Kiwanis holds Church Brunch on April 28, 2013

Members of Chatham-Madison Kiwanis attended Ogden Memorial Church services on April 28, 2013. Afterward, they enjoyed Sunday Brunch at Winberies’s in Summit, NJ.

 

Kiwanis April 23 Meeting Program: Rafael Miranda told members how to run their computers free and how to back up their data.

Rafael Miranda (right in photo) of LFC Consulting, Inc. is a highly trained and experienced Computer Consultant. He spoke to Kiwanis at the April 23, 2013 breakfast meeting held at Charlie Brown’s in Chatham. His company serves the NJ & NY area.

Rafael gave an overview of his background and how his career has grown over the past 25 years. He services Windows and Apple users; however, his remarks were focused on Windows PCs and how to use free software and internet connections. Also he discussed backing up data.

His recommendation for antivirus software is “Microsoft Security Essentials” and “AVG Free antivirus”, both free products are downloadable over the internet.  He recommended looking for information and products on Google but not going to the “sponsored sites” which often give no value and can cost you money.

He also recommended free OpenOffice.org software for general word processing, spread sheets, etc. Software at this site will open and save MS-Office files.

Rafael recommends going to public businesses like McDonalds and using their free WiFi service for connecting to the internet. (Many public libraries also provide this service.)

He reviewed the advantages and disadvantages of types of data backup: external hard drives, thumb (flash) drives and online backups. He advised those who use external hard drives to make every other backup on a different drive (have two of them) and store them in different physical location. That way, the data won’t be lost in case of a fire or other natural disaster.

People have differing needs for computer services so he advised people to contact him for answers to their unique questions. His website is www.LFCSupport.com

The audience enthusiastically applauded Rafael’s informative and helpful presentation.

Kiwanis April 23 Meeting Announcements

Karen Swartz will hold a benevolence meeting immediately following today’s breakfast meeting. John Eyre reported on last Saturday’s Simon Show and he called a meeting to discuss plans for next year’s event. Joan May reminded everyone about May Day in Madison on May 4 at Cole Park. Nancy Boucher asked everyone to contribute to Skip-a-Meal at next week’s meeting. Gary Arnesen announced that Chatham cleanups are scheduled for June 15 at Ogden St. and June 13th at Shepard Kollock Park. Meet at both places at 8:00 AM. Sign up at next week’s breakfast meeting. Marge Ahrens reminded everyone about the Church Brunch at Wineberies in Summit next Saturday at 11:30 AM. Please attend the Ogden Memorial 10:00 AM service.

Kiwanis Simon Show 2013 a HUGE SUCCESS

Famous magician Simon Mandal presented an hour of hilarious family entertainment on Saturday, April 20, 2013 at the Chatham United Methodist Church. Sponsored by Chatham-Madison Kiwanis Club, this delightful show mystified and delight children 4 and up, and adults. The show combined dazzling magic with hilarious family-friendly comedy. Proceeds benefited community youth activities and scholarships. Please visit website http://thesimonshow.com/

 

Pat Davidson, Rich Behling and John Eyre pose for a photo after the very successful show. John led the committee, which included Pat and Rich plus several other Kiwanians.

 

 

Kiwanis April 16 Program: Mary Keselica spoke on the "Town and Country Garden Club of the Chathams"

Marty Sechehay (right in photo) introduced Mary Keselica (left) of “Town and Country Garden Club of the Chathams” at the April 16 Kiwanis breakfast meeting at Charlie Brown’s in Chatham. She gave an overview of the club, its history, how it is involved in civic beautification in Chatham, and other gardening activities.  She noted that the club worked with Kiwanis to plant six cherry trees behind the Chatham Township High School in 1964.

The club started in 1952. One of the founding members was Sally Vaughan, mother of the former Mayor Nelson Vaughan. Eighteen women with a common interest in gardening and the environment got together and spent most of the first year focusing on flower arrangement. Then they worked with the schools to create a junior garden club and worked with Girl Scouts and Cub Scouts. They are interested in the environment and participated in the work to save the Great Swamp from becoming a jetport. Flower arrangements were made for local convalescent homes. Early on, their club joined the Garden Club of New Jersey.

In the 1960’s there were almost a dozen garden clubs in the Chathams and there was a Garden Council which coordinated the work everyone was doing around town, including an anti-litter campaign.

Town and Country designed and installed landscaping for the land around the little red schoolhouse. The Chatham Women’s Club recently provided a grant to permit the Town and Country Garden Club to update the landscaping, which has been ravaged over the years by deer.

In recent years they have maintained planters holding flowers on Main Street. They went to the Chatham Council to ask that a cleanup be done in Chatham and that led to the April 20, 2013 Chatham Spring Clean day. The club will spruce up the memorial in front of the Chatham Library this year and Rotary Park next year.

They decorate the little red schoolhouse for Christmas every year. They take floral arrangements to the VA Hospital in Lyons four times a year. They maintain the large planters in front of the Senior Center. They decorate the Chatham Library Christmas tree and the little one in the Children’s Room. They support the Raptor Trust every year with plantings and donated items. They participated in the Community Garden under the power lines in Chatham and will continue as it moves to a new site. Funds and grants are needed to support their many projects.

