Friday, December 7, 2012

Breakfast with Santa a Success!


This year, Saint Nick flew in from the North Pole for breakfast and photos courtesy of the Kiwanis Club of East Orange County’s Breakfast with Santa event on Saturday, December 1, 2012.  Over 1,400 pancakes were served at the club’s 15th annual holiday event held in Simon’s Waterford Lakes Town Center.

In addition to visiting with Santa and enjoying pancakes, kids and families enjoyed other fun activities including school chorus and dance performances, bounce houses, face painting, games, crafts, and more.  The breakfast is hosted each year by Kiwanians as well as student club members from East Orange County's 16 service leadership clubs. 100% of the money raised will go back into those service leadership clubs in the community.  Santa and the Kiwanis Club of East Orange County look forward to returning next year at the same location on the first Saturday of December, rain or shine.

Kiwanis of East Orange County thanks the following organizations and individuals for making this event possible:  Kiwanis of Greater Orlando-Winter Park; Orange County Public Schools, including Corner Lake Middle School, Odyssey Middle School, Union Park Middle School, Arbor Ridge School, East River High School; CKI at the University of Central Florida; Orange County Sheriff’s Department; DJ Dennis; Bounce Orlando; Wal-Mart Neighborhood Market; Ashley Furniture; Business Archives; Sweet! By Holly; Home Depot; Lowe’s Home Improvement Store; Chic-Fil-A; Mark Wayne Adams; Just 1 Book; Painted by Hue; Salvation Army; Cub Scouts Pack 59.









Tuesday, November 6, 2012

October Kicked off with A Focus on Service Leadership Programs

October was a big month for a focus on our Service Leadership Programs –Key Club, Builders Club, K-Kids, and UCF CKI!  It began on the last Saturday of September where the Faculty and Kiwanis Advisors were trained on all aspects of running a Service Leadership Program.  On Saturday, October 13th, students were invited for a special Officer Training where they learned about how to be a great leader in their respective clubs.  Cypress Springs Elementary K-Kids, Odyssey Middle School Builders Club, and numerous other schools from within Division 10 were represented.  On Thursday, October 18th, advisors, students, and their families joined for the annual K-Family Dinner.  Represented that night were individuals from Cypress Springs Elementary K-Kids, Waterford Lakes Elementary K-Kids, Odyssey Middle School Builders Club, Legacy Middle School Builders Club, University High School Key Club, and CKI at UCF.  Following dinner, the group participated in an icebreaker, gained knowledge about what the “K-Family” is, and had a chance to share information about their club with the group.  It was a successful night and month of October for our Service Leadership Programs!

Sunday, September 2, 2012

EOC Kiwanis Inducts New Leaders

The Kiwanis Club of East Orange County held its Club Officer Installation Dinner on Saturday, September 1, 2012.  In the presence of great company, the 2011-2012 leadership team was retired and the 2012-2013 team was officially installed. 

Thank you to Todd Smith, incoming Division 10 Lt. Governor from the Kiwanis Club of Winter Park-Greater Orlando, for conducting the installation and providing inspiration to the new leadership team.  It was also discovered that Todd is very familiar with EOC Kiwanis club members because he was the winner of the "Guess Who?" photo guessing game.  Outgoing Lt. Governor Prairy Riehl was recognized as "Queen Prairy" for being the hardest working Lt. Governor in the District.  Also recognized as royalty that night was Outgoing Club President "King Gene" Leonard for his leadership as well as interclubbing feats.

Also during the evening, newest EOC Kiwanis club member, Heather Groeneveld was officially inducted.  Her club sponsor, Diane Carter, spoke some kind words about Heather and Gene officially inducted Heather into the club's membership.  Welcome Heather!

Gene, Brent, Jennifer (Brent's wife), Jeremy, Prairy, Jeannette, Beth, Pat & Larry (Beth's parents), Jim, Chris, Daryl, Heidi, Heather, Diane, Todd (Incoming Div. 10 Lt. Governor), and Amy (Todd's wife), Stacy, and Chris (Stacy's husband) were all in attendance at the ceremony.

