Kiwanis celebrate club’s anniversary
Editor,
When James Grimm moved to Ocean Pines in 1979, he brought with him the pleasant memory of having belonged to a Kiwanis Club in Baltimore.
As he made friends in his new community, he promoted the idea of forming a Kiwanis Club in Ocean Pines. That idea came to fruition on Feb. 20, 1980, when the first formal meeting of the Kiwanis Club of Ocean Pines was called to order at the Carriage House restaurant, an establishment that has long since left the scene or else changed its name.
The meeting was formalized in the sense that bylaws were adopted and elections were held. There is a fond tradition that at that first session, to meet the minimum requirement of 25 members, the group enlisted the bartender. That fact is not evident in the written record.
What is in the record is the original of those bylaws and the results of the election. Jim Grimm was made president, Jerry Henderson became vice president, Glenn Fickel was made secretary and Wilbur Rehkemper became treasurer.
On May 17, 2017 the club celebrated their 37th anniversary of their chartering in the Ocean Pines Community Center. As is custom, spouses of deceased members were invited to attend, of which seven were in attendance: Margaret Rehkemper, wife of an original charter member, Annette Bery, Nancy Bestes, Marjorie Haygood, Doris Lloyd, Anita McLaughlin, and Joan Schaefer.
Three members of the Kiwanis Club of Seaford, Delaware also attended: Current Secretary Jim Thompson, Cheryl Webster and Doug Figgs. While the OP-OC Club is celebrating 37 years, the Seaford club will be celebrating its 100-year anniversary this year and has two members with 55 and 60 years as members of the club. Kiwanis, founded in 1915, is now 102 years old. Impressive.
“Kiwanis: Serving the children of the World.” From the Kiwanis International website, www.kiwanis.org, “Kiwanis International brings the world together — one community at a time. Today, we stand with more than 600,000 members in more than 80 countries from Kiwanis to Key Club to Circle K and beyond. Each community has different needs, and Kiwanis empowers members to pursue creative ways to serve the needs of children through local service projects and fundraising. Kiwanis hosts nearly 150,000 service projects each year.”
Celebrating would be impossible without the support of the community, for which the club is grateful to so many who make what we do possible. The local club currently has 50 members, nine associate members and three honorary members.
Only 15 years ago, this club had over 130 members. Unfortunately, the dynamics of volunteering today have changed and many volunteer organizations are searching for ways to entice new members. The club has a website at www.kiwanisofopoc.org and is on Facebook at Kiwanis Club of Ocean Pines/Ocean City where anyone can learn more about the club including its accomplishment, projects, fundraisers and how to join to help make a difference and celebrate the 38th anniversary next year.
D.J. Landis, Sr.
Press Relations Chair of the Public Relations Committee
Kiwanis Club of Greater OP-OC
Editor,
When James Grimm moved to Ocean Pines in 1979, he brought with him the pleasant memory of having belonged to a Kiwanis Club in Baltimore.
As he made friends in his new community, he promoted the idea of forming a Kiwanis Club in Ocean Pines. That idea came to fruition on Feb. 20, 1980, when the first formal meeting of the Kiwanis Club of Ocean Pines was called to order at the Carriage House restaurant, an establishment that has long since left the scene or else changed its name.
The meeting was formalized in the sense that bylaws were adopted and elections were held. There is a fond tradition that at that first session, to meet the minimum requirement of 25 members, the group enlisted the bartender. That fact is not evident in the written record.
What is in the record is the original of those bylaws and the results of the election. Jim Grimm was made president, Jerry Henderson became vice president, Glenn Fickel was made secretary and Wilbur Rehkemper became treasurer.
On May 17, 2017 the club celebrated their 37th anniversary of their chartering in the Ocean Pines Community Center. As is custom, spouses of deceased members were invited to attend, of which seven were in attendance: Margaret Rehkemper, wife of an original charter member, Annette Bery, Nancy Bestes, Marjorie Haygood, Doris Lloyd, Anita McLaughlin, and Joan Schaefer.
Three members of the Kiwanis Club of Seaford, Delaware also attended: Current Secretary Jim Thompson, Cheryl Webster and Doug Figgs. While the OP-OC Club is celebrating 37 years, the Seaford club will be celebrating its 100-year anniversary this year and has two members with 55 and 60 years as members of the club. Kiwanis, founded in 1915, is now 102 years old. Impressive.
“Kiwanis: Serving the children of the World.” From the Kiwanis International website, www.kiwanis.org, “Kiwanis International brings the world together — one community at a time. Today, we stand with more than 600,000 members in more than 80 countries from Kiwanis to Key Club to Circle K and beyond. Each community has different needs, and Kiwanis empowers members to pursue creative ways to serve the needs of children through local service projects and fundraising. Kiwanis hosts nearly 150,000 service projects each year.”
