PARSIPPANY — At the annual Installation Dinner held at Empire Diner on Wednesday, October 4, the following officers were installed to serve the 2017-2018 term:
President – Frank Cahill; Immediate Past President/Foundation President – Greg Elbin; President Elect – Karen DeChristopher; Vice President – Dr. Susan Elbin; Secretary – Karen Gajewski and Treasurer – Connie Keller.
The Board Directors include: Club Administration – Bob Keller; Community – Carol Tiesi; Young Children Priority One – Co-Directors: Karen DeChristopher and Nick Limanov; Sponsored Youth – Ron Orthwein and Human and Spiritual – Dr. Susan Elbin.
Kiwanis District 9 Lieutenant Governor Howard Gordon presented the new officers and board with their oath of office.
Carol Tiesi, Division 9 Lieutenant Governor-Elect, also a member of Kiwanis Club of Greater Parsippany, was present.
Incoming president, Frank Cahill, opened his remarks with “Grow the Club in Members and Service.” As we start a new Kiwanis year, one of my goals will be to grow the club. That means I need everyone to work as a “team” and spread the word about the great things our Kiwanis club has achieved.”
“In addition, we are working on a list of community leaders to speak at our morning breakfast meetings. This will attract community interest with active community involvement. From service to fundraising, I want to make sure what we do as a team is rooted in the needs of Parsippany. We have already scheduled Dr. Barbara Sargent, our new superintendent of Schools and Kahlid Madin, Parsippany’s Township Clerk to name a few,” continued Cahill.
“Congratulation Frank, I know with all of the great ideas and goals you have in mind that it will be an exciting and interesting year for our club and the membership. Being President-Elect means that I get to learn from and follow in the footsteps other great club Presidents, so I can continue to energize and motivate members during my 2018-2019 term. Continuing to also be a Co-Director and Chair the committee of our Young Children Priority One (YCPO) services projects, is of the utmost importance not only to me personally, but to our the club. Kiwanis will continue to cover issues that are important to our community, such as raising awareness on major childhood issues to prevent child abuse, shaken baby syndrome, kidnapping, human trafficking, sexual assault, as well as bullying, ” said President-elect Karen DeChristopher.
Joining in the celebration and congratulating the new board was Council Vice President Robert Peluso and Freeholder Candidate Heather Darling. Also in attendance was Former Mayors Mimi Letts and Dr. Joseph Weisberg.
Kiwanis Club of Greater Parsippany also is the home club of two past New Jersey District Governors, Gordon Meth and Michael Mulhall, who were in attendance.
Kiwanis Club of Greater Parsippany was formed on December 5, 1991 with a roster of 46 original charter members. The club was chartered in February 1992. Charter members included Jayne Beline, Frank Cahill, Margaret Cerbo, Nicolas Cerbo, Karen Gajewski, Harold Gantert, Barbara Ievoli, Ronda Kron, Michael Luther, James Mechtel, Jeanne O’Donnell, Frank Priore, Philip Santiago, Dr. Joseph Weisberg among others.
The first meeting was held at Concord Place (now Fairfield Inn & Suites Parsippany) and two years later the meetings were changed to Empire Diner.
The original board consisted of F. Houston Taylor, President; James Mechtel, President elect; Ronda Kron, Vice-President; Karen Gajewski, Secretary; Mark Wiener, Treasurer; and Directors Dr. Joseph Weisberg, Joe Linfante, James Carabello, Mary Lynn Kaprel, Kelly Stratmore, Marion Clark and Richard Epstein.
Other Presidents included Ronda Kron (1994-1995), Dr. Joseph Weisberg (1995-1996 and 2004-2005), Karen Gajewski (1997-1998), Jayne Beline (1999-2000), Michael Mulhaul (2002-2003), Robbie Furman (2003-2004), Doreen Breenan (2005-2006), Joyce Garrow (2006-2007), Gordon Meth (2008-2009), Joseph O’Neill (2009-2010), Paul Philipps (2010-2011), Robert Keller (2011-2012), Davey Willans (2012-2013), Carol Tiesi (2013-2014) Mimi Letts (2014-2015), Connie Keller (2015-2016) and more recently Greg Elbin (2016-2017).
Some of the past and present programs and projects of the Kiwanis Club of Greater Parsippany are:
- Sponsor the Parsippany Hills High School, Parsippany High School and Whippany Park High School Key Clubs.
- Sponsor the Brooklawn Middle School and Central Middle School Builders Clubs.
- Sponsor nine K-Kids Clubs in the Grammar Schools in Parsippany.
- Co-sponsor a Division Aktion Club.
- Donate to the Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts of Parsippany.
- Donate to Project Graduation.
- Donate to Family Promise of Morris County.
- Donate to the Jersey Battered Women’s Services (JBWS).
- Donate to Prevent Child Abuse NJ as well as raise awareness in our community,
- Cook for Homeless Solutions once a month.
- Donate to the Parsippany Library Programs.
- Donate to the Parsippany Food Bank.
- Donate to Programs through grants to our Foundation, such as Craftsman Farms.
- Sponsor the Parsippany Street Fair.
- Donate to the Parsippany Day Care Center.
- Sponsor Scholarships for Kiwanis Youth Leadership Training, Key leader Training, Hugh O’Brien Camp and Scholarships for further education.
- Donate to Autism, Eliminate and Children’s Specialized Hospital.
- Support Little League in Parsippany.
- Support our local churches through an Ecumenical Breakfast for friendship, fellowship, and exchange of ideas.
- Donate to Camp Nejeda.
- Donate to New Jersey Sharing Network
The Club formed a Foundation, on June 3, 2004, to handle all the Service Funds raised for our programs and projects.
It is a 501(C)3 account and only covers the Fundraisers. The Administrative account is still handled by the Club. These two accounts are kept separate by the Laws of Kiwanis International. The Foundation is composed of the same Officers and Directors as the Club but with a change in position and voting power.
Kiwanis Club of Greater Parsippany now in its 26th year, has over fifty members and meets weekly at the Empire Diner, 1315 Route 46 on Thursday at 7:15 a.m.
