January 2008 Page 1

By Capital LTG Kasey Nye From March 28th-30th Circle K’ers from all over Pennsylvania are going to gather in the sweetest place on earth: Hershey, Pennsylvania. The weekend is going to be filled with service, workshops, and sessions with a “Superhero” theme. Not to mention caucusing, House of Delegates, and the very eventful dance. This weekend is a must for everyone! Another theme this year is change! There are many

changes to the DCON Schedule that will benefit you. To start off, the Service Fair will be held on Friday Night along with the activity. This will maximize the attention that your club’s exhibit will receive. Another new idea is the Kiwanis Family Breakfast on Saturday Morning. This serves two purposes: it breaks up the Presidents’ Banquet and provides attendees with a third meal for the weekend. A final change this year is the Superhero Suite! This month, Presidents sent in nominations for people to stay in the Superhero Suite. This suite is for non-officer holding members that have gone above and beyond the call of duty multiple times over the past year. An announcement will be made at District Convention of the winners. Some other important convention details that you must know are accommodations. We will all be staying at the Harrisburg/Hershey Holiday Inn off of Interstate 81. Don’t forget your swimsuit!

District Convention: Can You Have Too Much Chocolate?

Clarion Gets Into the Holiday Spirit and Other Club

Happenings!

PACK Cash Success Stories!

The Official Publication of the Pennsylvania District of Circle K International

www.pacirclek.org Volume XLVI, Issue 4

Below: The Hershey Factory

Above: Chocolate World near Hershey Park.

See “DCON” on Page 8.

January 2008 Page 2

By Special Events Chair Dan Aiello As the Circle K year winds down over the next three months, it is now time to start recognizing clubs for all of the hard work they have done this year! With District Convention just a few months away, it is time to think about the awards to be had this year! Over twenty five awards will be handed out at DCON, including awards for distinguished and honored officers,

Kiwanis family relations, faculty and Kiwanis advisors, club t-shirts and scrapbooks, and many more! This may sound like a cheesy 3:00 AM infomercial, but this is how your club can get in on the action. First, each club president will receive the awards packet via email and it will be posted on the PACK website. The packet is not available yet, but will be within the next two weeks. Second, fill out the forms! It does not get any easier than that. However, the most important thing to realize is the new due date for awards. In the past, awards were due by midnight of the first day of DCON. However, with this causing a major time crunch to judge each award and put together certificates, it has been decided to make all awards (except for the outstanding club t-shirt and scrapbook) due 1-2 weeks prior to DCON. An official due date and mailing information will be posted all throughout the awards packet. It is as easy as that: receive, fill out, and send! Take the time to fill out the award applications and receive the recognition that your club deserves! If you have any questions about the awards, please feel free to contact me at any time at specialevents@pacirclek.org. Good luck!

By Center LTG Heather Shadduck Are you struggling to come up with ways to pay for DCON? Good news the District has a couple of opportunities to help pay for DCON this year. The first is selling program ads which can help you be reimbursed for your registration costs. For each full page of ads you sell, you will be reimbursed $20. You can sell up to 3 full pages of ads for a total of $60 right pack in your pockets. You can break down a full page of ads into ½ and ¼ ads as well as selling the entire page. Ad prices are:

$30 for a ¼ page, $45 for a ½ page

$80 for a full page One thing to remember, in order to get money back you must sell entire pages of ads, and all ads and money must be received by February 19. Ads and money should be sent to Metro LTG Bonnie. For more information check with your club officers, contact Bonnie at metro@pacirclek.org, or District Treasurer Elesha at treasurer@pacirclek.org.

Also each of your clubs should have received Booster Tickets to sell. These are sold every year to help control the costs of DCON. This year

the Fundraising Committee is offering a Club Survival Kit for selling booster tickets. Clubs that sell at least 30 out of 50 tickets will be entered to win this prize! Just make sure all tickets (sold and unsold) are returned to Kevin Thomas at the district office by March 14. Talk to your club officers and offer to sell or buy some boosters and your club might just be the lucky winner! If you are still having trouble fundraising for DCON be sure to check with your Kiwanis Clubs for funding, or try holding a fundraiser on your campus. Valentines Day and St. Patrick’s Day both offer great opportunities to raise cash and get you on your way to DCON!!

Top: Award Winners from ICON 2007 in Portland, Oregon. THIS COULD BE YOU!!!

