www.kiwanis.org
SPECIAL ISSUE: January 2015
The year was 1914. In Sarajevo, the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand sent most of Europe into war. Charlie Chaplin made his movie debut, and Babe Ruth appeared in his first Major League Baseball game. The first ship passed through the newly-completed Panama Canal, while in San Diego, Balboa Park opened to celebrate the occasion. In Washington, D.C., President Woodrow Wilson signed a proclamation officially making Mother’s Day an American holiday. In Cincinnati, the world’s last passenger pigeon died. And in Detroit, Henry Ford perfected his assembly line technology to build a Model T every 90 minutes. Ford would sell over 300,000 cars in 1914, and yet his innovation was maybe just the second-most exciting concept born in Detroit that year. 33-year-old Joseph G. Prance, a modest Detroit tailor with his own shop at 1188 Gratiot Avenue, met with Allan Simpson Browne, a persuasive and energetic man who actually earned his living by traveling across Michigan and Ontario, establishing Moose Lodges. Browne had already built several small fraternal and civic organizations, and had previously tried to recruit Prance for another group, Joseph G. Prance but in 1914, with much of the world on the brink of war, Prance agreed to become the first member of a Co-Founder and First Member new organization, which Browne would call the “Supreme Lodge Benevolent Order Brothers.” The concept was simple. Build an organization for local businessmen, who would pay dues to belong to the group, and in turn, patronize one another’s businesses. In theory, each member would profit from their involvement. Over the next few months, Browne and Prance would recruit dozens of other interested businessmen, holding the first few meetings in Prance’s tailor shop. On December 7th, 1914, Prance signed the new organization’s first membership card. It quickly became apparent that the name “Benevolent Order Brothers” (or “B.O.B.” for short) was both cumbersome and unappealing. Browne approached Detroit City Historian C.M. Burton in search of suggestions for a more meaningful name. Together, they found an Otchipew (Chippewa) phrase, “Nunc-Kee-Wan-Nis,” which had several interpretations, including “we trade,” “we make noise,” “we make ourselves known,” and “we have a good time.” Browne decided to shorten the phrase to simply “Kiwanis,” and thus the new organization was given its name. Paperwork was filed with the State of Michigan, petitioning the Secretary of State to incorporate the new organization. On January 21st, 1915, that application was approved, and the Kiwanis Club of Detroit was born, with insurance man Donald A. Johnston serving as the first Club President. Today, January 21st is recognized as the official date of the founding of Kiwanis International. The idea of Kiwanis spread quickly, although not without deliberation. By July 1915, members of Allen Simpson Browne the club had turned their attention from that of profit and greed to one of community service instead. Co-Founder of Kiwanis Selfish motives gave way to philanthropy and goodwill, and soon Kiwanis became known for serving others. The club’s first service project was the symbolic (but active) adoption of a needy young child, who would have his name legally changed to Walter Kiwanis. However, Allen Browne legally owned the Kiwanis Club, and many of the club’s original 173 members left once it was determined that Browne was keeping a personal profit from each member’s dues. As membership dwindled down to about fifty men, it looked as though Kiwanis may fail. Johnston refocused the group, while Browne left for Ohio, along with Club Secretary Ottie Robertson. The two of them formed the Kiwanis Club of Cleveland (with 135 members) by the end of the year. The first Kiwanis Convention was held in Cleveland in May of 1916, as delegates adopted officers and a constitution, thus making community service the permanent mission of Kiwanis International. Kiwanis Districts were formed for the first time. At the 1919 Kiwanis Convention in Birmingham, delegates voted to buy out Browne for the sum of $17,500 -- a massive total raised in a single day. Kiwanis now controlled its own destiny and owned the rights to its own organization. In 1920, the motto “We Build” was adopted, followed four years later by the Six Permanent Objects of Kiwanis. Donald A. Johnston At a time when the world seemed like it would be consumed by war, Kiwanis not only survived, First Kiwanis Club President but it spread across the continent, and it thrived. A hundred years later, Kiwanis continues to shine.
In This Special Issue:
Kiwanis International Timeline of Events
Photos from Our First Century of Service
Centennial Celebrations in Detroit and Worldwide
Grantville Kiwanis: The Early Years
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Pages 3-7
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Our First 100 Years A more interactive Kiwanis history timeline is available online at www.kiwanis.org/kiwanis100.
