Dear Friend,

September is here! Schools have started back and the days are getting cooler. In August, we showed that, while summer is winding down, our commitment to the children in our community has continued to be strong. We volunteered over 70 hours in August! Roll up your sleeves and join us in September as we continue to change the world one child, one community at a time.

In this issue you will find:

• Inspirational Moment


• Celebration!


• Upcoming Events


• Kiwanis Club News


• Division 6 Membership Contest


• A Club Member Feature: Linda Gramke


• Kiwanis International News


• Did You Know?


• The Fun Spot


• Membership Information

Celebration! Join us in congratulating our club members on these recent and upcoming milestones and achievements! Happy Birthday! Ed Griffin - September 7 Thanapat Vichitchot - September 27 Kiwanis Anniversaries Congratulations to Ty Foster who will be celebrating his 16th year in Kiwanis this month! Ty has served many roles in our Kiwanis club. We are lucky to continue to serve our community with him. Amy Zimmerman Named as One of Cincinnati's 40 Under 40! Out of 470 nominations, Amy Zimmerman was named as one of Cincinnati's 40 Under 40 by the Cincinnati Business Courier. "In its 13th year, the contest once again spotlights an impressive group of local professional and community leaders who haven’t yet reached the age of 40." On September 24th, the Business Courier will recognize Amy and the rest of the 2009 Forty Under 40 class. "This special awards luncheon celebrates our community's next generation of leaders and innovators." Congratulations, Amy! We're so excited for you! 40 Under 40 Event Information

Upcoming Events To RSVP for any event, please either contact the RSVP Contact or email us at info@cincinnatikiwanis.org. Fundraiser for Southwest Ohio Kiwanis Mental Health Association - Tuesday, September 8 - 8:00pm-10:00pm - The Southwest Ohio Kiwanis Mental Health Association (SWOKMHA) is hosting a fundraiser at the Showboat Majestic on September 8th. For $20, you help support the good works of SWOKMHA and get to see a great production of My Fair Lady. For tickets, please contact Amy Zimmerman or email us at info@cincinnatikiwanis.org. Where: Showboat Majestic RSVP Contact: Amy Zimmerman St. Francis Seraph Soup Kitchen - Wednesday, September 9 - 4:15pm-5:45pm - We are serving dinner at the St Francis Seraph Soup Kitchen on the second Wednesday of every month. It is fun, rewarding, and your help is greatly appreciated! The work includes preparing food, cleaning pots/pans, and serving food. Where: St. Francis Seraph Grade School, located on Liberty Street between Vine and Moore Streets. Enter the parking lot from Moore Street. The soup kitchen door is in the back of the building. Project Contact: Bill Swanson Peaslee Center Playground Project - Saturday, September 12 - 9:00am-12:00pm - We have done much of the base construction of the new playground, and we're ready to start constructing and finishing the work at the Peaslee Center. We'll be cutting wood, assembling the play scenes and painting. No skill required, but your help is especially needed if you can help haul the play equipment to the center. Where: Jim's House (3834 Meadowlark Lane, 45227) if you have a pickup or vehicle for hauling; Peaslee Center (215 E 14th St, 45202) for work. RSVP Contact: Jim Gerwe, j_gerwe@yahoo. com Monthly Planning Meeting - Monday, September 14 - 6pm-7pm - Everyone is encouraged to attend, as this is where most of our club decisions are made. Each meeting we discuss our community