Today, they are a club of about 30 members who meet at the little red schoolhouse for lunch, desert and a program. Guests are invited to join them on the second Wednesday of the month - September through June (please let a member know you are coming). Mary offered to work with Kiwanis on another project.

Kiwanis members and guests enthusiastically applauded Mary’s interesting presentation about the Town and Country Garden Club of the Chathams. See Chatham Patch article for more info: http://chatham.patch.com/articles/garden-club-spruces-up-borough-planters

Announcements: Kiwanis April 16 Meeting

Karen Swartz announced that the LEDR – Leadership Excellence project was elected to receive the Kiwanis Community Service Award to be made at the May 7 Recognition Reception. She reminded Kiwanians to vote in the School Board election on April 16. Karen also announced that CHS Key Club will hold their 10:40 AM monthly planning meeting on Wednesday, April 17. John reminded everyone about the 10:00 AM Simon Show on Saturday, April 20. More help is needed so volunteers are needed. Joan reminded everyone to help clean up Cole Park in Madison on May 4 as part of May Day in Madison. Also, Dick Plambeck reminded everyone about Stanley Park cleanup on April 20, part of the Chatham Spring Clean. Sharon Johnson reminded members that the Stanley Park picnic is on May 14 at noon. Marge Ahrens announced the Annual Kiwanis Church Service and Brunch will be on April 28. Service will be at 10:00 AM at Ogden Memorial Church in Chatham and brunch will be at Winberies in Summit at 11:30.

Kiwanis April 9 Meeting Program: Elliot Knight and Kit Cone gave an overview of the “Grace Church Recycling Ministry”

Elliot Knight (left in photo) and Kit Cone (right) were introduced by Nancy Boucher. They gave Kiwanis an overview of the “Grace Church Recycling Ministry” at the April 9th Kiwanis luncheon meeting. They organized the program about 12 years ago.

They collect furniture and other items from people who don’t need it anymore and deliver it free to people in need who are coming out of group housing. Kit took this on after he retired from a 46-year job as a Lutheran missionary in Liberia. Elliot joined with Kit to form an organization dedicated to help people who have no money and desperately need their assistance.

Clients are referred to them by a certified social or government agency.  They have a 13 year old truck named Bruno which they drive around picking up and delivering furniture.  Items are temporarily stored in their garages. Many clients have no furniture and first want a bed to sleep on.
The Recycling Ministry is affiliated with Grace Episcopal Church in Madison and St. John’s Episcopal Church in Dover.

After the presentation, members of Kiwanis applauded this inspiring effort which is helping many people. To learn more, please visit the website: www.recyclingministry.org

Announcements: Kiwanis April 9 Meeting

The April board meeting will be held next week after the breakfast meeting. Karen Swartz passed out ballots for the Kiwanis Community Service Award to be presented at the May 7 Awards Reception. An increased contribution will be given to the Interfaith Food Pantry as a regular benevolence. Signup sheets were passed around for the May Day in Madison cleanup of Cole Park. Also everyone was reminded about the April 20 Simon Show. April 20th is also the Chatham Cleanup Day – come to Stanley Park to spruce it up for the Kiwanis Stanley Park picnic, which will be held May 14 at noon.  The Kiwanis church attendance and brunch event will be held on April 28, with the 10:00 AM worship service at Ogden Memorial Church in Chatham followed by an11:30 AM delicious brunch at Winberie’s in Summit.  The Madison Little League parade is at 12:00 AM on April 20.

Kiwanis April 2 Luncheon Meeting Program: "Emergency Preparedness in Chatham Borough" by Bruce Harris, Chatham Borough Mayor.

Dick Plambeck (left), former President of Kiwanis, introduced Bruce Harris (right), Chatham Borough Mayor. Bruce spoke about “Emergency Preparedness in Chatham Borough”.

Given the issues related to the recent storms, the Borough has taken the initiative to prepare for future emergencies. Steps are being taken to provide back-up electric power and to more quickly repair damage. Also, an Emergency Notification System has been implemented to promptly deliver information to citizens when it is available. Bruce gave a demo of the on-line system. To learn more, please visit the Chatham Borough website, http://www.chathamborough.org/chatham/

Members of the audience enthusiastically applauded the informative talk and the progress made by the Borough toward withstanding future emergencies.

Christie Sedita joins Kiwanis

At the April 2 meeting, Christie Sedita became a member of Kiwanis. See photo of Joan May (left), President of Chatham-Madison Kiwanis, Christie Sedita (center), Branch Manager of the Chatham Peapack-Gladstone Bank and Valerie Olpp (right), Assistant Treasurer of Kiwanis. Valerie sponsored Christie for membership into Kiwanis.

Chatham-Madison Kiwanis Interclub at Parsippany Wine Tasting

This happy group from Chatham-Madison Kiwanis Club had a great time and supported the Kiwanis ELIMINATE Project to help stamp out Neonatal Tetanus by attending the Parsippany Kiwanis wine tasting event on April 1, 2013.