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The Kiwanis Club of North Vancouver was chartered on March
16, 1921, sponsored by the Kiwanis
Club of Vancouver.
Video
of the History and Accomplishments of the Club over 85 Years
(5 min). Excellent, professionally produced video.
KIWANIS INTERNATIONAL
Name: Kiwanis- Indian phrase 'NunKee-wan-is' meaning 'we
trade' or 'We have good time-we make noise'
Beginning: Aug.1914 Detroit, Allen S Brown (professional
organizer) and Joseph C Prance (tailor) wanted a fraternal
group of young professional business men. Started as 'Benevolent
Order Brothers' (BOB) but in Jan. 1915 changed to 'Kiwanis'
in the six months had attracted 200 members. Charter received
21 Jan. 1915, this is considered the 'Birthday' of Kiwanis.
Some early fighting over whether it should be a business support
or a community activity based group decided by 1919 and in
1920 the motto 'We Build' was adopted. Problems in Detroit
let to club being formed in Cleveland in 1915. Kiwanis was
'an organization for men' by its constitution of 1924 and
women added 1987.
Canada: The first club was formed in Hamilton in 1916 and
membership limited to the USA and Canada until 1962.Vancouver
Club formed in 21 Jan.1919 and they formed the North Vancouver
Club 16 March 1921.Worldwide expansion approved in 1962.
Kiwanis Today: Headquarters in Indianapolis (Indiana), Total
number of cubs 8,247, membership 279,395 Jun 2004, Kiwanis
family (Circle K-colleges, Key Clubs-high schools, Builder
Clubs-junior high schools, 598,560, Nations 92.
KIWANIS CLUB OF NORTH VANCOUVER
Early Years (1921-1958): Club chartered on 16 Mar.1921 sponsored
by Harry Nobbs (1920) of Vancouver Club, early meetings held
in the KP Hall (Knights of Pythia) and later at Palace (Olympic)
Hotel.
1921 St. Patricks' Beach change rooms (photo of Molly/Joyce
Nye) moved to Heywood Park, also active in Big Brothers (3
members)
1920's Gave ambulance to the City of North Vancouver, Ran
a dental clinic for children in City (organized by Dr. Gordon
Saunders-Pres.1947), supplied eyeglasses for seniors, braces
for polio victims, and a wading pool at Mahon Park.
1942 Sponsored the Air Cadet Squadron #103 (during war years
was at North Van High) see photo of Derek Inman.
1948 Bought 20 wartime houses for $4,000 club plus $2,000
city & district, later got another 20 to make a total
of 40 (on Churchill/Roosevelt/McNaughton near McKay Creek)
this effort coordinated by Sam Sowdon-Pres.1929 and was partially
financed personally by some Club members.
1958 North Van Club sponsored the formation of the Highlands
Club which later had membership problems and merged with the
North Van Club.
Later Years: (1951-date) This period starts with the incorporation
of the 'Kiwanis Senior Citizen Homes Ltd.' on 25 May1951 and
is dealt with under this and related projects and other more
general Club activities.
Kiwanis Senior Citizens Homes Ltd. Incorporated 25
May 1951 to manage the 40 houses of Kiwanis Villages, these
wartime houses were assemble, by relocating some, into a two
block area over several months They were repaired, painted,
and gardens made before renting to low income seniors.
In 1955 the Province brought in the 'Elderly Citizens Housing
Act' which provided a method of building seniors housing based
on funding of 10% sponsor, 331/3% government grant and the
balance by a mortgage. Over a few years the demand for more
housing, especially by singles, grew rapidly and it let to
the next project.
1959-1966 'Kiwanis Apartments' at 371/351/331east First St.
were built in three stages of 28, 30, and 30 apartment buildings
all bachelors suites and with a recreation hall between the
last two buildings. The units were sold when the care units
were converted at KLM.
1970 'Kiwanis Towers' on west Second St. was built to include
half of the 98 units to be bedroom units to allow moving the
couples from the Village and the sale of that property, the
Towers has considerable recreation space, a library, and a
hair salon. The Towers was extensively renovated in 2001.
1975 'Kiwanis Lynn Manor' (KLM) was originally built to have
144 housing units (48 one bedroom & 96 bachelor) plus
120 care units (24 two bed & 96 one bed) for a personal
level of care. Before opening the level was changed to multilevel
and in the following years included special level which was
not suitable for a highrise facility.
