KIWANIS CLUB OF SAN MARCOS
Kiwanis Club of San Marcos has been serving the community since 1923 with an emphasis on helping local kids.
In the spirit of garnering additional members to expand its community impact, the San Marcos Kiwanis Club invites you to come to one of its weekly meetings on Thursday from 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. at Grins Restaurant, 802 N. LBJ Dr. Those interested in joining will have their first meal paid for by the club.
“We look forward to meeting you,” Kiwanis Club of San Marcos Sec- retary Penny Slavik said.
According to previous reporting by the Daily Record, the San Marcos Kiwanis Club was originally chartered in 1923 and had 52 members at the time. The first publicity chairman for the club was a publisher for the San Marcos Daily Record, T.A. Buckner.
The club was initially two separate groups until the Balcones Kiwanis Club merged with the San Marcos Kiwanis Club to become Kiwanis Club of San Marcos in 1971. The club was initially for men only but opened its membership to women in 1987. The initial focus was supporting individuals in the community but that later evolved to supporting organizations and institutions that serve local children.
“The San Marcos Kiwanis Club is one of many, many clubs throughout the world to make up the Kiwanis International Organization based out of Indianapolis, Indiana,” Slavik said.
Slavik shared the history of Kiwanis International, which, according to its website, has grown to more than 8,400 clubs with 606,608 active members since its founding on Jan. 21, 1915 in Detroit, Michigan.
Slavik said Joseph Prance and Allen Browne were two businessmen who created the organization, originally named “Supreme Lodge Benevolent Order Brothers,” with the goal of sharing business opportunities while cultivating fellowship, mutual support and practical benefits for its members.
Shortly after its founding, Slavik said the club name was changed to Kiwanis. The term “Nunc Keewanis” came from the native language of the Ojibwe Tribe and translates to “We trade” or “We build.”
Kiwanis has since done exactly that, building club by club until it was present in over 80 nations and geographic areas of the world. Combined, the various clubs raise over $100 million each year and give over 18.5 million volunteer hours to strengthen communities and serve children.
“Pretty impressive for an organization that is completely volunteerled,” Slavik said.
The club has some upcoming events that it would like to share with the community.
Linda Coker, the Heritage Association Preservation Advocacy cochair, will be sharing the “Little Known History of San Marcos” at the Kiwanis meeting at Grins at 11:30 a.m. on March 19. This will be the first part in a three part-series. She will present Part 2 on Apr. 23 and Part 3 on May 21.
The club will be holding a Cornhole Tournament and picnic on April 25 at the Southern Star Events Center, 480 Mill Rd., Maxwell.
Kiwanis, The San Marcos Area Chamber of Commerce and Sunflower Bank will be hosting a mixer from 5-7 p.m. on March 19 at Southern Star Events. The Chamber event page says the event is an opportunity to connect with local businesses and civic leaders. There will be various business booths and free food and drinks.
Kiwanis will hold “Pancakes with Santa” from 7:30 a.m. to 12 p.m. on Dec. 5 at the First United Methodist Church, 129 W Hutchison St.
