Mount Vernon Kiwanis Club

by Bruce Malkin

On May 5, Fairfax County Supervisor Gerry Hyland presented an overview of development and budget issues in this region during his after-dinner remarks to the Mount Vernon Kiwanis Club at their meeting at the Mount Vernon Country Club. He responded to many follow-up questions, taking into consideration ideas expressed by the Kiwanians.
The Kiwanis K-Kids Club at Stratford Landing Elementary School on Riverside Street planned and implemented a Charter Celebration night, including dinner and a program to celebrate its third anniversary. The student Officers from the 4th to 6th grades emceed the event, introducing each of the guest speakers, including Maura Caulfield, School Principal, Bruce Malkin, President, and Paul Mehler, Club Adviser, from the Mount Vernon Kiwanis Club (MVKC), which is the sponsor of this K-Kids Club, and Michael Lagana, President of the Kiwanis Key Club at West Potomac High School. A slideshow accompanied the description by the officers of their varied community service activities of the past school year. At the end, the student officers, namely, Lindsey Mongan, President, Jena Elshami, Vice President, Victor Fuentes, Secretary, Lily Penn, Treasurer, and Owen Albrecht, Historian, honored both their Faculty Advisers, Jane Cerza and Laurie Schriner, and then presented bouquets of flowers to their parent leaders, Kate Penn and Miriam Snedecor. About 20 students attended the event, most of them accompanied by both their parents. Dinner was catered by the parents. The Mount Vernon Kiwanis Club was represented by Bruce Malkin, Paul Mehler, and the Club's Secretary, Joanne Malkin. The attached photos are captioned to reflect the highlights of the evening.
On Friday afternoon, May 17, about 20 members of the Kiwanis Key Club at West Potomac High School decorated the dance hall area at the Hollin Hall Senior Center on Shenandoah Road with the theme this year being All Things American. This is the 4th year they have organized this fun event, and the seniors love to come and eat and dance with the students, says Ms. Suzette Henry, one of the Key Club's Faculty Advisers. Three former Key Club members who are now at NOVA Community College (Alexandria) also came to assist and participate. The dinner was catered by Famous Dave's from Beacon Mall, and about 15 seniors were served hot bar-b-q meals by the Key Club students. The Key Club at West Potomac and the Kiwanis CKI Club at NOVACC (Alexandria) are both sponsored and chartered by the Mount Vernon Kiwanis Club. Vivien and Richard Peterson, both members, represented the MVKC. Vivien is the MVKC's Adviser to the Key Club, and attends their meetings to give support and advice, and then enjoys attending their community service activities when they are put into action
On May 5, the Mount Vernon Kiwanis Club sponsored the whole theater at the Little Theater of Alexandria for the performance of Oscar Wilde's social satire called "Lady Windermere's Fan". The nearly sold out house enjoyed a wine and cheese and fancy snacks buffet both before the show and during the intermission. Raffle tickets for large baskets of good wines were chosen by MVKC President Bruce Malkin after the show, while several silent auction big ticket items were also sold for donations. The actors did their usual outstanding performances, being perfectly typecast and all projecting well both their voices and their characters. MVKC member Betty Puscheck, the Event Coordinator, did a fabulous job in bringing everything together perfectly for a fun evening that raised several thousand dollars to help MVKC help the poor children and families in the Mount Vernon area. The Club has already reserved a comedy in June 2011 for its next LTA event.
At the April 28 meeting of the CKI Club at NOVACC (Alexandria campus), Bruce Malkin, President of the Mount Vernon Kiwanis Club (MVKC), presented to Ashraf Elmelik, President of the new CKI club sponsored by MVKC, its new banner, bell, and gavel, which were then used for the first time to open the general meeting officially and in the traditional manner, with a loud bong on the bell by the gavel! The CKI student members then discussed their plans to continue their community service efforts over the summer holiday months. Barbara Callahan of MVKC and Ken Balbuena, CKI Advisor, also participated.