While in Lexington Case Van Kleef, President of KiwanisInternational, attended an officers meeting of the LafayetteHigh School Key Club on Tuesday, January 11, 2005. He cameto Lexington to help celebrate the 85th anniversary of the KiwanisClub of Lexington. Also in attendance at the meeting wereKiwanis Club of Lexington past President Wes Allen, currentPresident Kenny Smith, and board member Edye Bryant.
The next day at noon on, Tuesday Jan 11th, President Van Kleefspoke at the Kiwanis Club of Lexington's 85th anniversary.
Van Kleef's visit to both clubs was arranged by immediate pastKT Governor Wayne Sullivan.
President Van Kleef, who currently lives in Wisconsin and wasoriginally from Denmark, has represented Kiwanis Internationalin a wide range of international activities.
Jill Steinke reporting for the Wisconsin RapidsDaily Tribune wrote:
PLOVER - The president of Kiwanis International travels tomany of the 92 countries where clubs reside, meets with presidentsand the pope, but he always starts his journeys from Plover.
Case Van Kleef, a resident of Plover for more than 20 yearsand former Plover Kiwanis president, will fulfill his internationalduties for the next year. There is no paycheck for this job, butsince his election, Van Kleef has hardly been home. He travelsto Iceland this week and on to Taiwan next month.
His goal, as it always has been during his 40-year membershipin the club, is to grow the service organization. Kiwanis, inits 90th year of existence, works to improve the lives of childrenand improve the communities they live in. There are 8,600 clubsacross the world. "Your job is to make it better," VanKleef said. "If it grows, we can do more service."
One method of outreach is sponsorship. North American clubsare working to help set up clubs in other countries that don'thave enough money to do it on their own, Van Kleef said.
Van Kleef was elected at the international convention threeyears ago. He took on the full presidential duties at the beginningof this month, after spending a couple years of other duties andpreparations.
"The term officially begins Oct. 1, and on Oct. 3, I'malready exhausted," said his wife, Susan Van Kleef.
They already have been to Colombia and Panama. At each stop,they are visiting with presidents of countries, club members andother dignitaries. They receive many gifts from each country -in return they give cheese curds. Case Van Kleef said they representWisconsin wherever they go.
The Van Kleefs are displaying the values they have of servicethat are shared and nurtured in central Wisconsin, Kiwanis memberBob Amann said.
"When he meets other people in the world, I think thatwhat they're really seeing is someone that's a member of Kiwaniswho cares," he said. "They both genuinely care. Theyenjoy meeting people so much."
Their hard work will be recognized at a dinner at the end ofthe month. The community is invited to help celebrate Case VanKleef's accomplishment and the service of everyone in the community,Amann said.
"It's really exciting for us," he said. "They'rerepresenting us, so we're all out there."
For additional information on Van Kleef see the President'spage at:
http://www.kiwanis.org/resources/board/presnews.asp
This page contains all news related to 2004-05 Kiwanis InternationalPresident Case Van Kleef. Click on the links below to learn moreabout his travels, goals, and various service projects. Returnoften because the page will be updated when news happens.
