Sunday, August 24, 2008
Thanks Golden Gate!

Thanks Golden Gate for attending the August Service Project of the Month and Divisional Council Mtg! posted by Cheriz Cajita at 1:36 AM 2 Comments

Sunday, August 17, 2008
My Kiwanis Convention - Part 1

To make my Kiwanis Convention experience available to all of you, I decided to record things on my Blackberry as I went through the weekend. I thought that this way, my blog can actually serve as a funny timeline of everything a Governor does throughout the weekend. Turns out ... it's a lot funnier and wackier than I thought ...

Thursday

5:30pm - 8:00pm

I was running late from work (again!) and had not packed yet for the trip to Anaheim. I still actually had clothes from my suitcase from Denver and the International Convention. I grabbed what I could from the dry cleaning section of my closet and ran to my roommates car to zoom out to the airport. I hope I make it on time.

7:50pm

I have just ran the equivilant to about 5 miles, I'm pretty sure I'm going to get there on time for the flight.

7:56pm

My flight has been delayed. What a waste of energy. Food sounds great right now.

8:06pm

I will never pay $7.23 for a hot dog ever again.

8:20pm

I get on our flight and realize that the only available seats are in the very back. I make the long walk to the last row, and actually found a seat that had a pillow already in it. I rested my head and the flight attendant actually gave me a blanket. I have a new best friend.

9:15pm

I land in Ontario (California!), and give a call to E.T. to pick me up from the terminal. I began asking about how our District Summer Service Social had been going so far, and if there were any problems as of today. None at this point. I love my board for taking care of business while I'm trying to get there on time. I start talking about how everyone should be in dress code tomorrow, and I start to visually imagine what I have in my suitcase to make sure I have everything I need. Then I realized ...

... I didn't bring any underwear.

9:20pm

We begin our drive to a local Target. When we get there, we have about 15 minutes to grab underwear and run. We get to the cashier, and this guy ushers us to the side and asks if we have a Target card. We didn't and he asked if he wanted one. Still shaking our heads, he begins telling us that there is a competition between all the cashiers and the winner gets a DVD (wow ... competitive), and says he'll make up our information, he just needed a name. So after careful consideration, Honyin and E.T. told me a great name would be ...

.... well I can't actually type it out here, but if you ask me ... I'll make sure to tell you.

10:02pm

With comfy underwear, we check into the Anaheim Marriott. After getting into our room (911 ... even the hotel receptionist said it was weird), we watch olympics and passed out before USA captured the individual gymnastics gold.

3:30am

Knocked out.



Friday

6:25am

Un-knocked out. The alarm clocks makes this really annoying noise.

7:00am

I get to attend the first breakfast of the Kiwanis Convention, the Foundation Honors breakfast. Pretty much, the California-Nevada-Hawaii Kiwanis Foundation gives a special breakfast to anyone who has ever received recognition from the Foundation. For Circle K'ers, one of the highest honors you can receive is a William A. Dunlap Fellowship award. We give out about four a year at our District Convention for those individuals we believe go above and beyond. You receive a medallian, other cool stuff, and have 1,000 dollars donated in your name to one of the Foundation's causes.

After history lesson, let me just say the eggs sucked, the bacon was delicious, and I weighed 3 pounds more when I left because I at the equivalant of two pigs I'm sure because of the bacon.

When you are Governor though, its pretty cool at this events. Everyone wants to shake your hand, and tell you their life story, and how somehow after 15 minutes of their talking, the feel they need to know a little bit about ... well Circle K! I love bragging about all of you and how we consistently shatter our goals both statistically and in terms of just having fun. That's probably the best part of any event for me.

8:15am

I make my rounds to the Supply Sales table. Part of what Circle K does at the Kiwanis Convention is make sure we sell everything related to Kiwanis. In return, we get a big percentage of the profit to help fund things like FALL TRAINING CONFERENCE and DISTRICT CONVENTION. We also have a booth set up so that we can communicate to Kiwanians about our great programs and services that we honor.

Throughout this, Bubba and his Service Committee were attending various service projects and helping with our Supply Sales as well. I had may 30 minutes though to really assist with anything before it was off to more hand shaking and sub-par food.

8:45am

I have a Kiwanian approach me when I am walking out of one of the exhibit halls. He asks me if the Kiwanis people messed up my name. Apparently, he thought that Plaster-er is a mispel.

