1921 1922 1923 1924 1925 1926 1927 1928 1929 1930 1931 1932 1933 1934 1935 1936 1937 1938 1939 1940 1941 1942 1943 1944 1945 1946 1947 1948 1949 1950 1111 1951 1952 1953 1954 1955 1956 1957 1958 1959 1960 1961 1962 1963

Felix E. Farrell Felix E. Farrell Cole Y. Rowe Frank Garm Norbury Carl E. Robinson Bert Andre John W. Larson Fred Hopper Lloyd S. Reid Hugh Green James M. Barnes Henry Lothian Fletcher Hopper J. Chester Colton Chalmers Giffin Glenn J. Schillerstram Alpha B. Applebee George Lukeman Lawrence Oxley Carl Gebhardt Thomas C. Jenkinson Sam N. Foley Oscar F. Galloway Claude G. Gustine John T. Taylor Hugh Gibson Harvey H. Green Wilbur B. Rogers Charles N. Wright Harold Gibson & Walter Hamilton William L. Fay A. Wadsworth Applebee John B. Wright Lloyd Graunke Karl Baker Harlan Lee Williamson Donald Caldwell J. Merle Wade Harris Rowe Bill Buchanan Frank Norbury Joe Grojean Robert F. Sibert

1964 1965 1966 1967 1111 1968 1969 1969-70 1970-71 1971-72 1972-73 1973-74 1974-75 1975-76 1976-77 . 1977-78 1978-79 1979-80 1980-81 1981-82 1982-83 1983-84 1984-85 1985-86 1986-87 1987-88 1988-89 1989-90 1990-91 1991-92 1992-93 1993-94 1994-95 1995-96 1996-97 1997-98 1998-99 1999-00 2000-01 2001-02 2002-03 2003-04 2004-05 2005-06

Robert Bills John Gillespie Hobart Hinderliter Frank Nestler & Oliver Buck George Hardesty Ralph Troyer Alfred Henderson William C. Deem Dale Brown Robert Leach Michael Biloz Richard Cody John W. Hinde LeRoy Jackson, Jr. Walter Matthews Leonard Daniel Steve Turner Cecil Herche Robert Chipman Robert Crowe Harold Woodworth Lloyd Gordon Tom Grojean Howard Sherrill Jerry Symons Jim Agner John Kelker Matthew Smith Kurt Heller Marty Hinton James Oas Richard Freudenberg Kai Schnitker Terry Maggart John Keenan Keith Bradbury John Heinzman Mike Oldenettel Lori Large Phil Bartz Shane Pierson Roger Deem Jim Oliver

 Our Club has been faithful in sending delegates both to the District and International conventions through the years.

The International conventions have been held in many of the great cities of the world. The 2001 event is being staged in far off Taipei, Taiwan.

At these conventions the delegates have the opportunity to learn much about the workings of Kiwanis International where the policies and programs of Kiwanis are defined and refined by the democratic process. All who attend one of the International Conventions return home impressed with the enormous size of the Kiwanis organization. They take back with them memories of new-found friends and a new enthusiasm for Kiwanis that will smooth the operation of the home Club.

The District Conventions, being closer to home, permit more of our members to attend. There the more specific problems and opportunities within our own Illinois-Eastern Iowa District can be reviewed. These meetings afford an opportunity for our attending members to get to know each other very well. This then promotes comradeship and cooperation back at home.

On several occasions we have had the pleasure of hosting our District Governor's official visit to our Division.

We have been active in the formation of new Kiwanis Clubs. We sponsored Winchester in 1925 and Litchfield in 1941.

Along with Winchester we co-sponsored the Club in Barry in 1961, and in 1971 we joined with the Springfield Downtown Club to sponsor a Club in Beardstown.

We sponsored the Meredosia Club in 1972, and in 1977 we co-sponsored with Quincy the Pittsfield Club.

In 1978 we were the sponsors for the Jacksonville Golden K.

We sponsored the Pike County Club in 1988.

In 1990 we sponsored the Club in Virginia.

In 1991 we reactivated the MacMurray Circle K Club. We are proud that two from that Club, Joan Womack and Nancy Lawrence, became Circle K District Governors .

In 1963, Kiwanians Hugh Gibson and Bob Sibert, along with 145 other Kiwanians from across the nation and beyond, traveled abroad in a Kiwanis European mission to visit new Clubs and charter others.

From the beginning our Club has devoted itself to carrying out the Kiwanis Motto, "We Build". We are proud to join with all the Clubs in the Illinois-Eastern Iowa District in continuing support of the Spastic Paralysis Research Foundation.