projects, our charitable donations, and the planning of our events. If you like, bring an appetizer to share during the meeting. This Month's Host: TBA Where: TBA RSVP Contact: Brian Yacucci Meeting of the Kiwanis Clubs of Division 6 (Cincinnati West) - Wednesday, September 16 - 6:00pm-8:00pm - The Division 6 (Cincinnati West) Kiwanis clubs will be meeting to socialize and to learn about Kiwanis events and news from around Cincinnati, Ohio and Kiwanis International. The meeting will be held at the Receptions Western Hills (2) banquet facility. Doors will open at 6:00pm. The meeting will begin with Dinner at 6:30pm. Where: Receptions Western Hills, 2323 Ferguson Road, Cincinnati, OH 45238 RSVP Contact: Amy Zimmerman (Division 6 Lieutenant Governor 2008-2009) Peaslee Center Playground Project - Saturday, September 19 - 9:00am-12:00pm - We have done much of the base construction of the new playground, and we're ready to start constructing and finishing the work at the Peaslee Center. We'll be cutting wood, assembling the play scenes and painting. No skill required, but your help is especially needed if you can help haul the play equipment to the center. Where: Jim's House (3834 Meadowlark Lane, 45227) if you have a pickup or vehicle for hauling; Peaslee Center (215 E 14th St, 45202) for work. RSVP Contact: Jim Gerwe, j_gerwe@yahoo. com Lunch N Learn: Catholic Residential Services - Monday, September 21 - 12:00-1:00pm - Enjoy a break from work with friends, as well as learn about club happenings, meet and discuss community needs. The Guest Speaker will be from Catholic Residential Services, which provides residential support and services for individuals with development disabilities. They support people in their home and in their community to live productive and fulfilled lives. Catholic Residential Service is dedicated to the individuals it serves by furthering their Spiritual, Intellectual, Physical and Moral Development. Where: BlackFinn, 19 East 7th St, Cincinnati, OH 45202 RSVP Contact: Brian Yacucci Ronald McDonald House: Service Project - Monday, September 28 - 5:00pm–7:00pm - We will be serving dinner for the residents of the house, so they can spend quality time with their family or just relax after a long day at the hospital. After working so hard, we also get to eat dinner with the residents! Where: Ronald McDonald House Dining Room: 350 Erkenbrecher Ave, Cincinnati, OH 45229 Project Contact: Brian Yacucci Save the Dates - October 4th and 11th - Save the date for our Kiwanis New Year Celebration, which will be held on Sunday, October 4th starting around dinnertime. Join us as we celebrate as a team all of the wonderful things we accomplished in the 2008-2009 year, and as we install our new Board Members and Officers. Also, if you are a board member or a committee chair, please save the date for Sunday, October 11th from noon-6pm for the Cincinnati Kiwanis Leadership Retreat. This retreat will get us jump started in the new year, so that we can operate even more effectively as a team. Together we can make a difference! The event planning committees are hard at work at getting the details for these two events squared away. We will keep you updated on details. If you have any questions, or would like to help out on an event planning committee for one or both of these events, please see: Kiwanis New Year Celebration - Jeanette Yacucci, Amy Zimmerman, or Alyson Gerwe. Cincinnati Kiwanis Leadership Retreat - Jim Gerwe, Linda Gramke, Jeanette Yacucci, or Alyson Gerwe Check out the Club Calendar for more event details

