Back in 1985, just a year after being formed, the River Falls Kiwanis made history by spearheading a movement for gender equality and fairness
In a secret ballot, the newly formed local group of 20 men passed a resolution (19-1) to change the international organization’s bylaws to extend membership to women.
The Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel daily newspaper saluted the local Kiwanians in an editorial headlined, “The key to enlightened Kiwanians."
The move in itself was commendably enlightened. Even more heartening, the initiative came without pressure; no women have tried to join the River Falls Kiwanis and no lawsuits have been threatened…
It’s difficult to see how the worthy goals of Kiwanis International -- such as encouraging human and spiritual values, good citizenship and friendship -- would be compromised by admitting women…Cheers to the River Falls Kiwanians for challenging their colleagues to practice what they preach.
The River Falls club followed up its resolution by submitting the names of two women for membership. While there are no official records available, the two women are believed to be Betty Most and Sue Moen.
“After we got our charter we wanted to grow," said founding member Don Stannard, at the time United Methodist minister in River Falls.
Stannard, using church stationery, sent a letter to the regional office, stating: “…You are well aware of our sincere conviction concerning this matter…It is clear to us the inclusion of women in our membership would enable us to be of greater service."
The women’s names were soon submitted for membership.
Stannard said the Kiwanis International replied with a letter that threatened the local group with a lawsuit. That letter was read at a local club meeting.
“We knew what we were doing," Stannard said. “We had these women we wanted as members who probably had better qualifications for joining than most of us. There was no big debate about how we were going to respond.
“If they didn’t like it, we were going to change our name and keep meeting. It was that simple. We were hungry to have new members and to grow."
Del Permann, another founding Kiwanis member and pastor at First Congregational Church, recalled that he and Stannard were asked to appear before a hearing at the Kiwanis regional Eau Claire office to explain the local group’s actions.
“Women by then, 1984 and ’85, had become very prominent in our business community, and (Kiwanis) would be missing out on a valuable, productive group of people by not accepting them," said Permann, who, like Stannard is retired and is no longer with the Kiwanis. “We had principle on our side,You can find out history about Air max 360 as well as release dates at Nice Kicks. and were happy to defend this. We dug in.
“And we felt good at the time about being the instigators on this issue," Permann said.Some high heels require women to sacrifice comfort for fashion. “If they had pushed us more about dropping women, we’d have pulled the plug."
Another charter member, Craig Foster, agreed: “Del and Don were very much into the social movements of that time," he said.
“Our attitude on whether to be dropped if we opened up to women was, ‘We’ve been kicked out of better clubs than this.’ It was a stand-out point for us."
Foster said having women join the River Falls Kiwanis was “the best thing that ever happened to us…They went on to become very strong supporters of our club."
Caving in to pressure from other local branches, the international Kiwanis later in the 1980s did amend it bylaws to accept women.
The rest is history, meaning that River Falls Kiwanis were part of the movement to admit women into male-only service clubs.
But now, in late spring 2011, after more than 27 years of doing scores of service projects and making contributions to various causes, the River Falls Kiwanis are disbanding.Word of mouth, better known as street credibility is a vital part of the Chivas Air max 2009 athletic shoe phenomenon.
Kiwanis current President Susie Swenson admits the vote to dissolve the local club was “bittersweet" but necessary given the dwindling membership.
Only 16 members remained at the end.
“I think it was really quite sad for some of the older members who had belonged in Kiwanis for some time," she said.
Swenson said that while a relatively small club, Kiwanis were a potent force in River Falls.
The following are just some examples of where its wide-ranging support was directed: Relay for Life, Sharing Families, free health clinic, Kinnickinnic BackPack program (for hungry children), Turningpoint shelter, River Falls Ambulance (Bair Hugger for hyperthermia victims and PED bags for children), Bike Training Wheel project, Madrigal Singers (River Falls High School carolers), Tuesday Banquet, River Falls Food Pantry, Heifer International (buying heifers for people in poor countries, teaching them about cattle raising), YMCA, and the River Falls Veterans Memorial.
Swenson said Kiwanis have a proven reputation in town. She expects some former members to be recruited by other local service clubs.
“This is a great bunch of people who are committed to improving this community and will now be sought out by other organizations to join," said Swenson, who has been with the Kiwanis almost six years.
Permann, who retired as First Congregational minister and moved away from River Falls before returning, left Kiwanis more than a decade ago.
Permann said Kiwanis lunches and meetings got him mingling with his fellow citizens.