We have been consistent supporters of the Girl Scouts and Boy Scouts.

We gave significant financial support toward the Wildwood Camp for the Girl Scouts. And in years past we built a cabin for them at Camp Shagbark on Lake Jacksonville.

In the early 1970's we assisted in the capital funds drive for the Boy Scout camp at Hettick, Illinois. The 640-acre camp ranges from a peaceful lake, to wide open meadowland, to the seclusion of a shady walk within the forest.

Through the years we have sponsored delegates both to Boys State and Girls State.

We provided computer software for the special education classes at Turner Junior High School.

We contributed to the improvement of playground equipment at the Graham School in Lafayette Center.

We assisted in preparing the ground and constructing playground equipment at Our Redeemer Day Care Center.

For a number of years we have supported Camp Courage and the Special Olympics for handicapped children.

We have given support to the Youth Attention Center .

We originated our Career Youth Day project in which fifth grade students were each paired with a Kiwanian at his or her workplace, followed by attendance at one of our meetings.

We have sponsored the Builders Club at Turner Junior High School.

We have helped in sponsoring performances of the Youth Concert conducted by the Jacksonville Symphony Society. Many Kiwanians also serve as ushers and helpers at the concerts themselves.

We have sponsored high school students in attending the Hugh O'Brian Youth Foundation activities.

We present 4-H Showmanship Awards each year and our Club traditionally holds a meeting at the Morgan County Fair. In recognition of the generous support given us for our Pancake & Sausage Day by the Morgan County Pork Producers, our Club provides significant financial support for the local 4-H Clubs.

We have sponsored youth league teams in T-ball, softball and basketball and we have given financial support to the local soccer program.

In addition to sponsoring teams in the Pony Colt League, our members undertook major renovations to their playing field.

We provided funds for the building of a Fire Safety House.

Project DARE, a program for Drug Awareness and Resistance Education, has been given our strong endorsement and financial support.

We have given continuing support to the YMCA through the years. In 1965 we took on a project of planting trees on the grounds.

In 1969 we built Kiwanis Field and later added lighting to make the field available for night games. In 1990 we began replacing all the poles and lights with more efficient units.

Annually we award two college scholarships, where each college selects the student to receive the scholarship. One award goes to a student at Illinois College and one goes to a student at MacMurray College.

We annually recognize the top 10% of students from each of the five local high schools and each one is given an Academic Excellence Award and honored with their parents at a special luncheon.

For several years we joined with the American Diabetes Association in sponsoring the local Bike-a-Thon to support research.

We equipped the Senior Citizens buses in Jacksonville with high quality FM two-way radios to ensure good communication with each vehicle. In this way the buses provide better coverage and improved transportation for our senior citizens.

We recently completed the purchase of a new van, at a cost of $10,000 for the Prairie Council on Aging in its senior citizen program.

We provided financial support for a wide variety of projects at the Barton Stone Christian Home.

Each year a great many of our members give leadership in the United Way campaign. In recent years we have provided equipment and computer software for facilitating the efficient operation of the campaign.

We regularly take our turn ringing the bells and collecting funds for the Salvation Army Tree of Lights. The money raised during this project is used by the Salvation Army to buy Christmas toys and baskets.

We helped the local Red Cross office in purchasing computer equipment. In 1993 because of the flooding of the Mississippi and Illinois Rivers, the Red Cross put out a call for assistance with the sandbagging efforts. A number of our Kiwanians were involved in filling sandbags locally while others were actually involved in riverfront sandbagging. In addition we provided financial support for the emergency.

We have contributed to the Life Flight program. On several occasions our Kiwanian Roger CanneIl has supplied his plane for medical emergencies, and we have provided the fuel.

The Jacksonville street signs were first installed in the early 1950's and in recent years many needed replacement. Our late Kiwanian Clyde York headed this project and undertook to replace many of them himself with the help of his wife, Ivadell.

We purchased ten Braille typewriters for the Illinois School for the Visually Impaired and we also provided the school with talking encyclopedias.

When the Passavant Hospital was originally being constructed our Club gave major financial support to it. In 1996 and 1999, Kiwanians took part in the Passavant Follies, written and directed by Ken Bradbury, to help raise funds. Passavant Area Hospital continues to grow and to be a substantial asset to our area. Recently we assisted in providing Lifeline equipment for the hospital.

We help to sponsor the Bowl-A-Thon for the Big Brothers/Big Sisters organization.

