T-O Today Issue 3. 2019-2020.

DISTRICT CONVENTION

FALL RETREAT

We're having our 66th Annual DCON! Let's just say this event is going to be colorful!

A recap of our rockin' weekend retreat at Camp CKI!

T-O TODAY DECEMBER 2019. ISSUE 3. TEXAS-OKLAHOMA CIRCLE K INTERNATIONAL. PANTEGO, TX.

FALL 2019 SEMESTER RECAP & CAMP CKI!

PHOTO TAKEN BY TATIANA GONZALEZ (CAMERON CKI). PROVIDED BY UH CKI.

CONTENTS ANNOUNCEMENTS 03

A FEW WORDS

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DISTRICT CONVENTION

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DISTRICT AWARDS INFO

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A LOOK AT FALL 2019 06 FALL RETREAT: CAMP CKI

FALL RETREAT 2019: CAMP CKI

A ROCKIN' TIME WITH OUR CHAPTERS ACROSS T-O!

08 CAMP CKI BATTLE OF THE BANDS

Check to see who won our Battle of the Bands competition! / p06

10 FALL RETREAT REVIEWS

DCON 2020: COLORCON

11 FAVORITE MEMORIES OF 2019

JOIN US AT OUR 66TH ANNUAL T-O CKI DCON!

MORE OF CKI

Mark your calendars for this bright and colorful event! / p04

14 HOLIDAYS WITH CKI 15 T-O TIME MACHINE 16 GOVERNOR'S PROJECT 17 TEA WITH TEQUILA

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2019 MOMENTS YEAR T-O YEAR

Join us at the biggest CKI event of year!

CKIx20 is taking place at the Flamingo Las Vegas from July 19 - 22, 2020! Early bird registration ($250) opens at January 15.

Visit www.circlek.org/ckix for more information.

LOOKING BACK AT 2019

T-O CKI'S HISTORY

See what some of our chapter's favorite moments from 2019 were! / p11

Let's travel back in time to see T-O years before! / p15

Photo Credit: 1 - UH CKI, 2 - UT CKI, 3 - Scott Chen (TAMU)

T-O TODAY ISSUE NO. 3 TEXAS - OKLAHOMA CKI

EDITOR'S NOTES Happy New Year T-O CKI! Hope finals went well and that you're having a wonderful break. I am looking forward to another year with CKI! Thank you so much to those who have contributed to this issue.

Check for updates on Spring Rallies and DCON via social media (@txokcki)!

Photo Credit: UH CKI

See you soon!

Mariane Sanchez 2019-20 District Editor

MESSAGE FROM THE GOVERNOR Hello T-O, I hope that you all had the very best Holiday, the Merriest Christmas, and are enjoying your break. Please give all yourself a pat on the back as you all have worked extremely hard serving your communities. You all are truly inspiring and bring color to many people's lives. As we approach the new year, I challenge you all to push yourself to new limits, think of new ideas, and maybe consider running for District Board. Thank you for all that you do and I hope to see you at the 66th annual DCON in Irving, TX, where we will celebrate memories, welcome in new leaders, and award the hard work of the chapters. Wish you all the best and enjoy the rest of your break!

Yours in Service, Joseph Pham 2019-20 District Governor

Photo Credit: UH CKI

A FEW WORDS

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Texas-Oklahoma Circle K International Presents

COLORCON Join us at our 66th Annual District Convention!

MARCH 6 - 8, 2020 DFW AIRPORT MARRIOTT NORTH IRVING, TEXAS

DISTRICT AWARDS Make note of these important deadlines!

Phase I: February 6th, 2020 at 11:00 PM CST

To apply for awards, please visit our website www.txokcki.org. For any inquiries, please email awards@txokcki.org Scholarships can be found at www.tofoundation.com.

T-O Kiwanis Foundation Scholarships: January 31, 2020

Phase II: March 6th, 2020 at 11:00 PM CST

DISTRICT AWARDS INFO

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T-O TODAY

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A ROCKIN' TIME AT CAMP CKI

Fall Retreat is the first district-wide event held every year in November. Chapters from across TexasOklahoma gather to rediscover their passion for service, leadership, and fellowship. Many leave with new friendships and unforgettable experiences.

This year's theme was inspired by the Disney Channel movie, Camp Rock. Camp CKI was hosted by T-O CKI Events Co-chairs, Triston Dees and Addi Duerksen.

Background Photo Credit: UH CKI

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Dodgeball tournament! (1)

Executive Staff at Camp CKI

Ziplining with UH CKI! (2)

Service Project: Flower Bombs

T-O TODAY

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FALL RETREAT: CAMP CKI

Photo Credit: 1 & 2 - UH CKI

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*Photos by UH CKI

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FALL RETREAT: CAMP CKI

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s d n a B e h t f o e l t t Ba

The main event throughout the retreat was Battle of the Bands.