To my Lt. Governors ... I told that Kiwanian, "Actually, you are right! It should actually be Plaster-er-er." He didn't get it, but my Lt. Governors will, and thats probably all that matters.

8:56am

I glance at a Kiwanian walking by with what I thought was an Ipod in his hand. He was in my division, so I said, "Way to embrace technolgy, Ted."

He replied, "That's not an Ipod, thats my hearing aid."

*sigh*



Part II of my Kiwanis Convention will be posted later this week.
posted by Chris Plasterer at 9:30 PM 3 Comments

Monday, August 4, 2008
DSI 2008-2009: UNLEASH! Opportunties

On behalf of the District Service Team, I would like to announce that this year’s District Service Initiative will focus on Uncovering New Literacy, Environment, Safety and Health opportunities; hence, UNLEASH! :D

We believe the ability of each club and division to pursue more than one specific area of focus is key to a better understanding and appreciation of why we perform service. An endless amount of service opportunities are out there, and it is our responsibility as a district to bring those awesome projects to light. We want projects that benefit people of all ages and walks of life, from tutoring at a local Boys and Girls Club, to organizing a community-wide restoration of a local park or beach, to making bird feeders with seniors at a local convalescent home. Everywhere you look opportunities are available, and that is exactly what we want to promote--diversity in opportunities.

Speaking of opportunities, because there are three specific areas of focus for the DSI, the District Board has chosen to put each area on a rotating schedule which you can find below.

Literacy: August – October

Environment: November – December

Safety and Health: January - February

Remember, August – October is focused on literacy so get out there and help tutor kids at a local elementary (when they are back in school), play scrabble with the elderly at a convalescent home, or create a reading program at a local boys and girls club. The possibilities are endless!

We really hope you have a lot of fun this year trying out new projects. Don’t forget to share your ideas, because sharing is caring!


<3 The District Service Team posted by Sunny at 9:15 PM 1 Comments

Sunday, August 3, 2008
Your Circle K Year Can Feel Like ...

Climbing a mountain sometimes.

I can recall my freshman year in college (2005 ... wow, I've been around), and walking into my first ever Circle K meeting. It was held in a conference room, and with 12 seats available, 3 were empty, and the other seats were filled with very different people. I sat down on the farthest corner to hear about what was so exciting about this organization that could keep me around.

At first, nothing really caught my attention, until the Lieutenant Governor at the time discussed a Key Club Regional Training Conference, something I had attended every year back in high school. I immedietly jumped at the opportunity. After raising my hand and asking if I could head it up, I was told I was too new, and that I had no idea what the Kiwanis Family stood for in relation to Circle K and Key Club.

I was determined to prove him wrong. I attended other events, I helped try to do every possible to make him see what I could do. In the end, did it work? No clue, because I was having too much fun being a part of this amazing Circle K Club. Now, I was determined to help as many as I could, and to have as much fun as possible. I saw things that could improve in the club, as well as new ideas that could potentially help our club grow. I instantly looked into becoming an officer.

The next year I became Vice President, and told myself that in order to make the club successful, I needed to tell myself that I'm in this organization to help others be better, and not just myself. That I will become a better person through the experiences I share, and not just through my personal successes.

I wish I could tell you there is an easy way to do this, but there just isn't. I just did what I thought was the best for my club. When an email came out, and it needed some information, I jumped at it. If I I had a question, I would ask my President, or my Lieutenant Governor. I immersed myself in District activities to try to meet and greet club members who were part of amazing clubs throughout the rest of the CNH District.

I never let anyone tell me it can't be done. :)

Yeah, sometimes your Circle K year feels like a rollercoaster ride, but even so, you know deep down you'll continue to push through simply because of the impact you know you are going to make on your community, as well as your peers.

I stand here today as the CNH Governor sure, but I sure as heck didn't do it alone. And even this year, my Circle K year feels like getting my wisdom teeth pulled sometimes.

But I'm going to tough it through, because I want to see you do the very same and see how your club have yet another tremendous year.

It can feel like climbing mountains sometimes, but somebody has got to step up and do it. And if I could put all my money on a group of people to do it, it would be all of you.

Let's turn faces, and have fun doing it. Good luck at Fall Tabling!



posted by Chris Plasterer at 10:41 AM 0 Comments