Taking the lead in Kiwanis

By HANS MADSEN editor@messengernews.net

For many years, Linda Cline was the familiar face of 4-H in Webster County.

If someone did a project, showed at the Webster County Fair or volunteered their help, most likely they got to know her.

While still active in 4-H, she retired as the youth coordinator in 2016.

She recently got a new hat to wear. She’s the lieutenant governor of Division II for the Nebraska/Iowa District of the Kiwanis Club.

“I took the position in October,” she said. “Our district hadn’t had a lieutenant governor for several years. When you get a phone call asking, I decided I should step up. The governor asked me.”

Her job is to serve mostly as a communication liaison.

“I keep in contact with the clubs in the district,” she said.

“I keep in communication with the governor and then share that information. I also encourage the clubs to work on their membership.”

Division II includes two clubs in Algona, two in Webster City, one in Humboldt and her own club in Fort Dodge. Division II is one of 25 in the Nebraska/Iowa District.

Building the membership back up is a big job. Participation in service groups was one of the things that took a big hit during the pandemic.

“COVID did a number on all the service clubs,” she said. “We’re all working on new membership.”

The loss of membership meant that some of the programs, such as K-Kids, had to be temporarily disbanded. They’re now working on getting them back up and running.

Besides the K-Kids program, the Kiwanis Club also has a dictionary project to get dictionaries to third-graders in the smaller school districts, a Sand Day project where they delivered clean sand for such things as sand boxes, and the Action Club for adults with disabilities.

Cline has been involved in Kiwanis since the late 1990s.

“I remember going to a meeting back in 1997 to ask for funds for Clover Kids,” she said. “They asked me to join. 4-H and Kiwanis both work with children. That was a good thing to do.”

Her term?

“Supposedly just a year,” she said. “Once you learn the job you stay on for a couple of years.”

She encourages anyone with some time to look into a service club. “All the service groups are looking for members to help in their community,” she said. “Pick what you’re passionate about, find that.”

Her local club, the Fort Dodge Tuesday Noon Kiwanis, meets every Tuesday at Pizza Ranch.