fellowship opportunities on the district and international levels. You will even have the possible chance of demonstrating leadership in the club by helping plan or setup for certain events throughout the year. If any of you have a strong passion for service, leadership, and / or fellowship, this organization is made for you. As college student, you will quickly learn that Circle K’ers have a great amount of love for each other and for humanity as our organization fosters a love for all people. I hope that this contagious desire to help others will infect each of you and get you excited about the many service opportunities that Volume 1 Issue 1 August 2009 Official Newsletter of the Louisiana-Mississippi-West Tennessee District of Circle K International Governor’s Greetings Hello, wonderful members of the Louisiana- Mississippi-West Tennessee District of Circle K International. I am truly very excited about this upcoming year as I am equally interested in meeting many or all of you new potential members at various district and international events throughout the year. All of you will have an opportunity to meet many of our current members at these events which include our fall training conference called T.I.O.G.A., our winter fellowship conference called Y’ALL, our District Convention, and our International Convention. As a member of Circle K, you will the opportunity to become involved in numerous service opportunities in the Monroe area as well as a number of Live to Serve, Love to In this issue! Gov’s Greetings. .1 ICON and LSSP....2 Summer Rally.....3 Ldrship. Academy. 4 T.I.O.G.A........4 DCON.............4 Live to Serve, Love to Serve. Circle K International is a sponsored youth program of Kiwanis International, the world’s largest community service organization. The Korrespondent “What lies behind us and what lies before us are tiny matters compared to what lies within us.”
Transcript
that await you with this school year. If any of you know anyone interested in joining this organization, please encourage them to join Circle K while explaining to them its three tenets, our service initiatives, and basic educational information about the organization. My fellow district board officers and I will also be happy to inform them about all for which Circle K stands, the tiers of the organization, and the many fun and rewarding opportunities that await them this year should they choose to join this fantastic organization. You and they will also have the chance to ask us as many questions as you wish, and we will be more than happy to answer them. See the back page for our contact information.
Yours in service,Edgar R. MeyerDistrict Governor
Volume 1 Issue 1 August 2009
Official Newsletter of the Louisiana-Mississippi-West Tennessee District of Circle K International
Governor’s Greetings Hello, wonderful members of the Louisiana-Mississippi-West Tennessee District of Circle K International. I am truly very excited about this upcoming year as I am equally interested in meeting many or all of you new potential members at various district and international events throughout the year. All of you will have an opportunity to meet many of our current members at these events which include our fall training conference called T.I.O.G.A., our winter fellowship conference called Y’ALL, our District Convention, and our International Convention. As a member of Circle K, you will the opportunity to become involved in numerous service opportunities in the Monroe area as well as a number of fellowship opportunities on the district and international levels. You will even have the possible chance of demonstrating leadership in the club by helping plan or setup for certain events throughout the year. If any of you have a strong passion for service, leadership, and / or fellowship, this organization is made for you. As college student, you will quickly learn that Circle K’ers have a great amount of love for each other and for humanity as our organization fosters a love for all people. I hope that this contagious desire to help others will infect each of you and get you excited about the many service opportunities
Live to Serve, Love to Serve.
In this issue!Gov’s Greetings........1
ICON and LSSP.........2
Summer Rally...........3
Ldrship. Academy.....4
T.I.O.G.A...................4
DCON.......................4
District Board...........4
Live to Serve, Love to Serve.
Circle K International is a sponsored youth program of Kiwanis International, the world’s largest community service organization.
The Korrespondent
“What lies behind us and what lies before us are tiny matters compared to what lies within us.”
