Kiwanis Club of Madison

Meetings...

~ Fun And Fellowship At Weekly Meetings ~

Wednesdays, 11:45AM
Skyline Medical Center
3441 Dickerson Road
Nashville, TN

Local Angel Flight Volunteer Shares Store Of Haiti Relief With Kiwanis Club

"The most critical need is for tents, tarps, rice, beans and tools such as hammers and chisels." So says Phillip North, volunteer pilot with the Angel Flight programs, when he recently took time out of also serving as a partner/attorney with the North, Pursell, Ramos & Jameson, PLC, firm to share his story of relief service to Haiti.

Angel Flights is a group that provides non-emergency airplane flights free of charge to and from treatment facilities for patients. North's humanitarian flight was to provide help to those devastated by the January 12, 2010, earthquake that rocked Haiti. North explained, "We took off from south Florida and flew through the Bermuda Triangle to carry not only badly needed medical supplies, but also five doctors, to Port Au Prince. From there, they were to be transported to makeshift hospitals, where they would provide the most care."

The flight was not without problems. Said North, "I was actually found to be carrying too much weight. That meant that we had to take three hours to land the plane, so that we could drain approximately 45 gallons of gas in order to get back in the air and stay there without risk." Landing was difficult because of the language barrier, and while North was waiting to return to the skies, he watched a constant stream of helicopters delivering medical supplies, water and food to languishing Haitians.

While the experience is one that he will never forget, from beginning to end, North's flight home from Haiti to the U.S. was one that holds special meeting for him. "I brought back orphans, some who have been waiting five years, to be adopted by wonderfully caring families."

North has been a member of Angel Flights stable of pilots for some years. Of his usual 'cargo,' he says, "About half of the patients we serve are children. Often, our patients do not have local treatment options, the illness has become a huge financial strain, or maybe he or she lives in a remote location." Angel Flight also provides natural relief efforts. Its volunteer pilots flew over 450 flights to help the victims of Hurricanes Katrina and Wilma, and most recently, Haiti.

So, why does North spend so many hours volunteering with the Angel Fight network of dedicated men and women? The answer is: "I simply love to fly! It's a great thing in life when you can both indulge your passion and help someone in need, at the same time."

SPEAKER'S CORNER...

March 10
Megan Davis
Girl Scouts of America

March 17
Rodney Smith
Assistant Director of Giving, Alumni Affairs
Belmont University

March 24
Danny Sutherland

Our weekly meetings put the focus on the many issues that our community faces in its efforts to build a solid foundation for our young people.

The sessions feature a backdrop of of fun, learning and fellowship, as our officers lead Kiwanis members in capping off old business and planning upcoming service projects.

Guest speakers who have invested in, or work with organizations who support, children in our community, are invited to coordinate presentations for our members to learn more about the resources available for us to give as much as we can to the leaders of tomorrow.

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and events ...

Kiwanis Club of Madison TN To Participate In Madison Clean-Up Day

Our club will be a part of the Madison Clean-Up Day crew on Saturday, March 20th! This is a service project dedicated to Kiwanis One Day when all Kiwanis clubs and volunteers commit hours of service to make a different in our community and the world.

We will be responsible for the block from Neely's Bend and Gallatin Road down to Madison Boulevard and Idlewild Drive.

Dutch TV Covers February Kiwanis Club Of Madison TN Pancake Breakfast

It was billed as a fundraiser for scholarships to be awarded to worthy graduating seniors in the spring. But, somehow, correspondents from a Dutch current affairs program got wind of the Kiwanis Club of Madison TN 2010 Pancake Breakfast, and they traveled to Madison on Saturday, February 6, to film it for a future feature segment on Dutch NOVA TV!

Willem Lust, a world renowned correspondent, who, along with his lovely wife, Merel-Miedema, cameraperson/sound engineer/technical editor, not only narrated and taped the event, but they also ate a healthy number of pancakes while mingling with the crowd. As for their appearance at the breakfast, Lust explained, “We are in town to cover the speech to be delivered at the Gaylord Opryland Hotel by Sarah Palin for the Tea Party Convention, and we read about your pancake breakfast in a local newspaper. Since pancakes are some of the favorite foods in the Netherlands, we wanted to see how Americans take to them.”

It seems that Lust is the perfect reporter to produce this segment, given his colorful history PLUS a connection with America. Lust began his career in 1979 at a Dutch financial newspaper where he wrote mainly about the stock exchange and other economic happenings. In 1983, he moved to the NOS Journal, the leading Dutch TV-news program, to work as a reporter. In1989, Lust left public television to join with RTL Nieuws, a commercial TV station, and it was here that he became known as a war reporter. In 1999, Lust began reporting for NOVA, and he was sent to the U.S. to cover the American Elections of 2000 and 2004. Lust married Merel-Miedema, once an architect apprentice with renowned architect Herman Hertzberger in 2006. In January 2007, Lust and his wife took up residence in New York, and he continued working as a correspondent for NOVA, with Merel-Miedema manning the camera by his side. In 2008, Lust published the book “Her Amerika van President Obama” about the presidential campaign of 2007/2008. As to why the media coverage and authorship of books about America’s top ‘stars’ Palin and Obama is important, Lust explained, “There is a great deal of interest in Europe about U. S. politics.”

And there appears to be some interest in the subject of pancakes, as well. Americans have their flapjacks, the Dutch their pannenkoeken, and Hungarians their palascintas. It almost seems as if a culture is not a culture without its very own pancake.

Certainly, the pancake has quite a ‘delicious’ history. It is a direct descendant of the very early Neolithic flatbreads baked on hot stones. Apicius, the ancient Roman cookbook, includes a recipe served with pepper and honey. A 1430 English culinary manuscript mentions pancakes, and the oldest Dutch cookbook printed in 1514 includes several recipes. As for America, the English and Dutch settlers not only brought their various pancakes to our shores, but also their undying devotion, as well. In short order, Americans claimed them as their own, flipping johnnycakes for the hearty breakfasts needed to build a nation.

Today, the Netherlands most readily boasts two types of pancakes: the thin, wide pannenkoeken and the small, fluffy pofferties. Pannenkoeken are a bit thicker than crepes, frequently ‘stuffed’ with apple slices or bacon , but almost any fruit or cheese can be used. Poffertjes are eaten more frequently as desserts since they appear to be exclusively served with powdered sugar, spices or chocolate sauce.

With all that said, in planning the 2010 Pancake Breakfast which brought in hundreds of people on a snowy Saturday morning, the Kiwanis Club of Madison TN never figured on scoring a hot spot on NOVA TV, even though the club is a member of an international association (Kiwanis Intl.) However, it just goes to show you the power of marketing and promotions, and the dedication of a local civic organization to a great cause.