History:
The beginning. The date of this newspaper is April 5, 1941. I'm sure some meetings were held earlier than this because forming a new club doesn't happen instantly. It takes time and effort by some very dedicated individuals. However April 4 is recognized as our clubs organizational date. Our official charter night was May 23. That is when we officially became a Kiwanis club.

There was a lot going on in April and May of 1941. The war in Europe was underway and the Yankees' Joe Dimagio started his 56 game hitting streak. Why did 36 men gather that spring and decide the community of Mt. Vernon needed a Kiwanis Club? These 36 charter members gave us our start. They are listed on the back of your program. Please take a few minutes to look through the list. I'm sure you knew a lot of them. Who gave them the nudge to start a new club? Well, down through the years it has been common knowledge that the Kiwanis Club of McLeansboro came over and got the ball rolling. They were chartered in 1936 by the Carmi Club, which was chartered in 1923. Along with them was a representative of Kiwanis International, Mr. Robert R. Lafallette. He was a charter member of the Champaign, Illinois club, which was chartered in 1921. However, doing some research I found out that some members of the Centralia Club was also on hand. Centralia was chartered in September, 1940. This article in the April 5, 1941 newspaper stated that the meeting the following week would be held at Hunts Café and be conducted by the McLeansboro Club. But at the next week's meeting the Centralia Club would be doing the honors of conducting the meeting. I hope its is not too late, but thank you Centralia for your help.

To find the next news of the brand new Kiwanis Club, I had to jump forward to August, 1941 when they conducted their first service project. They donated clothing, shoes, and other needed items to three children at the orphanage. Quite a humble beginning to such a great club. In October of that first year a few of the members traveled down to West Frankfort and helped get that club started. I assume Mr. Lafallette was also on hand. The sponsoring club usually gives a gift to the new club being formed. Our club could have given a U.S. Savings Bond to the West Frankfort guys because they had just been introduced to the public. I can't find much information on the rest of the year about our club. It was apparently spent praying and reflecting on Europe and Japan as the year ended, as you all know, with "the day that will live in infamy."

Things really picked up the next year - 1942, however. Last week we held a basketball banquet for the players and cheerleaders at Mt. Vernon High School. In April of 1942 the club sponsored their first basketball banquet. One hundred and eighty-six people attended. Have we done this every year since? As for as I know we have. There may have been a year or two when for some unknown reason we failed to sponsor the banquet, but I think I can say with some confidence that this year was the 59th anniversary of that project. In July and August of 42 the planning of the first fund raiser was in high gear. A radio jamboree featuring KMOX radio personality Pappy Cheshire was held and big bucks were raised - $350. The orphanage must have been a major concern of our club in those early years because they invited all the kids to the show for free, and the article didn't say, but they probably wore their new shoes. The radio jamboree was a fundraiser for several years. The jamboree along with a minstrel show would become the pancake day and shake up stand of the 40's. These two major fundraisers for the club lasted the entire decade. With the proceeds from these two projects the club started and maintained "the finest library of vocational guidance in the state" as stated by as article in the program from the 1951 Minstrel Show. They later gave it to Zadok Casey Junior High School. Still there Al?