As you all know, I-con is coming... fast. Is it just me, or has the Convention in July thing really thrown EVERYTHING off? It's just making it all.. weird. Anyways, I know many of you have been talking to me, and the District Board about the proposed amendments to the Circle K Bylaws-- but I'd like to give some of you a chance to further voice your opinions on them. After you are all done commenting-- I will print out the comments sheet, and bring it with me to make sure your opinions are heard.
So.. here they are. Thanks to Natchez Trace LTG Tucker Leigh for summarizing these:

Number One: Purpose: Changing the word "mankind" to "humankind" in the CKI Constitution and the CKI Member Pledge

Number Two: Purpose: Adding the word "fellowship" to the CKI Member Pledge so that it reads "...to foster compassion and goodwill toward others through service, leadership and fellowship,..."

Number Three: Purpose: Creating a dues structure and club levels based on total membership, i.e. a club with less than forty members would be a level one club, 40-59 members would be a level two, and so on up to level six. The clubs in levels two through six would receive breaks on the International dues in an amount of between $1 and $5 for each subsequent member increasing with each respective level. However, if a club goes down a level its sponsoring Kiwanis club is responsible for paying the elevated dues fee that would result to the International office.

Number Four: Purpose: Increasing International dues by $7 to a new amount of $25, and allowing the Circle K International Board to raise dues a maximum of 5% every two years if a 2/3 vote of the International Board of Trustees approves it.

Number Five: Purpose: Establishing a budget advisory board committee to review the budget of CKI annually.

Proposed Amendment to CKI Bylaws: Purpose: To allow dual membership in CKI and Kiwanis with provisions (follow CKI and KI policy at each club's respective event save that no alcohol consumption is allow at either, be at least 18 YO, be enrolled at least part-time at a college/university, not be an officer at any level in BOTH CKI and KI, and not be a Kiwanis advisor to sponsored youth organizations).


So... let us know what you think on these.. make sure your voice is heard!


Also.. this is going out over the LMTTravels reflector-- many of you already know that a caravan is being established, that will travel from 1-55 to 1-57 to I-70.... stops will be made in New Orleans, Jackson, and Memphis for those that need to catch a ride/tack on to the caravan... please call me or Tommy if you are interested in doing that.


IMPORTANT: Summer Rally is coming up SOON (August 15-17).. and registration packets should be sent before JULY 7TH.. Registrations can be sent in as a club, but should be sent individually. If you have any questions please contact me, or e-mail MSU President Becki Simonis.

Governor's Shoutout: Today the shoutout goes to BS LTG Shannon Tharp, who so graciously has been checking my e-mail for me and conveying everything to me... and NT LTG Tucker Leigh.. for his awesomeness in paying close attention to amendments/House of Delegate issues and making sure his Division's voice is heard... Way to go guys!

International Corner: FINALLY the CKI website recognizes that I'm the LMT Governor (Sorry Jody, but you had to go sometime! :) ) As of today the website has been updated (although it still says I'm 2002-03... oh well, you have to take what you can get!) Check me (and the other Governors) out at http://www.circlek.org, by clicking on District Officers, and then District Leaders.


For those of you not attending I-con, you will be sorely missed.. please enjoy your 4th of July, and continue the spirit of Service, Fellowship, and Leadership-- holding down the LMT Fort while we're gone! For those of you who are going to Indianapolis, I can't WAIT to see you in just a few short days... please travel safely!

-Rebecca

Hey guys--

I thought I was going to wipe the cobwebs off of this thing, but unfortunately, Ali beat me to it. Anyways... first off, yes, it's been incredibly busy (as I'm sure you've guessed), both on the CKI front and in personal news. I'll spare you the details, but first, let me tell you all about my communication problem this week (if you haven't already figured it out). Apparently, sometime at the start of last week, someone with mighty powers decided that I should be kept in a black hole, and should not communicate with anyone. I'm saying this, because at the same time, my cell-phone broke, and my e-mail account ceased to work. By "broke" and "ceased to work" -- what I mean is that my cell phone does NOT ring, and gives me messages about 5-6 days after they were left. By Sunday I had 27 new messages-- and I had no idea they were there. So-if you left me one, I'm working on the pile. My e-mail.. doesn't let me check it. After 3 days of telling me my password was "incorrect" - I finally let Yahoo change it for me (to some weird unrememberable thing, I might add)-- and THAT password is apparently incorrect too. I think it's FINALLY fixed today (after some hounding on my part)... so we'll have to see.
The moral of the story is this: Don't call my cellphone, call my home #, at least for the time being. That's (504) 887-7786. Please not after midnight. If you call my cellphone & leave a message... and you don't hear back from me in 2-3 days, you can safely assume that I DID NOT get the message. E-mail me! For right now, still use my lmt_Governor@yahoo.com account, because I think it's okay.. but I will not hate you if you forward everything (for now)... to my rlfox@loyno.edu address.

