KIWANIS INTERNATIONAL
8423 Clubs
287,443 Kiwanians
www.kiwanis.org

CAL-NEV-HA
543 Clubs
18,136 Kiwanians
www.cnhkiwanis.org

From the Desk of Lt. Governor Diane

Congratulations to all of the new officers and directors for Division 8. Larry and I enjoyed attending all of the installations. Every one was very gracious and I found that every club had a common thread. We all have the same goals and same big hearts. We have a desire to help children and make our communities a better place to live for everyone. Every club expressed a desire to grow their membership, consider adding a new service project and just have “FUN”. As Oscar Knight has said many times, “If they ain’t having fun, they’re on the run!”

Our first service project this month is the Special Olympics chaired by Ray Beem. It will be held in Yountville and many clubs are participating to make it successful. The Napa club had one of the athletics come last week to express her thanks and she was very excited about the event. It was heartwarming to see her enthusiasm and know that we were a part of it.

There will be a President’s meeting at my house on Thursday, October 18th. It will be our first chance to get together and discuss what each club needs are and how we can help each other. Committee chairs are invited to attend.

Our web site, being designed by Greg Elwell from our Benicia club, is getting close to being ready. The site will give every club another avenue to advertise their events not only to the public but to other clubs in our division. If your club has a web site already, you will have a link on the division web site that will connect with yours. I am hoping Greg can give us a quick overview of the site at one of our DCM's. The web site is going to be phenomenal and we all owe Greg a huge "Thank you" for all of his time and efforts

Please remember to submit all of the articles to Ken Fehring, chairman of this newsletter. It will be published once a month and hopefully every member will receive it.

I am looking forward to working with every one of you this year. As I said at my installation, this is not my year, it is your year. My job is to help you and your club be successful. Please feel free to contact me at any time with any questions or suggestions.

Happy Halloween!!!

Each month a different club from Division 8 will be featured in this monthly newsletter.

This month we feature the "mother club", the Kiwanis Club of Napa.

Division 8's oldest (1922) and largest (145 current members), the Napa Club has sponsored 6 other clubs in the division: St. Helena 1950, Greater Napa 1969, Yountville 1989, Gateway American Canyon 2000, Calistoga 2002 and the now defunct Starlight 2002. In addition, the Napa Club sponsors a Key club at Justin Siena High School and a new one re-forming at Napa High.

With their larger club and great diversity of members' interests, the Napa club engages in a wide variety of activities. Their two major fundraisers are a Crab Feed in February and the world famous Harvest Festival every September.

The most significant service project undertaken to date has been the purchase and construction of 42 bright shinny and safe playgrounds at elementary schools throughout the Napa Valley. Past Lt. Gov. Jim Roberts has been the sparkplug, planner and executor of these much needed playgrounds. He has worked tirelessly with the school district and with each school and parents group to plan and select their choice of equipment. And he's still searching out new opportunities for Napa Kiwanians to WORK for the good of the children of the Napa Valley.

The Napa club also serves their community in two ways buy raising funds which are given to other organizations in support of Napa area youth and by performing direct community service helping youth and seniors. Napans read with elementary school students; prepare and deliver food, clothing and gifts to needy families at Christmas; ring the bell for Salvation Army; tutor students at a court school; take Special Needs kids on outings—fishing, beach, Discovery Museum, Exploratorium, zoo, Railroad Museum, etc.

This club gets its work done through its committees of which there are a couple of dozen. Some are active nearly year round, others for only short periods. There is truly something for every interest. They depend on individual members to select the activities that interest them, as no one is expected to participate in every club activity.

At various times during the year Napa Kiwanians enjoy each others company at a variety of social events ranging from the Valentines Day Sweetheart Brunch to the big Summer Picnic at Ellie Meyer’s ranch in the Carneros. There is a Kiwanis Kids Holiday Party complete with a jolly (and sweaty) Santa Claus and a festive and more formal Christmas Party for the adults.

Another significant contribution to the Napa Valley young people occurs each spring when $18,000 in scholarships are awarded to deserving graduating seniors from xx Napa High Schools. The club also provides support to local youth sports teams, Connolly Ranch, Rainbow House for young mothers, COPE, Sea Scouts, Napa City/County Library, Napa County Hispanic Network, Chamberlain High School, “Brother Can You Spare A Dime?”, Kiwanis Ball park (girls softball), and gift boxes for our military troops overseas.

Past President Kent Fry may have said it best, ”While we are making a difference in our community, we are also fostering friendships with the members of our club, but also with people of our community--all the time while having FUN!” We may be big but we are truly a family which cares about each other and shares in every joy and sorrow we encounter in our busy lives.

So, with this first issue of the Division 8 news letter, we salute the Kiwanis Club of Napa, the granddaddy of many Division 8 clubs that spread the Kiwanis “wealth” all around every corner of our three county territory.

We are active men and women.
We are 145+ strong.
We are working and we are retired.
We are Anglos, Latinos, Indians and others.
We are rich and we are poor.
We are mechanics and mayors, judges and jokers.
We are attorneys and teachers, firemen and foundation gurus.
We are probation officers and prosecutors.
We run hardware stores and banks.
We are radio announcers and engravers.
We are publishers and poets, roofers and Realtors.
We are engineers and eccentrics, housewives and housing directors.
We are printers and clarinet players.
We are undertakers and overseers, decorators and dynamos.
We are doctors, lawyers and Mayors.
We are a family.
We are America and we get a charge out of helping others.
We aim for those in our community who need a hand and not so much a handout.
And we try to be there when they need us the most.
Our nationwide priority is to assist our youth and seniors.
We are the oldest and largest Kiwanis club in our Division (Division 8 – Napa, Solano and Marin counties) and are the sponsor of six other Kiwanis clubs in our area.
We are 145 strong; our ages range from 20’s to 90’s.
We especially enjoy:
Helping children and seniors.
Supporting worthy charities.
Building elementary school playgrounds.
Working Special Olympics.
Awarding college scholarships to deserving high school seniors.
Sponsoring Kiwanis Park for girls’ softball.
Networking with each other.
Rehabbing rundown houses.
Fishing with handicapped kids.
Having fun while doing good.
Being in the company with others with the same goals we have.
We are part of an International organization that is 400,000 strong in 85 countries around the world.
We tackled Iodine Deficiency Disorder worldwide and raised $75,000,000 to combat it.
We support Pediatric Trauma Prevention in the same way.
We help support Kiwanis House at the UC Davis Medical Center in Sacramento.
We respond to emergencies around the country such as the Oklahoma City bombing, the 9/11 tragedy, Southern California fires, Mississippi floods, tsunami etc.
We try to be wherever people need us.
In conclusion, we feel good by doing good and we have fun while working at it.
Come join us and see if Kiwanis is a good fit for you too.
You might be surprised.
- Written by Past President Ken Fehring

L-R: Immediate Past Lt. Gov. Larry Johns and Lt. Gov. Elect '08-'09 Alice Tollefson. Lt. Gov. Diane Brown addressing the audience.

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