January 2008 Page 3

By Secretary Alyssa Rosenzweig This is a great recipe for bringing cheer to teens during the holiday season. We’ve been donating blankets to Project Linus for two years now and we continue using this recipe every year! You’ll love it once you try it! Cook Time: 1 hour Serves: Thirteen teens who are seriously ill, traumatized, or otherwise in need. Best if made on November 27, 2007 and continued on December 4, 2007 Ingredients: 13 solid color fleece pieces (1.5 yards each) 13 patterned fleece pieces (1.5 yards each) Multiple pairs of scissors 19 UPenn Circle K’ers Lots of food made by Riz

See “UPenn” on Page 9.

By Vice President Nina Longobardi Operation Afghan Child is a project inspired by one of our fellow Circle K members. Over the summer, we were introduced to the idea of the project through a request from a Circle K member whose boyfriend is currently

stationed in Afghanistan. During the cold months in Afghanistan, many people die because of their lack of warm clothing. He requested for someone to make scarves to send to these children and parents to help them through the winter. Also, to gain their trust, since most still fear the troops over seas. Many soldiers want the people of Afghanistan to understand that they are there to protect them, not to harm them. The troops in Afghanistan feel forgotten and our goal is to make sure they know that we still are thinking about them and are supporting them. During the months of September through December, Elizabethtown Circle K has been crocheting, knitting, and cutting for this cause. With help from other Circle K clubs in Pennsylvania including Dickinson, Millersville, Shippensburg, and the local Manor Care Nursing Home in Elizabethtown, we have made a total over 100 scarves to send overseas. These scarves will be sent to where ever they are needed abroad to children, adults, and anyone in need of something to keep them warm during the cold winter months. Also, at InterPACK this year, members of the K-Family got to take part in making cards to send to the soldiers to remind them we are here to support them. More than 50 cards were made and will be sent to soldiers for the holiday season. This project was something that hit close to home for a lot of people and Elizabethtown Circle K really appreciates everyone's efforts to make this project a success. We are still making and collecting scarves throughout the winter and plan to send numerous shipments overseas.

Above: Elizabethtown CK’er Kristen cuts material for scarves.

Above: UPenn CK’ers cut of material. Left: The finished products!

Right: Etown CK’ers cut of material for the scarves.

January 2008 Page 4

By Mem. Dev. and Ed. Chair Jess Krum

Since the beginning of the school year, the District Board has been working on a Club Building Campaign in order to start up some new Circle K Clubs in the Pennsylvania District. We have had tremendous success both in creating interest in students looking to start clubs and in actually creating clubs that had never existed or had fallen off the map. Here is just some of the progress made towards the goal of increasing club numbers:

Bloomsburg held their first meeting back in October and are in need of more interested members. Once they have twenty members, their charter will be complete!

Mt. Aloysius has had very surprising success within the past three months. They have had several meetings, planned and held service projects, and have also attended district events!

University of the Sciences in Philadelphia (USP) like Mt. Aloysius, has also come out of nowhere with many interested students. They held their first informative meeting in October and were spotted at InterPACK and Service in da Burgh!

Ursinus has held meetings and currently recruiting members!

Penn State-Berks also held its meeting back in October and in need of members. They’ve held service projects and also attended InterPACK!

See “Building” on Page 9

By Vice President Bridget Noonan

On Friday, November 30, 2007, Circle K’ers from all over Pennsylvania came to Pittsburgh to participate in Service in Da ‘Burgh, an all-night service event sponsored by Circle K at Pittsburgh-Oakland. Upon arrival, everyone received a Pittsburgh snow globe as a thank you gift for coming to the event. After checking in and playing a few ice-breakers such as Train Wreck, all of the clubs refueled with Vocelli’s Pizza and drinks while waiting to hear about the night’s agenda. Our Large Scale Service Project committee chair, Stephanie Young, then announced the different projects that were open to everyone. These included fashioning mosaic centerpieces for a local woman’s shelter, making MS ribbons, decorating cards for patients at the VA Hospital, making peanut butter and jelly sandwiches for a soup kitchen, baking cookies, organizing soldier care packages, and sewing sensory pillows for the Center for Creative Play. As part of the arrangement with the Parental Stress Center, the location of the service event, Circle K’ers wrapped a variety of gifts for the children who frequent the center and also decorated some of the classrooms with holiday-themed items. The Kiwanians that attended helped tremendously with the peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. When

See “Pittsburgh-Oakland” on Page 9

Top: Mount Aloysius’s 2007-2008 Officers. Left: USP’s President Richelle at InterPACK.

Top: Pittsburgh-Oakland CK’ers wrap gifts. Right: CK’ers sew sensory pillows.

