Tom Clevenger New Kiwanian

Tom Clevenger the newest member of Kiwanis with Carol Landes, Program Chair.
 Tom Clevenger, the newest member of Greenfield Kiwanis spoke at the Meet Your Kiwanian night Tuesday at the club's new meeting location Ponderosa Steakhouse.
Tom spoke of growing up in Fort Wayne.  While at Homestead High School, Tom found his life calling of working with people with disabilities.  Tom mentored special students at Homestead.  After attending Franklin College and Indiana University Tom worked for several organizations that work with  the developmentally disabled including  Special Olympics.  Aside from working for Special Olympics, Tom has volunteered with the Special Olympics as an Area Director and Coach.  Tom coached Track and Field and Power lifting.  Tom was coach of a world champion power lifter.
Tom is the nephew of Kiwanian Nancy Ferdon.  He is married and has three children.  He enjoys hunting and collects hot sauces.

Children's Museum visits Kiwanis

Karen Kleine chas with Lisa Townsend of the Children's Musem.
 

Lisa Townsend, Vice President, Marketing and External Relations of the Children’s Museum spoke to the Greenfield Kiwanis about upcoming exhibits, the community involvement of the museum and the museum’s impact on Central Indiana.

The Mr. Potato Head® Exhibit opens January 28, CSI: Flight Adventures opens February 25, Lego® Travel Adventures opens March 10, and a Hot Wheels® opens in May.  Most exhibits are accompanied by age specific programs such as Saturday Science programs for ages 6 and up or Flight Adventures for ages 4 and up.

The Children’s Museum returns to the local community through numerous local projects including the neighborhood near the museum.  The museum purchased the former Winona Hospital complex of 4 acres adjacent to the museum and in partnership with the city is cleaning up the abandoned buildings.  As part of their commitment over $2 million has been spent on neighborhood revitalization with 28 homes built or rehabilitated, 40 abandoned properties have been demolished and 75 homes repaired since 2004.

In 2010 total attendance was 1.16 million with 74,482 school visits sponsored by the museum.  Over $73 million was inject into Central Indiana’s economy including $36 million spent by out of town visitors.  The museum is located at 3000 North meridian Street in Indianapolis and is open daily March through Labor Day and is closed Mondays Labor through February.  Hours are 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. daily.  Further information may be found at childrensmuseum.org.  

Shares and Kiwanis Aktion CLubs

Jodi Hill of Shares, Inc. spoke to Greenfield Kiwanis about the programs Shares offers to their developmentally disabled clients in their three county service area.  Shares serves 150 clients in Hancock County, 120 in Shelby County and 50 in Rush County.  The goal of the pre-vocational skill training is to allow the clients to function in the community while earning a wage.  In addition to the vocational services, Shares provides life skills in cooking, laundry, housekeeping, reading and mathematics. 

Don Collins, the District Administrator of Kiwanis Aktion Clubs spoke following Ms. Hill.  Aktion Clubs provide service leadership for adults living with disabilities.  An Aktion Club is sponsored by a Kiwanis club but can also be sponsored by a group of clubs or a division. There are Aktion Clubs in Shelbyville and Noblesville.  In all there are 24 Aktion Clubs in Indiana.

Aktion club members attend meetings to learn about community issues, plan service and fundraising projects, and enjoy fellowship with others. Club members perform community service such as park beautification, food drives, and nursing home visitations. Members make visits to zoos, museums, and sporting events to share time with one another.

Mr. Collins summed up the evening by saying that in his work with Aktion Club members he has discovered that the member’s abilities exceed their disabilities.  

Indiana State Library

Rachel Heger, Supervisor of the Indiana Collection of the Indiana State Library spoke to Greenfield Kiwanis on January 10 about various aspects of the State Library.  She informed the Kiwanians that the library serves four distinct functions.  Genealogical research is about people, Reference and Research serves the state government and public, Manuscript preservation and archival maintain documents, and the Indiana collection catalogs information about places and things. 

As supervisor of the Indiana collection Ms. Heger is responsible for a collection that contains maps and atlases; state laws from 1816 to the present; Indiana Newspapers from 1804; State agency reports and publications; histories, biographies, magazines, and journals; and manuscripts, broadsides, and photographs.  The collection houses numerous databases.  The newspaper collection includes over 100,000 reels of microfilm.  The collection also houses city directories, cookbooks, and high school yearbooks. 

The library is located at 315 West Ohio Street in Indianapolis across the street from the Indiana Statehouse and is open Monday through Saturday.  Hours and further information are available by calling 317.232.3684 or on the internet at www.library.IN.gov.

Civil Air Patrol

     Luke Grace discusses the Civil Air Patrol with Kiwanis Program Chair, Carol Landes.

Luke Grace, Cadet Commander of the 184^th Composite Squadron of the Civil Air Patrol (C.A.P.) based at Shelbyville, Indiana told the Kiwanis club members about the various programs and activities of the youth program started shortly before World War II.

The program is officially the U.S. Air Force Auxiliary, Civil Air Patrol.  Luke talked about the history of C.A.P. and it’s current composition.  The cadets learn flying, leadership, model rocketry, teambuilding skills, earn rank and rewards, and explore aviation careers.  The programs are all based around the core values of integrity, volunteer service, excellence and respect. 

Benefits of the programs include the opportunities for entry into the service at an advanced rank, scholarships, and an improved chance for admission to the military academies. 

Luke would like to pursue search and rescue training.  For further information about C.A.P. you may contact Luke at 462.5183 or use the internet to access GoCivilAirPatrol.com.