Program: Celina Baquiran, NJ District Key Club Lieutenant Governor for Division 14 spoke at the August 9 meeting

Celina Baquiran, introduced by Key Club advisor Karen Swartz, is the NJ District Division 14 Lieutenant Governor. She attended the 2011 Key Club National Convention held in Phoenix, AZ. The photo shows Karen holding the NJ District T-Shirt and Celina is holding the badges she collected from other International and National Key Club Districts. She thanked the club for helping send her to the convention, where she learned much more about the workings of Key Club.

Before the convention officially started, the Celina had a chance to tour northern Arizona places like the Grand Canyon, Flagstaff and Sedona.  Celina reported on preliminary bus tour followed by the daily events at the convention.

Dressed for a cool airplane and airport, it was a shock for her to walk into 110+ temperatures in Phoenix. Following a 3-hour bus ride to the Grand Canyon, she and the others went to view the beautiful sunset. She left the hotel the next morning at 4:30 AM to go see the sunrise and found that the temperature was a cold 45 at the Grand Canyon during sunrise. From there the bus went to Flagstaff, Sedona and then to the official hotel in Phoenix.

There was opportunity to meet other Key Club members during free time in the pool and while walking to the Mall. She was particularly impressed by the California-Nevada-Hawaii District.  Members of that district are spirited, wear black and yellow outfits and have a special Cheer. She passed around photos taken at the convention.

The “Meet and Greet” session was held on Wednesday. Everyone wore their District T-shirts and pins. Pins were exchanged. Fund-raisers and other activities were on the schedule. An ice-breaker was a huge “Twister” mat. At the opening session, Amy Meisner of the NJ District sang the National Anthem. Nominations were made for International President, Vice President and Trustees. Caucusing was held after lunch. Jared Greene from Tenafly, NJ was running for International Trustee and he made it past the first round. Celina attended the ELIMINATE workshop and the “Keys to Meaningful Service and Great Service Projects” workshop. She also participated in the candle-lit “ELIMINATE Charity-Walk”. The first day ended with a dance.

On the second day, there were more workshops and a “Service Fair”, where Districts could do things. NJ had a booth where they raised $80 for the ELIMINATE project.  Then there was more caucusing – NJ delegates lobbied for election of Jared Greene. Next was the recognition session. NJ District won many awards (click here to go the NJ website and read about the awards).

The next morning there were more workshops and Celina attended the Lieutenant Governor workshop. She also attended a workshop presented by NJ District on “How to Hold a Benefit Concert”. It was based on last year’s successful chain of “Generosity Rocks” concerts. The workshop drew a huge attendance with people sitting on the floor when all chairs were filled.

Next on the schedule was the “House of Delegates” meeting followed by election of officers and voting on amendments. Jared Greene was elected as one of the eleven Trustees. The 2012 convention will be held in Orlando, FL.

Celina said that she will try to get members of Division 14 more involved in the activities of Key Club. Members of Kiwanis loudly applauded the fine presentation made by Celina.

Kiwanis January 25 Meeting Announcements

Nancy Boucher reminded members to sell Wines from Around the World Wine-Tasting tickets, which are available from Mary Anne Maloney. She also has post cards which members can use to invite their friends to the February 24 party. Nancy will distribute postcards to New Jersey Kiwanians at the January 29 Mid-Winter Conference.


Mary Anne Maloney hands Wine-Tasting Tickets to Doug Bryant as Nancy Boucher looks on.

Alan Robertson handed out Fish and Chips Dinner placemat ad bills to members. He also asked members to suggest businesses who might be advertisers.

Dick Plambeck said that he will not be going to the Kiwanis International Convention and asked for a volunteer to attend the Geneva, Switzerland event.

Valerie Olpp passed around a sign-up sheet for the Valentine Luncheon to be held on February 8. The served meal will include a choice of entrées: prime rib, chicken, pasta, etc.

Nurse Joan Knecht Presented Earthquake “Haiti Reflections - 2010”

Mary introduced our speaker Joan Knecht, a former professor of nursing at the County College of Morris. She made a trip in February, 2010 to Haiti as a volunteer with “Foundation for Peace”, a not-for-profit organization founded in 2002 to work with people in impoverished areas of Dominican Republic, Haiti and Kenya. While a nursing student in Cornell she had Margaret Mead as a teacher and she developed an interest in cultures.

Joan volunteers extensively with several organizations as a surgical nurse. After the earthquake in Haiti, she considered joining several alternative volunteer organizations and then chose to go with “Foundation for Peace”. She payed her own travel expense and carried 100 pounds of urgently needed medical supplies with her on the trip. The team flew into Santo Domingo and went by bus to Jimani Viejo, located in the Dominican Republic near the boarder with Haiti.

Joan had worked for 22 years in ER at Morristown so she was assigned to treat the most critical patients. Joan served injured people in Good Samaritan Hospital, a facility which was actually in the Dominican Republic. She showed us a YouTube video, “Hands for Haiti”, covering activities at the site shortly before she arrived. The remainder of her presentation included stories illustrated with many fine photographs showing the spirit and determination of the seriously injured people. During her stay, she crossed the boarder to visit a refugee camp in Haiti. The team of volunteer nurses and supporting workers did an outstanding job and “Foundation for Peace” deserves thanks and support.

Joan recommended that we read “Mountains beyond Mountains” by Tracy Kidder to learn more about the work of Dr. Paul Farmer and “Partners in Health” to learn more about helping Haiti.

Photo: At the end of the presentation, President Rich gave our speaker our traditional Kiwanis pen.