Celebrating would be impossible without the support of the community, for which the club is grateful to so many who make what we do possible. The local club currently has 50 members, nine associate members and three honorary members.
Only 15 years ago, this club had over 130 members. Unfortunately, the dynamics of volunteering today have changed and many volunteer organizations are searching for ways to entice new members. The club has a website at www.kiwanisofopoc.org and is on Facebook at Kiwanis Club of Ocean Pines/Ocean City where anyone can learn more about the club including its accomplishment, projects, fundraisers and how to join to help make a difference and celebrate the 38th anniversary next year.
D.J. Landis, Sr.
Press Relations Chair of the Public Relations Committee
Kiwanis Club of Greater OP-OC
Trendic was wrong
Editor,
The comments attributed to Board Secretary Trendic in the Bayside Gazette article of May 18, were derived from his incomplete understanding of the By-laws, Resolution M-09 (Candidate Search Process) and past practices. These comments also incorrectly and unfairly claimed that President Herrick deliberately failed to follow the rules by giving the applications to Michelle Bennett, the assistant association secretary and executive secretary to the GM.
Resolution M-09 paragraph 4d. states that the Search Committee, will work with the GM and appropriate staff to establish where in the administration building applications can be obtained and submitted, and that applications may also be obtained from the committee or printed from the web page. “However, all completed applications must be submitted to a Search Committee box in the Administrative Office. The applications will be time-stamped and dated and stored in a secure location by an assigned staff member.” Michelle Bennett, the assistant association secretary, is the assigned staff member.
In fact, all applications were handled as prescribed above. The only time the applications left the office were when President Herrick received them from Michelle and walked around the corner to allow the Search Committee to review them. After this review he immediately returned them to assigned staff member who locked them up. Secretary Trendic is mistaken in claiming the committee gave the applications to the president. It was exactly the other way around.
It is expected that the association secretary will be proactive in making arrangements with assigned staff member to receive status updates on applications received, and to retrieve the stored applications when ready to validate eligibility with staff. Applications may be delivered directly to the admin building right up to the deadline and a fully completed application is required to perform validation.
According to the By-laws, validation must be completed by May 15, five days after the submission deadline. It may also be worth noting that the association secretary does not, according to the By-laws, have to turn over the list of validated applicants to the elections committee until June 1.
Aside from the fact that he was incorrect, I am honestly puzzled by Director Trendic’s purpose in publically criticizing another director for a perceived procedural misstep that had no real impact on the election process.
Dave Stevens
OPA Board Vice President Thanks to volunteers
Editor,
The members of the Berlin Cruisers Committee would like to thank the Town of Berlin for once again providing support to the semi-annual Cruisers event held in town each spring and fall. As usual, the public works department supplied the requested traffic control items for us and provided clean up afterwards. The Berlin Police Department is always a help at these type of events with traffic control, etc. This year was no exception; both departments went above and beyond.
We are the envy of other towns when we share with them our positive experiences in dealing with local government.
Also, a big thanks to the merchants and local citizens that helped with parking cars, assisting with registration of cars and a host of other chores. Also, special thanks to "Big Al Reno" Ocean 98.1 Radio for the use of his pa system.
Berlin Cruiser Planning Committee, Tanja Giles, Mike Wiley, Bill Hoshal National EMS Week
Editor,
During the week of May 21-27, Maryland joins the rest of the nation in celebrating National Emergency Medical Services (EMS) Week.
We commend the Maryland EMS providers who respond every day of every month to emergency situations, making our Statewide EMS and Trauma System a national model for life-saving care.
With Gov. Larry Hogan’s strong commitment to public safety and the well-being of all Maryland’s citizens, he has recognized the accomplishments of EMS providers by designating Emergency Medical Services Week in Maryland.
Maryland’s EMS system includes thousands of trained and licensed, volunteer and career emergency medical dispatchers, emergency medical responders, emergency medical technicians, cardiac rescue technicians, and paramedics, as well as hospital personnel.
As with any organization, it is the people that make the system work. What is extraordinary about Maryland’s EMS system is that over half of those people are volunteers. Both career and volunteer personnel engage in thousands of hours of specialized training and continuing education to enhance their life-saving skills.
We applaud these men and women whose efforts save lives and minimize the disabling effects of injury in Maryland.
In addition to all of these highly trained EMS personnel, we need all Maryland citizens to join the effort and do their part as a vital link in this EMS system. By calling 9-1-1 when they see an emergency and learning CPR and how to “stop the bleed,” they become a part of the team.
