A Glimpse of the Past
by Jack White, Abingdon VA, Special Projects Director, Capital District

I am enthralled by glimpses of life in earlier days that come my way from time to time. One such from a Kiwanis Club in the Pacific Northwest was received last month.

A friend in Oregon sent me a copy of an April 7, 1924 newsletter of his Astor Kiwanis Club (click to view). It seems an older member had this copy and left a note that, upon his death, the newsletter should given to the club. His son did that.

Remember, when this newsletter from Oregon was published, Kiwanis was just nine years old. Astor, thus, was one of the very early clubs. What differences does this newsletter reveal between Kiwanis then and now? Let me mention a few:

1. Enthusiasm and colorful writing: This newsletter simply reeks with enthusiasm, for Kiwanis and its work. How much of this do we see today? And I love the creative writing. Read the feature Little Biographies at the top of the first page. How would such a bio be written today for your newsletter. (By the way, printing member profiles is a great newsletter idea and, today a photo should accompany the text.)

2. Attendance! In recent years, due to our loss of numbers, attention has been focused more on the size of our club's roster. This club, and from comments in the newsletter, Kiwanis generally, seemed more interested than we are in getting members out to meetings. Notice this club was divided into three "committees" that competed to see which would have the most members present. With a competition then underway, the Astor club was averaging 95% attendance. Do you know ANY Kiwanis Club today that can make that statement - ever? And how about this little poem that they printed?

Every time you miss a meeting, you must know,
You're the loser, for 'twill pay you will to go;
You miss the splendid fare,
And the cheer that greets you there.
And you're surely to be pitied, you're so slow.

3. Secretaries were newsletter editors. That may still be true in some clubs, but most newsletters today have a separate editor. And they should be Internet savvy so what they write and publish can be posted on the club's website. Be sure to read the laments of four secretaries in this newsletter. Some things, it seems, do not change, like lack of appreciation for the work spent in preparing club newsletters. Take a minute at your next meeting to thank your club's editor for all the hard work that she or he does.

4. The need to promote Kiwanis. It was true in 1924 and it is just as true today. I won't spoil the little story from this newsletter about the goose and the hen by repeating it. But read it and think about your club - which type of fowl you are?

5. A Waiting List to join Kiwanis? Astor had such because the newsletter tells about a member moving away and his place being immediately filled from the Waiting List. I learned on the side that Astor then had capped its membership at 100. We cannot hope to have this luxury again. I have read stories about the earliest Kiwanis clubs, most in the Upper Midwest near our Detroit birthplace. For me, a few things stood out. First, these by and large were luncheon clubs that met in downtown hotels and attracted the city's business elite. Second, civic clubs then were fairly new and people literally flocked to join. In fact, organizers of some of those clubs reported signing up 100 or 120 new members in a few weeks. Today, the novelty is gone and more competition exists for people's time. But our clubs CAN grow and thrive, if we make this a priority - and act more like the hen than the goose. OK, you gotta read that story now.

Do you have an old newsletter that would give us a glimpse of club life in the earlier days of the Capital District? If so, send a copy to Dave Maloney, the editor of eBuilder at dave@maloney.com, so he can share your newsletter in a later issue.