Rick served as President today as Lon was attending the graduation of his grandson from Texas A&M. Rick introduced his guest, his mother-in-law Kinnias Diaz. Debby Lawrence from the Bluebonnet Lion's Club also was a guest. She brought bags of nuts and more to sell which are their annual fundraiser.
REPORTS:
Rick noted that we would be inducting new members today. Unfortunately, one of them was unable to attend but should be able to make it to the next meeting.
Rhonda said she has updated the calendar to reflect the rest of the month. Next week's program on the 21st is the meeting of the different committees to get organized although she pointed out that it would be a little difficult for those in multiple committees to be able to get around to all of them. Cake is being served to celebrate December birthdays.
Rick noted that Lon is emphasizing the committees getting organized with attention to budgets, timelines, a calendar and getting this all out on ClubRunner. He read off the committee list and the chairperson's and Co-ordinator's names. As an example, as he is Chairperson for the McBride Wilson Kiwanis camp, he mentioned what all needs to be done for maintenance and repairs.
It was brought up that Kristi present a program at one of the meetings for her proposals for fundraiser events and possibly going over updating the Bylaws and what that entails. As Chairperson for the Bylaws, she wants the committees to have input.
Rick reminded everyone that there is a Board meeting on the 21st, as well, at 5:00 pm at Sunflower Bank.
Rhonda reported that the Holiday Social had over 20 people attend. John provided lamb, ham, and lasagne. They also did a White Elephant. Sounded like it was good fun and good food.
PROGRAM/INDUCTIONS:
Since Moe performed the inductions it seems fitting that he do the reporting on it. He also had some strong thoughts about the club moving forward. The rest of the newsletter except for Upcoming Programs and Events is directly from Moe.
SAN MARCOS KIWANIS ADDS TWO MEMBERS:
At this week’s meeting two new members were added to our club. Added to our
membership are Willie Garza and Felicia Hardeman.
Willie Garza has been a very active member before he was officially installed. His first contact was to supervise the review of our budget since we have a new treasurer. Jennifer, Moe, and Doug helped Willie go through the items on the budget and came away with a good report. Willie’s second venture to be an asset to the club was at the LaCima Hay ride that we sponsored. Willie, Jesse, Moe, and Kristen were there to hand out ‘Kelli cards and our Kiwanis trifold. They talked about our Kiwanis club and invited them to attend a meeting to find out more about our club. The third time Willie was active was at a board meeting and contributed to the topic of our endowment funds that we have. Lon invited him to be on the committee
that oversees this account. Willie was not an official member yet but he was appointed to the committee by President Lon Shell. With his background and willingness to be part of the San Marcos Kiwanis club we gained a very good member.
Felicia Hardeman has never joined an official organization. Our Kiwanis club is her first organization to join. Felicia is active socially and enjoys dancing and reading. Her love of reading will be an asset to our involvement with the libraries summer reading program. She was not sure about choosing a committee to serve on as she was not familiar with the functions of the different committees. Knowing her background as a longtime resident and active in humanity restoration she will be an ideal member of the Community Support Committee. Her knowledge of San Marcos and some of the needs of organizations will be a valuable asset to this committee. Her other choice is with the committee on recruiting new members. Felicia
represents a portion of the community that our club has overlooked with individuals who are active in the community but are never asked to join a club like Kiwanis. Felicia knows many of these individuals and will reach that segment of our community that could be active members if they are asked to join the Kiwanis team.
The nameplates with their names on them and the official Kiwanis pin were then
presented to them making them official members of the San Marcos Kiwanis club. The members of the club stood and gave them an ovation of welcome to the club.
KIWANIS RECOGNITION PROBLEMS:
Joe and Harry are talking and Harry tells Joe he is a member of the Kiwanis club. Joe replies, “What is Kiwanis?” I have heard this too many times and it needs correcting.
This is a problem with Kiwanis and San Marcos citizens. Our club is very active in the
community but there is a large segment of the population that has not heard of Kiwanis and does not know of the services our organization provides. This is also true with the other service clubs. Lions is recognized by their tube rental program but many people are not aware of the contributions the Lions club makes to the community with funds and service. Rotary is a network of business owners in San Marcos and offers support to programs in San Marcos. Some citizens may know or recognize the Rotary name but have very little knowledge of the services and support they give to San Marcos. Bluebonnet Lions is another civic organization
that offers support to the city but many people in the community know very little about their contributions.
There are periodic photos and news articles in the Daily Record newspaper of the clubs and a project they are supporting but as to knowing about the contributions and different offerings of support to San Marcos that the service clubs such as Kiwanis, Lions, Rotary, and Bluebonnet Lions do much is lacking. All the clubs need to work together to market the value they provide to San Marcos. One problem is a lack of communication between the clubs to share support and offer some assistance of a clubs fund raising project or service venture. Getting sufficient numbers from the members of the clubs is a problem they all face and a cooperative effort of the clubs working together is a necessary venture. With all the clubs working together on a project it is unbelievable what could be done with the combined manpower of the members.
Our Kiwanis club sponsored an “all service club” picnic at the Kiwanis camp this fall. It was suggested that this should be a regular type of getting together of the service clubs to get to know the members and learn about their different projects in San Marcos. At our meeting on Thursday Debbie Lawrence from the Bluebonnet Lions said that their club and our club are in the planning stages of another get together of the clubs. It was suggested that this could be a quarterly type of meeting between the clubs with each club sponsoring one of the group get-togethers.
A need to market the value of the service clubs in San Marcos is very necessary. Not
only would it make some of the projects easier, and possibly larger, but also increase awareness of the services the clubs provides with an increase in membership once people know and understand the value we provide to San Marcos.
One problem that seems to be present is which club will step forward and be the in communicating and getting the clubs working together. There has been a lot of conversation about the clubs working together but one club needs to step forward and be a leader in this effort. Our Kiwanis club was a start at being the leading club when we sponsored the all service club picnic this fall. The key now it to “keep the ball rolling” and make it happen. Maybe if representatives from each of the clubs could meet on a monthly basis to formulate a plan for getting the clubs together would be a good start. But, once again, it takes someone to step forward and make it happen.
All in all this working together of the Kiwanis, Lions, Rotary, and Bluebonnet Lions will just increase our awareness to the citizens of San Marcos and the projects that we can provide.
In the words of Texas-Oklahoma Kiwanis Past Governor Patrick McGage at our installation banquet, “It is time to step up and be counted.”
UPCOMING PROGRAMS:
Dec. 21st: Committees meet to strategize and eat cake.
Dec. 28: Round Table.
EVENTS:
Dec. 21st: Board meeting at 5:00 pm at Sunflower Bank.
Reminders:
Don't forget to click "like" and "share" on;Facebook and other social media to promote the Kiwanis Club.
RTDN
RTC (Read the calendar.)
Humor and musings:
"Knowledge is like underwear. It is useful to have it, but not necessary to show it off." Bill Murray
"The first time I see a jogger smiling, I'll consider it." Joan Rivers
"Gratitude turns what we have into enough." Aesop
