Dear Friend,

Wow! April was an amazing month. We volunteered nearly 70 service hours, really made a difference with our projects, and added three new members (Eileen Yeoh, Rebecca Hansen, and Brian Sekerak)!

We're gearing up for a great May as well. Adopt a Class, Freestore Foodbank, St. Francis Seraph Soup Kitchen, and Key Leader are just a few of the great projects scheduled for May. At our lunch meetings this month, we will learn how to Build a Leadership Legacy and about organ donation.

So, mark your calendar and bring your enthusiasm for community improvement as we work together to change the world one child, one community at a time.

In this issue you will find:

• Kiwanis Inspirational Moment


• Celebration!


• Upcoming Events


• Kiwanis Club News


• New Members


• A Club Member Feature


• Kiwanis International News


• Did You Know?


• A Word of Encouragement


• Membership Information

Inspirational Moment " I always expect everything I do to change the world, not just because there's something special about me but because everything in the world was changed by one person, if you think about it. You'd be hard pressed to think of an example of anything that didn't start with one person." --- Scott Adams How are you changing the world? As a Kiwanian, you have the opportunity to change the world through the service you give to the community. Have a grand idea that you can't accomplish on your own? You have a whole team of dedicated volunteers to help through Kiwanis. Together we can change the world one child, one community at a time.

Celebration! Join us in congratulating our club members on these recent and upcoming milestones! Birthdays Doug Kramer - 5/11 Sandy Zimmerman - 5/13 Dick Martin - 5/17 Wedding Anniversaries Alyson & Jim Gerwe - 5/14 Brian & Jeanette Yacucci - 5/20

Upcoming Events To RSVP for any event, please either contact the RSVP Contact or email us at info@cincinnatikiwanis.org. Adopt a Class: Fieldtrip to Cincinnati Museum Center - Friday, May 1 - 10:00am-1:00pm - We are taking our adopted 3rd grade class at Rockdale Elementary to the Cincinnati Museum Center (CMC). We'll be visiting the Natural History & Science and Children's Museums. Sharing the love of learning with the kids and sharing stories from some of the people who work at CMC will really make an impact on their lives. Where: Cincinnati Museum Center RSVP Contact: Jim Gerwe Lunch N Learn: Building a Leadership Legacy - Monday, May 4 - 12:00-1:00pm - presented by Diane Ness. Leaders who leave a lasting legacy understand the necessity of developing future leaders so that they make an ultimate contribution to the organization – one that has a positive impact on revenues and will increase value to your customers and community. This fun and interactive session will give you tools you can use today to identify and develop future leaders inside your organization and identify and recruit the best people to join your organization. Where: The Banker's Club, 30th floor of the Fifth Third Building on Fountain Square, Cincinnati, OH 45202 RSVP Contact: Brian Yacucci Freestore Foodbank Project - Tuesday, May 5 - 5:00-8:00pm - We will be volunteering at the Freestore Foodbank to help them either sort canned goods or pack boxes to be distributed to more than 160,000 people in southern Ohio, northern Kentucky and southeastern Indiana. Where: Freestore Foodbank, 1250 Tennessee Ave, Cincinnati, OH 45229 RSVP Contact: Bill Swanson Monthly Planning Meeting - Monday, May 11 - 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. Bring an appetizer to share during the meeting. Drinks will be provided by our hosts. Stick around afterwards for pizza and cornhole! This Month's Hosts: Jim and Alyson Gerwe Where: 3834 Meadowlark Ln, Fairfax, OH 45227 RSVP Contact: Alyson Gerwe St. Francis Seraph Soup Kitchen - Wednesday, May 13 - 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: Parking is available in the fenced-in lot behind St. Francis Seraph Grade School, located on Liberty Street between Vine and Moore Streets. Enter the parking lot from Moore Street. RSVP Contact: Bill Swanson Lunch N Learn: LifeCenter Organ Donation Network - Monday, May 18 - 12-1pm: Learn about the importance of organ donation and how LifeCenter is making a positive impact on the health of people in our community. Where: The Banker's Club, 30th floor of the Fifth Third Building on Fountain Square, Cincinnati, OH 45202 RSVP Contact: Brian Yacucci Ronald McDonald House: Service Project - Monday, May 25 - 5pm–7pm - 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! The kitchen is open and ready for our large group again! Where: Ronald McDonald House Dining Room: 350 Erkenbrecher Ave, Cincinnati, OH 45229 RSVP Contact: Brian Yacucci Check out the Club Calendar for more event details