Five Disney-inspired teams practiced their performances before the big competition near the campfire.

Photos taken by UH CKI

Winner: Team Hercules

B.O.B RESULTS The judging criteria was based on lip syncing, dancing, and creative abilities. The audience got to pick their favorite performance while the judges (our district admins) determined which team gave it their all.

1st Runner Up: Team Moana

2nd Runner Up: Team Mulan

Photo Credit: UH CKI

3rd Runner Up: Team Lion King

Fan Favorite: Team Aladdin

Photo Credit: UH CKI

BATTLE OF THE BANDS

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What did you like about Fall Retreat?

Responses were submitted via Instagram.

"The dancing and seeing everyone having a good time!"

"I enjoyed getting to see all my friends from across the district and enjoying a weekend of fellowship and service with them!" @thetristanadams

@phamily_guy96

UTA CKI AT FALL RETREAT

by Peter Nguyen Photo Submitted by Peter Nguyen

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FALL RETREAT REVIEWS

"Peter's compliments activity! 10/10 job Peter!!" @texascki

Fall Retreat for my UTA chapter was something truly amazing! I’ll be honest, a lot of us at UTA were a little skeptical at first, but we had so much fun after we got settled in. I think that being away from civilization to spend time with great people was honestly just what I needed. School had been so stressful so a weekend meeting new people and making memories was amazing. Some of MY favorite memories included roasting smores by the campfires and seeing all of the other groups perform. Everyone worked so hard and it was a spectacular sight to see the groups put into action their dance routine at night. I made some GREAT friends and I honestly can’t wait to see them at DCON.

TRUNK 'R TREAT

We had many crafts, DIY, and games set up around the apartment complex. Children were able to decorate paper bags to hold their candies in, color their own masks, make slime, and earn

by Sammie Chen prizes such as candies, erasers, stickers, and Photo Submitted by Sammie Chen pencils while playing our handmade games! The In October, UH CKI hosted our 3rd annual Trunk children were all very enthusiastic and happy ‘r Treat as part of our #WithRefugees chapter along with our members who dressed up in project. For those who are not familiar, Trunk ‘r costumes.

Treat aims to provide a safe and friendly There were many preparations to be done Halloween environment for refugee and beforehand and we couldn't have done it alone. immigrant children in the Houston area because We are very thankful and appreciative of parents are often reluctant to let their children go everyone who came to support or simply donated out to celebrate Halloween due to supplies because without them, the children safety/financial concerns or religious stigma. We would not have such a fun filled Halloween hosted this event over 2 days at different experience. Big thank you to SEWA, UH VSA, apartment complexes populated with refugee or Lamar CKI, and Bellaire High School Key Club for immigrant families. joining us!

FAVORITE MOMENTS OF 2019

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GIVING BACK, GETTING THANKS

by Ishan Paranjape Photos Submitted by Ishan Paranjape

Unlike a lot of schools across the T-O District, students at the University of Texas at Austin don’t have the luxury of vacation on the Monday and Tuesday of Thanksgiving week. Even though that week is too short to hold one of our weekly CKI meetings, that doesn’t stop us from volunteering and giving back to our community. In order to help our members get hours before the end of the semester, we enrolled in three back-to-back-to-back volunteering events: the Fall Ball, Inside Books Project, and the Feast of Unity.

An intern at the Helping Hands Home, a non-profit organization dedicated to taking care of abused children in foster care, reached out to our service chair, Crystal Truong, about helping set up a Thanksgiving Party by the name of “Fall Ball” for at-risk children around the Austin area. Our Kiwanis-Family Relations committee chair Andy Le got into contact with the vice president of Manor New Technology High School’s (MNTHS) Key Club, Helen Nguyen, about making this service event a K-Family event. Helen happily agreed and brought two of her fellow Key Club members with her. While two CKI members, Crystal and Jackie, volunteered during the morning shift of November 23 with set up, the three MNTHS Key Clubbers, our Vice President Lauren, our K-Family Relations Chair Andy, and I volunteered during the clean-up shift. At the end of the volunteering event, Helen invited Andy and me to assist her at Manor, TX’s First Feast of Unity.

One of Austin, TX’s most famous volunteering activities took place at the Vox Veniae Church with the Inside Books Project, a non-profit organization which aims to reduce recidivism rates – the frequency at which prisoners land back in prison – by donating books to the incarcerated. Three of our new members – Alyssa, Sydney, and Jack – volunteered on the evening of November 24. We searched through the Inside Book Project’s vast library for the books that the prisoners requested and we penned them a nice little letter. Once all the books and letters were compiled, they were shipped off to different prison sites across Texas. Although the volunteering task was simple and repetitive, the difference we were making in prisoners’ lives over the holidays was large.

