The Kiwanis Club of Lincoln: a hardworking, youth-oriented service organization

[November 17, 2009]  Members of the Kiwanis Club of Lincoln worked most of Saturday during their annual spaghetti supper fundraiser. The club has 39 active members, and almost two-thirds of the membership had something to do with making another fundraiser a success.

A smaller group than some other local civic organizations, the Kiwanians make up for numbers with active involvement in all their yearly events. The spaghetti supper was just two months after their fall banquet at Lincoln College. Another fundraising activity is their spring ham and beans luncheon; then comes the Mother's Day banquet, followed by selling IGA pork chop sandwiches at Postville Courthouse during the Lincoln Art & Balloon Festival.

Founded May 26, 1920, the organization has from day one worked to aid our area's youngsters and the projects that are important to help them. Club members do as much hard work as necessary to gather all the money needed to help as much they can.

The club isn't interested in saving the money they earn each year. Rather, they are interested in making as much as they can and then doling it all out to help as many youth projects as possible.

This past fiscal year the club donated funds to 25 notable and worthy youths or youth groups in Logan County, with a total dollar amount of over $7,000. Included in that amount are two $1,000 scholarships to area young people who attend Lincoln College and Lincoln Christian University.

The list of the 48 founding members carries many names of notable individuals from the history of Lincoln. The group was composed of individuals from all walks of life, varying from physicians, to retailers, to real estate and tradesman. Some of the names are still well-known in the community almost a century later. (The list of those founding members is included at the end of this text.)

One of the Kiwanians' strengths is their ability and desire to change with the times

Although the membership of the club is down from the early '70s and '80s, when it numbered in the upper 60s, activity is larger than ever. While the club is always delighted to admit new members, they won't use the excuse of too few doing too much to prevent them from reaching their goals.

In the early years the annual Kiwanis fundraiser was a chili and oyster stew luncheon. In later years they sold brats and the ever-popular poker chip fried potatoes at the Railsplitting Festival. In the mid- and late '80s the club fried more than 500 pounds of potatoes in just a day and a half each year as long lines always waited for the fryers to turn out another basket full of the tasty spuds.

When the Exchange Club dropped their local charter in 1984, the Kiwanians took over the Christmas tree sale and started off with a bang, selling 500 trees their first year.

As the years progressed and retailers started selling trees, the club lowered the number of trees until in 2008 they ordered only 100 trees to sell. Undaunted by having lost a solid fundraising option, the Kiwanians decided to change focus and brought out the Mother's Day banquet, which was a huge success. It meant the Kiwanians would have to work that day, but that's what they do, especially when they know the need for their help is as essential as ever in these current times.

The Mother's Day banquet was a huge success, offering a service to many. First, the money earned helped fund youth projects; and secondly, moms and families now could have a splendid meal without spending hours in the kitchen on that special day.

The club also believes in giving recognition to youngsters who have worked to accomplish great things. The club sponsors a student of the month through Lincoln Community High School and brings the students and teachers to their luncheon to receive the accolade properly.

The club also invites 4-H students every year to give them honors of recognition and applause for their achievements.

The club currently sponsors a Kiwanis Builders Club at the Lincoln Junior High and hopes to re-establish a Kiwanis Key Club at the high school. These youth-oriented clubs help instill community involvement at an early age, plus create members for the parent organization when the youngsters become adults.

As another fiscal year begins, the list of youth projects the club will once again become involved in has not shrunk. The members have set their goals and nothing will deter them from doing as much or more than they did last year.

It might mean they all might have to work a little harder this coming year. Bet on them doing so.

[By MIKE FAK]

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Lincoln Kiwanis charter membership,
September 1920

• Jon Lutz Jr., dry goods

• Howard E. Young, travel agent

• William E. Hodnett, insurance

• Fred W. Short, retailer

• J.W. Spellman, farm seeds

• George R. Snook, wholesale grocer

• C.E. Russell, retail grocer

• F.W. Longan, implement manufacturer

• T.E. McGrath, sand and gravel

• Max Kahn, clothing

• J.A. Bucks, shoes

• F.C. Orton, automobiles

• D.W. Clark, hotel

• John Mestinsek, shoes

• P.F. Cutner, music dealer

• W.E. Bouillon, plumber

• J.D. Hill, attorney

• Sam W. Cosby, furniture

• Robert W. Sheets, undertaker

• B.C. Snider, newspapers

• C.E. Tilley, osteopath

• N.E. Landauer, clothing

• B.N. Nelson, news dealer

• Dr. E. Laurence, dentist

• L.G. Wright, dry goods

• J.E. Hoblit, banker

• Waid Doty, dentist

• Will Houser, investments

• Dr. E. Gaffney, physician

• W.E. Trapp, farmer

• P.E. Kuhl, banker

• C. Gullett, florist

• C.E. Smith, attorney

• E.C. Lutz, real estate

• Fred Armstrong, insurance

• D.F. Nichols, superintendent of schools

• L.W. Dowling, casket manufacturer

• M.D. Gates, engineer

• G.W. Kimball, minister

• J.T. Mulgrew, minister

• Dr. T. Leonard, physician

• Will Latham, real estate

• R.F. Ginzel, architect

• Dr. F. Hagan, surgeon

• A. Marcucci, confectioner

• J.A. Lucas, superintendent IOOF Home

• L. Sanford, auto sales

• H.D. Wright, coal

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Kiwanis facts

Kiwanis is a global organization of volunteers dedicated to changing the world, one child and one community at a time.

Name

The name "Kiwanis" means "we trade" or "we share our talents." It was coined from a Native American expression, "Nunc Kee-wanis."

Facts

• Kiwanis was organized in Detroit, Mich., on Jan. 21, 1915.

• Kiwanis focuses on the needs of ordinary people and children to create extraordinary life-changing moments.

• Kiwanis and its service leadership programs boast a membership of more than 600,000 men, women and youth in nearly 16,000 clubs in more than 70 countries and geographic areas.

• Members of Kiwanis and its service leadership programs volunteer more than 21 million hours and invest more than $113 million in their communities around the world.

• Kiwanis is taking itself from a good organization to a truly great organization that defines excellence for service and leadership and builds leaders through service opportunities.

• Kiwanis International is the only service organization that builds leaders at every level -- from the youngest Kiwanis Kids all the way through several youth programs and adult programs. (Kiwanis family of programs)

• Kiwanis’ impact on the world will be measured by the 10 million young leaders it nurtures, rather than by the number of members it attracts.

• Kiwanis continues its service emphasis of "Young Children: Priority One," which focuses on the special needs of children from prenatal development to age 5. In a typical year, "Young Children: Priority One" service projects involve more than $14 million and 1 million volunteer hours.

Service

Each year, clubs:

• Sponsor nearly 150,000 service projects.

• Raise more than $107 million.

[File from Kiwanis International]

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