Thank you to the 2011-2012 leadership team for their dedication and hard work!  The new team is excited to take the reins in October to begin the Kiwanis year.  

2011-2012 Officers & Directors
President: Gene Leonard
President-Elect: Stacy Peterson
Vice President: Sean Osmond
Secretary: Beth Paris
Treasurer: Jeannette Gabay
Past President: Prairy Riehl
Directors (2010-12): Daryl Flynn, Phyllis Murray, Tim Clark

2012-2013 Officers and Directors
President: Stacy Peterson
President-Elect: Sean Osmond
Vice President: Sharlene Dewitz
Secretary: Beth Paris
Treasurer: Jeannette Gabay
Past President: Gene Leonard
Directors (2011-13): Brent Hambly, Jeremy Ayala, LuAnn Leonard
Directors (2012-14): Jeremy Riehl, Diane Carter, Joe McKinney


Monday, August 13, 2012

District Convention Inspires EOC Kiwanians to Reach for the Rainbow!

What an amazing weekend to share with so many members of the Kiwanis Club of East Orange County as well as members from around the Florida District of Kiwanis!  The 95th Annual District Convention kicked off on Friday, August 10, 2012 with George Langguth receiving one of five Hall of Fame Awards for his amazing work with Kiwanis.  Our club also was recognized as an Honorable Mention for Club of the Year for 2010-2011.  After enjoying numerous educational workshops, Division 10 gathered at Brio for a wonderful dinner and Divisional Council Meeting hosted by Prairy Riehl. 

Hundreds of Kiwanians braved an early Saturday morning House of Delegates, where several amendments were voted on and our leadership team was elected for the 2012-2013 year.  The newly elected Florida District Officers will be:

District Governor - Allen Whetsell
District Governor-Elect - Matthew Cantrell
District Treasurer - Charles Gugliuzza
Executive Director - Melanie Winternheimer

During the close of House of Delegates, George Langguth also retired from over 25 years of service to the Florida District of Kiwanis.  His farewell speech touched everyone, and he will be greatly missed in the District.

Just 1 Book was also announced as one of the focuses of Kiwanis in 2012-2013.  Sarah Dewitz, founder of Just 1 Book, and her family attended the convention this weekend to educate Kiwanians about the project and bring inspiration to us all.


During Saturday's Board Retirement/Installation Dinner, we celebrated a great 2011-2012 Kiwanis year.  Prairy Riehl was retired as Division 10 Lieutenant Governor, and Todd Smith (Greater Orlando Kiwanis Club) was installed as the 2012-2013 Division 10 Lieutenant Governor.  We thank Prairy for being our SLP champion, and look forward to the new leadership of Todd!

The weekend concluded on Sunday morning at the Memorial Breakfast and Installation of 2012-2013 District Chairs and Foundation Board.  Brent Hambly was installed as K-Kids/Builders Club Chair and Prairy and Jeremy Riehl were installed as Focus Under 40/Long Range Planning Chairs.

The convention has inspired the Kiwanis Club of East Orange County to follow the theme of the new District Governor to "Reach for the Rainbow" and "Make Dreams Come True" in our community!

Friday, June 29, 2012

Thinking outside the box

At Kiwanis International convention in New Orleans, learning how to think outside the box. I am excited to bring this back to the club!


Monday, June 25, 2012

Kiwanians Ready to Serve in 2012-2013

Kiwanians from the East Orange County Kiwanis Club gathered on Saturday, June 23 for the 4th Annual Club Retreat.  Daryl Flynn hosted the event at her beautiful home on Lake Jessup.  Members held discussions regarding topics such as service, fundraising, and membership.  The day was concluded with a delightful meal, relaxation on the dock out on the lake, and even airboat rides (courtesy of Daryl's husband Jim)!  The membership of the EOC Kiwanis Club looks forward to a very successful 2012-2013.





Saturday, May 12, 2012

EOC Kiwanis at Key Club convention

George, Anne, Prairy, Jeremy, Brent and Sharlene attended the Florida Key Club convention in Orlando.


Thousands of High Schoolers come together for Key Club convention in Orlando

Thousands of students from hundreds of high school Key Clubs across Florida came together this weekend to exchange ideas, share fellowship, and celebrate success.


