GREENVILLE — A charter ceremony was held for the Aktion Club of Greenville at Lighthouse Christian Center on September 15. The new service and leadership club for adults with disabilities is sponsored by the Kiwanis Club of Greenville in partnership with the Darke County Board of Developmental Disabilities (Darke DD).
John Coffield of Sidney, Kiwanis Lt. Governor for Ohio’s 3rd District, installed new officers: Ruby Sacher, president; Maria Pieper, vice-president; Samuel Ploch, secretary; and Darlene Bowers, treasurer.
“Aktion Club is an incredible organization. Each of us should want to share its opportunities with others. Surely there’s no better evidence of this than the induction of new members,” said Coffield. “Today, we are very pleased to induct our members into Aktion Club of Greenville…”
The club welcomed 47 members at the charter ceremony, which featured a special presentation of service pins and membership certificates.
“We now induct you into the membership of the Aktion Club of Greenville. I welcome you into our Kiwanis-family fellowship. We know that you will bring strength to the Aktion Club, just as we know that membership in this club will bring many rewarding experiences into your life,” said Coffield.
Charter members are Michael Blakely, Teresa Curtis, Terry Denton, Emily Dias, Jeff Didier, Sheryl Dysert, Cody Hague, Lisette Kreitzer, John Magoto, Ruth Wilt, Kelly Young, Bobby Runner, Richard Shafer, Donna Davis, Lori Cochran, Edward Kiser, Alice Messer, Tom Messer, Amber Peters, Ciara Riffell, Matt Strickland, Mark Van De Pitte, Lauren Warner, Jesse Zimmerman, J Ryan Burnett, Jeff Hartke, Ruby Sacher, Melissa Anderson, Darlene Bowers, Holli Bowman, Elizabeth Brewer, Daniel Bruner, Jody Cline, Chastiti Floyd, Angie Gambrel, Julie Huntington, Allison Kaiser, Paula Laney, Maria Pieper, Samuel Ploch, Louis Richardson III, Mike Shoenleben, Lindsey Voisard, Toby Winner, Anthony Wright and Chris Wright.
Commissioner Mike Stegall, a local Kiwanian, was the guest speaker.
“…Always the goal for organizations like ours is wanting to make things better in our community,” said Stegall. “Aktion Club will help ensure and inspire us and show that adults with disabilities can, and will, develop leadership skills… Aktion Club can be a very positive influence on the county as a whole.”
Club members have already served as volunteers for the Darke County Parks, worked the fair gate with Kiwanis members and attended Kiwanis meetings.
The meeting was called to order by Sacher, with the Pledge of Allegiance led by Pieper. Pastor Ron Hoeksema of Ansonia EUM gave the invocation. Local Kiwanis members and Key Club officers, and area Aktion club members were in attendance.
“…Today has challenged me and I know it’s challenged you to think about what are my gifts and my talents and how can I use those to give back to my community…There is so much talent to give in this room right now that I’m excited to see what happens in the future,” said Darke DD Superintendent Michael Beasecker in his closing remarks.
Aktion Club advisors are Cheryl Pressly, Sue Huston and Rodney Willis.
“It’s great to see that everything came together. Our members are just ecstatic to be a part of such a neat organization. When they hear the word Kiwanis they know what it means,” said Pressly, who had been working on getting the club started for about a year.
All four clubs in Kiwanis Ohio Division 3, Shelby, Miami, Logan and Darke Counties, have started Aktion Clubs in the past couple of year. Members within those clubs total over 130 people.
“It [Aktion Clubs] helps serve this population. They want to be like everybody else and they want to do good for their community and that’s what Kiwanis is all about,” said Coffield.
The Greenville club will meet on the fourth Monday of the month at Ansonia EUM Church, from 10-11:30 a.m.
