Message from Gov Elect Tom

by Gov Elect Tom Varner

Our family has just spent a very enjoyable time in New Jersey at our son David's home with our daughter and the grandsons. After Christmas, the boys and their father enjoyed several days of skiing in the Poconos. I hope everyone had an enjoyable holiday season.

As we start the New Year - 2010 - I am encouraged by the progress the District has made in slowing down the membership hemorrhage of the past. A new year is a great time to reverse past trends. Have you earned your key - the bronze one? On the other hand, maybe you are already silver or gold. President Paul has returned the Keys for new member recruiting. Just think what the impact of every Capital District Kiwanian would have on membership.

A troublesome trend in Kiwanis is the second quarter blahs. In the first quarter of the Kiwanis Year, we have new leadership and everyone is full of energy and excited, then comes the winter months and the slow down. You know we are warm-blooded mammals. A little cold will not slow down our movement to do more for our communities, to do more for our Service Leadership Programs, to raise more and to expend more funds in our communities, and to have more members. All we have to do is reach back, pull on those bootstraps and keep going.

This will be an exciting quarter for our Distract. We will be selecting new Trustees to provide leadership over the next three years. Chose wisely as we need dedicated, committed Kiwanians to provide the direction to keep the forward momentum we have.

We will have our first District Midwinter as well as several regional meetings this quarter. One of the intents in reshaping was the hope that we could do both. The actual proposal was that if no club, division, or region came forward then we had to have regional conferences. In terms of attendance, they have been successful. In terms of introducing conferences to new Kiwanians, they have been successful.

On the other side, there are those who cannot attend a summer gathering of the District and the midwinter gives them a time to network with their friends in Kiwanis. In addition, most of the regional conferences are for members while the district get together is for partners as well. We all need to be supportive both, encourage our members to do attend one or both if they can.

I look forward to attending the District Midwinter to help CKI celebrate their 50th anniversary. After all, it will be 2015, before we have a reason to have another "birthday" midwinter when Kiwanis is 100 years old. I also look forward to attending those midwinters when invited and that are not in conflict with other required events.

I wish everyone a very happy, rewarding, and prosperous personal and Kiwanis 2010. May all your wishes come true and may you continue to lead a healthy and productive life.

Tom Varner
Governor-Elect