Sunday, April 29, 2012

5k for the Kids

Beautiful day for a run at the Kiwanid family 5K for the kids. All the money will go to the kids in East Orange county.


Sunday, April 8, 2012

Easter Egg Hunt at the Coalition for the Homeless

Eighteen Kiwanians gathered to bring Easter joys to over 60 kids at the coalition for the homeless. Not only did they get goodie bags and a fun egg hunt, but they also got to meet the Easter bunny. Thanks to the Citrus Kiwanis Club, the kids also received toothbrushes to recover from the candy. What a perfect day!


Saturday, March 24, 2012

Preparing tomorrow's trainers

Prairy and Jeremy Riehl traveled with the club bear (Eock) to the Florida Kiwanis District Office where they and volunteers from across the state were trained to be Club Leadership Education (CLE) instructors. They will pass this knowledge along to the incoming Presidents and Secretaries of Divisions 7 and 10 on June 9th and 16th, 2012.


Saturday, March 10, 2012

Tim turns 40!

A second generation EOC Kiwanis member turns 40 today. Happy Birthday Tim!




Thursday, February 16, 2012

Interclub with Oviedo Winter Springs

The Kiwanis bear joined us again this morning at a meeting. He is still unnamed at this point...any suggestions?


Saturday, January 28, 2012

"Kids Against Hunger" Meal Packaging Party and BBQ Social

The Kiwanis Club of East Orange County teamed up with over 100 young service-minded citizens to package nearly 4,000 meals for the children of Orange County Public Schools on Saturday, January 28th, 2012.  To do so, EOC Kiwanis partnered with "Kids Against Hunger", whose mission is to significantly reduce the number of hungry children in the USA and to feed starving children throughout the world. The organization’s approach to achieving its goal - the eradication of world hunger - includes the packaging of a highly nutritious, vitamin-fortified soy-rice casserole by volunteers at numerous locations within the USA and Canada, and the distribution of those meals to starving children and their families in over 60 countries through partnerships with humanitarian organizations worldwide. In 2009 alone, volunteers at Kids Against Hunger’s food packaging centers across the USA packaged over 48 million meals for children and their families around the world and around the corner.

EOC Kiwanis chose to donate our meals locally to food pantries through Orange County Public Schools.  Over 100 volunteers travelled to Fort Christmas Historical Park to participate in the packaging of the meals and a barbeque social, which was enjoyed by all.  Among the volunteers were Just 1 Book, UCF Circle K International, the UCF Delta Zeta Sorority, the Citrus Kiwanis Club, the Wildkat Aktion Club, the Legacy Middle School Builders Club, the Waterford Elementary School K-Kids, the East River High School BETA Club, National Honor Society, Varsity Softball, JV Boys Soccer, and many others. Over 3,900 meals were packaged in all, and thanks to our efforts, many local children will not go hungry on nights and weekends!


Several photos of the event can be found below:







Additional photos can be found on our EOC Kiwanis Facebook page:  http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.334361869929959.85121.194147617284719&type=3

Friday, January 13, 2012

EOC Kiwanis Interclubs with Wildkat Aktion Club

Five members of the Kiwanis Club of East Orange County (Gene, LuAnn, Beth, Stacy, and Brent) visited the Wildkat Aktion Club on Thursday, 1/12 to help them plan their upcoming fundraiser and make valentines for their sweethearts.  Aktion Club is a special kind a Kiwanis club - for special individuals.  The Wildkat Aktion Club meets at the Down Syndrome Association of Central Florida, and the Wildkat membership consists of high-functioning young adults with Down Syndrome.  They are a lively group who inspires all of us to be the best that we can - and that even the greatest of obstacles can be overcome.  We even got to see Peter (one of the Wildkats) get back together with his girlfriend Britney - it was a very touching moment.

Photos from the event are below:








The Wildkats will be joining us at the "Kids Against Hunger" Meal Packaging Project and BBQ Social at Ft. Christmas on 1/28.  We'll also keep our EOC Kiwanis membership posted when we schedule our next Interclub with the Wildkats!