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The Downtowner
Newsletter of the Kiwanis Club of Allentown
April 18, 2010
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May 18 Meeting
Our speaker at the May 18
meeting was Jeff Brosky of the Lehigh Valley Civil War Days Camp Geiger. Jeff
arrived in an authentic reproduction of a Union uniform. Camp Geiger is a living
history re-enactment of a Civil War encampment that takes place in the Whitehall
Parkway Recreational Area the weekend of June 12. There will be camp life
displays, Civil War music and cooking, and infantry and artillery firing
demonstrations. Admission is free. Last year 400 Civil War enactors participated
in the event. Camp Geiger is named after Chris Geiger, a local resident who was
one of our first military who died in Afghanistan. It is a non-profit group
concerned with the preservation of Pennsylvania battlefield flags. Jeff
explained that a 12 member Board of Directors runs the organization. At the
event, there will be battlefield hospitals where surgeons will re-enact the
amputation of soldier's limbs and the treating of battlefield wounds. Jeff was
attired in the uniform of the Veterans Reserve Corps. He has been involved in
Civil War re-enacting for 20 years. This year Camp Geiger expects to have
250-400 enactors on site. There will be some furniture from the period,
including an 1862 rope bed, an 1860's quilt and an 1828 handmade rocker. On
Sunday morning, June 13 there will be a skirmish in the woods. The Camp Geiger
volunteers have already begun building breastworks for the skirmish. I was at
the event last year and can attest to how impressive it is to see the many
enactors, including one portraying President Lincoln, and the thunder of the
artillery pieces. For more information about Camp Geiger, visit
www.campgeiger.org.
WE HAVE A WINNER!
After nearly two years, we
finally had a winner in our "Aces Wild" 50/50 drawing at our May 18 meeting.
Ed Baldrige
won the opportunity to draw a card from our dwindling deck and chose the magic
ace! Ed was promptly awarded a check for $157.00 for being our first "Aces Wild"
winner. Congratulations Ed!!
June 1 Meeting
There was none! A few
days before the meeting we were notified by the Brew Works management that the
city was turning off their water supply the morning of June 1 for testing, and
the restaurant could not serve food until it was turned back on. Instead of
trying to reschedule the meeting for later in the week, our Board chose to
cancel the meeting and to re-arrange some meetings for later in the month. We
WILL be meeting this Tuesday, June 15, but will then be meeting again this month
on June 29 rather than July 6. Please make note of this.
Membership Drive
We are still falling
behind in our efforts to recruit new members. So far this year we have only
signed up one new member. We need to all make an effort to recruit at least one
new member each in the months ahead. The graduated new member fee that was
adopted by Kiwanis International at its convention last year makes it easier to
sign up new members any time of the year. We have less than four months left in
President Chang's term, so let's get behind him and our effort to build our
club! New members result in more "hands of service" for the children in our
community.
Kiwanis Night at the IronPigs
What a wonderful
evening! The "Kiwanis Night at the ironPigs" was last Friday evening, and the
weather couldn't have been better. Our group had "front row seats" in the PPL
Picnic Plaza and enjoyed a two hour buffet along with a very entertaining game.
Tom & Peggy Harp were joined by grandson Roland, and sat with Belinda
& Doug Gray and Nick Lukow. Just behind us were Don & Virginia
Knapp and Todd & Sonya Siegfried. And, there was even a surprise
appearance by Craig Walls who was in the picnic area with another group.
A total of 65 Kiwanians were in attendance, including Region 6 Trustee Tom
Cometa who traveled all the way from Pittston with his son to support the
event. A member of the Palmer Township Kiwanis Club had the honor of throwing
out one of the ceremonial first pitches, and did a nice job! Sadly, the IronPigs
lost on a late inning homer, but those who remained were treated to an amazing
fireworks show. A good time was had by all!
Division 18 News
First of all, we would
like to officially congratulate our own Big Bob Ashcraft for being
elected the Division 18 Lt. Governor of 2010-11 at the D-18 Council meeting on
April 24. Bob attended LtG training this past weekend. Way to go, Bob!
The 50th
Anniversary luncheon event scheduled for June 29 by the Allentown Northeast
Kiwanis Club has been postponed until sometime in the fall. There are no other
interclub meetings or events currently on the calendar.
Upcoming Programs
June 15 –
Dale Shuey, Fulton
Mortgage Company- Reverse Mortgages. Invocation:
Don Knapp
June 29 –
John Annoni, Camp
Compass. Invocation:
Belinda Gray
Next Board Meeting:
June 21, 5:30 PM at the Brew Works on the Green
June
Birthdays
4 – Mayor Ed Pawlowski
7 – Joan Kneiss
12 – Debbie Kolp
GOD BLESS AMERICA
-Tom Harp, Editor
