By: Mike Rhodes—
The 99th Annual Indiana Kiwanis District Convention was held at the Horizon Convention Center August 18th through the 20th. Approximately 250 members of the Indiana District of Kiwanis International attended the convention. Indiana is one of 44 districts in the Kiwanis International organization.
Friday night’s activities kicked-off with a free event for families. The Kiwanis clubs of Muncie and West Anderson worked together on a community outreach project that offered free admission to the Muncie Children’s Museum. Tours of the Freedom Bus parked outside were available to families. An exhibit by the Muncie Public Library’s “Digital Climbers” program was also on-hand. The Digital Climbers Program recently received the Library of the Future Award presented by the American Library Association (ALA) and Information Today, Inc.
Dimitri Mali explores the “Marsh Mini-Market” inside the Muncie Children’s Museum during the Kiwanis free admission night.
Muncie Mayor Dennis Tyler warmly welcomed the attendees to Muncie during Saturday morning’s opening session. John Pistole, President of Anderson University and former Deputy Director of the FBI was the keynote speaker during the Saturday luncheon.
Muncie Mayor Dennis Tyler welcomes Kiwanis attendees to Muncie.
Megan Stevenson, Director of the Erskine-Green Training Institute located inside the Courtyard by Marriott hotel also spoke about the center and its mission. Tours of the Erskine-Green Training Institute were offered to attendees. The Erskine-Green Training Institute is a one-of-a-kind postsecondary program that provides vocational training for a variety of jobs in the hotel, food service and healthcare industries. The program provides an immersive learning experience for its students.
“The convention was a great success in Muncie. “We have two conferences a year and we tend to move around the state. We’ve been to Indianapolis, Merrillville, Evansville, Bloomington and some others. In the past few years, our other Kiwanis family organizations such as Key Club, Circle K International, and K-Kids, have come to Muncie and the Horizon Center for their conferences. The Kiwanis family knows the Horizon Center well. It is a favorite spot for us. The facilities are great, the food was terrific, and the hotel was terrific, too. In fact, not one club member heard even one complaint about the facilities or staff. For example, Chef Caleb Churchill, came out during every meal and interacted with our attendees, telling us about the food and its preparation. That was a nice touch.” —David Dixon, Ph. D., Governor, Indiana District of Kiwanis
“We only heard glowing things about our time spent here,” David said. “Our attendees were really impressed with downtown and many enjoyed the Twin Archer Brewpub and Heidi Hale’s jewelry shop. I remember Ralph Mischell from Jasper Indiana said, this was the best Kiwanis convention he’d ever attended.”
About Kiwanis International
Kiwanis International brings the world together — one community at a time. Today, we stand with more than 600,000 members in more than 80 countries from Kiwanis to Key Club to Circle K and beyond. Each community has different needs, and Kiwanis empowers members to pursue creative ways to serve the needs of children through local service projects and fundraising. Kiwanis hosts nearly 150,000 service projects each year. For more information on the local Kiwanis club, visit their Facebook page. http://www.facebook.com/kiwanisclubofmuncie
About the Horizon Convention Center
Centrally located in a thriving downtown atmosphere, Horizon Convention Center connects personalized service and expertise to fulfill your custom convention, wedding, or event needs. Your guests will love the heart of Muncie.
