The Goderich Signal-Star, 1980-02-28, Page 66•
"sEpyicE
Kin f�underIocks
beyond dollar- signs •
Hal Rogers. founder of the Kinsmen
Club. looks beyond the dollars irivolved'in
the organization and instead.likes to talk
about sesvl,ce
°The value of Kinsmen • community
service projects reached $43 million last
year. Although Rogers calls that. irn.pres-'
sive, he says the almighty dollar is second
,to service provided by the clybs.
"The church was` opposed to the Kins
men club in the_early for a_reason I still
don't understand."
FOOD BASKET
"Kinsmen would meet secretly in a
different house every week. Every Satin -
_day .they would_prepare a food basket and
-leaven on the doorstep of an unfortunate
family," he said.
As Rogers tells the story, club members
would ring the doorbell of a house, then
leave before it was answered.
One night, a recipient called after a man
was seen leaving the house asking who had
left the food. The Kinsman replied: "God
sent it."
Rogers uses the story to illustrate the
principles of the Kinsmen Club.
"We believe in helping the other guy and
we are not looking for money or signs of
recognition in our work," he said.
That "help your neighbour" policy can
be illustrated 100 times by Rogers, dating
back to the founding of the club in Febru-
ary 1920.
FIRST PROJECT '
It was Rogers' desire for fellowship as a
newcomer to Hamilton, following service
iryp.the First' World War, that prompted
formation of the Kinsmen Club and its first
project.
After the war, Rogers joined the family
plumbing and heating supply business
with his father Charles Rogers.
The young man, at age 21, wanted to join
a•serviee club hut was rejected by Rotary
bek:Oirse his father was already a member..
Soon after• ltogers,niet another llamil-
ton newcomer and the two organized a
dinner•at the Namking,Cafe. Eleven, men
gathered for the dinner and within a' year
Kinsmen, had signed 50 members
In the club's first project, members
made contact with newcomers in Hamilton
and welcomed them to the city,
NO PRESSURE
"A number of them joined the club but
we put no pressure on them to do so. Our
main concern was to make things easier
for them in a strange city," Rogers
recall¢_ --_..----------_.-_..__.
• As:members of the original club moved
away, new clubs were formed across the
country and by the end of 1930 there were
26 clubs and a national organization
complete with a constitution.
With a depression under way and the
Second World War around the corner, few
would anticipate the Kinsmen Club would
have its best years.
For Rogers, the years spanning the
depression and the Sec.ond World War
were the best.
"THe club 'seemed to grow under
adverse conditions. There was a greater
need than ever before to meet the needs of
young people and 'the community," he
says.
GROWTH PERIOD
Instead of buckling to the times, the
Kinsmen Club grew from its 900 members
w 1930 to 5;000 by 1945
As men were called to war, more men
-joined the club out of a need to be active,
"a desire to he part of it," Rogers says.
As the war made greater demands on
Kinsmen, the Kinettes, wives of Kinsmen,,
,continued with the work.
Kinettes are part of
colourful history _o f
Canadian Kinsmen
As President of the
Goderich Janette Club I t:
would
ke to' offer mY.
•
..
gr
�._co.n
to the Kinsmen Clubs of •
Canada on their 60th
anniversary.
The . Kinsmen have a
rich and admirable
history of caring and
sharing in the community
and it.is a pleasure to be
part of that service in
Goder ich.
The Goderich Kinette
Club has tried to be a,
highly visible and helpful
service group with the
operation of the clothes
room, the Mardi Gras
Dance and assistance
given to Kinsmen on a
HELGA WIRTZFELD
KINETTE PRESIDENT
KINSMEN POUNDER HAL ROGERS
--f E -C E -I V -I# ::Q R;,D E R -0 -F --GA NA-Di1---- _.--
. _Former Governor Geneeral Jules Leger (Right)
"We are a family organization," Rogers
says. ->
Close to $3 million was raised. to buy 50
million quarts of milk for Great Britain's
children. Another -$100,000 was raised for
food parcels.
Kinsmen war savings stamps were sold
at a rate of $225,000 a week. Sixty-five tons
of magazines were shipped to the mer-
chant marine.
