Happy Halloween!

Wow - where did October go?  I'm waiting for all the ghosts and goblins to stop by and get their treats!  Nestle Crunch bars!  Yum!  I sure hope more than 15 stop by (that's the count right now!)

It's been an exciting couple of weeks.  On Friday, October 22, we distributed 40 dictionaries to the 3rd graders at Red Cedar Elementary School. 

 

President Sylvester was in town, so what better place to take him than to the MSU Dairy Store for some pumking spice and butter pecan ice cream.  We even had the chance to watch the staff make some ice cream!   After ice cream, we stopped by Spartan Stadium and introduced Sylvester to Sparty!  Great pictures!

Thanks to Michael for giving us an unscheduled tour ;)   The busy weekend continued with a trip to Novi for the Fall Club Leadership Education session where Sylvester spoke on The Eliminate Project.  After lunch, we all spent the afternoon working the Kids Against Hunger food packaging.  We packaged 30,000 meals.  Thanks to all our volunteers.  And yes, MSU won its football game against Northwestern.  All that packed into Saturday, October 23.

 

On Sunday, October 24 we finished with the Governor's Banner Exchange at Walnut Hills Country Club with President Sylvester giving the Keynote Speech.  Governor Bill gave his remarks and "officially" the year was off to a great start.

A quote for your day:
"Leadership is most important when the stakes are the highest, but it must be continuously developed, patiently nurtured, and tested with uncertainty if it is to be fully ready for those unforeseen crisis."

---Frances Hesselbein

St Johns 707 Kiwanis Meeting

This morning MSU Circle K club president Andrew and I traveled to the St. Johns for their 7am! meeting.  International President Sylvester in making his official visit to Michigan this weekend and he was visiting the St. Johns club.  Governor Bill and First Lady Jean were also in attendance.  The club honored their "Student of the Month", a cello player from St.Johns High School.  It was a very welcome and vibrant club meeting!  A great way to start off any day :)

International Student Reception

For the 7th year the Kiwanis club of East Lansing hosted a reception for international students.  I had the opportunity to spend time with students from Malaysia, China and Russia.  MSU Circle K helped out at the event.  President Simon and Sparty made guest appearances.  Another great event!

Kiwanis club of Charlotte, NC - October 2010

Travel is on Vacation

Yes, I'm home.  Back in East Lansing.  I spent the week in Charlotte, NC for the ACUHO-I / APPA Facilities Conference.  It was a great week of workshops and talking with colleagues from other institutions.  You know when you think you have it not so good?  Just talk to someone else doing the same type of work!  It's great to compare stories :)  I had the chance to visit with the Kiwanis Uptown Charlotte club for dinner night.  Thanks to Melissa, Val, Jon, Kassandra and John for a great evening.  I also attended the Kiwanis club of Charlotte for lunch.  Great meeting!  Great fellowship! Congratulations on all you do for the children of Charlotte. This was my last plane trip for the year.  Time to unpack all the suitcases!

Charlotte, North Carolina

It's Tuesday and I've safely made it to Charlotte, NC.  I'm attending the ACUHO-I/APPA Housing Facilities Conference representing Michigan State.  Go Green!  You know I had to put that in there :)  After arriving at the hotel, I quickly registered for the conference and went for some lunch.  Back to the room and I caught up on a few more emails.  Dinner tonight was with my friends from the Kiwanis Uptown club - Kassie, Melissa, Jon, Val and Tony.  It was great to talk about life - and Kiwanis, of course.  K Gnome came home!  The conference starts bright and early tomorrow with breakfast at 7:30am.  I'm going to find it in me to get up early and go for a walk since I'll be sitting in workshops all day.  I believe I'll even have some time to relax while I am here.  Until next time, ....

Saturday, October 9

Wow!  Another great Spartan win against those Wolverines!  It's been 3 years since we lost to UM in football AND 1071 days...and counting... since they beat us in either football or basketball!  It's a great day to be a Spartan!!  Just like every other day of the year!  Go State!!

I returned home from my first board meeting as a Kiwanis International Trustee last Wednesday.  It was a great experience.  I enjoyed getting to know my colleagues - all who are dedicated to serving Kiwanis family members throughout the world.  I always kept the member - in my mind - as I made decisions and had discussions with fellow board members.  I'm sure they did as well.  So what happens at a board meeting?

Day 1 - orientation for the new board members
Day 2 - a strategic planning retreat with the Kiwanis International Foundation Board
Day 3 & 4 - committee work - I serve on the Education Committee and the Governance Committee.  A report is compiled of the consent, action and information items that will be presented to the full board.  After the report is written and typed, it is redistributed to the committee members for review and corrections, if any.
Day 5 & 6 - the full board meets to conduct business.  Each committee presents their report and action is taken as needed.

It's a full 6 days of activity.  Don't worry, we did get breaks to eat and sleep time!  President Sy ended the meeting with a charge to "Light the Kiwanis Fire".  I am.  Are you?