Lost Luggage

(From Mary Baughman) Because of Adventures in Friendship, I was able to participate in doing something very nice for someone else half way around the world.

The history ... in 2008 at the end of the summer working season, a young woman from Romania left her luggage on the loading dock at the train station. We surmise that she assumed that the luggage would be loaded for her. She was only 17 years old.

Miracle #1: It was turned over to the Sandusky Police Department. During that year, Evidence Officer Sylvan Wahl tried to locate the young woman. She had worked at Cedar Point for the summer. After repeated attempts, a year had passed and he had not been able to contact the young woman and arrange to return her luggage to her. All his attempts ended with a language barrier he was unable to penetrate.

Miracle #2: Officer Wahl is good friends with Jeanne Schrader of Main Streets Association. After a frustrating year with the result that the luggage would be given to Goodwill or destroyed, he confided to his good friend, Jeanne. Now, Jeanne is aware that my annual Kiwanis project is Adventures in Friendship. Thinking that I might be able to help, she called me and asked.

Miracle #3: Adventures in Friendship only had one Romanian who had ever been an active participant. This was in 2005. I remembered her specifically because she was a dental student and I was so pleased to have paired her with the family of Dr. Steven Miely, a local dentist. I looked up her e-mail address from 2005, and SHE STILL USED THE SAME EMAIL! Dr. Madalina Cremene is now a practicing dentist in Romania, and it took her exactly one day to make contact with Giorgiana Murdu and tell her to contact me about her luggage. She did, and sounded very appreciative, and I will forward you her letter from that time.

Miracle #4: Kiwanis Club was excited to hear about this event, and they offered to pay a part of the cost of sending the luggage back to Georgiana. Several police officers offered to contribute. Jeanne Schrader and Joe Baughman also offered to contribute. So did the owner of Package Central, who handled the packaging and sending of the items. All were hopeful that she would have the items by Christmas, since it appeared that may of the items inside had been purchased as presents for someone back home.

Miracle #5: The luggage contents reached their destination by the US Thanksgiving holiday, adding joy to the holidays of several local families. Georgiana was delighted and has sent us a thank you letter and pictures.

Hi,Thank you so much for your prompt answers. I don't find the words to tell you how grateful i am for all you are doing. Please send my regards to everybody and tell them that you really made me happy. Although it may seem that i don't have a lot of thing in the luggage, it is very important for me...i have there pieces from all my life.All those little stuff that are there mean a world to me, and you are bringing a big joy into my life. I am really very grateful that you send my luggage but i am more grateful that people like you exist, people who are making this sort of kindness. I left USA with such great memories and with the regret that i might never return...and now you make me have more regrets, when i see what great people i left there. You are making me the best birthday present (on November 2nd is my birthday). I will surely send you a lot of pictures but unfortunately the picture will not be able to express all the joy, the happiness that you brought to me. I will make sure that everybody from here will find about your great act of kindness you've done for me. You've made happy not only me, but all my friends who cannot believe that you are really sending me the luggage. Once again thank you so so much to all of you and keep doing such nice things, you will bring so much happiness. I'll keep on writing to you in order to tell you about me, my life and I am looking forward to find more about you. I have another big favor to ask:can you please send me the e-mails of all the people who made this possible. I would like to send them some good thoughts. Kind regards,the most happiest girl from Romania

Hi,I just got home and opened the luggage you were so kind to send. I cannot describe how happy you made me..seeing all my staff in my home, i almost couldn't believe it. Thank you so very much, thousands of thanks to all of you who made this possible...my nephews will be so happy that their toys from USA are in Romania now and Santa will be able to put them under the Christmas Tree. All my summer clothes were there, a lots of gifts for my friends, my pictures, presents for my family, so many memories...as i told you before I am extraordinary happy that my luggage is home but i am happier that you made this act of kindness and such people of value exist..i may reconsider going back to USA. I cannot stop watching all the things lying in my living room while my dog is smelling everything. I attached some pictures while i was opening the boxes but they cannot express the joy, happiness and gratitude that i feel. I tried to call Detective Wahl but he wasn't there so i left him a message. I hope he gets it. It was so nice of you to send me things from your Police Department. I will proudly attached them to my back pack and I will tell the story of my luggage and your kindness to everybody. Thank you also for the books with Ohio...it's such a nice memory to have from you, guys. Once again, thank you for everything. In my language we say "multumesc" for thank you so Multumesc din suflet,Georgiana

