Our Kiwanis Club is really “Garing” up for the fall and winter festivities.
We have a new president this year, Nancy Garing. She likes to call our club “Cool-wannis” because we are a small club, but take on many more challenges and projects since we don’t know we are small.
Nancy brings a lifetime of experience of leadership as a schoolteacher for 38 years, 18 of them working with gifted children.
Since “Children Are Priority 1” is the mission of Kiwanis, Nancy fits right in. A highlight of her career was working with a Rockefeller Scott grant for a year teaching other teachers how to introduce art into their curriculum to improve learning.
As chairperson of the Flotsam and Jetsam Garden Club, her group helped others to beatify Kingston. One example is the undersea mural on display at Columbia Bank that was part of the summer kids’ art festival — a project of hers.
Rob Shoaf, our new vice president, will be in charge of this year’s art festival and hopes to have 150 children involved.
From 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Nov. 14, we will have our annual Apple Cup food drive at the Kingston Market and Albertsons. With the help of our Kingston High School Key Club, we’ll collect food to make sure that everyone has plenty to eat on Thanksgiving. Foods needed include pasta, canned goods, tuna, soup, cereal and, of course, holiday items such as hams and turkeys. Money is also important since it allows the local food banks to purchase items.
Our annual Halloween Carnival is scheduled for 5:30-7 p.m. Oct. 31 at the Kingston Medical Center parking lot. Attendance is free and is designed for pre-school and elementary aged children. There will be booths, games, prizes and treats.
Kiwanis, Rotary and the S’Klallam Tribe are working closely together to make sure all food needs for our area are met year- round, especially for the summer food program for children. By working together, both clubs hope to expand the Summer Food for Kids Program and the ShareNet Food 2Grow Program to provide food 52 weeks of the year. With community donations and volunteer help, we think this will be a reality this year for more than 100 children, and in the future will expand to cover all in need. Past President Pat Bennett-Forman said, “It doesn’t hurt to think big when you are talking about kids and families.”
To learn more, contact Nancy Garing at 360-638-2780, or me at 360-509-9752. Or visit our website, greaterkingstonkiwanis.weebly.com. Meetings are at 7 a.m. Thursdays at Westside Pizza in Kingston. Hope to see you there.
— Contract Bob Lee at GLENCARIN@aol.com
