Gulledge speaks to Kiwanis

The Kiwanis Club of Swainsboro held its weekly meeting Tuesday night, June 17, at the Rustic Grill at 6:30 p.m. With President Paul Cerpovicz presiding, they had 18 in attendance, including five guests, Oskar Cerpovicz, Karolina Cerpovicz, Joelle Romanchik-Cerpovicsz, Melissa Gulledge and Jenna Farmer. Tim Goodman won the key-lime cake donated by Dess Smith and the Domino’s Pizza, and gave the pizza to Melissa Gulledge, the program presenter. In honor of National Eat Your Vegetables Day, a picking of squash was won by Joelle Romanchik-Cerpovicz. Deana Patrick introduced Girl Scout Troop 30854 Leader Melissa Gulledge, who gave an update about the Troop in Swainsboro. The Troop meets at the Franklin Memorial Library and currently has four middle school students. Melissa noted they spent a lot of time cleaning up the city’s Scout Hut, only to see it rearranged by Hurricane Helene. After the roof was fixed and the water cleaned up, they found enough mold and water damage in the Hut so that the city condemned the building. They have moved around a lot until they found a home at the library, as the Scout Hut is being repaired. They have completed many events this year, some centered around trash pick-up and cleaning up local streams. Recently, one of the Girl Scouts, Jenna Farmer, won an award from the Girl Scout Council in Savannah for the project. Although there is more to Girl Scouts than cookies, the Troop sold 6,738 boxes of cookies in just four weeks of selling. This coming year, they are looking forward to getting more members and are planning a camping trip to Camp Martha Johnson and a formal “sneaker” dress-up dance in December. Deana Patrick reminded everyone about the Library’s Summer Reading Program cookout that is scheduled for Thursday, June 26, at 11 a.m., and it looks like around 75 kids will be attending the cookout.

In addition, Mitchell Fagler with Southeastern Technical College received a scholarship donation from Swainsboro Kiwanis Club.