1915 – Allan S. Browne and Joseph Prance recruit members into their new organization for Detroit businessmen. The organization, named “The Kiwanis Club,” receives official recognition by the state on January 21st, 1915. Browne opens a second Kiwanis Club in Cleveland, Ohio, in October of that same year. 1916 – Another 29 Kiwanis Clubs open between Massachusetts and Illinois, with many new clubs forming in New York and Ohio. Kiwanis becomes “International” on November 1st, 1916, with the opening of the Hamilton (Ontario) Kiwanis Club. 1917 – Kiwanis reaches the West Coast, with the formation of the Los Angeles 1919 – Kiwanis “purchases itself” from Kiwanis Club. It would take two years for the club to receive its charter. founder Allen S. Browne. 1920 – The San Diego Kiwanis Club is chartered, the first in the area. 1924 – Delegates at the Kiwanis International Convention in Denver, Colorado adopt the Six Permanent Objects of Kiwanis. To this day, these Objects have never been changed.
1925 – The world’s first Key Club is formed at Sacramento High School. It is so named for the “key students” in the school – all boys – who make up the membership.
1922-1935 – Kiwanians place some 22 “goodwill” markers on the U.S.-Canadian border, symbolizing international friendship. 1936 – Kiwanis members in Pullman, Washington refurbish and re-open a fraternity house at nearby Washington State College. A Kiwanis logo posted prominently on top of the frat house leads others around the community to call it the “Circle K” house. 1947 – At Carthage College in Illinois, a local Kiwanis Club begins a new Kiwanis youth group for college students, formatted as a service club, and borrowing the name “Circle K” from that same frat house in Washington State. 1950 – Nine years prior to statehood, Hawaii is officially added to the California-Nevada District of Kiwanis International. 1951 – Division 21 is formed from parts of Division 11, which had previously included all of San Diego and Imperial Counties (and even Yuma, Arizona). Ben C. Becker of the North Park Kiwanis Club is the new division’s first Lt. Governor. 1955 – The San Diego State College Circle K club is formed, and provides two of the organization’s first International Presidents (Wally Miller, 1956-57 and Hal Helsley, 1957-58). The SDSC (now SDSU) Circle K club has kept its charter to the present day. 1960 – The Kiwanis Club of Grantville (later Grantville-Allied Gardens) is chartered in San Diego on September 17th. 1962 – Following a vote at the previous year’s International Convention in Toronto, allowing Kiwanis Clubs to operate outside of the United States and Canada, the Kiwanis Club of Tijuana, Baja California, Mexico is chartered on May 15th, 1962 as part of the California-Nevada-Hawaii District. Within two years, Kiwanis International would expand to Austria, the Bahamas, Belgium, Germany, Iceland, Jamaica, Japan, Norway, Switzerland, and further into Mexico. 1973 – With his two teenage daughters unable to join the all-male Key Club organization, Cal-Nev-Ha Kiwanis District Governor Sid Smith forms the “Keyettes” club for girls. This group later becomes Keywanettes, and later KIWIN’S, paving the way for women to join the Kiwanis Family. 1973 – Circle K International admits its first female members. Key Club International follows suit four years later.
1975 – Coles Junior High School in Ashland, Kentucky becomes the site of the world’s first Builders Club.
1987 – At the Kiwanis International Convention in Washington, D.C., more than two-thirds of delegates elect to remove the gender qualification from Kiwanis membership, officially opening the door for women to join Kiwanis International. The same issue a year earlier had won just 47 percent of the vote. 1990 – Lamar Fisher of the Florida District establishes the first K-Kids Club, making elementary school students the youngest part of the Kiwanis Family. Later, the first K-Kids Club in California is established in 1994-95 by Dr. Doug Grosmark at Hearst Elementary School in San Diego. 1993 – Kiwanis International teams up with UNICEF for the first time, to combat the tragic effects of Iodine Deficiency Disorder (IDD), the lack of iodine as a nutrient. Symptoms can include physical malformations such as goiters, or mental disabilities. Over the next five years, Kiwanis and UNICEF raise $75 million to construct factories to add iodine to table salt for human consumption. As a result, IDD is statistically eliminated from the planet. 1994 – Kiwanis International enters the digital age with the launch of its website, www.kiwanis.org. 2000 – The Cal-Nev-Ha District introduces Total K Day (now Kiwanis One Day), a service holiday for the entire Kiwanis Family. 2010 – Kiwanis International announces its second worldwide service initiative in conjunction with UNICEF, introducing the Eliminate Project at the International Convention in Las Vegas, Nevada. This time, the target is Maternal and Neonatal Tetanus (MNT), a deadly but entirely preventable bacterial infection affecting newborns. 2015 – As Kiwanis International celebrates its 100th year, Michigan’s Sue Petrisin is set to become the first female International President when she takes office next summer at the International Convention in Indianapolis.
