Giving Thanks to Kiwanis

Well, Happy Thanksgiving! I hope your holiday was as happy as it could be!!  It’s a wonderful time of the year. Well, it’s all what you make it, so I hope you made it the best ever!

* This last week I went to the party of all parties! I was a member of the Marco Island Kiwanis Club for many, many years, and they had their 30th Anniversary this past week at the Island Country Club and what a party it was!! Wow! The food was superb, the service was excellent, and the atmosphere was alive with excitement. The Presidents were the team of Mike Murphy and Barb Murphy, and what a team they make. You know, I haven’t heard Mike speak in quite a while, but he was ‘over the top outstanding.’ There were over 75 people there, laughing, singing, dancing, and enjoying every minute of the evening! Names you’ll recognize, like Rosetta and Yvette, that you know so well and they don’t need a last name! I joined the Kiwanis Club at the invitation from Shirlee Barcic, my very good friend, who was a president at the time and continued on as president for a couple more years. AND I saw a lot of the same faces that evening of people I met when I first joined, and still remain friends!!!  Pat Hagedorn was there, but of course there’s never a good party without Pat being there! My “son” Bryan Hauser and his wife Rondi were there, and yes, they were dancing and having a great time. I got to meet President Donna Dubey last night. What a great lady she is. Well, let me mention just a few more people because we had a room full of great people like Joel Gewirts, Dennis and Joan Pidherny, Kathleen Reynolds, Lucky Lang, and Suzie Walsh (everyone knows Suzie who wears those fun hats to everything, and always has a smile on her face - she would never miss a good party), Marie Lynn McChesney, Kiwanis Lt. Governor Cheryl Horbal, Cindy Crane, Carol Fries from the East Naples Kiwanis Club, Pat and Ron Rutledge. We also heard that at one time, there were many Kiwanis Clubs in Collier County, but after the Covid, only four clubs remain. That’s so sad because the Kiwanians help so many people who need help.

Hope you are all getting ready for the upcoming Holiday season!