On March 4, 2023, the Kiwanis Club of Tillamook will be celebrating one hundred years of service in Tillamook County. The Tillamook club was chartered on December 15,1922. The original copy of that charter is mounted on the podium that is used at club meetings.
On a Saturday evening, March 9, 1923, a crowd of 200 people from Tillamook, Astoria and Portland came together and the Kiwanis Club of Tillamook with President Fred Beltz, VP C.J. Edwards, 2nd VP B.C. Lamb, and Trustee H. Rosenberg received the international charter. Since the inception there have been 100 club presidents including Gus Elbow in 1952, Lyle Specht in 1954, Tom Waud in 1982, and Jerry Underwood in 1999.
The name “Kiwanis” was coined from an American Indian expression, “Nunc Kee-wanis,” which means, “We trade.” In 1920, the motto of Kiwanis became “We Build.” It remained the motto until 2005, when members voted to change it to “Serving the Children of the World.” The Kiwanis Club of Tillamook’s mission is to “Serve the Children of Tillamook County.”
The Kiwanis Club of Tillamook got off to a quick start by endorsing the work of the Businessmen’s Committee for the Astoria Relief Fund. Astoria
suffered a catastrophic fire in December 1922 that destroyed 27 blocks of the city. As you might expect, the coastal communities came together to
help a sister city recover.
By 1925 the Kiwanis Club of Tillamook established a scholastic trophy to acknowledge outstanding students in Tillamook County. Many family names are still recognizable today in our community. Fifty-eight names are engraved on the trophy including Flora Schild, class of 1925; Mildred Berkey (Davy), class of 1928; Ralph Tohl, class of 1930; Orris Doty, class of 1945; and Doreen Gienger, class of 1952. The tradition of honoring scholars carries on to this day as The Kiwanis Club of Tillamook has awarded nearly $600,000 in college scholarship to 500 Tillamook County graduating seniors over the past 100 years.
From the beginning, Kiwanis International as well as the Kiwanis Club of Tillamook has invested in the welfare of children. In 1955 the Kiwanis Club
of Tillamook organized a service club at Tillamook High School. This Key Club (Kiwanis Empowering Youth) was organized with long-time Tillamook
resident Bob Creech as the first president. Key Club continues to be strong club at Tillamook High School with current mentorship provided by Eric
Sappington and Courtney King and is dedicated to leadership, inclusion, and community service.
In 1987 the organization opened club membership to both men and women. Now all are welcome to participate in the Kiwanis movement of improving communities for children. Kiwanis Clubs celebrate and foster inclusiveness. In 1987 the first female, Mildred Davy was installed as a member of the Tillamook Kiwanis Club. In 1993 the Club elected Judy Gollon as its first female president. Since then, many women have led the Club including Jean Butterfield, Christine Kell, Leslie Burckhard, Eileen Aufdermauer, Barbara Trout, Mis Carlson-Swanson, Erin Skaar, Taylor Kittell and currently Melody Ayers.
The signature fundraising project of the Club originated in the 1960’s. As the cost of college continued to increase, the need for students to be
supported by college scholarships grew. Local Kiwanians stepped up to help. The scholarship program is currently named KT Days (Kiwanis Tillamook Days) and at one time included three Kiwanis Clubs in the county.
It’s a fun fact that KT Days originally started as a spoof on local businesses. Kiwanis members solicited local businesses and sold them advertising to be read on radio station KTIL on April Fools Day. The ads were humorous, and fun-filled. This continued for many years and is still remembered by many. KTIL is supportive and gracious to allow the Tillamook Kiwanis to continue to sell radio ads in support of our KT Days Scholarship Drive. The
Headlight Herald has been very generous in providing space at the Home and Garden show every year for the Club to hold a fundraiser in support of
KT Days. KT Days annually raises $20,000 for college scholarships and in May the Club presents six to ten second year college scholarships to graduating seniors at the three Tillamook County High Schools. In addition, the Club awards the Lyle Specht Memorial Scholarship to a second-year student at Tillamook Bay Community College.
Thanks to community and member support for fund-raising projects throughout the year, the Kiwanis Club of Tillamook generously makes gifts and grants to non-profit agencies in Tillamook County that work with children. In 2013 the award process was formalized into the annual Community Giving Program. This annual small grant program has provided over $100,000 the last 9 years to local nonprofits serving children in Tillamook County.
In 2018 the Kiwanis Club of Tillamook Foundation was founded and registered as a 501c-3 nonprofit organization that can accept charitable gifts. The vision for the Foundation is to become a powerful community tool to promote the health and well-being of Tillamook County children.
In 2022, to commemorate a Century of Service, with thanks to additional funding from the Loren Parks Foundation to the Tillamook Kiwanis Foundation, a round of special grants totaling $ 16,000 were awarded to local organizations to accomplish project-based work benefiting Tillamook County children.
Service projects benefiting the community are a driving force for this club. These include collecting diapers and wipes for the Healthy Families
program of CARE, Inc; promoting a peanut butter drive to give to the Grub Club summer youth lunch program; and putting together Christmas food and gift packages for families in need. The Club also marshals the June Dairy Festival Parade and holds a work party to clean up the Goodspeed Park gardens. Each February the delicious highlight of the year is when the Club hosts a cake auction as part of the THS Charity Drive, with members and friends raising $8700 in 2023.
The Club would like to recognize some of long-term members who have passed away recently for their years of service to the community through
Kiwanis: Dr. Roy Petersen—66 years, Lyle Specht—60 years, Tom Waud—49 years. Still active in our Club is Bob Weeks with 42 years of service and still going.
Many members of the Kiwanis Club of Tillamook have served not only in Tillamook County but in leadership at the State level with Kiwanis as Lt.
Governors. These include: William Dahlier 1982; Ronald Gienger 1987; Steve Springer 1996; Willard Berry 1997; Christine Kell 2003; Don Rust 2006; and Gretchen Power 2012.
The public is invited to come celebrate “A Century of Service” with the Kiwanis Club of Tillamook on March 4, 2023, from 3 to 6 PM at the
Tillamook County Fairgrounds. Kiwanis will honor local nonprofits with whom they have partnered to serve children, as well as welcome community leaders and Kiwanians from around the Pacific Northwest. Betsy Johnson,former state senator and candidate for governor, is the keynote speaker.
There is no charge to attend the event, thanks to generous donations and to our Gold Sponsor, Tillamook PUD and Silver Sponsor, Tillamook County
Creamery Association.
The Kiwanis Club of Tillamook is passionate about “Serving the Children of Tillamook County.” If caring for our community’s children interests you,
please come and see what the Kiwanis Club is all about. The club meets on Wednesday at noon at Tillamook Bay Community College usually in rooms 214/215. Follow the club on Facebook at KiwanisClubofTillamook or contact at tillamookkiwanis@gmail.com.