Montréal:
One in a million

Story by Jack Brockley; Photography by Marie-Claude Vaillancourt

If someone were to write a song about the 91st Kiwanis International Convention, the lyrics would sing of a defining moment. Of boldly stepping across a threshold into a new Kiwanis era. Of the power of one. Of the promise of 1 million.

Montréal 2006 takes its place in Kiwanis history as the convention at which club delegates overwhelmingly agreed to pursue a goal of attaining 1 million members by January 21, 2015.

“It’s time to open the door and work like we’ve never worked before,” said International President Steve Siemens as he urged each member and each club to help build a new Kiwanis. “It’s time to open the door and see the unlimited potential and future.”

If someone were to write a convention song, verses would be devoted to the onstage vignettes of Kiwanis service, such as two US$1 million contributions to the Kiwanis International Foundation’s endowment campaign. And humorist Art Linkletter’s interview of 11-year-old hero Asia Brantley, who rescued her five-year-old neighbor during a dog attack. And Melanie Katerberg’s tearful recollection of her sister Allison’s recovery from near-fatal injuries, which were treated at the Kiwanis-supported McMaster Children’s Hospital in Hamilton, Ontario.

Someone did put the week’s highlights to music. At each session, composer Ken Medema improvised convention tunes, such as a humorous House of Delegates, audience-participation rendition of Have All the Ballot Boxes Been Collected? But his finale encapsulated the convention experience, inspired by the week’s predominant theme of change and an invitation to Kiwanians everywhere:

Walking through the door.

Walking through the door.

Come and take my hand.

We’ll go walking through the door.