March 2008 - Chuck & O.J. Lanham of the St. Marys Kiwanis Club hosted a three day visit of members from the newly established and only Kiwanis Club in the Ukraine. It was a whirlwind visit. We picked them up in Jacksonville at three o’clock on Sunday March 9^th. After a brief tour of our area, downtown St. Marys, The Sail at Kings Bay, and Tabby Ruins, they settled in at the Cumberland Inn & Suites.

At six thirty we hosted a dinner for them at The River Side Café attended by about twenty Kiwanians and Council Member Gull Weaver and her husband Royal. A good time was had by all with their meeting Kiwanians from our Club and our learning about theirs.

We picked them up on Monday morning for a tour of the St. Marys Middle School. They expressed that this school is very different from schools in the Ukraine and that many things offered here are unavailable in the Ukraine.

Following, that they attended the regular noon meeting of the St. Marys Kiwanis Club.

Following that Lora, President of the Ukraine Club and Renata, her daughter, Secretary of the Club told us about their Club and their activities. You may not be able to comprehend what their main mission is, Street Kids. These are people like our homeless which are mainly adults. In Kiev there are many Street Kids that have no home. They literally live on the streets and find shelter wherever they can. They have no home to go home to. They may not eat a meal for days. These kids come from abusive parents, single mothers that leave the kids with Grandparents who can’t really afford to keep them and in some cases kids that think that they can live better on the streets than at home for many reasons. This Club tries to help as many of these kids as they can. They have a support group of another 20 some members that volunteer their services to support their twenty member Club. You can’t imagine what the need is and how much this Club is helping the Street Children.

We took them to the Cumberland Island Museum, Park service, and the waterfront park where they took many pictures and videos and just loved the park. We gave them a golf cart tour narrative of the Historic District conducted by our own Herb Rowland. We did have a reporter photographer from the Periscope to cover our City tour.

We held a reception at The Island Lounge & Grill between 6:00 and 8:00 Pm where we invited the public, Chamber members, and other social Clubs to  come and visit and chat with our Ukraine friends, and enjoy free finger food. It was not overly attended but all who did enjoyed themselves.  Kudos to Joyce Bason, Jolene Haney, and Barbara Miszelle for their help.

We left with them at 9:00 AM on Tuesday morning to meet in Macon with a Kiwanian member from an Atlanta Club that will continue their visit to the US.

They had never been in a small, quaint, historic, and beautiful town such as St. Marys and they expressed on numerous occasions how beautiful it is.

They live in Kiev, a city of four million.

They left with the idea that our Kiwanis Club is a very friendly and open Club.