Hope House

Andrea Mallory Director of the Hope House informed Kiwanis about the mission and operation of the Hope House.  The mission of the Hope House is to provide hope to the community while strengthening individuals and families on their journey to self sufficiency.The Hancock Hope House exists to serve the homeless residents of Hancock, Henry, Rush and Shelby counties. Established in 1991, the Hope House has been serving the homeless men, women and family units of these counties for the past 24 years. The shelter funds are provided by the operation of a thrift store and donations.

For further information on Hope House see hancockhopehouse.org.
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State of the City

Mayor Chuck Fewell

Greenfield Mayor Chuck Fewell reported accomplishments in 2016 to Kiwanis.  He noted it was the first year of the 4 year terms he had been elected to,

The City paved ten miles of streets.  The city has 108 miles and in the past has sometimes been limited to only one or 2 miles of repaving.

The Potts ditch reconstruction was completed.

The city negotiated the use of several private parking lots in the evening hours for public parking.

The State of Indiana granted a Main Street Revitalization Project grant to to Greenfield for $500,000.

Valentines Day Party

Barb Kauchak, Julie Dishman, Susie Billings, and Carol Reddish, Kiwanis Valentines Party Committee.

Kiwanis celebrated Valentines Day with a party of games and fellowship. Guessing how many  candy kisses filled a jar was easily won by Evie Chapman.  The candy bar quiz was won by a team of Bob and Sondra Gullion and Dan and Becky Riley.  Evie Chapman also won the wedding picture identification game.  Jean Willis took honors for the longest number of years married with 65. 

Hearts Ablaze

Cristy Corwin-Howard, Director of Hearts Ablaze Clogging presented a program on the group to Kiwanis.

Hearts Ablaze is a Christian clogging group open to children of various ages.  It was founded in 2008 with 12 members and now has 86 cloggers.  The high school members have helped a group of disabled adults from Shares Inc. learn to clog.

The group has appeared at the Circle of Lights on Monument Circle.  The group has traveled to and performed in Gatlinburg and Branson Missouri.  For more information see their website at http://www.heartsablazeclogging.com/.

Drew and Judy Mulligan

Drew and Judy Mulligan, new members of Kiwanis, introduced the club to their background in the Meet Your Kiwanians meeting.  Judy is a lifelong resident of Hancock County, graduating from Hancock Central and attending Ball State University.  She began work as a summer employee of Eli Lilly and Co, and retired from there. 
Drew moved from Detroit to Greenfield in 1952, graduating from Greenfield High School and Purdue University.  He worked at Naval Avionics for 32 years and Greenfield Banking Company for 17 years.  They both enjoy golf and following Purdue University athletics.  They are members of Bradley United Methodist church.  They have one son and two granddaughters. 

Junior States of America

Francis Labore and Marissa Macy from the Greenfield-Central chapter of Junior States of America told about the the mission, the chapter, and the programs of JSA.  Greenfield-Central has about 20 members in their chapter, the only JSA chapter in Indiana.  The chapter was started 5 years ago. 

The mission of the Junior State of America and the Junior Statesmen Foundation (JSA) is to strengthen American democracy by educating and preparing high school students for life-long involvement and responsible leadership in a democratic society.

The mission is accomplished through a leadership academy, one day conferences and three multi-state conferences call fall-state, winter congress, and spring state that offer a wide range of topics and activities to engage and inform students from all backgrounds.

Some activities offer extra class credit and some conferences offer college credit.  The students must pay for their own transportation and conference registrations.   To find more information or donate to Junior State go to jsa.org.
 

Greenfield Intermediate Library

Greenfield Intermediate School librarian Cindy Kessler recently spoke to Greenfield Kiwanis members about exciting things happening at the school.  When she was first hired, the selection of fiction books was great, but non-fiction books were scarce.  Thanks to Friends of the Library at Hancock County Public Library, Ms. Kessler was able to increase student access to both kinds of books.  She has also started book clubs for after-school participation, and has had over 100 students attending this year to discuss various books of interest.  Ms. Kessler also shared that GIS library has no ebooks, only the kind students can get in their hands!