Following a joint effort with the Legion and Rotary in forming
the Northshore Intermediate Society in building Cedarview
to relieve the problem was unsuccessful and the Provincial
Gov't. took over the Society, the Kiwanis Senior Citizen Ltd.
formed the Kiwanis Care Homes Society and built the Kiwanis
Care Centre.
The Kiwanis Care Centre was built specifically to move the
care people out of KLM and a similar facility in West Van.,
it is a 194 bed multilevel care facility on Mount Seymour
Parkway. It was known that the Provincial Gov't was going
to takeover the facility once it was in operation but at least
our KLM people were looked after The Kiwanis paid over $100,000
for a recreation room and registered a 60 year lease on the
room (it is now used for meetings of the Kiwanis Evergreen
Club).
After the care people were moved out of KLM the 120 care units
were converted to 60 one bedroom units and offered to the
people living the Apartments, which were then sold.
In 1998 Carnaby Place on St. Georges Ave. was purchased. This
is a 27 unit apartment with one and two bedroom units but
no recreation facilities. It was primarily purchased for its
land and location for future development.
Currently, at least for the last couple of years, the housing
company has been investigating the addition of another tower
at KLM as Congregate housing (housekeeping and meals) of 104
units. This would require rebuilding the recreation room and
adding underground parking. The major problem appears to be
lack of government funding available and the rising costs
of construction.
North Vancouver Kiwanis Foundation: With the construction
of the Towers the Village was no longer needed for housing,
plus a proposed new tunnel to Vancouver needed some of the
land for approach roads, this led to trading 13 units (lots)
for the 10% equity ($260,000) needed for KLM. Since no new
housing projects were planned after KLM the housing company
proposed selling the remaining 27 units ($560,000) and forming
the North Vancouver Kiwanis Foundation with an initial stock
portfolio of $500,000. The housing company would have first
call on the money but otherwise it could be used for charitable
purposes on the Northshore. A joint board of directors would
handle the funds to begin with but gradually this requirement
was dropped. The Foundation has given away approx.$1,000,000
since being started and currently has approx. $1,000,000 in
funds.
Kiwanis Club Activities: Some of the community activities
the club has been involved in over the past 50 years.
1958 Sponsored the Highlands Kiwanis Club and had several
joint projects including the Rodger Davis Girls Softball League
which was one of the first men's club to be involved with
girls sports (550 girls at one time). This club merged with
our club in1980.
1988-1992 Arts & Crafts Fairs originated by Pres. Malcolm
MacDonald & wife Ann it was one of the first arts&craft
shows in the area and was both a popular developer of new
talent and a fund raiser for the club. Later, as other groups
sponsored similar fairs and the club interest decreased the
project was dropped.
!970-1980 Curling in Seattle for many years the Ballard Club
organized a very popular bonspiel for the Northwest District
of Kiwanis and our club sent one or two rinks.
1986 The club supplied tour guides for Expo '86.
1988-1992 Club sponsored a Day in Scotland at Waterfront Park
with music and sports competitions. This was both a community
cultural event and a club fund raiser but it required considerable
manpower and monitory and weather risks and was finally dropped.
1980-2000's Edgemont Days, originally a pancake breakfast
it has been a hamburger/hotdog luncheon event more recently.
It is both a fund raiser and a chance to make the community
aware of the club's presence.
1990-2000's Lynn Valley Plant Sale, this event held for three
days around Mother's Day was also both a fund raiser a club
profile event. It is no longer held because of restrictions
made by the mall.
The club participated in the Kiwanis worldwide program to
raise $75,000,000 for the prevention of IDD (iodine deficiency
disorders) by iodizing salt in underdeveloped countries.
1996 The club celebrated its 75th anniversary and as a special
project returned the PGE train station to the foot of Lonsdale
Ave. the Quay area. It also built a drinking fountain in Victoria
Park and constructed a Scout Canada Camp in the lower Lynn
Creek area.
Bingo Nights, The club has undertaken manning both of these
events for several years and they have become the primary
fund raisers for our community funds.
The club has supplied student bursaries to all the local high
schools for many years, along with special events like a "learn
to water ski" day for kids.
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