Festival of Lights 2009

Join us and see our display at this years festival of lights:

10th Annual Festival of Lights & Silent Auction

Fri, Nov 27-Thu, Dec 31, 5-10 pm, Sawmill Creek Resort
Santa will be there 6-9 pm
This annual event showcases area non-profit agencies, schools and businesses with festive lighting displays. The Festival starts with the Ringing Swinging Silent Auction held on Fri, Nov 27, 6-9 pm in the Lodge at Sawmill Creek, Wilderness Hall.

The Festival of Lights is sponsored by Sawmill Creek Resort, Barnes Nursery and other area businesses. It is a wonderful holiday event for the whole family. Come join us!

Festival of Lights

This weekend we will be testing our Christmas lights for the annual festival of lights at Sawmill Creek. For some photos of the display visit our website and festival of lights page at http://www.sanduskykiwanis.org/lights.html. We will be setting up the display The weekend of Nov 20th.

Sandusky Kiwanis 90th Anniversary

On Wednesday November 4th our club celebrated its 90th Anniversary of service to the Sandusky Ohio Community. We had a very special guest for our event. Former Sandusky High and Ohio State University Head Coach Earle Bruce was our keynote speaker. Thank you to the several division clubs who were able to join us in our celebration. Each of you should be commended on your work you do for your communities too! Thank you Heather, Ed and Pat for putting together our history slide show that ran during the meeting. Coach Bruce had some wonderful stories about local kids as well as stories about his coaching days. At the end of the evening our club presented Coach Bruce with a donation to the Earle and Jean Bruce Alzheimer's Foundation at OSU. All members and guests enjoyed a wonderful program and he motivated us all to go another 90+...and of course had most of us ready to beat Penn St ourselves (Other than our very own Penn St alum Ed S). THANK YOU COACH BRUCE!!!! Enjoy the photos. There are more available on our facebook site! Please join us there as well!

Updates

On Oct 28th we handed out candy for the annual Cedar Point Trick or Treat. This year over 5000 kids came through the community booths. What a great event!!!! We also had a fantastic dinner meeting for our clubs 90th anniversary with a very special guest speaker. Photos will be up on the blog shortly. If you want to see the photos before they migrate here please join our facebook page to view them!!!

Wendy Kromer Specialty Confections

Our speaker on Tuesday November 10th was Wendy Kromer. What a fantastic journey she has made from runway model in Paris to working with Marth Stewart and baking wedding cakes! She currently resides in Sandusky and runs her wedding cake business and city bake shop on 137 E Water St Sandusky Ohio 44870. For more information please visit www.wendykromer.com 419-609-0450. Thank you Wendy for sharing your stories with our club!

Volunteers of America Northwest Ohio

Sondra Anderson, the homeless services director from Volunteers of America of Northwest Ohio was our speaker on Tuesday October 6th. She discussed the increase in homelessness and the different organization that help homeless families. The Crossroads Emergency Shelter in Sandusky offers sleeping accommodations for 30 days or less to help transition families to more stable homes. To reach the shelter call 419-626-6505. Volunteers of America of Northwest Ohio offers many more projects too numerous to list here. The Sandusky office is located at 1843 Superior Street. The local website is http://voanwo.org Please contact Sondra or the VOA office for volunteer opportunities.

Kiwanis Year

Congratulations to Jody Meisler for completing her year as president of our club. For our first meeting in October our new president Anne McGookey will be presenting her ideas for the future of our club not only for her upcoming year but also the near future. Jody, our club appreciates all of your hard work and effort!!!!

Sandusky Main Street Association

On September 22nd John Lippus from the Sandusky Main Street Association was our speaker. He discussed the top 10 myths of downtown planning. He also spoke about things happening in our downtown and ideas for the future. For more information please visit http://www.sanduskymainstreet.com/ or contact the Sandusky Main Street Association at 419-627-5942 or 279 E Market St Sandusky, Oh 44870.

