KIWANIS CLUB INDUCTS NEW OFFICERS AND CELEBRATES 70th ANNIVERSARY

The Kiwanis Club of Beverly was chartered in 1931 to serve Beverly, Hamilton and Wenham. Some of the club's service projects this past year included sponsoring of the YMCA/Kiwanis Basketball League, awarding scholarships to area high school students, serving holiday dinners to those in need, holding a walk to support Iodine Deficiency Disorder, and supporting the Homecoming Bicycle Rodeo.

The evening also marked the induction of officers for 2001-2002. In addition to Porteous, the new officers are Alan Wall, president-elect, John Colucci, vice president, John Maihos, treasurer, Katie Finch, secretary and John O'Keefe, immediate past president . The six officers were inducted by Kiwanis Lt. Governor, George Blanchette. Also serving the club on the board of directors will be Patricia Beckwith, Lalou Begue, Robert Lucas, Kevin Dalton, David Lops Fran Dichner and Antony Iacoviello.

Greetings from the City of Beverly were delivered by Mayor William Scanlon. Kevin Kelleher, president of the Rotary Club of Beverly congratulated Beverly Kiwanis for their 70 years of service and discussed joint efforts that the two clubs could undertake in Beverly.

On behalf of Kiwanis International, Past Governor, Marty Olsen, from Connecticut, challenged the club to work even harder, especially on youth projects. He announced a special partnership with the New England Revolution and encouraged members to bring local soccer players to Foxboro games.

Also in attendance were Kiwanis Foundation of New England past president, Allen Hartnett, New England District treasurer from Maine, Carolyn Perry, and many Kiwanis leaders from neighboring communities.

The The first Kiwanis club was chartered on January 21, 1915, in Detroit, Michigan. Today, Kiwanis has grown to number more than 8,000 clubs and nearly 300,000 members in more than 70 countries.

Kiwanis International's continuing service focus is called "Young Children Priority One." Under this theme, each Kiwanis club is encouraged to sponsor significant projects that serve the special needs of young children from prenatal development to age five.

Kiwanis clubs also just concluded the first Kiwanis Worldwide Service Project in partnership with the United Nations Children's Fund. Kiwanis raised nearly $75 million to assist nations in eliminating iodine deficiency disorders (IDD), the leading preventable cause of mental retardation in the world today. Over the past three years, the Kiwanis Club of Beverly has collected over $17,000 for IDD under the leadership of Diana Campbell, IDD chairperson.

For more information about the Kiwanis Club of Beverly visit www.beverlykiwanis.com.