hi camp, i've missed you!

On Saturday, I returned to what we, in the Wisconsin-Upper Michigan Kiwanis family, refer to as "one of the happiest places on earth" - Camp Wawbeek in Wisconsin Dells. 

Camp Wawbeek is an Easter Seals camp designed for children and adults with physical, developmental and cognitive disabilities.  I first because acquainted with Camp (as it is affectionately called) as a college sophomore and a member of the Marquette CKI club.  CKI attends Camp every fall and spring to close the camp for winter and open it for summer, respectively, by performing various projects from cutting wood to cleaning out the pool to raking leaves to....well, you get the idea.  

I had pretty much made a yearly (if not more frequent) pilgrimage to Camp since then; that is until my "resignation" as CKI administrator.  After 2.5 years,  I decided to return to Camp, and subsequently, my K-Family involvement

I learned two thing upon my return to Camp:

• I don't miss being CKI administrator.  I believe it was something I already knew, but sometimes that reality needs to smack you in the face.  Yes, I enjoyed my time in that position, but it sure was nice to be able to go and bask in the specialness that is Camp without the responsibilities (namely being in charge of 100 some college students and operating on a caffeine IV with minimal sleep).  I came to do some service, attend a Foundation meeting and socialize - and then I left.  I also was able to take in the fall colors and enjoy the calm quiet of my rural surroundings.  I love my concrete jungle, but once in a while I do embrace a change in scenery.
• I did miss being involved in the K-Family in both the social and service aspect.  I reconnected with people I hadn't seen in 2.5 years.  Granted I've communicated with them via e-mail for WIUM KDF business, but that's not quite the same.  We call it K-"Family" for a reason; I literally felt like the "long lost cousin" at the board meeting (by those who I've known before).  And speaking of board meetings, I strangely missed them.  I know, I'm weird.  But I guess it's kind of like being a Cubs fan; once it's in your blood it's near impossible to get it out.  Although, I did forget one aspect - people like to "volunteer" you for positions.  Thus, I am now Marketing Co-Chair for the Foundation.  Yikes!

Overall, it was great to be back in the loop again. And thanks to Diane, Jan, Janet, Paul, Pierski and of course, Ken for welcoming me back with open arms.  I can guarantee it will not be 2.5 years before I visit again!

the last k-rant. really.

Oh, I'm sorry I only exist to you when I need something...

That pretty much sums up my relationship with the K-Family since April 2009.

And before I go on, I promise this will be my last musings about this situation. Really.

On Saturday, I attended the annual K-Family Brewers Game. Seeing it had been a full year (last years KFBG) since I went to a K-Family event, I wasn't sure what to expect. However, my experience was, well, interesting....

I wasn't expecting bells & whistles or the red carpet treatment. However, I didn't even get one "hello" hug. Now I'm not big on hugging each and every time you say hello/good-bye to someone (unless it's my parents or other folks I don't see often), but the K-Family is a "give-a-lot-of-hugs" type of group so I'll just go along with it. And it's somewhat expected. That set the stage for the evening...

I felt out of place and generally not welcomed - with exceptions, of course. Granted, there were a plethora of Circle K'ers I didn't know, but being about of the loop, that wasn't surprising...but those aren't the people I'm referring to. I reference the people I knew, those I served alongside with, those who I thought would support me in at least some regard. There were some obviously forced greetings, laced with the "why the hell are you here?" tone. Some people, again whom I worked and served with, who ignored me completely...including one rather high-ranking Kiwanian. Keep in mind, these are the same people who wouldn't hesitate to talk to me when I was administrator. I guess in their minds, I serve no purpose to them anymore and therefore, anything beyond a simple "hello" (if that) is just too much effort.

The only folks who appeared to be welcoming were a recent past CK governor, a Kiwanian from Madison (we had a every nice convo in the concession line) and anyone affiliated with Marquette CKI. MU CKI still rocks. Just know that your friendliness was much appreciated. That being said, I'm glad i sat next to a CKI'er scoring the game (and was actually able to help...Granddad taught me well) and I brought a guest - otherwise it likely would have been a very lonely and uncomfortable evening.

