On the morning of Sunday June 24th, Circle K members from all across the New Jersey District packed their bags and traveled down to the wonderful city of New Orleans, Louisiana, where they attended this year’s 56th annual Circle K International Convention!
As in year’s prior, the weekend kicked off with CKI’s annual Large Scale Service Project (LSSP), where members were given a chance to give back to the host city New Orleans itself. The fun-filled two-day event included a variety of service projects- ranging from painting murals, all the way to planting mulch around trees!
Following the conclusion of the Large Scale Service Project, the convention itself kicked off with an explosive, spirit filled opening session! Members from all around the world gathered together in their Circle K apparel to celebrate the launch of another exciting International Convention. Yours truly even got a chance to MC the event as the convention’s proclaimed ‘voice of god!’
As the week continued, things began to heat up as candidates for International Office gathered to compete for places on this year’s 2012-2013 Circle K International Board. The competition was fierce, spanning heated debates and caucuses for two arduous days! By the end of the week however, the winners were announced, and our new Circle K International Board will proudly consist of: Daniel Tsang as our next CKI Vice-President, Josephine Lukito as our next CKI President, and lastly our District’s very own Robert Acerra as our next Subregion F International Trustee!
In addition to the intense election season this year, members were also given the chance to partake in quite a few service-affiliated activities as well. On Thursday afternoon, dozens of organizations had a chance to showcase their great new service projects at this year’s Service Fair. The New Jersey District’s one and only Annabelle Fallarme showcased our District’s very own service project, the Six Cents Initiative!
As the convention week progressed, Kiwanis International cordially invited Circle K International to this year’s annual Kiwanis International Convention (also conveniently taking place in New Orleans). Circle K members were given a chance to see just how truly fascinating their parent organization was, being treated to a variety of goodies which included: a live marching band performance to kick of the opening session, a wonderful introduction to all Kiwanis District Governors around the world, some great updates on the organization’s community service progress, a beautiful performance from some of the city’s local professional musicians, and lastly an inspiring keynote by parents of famous football player Michael Other, Leigh Anne and Sean Touhy (subjects of the hit 2009 movie The Blind Side). By the end of the Opening Session, those of us in CKI decided to give back to Kiwanis for their kindness in allowing us to attend their convention, and performed a giant ‘flash mob’ dance in their honor. The Flash Mob was met with warm praise, and the Kiwanis Family left that day with stronger bonds than it had ever held before.
Back at the Circle K International Convention, attendants had an opportunity to sharpen their leadership skills with informative workshops. Topics included learning how to recruit Key Club members, dealing with commonly faced leadership problems, and even figuring out how to score a golden job opportunity after we graduate from college!
On Friday night, the fruitful year round efforts of each and every Circle K International district, club, and member had been put to the test with CKI’s annual Awards Ceremony. After dozens of cheers and celebrations, nearly every District went home in victory that night. The New Jersey District itself won quite a few awards. First and foremost, the District achieved distinguished status, and was only one of the few to do so this year! Other distinguished awards went to our District’s very own Danielle Sammut as Distinguished LTG, and Jennifer Hsieh as Distinguished Governor. On a club level, the big winners on the night included the Richard Stockton College Circle K who won 1st place in the Emerald Growth Enhances Membership Award, The College of New Jersey who won the 2nd place Silver Award Growth Enhances Membership, and lastly Rutgers University who won second place single service for their Fall Benefit Concert.
On the final day of International Convention, members were treated to a free Leadership Luncheon, where they were given the chance to learn more about Kiwanis International’s partnership with the United States Army, and got an opportunity to hear an inspirational speech by the hit TV show Glee’s very own, Lauren Potter.
Soon enough the time came for the convention’s Closing Session. Throughout the session, a variety of highly talented Circle K acts performed for the masses one final time. The four acts included a ‘light saber’ style dance routine, an ace ukulele player, a great ballerina performance, and a breathtaking cover of Defying Gravity.
International President Steven Spriggs also took the stage one last time to offer his farewell address, and to thank Circle K International for a wonderful 2011-2012 service year. He wished us all luck, and then handed over the microphone to our newly elected International President, Josephine Lukilto, who proceeded to adjourn the convention.
-District Editor, Shivam Patel