KIWANIS CLUB OF ALLEN, TEXAS

RICK AUBRY

Club President 1998-1999

I would like to thank the Kiwanis Club of Allen for inviting me to present my memories of my past experiences with this fine club. First of all let me congratulate you on your twentieth year in serving the children of the world. I applaud you and thank you for your time and efforts.

As a recap, I was sponsored by David Olson and joined in 1996; Recognized by Kiwanis Division 37 as "New Member of the Year" 1996-97; Received the George F. Hixon award in 1998 and served as club President 1998-99. All of the following could not have been accomplished with out the support and diligence of the Board of Directors. During this period and not remembering the dates of occurrences some of the projects I proposed and were implemented included:

* Gathering and filing for the club's Non-Profit corporate status as a 501C-3 club.

* Designed, published and maintained the clubs first website on the internet.

o Once it was published I was asked by the McKinney morning club to design and publish their website and also gave input for the design of the Division 37 website.

* Researched, requested permission, and initiated the first Builders Clubs at both Ford and Curtis MS.

* Participated in the Allen Christmas Float Parade.

* Keep Allen Beautiful - painted over graffiti under bridges

* Sponsored fund raising school dances.

* Donated contributions to the Kiwanis International World Wide Fund.

* Participated in the Wheelchair Ramp Building Project.

I was motivated to get involved with Kiwanis through conversations with my next door neighbor David Olson, he was aware of all the activities I was in with my kids, from the Chief of the YMCA Indian Princess and Indian Guides programs, to little league coaching, to supporting Aimee's ballet and jazz dancing. I had the time available and I wanted to give to the community's children as a leader and mentor.

Since my time as President my children have graduated from AHS, Aimee also graduated from UNT with an International Business degree, got married to a nice young man and now works for Match.com. (No grandchildren yet.) Andy took a few year sabbatical after high school but is now back as a straight A student working on a degree in business and Fire Science. I purchased and operated one of DFW's premier mortgage broker company's. (The business was closed due to the mortgage industry melt down. I am looking for a new business and industry.)

Volunteering my time to Kiwanis was a blessing for me. I know we made an impact on the lives of the children we worked with. I continue to get thank you cards from some of the kids. When starting the Builders Club at Ford Middle school my daughter Aimee was voted in as the first President of the club. She recognizes this as a pivotal event in her life where she gained her leadership skills which helped her in high school as drill team Tallenette Lieutenant and in college in numerous leadership roles. Today at age 24 she continues to use her refined leadership skills at work and for social events.

I would like take this time to thank David Olson, Sandy McNair, Mike McChesney, Sharon Brian, Mary Ann Knight, Gary Davies, Anita Rushing, Debbie Stout, Lee Howard, and Colleen Biggerstaff just to name a few that were my support staff in getting the things done that needed to be done. I couldn't have done it with out you. May God bless us all!