Yes, I get that the way I fell/got forced out of the loop was less than ideal. One would think that coming to an event shows a bit of effort (and a bit of pride swallowing) to possibly become involved again. Then again, I'll give someone the benefit of the once. Maybe it's a mistake to ask for that in return. Yes, I get that I "broke the rules" and thus, there should be consequences. However, I think my so-called punishment is a bit extreme for the crime. Yes, I get that communication is a two-way street. I can "small talk"; I'm fairly adept at it. In fact, I was chatting with someone in our group and I still have no idea who he is. However, it only works if the other person actually has even a minute interest (or in non-pc terms "gives a fuck") in participating.

This event mirrors my post-administrator encounters with the K-Family, again with exceptions. Those exceptions? The administrators & alum I hung out with at CKI events. I miss those guys dearly, and fortunately I've stayed in touch with a majority of them. Plus, these are the only folks who appear to have a genuine interest in me staying involved with the K-Family. Hell, one even extended the invitation to join his club (even though it's a Georgia-based eClub). Sadly, that seems to be the only sincere and personalized invite I've received.

Overall, my recent experiences with the K-Family have been less than stellar. OK, maybe a baseball game isn't the best benchmark to determine my future involvement with the organization. But whether it was by design or otherwise, for the most part I felt like an outcast and unwelcomed. And it certainly didn't get me motivated to rejoin Kiwanis.

This from an organization to which I dedicated nearly two decades of service. Apparently, that doesn't mean much anymore.

Maybe that's why I never got that good-bye hug either...

We Are The World, take 2

Where were you on 5 April 1985 at 10:25 am EST? That's the date more than 8000 radio stations in the USA played "We Are The World" by USA for Africa simultaneously. Twenty-five years later, "We Are The World" has been re-recorded and released. But before I get to that, let's explore how the music forged to the forefront of social causes.

How did USA for Africa come about? Well, It was the USA's response to the UK's effort to fight hunger relief. This effort, led by Bob Geldoff of Boomtown Rats fame, is better known as Band Aid. The song, "Do They Know It's Christmas", recorded and released in 1984. Geldoff's song raised millions of dollars, and had already made a significant difference to those suffering from famine and disease in Africa, specifically to famine relief in Ethiopia.

(Note: if you are not familiar with "Do They Know It's Christmas", you can hear it every year, multiple times, on any radio station that decides to begin their Christmas programming on 1 November.)

Not to be excluded, Canadian artists released "Tears Are Not Enough" under the name Northern Lights to raise funds for famine relief in Ethiopia. Practically overshadowed by its USA and UK counterparts, this continues to be my favorite of the three.

While the individual artists in the music industry frequently have stood for social causes, this marks the first first time the music industry assembled on a grand scale with supergroup quality to tackle a worldwide cause. Farm Aid, Amnesty International (among other musical/social cause marriages) concerts/fundraisers likely would not have flourished had it not been for Bob Geldoff's vision.

It's hard to believe that "We Are The World" is now 25 years old. It is also hard to believe that 25 years later, there are places on our planet that are still suffering from hunger, sub-par living conditions; basically a natural disaster away from total devastation.

Enter the marriage of "We Are The World (2010)" and Haitian earthquake relief. In reality, a 25th anniversary re-recording was planned for 28 January 2010 - exactly 25 years from the date of the original. However, the earthquake on 12 January altered plans slightly, one of which was re-designating the proceeds of the re-recording to benefit Haitian earthquake relief.

I can't fault the proceeds going to Haitian earthquake relief. In fact, I think it's fabulous that those deemed celebrities by our standards are using this status for a greater good - even if only for eight minutes and 33 seconds.

However, I do have to ask: who the hell are these people in the video? I could name 12, and that includes the image/voice of Michael Jackson. I recognized four less people in the "Tears Are Not Enough" video. I realize the face of pop music has changed over the years (which is why I don't listen to it anymore), but a slightly more diverse sampling of American music (read: alternative) would have been appreciated.

