Those in attendance were club members from Division 25, which goes from Calabasas east to Van Nuys and from Woodland Hills north to Northridge.

Many of the attendees were dressed in cowboy attire and the activities included stick-horse racing and line dancing.

There was also a make-shift jail cell, where people could pay to have fellow Kiwanians locked up. Then the detainees had to collect donations from friends at the event to pay for bail.

All the money raised went to Kiwanis' First Ladies Fund. One of the fund's major projects is providing training to doctors to better prepare them to treat children, particularly in emergency rooms, said Francis' wife, Martha.

During his speech, Francis outlined a few changes that are being proposed for Kiwanis clubs both internationally and at the district level.

Going up for a vote at the international convention in July is a proposal to let clubs operate without holding regular meetings. Current bylaws require clubs meet formally twice a month in a place that serves food.

Francis pointed to a Young Professionals Club in Washington, D.C., as an example of a new type of service organization. The club members communicate entirely via the Internet or Personal Digital Assistants (PDAs). Their focus is on organizing and holding community service projects. They do 52 projects a year, Francis said, which is a high number. The club has 180 members, also very high. The leniency regarding meetings attracts more - and younger - people, Francis said.

Members of the Young Professionals Club do get together socially, Francis said, usually on Friday evenings at bars that serve food.

He added that he likes allowing more flexibility regarding meetings. "We're about service. We're not about meetings," Francis said.

At the district level, Kiwanians will be voting on changing the governing structure at their district convention in August. The district includes California, Nevada and Hawaii, all of which would undergo the change if approved.

Francis said there are currently 44 lieutenant governors in the district. As Kiwanis International continues efforts to attract new members, the projection is that there will eventually be 100,000 members in the district. That would increase the number of lieutenant governors to 125. Francis said that's too many people to work with if the club wants to achieve its goals.

Also, each lieutenant governor currently serves one year, which means just as he or she is gaining experience, they leave the post.

The proposed change would reduce the number of lieutenant governors, also called regional directors, to 15. All of them would serve three-year terms, with one third of them rotating out each year. With that rotating schedule, two third of the members will always have at least one year of experience.