Despite Rough Start, Growth Continued Through the Decades It’s amazing to think about it now, but Kiwanis nearly didn’t make it. Just six months after its inception, members of the Detroit Kiwanis Club were at odds with each other about the overall goal of the organization, and of course, whether or not Allen S. Browne, the “owner” of Kiwanis, really had the community’s interest in mind. Not surprisingly, “Kiwanis politics” are nearly as old as Kiwanis itself. Known to Kiwanis historians as the “July Dissent,” tempers flared at a mid-summer meeting of the original Detroit Kiwanis Club. Members of the new organization were angry that annual dues had been increased from $5 to $10, and that Browne, as the organization’s owner, was entitled by club bylaws to pocket nearly all of that money. Other accusations were levied against Browne – not all of them true – but it was almost enough to kill Kiwanis on the spot. Kiwanis co-founder Joseph Prance later wrote about that terrible day: “Everyone started talking all at once, all 175 of them. When the smoke cleared, we had about 50 members left. Secretary Ottie Robertson and Allen Browne, disgusted, left for Cleveland to organize a club there.” It was left to President Donald Johnston, and his skills in diplomacy, to save the Detroit Kiwanis Club. Meanwhile, Browne and Robertson made good on their word to begin other Kiwanis Clubs. In just ten weeks, the duo had recruited another 135 new Kiwanians in Ohio. The years 1916 and 1917 were very good to Kiwanis as word spread about the new organization and its new commitment to community service. The first Kiwanis Conventions were held, fittingly, in Cleveland (1916) and Detroit (1917). Kiwanis spread into Canada with the opening of a club in Hamilton, Ontario, and for the first time, Kiwanis became “Kiwanis International.” George F. Hixson of Rochester, New York, was elected to serve as the first International President of Kiwanis during that original Convention in Cleveland. Re-elected a year later, Hixson remains the
only International President of Kiwanis to serve two terms. An International office was set up in Chicago in 1918, the first-ever Kiwanis International Headquarters. In 1920, the original Kiwanis motto “We Build” was coined by Trustee Roe Fulkerson (also the editor of the original Kiwanis Magazine). That simple two-word phrase remained the motto for Kiwanis until the year 2000, when it was changed to “Serving the Children of the World.” The sudden death of U.S. President Warren G. Harding in 1923 brought early publicity to Kiwanis; Harding had been a Kiwanis member briefly, and as a result, Kiwanis dedicated a memorial to him in Vancouver, British Columbia, symbolizing friendship between nations. The Six Permanent Objects of Kiwanis – which remain unchanged to this day despite several attempted revisions – were adopted at the 1924 Kiwanis Convention in Denver. The Kiwanis International Convention in 1935 in San Antonio, Texas was the first to be broadcast live via radio. By the time Japan attacked Pearl Harbor in December of 1941, Kiwanis International membership had grown to over 110,000. International President Charles Donley sent President Franklin Roosevelt a telegram on the day of the attacks, pledging the support of all Kiwanis Clubs and members in both nations. Many Kiwanis Clubs helped to sell war bonds and donate blood in the years to follow. In 1959, as Kiwanis had outgrown its office space for the third time, Harry A. Young, the last living charter member of the Detroit #1 Kiwanis Club, was present for the groundbreaking of the new Kiwanis International building in Chicago, which would last until 1982.
Welcome to Merry-land: Sadly, G.A.G. Kiwanis can’t take credit for inventing the Kiwanis Christmas Tree Lot. These Kiwanis members of Wheaton, Maryland were selling trees as early as 1950 – and they probably weren’t the first to come up with it, either!
This frightening figure is Zozobra (Spanish for “anxiety”), the cornerstone of a community event hosted since 1924 by the Kiwanis Club of Santa Fe, New Mexico. Zozobra (seen here in 1975) is a 50-foot tall marionette built by Kiwanis, then burned in a spectacular blaze to keep gloom away.
