February 9, 2010 – Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal was our guest speaker at today’s weekly meeting.  He outlined his “Louisiana Way Forward” for facing anticipated budget shortfalls, and described the differences between his plan and the “Washington Way” – referring to President Obama’s multitrillion spending plan that would boost the national deficit to a record-breaking $1.56 trillion.  Jindal vowed instead to cut government spending by streamlining programs and eliminating unneeded jobs.  Jindal stressed primary, preventative care in favor of costly emergency room visits to help reduce costs.  He also proposed more public-private partnerships, such as a recent $14 million investment to expand Our Lady of the Lake Hospital in Baton Rouge to better serve Medicaid and uninsured patients currently served at the state-run Earl K. Long Hospital.

Every week, certain Kiwanis members receive a tongue-in-cheek award from President Carey Chopin – this week’s award went to Governor Jindal for for his efforts to keep the New Orleans Saints in Louisiana.  WHODAT!!

Jindal said the team’s Super Bowl win was a significant step in the state’s efforts to rebuild after hurricanes Rita and Katrina.  “I think it shows the world that Louisiana is coming back better than we were before,” he said.

For more information about upcoming speakers, see our schedule.

January 26, 2010 – The Lafayette Kiwanis Club was pleased to welcome Colonel Frank Burns as its guest speaker.  Col. Burns discussed many aspects of life at Fort Polk, and answered many questions about life in the military, the current state of deployments to Iran and Afghanistan and more.   A wonderful speaker, Col. Burns jokingly referred to the hard times when he was a Major, PLUS his wife’s middle name is Margaret.  (That is a reference to the TV show M*A*S*H, for those of us old enough to remember Frank Burns & Margaret Hoolihan…)

We are grateful to Col. Burns and all of the military for their service.

Every year, the Kiwanis Club of Lafayette gets a list from the Louisiana Office of Children’s Services of foster children in our area. We buy bicycles for them and deliver the bikes just before Christmas. This year, we delivered 17 bikes to children in Lafayette, Duson, Breaux Bridge, Broussard, Eunice, Port Barre & New Iberia.  Click here to see more photos.

December 15, 2009 – The Kiwanis Club of Lafayette recently donated a special Christmas present for special children.  The club presented a check for over $64,000 to Miracle Recreation Equipment Company for the purchase of handicapped-accessible playground equipment that will be donated to the City of Lafayette.  The playground where this equipment will be installed is named Parc Independence , and will be located in Girard Park.  It will be the first handicapped-accessible playground in Lafayette.

Parc Independence is designed specifically to accommodate children that have physical and mental challenges by eliminating separations, allowing all children to play together.  Some features of the playground include extra-wide entrances and ramps, specially-designed swing sets to accommodate wheelchairs, limited entrance and exit points to assist parents and guardians in watching over their children, and many more features typically not considered in park design.  Because even the smallest design elements can create the largest obstacles for many children with disabilities, careful attention has been paid towards making the playground ADA-compliant.  By eliminating barriers, the park will be a place where all children can play together – regardless of limitations.

Parc Independence will be advertising for Public Bid in January, and construction is expected to be completed by March 2010.

Kiwanis Club of Lafayette members Kemper Bowen and Carey Chopin present a check to Tracey Kincaid of Miracle Recreation Equipment Company for the purchase of handicapped-accessible equipment to be donated to the City of Lafayette and installed in Parc Independence.  Pictured (l-r), Greg Gautreaux, (LCG Department of Parks and Recreation), Kemper Bowen, Tracey Kincaid, Dee Stanley ( LCG CAO) and Carey Chopin.

Every year the Kiwanis Club of Lafayette hosts Operation Magi.  Magi is our favorite service project of the year, bringing a bit of Christmas joy to those less fortunate.  We coordinate the event with the Lafayette Parish School System and Wal-Mart.  The School System supplies us with a list of children classified as homeless – this might be children temporarily living in a shelter, with foster parents, etc.  School buses pick up the children and bring them to WalMart where dozens of eager Kiwanians and Key Club members are waiting to take them Christmas shopping.  Each child is paired up with a Kiwanis and key Club member to go shopping throughout the store.  Each year we are humbled and moved by the enormous need, generosity and gratitude that our young shoppers demonstrate.   This year, we were able to bring a Christmas to 91 children – another great year for Operation Magi – click on the image below for a slideshow, or go to our flickr page for all of our club photos.

We recently donated over $16,000 to our youth-sponsored K-Clubs for their annual budget: Lafayette High Key Club, Comeaux High Key Club, Paul Breaux Builders Club, and UL Circle K.  We also donated funds to launch the startup of a special-needs Girl Scout Troop. AND I finally designed a placard for the Children’s Museum of Acadiana letting people know about our club’s sponsorship of their favorite exhibit in the museum – The Bubble Factory - that our club’s members actually built and that our club has been sponsoring for over a decade! Look at the poster we made below and then click on it for more photos of our K-Clubs and our display at the Bubble Factory.

Sorry that I have been behind in posting to the blog, but here is a quick recap…

1. Our 2009 banquet was a blast – thanks to Ema for such a great time. Click on the photo below for a slideshow (you may have to wait a few moments for the photos to load if you have a slow connection.)

Each year, our club donates to CADENCE of Acadiana to help with their “Treats at the Village” – a Halloween event for disabled children and adults, along with their families, in a safe and fun place – Acadian Village..  They just sent us some photos of the event.  Click here to take a look.

Everyone is invited to our November breakfast get-together at 7:30 a.m.  this Friday November 20 at Ema’s restaurant on the corner of Pinhook at Kaliste Saloom. Our normal Kiwanis meetings are Tuesdays at noon, but many of us enjoy getting together more often just for fellowship. Even if you aren’t a member, come join us anyway – no particular reason other than to enjoy fellowship and a good breakfast before starting the day.

The Kiwanis Club of Acadiana (KOA) is teaming up with St. Thomas More High School (STM) to host a soccer tournament.  The tournament will take place at STM.  This will be a Freshman and JV soccer tournament with approximately 15 teams participating.

Tournament will be held Friday, December 18th (start time 5:00 pm) and Saturday, December 19th (8:00 am  to 4:00 pm)  Additional details to come.

Best of luck to KOA and the participating teams!