Family of Kin - Governors' Newsletter

Although I am rarely at a loss for words, I’ve been mulling over just how to express my thoughts as the 2009-2010 Kin year begins.  Those of you who know me are well aware I have no short stories so how best to explain the joy, the pride, the excitement as we shift gears from the short, weird summer to the year ahead? 

Let’s start with National Convention.  It was held in Niagara Falls, Ontario August 26^th to 29^th.  Members from ten District 3 clubs were in attendance and we had the honour of seeing our very own Leanne Melnechenko of the Lloydminster Kinettes win the Kinette Speak Off!  District 3 also brought in the most service dollars, at $5 724 000.00.  What an incredible moment, seeing those numbers go up.  National was busy and exciting, a great opportunity to network, learn and show our District pride.  The theme was ‘East meets West’ but the underlying message seemed to be ‘Respect the past and embrace the future’. 

This was evidenced in multiple ways; there were many ‘old timers’ in attendance – most notably Diane Rogers.  What a gracious, well spoken, beautiful woman.  It was my honour to be introduced to her and to have several brief conversations with her.  Sean Thompson (grandson of Trev Thompson, one of the Founding Four) is our new National President.  I was thrilled to meet him and his family but I will confess being equally excited to meet his parents – his dad, Trev is too cute and his mom, Patricia is a lovely woman.  Sean is clearly committed to moving our organization forward and I look forward to working with him this year. 

There were also more than 130 ‘first timers’ at the convention.  That is roughly a quarter of the participants, and a great sign of the enthusiasm and interest that is growing in our organization.  The future is in good hands with Lee Burry, newly elected National Vice President.  He represents the future of our organization in so many ways; he is young, vibrant, well spoken and thoroughly committed to escorting Kin Canada forward.  Plus, despite being a total rock star he was sighted wandering about the hallways JUST like a normal guy.

Now, on to the business of District 3.  As I’ve mentioned, our priority this year is communication, specifically in terms of connecting as a district.  It is crucial that each Kin member and each club remember that they are part of something bigger than themselves.  Our strength comes from working together as a whole, as a unified supportive District.  We will be using the phone, Facebook, email, the Saskin paper and the saskin.ca website to get information out to members.  Most importantly, I hope there will be many opportunities for us to meet face to face; the ‘us’ I refer to is the 2009-2010 District 3 executive.  The executive is YOUR executive – we want you to know who we are, where we are and how to access us when needed.  The role of the executive is to assist the clubs in their growth, health and development.  All contact information for the executive is available on the saskin.ca site – please check it often.  Also, please consider inviting us out to your functions – we’d love to attend if we can. 

As our year starts, clubs can expect to hear from their deputy governors.  The DGs will be working with clubs to ensure that their voices are heard, be it concerns or celebrations.  This month, the DGs will be communicating with clubs regarding their goals for the year, asking for accurate member information and reminding about upcoming deadlines.  Rosters are due September 30^th, club insurance forms and dues shortly thereafter.  You will receive information in the mail shortly (if you haven’t already) regarding those deadlines.  Let’s get that stuff out of the way in a timely manner so that we can shift the focus to fun, fellowship and serving the community’s greatest need.  That, after all is where our focus belongs.

Looking forward to a fabulous year

Yours in Kin

Corie

Governor, District 3