With THAT said (sorry, but I had to let you all know what the problem was)-- I started working a new job... I work 11-7 Monday through Saturday, unfortunately. So... if you need to call, please do before or after that time, or all day Sunday. I can ask off- just need to do it in advance, so if you want me to come visit (and I WANT to come visit)... try to let me know 2-3 weeks in advance! :)

International Convention - You guys are giving Tommy a terribly hard time. (Kinda cool, because it's fun to watch :) But kinda not cool, because being a past-travel chair, I know how hard it all can be). Unbelievably enough, at least 10 people have completely altered their I-con plans in the past 2 weeks. By this I mean they have either decided to go, or not decided to go. Hopefully we've gotten wind of all of them-- but if you have someone in your club who has either decided to go last minute, or decided not to go, PLEASE let us know! (tommy3276@yahoo.com). You will not be penalized, you will not be yelled at, just understand that we NEED to call The Meeting Connection EVERY TIME we have a rooming change, or cancelled/added registration... this isn't something that can be done once we get there. Please don't make everyone else in your room have a screwed up situation, because we didn't know ahead of time that you were/weren't planning on going. I couldn't even tell you the final count anymore-- except for that it's somewhere between 32 and 38. I don't have the District totals, but when I find out, I'll let you know where we stand! I'm pretty confident that we still have one of the biggest district groups and that we'll be seen & heard at Convention.
Also, Goody Packets HAVE been ordered. If you didn't order one-- I think we ordered about 6 extra ones in various sizes. You NEED to claim one of those ASAP, or you may not get one at all. Also, you need to send your money in (by check to Tommy) no later than THIS Friday. The packet is $20 (or more if you have a larger t-shirt size), and includes the shirt, 10 pins, & 20 stickers. If you want to bring extra money, you can purchase extra stickers there ($1.00 for 20) or extra pins (30 cents each).
Kudos to Travel Chair Tommy Stephenson for his hard work with all of that!

Alison covered just about everything else... so here are my other daily (weekly?) parts of the blog:

International Corner - Although the new website is still in a re-building phase, Michael has been great and put up all of the candidate for International Trustee letters up there. (http://www.lamisstenn.org/circle-k). All International Candidates are allowed to send letters to the Governor, District Board, International Board-- and that's it. From there, it is the job of the people who get the letters to pass them on to everyone else. I've done so, and encourage you all to read them. Even if you're not going to convention-- you can read them, and give feedback on which candidates you like/don't like to your club delegates. This is your chance to make your voice heard!
I will have these letters (as well as copies that I've received via snail-mail) on hand for you to look at at Convention, but the election process has changed dramatically this year-- so it's best to look at everything beforehand. For example, candidates have all sent in their literature beforehand. That packet is available on the CKI website, at: They will NOT be allowed to hand out any literature in the caucus rooms. Therefore, what you see is what you get-- you can write down questions now to ask... and candidates who run "off the floor" won't have an opportunity to give you any literature. Please check out the stuff now so that you'll be prepared when we all get there! :)

Governor's Shoutout - The shoutout for today goes to Becki Simonis, and Mississippi State University for their hard and outstanding work in planning our Summer Rally. This is an event not to be missed, and that is greatly because of their creativity and dedication. I can't wait to see you all in Starkville on August 15-17th. Thanks MSU again for hosting!

Howdy Howdy LaMissTenn!! How have you been?

That's right, it's me, your long lost district secretray treasurer with an update that many of you have been waiting for. Allow me to apologize for the delay, I won't go through the litany of excuses, but it's been a busy busy summer. So hold on tight and read along as we discuss some LMT Happenings!

Ok, a little recap of the June 11 meeting, not in official minutes, but simple summaries instead.

There were a few issues with the cabinet voted on, that being to allow those members to attend EITHER Summer Rally or ICON this year and that was passed, also Chassidy DuPont will now be in charge of Kiwanis and CKI relations and Brandy Bowen will be in charge of all other sponsored organizations and programs.

Our ICOn shirts will be black and have a firework design on the back. The goody packets were priced at $20 and if you ordered one, the money is due to Tommy Stephenson no later than this Friday, June 27.

Summer Rally is set for August 15-17 in Starkville....I am sorry Stark Vegas...The Jackpot of Service. Our chair, MSU president Becki Simonis has been working very hard on the event and you should be getting some further info from your club presidents soon as far as registration procedures. The cost will be $40 and includes meals and housing. This will be a great event to begin our school year together and I hope that many of you will make it there!!

Our Bulletin Editor, Lisa Ashby has set the deadline for submissions to her first bulletin at August 1. Please be sure to send in pictures, articles, or any other information about events coming up to have it included in the bulletin. This is a fantastic resource for you to utilize to promote your events to other clubs in the district. This bulletin will be handed out at Summer Rally, so that is just one more reason for you to attend!

If you have not seen it already, go and check out the template for the new website that Michael Arcement is working on. It is very much a template, but it will give you an idea of what you can expect for the coming year, and it looks great! So go to http://www.lamisstenn.org/circle-k/newweb/ to check it out now!

And now for an important announcement! There are currently two vacanicies on the District Cabinet that need to be filled. Those are Service Initiative and Tomorrow Fund. If you are interested in applying, please contact me or Rebecca ASAP so we can review the procedure with you. The board will be appointing these people at our ICON board meeting, so the applications will have to be sent in my noon on July 1, 2003. Please consider applying if you are interested!

Yes, everyone, there were other issues discussed at the meeting as according to the agenda Rebecca posted. If they have not been discussed here today, they were most likely tabled for further discussion at the ICON board meeting. I ensure you that minutes will be posted by the end of this week for your perusal and you will be updated on every issue we discussed. I hope that this ties you over until then! :)

If you have specific questions, comments, or concerns about anything, please leave a comment, drop an email or give me a call. As you may guess, comuter time is limited now, so calling is always your best bet!

Also, a shout out to LSU for such a successful blood drive, you guys rock!

See you in Indy if not before!