Kiwanis Club of Sandusky Pancake Breakfast

Just another reminder our breakfast is to be held on Sunday October 4th from 7:30 am to 1pm at the Sandusky High School Cafeteria. Tickets are available now or at the door for $5 each with each paid ticket admitting an adult and one child under 12. Please contact us if you have not been contacted already! Look forward to seeing the community there. You can also get additional information at our main site at www.sanduskykiwanis.org as well as our page on facebook.

Salvation Army, Family Health Services of Erie County, Serving Our Seniors, Firelands Regional Medical Center, Firelands Symphony Orchestra

Unfortunately work and family life has taken time away from updating the blog on a more regular basis. (I usually updated at night, with newborn twins I sleep when I can!!!) I hope to be able to update more frequently once things settle down on both fronts. I apologize to our speakers who I normally write about after their visit to our club. At the very least I can get a quick mention out to support their causes. On August 4th Capt Mark Larrick from the Salvation Army discussed the Salvation Army Learning Zone. On August 11th , Wilson Forney CEO of the Family Health services of Erie County discussed their programs. On August 18th, Sue Daugherty from Serving our Seniors and Joe Bores from Perkins High School discussed the intergenerational program our club supported recently. On September 1st Mary Stacy from the Firelands Regional Medical Center discussed Sleep Apnea, its dangers and how it can be treated. On September 8th, our very own Pat Scheid was our speaker and discussed bible translations and the ongoing effort to convert the bible into as many written languages as possible. Our most recent speaker, Jamie Steinemann was our guest on September 15th to discuss the upcoming season of the Firelands Symphony Orchestra. The list is much longer than I anticipated. Once again I hope to be able to update more frequently in the near future. Next week John Lippus from the Sandusky Main Street Association will be our speaker. Feel free to contact us and our club would be happy to direct you to one of the above organizations or speakers for more information.

Pancake Breakfast 2009

Updates have been few and far between. I will be hopefully posting updates on a more regular basis with our upcoming meetings. Just a few quick notes in the mean time. Our annual Pancake breakfast is at Sandusky High on Sunday October 4th. If you need tickets please contact us. Our members will be out selling tickets and you can also purchase them at the door. Tickets are $5 each this year. Each ticket will also admit 1 child under 12 for free. For a family of 5 with 3 kids under 12 the meal would be $15. I hope everyone can make it for a great meal!!!!

Lake Erie Crushers

Zach Krantz and Randy Newell were our speakers today from the Lake Erie Crushers baseball team in Avon Ohio. The Lake Erie Crushers are members of the Frontier Baseball league an independent league of 12 teams. The league has an age limit of 27 unlike other independent leagues. Many of the players have minor league experience and are trying to get back with affiliated minor league team. The tickets prices are inexpensive and the team offers a fan friendly environment. Not to mention the team is doing well unlike the Major league team to the East :). Many of our members had great questions for Zach and Randy and I think I can safely say we would invite them back anytime to be our guests. For more information on game times and days visit http://lakeeriecrushers.com/.

Sandusky National Guard Armory

Sgt Murray from the Sandusky Armory was our speaker on July 14th. He talked about the duties of our local unit. They just came back from Iraq this past year and will be going to Afghanistan next. Prior to that the unit was assisting in Kosovo and also at Fort Knox. The history of the unit was interesting. For more information about the Ohio National guard visit http://www.nationalguard.com/OH/ You can also get more information about the 148th Infantry Regiments history at http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/agency/army/1-148in.htm.

Leadership Erie County

Amy Roldan from Leadership Erie County was our speaker on Tuesday July, 7th. She spoke about the program and its benefits to community minded individuals within the community. Information about next years class and curriculum of the program are available at http://www.leadershiperiecounty.com/.

Human Society of Erie County

On Tuesday June 16th Amy Porter from Humane Society of Erie County. The Humane Society is located at 1911 Superior St., Sandusky. Adoption hours are 1-6 p.m. Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday and 1-4 p.m. Saturday. Normal adoption fees are: Cats/kittens $60, but fees are waived for cats 3 years old or older. Dogs/puppies adoption fees vary. The fees include spaying/neutering and first shots if the kitten is at least 3 months old. The phone number is 419-626-6220. For more information visit www.humanesocietyoferiecounty.org or for some fun join twitter and follow @thesheltercat and hear from the twittering cat.