May 2007 Page 10

4

By Vice President Andrea Moon Misericordia Circle K hosted a turkey dinner for the Deutsch Institute, a local agency that provides support for mentally handicapped adults and their families, on November first. We sent out invitations, planned a craft, created the menu, and organized preparations with our school in reserving a room on campus. We cooked all the food ourselves, except the turkey, and served over fifty people. This is an annual event that, and everyone very much anticipates. We also hold a similar function for them during the Easter season. Overall, it was a great success and we had a terrific time.

On October 14, Gettysburg College's Center for Public Service hosted La Fiesta, an event for Gettysburg's Hispanic community. Our club was asked to build and run an obstacle course for the kids to run. Circle K helped out by setting up an obstacle course. The first part of the course involved tunnels we built out of duct tape and boxes donated by the dining hall. After the tunnels, the kids had to jump rope five times, and then crawl under a limbo bar. Next they hopped through circles. To finish off the course, they had to throw three balls into a bucket. The kids loved the activity, and some of them ran the course repeatedly. After the event was over, some of our club members tried their hands at the course. The club's president, Reegan Matters was the ultimate victor.

January 2008 Page 5

By Vice President Catherine Matthews Our club has had a wonderful month of November. In the beginning of the month our club attended Interpack 2007 and was fortunate to meet with the wonderful District Officers and members within the PA District. We have continued to collect money for Multiple Sclerosis and were able to have a successful fundraiser this month. Mercyhurst Circle K’s fundraising chairs, Michelle and Emily, organized a Krispy Kreme donut coupon sale. Our service projects for this month included our continued efforts at the City Mission Donation Center in Erie and Service in 'Da Burgh in Pittsburgh. We are planning to begin work at the Veterans Hospital next semester. We still are continuing our 50/50 raffle and preparing for Christmas on Campus. Christmas on Campus is an initiative in which various clubs help elementary school

See “Mercyhurst”on Page 9

By Vice President Kayla Lenkner Right and

Below: Gettysburg sets up their obstacle course.

By Vice President Erik Pindrock As the semester comes to a close, Millersville Circle K remains very involved in the Lancaster community and beyond. The month started out in full swing with InterPACK at Camp Hidden Valley. Six new MUCK members joined veteran participants at InterPACK. We thought the event was an overall success. On November 11th, Circle K teamed up with The Second Mile once again, providing arts and crafts for children that were geared towards a fall theme. On the weekend before Thanksgiving break, our Lieutenant Governor Kasey Nye and member Adrienne Keesey hosted a social/movie night at their apartment that was open to all club members. Circle K members enjoyed and bonded over the movie, "Knocked Up." To end the month, five Millersville Circle K’ers traveled out to Pittsburgh for Service in da Burgh, an event put together by Pittsburgh-Oakland's Circle K. The event was a success and everyone from Millersville felt the time put in was worth the trip. The next day, Circle K’ers went to help our Kiwanis Club with its annual Christmas Tree Sale. This project has always been a lot of fun and we hope the Kiwanians were very successful! Our club hosted a fundraiser at Isaac’s Restaurant, put together by Shelly Humer, to help raise money for our Dance Marathon held in February. Later, several Circle K’ers visited Oak Leaf Manor nursing home to play games and sing holiday carols to elderly residents during the evening. MUCK literally wrapped up the semester at the Park City Mall, in Lancaster, to wrap gifts for holiday shoppers.

By Vice President Jennifer Straw This past month Clarion Circle K has done a couple of events with Clarion Kiwanis. The first event we did together was Food for Friends on November 14th. We do this every semester with our Kiwanis club. We went to the First United Methodist Church and helped serve food for the needy that came to the soup kitchen. There were seven members who attended and helped. We served a meal which included all the basic food groups and offered milk, water, and coffee. The second event we did was ringing the bell for the Salvation Army at the Clarion Wal-Mart. Five CUCK’ers stood outside with the Kiwanians at the two front doors. We rang the bell and had a good time out in the cold. We also caroled for the shoppers to help spread holiday cheer.

Our advisor and most of our Circle K’ers had a fun time. We are unsure of how much we raised completely, but the cans were VERY heavy! The last event we did together was gift wrapping in the Clarion Mall. Seven Circle K members helped our Kiwanis Club wrap gifts. We wrapped people’s gifts and only asked for donations and in turn got the name of Kiwanis and Circle K out there. People really appreciated our wrapping and we also had a great time. One of the Kiwanians put us up to a challenge by going inside one of the stores and buying a small tricycle and challenging us to wrap it without putting it into a box. We wrapped it the best we could, considering he wanted us to use as many scraps as possible. The end result was

See “Clarion” on Page 9

Above: Clarion CK’ers wraps a tricycle for a local charity.

