The primary
purpose of a Kiwanis Club is that of providing service to its
community. The most successful, regardless of their size, are
those which continually assess community needs. Their members
go beyond simply reaching for the checkbook. They roll up their
sleeves and go to work, volunteering their time and talent for
community betterment.
The Kiwanis
Club of Carthage is proud to be one of the more than 8,000 clubs
in the world today and to be a part of the 300,000 members now
rendering community service in eighty-two nations. Kiwanians give
$70,000,000 and 7,000,000 volunteer hours for community service
each year.
Because of
the dedication of its members through nerarly eighty years, the
club has extended its influence far in excess of what its size
would normally indicate. We like to feel that Carthage, and to
some extent the world, is a better place in which to live because
of those who have served.
January 25,
1923 is the actual date the Kiwanis Club of Carthage was organized.
The club was sponsored by the Kiwanis Club of Macomb and the Kiwanis
Club of Quincy which came by special train to participate in the
chartering of the local club at a gala banquet on March 23, 1923
in Denhart Hall on the Carthage College campus. Kiwanians and
their wives from many other clubs, along with the top ranking
District officers were present. In 1924 this club sponsored the
Kiwanis Club of Hamilton and in 1957 sponsored the Kiwanis Club
of Warsaw.
The Kiwanis
Club of Carthage was at one time considered the outstanding Club
of Kiwanis International. It has many accomplishments of which
we are all very proud. The first major activity was the promotion
of a "hard road" between Dallas City, Carthage and Bowen.
It also assisted with the development of the paving of North Adams
and North Madison and roads between the square and what is now
Highway 136.
The first
street signs in Carthage were made of wood, painted, stenciled
and posted by Kiwanians (guess how Kiwanis Road got it's name?!)
The Kiwanis Club also financed and planted more than 5,000 trees
around the courthouse. It has supported the Carthage Park District's
efforts in building the golf course, swimming pool, tennis courts
and baseball fields. The Kiwanis Club did a lot of the work in
the Carthage Lake Project constructing all the bridges which are
still in use over the ravines as well as other Lake activities.
The club held annual park clean-up days with as many as forty
members working.
World War
II presented special challenges and the club responded with two
war bond drives, clothing drives for the needy in Western Europe
and two very successful scrap metal drives.
A very special
accomplishment of this club was the establishment of the Circle
K Club. A group of Carthage College students contacted the Kiwanis
Club and said they wanted to have an organization but they did
not want it to be a fraternity or a social organization. The club
helped organize the first Circle K Club. This club functioned
so well and cooperated closely with our Kiwanis Club that a couple
of years later, they undertook to organize clubs at Quincy College,
Western Illinois University, Augustana College, Monmouth College
and a few others. More than 1,000 Circle K Clubs exist throughout
the United States, Canada and parts of Europe.
If community
service could be measured strictly in dollars spent the club would
have a truly enviable record. Many times it has provided monetary
support for needy causes locally, nationally, and internationally.
The Kiwanis Club of Carthage was instrumental in developing the
Illinois Hearing Research Project which later developed into the
Mid-America Hearing Research Foundation and today is the American
Hearing Research Foundation. Our club made the first contribution
to this project. Kiwanis International later established a Kiwanis
International Hearing Research Project Laboratory at Mercy Hospital
in Chicago and expanded to Northwestern University in Chicago.
Several Carthage citizens have benefitted by this project. A wing
of the Northwestern facility is name after Don Forsythe.
The Spastic
Foundation began when Don Forsythe was Governor of the II District.
Its operation continues today. This Foundation has made remarkable
advances in the medical world and continues to be supported by
our club. In 1992 the club began an annual tradition of raising
funds for Spastic Foundation via a local radio auction.
In 1936 the
club received an II District Single Service Project Award for
raising over $31,000 to restore the Hancock County Courthouse
clocks and chimes.
In 1988 the
Tennis Court project was completed after raising $30,000.
The club has
given funds to Carthage College and Robert Morris College, as
well as providing scholarships. The club has provided the funds
for medical, dental, optical and surgical services to hundreds
of needy children and adults, giving special attention to the
physically handicapped. The club donated more than $15,000 to
Memorial Hospital and more than $5,000 to the Hancock County Nursing
Home. Much of the Nursing Home project was financed by the Travel
Log series that Kiwanis sponsored for many years.
Throughout
the years the club has sponsored many trips to ball games for
under-privileged children and Mental Health Center patrons. Kiwanis
has sponsored many different youth programs including essay contests,
window painting, Little Leagues, Boy Scouts, Girl Scouts, Easter
Egg hunts, Operation Snow Ball, and many more too numerous to
record. Members cleared and developed the area adjacent to the
Carthage Public Library for an "outdoor library room"
with a bicycle rack. The club funded the purchase of a Toys Library
for the Zero To Three project.
The Kiwanis
Club of Carthage has also funded the Hancock County Health Fairs
and the Retired Senior Volunteers Program. The club has funded
the Holiday Meals America project and annually delivers meals
to area elderly on Christmas Day and on New Years Day.
One of the
largest endeavors this club has ever begun was the building of
a creative playground and park area for children of all ages in
Carthage. The pre-planning took over a year. The cost of this
project was $60,000 and thousands of volunteer hours. Committees
including Kiwanians and community leaders and many community volunteers
worked to raise the funds and build the park. Community children
designed and named the park. On Sunday, June 5, 1994 the "World
Of Wonders" in memory of Emily Frankovich, was presented
by Kiwanis to the City of Carthage.
These are
just a few of the activities to which the hundreds of past and
present members have participated over the years. The future worth
of the Kiwanis Club of Carthage must be determined by its members.
- their awareness of the continuing needs of the community and
their plans to meet challenges as they present themselves. We
must endeavor to emphasize our motto, We Build and continue
to carry out our major emphasis program, Young Children - Priority
One.