New Membership Congratulations to new members Eileen Yeoh, Brian Sekerak, and Rebecca Hansen! We are so excited you've decided to join our team! Together we can change the world one child, one community at a time! Grow Our Club: Recruit New Members People are busier than ever, and finding the time to get involved in community service can be a real challenge. At the same time, thanks to global communication technology, caring people are more aware than ever before of children’s needs worldwide. The ways generous people can give back to their community have changed from 20 or even 10 years ago. That means the ways we recruit them for Kiwanis membership must change, too. The tried-and-true methods must expand to embrace the never-before-attempted and never-thought-of ideas. Your efforts can and will take Kiwanis to 1 million members by 2015—and help millions more children worldwide. 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 (they get 3 free lunches!). Distinguished Member Status Current members who are on the path to achieving Distinguised Member Status: • Sopheap Sok (sponsored 2 members) • Alyson Gerwe (sponsored 2 members, attended MidYear Convention, 6+ service projects) • Jim Gerwe (sponsored 1 member, 6+ service projects) • Brian Yacucci (sponsored 1 member, 6+ service projects) • Jeanette Yacucci (attended MidYear Convention, 6+ service projects) • Amy Zimmerman (attended MidYear Convention, 6+ service projects) • Bill Swanson (6+ service projects) • Tim Gramke (6+ service projects) • Linda Gramke (6+ service projects) • Monica Espinal (6+ service projects) To qualify for Distinguished Member status, club members must: • Recruit two (2) new members, • Attend either a Mid-Winter Conference (April 25, 2009 - Columbus, OH), International Convention (June 25-28, 2009 - Nashville, TN) or District Convention (August 15, 2008 - Sharonville, OH), • Participate in six (6) Kiwanis service efforts, and • Financially support the Kiwanis International Foundation. Get Details About Distinguished Member Status

An Interview with Bill Swanson Each month we feature one of our club members so our readers can get to know the people who make up our club. Enjoy! This month’s featured member is Bill Swanson, who heads up a couple of our regular service projects. Like most people, Bill had seen the big “K” signs at the city limits of many towns, but didn’t know anything about Kiwanis. His recruitment was the result of an innocent enough lunch invitation from Miss Amy Zimmerman. Working in Information Technology has been a great career for Bill, but not one that offers many chances to do projects that are socially rewarding. He enjoys community service, and Kiwanis provides an opportunity to make a difference in people’s lives, by helping others that have not had the same opportunities and good fortune that he’s had. This is his third year as a Kiwanian. Of all the service projects, Bill’s favorite is serving dinner at the St. Francis Seraph Soup Kitchen. For many of the customers, the soup kitchen provides the only meal they will have that day. A need is filled at the most basic level and the customers are so appreciative, not only for the food, but also for the smiles, conversation and being treated with dignity and respect. In return, the Kiwanians get to meet many interesting people. By the way, Bill can swing a mean mop! Many of our experiences pale in comparison to Bill’s energy and enthusiasm. He was born in Evansville Indiana, where his great-grandpa was the mayor in the early 1900s. His dad worked for GE and they lived in many places when he was young, including St. Louis, New Orleans, Houston, and Waynesboro, Virginia. They moved to Cincinnati in 1968, where he attended Sycamore High School and UC. Aside from college at LSU in Baton Rouge, he’s been here ever since. Bill is married to Greta, who along with him, coordinated and cooked one of the dinners at the Ronald McDonald House during the kitchen renovation. They have one son, Eric, who helps serve dinner with the club occasionally at Ronald McDonald House, and will be starting in the fall at the University of Cincinnati College of Engineering. Bill has many things that some may not know about him. He’s the director and founding member of the Ohio Valley Forestry Fellowship, a not-for-profit group started in 1979, which plants trees and gives away seedlings on Arbor Day. To date, the group has planted and distributed over 500,000 tree seedlings in the Cincinnati area. From 1982 – 2000, he was part of a group that owned a 150 acre hilltop farm east of Cincinnati on the hills overlooking the Ohio River. He was the farm manager and they grew corn, wheat, soybeans and tobacco. Their tobacco base was 10,000 pounds per year. What, you might ask, does Bill do for fun? He enjoys water sports – from sailing with a friend on his catamaran in Belize, to rafting Class V whitewater in West Virginia, Idaho and Colorado, to recreational kayaking on local rivers. He’s always looking for an excuse to get on the water, so if you ever want to join him, just let him know! This year he plans to buy a whitewater kayak and learn the Eskimo roll and to navigate more than just the placid waters of the Little Miami! He likes to hunt wild turkey in the spring. It’s great to be in the woods before dawn, in a full camo, amidst the wild flowers, listening to the world awaken as daylight starts to beak. About 7am, the turkeys fly down out of the trees and the Toms start to gobble. Sometimes the songbirds will land on his outstretched feet or a squirrel will scurry across his leg and not even see him. Doesn’t matter if he gets a turkey, it’s all about being out in the woods. Bill also loves history and likes to hunt plowed fields in search of Indian artifacts. He has acquired a sizable collection of spear points and stone tools, all found within 50 miles of downtown Cincinnati. Now he wants to learn how to make them himself. Bill is definitely one who packs everything he can into his life. He is always willing to step up when things need to be done. More club stars...