2 The Louisiana-Mississippi-West Tennesse District
I am excited to report yet another successful Circle K International Convention. This year, the annual convention brought us to Birmingham, Alabama, at the Sheraton Hotel August 5 - 8, 2009. This year's convention offered many fun workshops, Certified Leadership Training, a chance to step up as a leader by voting on the eight proposed amendments in the House of Delegates, a service fair to present your district project as well as see other district projects, several service opportunities such as the Blood Drive and the Better World Books Drive, and much more. While the International Convention (ICON) has traditionally had its purpose rooted in the tenet of leadership for Circle K International, this year, our district members saw that the tenet of service is taking a stronger hold on the annual event due to a larger number of service projects in which members can participate. However, an even stronger emphasis on service is always found at the annual Large Scale
Service Project (LSSP) which was also in Birmingham this year August 1 - 4, 2009. At this event, Circle K'ers have the opportunity to devote three whole days to service, and at this ninth annual LSSP, the members who attend spent their time and effort building a house for Habitat for Humanity and lending a helping hand at the Birmingham Zoological Park and several other non-profit service organizations such as Greater Birmingham Ministries. But don't let all of this talk of service and leadership fool you into believing that such is all that ICON and LSSP have to offer because they also give Circle K'ers the true meaning of fellowship as many members across the country and from other countries come together and help make a difference in the world. While growing together in service-oriented leadership, they too grow together in friendship and love for each other as they share many fun experiences and many enthralling conversations. I cannot wait to see many or even all of you there
The Louisiana-Mississippi-West Tennessee District3
We kicked off the weekend of July 10 - 12 with our first district event, our annual Summer Rally. This year's rally was hosted by the Circle K Club of Millsaps College, and we were excited to be having members from other clubs within our district as well as from clubs in another district, the Texas-Oklahoma District, participate in the weekend activities. The opening sessions generally include fun icebreakers to allow the members to get to know each other better. This year, we opened with a dinner, and the following day included two great service projects, a morning project for the Blair E. Batson Hospital for Children and an afternoon project with Habitat for Humanity. Our morning project provided a time for us Circle K’ers to share ideas for service projects as well as our goals for the year, and the afternoon project gave us an opportunity to get our hands and clothes dirty as we helped construct a house for a family in need. The Saturday also incorporated lunch at the Ross Barnett Reservoir and other great meals from local restaurants. Finally, Saturday night found us in a closing session in which we discussed the Tomorrow Fund Campaign and reflected on the weekend experiences. The Tomorrow Fund, which could promise continued Kiwanis support for the Louisiana-Mississippi-West Tennessee District of Circle K International is discussed in further detail in the provided letter.
In K-Family service and love,Edgar R. Meyer
La-Miss-Tenn Summer Rally 2009
“I don’t know what your destiny will be, but one thing I do know: the only ones among you who will be happy are those who have sought and found how to serve.”
"Do all the good you can,
By all the means you can,
In all the ways you can,
In all the places you can,
At all the times you can,
To all the people you can
As long as ever you can."
— John Wesley
“Only a life lived for others is a life worthwhile.”
— Albert
“The best way to find yourself is to lose yourself in the service of others.”
challenged by the staff members who consisted of Kiwanians--all under the leadership of Erin Fischer, the Director of Circle K International. It is hard to say which part of Leadership Academy was the best. Everything from the workshops to the Ropes course to the guest speakers to the neighborhood sessions to the skits to the presentations to the films to the dancing to the food was amazing. Hanna and I also had the chance to participate in one of a number of service projects; the project in which we committed our efforts was the uprooting and replanting of trees, trees which will hopefully take root in their new homes and grow even larger for future Circle K Leadership Academy attendees to behold. Nevertheless, Hanna and I felt what truly made the week spectacular was the people. Having been in Circle K for the past three years, I have met
Each of these events incorporate fun ice breakers, workshops, and service projects, allowing members to learn more about the organization and its three main tenets of service, leadership, and fellowship. The District Convention (DCON) also allows members the opportunity to represent their
For further information, please feel free to check out our district website at lmtcirclek.org or the international website at circlek.org.4 The Louisiana-Mississippi-West Tennessee District
Have any of you ever heard the expression "high on life"? Well, I am sure most of you have. I guess what I should ask is the following: Have any of you ever experienced what it feels like to be "high on life"?. If the answer is no, then I would say that Leadership Academy is the experience for you. May 15 - 20 of this summer, then Lieutenant Governor Hanna Olivier and I had the wonderful opportunity of attending the Circle K International Leadership Academy at the Waycross Camp in Morgantown, Indiana, about an hour outside of Indianapolis. For a week, Hanna and I, basically cut off from civilization, spent our time, energy, and enthusiasm meeting Circle K'ers from across the country, Canada, and Jamaica. At the same time, we all grew together in our understanding and motivation of leadership as we were
some truly amazing people. And having associated myself with them, I have learned that all my efforts toward growth and in leadership are not what are most important and most meaningful. But what is most important is realizing that everyone around you is so much more wonderful, courageous, service-oriented, organized, respectable, and downright genuine than you that you are honored to have been given the privilege of having known and met such wonderful people. At Leadership Academy, you truly see how people do become better servant-leaders as they work together to accomplish certain tasks, whether they be group presentations, skits, or games in the Ropes course. Either way, the activities are
T.I.O.G.A. &District Convention 2010 Two upcoming district events for the year include our fall training conference known as T.I.O.G.A. which will be held October 2 – 4, 2009, in Tioga, Louisiana, at the Kiwanis Camp and our district Convention which will be held March 12 – 14, 2009, in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, at a local hotel.
