Spring Divisional Awards

Greeters: Dick Feight and John Deming

Invocation: Susan Gilmore

Announcements:

• Vickie Kinkade reminded us that tonight's Travel and Adventure is on Central America: Belize, Guatemala and Honduras. Dale Johnson is the presenter. She asked that workers plan to arrive by 6:30 PM.

Vickie Kinkade Reminds Us that Travel and Adventure Is on Tonight.

• Walt Ward announced that the Fellowship Committee is organizing a trip to the Brooklyn Kiwanis Club's Golumpki Dinner on Wednesday, March 24th. It will be held at their usual meeting spot in the All Saints Epsicopal Church, 201 N. Main St., Brooklyn, at 7:00 PM. Walt passed around a sign-up sheet to get an idea of how many might be going. Car pools are planned to facilitate travel. Contact Walt if you are interested in going and did not get a chance to sign up.

Walt Ward Announces a New Fellowship Event.

• Tom Meyer announced that the Builders Club Recognition Night will be held on Tuesday, March 23rd, at 7:00 PM in the Middle School Cafeteria. Please let Tom know if you are coming, so that he can advise Mary Tommelein on how much homemade hot fudge sauce to make for the sundaes that will be served!!!

Tom Meyer Invites Members to the Builders Club Recognition Night.

• Chris Clarke asked nut sellers to turn in any money that they have and let him know how many cans of nuts you still have to sell.

Chris Clarke Still Has Nuts to Sell.

• President Alan Burg advised us that the annual Kiwanis Skip-A-Meal to benefit the Kiwanis International Foundation will be held in April.

Spring Divisional Awards: President Alan brought back a whole series of awards that the club had earned from the Spring Divisional Meeting held recently in Kalamazoo. There were so many that we will be getting an additional banner to display them.

• Past Lieutenant Governor Wendy Brys received a commendation for her distinguished service in that capacity.

Division Honors for Past Lieutenant Governor Wendy Brys.

• Past President Vickie Kinkade was similarly honored for her leadership of the club last year. She thanked all the members for their support throughout the year, including a 100% participation in the Kiwanis of Michigan Foundation.

Division Honors for Past President Vickie Kinkade.

• John Bartram and the Interclub Committee earned awards for completing two Round Robins.

John Bartram Accepts Two Round-Robin Interclub Awards.

• Tom Meyer accepted the award for the sponsorship of the Builders Club. Again this year, we had one of the biggest Builders Clubs in the world!

Tom Meyer Accepts Award for Builders Club Sponsorship.

• Anne Walker accepted the award for the sponsorship of the Key Club at Tecumseh High School.

Anne Walker Accepts Award for Key Club Sponsorship.

• Sharon Hawley accepted the award for the co-sponsorship (with the Adrian Kiwanis Club) of the new Aktion Club at the Hope Center.

Sharon Hawley Accepts Award for Aktion Club Co-Sponsorship.

Fun Tuesday Car Race: The race today pitted Terry Lighthall against Tom Meyer. Terry won going away when Tom's car spun out. Remember to ask a guest to come to breakfast!!

Terry Lighthall and Tom Meyer Are Off to a Good Start.

50/50 Drawing: The $48 pot carried over for another week when Wendy Pizaña's chip was drawn. It was her loss, but a gain for the rest of us when she was not here to collect. Thanks, Wendy!

Fine Session: Fine Master Gayle Hazelbaker quizzed us on familiar and not so familiar trivia. She had us all guessing and laughing while she collected our money.

Fine Master Gayle Hazelbaker.

Special Fines and Happy Dollars:

• Susan Gilmore had a Happy Dollar for a recent visit to Charleston, South Carolina, to visit her daughter.

Susan Gilmore Has a Happy Dollar for Her Visit to Charleston.

Birthdays: Herm Wadke celebrates his birthday on Friday (3/12). Ken Boyd and Anne Walker led us in the singing of Happy Birthday.

Birthday Boy Herm Wadke.

Song Leaders Ken Boyd and Anne Walker.

Anniversaries: Bryan and Heather Masten celebrate their anniversary on Saturday (3/13). We sang quickly for them at Bryan's request.

Happy Anniversary Bryan and Heather Masten!

Program: The Membership Committee introduced two more of our members who told us a little about themselves to help everyone get to know them better.

Our first speaker was Susan Gilmore. She and her husband Jim have lived in Tecumseh for about 10 years, having lived in Morenci prior to that time. They have been married 37 years and have four children. Only their youngest is still a student, now in her senior year at the University of Michigan. The others live in Blissfield, Washington, D.C., and Charleston, South Carolina, respectively.

Susan was a teacher and librarian for 32 years before retiring three years ago. She taught French, English and a little Latin. She is now a member of the Board of the Tecumseh District Library.

She loves to read, swim and play a little golf. She admits that golf is not really her best game. She once hit a canoe! She also likes to knit and quilt. When her sister, who teaches in Adrian, appealed to her to knit some mittens for some of her kids who did not have any, she started knitting them out of whatever yarn she could find or they brought her. She has knitted 324 pairs of mittens to date! Her current efforts are to plan a trip to Alaska and to achieve certification for herself and her dog as a Therapy Team to visit nursing homes.

Her most memorable Kiwanis event was her first night at MIS. She had never been there before and was amazed at the number and variety of people who attend these events and at the amount of money they spend in doing so.

Susan Gilmore Shares Some of Her History with Us.

Our second speaker was Dick Feight. Dick started out in Belleville and attended MSU at the same time as several other of our Kiwanians, but their paths never crossed. He was introduced to Kiwanis a little over 10 years ago by Carlton Cook and has been a member ever since.

Dick and the late "Miss Shirley" Feight have two children, a son who lives in Macon and a daughter who lives near Ann Arbor. He referred to himself as a "professional gambler." It all started when he bet a group of his friends at MSU that he could get a date with this girl Shirley who worked in the dean's office despite a general prohibition on university staff dating students. He not only got the date, he got the girl, and their marriage lasted for 61 years!

With his background in forestry, Dick began his career working for Masonite as a regional manager. When he was offered the job as vice president of sales, his gambler instincts kicked in. He resigned instead and started his own business building and distributing cabinet work and milled lumber. Many of the buildings at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor contain his work. He gambled there, too, because all those jobs had to be competitively bid.

Dick is a charter member of the American Woodworkers' Institute. It started small, but has now spread throughout the country.

Dick and Miss Shirley loved to travel and ski. He has visited all 50 states and skied at all the major ski resorts. They took their Winabago everywhere.

Dick says that Kiwanis is one of the best things that has happened to him. He loves organizing the Porter Center Chirstmas Party. His role as Santa's elf has made him famous throughout the area.

Dick "The Gambler" Feight Tells His Story.