[Congressional Record Volume 142, Number 73 (Wednesday, May 22, 1996)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E864-E865]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                     TRIBUTE TO LAKEWOOD KIWANIANS

                                 ______


                          HON. MARTIN R. HOKE

                                of ohio

                    in the house of representatives

                         Tuesday, May 21, 1996

  Mr. HOKE. Mr. Speaker, I want to share with my colleagues inspiring 
and irrefutable evidence of the goodness and compassion and 
humanitarian concern of the American people and the ladders of 
opportunity they have raised for their fellow citizens, particularly 
those who have fallen behind.
  For 75 years, the members of the Kiwanis Club of Lakewood, OH, have 
quietly performed acts of human kindness to serve the needs of young 
and old alike. Chartered May 17, 1921, it was the city's first service 
club.
  Through the dark days of the Great Depression, during times of war 
and peace, amid tumultuous change and the unimagined challenges and 
opportunities of a rapidly evolving society. Lakewood's remarkable 
Kiwanians have been a constant, unwavering source of help and 
inspiration for their fellow citizens.
  They saw the urgent needs of their community and acted instinctively 
to help. They donated food, collected and distributed clothing, formed 
a scholarship program for college and vocational school students, built 
a picnic pavilion and running track, sponsored youth health and safety 
campaigns and hundreds of other programs and activities that have 
helped to

[[Page E865]]

enrich the quality of life for generations of Lakewood families.
  Lakewood Kiwanians have breathed life into the ideals of brotherhood, 
community and citizenship for three-quarters of a century. They have 
personified what is best about America, its people.
  The club's long record of service is chronicled in the following 
article from the Lakewood Sun Post by Dan Chabek, a trustee emeritus of 
the Lakewood Historical Society and a former board member of Lakewood 
Kiwanis. I ask that this be placed in the Record and I urge my 
colleagues to join me in congratulating the members of the club on 
their 75th anniversary, but more than that, for touching the lives of 
our community and its people in such a positive way over the years.

           Lakewood Organization Celebrates 75th Anniversary

                            (By Dan Chabek)

       In what Lakewood organization does one find compassion for 
     the needy and handicapped, aid for the elderly, support of 
     youth, young children priority one, and a determination to 
     make our city the best place in which to live?
       The answer is the Lakewood Kiwanis Club, which is 
     celebrated its 75th birthday this month.
       Across the years the membership, now numbering 183, has 
     immersed itself in hundreds of charitable projects, always 
     striving to provide hands-on volunteer help as well as 
     monetary assistance.
       Chartered May 17, 1921, the club became Lakewood's first 
     service organization. Its goals to improve quality of life 
     have been sparked all along by the Kiwanis motto: ``We 
     build.''
       The Lakewood club is part of Kiwanis International, which 
     comprises more than 300,000 members from nearly 8,800 clubs 
     in more than 75 nations.
       First in the worldwide organization was the Detroit Club, 
     founded by Allen Simpson Browne, a professional organizer, in 
     early 1915. Later that year, the No. 2 club was formed in 
     Cleveland.
       Its president, Harry H. Hoard, got the ball rolling for a 
     Lakewood accession that would become the initial suburban 
     Kiwanis in Greater Cleveland. He invited Dr. Walter F. 
     Keating of Lakewood to round up a core of 84 local 
     businessmen as charter members. Keating was named first 
     president of the Lakewood club.
       Current officers are Timothy Friedmann, president; Susan 
     Brooks Dickinson, first vice president; Ernest M. ``Tex'' 
     Phillips, second vice president; Harold Mathiott, secretary; 
     James Simon, treasurer.
       In its fledgling years, Lakewood Kiwanis made numerous 
     contributions, including $5,900 to aid victims of the 
     horrible 1924 Lorain tornado, and $5,000 to build a camp 
     lodge in Rocky River valley to accommodate the Boy Scouts, 
     YMCA and various other youth groups.
       During the Great Depression of the '30s, the club held 
     charity drives during which members plied the city streets in 
     their own cars to pick up used clothing and food for 
     distribution to jobless families.
       Lakewood Kiwanis has taken particular pride and interest in 
     its Scholarship Foundation. Starting in 1954, it has awarded 
     to date $623,000 in college grants to 170 deserving high 
     school seniors.
       Today, the foundation has a net worth in excess of 
     $300,000, with funding coming from endowments, interest on 
     investments, and contributions mostly by Kiwanians at weekly 
     Tuesday luncheon meetings in Lakewood's Masonic Temple on 
     Detroit Road.
       In 1971, to commemorate its 50th anniversary, the club was 
     the prime funder of the open picnic pavilion at Lakewood 
     Park, underwriting $20,000 of the $30,000 cost.
       In 1985, a check for $100,000 was given to Lakewood High 
     School to build an eight-lane, all-weather running track 
     located at the school's athletic field and open to the 
     community. Three years later, a new $22,000 automotive van 
     was donated to this area's Youth Challenge organization to 
     transport handicapped children.
       In more recent years, there have been many ongoing 
     beneficial programs, such as:
       Free distribution of vegetable and flower seeds to grade 
     school pupils in the spring for backyard gardens, with prizes 
     awarded to winning student growers at the end of the crop 
     season.
       No-charge, one-on-one tutoring by Kiwanians to pupils 
     needing help in math, social studies and reading. Also, 
     similar participation in a ``Grandparents, Read to Me'' class 
     for preschoolers who show signs of probable later learning 
     difficulties.
       Annual vocational undertaking wherein Lakewood students, 
     hopeful of pursuing designated careers, can elect to 
     ``shadow'' for a day Kiwanians who are successful in the 
     particular field the student desires to enter.
       Regular monthly ``pass-the-can'' donations up to $100 or 
     more at Kiwanis luncheons for the Lakewood Christian Service 
     Center's Hunger Project.
       To obtain funds for conducting most of its good-deed works, 
     Lakewood Kiwanis relies to a large extent on two fund-raising 
     programs. It makes and distributes doughnuts, as many as 
     4,000 dozens a year, and it sells tickets and prints 
     playbills for an annual musical variety show performed by a 
     local amateur cast known as The Group.
       Kiwanians also roll up their sleeves for numerous other 
     money-making projects, including hot dog sales at community 
     festivals, spaghetti dinners, and reverse raffles.
       Assists in fund-raising endeavors are forthcoming from 
     student affiliates of Lakewood Kiwanis--the Key Club at 
     Lakewood High School and Builders Club chartered at Harding, 
     Horace Mann and Emerson Middle Schools, and Lakewood Lutheran 
     School.
       A former auxiliary, one made up of the wives of members and 
     known as the Lakewood Kiwani-Anns, was founded in 1961. It 
     remained active for many years until the advent, within the 
     past decade, of women members in the club's main roster.
       This month, as a special gesture to mark its anniversary, 
     Lakewood Kiwanis provided an illuminated sign to be placed in 
     front of the Board of Education Building on Warren Road.
       Also on the club's agenda is an anniversary banquet for 
     members, families and friends. It is set for Friday evening, 
     May 17, at Wagner's Country Inn in Westlake.
       Finally, in case you've wondered, the name ``Kiwanis'' is 
     from an old American Indian expression. One broad 
     interpretation was that it meant. ``We have a good time--we 
     make noise.'' However, other definitions, now more generally 
     accepted, are ``We trade'' or ``We share our talents.''

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