Club
History
On Dec. 7, 1950, the Wahpeton Kiwanis Club
received its charter at a meeting held in the cafeteria of the United
State Indian School. Sponsoring the club was the downtown Fargo club,
which was represented at the charter event by a huge delegation.
Highlighting the occasion that was broadcast over the local radio
station was the presence of International President Don Murdorf of
Winnipeg.
Local attorney Vernon D. Forbes was elected first
president of the club. Other officers were: Ben H. Bernard, vice
president and Odin J. Wold, secretary-treasurer. Members of the first
board were: B. C. Thompson, Walt Schmidt, Russell Munson, Andy
Hausauer, W. Cyrus Anderson, Earl Robinson and Dr. H. H. Miller.
Very early in its history, the club became very active in
community affairs. Numerous ribbons attached to the club banner attest
to service awards given to the club in competition with the
other140clubs in the Minnesota-Dakotas District. One of the club’s
traditional events was the promotion of Kids Day in August and for
several years, it featured colorful parades of youngsters marching up
Dakota Avenue and selection of a Kids Day queen.
Several club members used their leadership skills in the
Minnesota-Dakotas District. Ben H. Bernard, the second president of the
club, went on to become Lt. Governor of Division 8 in 1953 and became
governor in 1960. Vernon E. Hektner served as Lt. Governor in 1962 and
as District Governor in 1971-72. Joe Hesch, now member of the Duluth
club, served as Lt. Governor and then as governor in 1987-88. Several
other local Kiwanians have served as Lt. Governor.
More recently to better encompass the whole community the
official name of the club was changed to the Wahpeton-Breckenridge
Kiwanis Club.
The club has sponsored Kiwanis youth organizations in the
community over the years. It chartered a Circle K Club for students at
the North Dakota State College of Science on April 20, 1961 and one of
its members; Kyle Anderson became Circle K District Governor in
1971-72, the same year that Hektner was governor. On the high school
level, the club sponsored a Key Club at Wahpeton High School on April
26, 1958 and Wahpeton hosted the District Key Club convention in 1960.
Both the Circle K and Key Club have lapsed as interest died down.
In 1981, the Club decided to see if it could build another
Kiwanis Club in Wahpeton. A committee composed of Vernon Hektner,
Harris Bailey and Lyle Schlotfeldt was successful in getting enough
signatures to charter a Golden K Club composed of retired people.
Although not large in membership, this Club has been unusually
successful in promoting Kiwanis objectives in the community.
Although the Club has always met on Wednesdays, meeting
places have changed through the years. Hotel Wahpeton, the Legion Hall,
Elks Club, United Methodist Church, NDSCS Student Union and now for
several years at Prante’s on North 11th Street.
The Club placed emphasis on interclubbing (where four
members visit another club) and perfect attendance. Each year awards
were given out to at least half dozen members for perfect attendance
and the club received district interclub awards regularly. Several
members recorded perfect attendance from five to 20 years and one
member had a record of 46 years of perfect attendance.
When this Club was chartered, only men were allowed to
join. It was not until 1987 that the International Kiwanis Convention
voted to allow women to join. Since that time, our club as with other
club has realized what asset women have become.
When Kiwanis International was organized in 1916, it was
“international” because it included two nations, the U.S. and Canada.
In 1965, he organization became truly international as clubs were
chartered in Europe Central and South America.
One of the big events of the local club in the past was
the sponsorship of Farm-City Night when each member would invite a
farmer and his wife as guests to an evening banquet with good
entertainment. More recently the club’s Prayer Breakfast held on
Saturdays met with great success with proceeds going to local needy
organizations. For a few years when International Kiwanis campaigned to
cure the world of goiter by adding iodine to the world’s salt supply,
local members entered this effort with gusto. Club members liberally
gave several thousand of dollars toward the cause and six members
became George Hixon Fellows by contributing $1,000 each.
For the over 30 years, the club’s major fundraiser has
been a pancake day feed which draws over a thousand local and area
residents each spring. These proceeds have enabled the club to support
a number of local projects, including a water slide at Chahinkapa pool
and numerous other projects each year. One of its premiere service
projects, Terrific Kids is held monthly to honor 5th
graders at local schools for their classroom contribution as recorded
by their teachers. The club also has donated to the Minnesota-Dakota
District Scholarship Foundation for years and several local members
have contributed $500 each for the Joseph Messer District Foundation.
It becomes obvious that the Wahpeton-Breckenridge Club has
not forgotten its mission to do everything it can do to support
community efforts to held children and young people.
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