WATCH D.O.G.S are Top Dogs

It was another beautiful day in Paradise when the Kiwanis met at the Collector’s Choice today.  It was also a good day since our long time member Dallas Van Dyke was in the house.  It’s been a struggle for Dallas with his health issues so whenever he can make to a Kiwanis meeting, it’s a good day.

After last week when the meeting was sparsely attended, the membership was taken out to the wood shed and given the “what for” for such lousy turn-out and poor support for our lunch provider.  This week we were busting at the seams as several members we haven’t seen for a while graced us with their presence.  The “what for” included a discussion about whether we would continue to meet at the CCR or move our banner to a different site.  That discussion will continue.

In the mean time, we had a full house.

There is a lot going on this time of year.  October is the time of year when new officers are installed.  The Walsh Pavilion will be the venue for the installation function on October 10.  It will be a Pot Luck function so everyone should haul out their favorite social function cook books and bone up on their favorite dish.

In spite of the fact that we will be partying until dawn on Wednesday night, there will be a meeting at the CCR on Thursday at noon.  Two meetings in one week should count towards an intra-interclub.

And speaking of Interclubs, we had Division 21 conflab hosted by the Tillicums at the Walsh Pavilion last night where Lt. Governor Jim Garcia rallied the troops from the two Snohomish clubs, a contingent from the Edmonds club and a contingent from the Lynnwood club.  Monroe missed out on the festivities.  Since Lt. Gov. Garcia has agreed to serve consecutive terms in that position there was no farewell but a renewal to achieve more in the coming year. KCCP continues to be a high priority for Jim in his second term.

Scott Titterness and Marie Auriole reported that the Key Club at Glacier Peak High School had over 70 kids turn out for their initial meeting of the year.  That is a great sign that the kids are interested in what the Kiwanis program offers.  Our challenge is to make sure we deliver the content that will keep them engaged.

Brandon Simeon and Chelsea Saunders are the club representatives to the Key Club at Snohomish High School.  Brandon reported that their first meeting would be in October.

For those of you who committed to attend the Cajun Crab Boil hosted by Howard Lewis and John Hinchcliffe and managed by our own Rod Vroman who provided the special spices but failed to show up, you missed a helluva event.  Dawn Kulaga reported that the weather couldn't have been more perfect, the food couldn't have been more perfect and the gathering of friends was just right.

(Does John Hinchcliffe have any of that crab left over in his freezer?)

Rod Vroman reported that the Everett Evergreen Kiwanis Club that recently celebrated their 50^th year as a club is in dire straits and on the verge of dissolving because of declining membership.  At one time they were the club to emulate in District 22.  We need to do whatever we can to help them come back.

Rod continued controlling the floor when he hauled out a box of tickets for the Spaghetti Feed to be held at the Zion Lutheran Multi-Purpose room at 4^th and Union on Friday October 26 from 4pm until about 8pm.  He proceeded to hand out 10 ticket bundles to each member in attendance with the orders to either sell them or buy them.  The price is still very reasonable at $8 for Adults and $4 for kids from 6 to 12.  Kids younger than 6 eat for free.  Last year the turn-out was very low and frankly the spaghetti wasn’t very good.  We have re-dedicated ourselves to making it better with the pledge from the members of both clubs to sell more tickets.

The Panthers are playing out of town that night so all our friends in town who don’t travel to away games won’t have to choose between PANTHER FOOTBALL and spaghetti.  We know where we stand in that competition…Go Panthers!!!

Jay VanAsshe reported that the Auction Committee will meet at his house this Sunday evening.  Go to the Auction facebook page for the details.  If you’ve worked on this committee in the past, you know the drill.

Jay also reported for Aaron Hammer that there would be a work party at the Claytown Kids Park on Saturday morning, September 29^th to do the end of season clean-up.  Call Aaron for additional details.  (the park is at 4^th Street & Avenue I.)

The last thing on our agenda for the day was our program.

Today we enjoyed listening to Scott Kelly tell us about a program called Watch D.O.G.S. that has as a mission to keep DADS involved with their kids in school and to provide positive role models for all the kids at the school.

In general the Watch DOGS program is nationwide in scope with more than 2400 schools across the nation participating.  Washington State has 186 out of the 2400.  The Snohomish School District is fully engaged with ten elementary schools and two middle schools with programs.  That makes us BIG Dogs amongst the Watch DOGS.

On any given day during the school year there will be one or two dads or uncles or cousins or grand dads or non-relatives who just want to be “positive role models” for the kids in our schools interacting with the kids from the moment they arrive at the school until the end of the day when they go home.  The Watch DOGS are not teachers or educational aides, they are just regular “dads” that want to share the experience for their own kids and other kids who may not have the benefit of a positive role model at home.

The Snohomish Kiwanis Club budgets money to support this program that is a Win/Win for everyone involved.  The dads unanimously agree that the experience is worthwhile for them.

We thank Scott Kelly for taking the time to come to our meeting and to continue with the work his organization is doing in our schools FOR THE KIDS.