1917-1951: The Kiwanis Cal-Nev-Ha District Takes Shape As the “Great War” raged on in May of 1917, two Los Angeles businessmen, W.W. Widenham and Paul Jesburg, made independent trips eastbound for business purposes. Each was introduced to Kiwanis during their travels, and each in turn made contact with Allen S. Browne, who at the time was still in charge of the growth and oversight of Kiwanis. Browne dispatched two representatives to California to begin the process of recruiting members for a new Los Angeles Kiwanis Club. On June 6th, a dozen men including Widenham and Jesburg met at the Clark Hotel and agreed on a slate of officers. By September 5th, about sixty new members participated in the adoption of Bylaws for the new club. (Surprisingly, it would be another two years before the Los Angeles Club received its official charter as the 77th Kiwanis Club and first in California.) Original plans for a new Southwestern District called for California to be grouped together with Nevada, Arizona, and New Mexico. After considering the massive size of this territory, it was decided that California should become its own district, and thus the California District of Kiwanis was born… with only one club to show for it! A second club was formed in Long Beach in September 1919, followed in 1920 by Pasadena, Oakland, San Francisco, San Diego, and Santa Ana. Pasadena hosted the first District Convention in October 1921. Nevada’s first club was added in Reno in 1922, and was assigned the following year to the new California- Monkey Business: In 1955, members of the Hillcrest Kiwanis Club in Division 21 Nevada District. The District laid out its first eleven sponsored three chimpanzees – named Pete, Peanuts, and Banjo – for the San Diego Zoo, in support of the Zoo’s new children’s education program. divisions (then called “Zones”) in 1923. San Diego was assigned to Zone 11. Division 21 split off from Division 11 and was officially founded on January 1st, 1951 – the very same day in which Hawaii joined our district, following the charter of the Honolulu Kiwanis Club in May 1947.
The Stars of San Diego: 1976-77 Kiwanis International President Stanley Schneider of Crestline, Ohio receives a bell from 1975-76 President Ted R. Osborn (Lexington, Kentucky) at the only Kiwanis International Convention ever held in San Diego.
Start Spreading The News: Delegates packed into Madison Square Garden in New York City to celebrate the 50th Anniversary of Kiwanis International, 1965.
Pioneers of Service: The first elected officers of the Detroit Kiwanis Club pose for a photo in 1915. Top row, L-R: Club Directors Carl Von Poetgen, Joseph G. Prance, and George Eyster. Bottow row, L-R: Fred Miller, President Donald A. Johnston, Vice President George Haas, and Secretary Ottie Robertson.
Orange You Glad: Delegates from the Florida District turn in their ballots at the 1987 Kiwanis International Convention in Washington, D.C., where Kiwanis membership was officially opened to women for the first time.
Diplomatic Immunity: Kiwanis ambassador Avanti Kollarum, a former Circle K and Key Club member, poses with a healthy Cambodian infant on a 2011 Eliminate Project tour with UNICEF.
Sign of the Times: G.A.G. Kiwanians raised this sign at the bottom of Waring Road in 1975. (L-R) Joe Terwilliger, Cal Pancheri, Gene Elmore, Floyd Lee, John Peterson, and Ken Bonatus.
Come Sail Away: Safely on shore, SDSU Circle K
5,000 and One: The Kiwanis Club of South Muncie, Next in Line: Michigan’s Sue Petrisin
members Ed Dennis and Dan Germain show concern for some struggling teammates at the Rowboat Regatta in 1976. The raised over $5,000.
Indiana was recognized as the 5,000th Kiwanis Club in will make history again this summer 1962. Second from left is Harold A. Young, the last when she becomes the first female living charter member of the original Kiwanis Club. President of Kiwanis International.
Home Again: Kiwanis returned to its
Memphis Bound from Puget Sound: This group of
roots in Detroit, Michigan for the 1970 International Convention.
travelers from Seattle headed by train to the Kiwanis Convention in Memphis, Tennessee in 1926.
George The First: The first International President (and the only one to serve twice), George F. Hixson, served from 1916-1918.
Above: Circle K’ers have never been afraid to break barriers, as they did in 1975 with the election of Gregory Faulkner, the first African-American to serve as International President in the Kiwanis Family.
Left: Fraternity brothers in Pullman, Washington pose in front of the original “Circle K House” in the 1940s.
The Six Permanent Objects of Kiwanis International The six Objects of Kiwanis International were approved by Kiwanis delegates at the 1924 Convention in Denver, Colorado. Despite many attempts to alter or revise them over the succeeding decades, they have remained unchanged. • To give primacy to the human and spiritual rather than to the material values of life.
• To encourage the daily living of the Golden Rule in all human relationships.
• To promote the adoption and the application of higher social, business, and professional standards.
• To develop, by precept and example, a more intelligent, aggressive, and serviceable citizenship.
• To provide, through Kiwanis clubs, a practical means to form enduring friendships, to render altruistic service, and to build better communities.
