There were a couple of events this week besides the weekly meeting. As the meeting had no speaker this time, there will be a short version of reports and then coverage of the two events.

 

For this week's meeting guests, we had Kaycee White who came with Glen and Jessica Rodriguez whom Jesse recruited from the Chamber Business Expo.

 

We celebrated September birthdays for McBride Wilson, Emily Sousa and Sandi Ellen and the anniversary of Kristin and James. Kelli brought her fantastic banana pudding for the dessert!

 

The Board approved Jessica for membership at the Sept. 18th board meeting. Her induction will be at our next meeting on Sept.25th. Jessica has a very dynamic and enthusiastic personality. She is originally from Pennsylvania but has fallen in love with the San Marcos area. She holds a degree in Political Science from St. Peter's University. One of the most exciting things, though, is she can drive a tractor and a zero turn mower! She will be a great volunteer for camp maintenance days. Welcome to the club, Jessica!

 

Penny has been hard at work organizing and finalizing details and decor for the Installation Banquet on Sept. 19th.  More to come in this newsletter.

 

Rick said Susie is doing an "awesome" job organizing the Great Pumpkin Dash with her committee's help. This will be our first major event in the new fiscal year.

 

Another plea is going out for a volunteer to set up weekly programs for the new year. Kristin did a wonderful job of it for this current year. She brought in a wide variety of entertaining and informative speakers. Lon suggested we try to get more business oriented speakers in addition to the community service organizations we usually have. It would help the businesses have more exposure; help members with finding a business they might need to use; and those businesses may give to the community in ways we are not aware. 

 

The Board approved the following:

1) Community Support - $300 to the San Marcos Art League for Art Scared.

2) Replacing the Kiwanis sign on Hwy. 123 with a reflective paint sign - $500 allocated

 

 

 

After the regular Thursday meeting, Cheryl, Rick, Penny and Jennifer helped out at School Fuel starting at 5:00 pm. That was a fast paced assembly line for bagging snacks and cereal for kids. The Rotary Club and Lion's Club were also represented there. It was "Celebrate Community Week" with quite a few volunteers from many organizations. Great fun.

 

 

 

Pictured above are Rick Pickering, Jesse Ramos, Chester Banks, Penny Slavik, Luanne Johns, Willie Garza, Kristi Dame, Lon Shell and Jennifer Richmond. Rick awarded all of these members with the "Service Excellence" award. It would make for a very long newsletter to report what each award winner acoomplished. Suffice to say they all contributed greatly to successful fundraisers, service projects and events. There were several members who are also receiving this award but were not in attendance. They will receive theirs at a regular meeting. Susie will also be receivng an award as soon as she can make it to a meeting. I will not say what it is although someone may already have let her know. Jesse and Kristi both received "Kiwanian of the Year" awards. They both very much deserved this award due to their extensive volunteer work. Jesse also received the Ruby Award from Kiwanis International for bringing in five new members.

 

There were twelve Perfect Attendance awards passed out.

 

Moe Johnson received the certificate for "Kiwanis Legion of Honor" for his 50 years of membership. In his capacity as a past Lieutenant Governor, he did the honors of installing the new President Jennifer Richmond and new Secretary Penny Slavik. Moe's comments about his history with Kiwanis, especially with how he attained some of his positions as President multiple times and as Lt. Gov. were really fun stories. Willie will serve another year as Treasurer and Rick will serve as Past President. Board members for 2025/2026 are Glen Rydl, Susie Hernandez, Cheryl Petre, Vanessa Westbrook, and Veronica Medina.

 

Penny and Kelli did an excellent job putting the banquet together. Members and Penny's daughter helped with set up and serving the food which included the thickest pork chops I have ever seen. The meal was catered by San Marcos BBQ. There was a wonderful assortment of desserts brought by several members. It was a very successful Installation banquet to close a very successful year. Good food, good camaraderie and lots of laughs. 

 

Rick did a great job with giving out the awards and having a slide show of our accomplishments for the year. Jennifer gave him a plaque that read "In recognition of your outstanding dedication and excellent service to San Marcos Kiwanis Club." He continued his dedication and service all the way through the banquet and I am sure is not through yet.

 

Sept. 25: San Marcos Public Library

 

There are none for the rest of September.

 

They always lighten the mood."

 

"Why did the volunteer go to the moon?

To help others reach for the stars."