwanians are united in their single purpose to serve kids and to serve their community.

I -  stands for INTELLIGENCE (which Keith initially joked was because it was obvious to him that only smart people join Kiwanis), in that Kiwanians expand their knowledge on important issues.

S – stands for SERVICE, in that Kiwanians are unified to give back to the community and develop future leaders.

            Keith noted that, in the past, Kiwanis have engaged in membership drives.  He then noted that, this year, the goal is to encourage more people to join Kiwanis through being active and visible in the community, thereby encouraging them to want to be a part of doing good work on behalf of the community. Keith advised that the goal of our Club is to complete one significant club activity and/or service project a month.  He commented that, in support of this goal, for December, our Club had the Christmas Shopping Spree at Bealls, then, for January, we participated in the “Chili Cook-Off” for Special Olympics.  He reiterated that, in February, our Club will be hosting a booth at the Martin County Fair (2/11-2/19/11) to continue to bring more public visibility to Kiwanis.  Then, in March, our Club will be having “Pancakes in the Park”, in conjunction with the Stuart Art Show (Saturday, 2/19/11).  In April, our Club will be participating in Kiwanis International’s “Kiwanis One Day”, which may involve work on the proposed improvement project in Kiwanis Park.  Keith closed by noting that our Club will continue to be involved in projects which make an impact in the community, especially in the lives of children.  

Our second speaker was Kathy Derringer, who works with our won Suzy Hutcheson at “Helping People Succeed”, and was a Guest Speaker at one of our Weekly Meetings last Spring.

Kathy explained that she is involved with the “Baby Steps” program at “Helping People Succeed”.  This program, much like the “Children Priority One” program within Kiwanis, helps improve the outlook of the futures of children ages Birth to 5 Years Old.  The program does this by working with the parents of these children.  She noted that many of the parents they work with have issues of their own, to include having been the victims of abuse themselves when they were children, or having grown up with poor role models for parents, and they need help developing good parenting skills to help them raise healthy, happy children. 

As part of this program, every parent of an infant in Martin County receives a “BRAIN (Building Readiness Among Infants Now) Bag”.  The “BRAIN Bag” was developed by Dr. William Blechman, a well known member of Kiwanis, who now lives in Miami.  Dr. Blechman has long been an advocate for taking steps to help early brain development in children.  She noted that Kiwanis Club of Stuart has been a generous sponsor of these “BRAIN Bags” for several years now, and, as such, the Kiwanis logo is featured on the bag.  Each “BRAIN Bag” contains a lullaby CD, a book suitable for reading to an infant by a parent, an infant toy and information about healthy play techniques for parents to engage in with their infant, as well as information about milestones that parents should watch for in the healthy brain development in their infants/toddlers.

Kathy explained that the “Baby Steps” works in conjunction with their “Healthy Families” program, which involves home visits, every two months, by a member of the staff, to parents who are in need of help in developing good parenting skills.  During these visits, the staff members bring an age appropriate toy with them that they give to the parents, and demonstrate for the parents the way that that toy can be used to engage in productive play with their child.  The program also includes sending out Parent Surveys once a month, to not only help gauge the development of the children, but also the needs of the parents.  She was pleased by the response she had just read, on one of the monthly Parent Surveys she had just received back, in which a young mother responded that she had no family in the area to help her, but she felt like the “Healthy Families” program is providing her with the support she would otherwise have received from her family.

Kathy commented that the importance of early brain development in children has been the subject of considerable research, and it cannot be understated.  Leading researchers believe that early brain development in children will affect the future of our society as a whole, as it will result in smarter individuals, thereby leading to healthier citizens, a better economy, and a stronger military.  Kathy closed by thanking Kiwanis Club of Stuart for its support in the effort to increase early brain development in children, and helping parents to raise healthier and happier children.

IX.              Next week’s speaker will be:  The Director of Communications for Harbor Branch.

X.               Thought for today:  Remember what KIWANIS stands for:  KIDS, INVESTMENT, WORTHY, ACTION, NON-PARTISAN, INTELLIGENCE, and SERVICE!!

TRIVIA ANSWERS:

1)     Eleanor Donahue

2)     In God We Trust

3)     The Flying Nun

4)     Leo Tolstoy

5)     14

6)     The Peace Corps

7)     Leonid Breshnev

8)     De-segregate the schools

9)     Dennis the Menace

10)  Boeing 707

11)  Robin

12)  Mini Skirt

13)  Playboy mansion

14)  Gideons

15)  Robert Redford

16)  Soviet Union

17)  Neil Sedaka

18)  Richard Nixon

19)  Fred Johnson – The One Armed Man

20)  The Monkees