Category: Business

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RSVP: Chinese New Year

Kiwanis Chinese New Year

Saturday, January 28

5 – 8

Mike and Yan Knauss 
7222 N 125 St
(Deer Creek)
$15 per person
Please RSVP to BILL or MIKE by January 9. 

About the Chinese New Year 2017

 The Year of the Rooster will be a powerful one, with no middle of the road when it comes to
moving forward. This year, impressions count. You’ll want to look your best and be clear on your intentions concerning love, money, and business. Stick to practical and well-proven paths to ensure success, rather than risky ventures.

New Year, or the “Spring Festival” as it is known in China, is the longest and most important holiday in China. The Chinese New Year 2017 begins on January 28, 2017. The Chinese New Year’s festivities end two weeks later on the 15th day of the first month on what is known as the Lantern Festival.

During the Chinese New Year’s celebrations, there are many traditional activities, some local and others celebrated universally. The Chinese believe that as they enter a new year, they should start a new beginning. They clean their houses, pay off all of their debts, purchase new clothes, paint their doors, and even get new haircuts in order to have a fresh start for the new year.
Homes throughout China are decorated with special banners, many of which are red and gold; the traditional representations of happiness and prosperity.
One very fun tradition of the Chinese New Year is exchanging gifts. A traditional present that is given is small red envelopes filled with “lucky money”. These envelopes are given to children by their family and friends.
The dragon is a very popular symbol for the Chinese New Year. It is a symbol of strength and good luck. A Chinese New Year 2017 celebration would not be complete without a giant dragon parading down the street. The dragon costume is always very colorful and can be up to 100 feet long. People inside the costume make the dragon move up and down as it zigzags past the spectators.
During the Chinese New Year 2017 you will see fireworks and hear firecrackers! There are many beliefs about why fireworks are used. One belief is that the noise of the fireworks is supposed to scare away all evil spirits allowing the new year to begin without misfortunes.
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Speaker: Don Bacon Campaign

Deputy Campaign manager for Don Bacon to win election is our speaker, Colonel (Retired)
Ben “Felix” Ungerman

Don’s campaign had over 150 high school and college kids making calls and knocking on doors. Unprecedented. An amazing amount of energy. 
Don wants to work on deregulation.  The huge debt. Working for our communities. And simplifying the tax code. Part of this initiative is a balanced budget, Obamacare repeal/replace and entitlement reforms. 
Beating an incumbent is about 5% successful. Don went to ever event, got signs in yards and a heavy ground game. 
Don will be active in the community. Returning home for 2-3 days a week to engage in activities in Omaha and around Nebraska. 
Thank you Felix and congratulations. 
Kiwanis Club of Greater Omaha 

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Holiday Party

With 17 energy filled children from Sacred Heart, lunch was great fun. Singing carols, talking about upcoming Christmas presents, and what they are reading in school, the kids kept the adults well entertained.

John also presented a check for $3,000 total from the Kiwanis Club of Greater Omaha and the Nebraska-Iowa District Kiwanis Foundation for the Sacred Heart technology fund. This will purchase a number of iPads and headsets for the second grade.

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NE-IA Distric Kiwanis Foundation Awards $1,000 to Sacred Heart

Congratulations to our partner, Sacred Heart, in receiving an additional $1,000 for additional technology resources in the 2nd grade classroom. Earlier this year, the Kiwanis Club of Greater Omaha donated $2,000 toward the purchase of computer tablets for the second grade class.

Kiwanis Club of Greater Omaha submitted a grant proposal to the NE IA District Kiwanis Foundation and just received word of the award.

There will be 17 children for lunch at the German American Society on Monday, 12/12. Please plan on attending.

We look forward to our reading time so the kids can teach the Kiwanians how to use their new computer equipment.

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Kiwanis Out Ringing Bells

Last Saturday, Kiwanis Club of Greater Omaha was at two locations ringing bells for the Salvation Army. Pictured below are Deb, Joe, Sally, John and Jack at Baker’s in west Omaha.
Thanks to all who participated and to the spouses that also contributed an hour of their time to our community. 
Vince

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Speaker: Douglas County Election Commissioner

Brian Kruse is the Douglas County Election Commissioner. This is a 4 year appointed position by the Governor of Nebraska.