Sandusky Merry Go Round Museum

Vicki, Director of the Merry Go Round Museum was our guest on Tuesday, June 16, 2009. The Merry Go Round Museum has been in operation for 19 years and they have an active carousel carving and restoration program. The museum has a staff of four employees and operates with many volunteers. The museum creates one carousel animal every year and raffles it off for fundraising dollars. Next year the Merry Go Round Museum will be celebrating their 20th anniversary and they are in the process of planning many great events for that day. Currently the museum is raffling off a Harley Davidson Fat Boy, tickets are $20 and the winner can elect to take the bike or $10,000. The museum is open year round, (Hours M-S 10-5/Sunday 12-5) and the facility is available to rent for celebration events. For more information please visit their website at http://www.merrygoroundmuseum.org/ or 419 626-6111.

St Stephens Kiddie College

On Tuesday June 9th Mike Roth from St Stephens Kiddie College was our speaker. The Kiddie College is a preschool for 3 and 4 year olds. It provides early education to prepare kids for the requirements of Kindergarten and improve language, social and motor skills. For more info you can contact St Stephens at:

St. Stephen United Church of Christ 905 East Perkins Avenue Sandusky, Ohio 44870
Phone 419.626.1612 Fax 419.626.1617 or visit their website at http://www.ststephenucc.org.

Firelands Chapter of American Red Cross

On Tuesday June 2nd Ron Rude the director of Firelands American Red Cross was our speaker. They recently auctioned off the first rides of the 2oth anniversary of the Magnum at Cedar Point. We also watched a few videos of local disaster events that the Red Cross has helped with. To get more info or be a volunteer visit http://www.firelandsredcross.org/ Or you can contact them at : American Red Cross Firelands Chapter 300 Central Ave.Sandusky, OH 44870 or (419) 626 -1641 or 1-800-589-228.

Firelands Regional Medical Center

On Tuesday May 19th our club had Connie Lamb from the Firelands Regional Medical Center as our speaker. She spoke about all the improvements and changes to our local hospital. Our club in the past has been a big supporter of programs and the pediatric ward at our hospital. It was nice to see the continuing improvements to care our residents can receive. For more information visit www.firelands.com.

Golf Outing Sleepy Hollow May 20, 2009

Lots of updates to make and limited time. Our golf outing on May 20th was a success. The weather was perfect. Several photos from this years event:

SMCC Key Club

On Tuesday May 12th our club meeting was run by our Key Club. They did a FANTASTIC job. I cannot say enough about how proud our club is to be associated with kids who will be successful in the future because of their hard work and I hope some of their experiences in Key Club. They brought along with them as their speaker John May a retired Lieutenant Colonel of the US Marine Corps. He spoke of his experiences in Tibet and China as well as some of his experiences in the Pentagon. His speech was very motivational and solidified why we are members of Kiwanis as well. Once again a job well done by our Key Club and I am looking forward to next years officers running a meeting as well.

DON'T FORGET our golf outing is next Wednesday at Sleepy Hollow in Clyde.

The Culinary Vegetable Institute

On Tuesday may 5th our club toured the Culinary Vegetable Institute. The Culinary Vegetable Institute was started by the Jones family after being approached about growing specialty produce for top chefs all over the country. The CVI has designed their facility to provide a retreat atmosphere for their executive chefs and teams by providing them an escape from their busy lifestyles. The sleeping areas are without tv’s and overlook the fantastic wooded scenery. The facility has great craftsmanship of maple woodwork throughout the facility for a lodge like décor. The CVI has a greenhouse on their property that allows chef’s to pick herbs and vegetables for food to table preparation. The CVI provides a wide variety of events that are open to the public including their well known Food and Wine show that is approaching in July. This event typically features a well known celebrity chef and in the past years Paula Dean was the celebrity chef.

The CVI is company that is also affiliated with Veggie U, a youth educational program and Chefs garden that is known for their produce.

For more information visit http://www.culinaryvegetableinstitute.com/cvi_cms/

JM/TC

Adventures in Friendship

Here is the promised video for our Adventures in Friendship program. Thanks to everyone who was a part of this.!!!! The file will also be available for download on our main site www.sanduskykiwanis.org sometime in the next few days. Its a rather large file so be patient if you do wish to download it.

