Ron Petsch, an active Milford Kiwanis and Seward Helping Hands Kiwanis member, recently received the Key of Honor, the highest award given by Key Club International.
Petsch was recognized at the Key Club International convention in Anaheim, California, on July 7.
Key Club is the high school affiliate of Kiwanis.
“The Key of Honor is the highest service award given by Key Club International. There are only two given per year,” said Tracey Scissors-Domgard, district administrator for the Nebraska-Iowa District Key Club.
The honor was first announced at the district convention in Columbus on March 23, much to Petsch’s surprise.
“It’s something you don’t set out to gain recognition for,” Petsch said of his 20-year involvement with Key Club.
The club at Milford High School was chartered by Kiwanis in 2003, with Petsch’s daughter, Justine, serving as its first president.
“She had been active with me and done service since she was a kid,” Petsch said.
The club evolved from Milford’s K-Kids Club, which serves elementary students.
“In Kiwanis, there is what we call K-Kids, Builders Club, Key Club, and Circle K International,” Petsch said. “Kiwanis is the only international organization that has a student service group for each age group. We also have AKtion Club for people with disabilities.”
Milford Elementary started its K-Kids Club in 2001.
“As those kids aged, then we moved them on to Builders Club (for middle school), then when they got older, they started the Key Club,” Petsch said.
A few of those members are now part of the Seward Helping Hands Kiwanis.
Not all Kiwanis Clubs sponsor Key Club or younger organizations, but about 50 of them exist in Nebraska and Iowa.
Petsch said his involvement with the high school age group came naturally alongside his 40-year career as an instructor, department chair and student group adviser at Southeast Community College.
“When we started Key Club at the high school, it made sense. I was familiar with that age group, and it was easy for me to communicate and identify with that age group,” Petsch said.
He has spent the past 20 years dedicating time and energy to Key Club, judging contests and writing scripts for conventions, taking photos, building videos, mentoring students and coordinating leadership events.
“That’s what the award is for. You’d go to a convention and you weren’t visible, but you were in the background,” Petsch said.
In 2005, he coordinated the first Nebraska-Iowa District Key Leader event, a weekend program to help students gain confidence in their leadership abilities.
“I’ve stayed with that all through the years,” Petsch said.
He was nominated by Cooper Domgard, a participant in that first Key Leader camp in 2005, and a team of Key Club officers and leaders. Domgard now serves as the assistant administrator for the Nebraska-Iowa Key Club District.
“When I think of everything that the Key of Honor represents – a lifelong impact on youth, specifically in Key Club – there’s nobody I know that exemplifies this more than Ron,” Domgard said. “Without Ron’s leadership, mentoring and guidance in this organization, I never would have had the growth experiences, the great friends, or the opportunity that I now have to recreate that for students.”
Those sentiments were echoed in letters of recommendation by the district governor as well as Milford graduate and past Key Club International President K’Lena Schnack and Seward Helping Hands President Cara Houk.
“Since the very beginning of my journey in Key Club, Ron Petsch has supported, advocated, and cheered me and my Key Club peers on. I have been able to see firsthand his consistent, reliable, and persistent service to Key Club,” Schnack said.
“What most people don’t see about Ron is everything he contributes behind the scenes. It takes so much more effort to organize and execute service projects, community events, weekend retreats, and district events than people realize,” Houk said. “Not only does Ron eagerly attend, but he also helps plan and set up, takes countless photos during the events, tears down, and spends long hours to ensure great memories are made, students learn, thrive, and grow, and each experience, no matter how big or small, is a success.”
In addition to his service to Key Club, Petsch has served as Milford Kiwanis Club president and was secretary for both Milford and the Seward Helping Hands Kiwanis Clubs. He was the Nebraska-Iowa Kiwanis lieutenant governor in 2005-2006 and governor in 2009-2010. He served as a Division 22 trustee from 2012-2015.
He also devotes his time to other area projects, including the Legacy Fund for Seward County, Southeast Community College and local economic development programs.
This year, Petsch is a co-chair of the district convention Aug. 4-5 in La Vista.
“I like organizing, and it’s enjoyable. I don’t know if it’s my teacher mentality with teaching 40 years…you always want people to grow and spread their wings a little bit,” Petsch said. “Being in the background of Key Club allows me to provide that service to young people and adults, too.”