January 2008 Page 6

January 2008 Page 7

By Kiwanis Family Chair Amanda Marfisi Bingo is no longer just a service project played with the assisted living anymore, now it’s a way to increase interactions and awareness about the Kiwanis Family. The Kiwanis Family Committee has created a twist on

this classic game. Clubs are encouraged fulfill tasks on their Bingo Card. Bonus points are awarded for those clubs who achieve Bingo or different patterns. Some examples include attending a Kiwanis or Key Club meeting or doing service with any of these branches. This activity will help clubs obtain their PERK Points goal. PERK Points are high this year and with three months left we can promote even more interaction. Remember our goal for this year is to reach ten PERK Points per member. This activity will help us make that final push to reach that goal. Make Valentines’ Day cards with Kiwanians, invite Key Clubbers to your favorite service project, collect tabs for Builders Club! The bingo card is available for every club, just email Amanda Marfisi at kfamilypack@gmail.com, if you haven’t received yours yet. All bingo cards should be brought to District Convention on Friday, March 28, 2008. Cards can be turned into the Convention Office and scores will be tallied. The winning school will receive a pizza party on Friday night. This is the home stretch for the Circle K year and everyone should get in the “game” of working with their Kiwanis Family clubs!

By Service Chair Andrew Blass It is a new year and another chance to make a difference in the lives of those who live with MS. This organization has done amazing things in 2007 to battle this disease and we can continue our stand in the New Year. In addition

to PACK’s fundraising events, your club can get a head start on the National MS Society’s annual fundraising event, the MS Walk. Walks can be found on various dates from Pittsburgh to Scranton, Erie to Philadelphia, and everywhere in between. For a complete list go to www.nationalmssociety.org. These walks are a great way to raise money and there is no better time to start than now! Have your club form a team and begin fundraising. Many of the events will also need volunteers which is another opportunity to serve. Don’t forget to take your clubs’ MS Can to your meetings and Kiwanis meetings! If you need any help or advice, simply e-mail me at service@pacirclek.org.

Remember, we are planning to collect all of our fundraising efforts and present them to the Multiple Sclerosis Society at our District Convention on March

28th. There are still two collection dates ahead on February 1st and March 14th. Please send your clubs’ fundraising money (in check form) made out to PA Circle K (write MS Society in the memo section) to:

Kiwanis District Office PA Circle K

2793 Old Post Road Harrisburg, PA 17110

so that we can gauge our contribution. Remember our goal is five dollars a member. Thanks to all of you for all your efforts towards this cause.

January 2008 Page 8

“DCON” continued from page 1.

Convention goers will have more free time to spend with their club, and some of it could be used at the indoor pool. Hershey is just minutes away, home to the infamous

Chocolate World. Chocolate World educates its visitors on how Hershey chocolate is made. At the end of the ride, chocolate is given out to all riders. And best of all, IT’S FREE!!! A final destination to spend some of your free time is the Hershey Gardens. While an admission fee is charged, it is open year round. However, during the winter months, admission is half price! At the Gardens you can enjoy the flora, and even fauna, from exotic regions of the world! Despite all of these changes and additions this year, you can still count on the traditional PACK fun that can be found at all PACK District Events. So Pennsylvania Circle K’ers, mark District Convention on your calendars NOW! From March 28-30, 2008 come to Hershey, Pennsylvania to celebrate another year of accomplishments performed and achieved by all you “Everyday Heroes.”

By Erie LTG Richard Bradford The Tomorrow Fund is a grant for Circle K International. The grant is used to help clubs serve the world through large projects that clubs would not be able to perform with the resources they currently have. The Tomorrow Fund is established through a portion of Circle K dues, donations from Carthage-Pullman

Society Memberships, and donations from the Sapphire Circle Honoraries. The Tomorrow Fund can be used for developing better reading skills among at-risk kindergarten students. Circle K’ers could collect book donations for a classroom library, but may need some extra money for proper book storage like shelves and chair covers with pockets. This is where the Tomorrow Fund enters. This can help alleviate the costs of the chair covers and shelves. All money granted by the Circle K International Board from the Tomorrow Fund must conform to the Policies of Circle K International. Tomorrow Fund grants are given only to Circle K Clubs and Districts. The Grant Review Committee may award up to, but not more than, the amount of interest earned off of the endowment available at the convening of the committee. There is only one funding cycle for the Tomorrow Fund. The postmark deadline is July 15, with Circle K International Board's decisions will be mailed no later than September 15. All applications must be submitted to the Youth Funds Specialist at Kiwanis International, 3636 Woodview Trace, Indianapolis, IN 46268, via fax at 317-879-0204. For more info see our web site at www.circlek.org/service/tomorrowfund.asp. Above: The Chocolate World Cows: Gabby,

Harmony, and Olympia.

