June and July were pretty busy for our club. Past President Pat Bennett Forman was selected by current President Eric Roth to be our “Kiwanian of the Year.”
The Kiwanian of the Year award is presented to a member of our club who distinguishes themselves by exceptionally commendable participation in our club activities throughout the past year.
Although our club is built on participation by all our members, some members stand above the crowd as a result of their exceptional contributions to our club. Pat did a superb job planning and organizing the “Beer Fest” we have in June at Mike Wallace Park, which raises money to feed children during the summer when school is out. She worked with the Port of Kingston, vendors and Kitsap County to keep the festival fun and safe.
Pat chaired or co-chaired different committees that raised money in support of Kiwanis priority No. 1: young children. She also got to ride in a convertible in the Kingston Fourth of July parade, which is pretty cool.
We helped get the “Sail Kingston Cove” youth sailing club off the ground. In April, a bunch of Kingston residents decided that the town needed to have a sailing school and formed a committee of eight; a highlight of one of our meetings was a presentation by a young man, Walter McGovern (Smitty) Smith, who was invited to our meeting by Rich Eveleth.
Rick is a Kiwanian and board member of the sailing club. Smitty is an experienced sailing instructor and credits his learning to sail with developing self-confidence, integrity, sportsmanship and team building. I should mention it’s a lot of fun too.
The committee applied for and was granted nonprofit 501©(3) status. An agreement was negotiated and signed with the Port of Kingston to use a float at the port. Funds were raised through donations and an eight-foot Opti sailing dinghy was purchased. Instructors were hired and the first one-week class started on July 6.
The plan is to teach 8- to 12-year-old kids this year, and expand to teens and finally adults as we grow. One-week classes will run each week through the end of August. Call 360-881-0163 or email sailkingston cove@gmail.com.
We also nominated a new slate of officers for 2015-16. They are: President-elect Nancy Garing; co-secretaries Deni Lee and Margaret LeMay; treasurer Dahlia Malin; and past president Eric Roth. They will assume their duties in October.
We had a very successful distribution of strawberries, fresh and delicious, in June. All customers who arrived to pick up their berries were rewarded with fresh strawberry shortcake by our expert shortcake connoisseur, Kiwanian Dave Muller. On July 12, we delivered fresh raspberries and blueberries. Yum yum!
The berry sales, along with other fundraisers, help us support our community projects and continue with our mission, “Children Priority One.”
— If you are interested in more information about Kiwanis, contact our president, Eric Roth, 360-297-7050; or me, 360-509-9752.
