Governor's Message
by Gov. Don Dudey
I was deeply saddened to hear of the passing of Past Gov. and Past KI Trustee Dana Cable. Not only was he a good Kiwanian, but a good friend as well. On behalf of the Capital District, I extend my condolences to Dana's wife, Sylvia, and the entire Cable family.
As you know, the District Convention (DCON) is just around the corner, August 20-22 in Lynchburg, VA. I hope you are coming to this exciting event. As you know, there are excellent training sessions, good speakers at the breakfast, lunch and dinner, great fellowship with other Kiwanians and a very important House of Delegates session on Saturday, Aug 21. Registration is online, so go register now for this exciting event. I look forward in seeing you at this convention.
The District Board has been out explaining the purpose of the Dues Increase Bylaws Amendment over the past two month and I hope you have been able to attend one of these "Dues Increase Seminars". If not, we sent every club president a copy of the Powerpoint presentation so that they could present it to their respective clubs. We know there is mixed opinions on this amendment and we would love to hear your comments, suggestions, etc about it. The Dues Increase Committee has created a temporary internet forum blog where you can express your opinion regarding the dues increase on line so that everyone can see what you said, plus you can reply to others who have expressed their opinion on this topic also. This is an open forum where everyone can communicate via the internet - not email - to each other. All you have to do is click here http://kiwanis.vanillaforums.com/, register and you will then be ready to post your comments on the blog. Just remember your password. While not needed to read the posts, you will need your log-in information to log back in to post comments. Just be courteous and respective to others in what and how you state your opinions as everyone is seeing what you write. Just think, if you are not coming to the DCON, but you want to express your opinion about this amendment, you now have that opportunity without leaving your home - just use the internet "blog". So, come join in the fun of talking on this "blog".
September is coming fast and we all know what happens in September? Clubs purge their rolls of members who are dropping out of Kiwanis. I would ask that you start now in contacting these individuals personally to see what the real problem is, not just writing off the member. Membership involves being active, involved, feeling wanted and appreciated. Many times if a member does not attend for several weeks, they can fall into this trap of feeling neglected or unwanted as no one paid any attention when they did not attend. The club leadership should be following up on these individuals, but the "care and feeding" of a member is every member's responsibility. If you have one or more of these individuals in your club, take the time to contact them, don't wait on the club president or membership chairman to contact them. It will mean a lot to the member if someone other than a club leader shows an interest in them. The district membership has been growing slowly but steadily over the past six months and I would like to see that continue. If we can keep the members we have and not purge them at the end of the year it would really help our membership growth of the district. Can I count on you to help do this? I hope so. Membership growth is every Kiwanian's job, and I trust you will fulfill this responsibility to Kiwanis and your club.
