Governors' Blog    www.wiumkiwanisgovernor.blogspot.com

Hello WI-UM Kiwanis!!

For those of you who were at the District Convention in Brookfield, thank you for attending and I hope to see you again at either Stevens Point for Mid-Winter and/or Eau Claire for our next District Convention.  For those of you who couldn't make it, we missed you!  I would love to see you at our next couple of events.  By the way, our Annual District Convention normally gets about 300 Kiwanians to attend.  I know that we can do better than that.  I would love to see 600 Kiwanians from the Wisconsin Upper Michigan District attend our Convention in Eau Claire in 2012.  On my Governors pin are two words “Just Ask”, so I’m asking, can we get 600 to District Convention?

Speaking of “Just Ask”.  You might want to ask, “What does that mean?”  We need to start asking questions and we need to expect answers.  Now you might ask, “Ask what”? 

Ask questions like, “How do we get the fun back into our Kiwanis Club?”  In the past year, as I have traveled about our District, I have visited with Key Club members…they have fun.  I have visited with Circle K members...and they have fun.  I have visited with Kiwanians and they have service projects and fund raisers.  What is wrong with this picture?  Since when is providing service to our communities and to the children in our communities, not fun?  When did the fund raisers designed to support our communities and our children, stop being fun?  Our young counterparts, those in the service leadership programs that we support, have fun doing service projects and fund raisers.  We can do that too!!  Bottom line, if it is not fun, stop doing it and find something else to do that is fun.  If you want new ideas, if you want to find the fun again, talk to your Lieutenant Governor, talk to your Trustee, talk to me!!  None of us want to hear your sad stories, what we want to hear is that you are tired of telling your sad stories and you want some new ideas that generate fun and excitement in your club.

If that sounds harsh, OK, but I’m not going to apologize.  What I will apologize for is the use of the broad brush stroke.  Most of our clubs do have fun, and for them I want to give a big shout-out and say THANK YOU!  But if your club isn’t having fun, start asking for help.  At the District level we are training Club Counselors and Club Builders, people who will be in your Regions and Divisions to help you.  We are continuously providing your Lieutenant Governors and Trustees information and tools to support you.  All you have to do is ask.

There is one other thing on my Governors pin, and it says “If not now, When? “  Ask your questions now, do your community and club assessments now, start having fun now.  Now is the time.