Kiwanis Elects New Executive Officers and Directors

East Meadow resident, and mother of two, Debbie Kirsh will continue a longstanding tradition of helping the community -- as the newly elected President of East Meadow’s Kiwanis club.

“I love this club, I love this community, and I am looking forward to leading the club,” said Kirsh, a seven-year member, noting that she is “only the third woman president of the club.”

Kiwanis held its annual elections on Tuesday evening, where new members of the Executive Board and Board of Directors were elected. Board of Directors members hold a three-year term, according to current East Meadow Kiwanis President Mitchell Allen. “We basically are rotating every year with three individuals,” he added.

All newly elected positions do not go into effect until Oct. 1. The installation will be held at Verdi’s on Oct. 5.

“It’s been a great year so far – just about half way over,” said Allen during the meeting at the . “We just celebrated our 60th anniversary of supporting the community of East Meadow.”

The nominees for Executive Officer positions for the 2012-13 year were Kirsh for President, James Smith for First Vice President, Kevin Kamper for Second Vice President, and Larry McGovern for Treasurer. These nominations were accepted and approved as the East Meadow Kiwanis Executive Officers for 2012-13 by the membership. Allen will become the Immediate Past President upon the installation of new officers.

Additionally, President Elect Kirsh announced her choice of Brian O’Flaherty as Secretary.

“Brian has been an active member of this club for the last seven years,” Kirsh said. “He is currently our Treasurer and [is] doing an awesome job.”

Six members were nominated to fill three open seats on the Board of Directors. Helen Meittinis, Legis. Norma Gonsalves, R-East Meadow, and Ted Rosenthal captured those open spots at the elections. Immediate Past President Harry C. Demiris, Jr. said that the election for the Board of Directors seats were “extremely close.”

“I want to first thank everybody who put their names in the hat to get onto the Board of Directors,” he continued. “That shows the strong commitment to this club -- to have six names for three spots is fantastic. We actually had one or two more who stepped aside for other people to fill those spots. The future of this club is very strong and very bright.”

As the largest Kiwanis club in New York State – 140 members strong – Kirsh wants to continue to increase membership because “it is an important part of the club.”

“I’d like to encourage our new members to get involved, to get more involved, so that we can stay a strong club,” she added.

Kirch said that Kiwanis is “about advocating for children,” and, therefore, she wants to continue the tradition of providing scholarships to young people and would like to be more involved with the club's sponsored youth groups. She added that she also wants to continue the practice of the holiday food drives.

“I’m excited and looking forward to next year,” Kirsh said.