Staff Writer
PRESQUE ISLE — Members of the Presque Isle Kiwanis Club have taken exercising to a new level, adding elements of adventure and expanded knowledge to the mix — all part of an idea the club’s latest president, Janet Kelle, came up with last fall.
“When I took office last fall, I wanted to come up with something to recharge the club, get us back to our roots,” said Kelle.
Following the club’s motto to, “build a better place to live, build a better life for others and build a better member,” Kelle came up with the idea of combining exercise with some type of learning experience.
“We call it a ‘virtual interclub.’ Every week we have a sign-up sheet for mileage. Club members are encouraged to exercise and asked to keep track of their steps they’ve taken. The time exercised or the miles walked are all converted into mileage. We then use those miles to mark distances traveled on a U.S. map,” said Kelle. “Cary Medical Center donated pedometers to help us keep track of the miles.”
Beginning around October 2008 with a starting point of Presque Isle, Club members have now ‘traveled’ the East Coast and have begun working their way west.
“We’re walking to every state. To help motivate members to exercise, we designed a card explaining what we are doing and mail it to other Kiwanis Clubs across the country. Once we’ve exercised enough to achieve the mileage necessary to reach a fellow club, we mail a card to them, including a moose magnet as a gift,” said Kelle.
Kelle said response has been good, with other clubs congratulating them on the program and inviting Presque Isle members to visit.
“We’ve gotten several responses, including notes from clubs in East Hampton, N.Y., Windsor, Conn., Manchester, N.H., and Charlotte, N.C.,” said Kelle. “We share information about our Club with them, and they do likewise. It makes for a truly wonderful learning experience. We’ve learned so much about other clubs and the communities they serve. When we ‘passed through’ Washington, D.C., we sent cards to Sens. Susan Collins and Olympia Snowe, as well as Congressman Mike Michaud.
To make the program even more fun, Kelle said the Club creates whimsical pictures of members at various destinations.
“When we got to Miami Beach, we went online and found beach pictures, printed them off and pasted our faces on the picture,” Kelle explained.
One of the best destinations so far was when members ‘exercised’ their way to Bermuda, Kelle said.
“It’s funny how the Kiwanis districts are designated. For whatever reason, Maine’s in the same district with Bermuda. We got to ‘visit’ with other club members there recently when we achieved the number of miles to reach the club there,” she said.
Kelle said interest has picked up in the program — both from local members and those from far away – as more miles are traveled and more clubs are visited.
“We’re making progress. We just started this with my presidency and will spend at least this year doing it. We even got an e-mail from a Kiwanis Club in the Ukraine, asking for more information,” said Kelle. “The program has been very well received.”
The Kiwanis Club has been struggling with membership, much like other organizations, according to Kelle. That’s why she felt it necessary to find a way to bring the Club’s attention back to what Kiwanis is all about, through this interactive program that helps broaden club members’ awareness of the world around them while at the same time helps members stay physically fit.
“I wanted to bring us back to why we joined and have some fun at the same time,” said Kelle. “I’m proud to say the whole membership of our club — 51 individuals — is taking part. It’s nice to be active and see what other clubs are doing.”
Kelle said she can see something like this working its way into an educational tool for children.
“The Key Club is part of Kiwanis, designed for youth. A program like we’re doing could be incorporated at the high school level and used both for its physical education component and its educational element to teach social studies, geography and more,” said Kelle.
Kiwanis has a long history of working with and for children. Locally, the Club hosts a Talent Revue — 2008 marked its 57th year of doing so, puts together Christmas food and toy baskets and works with Northern Maine Community College, through the Sinawik program, raising funds for scholarships.
“We also host the Home and Garden Show, which will be held April 18 and 19 at the Forum this year,” said Kelle.
She said the Club is always looking for new members and encourages anyone interested to contact her.
“Our focus is primarily kids; we help them through local and international projects. If you’re interested in learning more or becoming a member, you can contact me by e-mail at jkelle@fortfairfield.com or call 472-3802,” said Kelle.
Staff photo/Kathy McCarty
EXERCISE HAS TURNED EDUCATIONAL adventure for the Presque Isle Kiwanis Club. Janet Kelle, club president, uses a map of the United States to show how far club members have “virtually walked” in recent months.
