Kiwanis Club of Mount Vernon
by Bruce Malkine
On Wednesday, August 25, nine members of the Mount Vernon Kiwanis Club (MVKC) met for drinks and dinner at Mike's Italian Restaurant on route 1. Social life is important too, although the MVKC concentrates heavily on community service. It has dinner and a Speaker Meeting on the first Wednesday of each month at the Mount Vernon Country Club from 6:00-8:00 pm, and a Board Meeting after dinner there on the third Wednesday. The last Wednesdsay is reserved for a Happy Hour at a rotating list of local restaurants. Join them at Dishes of India in Belle View Shopping Plaza on September 29 or at the Dynasty Restaurant on Telegraph Road on October 27. For more information about the MVKC, see its website www.mtvernonvakiwanis.org or its FaceBook page or e-mail to brucemalkin1@gmail.com.
From right, Jim Todd, Paul Mehler, Richard Peterson
From left, Lisa Caputo, Joanne Malkin,Vivien Peterson, Betty Puscheck, Herb Puschek
On August 13, the Mount Vernon Kiwanis Club sponsored a bus trip for 50 children and their staff escorts from the Sacramento and Creekside Neighborhood Centers to the International Spy Museum in Washington, D.C. The teenagers were split into a separate group from the younger kids, who were too young to participate in Operation Spy. Operation spy is an interactive experience that required the teens to work together in teams to catch a spy. It began when they picked one door from a group of 12 and decoded a special phone call. Then they went through an elevator and a tunnel, finding clues along the way and hiding from guards. The groups entered and took secret information from the bad boss's room, careful not to disturb anything in order not to be discovered. Then they were picked up in a van outside and shown more instructions. After all this and an interrogation of the suspected spy, they discovered a spy who had switched sides! After a chase by the teen groups, the spy was captured.
The younger group toured the International Spy Museum. All of the students first had to choose an alias before they entered. It was a truly dazzling experience that included exhibits on lock picking, spy cars, new spy gadgets and accessories and much more. Some of the kids' favorites were ninjas and Russian operatives. One exhibit included a telephone where secret messages were passed. The kids learned about the Cold War and its politics and how technology has changed the art of spying. It was a wonderful experience for all who attended!
From August 5-7, three student officers, Ashraf Elmelik, President, Ryan Pierpoint, Vice President, and Alexander Case, Communications Officer, accompanied by their Faculty Advisor Kenneth Balbuena, of the Kiwanis Circle K International (CKI) Club at Northern Virginia Community College (NOVACC) in Alexandria, participated in the CKI International Conference in St. Louis, Missouri. Their goal was to better their skills in CKI's objectives of leadership, fellowship, and, most importantly, service. Ash and Ryan are West Potomac Kiwanis Key Club alums who founded this college-level club earlier this year to continue their tradition of service to their community through Kiwanis.
At the conference, the students saw the global vision of Kiwanis college-level (CKI) clubs at the international level. By participating in workshops, listening to compelling speeches of service, and absorbing the overall organization's spirit, the student officers learned the best ideas and practices to bring back to their club at NOVACC Alexandria. Faculty Advisor Balbuena learned more about the responsibilities of his position, and saw how college students interact and work together in the organization. By the end, the group from NOVACC Alexandria saw service, fellowship, and leadership in action and in person, and their goals and ambitions for the coming year far surpassed even the grand height of the famous Gateway Arch of St. Louis.
This trip was paid for mainly by the Northern Virginia Community College and partly by the CKI Club's sponsoring organization, the Mount Vernon Kiwanis Club. For further information about the Mount Vernon Kiwanis Club, which sponsors community service clubs in four area high schools and one elementary school as well as at NOVACC Alexandria, see its website at www.mtvernonvakiwanis.org or its FaceBook Page or send a message to brucemalkin1@gmail.com.
NOVACC CKI delegation wearing "Crab Hats" for special event at CKI Convention in St. Louis. From left, Faculty Advisor Ken Balbuena, President "Ash" Elmelik, Vice President Ryan Pierpoint, Communications Officer Alex Case
From left, President "Ash" Elmelik, Faculty Advisor Ken Balbuena, Communications Officer Alex Case, Vice President Ryan Pierpoint
On the morning of August 6, a chartered bus took 52 children and their escorts from Sacramento and Creekside Neighborhood Centers to see two performances at Wolf Trap National Park for the Performing Arts. This day was a special one, and the performances were held past the Center and down the hill and into the forest. They arrived in perfect timing for the first performance, Project Trio, which contained an upright bass, a cello, and a beat box flute. The kids were enthralled by the unique sounds coming from these classic instruments. The performance included an interpretation of Peter and the Wolf along with the works of many famous composers. They even had some music they wrote themselves. One of the students noticed that the beat box flute performer had been on the television show icarly and got his autograph.
The next show was the Wolf Trap Opera Studio. They introduced the students to the different vocal techniques and sounds of the opera. Then the kids got to pick their own opera. The students voted on the plot of the opera as well as the characters and their moods. The results of the vote were an opera starring Justin Bieber and Harry Potter with a tragic ending. It was a very entertaining show, and the kids loved that they got to pick the story. They sang operatically on the bus all the way home.
This trip was sponsored and paid for by the Mount Vernon Kiwanis Club. For more information on how you can help us do more community service, please visit our website at www.mtvernonvakiwanis.org and our FaceBook page or send an e-mail to brucemalkin1@gmail.com.
Some of the participants; taken by the staff escorts of the groups of their children from Sacramento and Creekside Neighborhood Centers in the Mount Vernon (VA) area.
Six-time ambassador and former Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs, Thomas Pickering, was the Guest Speaker at the Mount Vernon Kiwanis Club (MVKC) dinner evening at the Mount Vernon Country Club on August 4. Just returned from a 10-day trip to Afghanistan, Pakistan, and India, Amb. Pickering had a lot of ideas and insights on how those fluid areas could be addressed by current policymakers to lead to a diplomatic settlement of the conflict in the region. He also elaborated on the complex issues facing the Israeli-Palestinian peace process, the Iranian involvement in its neighboring countries, and the winding down of the war in Iraq. The Question and Answer session afterward was lively. This is the second time he has spoken to the MVKC, which hopes to have him return again next year for more analysis of global issues. The Mount Vernon Kiwanis Club is a leading community service organization, and area residents interested in helping the Kiwanians help others are invited to view www.mtvernonvakiwanis.org or its FaceBook page or call its President, Bruce Malkin, at 703-360-7725 or send an e-mail to brucemalkin1@gmail.com.
MVKC President Bruce Malkin thanks Amb. Pickering for being the Guest Speaker.
