St. Mary's Kiwanis Celebrates 9th Anniversary
by Glynnis Schmidt

The Kiwanis Club of St. Mary's County celebrated its 9th Anniversary in March 2009 with a dinner and program at Lenny's Restaurant in California, Maryland. Numerous Kiwanis members were in attendance, as well as representatives from other clubs in Division 22. St. Mary's Kiwanis is also the home club of District Governor Tom Ganse, so it was a special time for our small club to celebrate 9 years of service to our community, with Governor Tom in attendance.

Four of the Service Leadership Programs sponsored by St. Mary's Kiwanis were also represented (CKI Club at St. Mary's College of Maryland, Key Club of St. Mary's Ryken High School, Key Club of Great Mills High School, and the K-Kids Club of Lexington Park Elementary School Boys & Girls Club.) A total of 13 student officers plus their parents were in attendance representing their clubs.

In addition to celebrating the Kiwanis anniversary, the presentation of charter was made to the Amy Lee, President of the Key Club at Great Mills High School. Due to the heavy snow accumulation the day before the dinner, the scheduled guest speaker was unable to attend. However, the student officers from CKI, two Key Clubs, and the K-Kids Club gave were put on the spot to give impromptu reports on the activities of their clubs. The younger students were nervous, but each did an amazing job with only a few minutes to prepare their remarks before taking turns at the podium. Kiwanians in attendance were most impressed and inspired to hear all that the students are doing to improve their schools and our community.