“I just liked being able to talk to people and exchanging ideas across the board," he said. “Part of the appeal was that Kiwanis is a broad-based group of business and professional people whose goal was to work with young people."
Permann said Kiwanis will remain close to his heart.
“It gave so many of us a chance to participate together across all lines in some very beneficial projects," he said.
One project in particular that Permann was especially proud of was the annual banquet to award scholarships and medallions to high school seniors who achieved excellence in performance, writing, speech and visual arts.
Student recipients were based on recommendations from teachers who were part of the program.
Stannard actually started the student arts award program. Before moving to River Falls he started a similar award program while a member of the Kiwanis in Green Bay.
Stannard said the fine-arts banquet for high school students was a huge success.
“It was very well-received and deservedly so because these students in the arts often don’t get the recognition -- like letters, jackets and trophies -- that our student athletes receive," he said.
Stannard also fondly recalls other group projects, like trudging the cold waters of the Kinnickinnic River on Saturdays in hip boots and waders to pick up junk.
“Tires, beers cans: We couldn’t believe the amount of trash we collected," he said.
Stannard said Kiwanis membership peaked in the late 1980s at 51 members.
In 1983 Stannard, Permann and local insurance man Paul Leitch met for breakfast at the local Perkins. The three hatched a plan for starting a Kiwanis in River Falls and crafted a list of potential recruits.
“We had all belonged to a Kiwanis before coming here,Clothing designer Erin Fetherston stood nearby wearing a green-and-black ensemble from her spring collection above a pair of christian louboutin platform pumps." Stannard said.
A program from “charter night" for the first official Kiwanis program held at the River Falls Golf Club on Feb. 18, 1984, lists these members: Richard Alexander, Bill Borchardt, Charles Brenden, Keith Carpenter, Dennis L. Carstens, Norman Christianson, Michael Cleary, Robert Crep, Steve Dumond, Willian F. Elston,authentic christian louboutin pumps are a symbol of nobility. Jr., Robert Emberger, Craig Foster, B.H. Kettelkamp, Gary W. Kruger, Paul J. Leitch, Ralph Most, Jr., Craig Nelson, John Oglesby, Delbert Permann, Rick Smith, Eric Sorenson, Seth Speerstra, Donald Stannard, Merton Timmerman, Larry Tronrud and Richard Wall.
In a secret ballot, the newly formed local group of 20 men passed a resolution (19-1) to change the international organization’s bylaws to extend membership to women.
The Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel daily newspaper saluted the local Kiwanians in an editorial headlined, “The key to enlightened Kiwanians."
The move in itself was commendably enlightened. Even more heartening, the initiative came without pressure; no women have tried to join the River Falls Kiwanis and no lawsuits have been threatened…
It’s difficult to see how the worthy goals of Kiwanis International -- such as encouraging human and spiritual values, good citizenship and friendship -- would be compromised by admitting women…Cheers to the River Falls Kiwanians for challenging their colleagues to practice what they preach.
The River Falls club followed up its resolution by submitting the names of two women for membership. While there are no official records available, the two women are believed to be Betty Most and Sue Moen.
“After we got our charter we wanted to grow," said founding member Don Stannard, at the time United Methodist minister in River Falls.
Stannard, using church stationery, sent a letter to the regional office, stating: “…You are well aware of our sincere conviction concerning this matter…It is clear to us the inclusion of women in our membership would enable us to be of greater service."
The women’s names were soon submitted for membership.
Stannard said the Kiwanis International replied with a letter that threatened the local group with a lawsuit. That letter was read at a local club meeting.
“We knew what we were doing," Stannard said. “We had these women we wanted as members who probably had better qualifications for joining than most of us. There was no big debate about how we were going to respond.
“If they didn’t like it, we were going to change our name and keep meeting. It was that simple. We were hungry to have new members and to grow."
Del Permann, another founding Kiwanis member and pastor at First Congregational Church, recalled that he and Stannard were asked to appear before a hearing at the Kiwanis regional Eau Claire office to explain the local group’s actions.
“Women by then, 1984 and ’85, had become very prominent in our business community, and (Kiwanis) would be missing out on a valuable, productive group of people by not accepting them," said Permann, who, like Stannard is retired and is no longer with the Kiwanis. “We had principle on our side,You can find out history about Air max 360 as well as release dates at Nice Kicks. and were happy to defend this. We dug in.
“And we felt good at the time about being the instigators on this issue," Permann said.Some high heels require women to sacrifice comfort for fashion. “If they had pushed us more about dropping women, we’d have pulled the plug."