The office is on 114 and Davenport.  There are 13 full time employees.  The chief deputy is mandated to be from an opposite party. 
This year the registration increased to over 350,000.  Registration is now available online. And this year was a record year. 
There was 69.8% turn out this last presidential election. Two other issues drove people to vote this year, according to Brian, beside presidential – the death penalty and the congregational race. 
In comparison, usually 28% of registered voters turn out for mayor election in May. 
Poll workers can be drafted in Nebraska.  This is unique to this state. Douglas county is the only county to use this method. 40% of poll workers are draftees.  A draftee has to work 4 elections. This process works similar to jury duty.  Poll draftees can seek exemption. Poll draftees get paid minimum wage. Employers are not allowed to penalize or otherwise interfere with draftees employment.
Thank you Brian for all the information. Kiwanis members can contact Brian for more information.
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Speaker: Salvation Army

Jeff Beckman brings a wealth of knowledge to The Salvation Army. He is the Executive Director of Development.

What Does The Army Do In Omaha? 

The primary purposes of the Salvation Army in Omaha and surrounding areas are to help the poor among us. This includes housing, clothing,household goods and food. Part of the Omaha mission includes the Kroc Center along with churches, service centers and administrative buildings around the Nebraska, Iowa and South Dakota area.

The Salvation Army helps with temporary housing and feeding homeless and poor. This includes takes a canteen out to the streets. The Salvation Army coordinates food programs, food banks and shelters with other non profits. 

Behavior health is another key service. Helping people with no other family or friend help who are experiencing mental issues. 
Anti-Human Trafficking is modern day slavery and is a growing problem. Hundreds are trafficked out of West Omaha. Victims are all ages. The peak times are when heavy crowds are in town like CWS. The Salvation Army has a program to help law enforcement with the victims of human trafficking.
Older Adult Services is about helping elderly. There are many services for children but not as many to help the elderly.  This includes the Durham Booth Manor.

Thank you Jeff for educating us on the expansive missions of The Salvation Army. We look forward to helping you raise money with Bell Ringing on Saturday. 

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Interclub


Joel reported we had five members attend the Omaha Golden K meeting this morning at Countryside Church.  Bill, John, Bob, Kip, and Joel.  
The speaker was Tom Gouttierre, Retired Director of UNO Center on Afghanistan Studies, the topic was Middle East Affairs, and was very interesting.
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Kiwanis Business Meeting

What have we done in 2016?

Kiwanis members gave an average of 27 hours of volunteering per member, per month. 
Kiwanis Club of Greater Omaha gave over $5000 in charitable giving. The largest single donation was a technology gift to Sacred Heart kids. Other donations went to a UNO Scholarship, All Play team sponsorship, Camp Okay and many individual worthy organizations.  
There is a long list of activities from this year with nonprofits. Special Olympics long jump officiating. AllPlay volunteering.  Salvation Army bell ringing. Sacred Heart reading.  Teammates.  
Plenty of service hours were done. Highway cleanup. Yard cleanup for disabled. AllPlay field spring cleaning and painting. 
And – we have fun! Taking Sacred Heart second grade to the zoo. Chinese New Year party. Summer picnic. Interclubs. 

What’s coming in 2017?

Yes, your Kiwanis club has a sustainable path. The board expects the dues will remain the same and 2017 outlook is busy and bright.

Membership is active and we initiated a new member last week. 

Our primary goal for 2017 is keeping our commitments to kids in our community. To do that, we need to grow our membership. Bring a guest once a month to a Monday meeting.

Have a great Thanksgiving,
John

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Kiwanis Catch Up for the Holidays!

So much volunteering, so much fun to come!!