Committee Day April 2009

Our club had over 200 hours of community service among the members that attended. We donated $50 to Care and Share and $50 to the Salvation Army. Most of the meeting was reviewing Mary Baughmans fantastic video to promote our Adventures in friendship program. The ten minute video will be available soon on this page, our main page, our facebook page as well as the adventures in friendship site at www.adventuresinfriendship.org and the adventures in friendship facebook page and youtube. Stay tuned.

Erie County Department of Job and Family Services

On April 21st our speakers were Jennifer Rogers from the Foster Care Unit and Julie Kyer from the Adoption unit. They spoke about the various things involved in the process and who the kids are and the various aspects of their lives. They were both very knowledgeable about the topic and both cared about the kids they help get into homes. For more information you can call the JFS office on 221 West Parish St Sandusky Oh 44870 at 419-626-6781 or visit the adopt OHIO web page at www.state.oh.us/odjfs/oapl.

Papermoon Winery

On April 14th our speaker was Sheryl Cawrse of Papermoon Vineyards. She talked about how her family ended up in the wine business and about her family business history. The following is from their website: With the opening of Paper Moon Vineyards, the Cawrse family marks four generations of owning and operating a family business. After returning home from the war in 1946, Richard Sr. collaborated with his father, Walter, to buy a dairy business in Lorain, Ohio. Eastside Dairy, later known as Cloverdale Creamery, operated for 36 years with extensive home delivery and four neighborhood stores.

She was a very entertaining speaker and many of our members look forward to visiting and tasting the various wines.

Visit http://www.papermoonvineyards.com/ for more information.

Seving Our Seniors

Sue Daugherty was our speaker on April 7th. She is the director of Serving Our Seniors.

Serving Our Seniors offers many services to the Seniors of Erie County. Visit http://www.servingourseniors.org/services.htm for more information.

Serving Our Seniors is located in Erie County, Ohio.
Address: 310 E Boalt Street
Sandusky OH 44870
Phone: 419-624-1856 or 1-800-564-1856
Fax: 419-624-8176
Email: Mail@ServingOurSeniors.org

Office hours are from 8:00am to 5:00pm, weekdays
The answering machine is on 24 hours/day

Committee Day

On March 31st we met at our monthly committee day and donated $100 to Habitat for Humanity, $150 to Serving Our Seniors, $250 the the Smith Scholarship Fund, and $250 to the Asthma Walk.

Woman of Excellence

Congratulations to our very own Mary Baughman who was recognized at the 2009 Women of Excellence Celebration!!!

Applebees Dining to Donate

Kiwanis's Applebees Dining to donate is today. Please take the time to download the flyer on our website at www.sanduskykiwanis.org in the download section. Take it with you to Lunch and Dinner today and our club will receive a donation of 15% of your bill for our clubs projects. Donations like these enable us to do projects such as our $15,000 donation to the Firelands Pediatric Ward and the $10,000 donation to the Sandusky Library renovation a few years ago.

Thanks for taking the time to support us and our community.

Firelands Habitat for Humanity

Barb Miller from the Firelands Habitat for Humanity was our speaker on March 24th.

The following information was taken from Firelands Habitat For Humanities website at http://www.firelandshabitat.org/ (FHFH) works in partnership with God and people of all faiths and races to develop communities for people in need by building and renovating houses, creating homeownership opportunities. Through volunteer labor and tax-deductible donations of money and materials, Habitat builds and rehabilitates simple, decent houses with the help of the homeowner (partner) families. Habitat houses are sold to partner families at no profit, financed with affordable, no-interest loans. The homeowners' monthly mortgage payments are recycled into a revolving Fund for Humanity that is used to build more houses.

The Firelands Habitat For Humanity ReStore needs your donations...of almost any items you take out of your home. Especially needed are doors, windows, cabinets (kitchen or other) and working appliances ( 10 years or less). But any building or remodeling material that's in good shape can be recycled through the ReStore, saving you dumping costs and providing a tax deduction as well. Equally important, your donations will go back into the community to help people who are upgrading their homes. The ReStore resells your new or used items (as well as corporate donations) for 50% to 70% off retail prices. All operating profits from ReStore sales go into Habitat's building program, helping provide adequate housing for Huron and Erie County families.

