Stacie Larsen
Managing Editor
@SLarsenWriting
From Nov. 3-5, members from the Cameron chapter of the Circle K International (CKI) organization attended the Texas-Oklahoma CKI Fall Retreat at the Latham Springs Camp and retreat Center in Aquilla, Texas. A total of 90 from 27 colleges attended the retreat.
Cameron senior and Texas-Oklahoma district governor Robbie Day said the Retreat was a result of a collaborated effort among CKI districts and the Texas-Oklahoma Kiwanis Foundation.
“Everyone is equally important at this event,” Day said. “It’s strictly about fellowship and having a good time.”
Kiwanis member and Texas-Oklahoma Circle K International district assistant administrator Allison Prisco-Macias said the retreat is a great way for CKI members from different chapters to connect on a personal level.
“It’s a short time period that we are together,” Prisco-Macias said, “but [we] do so much together that friendships get built—basically overnight.
“One of my favorite things is seeing the kids getting involved.”
Day said the weekend-long activities are influenced by the Retreat’s theme, Camp Half-blood, which is based off the “Percy Jackson” movie series. The event included fellowship nights that featured the movies “The Lightening Thief” and “Hercules.”
Upon arrival to the Retreat, attendees are placed into groups named after Greek Gods, including Apollo, Hermes, Athena, Poseidon, and Zeus. From there, attendees created name tags while also decorating brown paper bags that included their name, group name and which college they attended.
After all the attendees met up, the Retreat officially kicked off with a brief introduction of the planned activities and sleeping arrangements, followed by a series of social icebreakers that included rock-paper-scissors, centaurs and satyrs, look up and ninja.
Day said the reason for the ice breakers was to help facilitate name learning and a sense of comradery among CKI members from different chapters that will hopefully continue throughout their college experiences.
“That’s what makes Circle K International unique from other organizations on college campuses,” he said. “…when we come together for events, it’s like having a family reunion.”
By the end of the evening, the start of a weekend-long activity called “Warm and Fuzzy’s,” began. Each team displayed their decorated paper bags on the wall next to their teams’ poster, which remained there until the day of departure.
Throughout the weekend, attendees are encouraged by their group leaders to write something positive about another person and then place it in their bag.
The following day, attendees came together for various outdoor activities, including a game of capture the flag and a giant swing ride, followed by indoor activities, such as CKI jeopardy and a service discussion forum. The day’s activities ended with a campfire get together featuring divisional chants and s’mores.
On the final day, attendees all came together for one more gathering, which featured the results of the district project fundraiser and allowed attendees the chance to pick up their decorated paper bags.
Day said the district project fundraiser, called “Pie in the face,” was to raise money for “The Eliminate Project,” which is to help eliminate maternal and neonatal tetanus in third-world Countries. The fundraiser ran from Sept.1-Nov.3.
“The chapter that raised the most money in their division got to pie a district board member of their choice,” Day said.
For more information, visit Circle K International on Facebook at www.facebook.com/cameroncki.