• To cooperate in creating and maintaining that sound public opinion and high idealism which make possible the increase of righteousness, justice, patriotism, and goodwill.
Above: At left, Kiwanis International President Roy W. Davis and International Secretary R.P. Merridew met with President Gerald R. Ford in the Oval Office in 1975; President Harry S. Truman (seated) met with several Kiwanis International board members more than once, as Truman was previously a member of the Independence, Missouri Kiwanis Club. Many Kiwanians at the time pledged to support Truman to help prevent the spread of Communism.
Kiwanis at the White House At the 14th Annual Key Club International Convention, held in 1956 in Washington, D.C., legions of young volunteers surrounded an engaging young Senator from Massachusetts, who was to serve as the Convention’s Keynote Speaker. His name was John F. Kennedy. Of the millions of people who have called themselves Kiwanians over the years, some were better known for certain other contributions to society. A few of the notable names who were Kiwanis members at some point: • • • •
Warren G. Harding, 29th President of the United States Franklin D. Roosevelt, 32nd President of the United States Harry S. Truman, 33rd President of the United States Richard M. Nixon, 37th President of the United States
Many other Presidents from both parties have had some sort of relationship with Kiwanis over the years. Truman, Nixon, Gerald Ford, and Ronald Reagan each welcomed Kiwanis International Trustees into the Oval Office for briefings on International programs sponsored by Kiwanis. Franklin D. Roosevelt addressed some 4,000 Kiwanis members, along with their wives and children, on the White House lawn as part of the 1936 Kiwanis Convention. As FDR had been a Kiwanian previously, he expressed a desire to return to the club after his term in office was completed. “I wish I could have attended the various meetings of this convention,” he said. “Someday, when I get The Kiwanis Club of New York City named 86-year-old through with my job here, I hope you will let me come just as a delegate.” Herbert Hoover its Man of the Year for 1960. Hoover Ronald Reagan spoke to Kiwanis International Conventions twice, in Los was President of the United States from 1929-1933. Angeles in 1964, and again during his presidency in 1987, when the Convention Some celebrity members of Key Club returned to Washington, D.C.. Reagan took that opportunity to promote the “Just Say No” campaign against drugs; First Lady Barbara Bush spoke to the same International have included Bill Clinton (42nd President of the United States), U.S. Convention that year. Presidential Candidate and longtime Kansas Senator Bob Dole was a Kiwanis Senators Trent Lott, Bill Nelson, and Life Member and even served as a Lieutenant Governor in the Kansas District. Richard Burr, country music stars Alan He was recognized for his service at the 1976 Circle K International Convention Jackson and Darius Rucker, actors Tom Cruise and Brad Pitt, New York Jets while campaigning as Gerald Ford’s running mate. More recently, in September 2012, President Barack Obama welcomed quarterback Joe Namath, ESPN personality fourteen members of the Kiwanis Family to the White House, where they were Stuart Scott, actress and talk show host recognized as “Champions for Change.” The honorees ranged from 2003–04 Ricki Lake, radio “shock jock” Howard Kiwanis International president Robert L. Moore to some of today’s student Stern, and yes, even the King, Elvis Presley. leaders from Key Club and Builders Club. Some historical information for this issue has been adapted from available resources online at www.kiwanis.org and www.floridakiwanis.org, from G.A.G. Kiwanis club archives, and from “History of California-Nevada-Hawaii District Kiwanis 1917-1980”, by Irvin C. Chapman, District Historian, published by Mission Printing Co. Photographs for this issue are the property of the Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis (IUPUI) Library Special Archives, Kiwanis International Collection; G.A.G. Kiwanis Archives; or Kiwanis International online at www.kiwanis.org. Thanks also to Gene Elmore, John Peterson, and Dan Germain for verification on some items.
