Add an Article Add an Event Edit

Burlington Kiwanis Club


History:

Allen S. Browne, a professional organizer, started organizing a group of Detroit business and professional men into a fraternal club using the name "The Supreme Lodge of the Benevolent Order of Brothers." The growing membership soon tired of belonging to an organization know as 'BOB' for short. With a helping hand from Detroit's official historian an Indian phrase "NunKee-wan-is" was adopted as a name. The name translated as "We Trade." A more thorough check later revealed that a truer meaning was "We have a good time - we make noise!"

During a meeting in the first week of January, 1915, "Kiwanis" was approved as the new name for this club. On January 21, 1915, the Detroit (#1) Club received its corporate charter from the State of Michigan. This date has been the birthday of Kiwanis ever since. With the founding of the Kiwanis Club of Detroit Number One, Kiwanians discovered they were having a good time and could make a noise in the world. They could do it by rendering important community service without thought of personal gain.

The second club was organized in Cleveland, OH, and that city was the site of the first Kiwanis Convention May 18-19, 1916. The first Kiwanis club formed outside the US was in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada, November 1916. Roe Fulkerson, first editor of Kiwanis magazine, proposed two simple words - We Build - as the Kiwanis motto. It was adopted in 1920.

Other landmarks in the development of Kiwanis:

1924 - Adopted the name Kiwanis International and the six Objects at the 1924 Convention, CO USA.

1962 - First Latin America Club was formed, April, 1962, in Tijuana, Baja California, Mexico.

1963 - First European club formed, February, 1963 in Vienna, Austria.

1964 - July, 1964, the first Asia-Pacific club was established in Manila, Philippines.

1976 - First African club established in Kano, Nigeria in May.

1987 - Delegates to the 1987 Kiwanis International Convention voted to admit women into membership Nearly 50,000 women are now Kiwanians.

1990 - January 21, 1990, 75th Anniversary of Kiwanis.

1992 - Kiwanians adopted the first Worldwide Service Project (WSP) to eliminate Iodine Deficiency Disorder (IDD), the leading preventable cause of mental retardation.

Burlington Kiwanis held its Presentation of Charter banquet December 17, 1920, at the Chamber of Commerce Hall with a roster of 59 members. Roast wild turkey and quail on toast were on the menu. The game was furnished by Kiwanians W.W. Brown and H.F. Mitchell. A Kiwanis Quartette titled "Not Professional But Will Be!" provided entertainment. The charter was presented by Lt. Governor W.B. Merrimon and accepted by President M.C. Terrell. Chamber of Commerce President W.E.Sharpe (another Kiwanian) gave the main address. The Burlington Club will celebrate 90 years of service in the year 2010.