Another charter member, Craig Foster, agreed: “Del and Don were very much into the social movements of that time," he said.
“Our attitude on whether to be dropped if we opened up to women was, ‘We’ve been kicked out of better clubs than this.’ It was a stand-out point for us."
Foster said having women join the River Falls Kiwanis was “the best thing that ever happened to us…They went on to become very strong supporters of our club."
Caving in to pressure from other local branches, the international Kiwanis later in the 1980s did amend it bylaws to accept women.
The rest is history, meaning that River Falls Kiwanis were part of the movement to admit women into male-only service clubs.
But now, in late spring 2011, after more than 27 years of doing scores of service projects and making contributions to various causes, the River Falls Kiwanis are disbanding.Word of mouth, better known as street credibility is a vital part of the Chivas Air max 2009 athletic shoe phenomenon.
Kiwanis current President Susie Swenson admits the vote to dissolve the local club was “bittersweet" but necessary given the dwindling membership.
Only 16 members remained at the end.
“I think it was really quite sad for some of the older members who had belonged in Kiwanis for some time," she said.
Swenson said that while a relatively small club, Kiwanis were a potent force in River Falls.
The following are just some examples of where its wide-ranging support was directed: Relay for Life, Sharing Families, free health clinic, Kinnickinnic BackPack program (for hungry children), Turningpoint shelter, River Falls Ambulance (Bair Hugger for hyperthermia victims and PED bags for children), Bike Training Wheel project, Madrigal Singers (River Falls High School carolers), Tuesday Banquet, River Falls Food Pantry, Heifer International (buying heifers for people in poor countries, teaching them about cattle raising), YMCA, and the River Falls Veterans Memorial.
Swenson said Kiwanis have a proven reputation in town. She expects some former members to be recruited by other local service clubs.
“This is a great bunch of people who are committed to improving this community and will now be sought out by other organizations to join," said Swenson, who has been with the Kiwanis almost six years.
Permann, who retired as First Congregational minister and moved away from River Falls before returning, left Kiwanis more than a decade ago.
Permann said Kiwanis lunches and meetings got him mingling with his fellow citizens.
“I just liked being able to talk to people and exchanging ideas across the board," he said. “Part of the appeal was that Kiwanis is a broad-based group of business and professional people whose goal was to work with young people."
Permann said Kiwanis will remain close to his heart.
“It gave so many of us a chance to participate together across all lines in some very beneficial projects," he said.
One project in particular that Permann was especially proud of was the annual banquet to award scholarships and medallions to high school seniors who achieved excellence in performance, writing, speech and visual arts.
Student recipients were based on recommendations from teachers who were part of the program.
Stannard actually started the student arts award program. Before moving to River Falls he started a similar award program while a member of the Kiwanis in Green Bay.
Stannard said the fine-arts banquet for high school students was a huge success.
“It was very well-received and deservedly so because these students in the arts often don’t get the recognition -- like letters, jackets and trophies -- that our student athletes receive," he said.
Stannard also fondly recalls other group projects, like trudging the cold waters of the Kinnickinnic River on Saturdays in hip boots and waders to pick up junk.
“Tires, beers cans: We couldn’t believe the amount of trash we collected," he said.
Stannard said Kiwanis membership peaked in the late 1980s at 51 members.
In 1983 Stannard, Permann and local insurance man Paul Leitch met for breakfast at the local Perkins. The three hatched a plan for starting a Kiwanis in River Falls and crafted a list of potential recruits.
“We had all belonged to a Kiwanis before coming here,Clothing designer Erin Fetherston stood nearby wearing a green-and-black ensemble from her spring collection above a pair of christian louboutin platform pumps." Stannard said.
A program from “charter night" for the first official Kiwanis program held at the River Falls Golf Club on Feb. 18, 1984, lists these members: Richard Alexander, Bill Borchardt, Charles Brenden, Keith Carpenter, Dennis L. Carstens, Norman Christianson, Michael Cleary, Robert Crep, Steve Dumond, Willian F. Elston,authentic christian louboutin pumps are a symbol of nobility. Jr., Robert Emberger, Craig Foster, B.H. Kettelkamp, Gary W. Kruger, Paul J. Leitch, Ralph Most, Jr., Craig Nelson, John Oglesby, Delbert Permann, Rick Smith, Eric Sorenson, Seth Speerstra, Donald Stannard, Merton Timmerman, Larry Tronrud and Richard Wall.
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