Awards/Installation 2022

Closing remarks of outgoing president Roy Ockert

During the Kiwanis International convention in Indianapolis in June, KI’s executive director, Stan Soderstrom, said in his annual report that almost everything good that happens in Kiwanis happens at the club level.

I believe that is absolutely correct, which is why the theme I’ve chosen for my tenure is “One Community.” You see that on my governor’s lapel pins.

That’s a reminder of the phrase often attached to the Kiwanis motto, “Serving the children of the world — one community at a time.”

While I value my years of experience as a district officer, and I’m honored to have the chance to serve as governor, the most important role I’ve filled in Kiwanis, or ever will fill, is club president, in part because I’ve never been secretary or treasurer. On Sept. 30 I will complete my third term as president of the Kiwanis Club of Jonesboro, and each year has been meaningful and fulfilling.

In the past year I’ve focused on increasing our membership and getting new people into leadership positions. If all goes well, for the next three years we will not have a recycled president but someone who will bring new ideas and energy to the job.

Our club does important things in our community and has since it was chartered in 1935. All Kiwanis clubs do important things for their communities, and that’s why it pains us whenever a Kiwanis club ceases to exist, as about a dozen have in Mo-Ark over the past couple of years. Fourteen others have fewer than 10 members, according to the latest KI membership report.

That’s why I’ve gotten more involved in the Mo-Ark District of Kiwanis than I ever imagined. As I told some of you previously, I had no ambition to be governor, and yet — God willing — I will be a week from Saturday.

It means you’ll see a little less of me in the coming year, starting next week when I will miss the picnic.

But that does not mean I’ll be any less invested in this club and its place in our community. As we make this transition, I would like to remind you of a few things that concern me.

Our club has fallen away from the concept of hands-on service, and we need to do something about that. It does hamper recruiting of new members. I’ve been asked sometimes, “What kind of service does your club do?” I struggle with the answer. Even when we’re just writing a check, we make a difference in our one community. But we could make more of a difference if we could get involved personally in a project or projects that benefit kids.

Children’s programs, including those sponsored or supported by Kiwanians, can be life changing. Several youth programs made a difference for me when I was growing up, and many of you can probably say the same thing. All those programs had one thing in common — one or more adults running them, or helping with them — who cared.

At this time last year I set some goals. One of those was to establish one or more service leadership programs for school kids. We haven’t done that. So I’m going to challenge you again to do that. We have a great opportunity to start a K-Kids Club at Micro-Society Magnet. That’s a great place to start because we’ve had a presence there for years.

Last year I asked you to help me add five members to the club. We added seven, but we lost three. We failed to get a recruiting program off the ground, but it’s never too late. With 44 members, we’re in a much better position than most Kiwanis clubs. Last week I met with the Beebe club, which had been down to three members. Now they’re back to 11 and probably added two more this week. The Jonesboro Exchange Club has added 25 members this year, doubling its size. Failure to recruit, though, eventually brings an organization down The September KI report showed that Paragould, which had been the largest club in our division, dropped from 53 to 39 in August. Others have had similar drops.

Kiwanis clubs support many vital programs, which is why we need a stronger club — meaning more members, more hands-on service.

So what I’m asking is that in our “one community,” all of us redouble our efforts to serve the children of this community. Rededicate yourselves and our organization to serving the children of this community. What you do may change a life. You might never know it, but your good work will be satisfying and worthwhile. And our community will be better because of it.

Thank you very much.