The next day, Andy and I volunteered at Manor, TX’s 1st Feast of Unity with two MNTHS Key Club officers and a new member, Tina. In the spirit of Thanksgiving, Manor High School had set up a free dinner for families in Manor, TX and unincorporated areas of Travis County. While MNTHS Key Club worked in the kitchen , we worked as the wait staff, providing families free meals as they requested. The volunteer coordinators were so nice that they allowed all of us to grab free dinner and pie on the way out. We thanked the members of MNTHS Key Club for volunteering with us so often this semester and asked them if they would be willing to participate in the Project 2020 – UT’s largest day of service – with us in February. They said yes, of course!

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FAVORITE MOMENTS OF 2019

'TIS THE SEASON Celebrating the holidays - the T-O way!

LAWTON CHRISTMAS PARADE

by Tristan Adams Photo Submitted by Tristan Adams

This year Cameron CKI teamed up with MacArthur Key Club to represent all branches of Kiwanis in our city’s annual Christmas parade. It was a fun and festive evening for all of us to socialize and show our community who we are!

by Vincent Tangavelou Photo Submitted by Vincent Tangavelou

WHITE COUGAR SOCIAL For our White Cougar Social, UHCKI held one last event to help foster fellowship and reminisce upon the many memories we made over the semester. To celebrate the holiday season, many of us brought food for a potluck and brought secret gifts for a White Elephant. We played several board games, had great food, and talked to our friends about the great times we had this year.

FAVORITE MOMENTS OF 2019

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How do you spend the holidays?

Responses were submitted via Instagram.

Home with family and reconnecting with friends! @niel_zeal

My family and I travel to New Orleans! @petersaur_98

With family and plenty of food! @phamily_guy96

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T-O TODAY

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HOLIDAYS WITH CKI

T-O TIME MACHINE Where was T-O at this point of time?

1999 The Texas A&M CKI chapter hosted a fundraising event in 1999, where the incentive for raising the most money was to have an officer take a pie in the face. Past T-O Governor, Benjamin Burt, made the last donation to the chapter and got to pie the former TAMU CKI President, Trish Allamon.

2019 About twenty years later, Clarence Manglal-lan hosted his first Fall Rally as South-Southeast Lieutenant Governor. For fun, he gave each chapter the chance to pie Addi Duerksen who is the current TAMU CKI President. Unfortunately, Addi left early, and Clarence took the pie for her.

by Mariane Sanchez Source: The T-O Today November 1999 Issue Photo Credit: Left - Scott Chen (TAMU), Right - UH CKI

Did you know? On February 22, 1957, Texas-Oklahoma was the first district to be recognized in Circle K International. Learn more about our history at www.history.txokcki.org.

T-O TIME MACHINE

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THE BEYOUTIFUL PROJECT

Thoughts of giving up are nothing to be ashamed about, but they should be taken seriously. Suicide is the 2nd leading cause of death among people aged 10-34 in the U.S.* A lot of college students fall within this age range. If you or someone you know begins having thoughts of suicide, seek help. The national suicide prevention lifeline is a free, confidential, 24/7 service you can use.

1-800-273-TALK (8255) This year, the Governor's Project focuses on mental health. Our goal is to fight the stigma aganist mental illness, and let people know that help is available when needed. Remember, it is okay to not be okay. *Statistic can be found on https://www.nami.org/Learn-More/Mental-Health-By-the-Numbers 16

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GOVERNOR'S PROJECT

Tea with Tequila

Hello~ it's Tequila here! I answer your most burning questions/comments about CKI! Be sure to follow our district Instagram page @txokcki to get all the tea!

Entries were submitted via Instagram.

@the.little.saarlander: Tequila, what are some of your favorite service projects to see people doing?

Tequila: Any service project that is built on passion, hard work, and dedication! @briannadao13: How has CKI impacted your life?

Tequila: Wow, I got a lot to say! But to put it in summary, seeing college students making a difference in their communities has touched my heart! @texascki: Will you be there at any of our rallies to watch as we elect next year's LTG's?

Tequila: You bet I will! Watch for Spring Rally season to come very soon! @petersaur_98: What's your favorite thing about CKI? Tequila: Being around people like you! Also being held like a queen during our events.

TEA WITH TEQUILA

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Thank you for reading the T-O Today!

TEXAS-OKLAHOMA K-FAMILY TXOKCKI.ORG TXOK-KIWANIS.ORG TOKEYCLUB.COM LEARN MORE ABOUT CKI CIRCLEK.ORG FOLLOW US ON TWITTER, FACEBOOK, AND INSTAGRAM! @TXOKCKI

The T-O Today is a publication from the Texas-Oklahoma District of Circle K International.

2019 - 2020 District Editor: Mariane Sanchez December 2019. Issue 3.