But in all seriousness, it once again shows that we, as human beings, can unify in our humanitarian efforts to help those who have been affected by devastation. And if it encourages or influences at least one person to take action, then it was well worth it.

go.

During my time as WUM CKI (Wisconsin-Upper Michigan Circle K) District Administrator, I was called upon to give comments, advice, etc. on more than one occasion. Probably the most public of these "pearls of wisdom" (using the term loosely if these comments are coming from me) is the Administrator Comments at the closing session of our annual district convention.

I'm not one to toot my own horn. However, I received numerous complements (and a standing ovation, which quite frankly, shocked the hell out of me) on my speech at the closing session of the 2009 District Convention: Superheroes for Service. The one I hold most dear is from Stan, whom I replaced as Administrator (and those are extremely big shoes to fill): "I wanted to tell you that your comments at the closing session yesterday were great. Certainly, better than any I ever did. I should have been enlisting your skills as a speechwriter the whole time."

But that is not why I decided to post the speech.

The purpose of the speech was to (nicely) light the proverbial fire under the ass and mobilize people to action. That action? Service.

Keep in mind the Kiwanis (CKI's parent organization) defining statement: Kiwanis International is a global organization of volunteers dedicated to changing the world one child and one community at a time.

What does this mean? CKI is not about politics. It's not about the titles and the shiny name badge. It's about serving others and the community. It's about working toward a common goal: the greater good and making the world at least a little better than we found it.

So, without further adieu, the speech...

The average is the borderline that keeps men in their place. Those who step over the line are heroes by the very act. Go.

I reference this quote for two reasons. First, using this quote probably makes me the only administrator to ever reference Henry Rollins. Second, the quote speaks to me. Those that go above and beyond, those that think outside the box, those that make a difference…are heroes…superheroes for service.

My good friend recently wrote an article about service clubs for Milwaukee Magazine. She contacted me to get a Kiwanis angle. Initially, she was going to write about a Kiwanis fundraiser we attended…until I started talking about Kiwanis Family Service Day. A lot. After all, Kiwanis and the whole K-Family is about service. It’s the reason I became involved with CKI. Needles to say, she was intrigued. I mean, how many organizations have an event that log 800 hours of service…in one day?

KFSD was originally the cornerstone of the article. Unfortunately, editors frequently want a story to go in a different direction – and so it did.

However, my friend asked the poignant question: Why? Why do you do this?

I sincerely never thought about it. I was brought up in a family that consistently served. My mom volunteered in the school library, amongst other things. My dad delivers food to the Women’s Shelter in southeast DC on a monthly basis – something he’s been doing since I was a kid. Really, I thought giving back and serving the community was something you were supposed to do.

But it got me thinking…why? Why do we devote so much time and energy to service?

If you know me, eloquence is not one of my strengths. However, my friend also interviewed Bree Boettcher, your Service Chair for the article. She summed it up better than I ever could: “I think the more important question is not why, but rather, why not? Why not choose to rake for the elderly or sort food at a shelter? Why not raise money to help the life-changing Easter Seals camps or to provide water purification salts for Africa? It is simply the right thing to do. How can I ever sit idle and not volunteer when there are people who need me? So my answer to anyone who ever asks a volunteer why is: why not?”

Why not indeed? WUM CKI definitely said why not…

This year, we logged over 11,000 of service hours – approximately 24 hours per member. Or think of it this way - there are 8760 hours in a year. This means every hour of every day, at least one WUM CKI members was performing service. From walking dogs at the Humane Society to providing respite for parent at United Cerebral Palsy to participating in Relay for Life and March for Babies to raise money for worthy causes - you have served your communities well. And you have served with enthusiasm, determination and passion…to make a difference.

Each and every one of you are heroes to these individuals and communities…true superheroes for service.

Yes, each ONE. “One can make a difference.” And it’s true…all it takes is one. One person. One club. One division. One district. One organization. One vision…

Go.