The Carmi Kiwanis Club met for its weekly luncheon on Thursday, Oct. 25 at the Farm Bureau Building. A delicious meal was provided by Yesterday’s catering.
Following the meal, newly installed president, Katelyne Wolff, recognized several guests including parents of the day’s honorees and an interclub from McLeansboro. Matt Lamont was the winner of the 50/50 drawing.
Kiwanian, Greg Stewart, served as the Master of Ceremonies for introducing the Corn Day’s King and Queen and their Court. He explained the process of selecting the King and Queen based on each candidates past experiences and involvements in their youth programs and activities. Primary among those are their achievements in the White County 4-H program.
Those candidates selected for Queen were Isabelle Bryant, daughter of Brian and Sandra Bryant of Carmi, Laney Cawthron, daughter of Chris and Beth York of Springerton and Cliff and Naomi Cawthron of Effingham, Payton Dixon, daughter of Eric and Amy Dixon of Carmi, Caitlin South, daughter of Gene and Angelia South of Enfield, and Samantha Stallings, daughter of Jason and Crystal Stallings of Carmi.
The candidates chosen for King were Gia Berekashvili, son of Giorgi and Valarie Berekashvili of Carmi, Lane Buchanan, son of Chris and Amy Buchanan of Carmi, Nate Garner, son of Kelly and Jaclyn Garner of Crossville, and Cody Nausley, son of Lex and Shannon Nausley of Carmi.
Caitlin South, a senior at Norris City-Omaha-Enfield High School, spoke of her many achievements in 4-H, a faithful ten-year member of the Enfield Blue Ribbon Club, as well as her extensive school involvements at N.C.O.E. She praised those club leaders, teachers and sponsors for her many successes.
Chosen King was Gia Berekashvili, a 15 year old sophomore from Carmi-White County High School, henceforth to be called “the King” according to Mr. Stewart because of the difficulty of pronouncing his name. Gia was particularly grateful for his eight years as a member of the Mad Hatters 4-H Club, his church, sports,
and academics which helped him develop his leadership skills, public speaking, and community service.
Greg Stewart praised the youth as “outstanding young people” from our communities and invited those attending to show special recognition by a standing ovation. Please see attached photo of those attending.
Corn Day King and Queen and Court attending the Kiwanis luncheon include: l to r: Cody Nausley, Carmi; Nate Garner, Crossville; King Gia Berekashvili, Carmi; Queen Caitlin South, Enfield; Lane Buchanan, Carmi; and Laney Cawthron, Springerton.
2018 Corn King Gia Berekashvili of Carmi, and Corn Queen Caitlin South of Enfield. Congratulations to these two outstanding young people.
