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President Raymond Dyne (second from left)

If I were to ask you “What is the great leveler?” I imagine more than a few of you would answer “Death?” and that would be true.  However, there is a more pleasant leveler and that is the Kiwanis organization. 

What is a Kiwanian?  Kiwanians come in all forms.  Kiwanians are judges and lawyers; Kiwanians are accountants and chiropractors; Kiwanians are architects and doctors; Kiwanians are carpenters and bricklayers; Kiwanians are police officers and firefighters.  They are Christian, Jewish, Muslim and Hindu to name a few.  Kiwanians are American, British, Canadian, Italian, French, Chinese and, yes, even South African.  They span the age gap from 9 to 90 and beyond.  We are a huge family and each of us is welcome in any part of the world where Kiwanians congregate. 

All of the above counts for nought when the Kiwanian walks through the door to attend a meeting or a Kiwanian function.  We are all level regardless of our differing backgrounds. 

You might think we are not judgmental but how wrong you would be.  We do judge fellow Kiwanians.  We judge them by their values; we judge them by their character and moral standing.  We perform community service quietly and unobtrusively, perhaps too much so for, sadly, there are still far too many in our community who do not know what Kiwanis stands for. 

Woodland Hills is a small club but we are not an insignificant one and perhaps most of all we are a fun club.  Our annual “Pig Roast” (more correctly a “Pig and Chicken Roast”) is well known amongst Kiwanians and continues to be our main fund raiser.  This year we also started a Hippie Picnic which we plan on converting to an annual event. 

Despite our paucity of numbers we are still able to make a meaningful contribution to the community.  Dave has already outlined our service projects so I will not repeat them. 

George Mallory, when asked why he attempted to climb Mt. Everest, replied famously in words never to be forgotten “Because it’s there”.  So why do we serve community needs?  Because it’s there; because the need is there. 

My main objective for this year is to increase our membership.  By the very nature of events clubs will lose a certain number of members each year and we are no exception but it is imperative that we not only replace those members but increase our numbers so that we may serve the community’s needs better. 

I said earlier that Kiwanians span an age of gap of 9 to 90 and beyond.  We believe in getting to our youth early on for that is where the seed of selfless service is planted.  We have already established “key clubs” in two local high schools and I will propose during my term of office that we extend our youth activities even further by establishing a K-Kids club at a local elementary school. 

In addition we will, of course, continue to perform our regular service projects.  We will be committing our resources to assisting the City of Los Angeles in its Health and Safety Fair at Lanark Park next month and it is my intention to see that this becomes an annual event even if we have to go it alone. 

I intend forming committees for each aspect of community service that we undertake and I will be looking to each and every member of the club to assist in my efforts to expand our activities.  I am mindful of the fact that our resources are already stretched thin and if it means that we each do a little more so be it. 

To Carolyn: my thanks to you for performing the de-installation of the previous officers and for your support of our club this last year.  Also thanks are due to Gary and his crew for their work in organizing this evening.  Without their efforts I may have been able to skip this evening. 

Lucy:  I want to express my personal thanks and gratitude to you for so ably performing this installation.  I have known you a long time and was more than thrilled when I heard that you were to be become Lt. Governor during my term of office.  Just as I have my work cut out for me so do you. 

Lucy has already set the wheels in motion to form a new club and Woodland Hills has nominated two of its members to assist her.  I also thank the club members for the confidence they have shown in me and granting me the honor and privilege of being elected as president for the coming year.  I will need and expect your help in making the year a successful one. 

I am indeed sorry that my sponsor into the Kiwanis family, Nelson Tucker, our next International President, is not here tonight but he is away in Europe on official Kiwanis International business.  But I am proud that he was the one to introduce me to this august group. 

Finally, now to David Russell, our out going president.  Dave, you have held this club together for the past year with firm resolution.  You have guided it with fairness and commitment and for that the Woodland Hills Kiwanis are ever thankful.  In appreciation of the service and leadership which you have shown over the past year I present you with this gift which I’m told you will enjoy and find most useful. 

Unfortunately, Dave, though he will be remaining a member of the club, will not be able to be present at our regular weekly meetings.  He has taken another position in Simi Valley.  We will miss Dave at our Wednesday lunches but we are happy for him that he has found something in keeping with his talents.  We wish him well in his new endeavor.