Hours:10:00 AM to 4:00 PMThursday, Friday, SaturdayPhone:(419) 602-1205
Location: [ mapquest ]North Coast Marketplace 11001 U.S. Route 250

Tre Sorelle Cioccolato

Jan Beck from Tre Sorelle Cioccolato was our speaker on March 17th. The name means "three sisters chocolates" in Italian. Tre Sorelle features premium chocolates with a variety of tantalizing fillings. To ensure freshness and customer satisfaction, the candy is made to order using high-quality ingredients. The candy is hand-made, locally produced. She brought many samples of the fine chocolate candies they make. The tray stayed in front of Pat Scheid a very LONG time. The history of chocolate and the health benefits by how light or dark the chocolate was interesting as well. The store is located at 634 Columbus Avenue in Sandusky. Stop by try out some of the fantastic chocolates! They can be reached by phone at 419-502-2462 or via their website at www.tresorelleonline.com.

Erie County CASA program

Patty James the Program Coordinator from CASA Erie County was our speaker on March 10th. CASA (Court Appointed Special Advocate) volunteers are ordinary people doing extraordinary things for abused and neglected children. They are trained community volunteers appointed by a judge to represent the best interest of children. You can make a difference in the life of a child by becoming a CASA volunteer. A volunteer application will be available on our main site at http://www.sanduskykiwanis.org/ in the download section shortly. For more information please call Terri Stephan at 419-621-0324.

Lakeside Heart and Lung Center

Dr. Anthony DeRiso and Dr. Vanessa Gibson were our speakers on March 3rd. They came to talk about their practice the Lakeside Heart and Lung Center. Heart Disease is the number one health problem in our country. Cardiothoracic surgery involves the heart and other areas within the chest. A cardiothoracic or thoracic surgeon provides care for patients with diseases within the chest area. This encompasses treating heart disease and abnormalities of the heart’s vessels and valves, lung cancer, tumors within the chest area, diseases of the diaphragm, chest injuries, and trachea and airway problems. Thoracic surgeons have exceptional knowledge of diagnostic and surgical techniques and physiology of the heart, lungs and respiratory system. For more information please call : (419) 609-8000

Eagle Scout Project

We recently donated money to help a local Eagle Scout complete his project. Click on the photo below to see the Thank You letter and photos of his project.

Adventures in Friendship 2009

Its the time of year again when many foreign students come to the area to work at Cedar Point and other area business's which means the Adventures in friendship program is kicking off. This year the program has its own website visit http://www.adventuresinfriendship.org/. Information will still be available on this website as well and you can also find adventures in friendship on Facebook!

Monthly committee meeting for February

Here is the report for our monthly committee day. We had roughly 177 hours of community service hours and our committees donated $100 to the Firelands Symphony & $450 to the Sandusky Library for the Big Read Erie County Reads programs. Here is info directly from the Sandusky library website www.sandusky.lib.oh.us :

THE BIG READ: ERIE COUNTY READS To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper LeeMarch 14, 2009 - April 22, 2009"read it - watch it - experience it"

Sandusky Library was one of 208 to receive a grant from the National Endowment for the Arts to host The Big Read in Erie County. The NEA presents The Big Read in partnership with the Institute of Museum and Library Services and in cooperation with Arts Midwest. The Big Read is an initiative designed to restore reading to the center of American culture. Sandusky Library, along with its Castalia and Kelleys Island branches, will join with the other four libraries in Erie County - Bellevue, Huron, Vermilion (Ritter), and Milan-Berlin - to present a second county-wide reading project. The Big Read: Erie County Reads To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee will kick-off on March 14, at 1:00 p.m. at the Sandusky Mall (near Borders). For more information about The Big Read go to www.neabigread.org. For more information about Erie County Reads and programs being held at each of the five Erie County libraries, go to www.eriecountyreads.org.

BIG READ EVENTS
The Big Read: Erie County Reads Kick-Off will be held in Sandusky Mall (near Borders) on Saturday, March 14, 2009 at 1:00 p.m. Receive a FREE copy of To Kill a Mockingbird when you join us for our Kick-Off event! Mona Rutger of Back to the Wild will be on hand with local wildlife to awe and inspire. Find out what your Erie County libraries have in store for you and your family during this special county-wide reading project!

