History of the
Kiwanis Club of Port Townsend, Washington
Charter: March 28, 1949
Chartered on March 28, 1949, our new club was sponsored by the Kiwanis Club of Port Angeles.
Port Townsend Kiwanis Past Club and District Leaders
Leadership is important in continuing a strong club. Many of our past presidents have also been Division Lt Governors and two have been PNW District Governors.
History of the Port Townsend Kiwanis Club
Kiwanis International
Founded in 1915 in Detroit, Michigan, U.S., the organization was originally called the Supreme Lodge Benevolent Order of Brothers. A year later, the name changed to Kiwanis, which was selected by the organization’s founders based on their understanding that the word was translatable to “we build” from the Algonquian Native American language family. That same year, Kiwanis became an international organization with the founding of the Kiwanis Club of Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. Initially focused on business networking, the organization changed its focus to service in 1919 — specifically service to children. Over the years, more clubs were created in the U.S. and Canada, and worldwide expansion was ultimately approved in the 1960s. Today, there are Kiwanis clubs in nearly 80 nations and geographic locations.
Kiwanis Club of Port Townsend, WA
Chartered on March 28, 1949, our new club was sponsored by the Kiwanis Club of Port Angeles.
Our first club president was Kent Caldwell. Many of our earliest members have family members active in our club today!
When children and young people see their parents volunteer, it becomes a family tradition.
When children and young people see their parents volunteer, it becomes a family tradition.
Women in Kiwanis
In the summer of 1987, delegates at the 72nd annual Kiwanis International convention voted to allow women to join the organization. it was an historic votes that changed the face of our club: Many members sponsored their wives as new members, and the benefit to the community was obvious: when a couple joined, the volunteer labor didn't just double - it tripled! Women have been strong Kiwanians in our club ever since.
1991
Two things happened in 1991 that led to more than doubling our membership. First, now that women were allowed to join Kiwanis, they did. Secondly, Ken Brink joined our club. Almost singlehandedly, Ken brought in over 100 new members to our club over the years. He was known throughout Kiwanis - even to the international level - for his recruiting of new members.
Division and District Leadership
From our membership, we have provided 12 Lt. Governors and two Governors.
The Division Lt Governors were responsible for club communication and support in the division that we belonged to:
- Division 17, Olympic & Kitsap Peninsulas
- Division 33, Olympic & Kitsap Peninsulas
- Division 19, Olympic Peninsula
- Division 24, Olympic Peninsula & part of British Columbia
- Division 1, Olympic Peninsula & part of British Columbia
The Governors were responsible for communication and support for clubs and division across the PNW District.
PNW Kiwanis covers Alaska, Yukon, British Columbia, Washington, Idaho panhandle, Oregon, and Siskiyou county in California.
Additional information and documents provided by Steve Taylor, former Lt Governor.
