By Peter Mihelich, International Trustee

Peter Mihelich, from the Kiwanis Club of St. Charles, Missouri, was elected to a three-year term as a Trustee of Kiwanis International at the 89^th Annual International Convention in St Louis in June 2004.

Pete brought greetings from KI President Case VanCleef and President-Elect Steve Siemens.  He served as Missouri-Arkansas District Governor in 1995-96 . He said he was glad to finally be able to visit Kansas even though he has been a neighbor for a number of years.  

The following is from his District Convention address.

In a typical year Kiwanis clubs organize over 150,000 service projects.  Steve Siemens says that ‘Together We Can Together we can climb higher in strengthening the Kiwanis emphasis.  Together we can achieve success in changing the face of Kiwanis.  Together we can nurture excellence in everything we do.  Are we optimistic about our future?  Yes we are!  The goal for our 100^th Anniversary is to have one million members.  This membership goal is critical; it is the foundation of Kiwanis service.  We need to open our doors to younger adults.  We need to do more to attract the diversity of members.  Another important part of growth is new club building.  Preparation and a good community analysis are essential before attempting to build a new club. 

Now it is time for a new day and a new dream.  We need to encourage the clubs to aim for new heights.  There are also clubs moving in the wrong direction.  We need to prioritize and focus our efforts on those clubs where we can make a difference.  Our Key Club program is energetic and in good hands.  We will continue to develop leaders in our entire Kiwanis family.  Key Leader is one of the new leadership programs that is fully endorsed by Kiwanis International. 

Can you imagine 100,000 new members this year?  I can.  Can you imagine us growing 500 new clubs?  I can.   Can you imagine branding Kiwanis like it has never been branded?  Can you imagine doing impossible amazing things?  I can.  If every District ended the year 5 to 10 percent larger than last year, where would we be?  Let’s decide now to end the year bigger.  It can be as easy as 1-2-3.