Anoka Area Kiwanis

"Kiwanis is a global organization of volunteers dedicated to changing the community and the world one child at a time." Kiwanis International was founded in 1915 under the original name of "The Benevolent Order of Brothers." A year later the name was changed to "Kiwanis" from an American Indian term "Nun Keewanis," which means roughly "Self Expression." Kiwanis entered Canada in 1916, Mexico in 1962, and today serves the needs of over 80 countries throughout the world. July 1987, in Washington, D.C. the assembled delegates of the 72nd Annual Kiwanis International Convention voted to permit women to be sponsored for membership in Kiwanis Clubs. Janet Davenport was the first woman to become a member of the Anoka Kiwanis Club in 1987 and its first woman president in 1992. The fall of 1921, Kiwanis District organizer, Walter Humpton met with 18 Anoka business men and explained the rules for the establishment of a local Kiwanis Club. Fifty men were needed, all from trades and professions and only two from each business. The initiation fee was $21.50 and the headline in Anoka Union stated the club would be one of 600 clubs already formed. After several meetings all 18 signed applications and on January 12, 1922, Anoka Kiwanis Club was chartered with a membership of 68. Charter presentations were held in the Anoka Armory, where Frank L. Salter, of the State Bank was installed as the first president. The Anoka Kiwanis Club has sponsored Boy Scout Troop 204 since 1921. Ed Babcock, Scott DeLong, Jr., and John Weaver earned their Eagle awards in Troop 204. Sponsored service groups in the schools include Key clubs at Anoka, Andover, and PACT high schools; Builders clubs at Fred Moore and Sandburg middle schools; and K-Kids at Washington, Wilson, Lincoln, Ramsey, and Franklin elementary schools. Since 1992 the Morrie Johnson Kiwanian of the Year Award has been given to a member who has served the club in an exemplary way. Dick Mussell was the 2005 recipient. Each year Anoka Kiwanis donates monies to such causes as scholarships to Anoka and Andover high schools, Anoka Ramsey Community College and Anoka Vocational Technical College students, The Lyric Arts Theatre, International Kiwanis World Wide Iodine Deficiency Disorder (IDD) project, Boy Scout Troop 204, Girl Scouts, Kiwanis Leadership Conference for Youth, Youth First Neighborhood Center, and Anoka County Brotherhood Center. Fund raising activities to finance these causes include happy dollars and birthday dollars, peanut day donations, Anoka County Fair ticket selling, a silent auction, a pancake breakfast, and concessions at the Anoka Halloween Parade. Club community service activities are Akin Riverside Park clean-up each spring and fall, Anoka County Christmas Food Distribution, Landscaping Highway 10, and the Special Olympics.

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