"We were more active then than before
or after."
WAR YEARS .
The war years set the tone for Kinsmen
community and world service in the years
that followed.
Although the complexity and size of the
organization — with more than 600 clubs
and 18,000 members has changed, the
goal is still the same.
"We are never at a loss to find
.something that justifies service work.
There is always ,a challenge and an
opportunity," Rogers says.
Only recently Kinsmen donated $10;000
in disaster relief. to the tornado stricken
Woodstock area.
ORDER OF CANADA
There have been so many- standouts in-
the
nthe life of the Kinsmen club but Rogers is
hard pressed. to name one. ..
On a personal level, he was awarded the
Order in Canada for his contribution.
More than 300 individuals wrote in,
nominating Rogers.
"1 an) very proud of that award," he
.says.
Kinsmen means a variety of things to a
variety of people but Rogers says the
movement is most si ;:.iiicant in what it
has done for Kinsmen families.
He tells a story of an Englishman who
moved to Ajax, found a job and worked for
some time before he could afford to bring
his family over from England.
He had found a house but couldn't afford
to furnish it.
He travelled to Montreal to meet his
family but on returning stopped in
Oshawa, explaing to his wife that they
should spend the night there, rather thaw
return to the barren house at night.
But his wife insisted on seeing their new
home. -
When they arrived they' found a furn-
ished house complete with a welcoming
party of Kinsmen and Kinnettes.
1146T MEAL •
"The house wasurnished, a hot meal
?rovided and the ki"S. were tucked in bed,"
Rogers said.
The story can be repeated many times
across Canada.
Despite, the club's record of service
Rogers says Kinsmen should not be the
dominant factor in a member's life:
"First comes family, then your busin-
ess. your church and the community
through the Kinsmen Club."
Over the years, Rogers says the Kins-
men Club has never strayed from the
original intent.
''I am completely satisfied with the work
that has been done." he says.
Although further expansion and perhaps
some change is anticipated in the future,
the club's basic role --fellowship---and-
community service — will always be in the
forefront.
number ofr Playground" o e e`^' in 1.57
as the spring auction. -
During ,their 23 years of •
_community service;
Goderieh Kinsmen had no V _
prouder moments than.
when their South Street
park -playground was
officially opened July 1,.
1957.
The Signal -Star
headlined the event,
"CLUB'S DREAM FOR
KIDS IS REALITY AS
PARK OPENS."
An account of the oc-
casion as it appeared in
the Signal -Star is as
follows:
Year of planning and
toil were rewarded
Monday evening, when
the Kinsmen playground
Six years ,ags:t_my__
disband a.nd. I moved to
Goderich and I didn't
know that Kinsmen or
Kinettes even existed.
Having been with the club
for six .years ,and serving
as treasurer and now,
president, has been a
pleasure and a rewarding
experience.
The Kinsmen and
Kin,ttes have been proud
to serve Goderich for the
past 33 years and are
looking forward to an
even better future.
THE GODERICH &
DISTRICT OPTIMIST
CLUB
and wadingpool were
declared offici,all'y open
by--Elston--Cardi-ff; "MPP'
for -Huron.
Mayor John H. Graham
cut the ribbon as a large
crowd of youngsters and
their parents looked on.
"It is . my hope," saki_
D.J. "Pat" Patterson,
Kinsmen playground
chairman, "that the life
of a child may be saved
by being in this
playgroundrather than
out playing on the
street."
The playground,
located one .block east of
the arena, represents an
investment of. about
$22,000 by the club.
Official ceremonies
began after the Goderich
'-"Pipe-Band 1ed- a-.parade-ot'-__..
children into the park.,
"This is a proudi night
for the Goderich Kinsmen
club," said President
Earl Rawson. "This
represents many, hours of
work and many
thousands of dollars."
On behalf of the club,
he gave special thanks to
Goderich Kinette club,
the Ontario Provincial
Police and the Town of
Goderich for donations
and other assistance.
The club hopes to add
more equipment to the
playground as time goes
on, the president said.
BLUEWATER
CLEANERS
West St, ,
Goderich