In Grantville, The Kiwanis Tale Began 45 Years Later Kiwanis spread like wildfire across North America following its inception in Detroit 100 years ago. Around that time, the sleepy little settlement of Grantville was still in its infancy. Although San Diego Mission de Alcala had stood beside the San Diego River since 1774, Grantville itself was not established until the mid-1880s, when it was named for former President and Union Army General Ulysses S. Grant. In an attempt to lure Civil War veterans to settle in the area, many of the area’s streets were named for key figures in the war. Grantville remained a tiny neighborhood along the San Diego River until the 1940s, when it was finally annexed into the City of San Diego. Growth of the city, facilitated largely by the military’s presence during World War II, forced eastward expansion into Mission Valley and beyond, leading to the birth of Allied Gardens in 1954. Built by the team of Louis Kelton and Walter Bollenbacher, the new development was carved from a 1,000-acre parcel of land originally purchased from the Waring estate (hence “Waring Road”). The team had gone into business under the name “Allied Contractors,” and therefore the new neighborhood was named after their company – Allied Gardens. By 1960, the area including Grantville and Allied Gardens was large enough to warrant schools, churches, a post office, a community center, a freeway, and of course, a Kiwanis Club. Members from the Kiwanis Club of Old San Diego (which has just recently folded, as of October 2014) took it upon William F. Geisinger themselves to recruit new Kiwanis members in the area and build a new Kiwanis Club for the area. On September 17th, 1960, the Grantville Kiwanis Club (as it was called at the time) received its charter from Kiwanis International with 37 original members, and William F. “Bill” Geisinger serving as the club’s first President. Geisinger was the manager at the Allied Gardens First National Bank, although sadly, his association with our club was not a long one. He would be out of the club by 1963. In contrast, also on that original club roster was Robert “Bob” Frankhouser, who today stands proud as the club’s only remaining charter member, having participated in all fifty-four years of the club’s existence. The dedication of the original Grantville post office (then known as “San Diego 20”) would be the club’s first community service project, on January 7th, 1961, complete with a Kiwanis banner, uniformed military personnel, and on stage, the Naval Air Force Pacific Fleet Band to mark the occasion. Don D’Agostino of the Kearny Mesa Kiwanis Club had just completed his term as Division 21 Lieutenant Governor in 1960, and served as emcee for the dedication. Don McClean, the first Treasurer of the Grantville Kiwanis Club, also served as Assistant Superintendent of the post office. The Grantville Kiwanis Club originally met as a lunch club at the Purple Cow restaurant at 6160 Mission Gorge Road, which later became the House of the Beefeaters (1964). By the time 1965 drew to a close, the Kiwanis Club had moved to what is now the Allied Gardens Recreation Center for breakfast on Thursday mornings. The move prompted the club to officially add “Allied Gardens” to its name. Bob Frankhouser was honored in 1965 with the first Kiwanian of the Year Award for the newly re-named Grantville-Allied Gardens Kiwanis Club. Information for this article comes from Grantville-Allied Gardens Kiwanis Club archives, the San Diego Historical Society, and “San Diego County Place Names A to Z,” by Leland Fetzer; published 2005 by Sunbelt Publications.
Kiwanis Members Make Noise, Have a Good Time Worldwide Whatever happened to that first Kiwanis Club established in the winter of 1914-15 by Allen Browne and Joseph Prance? Well, it’s still going strong. A hundred years later, it is known as the Detroit Number 1 Kiwanis Club, and members are proud to say that their club was truly the first Kiwanis Club in the world. The Detroit #1 Club has never lost its charter. As the Deputy Treasurer of Wayne County, Michigan, Eric Sabree is used to having a lot of responsibility. Perhaps that’s why he was up to the challenge of serving as the President of that Detroit Club during this very important year for Kiwanis. Sabree and a committee of leaders from Kiwanis International have worked hard to put together a weekend-long celebration in Detroit to commemorate the 100th Anniversary of Kiwanis. The official celebration, co-hosted by Kiwanis International President John Button, will feature Kiwanis dignitaries from around the world, motivational speaker Drew Dudley, and Detroit-based rock band Fifty Amp Fuse. The party begins on Friday, January 23rd, followed by dinner and a concert the following night, and a Sunday brunch. This event has a capacity of just 400 people, so tickets sold out fast! Of course, it wouldn’t be a Kiwanis event without a service project of some sort. A blood drive is planned to coincide with the weekend celebration – the goal is “100 pints for 100 years” -- along with the grand opening of a new Kiwanis exhibit at the Detroit Historical Museum. A project promoting children’s literacy is also scheduled for Saturday, January 24th. Many other Kiwanis Clubs around the world plan some observance of the centennial. Some are holding parades or dinner parties; others have service events to mark the occasion. The anniversary will be celebrated again at the Asia-Pacific Regional Kiwanis Convention in the Philippines this March, during Kiwanis One Day in April, and in Luxembourg this June for the Kiwanis European Federation Conference. Then in Indianapolis, the home of Kiwanis International Headquarters, the Kiwanis International Convention will be held from June 25-28 in conjunction with the International Conventions for Key Club and Circle K. Party on!
Eric Sabree has the unique distinction of being the Centennial President of the Detroit #1 Kiwanis Club.