We bowled in the Divison 12 outing and all we got was a T-Shirt.

On Saturday the 21st our club attended the annual Division 12 bowling tournament to defend our 2008 title. We came, we saw and we were conquered! The Tiffin club took home this years title. Thanks to Larry Windau with games of 132, 151, and 130 ,Jim Sennish with games of 149,142, and 148, Marty Hippler with games of 104,192, 148 and myself with games of 161,161, 202, and our capable alternate who happened to be waiting for a team that was short handed Bill, with games of 171, 145 and 138, our team finished with 2274 pins beating the Port Clinton team with a team score of 2106 on the opposite lane. Larry Windau left with a fine Kiwanis T-shirt for being left handed. (No kidding) And our team won the most serious bowling team award. As always the bowling brought many of our clubs from the area together for a fun day. Thanks to Tiffin for hosting this years event.

Website malfunctions

For some unknown reason the pdfs on our main site are not working. So if you need a copy of anything in our download section let me know and I will email it to you ASAP.

Thanks

Thank You from the Sandusky Library

Just want to share a recent letter from the Sandusky Library.

February 24, 2009


Ms. Jody Meisler
Kiwanis Club of Sandusky
Sandusky, OH 44870

Dear Ms. Meisler and Kiwanis Members:

On behalf of the five libraries in Erie County (Bellevue, Huron, Milan-Berlin, Sandusky, and Vermilion) that are joining together for The Big Read: Erie County Reads 2009 project, we would like to thank the Kiwanis Club of Sandusky for its generous financial support of $450.00.

Our hope is that this first-ever The Big Read: Erie County Reads event (but our second community read), will promote widespread reading and intergenerational book-centered discussions. Our first-ever community-wide event was held in 2007 (with Marley & Me) and was very successful!

This year’s event kicks-off on Saturday, March 14, 2009 at the Sandusky Mall. We have a variety of programs planned to enhance The Big Read. You can view all of the events (both county-wide events and ones being offered at each library) at www.eriecountyreads.org.

Generous people, organizations and foundations such as yours allow all of us to bring this project to Erie County. Again, thank you for your generous contribution to this project and your support of Erie County’s libraries. We hope you are proud to be a part of this county-wide reading project.

Sincerely,



Lori Esposito, Public Relations Specialist
SANDUSKY LIBRARY

lae

Enclosures

7th Annual Sandusky Kiwanis Golf Outing

A flyer is available on our main site www.sanduskykiwanis.org on the golf page as well as the download tab. (If it does not work now it will shortly as I exorcise the gremlins from my pdf creator this evening or first thing in the morning) The outing is being held at Sleepy Hollow Golf Course in Clyde. Please visit http://www.sleepyhollowclyde.com/ for more info on the course and directions. If you are interested in being a sponsor, donating a door prize, playing or being involved let us know!!! More details on the event will follow.

Applebee's Dining to Donate

On Wednesday March 25th our club will recieve a 15% donation of your bill if you dine at the Sandusky Applebee's from 11am to 9pm. Please print the flyer below and bring it with you when you eat. Our club will not receive the donation without this flyer. Please eat an appetizer or three with your meal, invite your friends, take a business lunch or eat lunch and dinner. You can even get a to go order! Our next fundraiser will be a donation on your Gym membership. Flyers will also be available and our weekly meetings at Noon on Tuesday's at Castaway Bay.

Erie County Save Our Homes Task Force

The Erie County Save Our Homes Task force has asked us to post the 2 hour WBGU video on Foreclosure Intervention. As foreclosures effect everyone in the community its important to get as much information out to the public as possible. Below are the 12 parts that are also available on YouTube.


Part 1



Part 2



Part 3



Part 4



Part 5



Part 6



Part 7



Part 8



Part 9



Part 10



Part 11



Part 12

Junior Achievement

Today, Tuesday February 17th, our guest speakers were Jeffrey D Bosch and Shawn Armstrong from Junior Achievement of Northwestern Ohio. The program is dedicated to educating students in local k-12 classrooms financial literacy, entrepreneurship, and work readiness.