Kiwanis International News Kiwanis Young Children Priority One Young Children: Priority One (YCPO) is an ongoing service program of Kiwanis International, addressing the needs of young children. Kiwanis clubs are encouraged to carry out at least two YCPO projects per calendar year, though many clubs are able to do more—helping children, families, and communities with critical issues affecting youth. YCPO projects are divided into four categories. Our club currently participates and coordinates projects in 3 of the 4 categories (see below). 1: Maternal and Infant Health - March of Dimes 2: Child Care and Development - Safe playspaces (Tom Geiger Guest House, Findlay Park) 3: Safety and Pediatric Trauma - We annually support the Ohio Kiwanis First Lady Project: Pediatric Trauma Prevention and Southwest Ohio Kiwanis for Kids Safety through donations, and in April we will be facilitating a SOKKS program after the Ronald McDonald House on April 27th. 4: Program Education and Support Read more...

Did you know? May, the Month of Graduations! The month of May is traditionally the month of college graduations. So what’s the history of the Cap and Gown worn at graduation? What do they mean and where did they come from? What we call today a “cap,” which is worn by students and faculty in some cases, used to be called a “hood.” The “hood” is believed to be dated back to the Celtic Groups. At that time in history only the Druid priests wore capes with hoods, symbolizing their superiority and higher intelligence. Today, the “hood” or “cap” is used to identify the student’s academic institution and degree. The tassel that is attached (and sometimes the color of the cap and gown or scarf) is used to signify the student’s academic achievement within the academic structure. Prior to the 1950’s the color of the graduation gown was gray. This was practiced only in the U.S. Colors in European countries were used as far back as the 1800s to signify the area of study. Sometime during the 1950’s students began to ask for cap and gowns that represented their school colors. Their wish was granted and the emergence of varying colors used for gowns caught on. During the 12th and 13th centuries the academic dress for graduation was born. At that time the standard dress for faculty or students was clerical dress. It wasn’t until 1321 that the University of Coimbra decided that all Doctors, Bachelors, and Licentiates would be required to wear gowns. From: AuthorsDen.com

A Word of Encouragement Little drops of water, little grains of sand Make the mighty ocean, and the pleasant land. - Julia Carney We may be but drops of water, but together as Kiwanians we make a mighty force of good works that will change the landscape of our community for the better.

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


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!