HomeMy WebLinkAboutClinton News-Record, 1980-02-14, Page 24JOHN GREEN
. . . National President
message from
Kinsmen
president
As Kinsmen celebrate their 60th Anniversary as an
all Canadian service.club, we look upon our past with
pride and having played an integral role in serving our
country. Kinsmen have grown from one club, in 1920 in
'Hamilton, to 625 clubs -coast to coast, today:
Also developed are over 900 auxiliary clubs - Kinette
Clubs for the wivesof Kinsmen members,. K-40 clubs
which are made up of Kinsmen or past Kinsmen who.
have attained the age of forty, and' K-Ettes which is a
club for the wives of K-40 members. All of •these
auxiliaries have played a supportive role in the clubs'
various projects over the years — Forty Thousand
Canadian men and women working for Canada.
Kinsmen service has extended to the point where we
have provided over $125 million worth of service in the
past three years - an estimated One Billion Dollars
since 1920.
One of the highlights of our 60th year is to open a new
national he4dquarters•in Cambridge, named afte roily
Funder, Hal Rogers 0 C , O.B.E., who will be in
attendance at the opening, along with two other
founding members, Trey Thompson from- Nariaimo
and Pere Dawson fro • Hamilton,
-Kinsmen in all Communities will also be promoting
some type of celebration in their area during the month
of February and will invite all citizens to take part
wherever possible.
As National President of The Asalciation of Kinsmen
Clubs, I want to take this opportunity to thank the
citizens of Canada for the continuous support over the
last 60 years, which has aPnwed us to live up to our
slogan, "To Serve the Community's Greatest Needs".
- John Green
National President
270 towns
In si
of Kinsmen
The Kinsmen club can 'only
add another 270 clubs in
Canada before it has to look
elsewhere for expansion. says
Executive:Director Peter Han-
•
internal studies show that
there is only another '270 towns
capable of supporting a club.
"At some•patat wtAmping
to reach saturation and we Will
have to start looking elsewhere
to 'expand,' Hanly said
United,States sees the
likely choice. •
"Th.ere has always been a
little controversy with the
subject of expansion because
we are an all Canadian club
1V -we -Tv iM" To-Feso. We
are investigating the future
though.'
Hanly doesn't expect whole
sale changes in the club in the
future.
"Our mandate of fellowship
in service will not change,. he
says,
•Over the years there has
been attempts to change the
upper age limit (21-40) but
Hanly says resolutions have
been defeated handily
"Young men are enthusias-
The they have more time and
they want t� improve the.
DISTRICT GOVERNORS
community for their families.
That attiitude alone makes
Kinsmen more effective than
any other -club irl Canada,"
Once a member reaches 40
he can no longerhold office but
there is a place for him in K-40
K-40 clubsqre starting to
spring up at an incredible rate.
1-11y ,,ays, totalling more
than '!'00 across Canada. K-40
members are active with
Kinsmen in community ser
vice work. •
• Anotherrauxiliaryi Kinettes
who are wives of Kinsmen
play a large role in communit
work - often working wit
'Xilismen on the siumprojects
l'ire—ftrrnre-0171trir-grOttr"
seems to remain in question.
Already some are asking for.
equal status in the traditional
male club.
However, Hanly says the
majority prefer the status of
auxiliary, at least for the time
being.
6j'he future of Kinsmen and
its work isn't a question that
concerns its founder Hal Rog-
ers,
"We have never been at a
loss to justify service work or
satisfy the heart. There is
always a challenge and an
opportunity for service work,'•
says Rogers.
Age restriction
o•
'bit of sore point'
The old adage "life begins
t 40" of a sere point
,with some Kinsmen club
members.. - - •
Since the club's beginnings
in 1920 there has been a
minor controversy.sur-
rounding .the 21 to 40 age
limit,
• ,
' • After 40, a Kinsman cannot
hold active membership or
office. Ile can, and often.
does, continue community
service • work in the K-40
club, an auxiliary to Kins-
men.
Despite efforts to change
the age restriction the
majority of members have
always supported 40 as 'the
,upper limit
At one time 35 was the
upper limit.
In an effort to preserve the
young man image, adopted
by the club. Kinsmen voted
to accept an age limit. That
was in 1925, five years after
the club was formed.
Having heard from the
membership the association
fixed the age at 35. The move
drew criticism almost
immediately- from
members who were willing •
tc accept a limit but. felt 45 or
45 was more realistic.
One critic was former,
Prime Minister John Diefen-
haker.
At the time, 1925-26 Dief-
enbaker,was not a Kinsman.
He was a member of the
Prince Albert Eclectic Club,
one of four Saskatchewan
clubs Kinsmen hoped would
join their young organiza-
tion.
As Kinsmen founder Hal
Rogers tells the story Dief-
enbaker .was opposed to the
35 year age limit. He person-
., ally favoured- 40 as a maxi-
mum.
The criticisms and, argu-
ments were academic at the
time. The age limit was
raised to 40 in 1926 at the
club's national convention.
As one Kinsmen is quoted
as saying, "With the idea in
' mind of keeping it a young
men's club it does not seem
unreasonable (for a member
reaching forty ) to withdraw
rrom active participation in
the-, club, -but it certainly
seems that he should be
illtitled to retain at least this
shadow of his former inter-
est, and remain a member of
the club In • this way the
control of the club and its
destiny remains with the
"young men" and at the
same time it permits tb
who have grown old -in
Kinsmen service to still be of
the Kin."
MIKE HOYLES .
District 1
JOHN DORMER
District 5 '
TOM District 2
' IAN McLAUGHLIN
District 6
TERRY BRASH
District 3
• RICHARD LEVANDIER
District 7
DON BURDEGO
District 4
JIM LAWRENCE
District 8
Seaforth
524-0910
41
Our Best Wishes
to the Kinsmen
JOHN KASSIES
General Contractor
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Phone:. 482,3063