Volunteers go into the classroom and teach 5-7 presentations on the topics. If you want to be a volunteer or want more information please contact Shawn Armstrong at 419-621-1794 or visit http://toledo.ja.org. A flyer will also be available on our main site www.sanduskykiwanis.org

A very appropriate topic considering money is the most discussed current event. Personally I have always felt the need for more of what Junior Achievement does. I may be a little biased since I work in the financial industry but too many of our kids enter the workforce with little or no financial background. Financial education is the most important thing no matter what field the student enters. Money is always involved both professionally and personally. Junior Achievement can help create the solid financial foundation for students to build a successful career and family.

Membership, Membership, Membership

At Tuesdays (Feb 10th) meeting our club discussed various options for club membership, fundraising and general club ideas. It was a great way for members of our club an non board members to discuss things that they would like see change and things that are working for the club and need to be expanded. The discussion brought up many topics that carried over to our clubs Board meeting on Feb 11th.

Division 12 & 13 Ohio District Governor Kip Crain and Becky

On Thursday February 5th our club hosted Governor Kip Crain and First Lady Becky's visit to our division and 13. Members from Clubs in Bellevue, Berlin Heights, Clyde, Fremont, Norwalk, Port Clinton, Sandusky, Tiffin, Willard, Wellington, Avon Lake, Lorain, Elyria, and East Elyria attended. Many members were honored for their service to Kiwanis and their communities including two of our own. Pat Scheid and Ed Shelly received their Legion of Honor certificates for 45 and 30 years respectively. Please take the time to congratulate them!

Committee Day

The last Tuesday of every month our club reviews different areas of need and requests within the community and internationally and disburses money. Due to the weather limiting members from attending the meeting it was a light month. This month our club donated $200 to Buckeye Boys State for the American Legion, $50 to Back to the Wild in Castalia, and $30 to St Stephens Church for some soccer balls for the Darfur Region of the Sudan. The members that attended totaled 103 hours of community service for the month as well.

Sandusky Orthopedics

On Tuesday January 20th Dr Michael Felter from Sandusky Orthopedics & Rheumatology spoke about his practice which also includes Jim Berry, Kam Wong and Thomas Olexa

Showing a slide show of the evolution of knee replacements, and how their practice was one of the first to perform knee surgery in this area, and still are the top knee practices to date.

For more information please visit their website at http://www.sanduskyortho.com/.

Sandusky Maritime Museum

A few years ago we tried taking our club outside of the normal lunch meetings and take tours of different organizations and areas of our community. On Tuesday January 13th we toured the Sandusky Maritime Museum. The director of the maritime museum Neil Allen gave us a tour and talked to us about its expansion plans. The museum is a great place to visit to learn more about our nautical history. Visit http://www.sanduskymaritime.org/ for more information.

Induction of New Members 2009

After having a two week hiatus for the holidays inducting new members into our club was a wonderful start to the new year. Please welcome Heather Gilchrist and Sara Warner to our club. During our current economic conditions more help is much appreciated in the community as the needs of its members grow. Our club continues to strive towards adding new members and coming up with creative ideas to include more of the community in our efforts.

Annual Club Christmas Party

Our annual Christmas party was held on Tuesday December 16th. Many clubs from the surrounding area joined us for a nice meal and a program from the Edison High Show Choir. As always the show was fantastic. To learn more about Edison High School and its Choir visit http://www.berlin-milan.org/schools/EHS/.

Thanks to all the neighboring clubs for joining us again!

Better Business Bureau

James Gilchrist from the Better Business Bureau was our speaker on Tuesday Dec. 9th. He spoke to us about the different functions of the BBB and also of the most common areas of fraud and how the BBB is trying to educate the public about the more sophisticated crimes being committed. The crimes are becoming more prevalent in our current economic times. To learn more about our local NW Ohio BBB visit www.bbb.org. Feel free to contact James as well at 419-578-6000. Our club learned new ways to protect ourselves from identity and financial crimes.

Where have I been?

Its has been way to long since the last update on here. There will be plenty of updates over the weekend since I have allocated some late night time with my computer at home. Stay tuned for updates from the last couple of months.