Sign up underway for 2017 Attendance Taker and Speaker Monthly Chair. 
Bell Ringing 2016 sign up for Saturday, December 3. Contact Vince to sign up for an hour.  Indoor at JC Penney or Bakers. 
Sacred Heart reading on Friday’s. See Dale to sign up. 
Christmas Lunch with Sacred Heart is Monday, December 12. There are 17 kids that will join us for lunch. 
Highway clean up thanks to Joe. Yard cleanup completed for this year. Thanks to Deb for coordinating yard clean up. Both activities will resume in the spring.
Happy Thanksgiving.

Deb at yard clean up ~ with the help of Boy Scout Troop 326

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October Speaker Calendar

October Kiwanis Speaker Calendar:


October 17  
Joey Spellerberg –  Moostash Joe Tours


October 24
John Winkler –  Papio-Missouri River NRD    

October 31
Laurie Vander Wal – Identity Theft
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NOTICE: MEETING LOCATION FOR MONDAY OCTOBER 10

Field Trip! Bob has invited us to the Elkridge Independent Living community for lunch on Monday, October 10. Directions are above. Lunch is our normal $5 payable to the Kiwanis Club – but be there at 11:30! Lunch is served at Elkridge Independent Living with a salad starting at 11:30.
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Speaker: Boys Town

Linda Schuckmann is our speaker on Boys Town. 

Interesting information:

  • In the last 11 years, Father Boes has doubled the number of kids and families serviced by Boys Town. 
  • In Omaha alone there are 68 homes with over 350 children currently living on Boys Town campus. 
  • Boys Town is really its own incorporated town. They have their own mayor, who is elected from the youth population. Their own schools, police and other services. 
  • Boys Town has grown its foster care and family consultation services over the past few years. 
  • Boys Town also have facilities around the country helping youth plus their Suicide Hotline. 
  • In Omaha and beyond, Boys Town is known as a hearing specialist. Their work helps both youth and adults with hearing issues. 

Thanks, Linda, for all the information! 

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Interclub – October 7!

Good afternoon,

Thanks again for having your inter-club at our meeting a couple of weeks ago when we hosted Bob Dalrymple!

I wanted to let your club know about our upcoming meeting on October 7th. We will be hosting Greg McDermott, Head Coach of the Creighton Men’s basketball team. The meeting will be held at the Ramada Convention Center on 72nd and Grover. Buzz has already started about this upcoming season. If your club members have an interest in attending, please have them RSVP with your Kiwanian Joel or by using this link:

https://goo.gl/forms/fjIRX4Dkp0cmm4uf2 

We hope to see you all again soon!

Kiwanis Club of Omaha

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Kiwanis October Meeting Calendar


October Speaker Calendar: 
October 3.    
TBA
October 10.   
No meeting at GAS
October 17.    
Joey Spellerberg –  Moostash Joe Tours
October 24.  
John Winkler –  Papio-Missouri River NRD    

October 31.  
TBA
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Speaker: NE Department of Roads

An update on our roads from NDOR. 

Current project update around Omaha:

Upcoming projects: 

Future project map: 
Build Nebraska sales tax spend. There are 101 projects under consideration.  Over $8 billion in proposed spend. 

Thank you Tim Weanser for all the information.  

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Meeting Notes

This Friday starts Sacred Heart reading. Sign up with Dale. 

Saturday is our Kiwanis club commitment  with AllPlay. Sign up online at AllPlay.org
Summer Picnic was a success. 25 people attended Sunday at Stu’s home. Beautiful day and wonderful hosts! 
John Hartwell takes over next week. Board meeting tomorrow at Don’s office at noon.   
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AllPlay – Last Dates!


The Fall softball season for AllPlay is underway! The Division 20 Kiwanis Clubs have been asked to give special consideration to helping, as a “Buddy” or other volunteer role, for two hours on Saturdays through September. 
Our Kiwanis Club of Greater Omaha is to focus Saturday, September 24th. 
Very simple sign up is at www.allplay.org.  
September 17 – Bellevue Offutt and West Omaha Diamond K
September 24 – Omaha Westside and Greater Omaha