Nuevo Club wins K.I. Convention OK of electronic voting
Congratulations to Lon Lawenz, current present, and Frank Schmuck, past president, of the Kiwanis Nuevo Club of Tempe in their success in developing a bylaw change to Kiwanis International rules and then shepherding it through to adoption by the delegates last week at the 93rd annual Kiwanis Convention in Orlando, Fla. That is no small feat. It gives Kiwanis clubs the freedom to let its member vote for club officers by not only paper ballot but electronically. Members who cannot be on hand on election day can also participate in the process. It was "Amendment 5 - Electronic Balloting Option for Club Elections." It was amended and approved in this language. "Kiwanis clubs may make available to each member in good standing the option to vote electronically or by paper ballot for annual club officer elections." That was a slight variation on the Nuevo proposal: "Kiwanis clubs may make available to members in good standing, as defined by the club, secure electronic website voting in place of paper balloting for annual club elections." Nuevo put together a first-class, glossy, four-page promotional piece "Your vote means the World to Kiwanis ... and to us!" with supportive statements from Steve Siemens, 2005-2006 present, current SW District Gov. Herb Hayde, Susie Schuck, Nuevo president-elect and Frank Schmuck. They noted that a Nuevo study found that in a Beta test, 33 percent more of the club’s members voted for club members using electronic means compared to just paper ballots. It cited that Kiwanis Clubs have so many busy, traveling members with valid reasons to be gone on election day, but should not be shut out from voting and shaping their club’s future leadership. On Thursday, Frank and Lon came to thank KCOT for its early support for amendment. At the convention, delegate approved an option for Kiwanis Club to elect their officers for two-terms, compared to one year now. At the same time, lieutenant governors can be elected for two years, as can district officers. Nine amendments were dealt with including some that were withdrawn. One of two resolutions OK’d was one about inclusiveness. It read: "Resolution 1 - Celebrating and Fostering Diversity" Action: Approved as amended to read: "Celebrating and Fostering Inclusiveness:" "Therefore, be it resolved that the delegates assembled at the 2008 International Convention in Orlando, Florida, and all Kiwanis leaders and members to take action to create a culture and club environment that develops and nurtures mutual respect for all and celebrates the inclusiveness of our beloved Kiwanis." As a sidelight to the convention, Immediate Past Southwest District Governor Jim Jennings of Green Valley, AZ, was one of five people elected International Trustees for three-year terms. The 5,500 Kiwanis delegates chose Don Canaday, of Fishers, Ind., as International President-Designate, Paul Palazzolo, of Springfield, Ill., as President-Elect-Designate, and Sylvester Neal, of Auburn, Wash., as Vice President-Designate.

Time out! It’s July
I welcome July -- even more so as I get older. Despite its brutal heat, it has a nature we can live with, if done responsibly and in measured ways. July is a time when even the most gung-ho meeting hawks relent and say, "Let’s not meet in July." When moments come on those nights or days when those meetings would have taken place, it’s a gift of time to stay home. So July is a wonderful time to have a string of nights at home without obligations or other places to be. The phone rings less, the dog sleeps more, the catalogs in the mailbox are few. So much of the rush is gone because so many folks are gone, too. The late afternoon sunset casts its light from so far to the northwest that the shadows and glows through windows at such oblique angles make you stop to take notice. Sam Keen has said, "Deep summer is when laziness finds respectability." July is so great because it sends so many co-workers and bosses off to ocean sides and mountains for vacation, and it becomes a vacation for you to have them gone. July portends monsoons and the occasional deluges the can be built by rolling dust storms, then winds and gushing rains that take temperatures down dramatically, and cause occasional power outages. Brief street flooding is exciting and gives hope for more rains. They can turn dry, woeful lawns to vibrant green in days. For an hour after the night rains, the air is filled with alarms and detectors beeping incessantly from being triggered by storms. While few here would choose July above other months, we can still enjoy its midyear place of honor because of how it dominates summer, how it bridges two other busier months, one for readying for summer and the other for recovery from summer, what with school and all. Yet there is a certain dread in July - awareness that it will be gone. Back in the Midwest as a kid, I braced for the first cold gust of wind out of the grove in August - the promise of what lay ahead to put us back in the reality of struggle against the elements, the start of school, the death of the vegetable garden. Carefree days gone. Go slowly July with your fireworks and back-to-school specials and the compulsion by some to bring people together. No, there isn’t time for loneliness in July. There are only great movies to see, a tower of books begging to be read and the McLaughlin Group on Friday nights. July is for self-indulgence. --Lawn Griffiths

READ TO EXCEED STARTING NEW YEAR
Well, it is time to start year two for this great program. I need YOUR help. I have listed below the dates and times I need help to read to the children and give them books. Please email by reply and let me know which dates you can fill. Don't be afraid to take several. This is such a worthwhile cause and the children really appreciate what you do for them! (Note some of these dates have been taken since the e-mail first went out from Robert on June 29.