New Membership Division-Wide Membership Contest Division 6 is running a division-wide membership contest. "The club that recruits the most new members (paperwork submitted to KI) between Aug 9 and our next Divisional meeting on September 16th, [Amy Zimmerman] will write a check to that club for $100. The division will also match with a $100 donation. [The club] can use the money in either your administrative or service funds account. If there is a tie, the number will be a relative growth against the current size of the club. Please invite all new members to attend the next divisional meeting so that we can honor them there." The larger our team, the larger the impact we can make on our community. There are children and families in our community who are struggling. With a dedicated team of volunteers, we can help. Recruiting more people to join our team, means more life-changing service to the community. And with all of our projects going on, we definitely need the extra hands! Who should you invite to join? Anyone who loves serving their community, meeting interesting people, or developing leadership skills. Invite a friend, coworker or neighbor to our next service project or meeting. Anyone can attend a meeting or service project, so why not share your love for Kiwanis with them?

An Interview with Linda Gramke Each month we feature one of our club members so our readers can get to know the people who make up our club. This month’s featured member is Linda Gramke. Linda grew up in Harrison, Ohio, when it was a small town. You couldn’t get away with anything because everybody knew everybody. After majoring in Marketing Management, Linda somehow found herself as a Fixed Assets Accountant at Fifth Third Bank. Linda met her husband of 31 years through a coworker at Shillito’s (you know, Shillito’s, Shillito-Rikes, Lazarus, Macy’s). After living in Harrison till 2000, Linda and Tim moved to Groesbeck, between Miami University and Fifth Third Tower downtown for their son Mike’s commute to school and work. Linda heard about the Kiwanis Club of Cincinnati through Jeanette Yacucci. Jeanette knew about Linda’s involvement with her church and recruited her, which also meant recruiting her husband, Tim. Linda and Tim joined Kiwanis in January 2008 and quickly became involved with the service projects. Linda's favorites are cooking at the Ronald McDonald House, and the Rubber Ducks at the Freestore Foodbank, even though the latter is only annually. Linda will be the Kiwanis Club of Cincinnati Secretary for 2009-2010, beginning in October and currently assists with the monthly Kiwanis newsletter. Linda’s top priorities are her family & friends (including the four-legged ones, Dusty and Rosie) the Vineyard Church Northwest, and Kiwanis. Linda likes doing home improvement projects, whether it’s at their house or their son Mike’s house. When he moved out and took his dog that led to play dates for the two dogs. Rosie actually knows the Hamilton Ave. exit means she’s going to see Dusty and gets excited. Linda and her husband, Tim, are currently leading the Mercy Ministries Small Group and Kindness Outreach at the Vineyard Church Northwest (VCNW), assist with the Price Hill Church Plant Team, serve as the Connect Area at VCNW for visitors to the church, and are communion distributors. The Mercy Ministries Small Group and the Kindness Outreach involves a monthly Food Giveaway to random apartment complexes or names provided through a relationship with the Northwest School System and small acts of kindness, such as giving away bottled water at busy intersections. The monthly Outreach also extends to School Supply Giveaways and Special activities through the holidays. They assist the Price Hill Church Plant Team by chairing the annual Food Giveaway for the Hispanic Community in Price Hill. Linda and Tim were recently group leaders at a 6-week study of the book “The Hole in Our Gospel” and a 4-week course in the Small Group on “Destinations: Direction Not Intention Determines Your Destination.” Things you may not know about Linda: Before being involved with the Kiwanis and VCNW, Linda was a regular in various clogging groups performing all over the Tri State area for 12 years. On two occasions she had the privilege of traveling to Washington DC to perform in the Independence Day Parade, at Lincoln Memorial and for the Military VIPs before the parade. Linda is also very organized and a perfectionist, trying daily to strive for excellence, not perfection. According to Myers-Briggs she is an ISTJ (introvert, sensor, thinker, judger) and has been called a tad OCD on many occasions. She’s working on that! More club stars...

Kiwanis International News Typhoon victims need Kiwanis’ help Thousands of families have been tragically affected by typhoon Marakot that struck Taiwan in early August 2009. Torrential rain and mudslides have devastated this area, causing many deaths and leaving people homeless. Officers from Kiwanis International and the Kiwanis International Foundation are asking members worldwide to support efforts to provide short-term help to the families, and to announce that proceeds from the Kiwanis International Disaster Fund will be used to aid children left homeless and in need of help by the devastating typhoon. The foundation will work through the Kiwanis district office in Taiwan to ensure that funds are available and directed to children with the most critical needs. Please send your support to the Kiwanis International Foundation, mentioning the Disaster Relief Fund for Taiwan. Donations can be sent to: Kiwanis International Foundation, Disaster Relief Fund for Taiwan, 3636 Woodview Trace, Indianapolis, IN 46268 Kiwanis International Foundation website

Did you know? ...one of our club's past presidents passed away in January 2009? "Roger William Enger, 74, of Punta Gorda, Florida (formerly of Mt. Healthy, OH) lost his battle with lung cancer and went to his heavenly home on Sunday, January 11, 2009... Roger obtained his 40th year perfect attendance with the Kiwanis Club. Roger was also a member of the Punta Gorda Elks 2606, Moose Lodge 2121, American Legion 103, Past VP of the General WA Mann Association, Telephone Pioneers, Charlotte Park Civic Association, Florida International Air Show Volunteer and the Harley Davidson Motorcycle Club. He received many honorary awards including Kiwanian of the Year, Kiwanis Legion of Honor, Past President of Cincinnati Kiwanis Club and Kiwanis Community Service Award... He was an avid fishermen, enjoyed motorcycling and traveling with his wife Ramona throughout the United States...Roger never met a stranger and those that he met were touched in some way by his warmth and kindness..." Read the Full Tribute

The Fun Spot http://comics.com/over_the_hedge/2009-02-21/

Membership Information
We always welcome new members to our team! If you are interested in becoming a member of Cincinnati Kiwanis, either contact a Cincinnati Kiwanis member or come to a meeting to fill out a membership application.

Our membership is open to the public. New members means more volunteers working together to make a greater positive impact on our community...Learn more about Membership


Events Information
Not a member, but want to come to our events? No problem! The public is invited and encouraged to join us for all our activities and events. Want another incentive to try out our lunch meetings? We buy lunch for prospective members 3 times as our guest (3 FREE lunches). Hope to see you soon!


Thanks everyone for all the hard work this past month in putting this newsletter together!