Locals have three ways to go with Kiwanis clubs
Although the Kiwanis International Web site lists four clubs as
being in Glendale, the Tropico Club has disappeared, leaving the
Glendale Kiwanis Club, the West Glendale Gateway Kiwanis Club, and
the Jewel City Kiwanis Club.
The three clubs vary in size, with the Jewel City club having 27
members, the West Glendale Gateway club having 40 members, and the
Glendale club having 200 members (average attendance is in excess of
100).
How does one choose a club? Go to meetings of several clubs and
see how you react to the social environment of each (I do not judge
the clubs, but I would say that the atmospheres are very different)
and the meeting time.
Each club meets weekly and Kiwanis does expect its members to
attend regularly, with the offset for the burden of so many meetings
being the good times that members have. And because these are service
clubs that expect members to devote substantial time to projects, ask
about the projects the club sponsors, so you can evaluate your
interest level.
A few people, especially women, will remember that until the
mid-1980s women were not allowed to be members of Kiwanis. However,
the matter was settled in federal court at that time and, though men
still outnumber women by a wide margin, women and men are equally
acceptable as members.
Women are also accepted as officers, notably the current president
of the Glendale Kiwanis (Laurel Patric) and the immediate past
president of the West Glendale Gateway Kiwanis (Mary Cheung).
Since Kiwanians and Rotarians commonly view each other as rivals,
I asked several Kiwanians to distinguish the two organizations. While
most of my Kiwanis interviewees generally stated that there is not
much difference between Kiwanis and Rotary clubs, they did note two
differences: (1) Rotary is avowedly an organization of business and
professional leaders, whereas Kiwanis has no such standard, and (2)
Kiwanis specifically tries to benefit children, while Rotary has a
more of a generalized service approach. (In a future column, I will
be reporting on what differences Rotarians perceive in the two
organizations.)
The West Glendale Gateway Kiwanis Club meets at noon Wednesdays at
the Glendale YWCA, 735 E. Lexington Drive. For more information, call
Dave Fortune at 507-6210.
The Jewel City Kiwanis Club meets at 6:15 p.m. Tuesdays at
Clancy’s, 219 N. Central Ave. For more information, call Bob Morris
at 241-1229.
The Glendale Kiwanis Club meets at noon Fridays at the Elks Lodge,
120 E. Colorado. For more information, call Patric at 548-2030.
Glendale One Toastmasters has club competition
On Sept. 3, the Glendale One Toastmasters Club had its club
competition to select representatives for the upcoming first round of
district competition. The club representative in the Humorous Speech
category will be Moira Delaney, with Terry Johnston as alternate. In
the Table Topics (extemporaneous) category, the representative will
be Lori Hartwell, with Mark Compton serving as alternate.
The Glendale One Toastmasters Club meets at 7 p.m. Tuesdays at
Shakers Restaurant, 801 N. Central Ave. For more information, call
(323) 851-2251.
A correction and an invitation
In my last column, I noted the Jewel City Toastmasters Club has
narrowed its candidates in the Humorous Speech category down to four.
Unfortunately, I misstated the date of the runoff competition, which
in fact will be at 7 tonight.
If you are thinking about joining Toastmasters or just interested
in finding out about Toastmasters, tonight’s meeting should be one of
the funniest and most lively sessions you could find.
The Jewel City Toastmasters Club meets at 7 p.m. Wednesdays at the
American Red Cross, 1501 S. Brand Blvd. For more information, call
244-1137.
* MICHAEL BOND writes about Glendale service clubs on alternating
Wednesdays. Reach him at 841-2444 or michaelbond368@aol.com.