The earlier the response, the greater the chances are of survival. We challenge everyone to become involved and be the one to make a difference in helping save a life.
The citizens of Maryland should be proud of their Emergency Medical Services system and its EMS providers, and please join us in congratulating them on a job well done.
Patricia Gainer, JD, MPH
Richard L. Alcorta, MD
Acting Co-Executive Directors, MIEMSS
Editor,
The comments attributed to Board Secretary Trendic in the Bayside Gazette article of May 18, were derived from his incomplete understanding of the By-laws, Resolution M-09 (Candidate Search Process) and past practices. These comments also incorrectly and unfairly claimed that President Herrick deliberately failed to follow the rules by giving the applications to Michelle Bennett, the assistant association secretary and executive secretary to the GM.
Resolution M-09 paragraph 4d. states that the Search Committee, will work with the GM and appropriate staff to establish where in the administration building applications can be obtained and submitted, and that applications may also be obtained from the committee or printed from the web page. “However, all completed applications must be submitted to a Search Committee box in the Administrative Office. The applications will be time-stamped and dated and stored in a secure location by an assigned staff member.” Michelle Bennett, the assistant association secretary, is the assigned staff member.
In fact, all applications were handled as prescribed above. The only time the applications left the office were when President Herrick received them from Michelle and walked around the corner to allow the Search Committee to review them. After this review he immediately returned them to assigned staff member who locked them up. Secretary Trendic is mistaken in claiming the committee gave the applications to the president. It was exactly the other way around.
It is expected that the association secretary will be proactive in making arrangements with assigned staff member to receive status updates on applications received, and to retrieve the stored applications when ready to validate eligibility with staff. Applications may be delivered directly to the admin building right up to the deadline and a fully completed application is required to perform validation.
According to the By-laws, validation must be completed by May 15, five days after the submission deadline. It may also be worth noting that the association secretary does not, according to the By-laws, have to turn over the list of validated applicants to the elections committee until June 1.
Aside from the fact that he was incorrect, I am honestly puzzled by Director Trendic’s purpose in publically criticizing another director for a perceived procedural misstep that had no real impact on the election process.
Dave Stevens
OPA Board Vice President Thanks to volunteers
Editor,
The members of the Berlin Cruisers Committee would like to thank the Town of Berlin for once again providing support to the semi-annual Cruisers event held in town each spring and fall. As usual, the public works department supplied the requested traffic control items for us and provided clean up afterwards. The Berlin Police Department is always a help at these type of events with traffic control, etc. This year was no exception; both departments went above and beyond.
We are the envy of other towns when we share with them our positive experiences in dealing with local government.
Also, a big thanks to the merchants and local citizens that helped with parking cars, assisting with registration of cars and a host of other chores. Also, special thanks to "Big Al Reno" Ocean 98.1 Radio for the use of his pa system.
Berlin Cruiser Planning Committee, Tanja Giles, Mike Wiley, Bill Hoshal National EMS Week
Editor,
During the week of May 21-27, Maryland joins the rest of the nation in celebrating National Emergency Medical Services (EMS) Week.
We commend the Maryland EMS providers who respond every day of every month to emergency situations, making our Statewide EMS and Trauma System a national model for life-saving care.
With Gov. Larry Hogan’s strong commitment to public safety and the well-being of all Maryland’s citizens, he has recognized the accomplishments of EMS providers by designating Emergency Medical Services Week in Maryland.
Maryland’s EMS system includes thousands of trained and licensed, volunteer and career emergency medical dispatchers, emergency medical responders, emergency medical technicians, cardiac rescue technicians, and paramedics, as well as hospital personnel.
As with any organization, it is the people that make the system work. What is extraordinary about Maryland’s EMS system is that over half of those people are volunteers. Both career and volunteer personnel engage in thousands of hours of specialized training and continuing education to enhance their life-saving skills.
We applaud these men and women whose efforts save lives and minimize the disabling effects of injury in Maryland.
In addition to all of these highly trained EMS personnel, we need all Maryland citizens to join the effort and do their part as a vital link in this EMS system. By calling 9-1-1 when they see an emergency and learning CPR and how to “stop the bleed,” they become a part of the team.
The earlier the response, the greater the chances are of survival. We challenge everyone to become involved and be the one to make a difference in helping save a life.
The citizens of Maryland should be proud of their Emergency Medical Services system and its EMS providers, and please join us in congratulating them on a job well done.
Patricia Gainer, JD, MPH
Richard L. Alcorta, MD
Acting Co-Executive Directors, MIEMSS