What a difference a century makes.
In 1915, Kiwanis began as a single Detroit, Michigan club, but over the last 100 years it has grown into a premier international service organization.
Today, Kiwanis and Kiwanis-affiliated groups donate more than 18 million hours of service each year and raise more than $100 million in charitable funds annually. Kiwanis clubs tackle projects of every size and difficulty — from building neighborhood playgrounds to eliminating maternal/neonatal tetanus worldwide by 2015 — and still maintain its primary mission of taking care of the world’s children.
The Greater Kingston Kiwanis Club continues on with the mission and tradition of Kiwanis International tailored to our local community. Our club is especially invested in working with youth and recently awarded scholarships to two deserving Kingston High School students: Chealsey Rosebrook and Benjamin Pirtle. All candidates were deserving, but these two students stood out. Our scholarship foundation looks for good students but is weighted heavily on their community service projects.
We have our dates for the annual berry sales and are actively contacting past and new customers to encourage them to get their orders in early.
Fifteen-pound containers of strawberries, $34, delivery date June 21 (order by June 19).
Fourteen-pound containers of raspberries, $40, delivery date July 13 (order by July 10).
Ten-pound containers of blueberries, $35, delivery date July 26 (order by July 24).
Order forms are available at greaterkingstonkiwanis.weebly.com, Kingston Chamber of Commerce, Columbia Bank and Kitsap Bank.
Besides being involved with tutoring students at Wolfle Elementary, working with the Boys & Girls Club and the Village Green Foundation, conducting food drives and making sure school kids have food this summer when school is out, we have some interesting speakers at our meetings:
Tori Dotson gave a presentation on how the organization, PAWS, takes care of our furry friends — and not just cats in North Kingston. Last year, volunteers adopted 411 cats, found homes for dogs that needed to be adopted, connected families with rescue dogs and placed cats at senior housing complexes that residents take care of at PAWS expense. They also help defray cost of neutering cats for low income families, and educate people during Wag-fest on how to decide what pet, if any, is the right one for families and the proper care of them.
Tomi Whalen, library director for Little Boston and Kingston libraries, talked about how excited everyone is with the new library in the Community Center, which will be almost four times the size of the present library and will be state of the art. She explained how children from all walks of life feel entirely safe when in the library environment. Young people who use the library, even from less-affluent backgrounds, learn how to become successful. Also, the new regional library quarterly guide, called “Inspire,” lists all of the amazing things available through our library system in Kitsap County.
Stewart Whitford, Kitsap County’s environmental specialist, works closely with the health district’s Water Quality Program. He and his team are responsible for water quality in all Kitsap County lakes, ponds, creeks and saltwater estuaries. They also investigate failing septic systems and do community outreach presentations throughout the county.
We had a raffle for a date night in Seattle, with a stay at the Sheraton Hotel downtown, a $200 voucher for expenses and two tickets to the Ray Charles Tribute Concert at Benaroya Hall. We hope you were able to buy a ticket for this fun night out.
The next big event is our second annual Brew Fest, 5-9 p.m. June 6 at the Port of Kingston’s Mike Wallace Park. The cost is $15 and the following breweries will be giving samples of their wonderful craft brews: Hood Canal, Sound, Valholl, Downpour, Slaughter County and Silver City. The music will be provided by The Blues Counselors, and food trucks and booths will be there. It’s going to be a great time and will help support our summer food program for local children, as well as other local projects that we support.
A number of organizations in town are developing a sailing club this summer in Kingston to encourage young people to sail. Our member Rick Eveleth is part of this worthy endeavor; more to come when the details are ironed out.
We have a lot of fun in Kiwanis. Come down and join us. We meet at the Oak Table Cafe at 7 a.m. on Thursdays.
If you would like more information, please call our president, Eric Roth, 360-297-7050; or me at 360-509-9752.