Above: Hershey Gardens during the winter.

January 2008 Page 9

Above: UPenn works on blankets for Project Linus.

“Mercyhurst” continued from page 5.

children with Christmas crafts and it is a wonderful way to encourage holiday cheer. One of our members, Meghan, decorated a Christmas tree with the theme "Everyday Heroes" and this was a great way to inspire other club members to get into the holiday spirit. The Christmas tree decoration contest was a school wide contest in which clubs could win seventy-five dollars for the most festive tree; we put up a valiant effort and many other clubs commented on our tree's creativity.

Above: Clarion CK’ers help out at Food for Friends. “Clarion” continued from page 6.

pretty entertaining, not only for us, but for the customers inside of the mall. He donated the tricycle to a local charity for children. Towards the end we figured out that we raised over seventy dollars to go towards the Clarion County Promise.

“UPenn” continued from page 3. Directions:

1. Invite all the members of your club and friends to come join in on the fun!

2. Put a piece of patterned fleece on top of a coordinating solid color fleece.

3. Trim pieces so they are the same size. Now all cutting will be done on both pieces at the same time.

4. Cut a 4” by 4” square in each corner. 5. Cut fringes on each side of the blanket, using

the guidelines from the square. One fringe will be about 1” thick and 4” long.

6. Have a fun conversation with your neighbor while listening to some music. Note: that you do not have to wait until this step for this process to begin.

7. Tie the top fringe with the bottom fringe in a knot like you would your shoelaces. You may be surprised to learn that this is the most difficult part of all.

8. Stretch the blanket out to full size. 9. Revel in your amazing accomplishment. 10. Feel good about helping others during the

holiday season. 11. Repeat again in the years to come.

“Building” continued from page 4.

In addition to these clubs, there are many other schools in PA that have made a lot of progress towards starting Circle K clubs. If you know anyone who attends one of the following schools and would be interested in starting or joining a Circle K Club, please let one of the District Board Members know: Franklin and Marshall, Slippery Rock, Grove City, Kutztown, and Villanova. We are so proud of everyone that is helping to make this campaign successful! Keep up the great work!!!

“Pittsburgh-Oakland” continued from page 4.

Circle K’ers needed a break from all of these options; they could participate in our dodgeball tournament in the gym, or relax in the cafeteria. By the time the event ended at 7:00 A.M., everyone managed to finish the numerous projects while also meeting new people and making new friends. A heartfelt thank you goes out from our Circle K to everyone who attended! We cannot wait to see you all again next year.

District Editor -Brett Cutright

Journalism Committee -Kara Baxter, West Chester -Emily Claus, Shippensburg -Rebecca Eddinger, Penn State-University Park -Amanda Lengel, Millersville -Jenna Leverknight, Pittsburgh-Johnstown

2007-2008 Class of PACK Vice Presidents

2007-2008 District Board

Disclaimer: The Krier is the Official Publication of the Pennsylvania District of Circle K International. This publication is supported by the district dues. All members are encouraged to submit articles. They may be edited for length and clarity. Please submit articles to District Editor Brett Cutright at editor@pacirclek.org.

Look out for:

District Board Goodbyes

and much, much more!

Distinguished and Honored Officers

Club Updates

January 2008 Page 10

These are Pennsylvania’s District Goals. The tracking period will be from April 1, 2007 until March 31, 2008. Each issue of “The Krier will include an update of Pennsylvania’s progress.

1. The Pennsylvania District of Circle K International will strive to obtain 1000 members. Pennsylvania currently has 742 members, making it the third largest District in Circle K International.

This is 74.20% of our goal.

2. The Pennsylvania District of Circle K International will perform a total of at least 45,000 reported service hours for the 2007-2008 Circle K year.

Pennsylvania currently has 30,322.5 service hours. This is 67.38% of our goal.

3. The clubs of the Pennsylvania District of Circle K International will earn an average of 10 PERK Points per member.

Pennsylvania currently has 7.01 PERK Points per member. This is 7.01% of our goal.

4. The clubs of the Pennsylvania District of Circle K International will raise an average of $5 per member for the Governor’s Project.

Pennsylvania has currently raised $1.98 per member. This is 39.60% of our goal.

5. The Pennsylvania District of Circle K International will see a 15% increase of membership attendance during the 2007-2008 Circle K year at District and International events.

The determination of this goal will not be considered until the end of the year.

Circle K’s Mission Statement: Developing college and university students into responsible citizens and leaders with a lifelong commitment to serving the children of the world.