People, Places & Events

Pancake benefit helps Kemp band
Special to The Monitor
KEMP–The Kemp Jacket Pride Band Boosters raised $1,600 during its recent Valentine’s Day pancake breakfast.
The money was being raised to support the band’s annual spring break trip. This year it will be going to Westcliffe, Colo. to participate in a music clinic. Snow-tubing will also be a rare treat for the youngsters.
The breakfast was held in conjunction with a drawing for beautifully presented and packed baskets of goodies.
Band members created “Baskets of Love,” containing items to pamper people and pets.
Purchasers of raffle tickets then chose which basket drawing they hoped to gain.
The basket bringing in the most interest was created by students Ramon Villanueva, Luis Baeza and Curtis Lewis.
It contained a black and white animal print king size plush blanket, a three foot-long stuffed Valentine caterpillar and items promoting Villenueva’s family construction business.
Area businesses helped by donating items for additional drawings. Such items included free or discounted tax services, money management analysis, 30-days worth of free automatic car washes, spa and tanning packages, veterinarian services, GPS, rounds of golf, golf attire, wheel alignments and other vehicle services and dinner for two.
The breakfast was made possible through donations from local restaurants the Kemp and Seven Points Dairy Queen, Sonic, Western Cafe, and Whataburger.
The band boosters are so grateful to the community and its supporters for making this a very successful event.

Care package items wanted for overseas military personnel
Special to The Monitor
KEMP–The Kemp Independent School District/Hillcrest Baptist Church, invite you to join in filling boxes for our servicemen serving in Afghanistan, Iran and Iraq.
You can drop off items at any Kemp ISD cafeteria from 7:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. March 3-12, Monday through Friday.
For more information, call director of child nutrition Judy Jones at (903) 498-1409.
Items needed, include: toilet paper, tooth brushes, unscented items of baby wipes, deodorants and body soap, Tide laundry powder (no substitutes), chapstick, playing cards, small packages of Kleenex tissue, cereal bars, trail mix, beef jerky, peanuts, homemade cookies, cans of Sue Bee chicken, Sue Bee tuna, Vienna sausages and chewing gum.
Also, tooth paste, shampoo, socks, razors, Q-tips, dominoes, towels, shaving cream, Spam, chili, crackers mixed nuts, Fritos, bean dip, candy, M&M and blow pops.
 

Kiwanis prepare to move, review conference seminars
Monitor Staff Reports
GUN BARREL CITY–In their next-to-last meeting at the Lakeridge RV Park, the Cedar Creek Lake Kiwanis club reviewed the group’s aims and projects Wednesday.
Starting at noon Wednesday, March 4, Kiwanis members will begin meeting weekly at The Jalapeño Tree restaurant in Gun Barrel City, following a little more than a year of “brown-bagging” lunches at the park’s community room.
Rick Williams of Kaufman County’s A. Fern Norville Children’s Shelter is set as the club’s first speaker at The Jalapeño Tree. In their last meeting at the RV Park Wednesday, Feb. 25, Kiwanis members will hear about the upcoming March 21 Civic League appraisal fair.
The first week of each month has been designated as “bring a friend” meetings, aimed at helping develop potential membership contacts.
During the second week of the month, Kiwanis members attend the second Thursday Greater Cedar Creek Lake Chamber of Commerce luncheons, while the third Wednesday is set aside for service projects.
In March, the club will not meet on the fourth Wednesday, as members will be hosting the club’s annual “Pancake Day” fund-raiser Thursday, March 26.
Wednesday, members reported on seminars they attended at the Texas/Oklahoma District’s mid-winter conference.
First and foremost on every club’s agenda is membership. The Cedar Creek Lake club lost 15 members during the past fiscal year, one of the biggest drops noted among T/O District clubs.
“One of the things we’ve done to address that is moving our meetings back to a restaurant,” club president Denise York said.
York added Lakeridge RV Park owner Barbara Caudell had been very gracious and accommodating to the club during the past year, and invited the club back at any time.
“I want you to think about why you joined Kiwanis,” York told the members. “Maybe you joined for service, and we’re not doing enough projects.
“What does it for me is to see the look on those kids’ faces,” she added. “I look at a child’s face and see that we really did make a difference.”
Children are always the top priority for Kiwanis members, Paula Kimbell noted.
“Our kids are our future,” she said. “We must work with the (student) clubs, and teach them to be concerned about the future of our country, teach them about values and manners – they’re not being taught about manners.
“One thing we’re lacking as a club is informing the public that Kiwanis is doing these things,” Kimbell added. “We want people to know we are Kiwanis, and that we work for kids.”
New club secretary Dr. Jeannie Caillet said club members need to participate more with the programs already established at area schools, such as the Terrific Kids and BUGs (Bringing Up Grades).
Older students are invited to join K Kids (for intermediate school ages), Builders Club (for junior high) and Key Club (high school) organizations.
Club members should be present to hand out performance awards and incentives to younger students who show improvement and good citizenship, Caillet said.
“We need to be participating with these kids every six weeks, when report cards come out,” she said.
The first Saturday in April has been designated as the annual Kiwanis Kids Day, and Caillet said students should be contacted to determine a community service project in which they want to participate.
Past president Ralph Fortner reported on a seminar about the proposed requirement to conduct criminal background checks for any member who participates in projects with children, saying it was clear the requirement was very controversial.
Almost all of the problems associated with sexual attacks on children have occurred in the California/Nevada District, but only the Texas/Oklahoma District has adopted the background check requirement.
“If you can cull out one bad person and keep one child safe, it’s worth it, but you get into privacy issues,” Fortner said. “I still don’t know what we will get for the hassle and expense (of the checks).”