During our Bicentennial Year in 1976 we donated $1,776 for the local production of the musical "1776". In this way, all in our community who wished could attend at no charge.

The Turner High Rise Apartments were named for Brad Turner who was both Secretary and Treasurer of our Club for many years. In his honor Kiwanis erected a flagpole on the grounds.

We provided specialized recording equipment to the Illinois School for the Deaf for the evaluation of hearing impaired children.

At the Neil Armstrong Junior High School, now Jacksonville High School, we provided books, pictures, models, memorabilia, and a life-size bust of Neil Armstrong to commemorate his historic landing on the moon.

Perhaps one of our most lasting contributions to the community has been our consistent support in the development of our park system.

In 1966 we planted trees in a Kiwanis Grove on the shores of Lake Mauvaisterre. A year later vandals cut down a number of the trees in one night, but our Kiwanians replaced them. Today, after more than 30 years of growth, they have developed into a magnificent grove of trees.

We built in Veterans Park a combination tennis court and ice skating rink. In warm weather the courts could be used for playing tennis, and in the winter they could be flooded and used for ice skating. The park has since been modified so there are now two full size courts, but it can no longer be used for ice skating.

In 1973 we presented to the City of Jacksonville Kiwanis Park in the northeast part of town.

The most ambitious project ever undertaken by our Club was our involvement in the acquisition and development of the Jacksonville Community Park. Due to changing needs, the Jacksonville Developmental Center found it no longer needed as much land as was required in the past. The Center was willing to lease to the City of Jacksonville over 60 acres of land right in the heart of the community.

This area contained over 300 mature trees of nearly every kind which will grow in this part of the country. This was a rare opportunity for our community, but for several years negotiations went nowhere. Then our Kiwanis Club pledged $25,000 toward playground and other facilities, plus 3,000 man-hours of work.

This was the spark that got the project under way. We were joined in this effort by a number of other civic and service organizations, and together we persuaded the City Council to enter into firm negotiations with the Developmental Center. A long-term lease ensued, and in a short time our City was able to purchase the land outright for a very modest amount.

At a cost of $4,000 we employed park planning consultants who developed a long range plan for this park area. As the years have passed some things have changed from the original plan, as needs have changed, but the original plan provided guidelines for development.

Our first major project for the park was the Big Toy children's playground equipment which was shipped to us in pieces from Tacoma, Washington, at a cost of $15,000. Enterprising Kiwanians took over the task of installing this equipment. After the Big Toy was completed our Club had its regular meeting under the trees near the equipment. In a dedication ceremony the equipment was handed over to the Jacksonville Mayor who accepted it £or the City.

Later, a smaller version of the Big Toy was erected in the south end of the park.

With the expertise developed by our members, we installed a similar piece of equipment on the grounds of the Ivan K. Garrison Administrative Center of the Four Rivers Special Education District.

Later, we added another distinctive feature to Community Park: a Fitness Trail, for individuals to use at their own pace and for their own enjoyment. Each of these stations was constructed by a team of our Kiwanians.

Since it began Kiwanis International has reached across boundaries to all the world and to all peoples. We as an international organization have now pledged to work together to eliminate Iodine Deficiency Disorders, the greatest cause of mental retardation in children. There have been many excellent Kiwanis International projects in the past, but none has been as bold as this one. We Kiwanians alone have pledged to eradicate IDD, and we as a world organization have never in our history undertaken a project of such difficulty but of such fundamental importance to the world. All Kiwanians are joining in this effort, and the Jacksonville Kiwanis Club is part of it.

We as a Club have made many very significant contributions to our community over the years. We had to raise money. Since 9950 we have been conducting a highly successful Pancake & Sausage Day. For many years this has taken place in McClelland Dining Hall at MacMurray College. Each year we serve approximately 5,000 people in a single day. It continues to be a highly popular event in the community as well as a great time for our Kiwanis families to be together and work together.

More recently we have involved ourselves in Kiwanis Peanut Day as another source of funds for our projects.

Our regular meeting time is at 12 noon on Thursdays at Jeanies on the Hill in the local VFW Post. At 11:30 our meeting room is an empty hall, just tables and chairs, with very little to distinguish it from any other meeting place. But by 12:30 it is filled with Kiwanians, interested in their community's future, dedicated to service, but at the same time having a lot of fun while doing it. The fellowship in our Club did not just happen: we exist as a Club because of those 50 individuals who were our charter members in 1921 and we honor their initiative and foresight in bringing into being an organization that has meant much to each of us in the Jacksonville Club.