In my last article, I commented that it might be interesting to highlight some of our Kiwanis members and why they joined and continue to be part of our Kiwanis Club. I decided to interview outgoing president Dick Osborn. Next month, I will interview incoming president Pat Bennett-Forman. I was afraid Dick would give me his 45-page vitae, since he is a university distinguished professor of management, Wayne State University. (But he was really brief … kind of). The idea is to let you know what we are about and invite you to join our group. But before Dick, I will let you know a few things that have happened this month and do a little bragging.

One of the most exciting and rewarding part of our activities is to award scholarships to deserving students in our community. Two $3,000 scholarships were awarded to very deserving students, Maren Gunnell and Samantha Randall. Congratulations!

Our Mustang sales to support these scholarships are in high gear, so go and buy some tickets. The toy drive for Christmas has started, but it’s a slow start this year, and you don’t need to be a Kiwanian to donate toys for the kids. We need new toys. Books always work. Not enough room for everything we do, so here is Dick in his own words.

I asked Dick, “Why Kiwanis?” His quick reply was, “It’s the people and the projects.”

He got involved with Kiwanis to find out what was happening in his new hometown. Here is what he found:

“Kiwanis members are involved in so many projects to help kids and the community. There are Pete and Dale heading the Fourth of July with the parade and Tiny Town; Pat with the reading program at Wolfe Elementary and Shelia with the Key Club at Kingston High School; Jeff and Dave heading the scholarship program, Dave spearheading construction of the Village Green; Wendy heading the Kingston cleanup; Hal with Boys and Girls Club (and he sings in a quartet for the Kiwanis Christmas fundraiser); Judy with the toy drive (700 toys) and the Valentine’s Gala (she raised some $20K for the Boys and Girls Club) … well, you get the idea.

“From the food drives to the Halloween Gala to the Easter Egg Hunt to the Summer Food Program for the kids to the button sales and concerts in the park, the members all participate. Members don’t do it alone but with every other group in Kingston.  “Kiwanis is the heart of this community. So we have great fun with the Mustang — get your tickets now. And who can forget the berries coming this July? If it happens in Kingston, you can bet Kiwanis members are involved.”

Dick said it all in a nutshell. You may have noticed he didn’t mention me in his accolades, but we have so many members in our club that are dedicated to helping our community prosper, and most importantly take care of the kids, we would run out of room. Meet us at the Oak Table Café Thursday mornings at 7, or KCYC the second Thursday at 6 p.m.