Service Clubs
Marje Koerber
As the new Service Clubs columnist, I would like to tell you a little
about myself. I am a licensed insurance solicitor in fire and casualty
for State Farm Insurance.
I have lived in the Glendale area most of my life. I am married to Bob
Koerber, a native of Glendale. We graduated from Glendale High School and
attended Glendale Community College. Bob owned and operated Glendale
Transfer & Storage and the Koerber Warehouse Co. -- a continuous family
operation from 1894 to 1994.
Bob retired in 1994 when the city of Glendale took the business
property to build a parking lot down by the Southern Pacific Railroad,
progress, you know. We have eight sons and daughters, plus many
grandchildren. Six of our children attended Crescenta Valley High School.
I also write for the Big Bear Magazine in Big Bear Lake, where we have
a second home. I have been a member of the American Business Women’s
Assn. in Glendale since 1979 and am serving as president of the
Verdugo-Glen Chapter and received the group’s Woman of the Year 2000
award.
I have participated in other organizations also, such as Big Sisters
of America, the National Cancer Society and the March of Dimes. My
interests are cooking and collecting recipes, reading, going on the lake
with my husband, (he fishes, I read), and writing, of course. I am
working on a cookbook and hope someday to publish “the great American
novel.”
This column will appear biweekly on Wednesdays. I can be reached at
353-8518, Monday through Friday, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. My e-mail address is
Marjeglen@AOL.com.
Please contact me to let me know of your club’s activities, meeting
dates and times. I will be visiting various service clubs in the Glendale
area as I am replacing Victor Legerton. Before Victor, Bob Young Sr.
wrote the column.
You might be wondering what Bob is doing these days. Following his
88th birthday in November 1999, Young decided it was time to quit
“working,” although he said he never really considered writing the
columns as work.
He decided it was time to enjoy a more leisurely life with plenty of
siesta time. Young said he was never a golfer or fisherman, but has lots
of interesting hobbies, which include house and garden renovating,
crafting Early American-style furniture and restoring antiques, as well
as walking.
Bob is continuing his activity with service clubs, which began way
back in 1946, when he came to Los Angeles from New England and joined a
service club for the first time -- the Optimist Club of Highland Park.
Young became president in 1952, followed by a year as lieutenant
governor, a two-year stint as district secretary, and went on to become
district governor in 1956-57. During his term as governor, the district
increased from 150 clubs to 173, the largest in Optimist International.
Young’s most recent activity in Optimism started about a year ago,
following his retirement as service club columnist. He was asked to
assume the presidency of the La Canada Optimist Club. The club had not
been meeting for more than two years, although the club’s district and
international dues were current.
It took Bob and the remaining eight members just nine months to turn
the La Canada club around to become the fifth highest achiever in the
district. During Young’s presidency, the La Canada Optimist Club enjoyed
more than 100 percent increase in membership.
At the district’s quarterly meeting in Visalia Feb. 10 and 11, Young received, on behalf of the La Canada Optimist Club, the Optimist
International’s Silver Honor Club award, a distinction surpassed by only
four other Optimist clubs in the Pacific Southwest. He is very proud of
this accomplishment and the fact that he played an active part.
Young is a 55-year Optimist and the district’s oldest living past
governor. He is especially adept at rebuilding weak clubs, beginning with
the Northgate Optimist Club in Glassell Park in 1975.
Recently, during his brief sojourn with the Rotary Club, while
retaining his membership in Optimist International, he assisted in
rebuilding a local Rotary Club, stepping up its community service
activities and increasing its membership more than 300%.
MARJE KOERBER writes about service clubs on alternating Wednesdays.
She can be reached via e-mail at marjeglen@AOL.com, fax 352-6599, or day
time phone 353-8518.