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Club History
The Kiwanis Club of Oliver came
into existence in 1962.The first Club executive was installed September 28,
1962, by Field Representative Ray Rohrer and Walter Toeves of the
sponsoring Summerland club. The executive consisted of President
Bruce Echlin, Vice President Ron Amos, Secretary Bill Kreller and Treasurer
Bob Potter. Directors were Chas Walker, Grant Wheeler, George Ronald,
Henry Horkoff, Jim Sowerby, Ed Ruck and Eric Shannon. The charter was
received in November 1962.
The Kiwanis Club of Oliver has been involved
in and sponsored many of our young people over the past 40 years. The
Girl Guides, Brownies, Boy Scouts, Cubs, Air Cadets and an Oliver Youth
Ambassador have all been sponsored. The Aktion Club was formed on
September 1, 1993 for the handicapped members of the community. Many
of them are from Beaver Lodge. The Aktion Club has been a huge
success. They run their meetings with a President and executive and
have a lending library on 99th
Street. The Oliver Kiwanis Pee Wee
Invitational Hockey Tournament was sponsored for many years as well as a
boys football club.
The Search and Rescue group as well
as the South Okanagan General Hospital
have received assistance for new equipment over the years.
Fund raising events have included the
sale of Christmas trees, a “Duck” race, a “Golf
Ball” race, chicken barbeque during Oliver Day celebrations, sale of
tickets for a large children’s playhouse and many other raffles.
In 1981 the TV channel “The
Knowledge Network” was sponsored. Donations have been made to
the figure skating club, ladies minor hockey and the World Health
Organization.
The Kiwanis Housing Society for
seniors was formed in 1969 with 8 units. The next complex of 17 units
was built in 1974 with the help of the Legion. It was built on land
donated by the Board of Directors of Sunnybank. In 1979 the Kiwanis
Manor opened with 27 units. The sale of Christmas trees was started
to help finance these projects. In 1997 18 more units in Arbor Lane were
leased from BC Housing and are administered by Kiwanis Housing.
The Kiwanis Club financed the
building of Kiwanis
Park and supplied the
seats and walkway. Tables have also been placed in the Kinsman Park and benches on the Hike and
Bike Trail.
The Kiwanis People’s Market was
started in April 1999 and is now instrumental in raising funds for more
than 50 different organizations in the community.
Club Presidents since 1962.
1962–Bruce Echlin, Chartering President
1963–Ron Amos,
1964-Bill Kreller,
1965-Len Pinske,
1966 Ted Galbraith,
1967-Bob Potter,
1968-Hugh Thompson,
1969-Bill Leverett,
1970-Al Winn,
1971-Storey Wilson,
1972-Ed Ruck,
1973-Dick Sladen,
1974-Roy Coleman,
1975-Roy Kennedy,
1976-Chuck Harvey,
1977-Ed Anderson,
77-78 Ron Bonnett,
78-79 Louis Fedor,
79-80 Ivan Gamble,
80-81 Lionel Somers,
81-82 Wes Zoerb,
82-83 Art Osland,
83-84 Harold Dawson,
84-85 Jim Morgan,
85-86 Tony Hintz,
86-87 Alf Biech,
87-89 Ron Bonnett,
90-91 Larry Larson,
92-93 Rick Lundin,
97-00 Lawrence Howell,
00-01 Don Osborne,
01-02 Bill Dean,
02-03 Dan Roberts,
03-04 Wayne Kreut,
04-05 Brian Pawluk.
05-06 Wayne Kreut
06-07 Dan Roberts
07-08 Ken Yoxall
On September 27, 2002 the 40th Anniversary celebration was held.
Five charter members; President Bruce Echlin, Treasurer Bob Potter, Arpad Palley,
Fred Fritz and Ken Potter attended the celebration. Bruce and Bob
were continuous members for the entire 40 years. Since Bruce's
passing, Bob remains the lone surviving charter member still with the
club. Harold Dawson celebrated his 25th year with the club. We
look forward to the next 40 years.
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