The Kiwanis Club of Glens Falls is Looking To Increase Membership

The Kiwanis Club in Glens Falls is one of the oldest civil service clubs in the Glens Falls area, and is looking for new members. This club has been in operation for over 95 years, and its focus is children and young people; however, they do work with other groups, including Veterans’ organizations and Senior Centers in the area.

Doug Shaver is the current Kiwanis Club President; Shaver joined Kiwanis Club after retiring from a 30-year career with Johnson & Johnson as a field engineer. Shaver traveled for work, and because of that, had very few ties to the community… He wanted to meet people. He has found great satisfaction and a sense of purpose as a member and current President of the Kiwanis Club. 

Since the COVID pandemic, the Kiwanis Club has had both setbacks and successes. “COVID has made it difficult for us to help as many groups financially, but we do all types of volunteer hours, are affiliated with the Care Center and we did some renovations and painting for them there. We are here… Anything that people need help with, the Kiwanis Club is available to help” Shaver said.  

Shaver would like to see membership increase – the club currently has 68 members. When Shaver joined the club, there were 90 members, and prior to that over 100: “So we are always looking for new members. We recognize that younger folks with young families have demands on their time and in the workplace, which makes it hard for them to do a lot, but we would like to recruit some younger members” Shaver said. 

The Kiwanis Club keeps the member commitment flexible. A member’s participation can be as much or as little as they would like: “We have one lunch meeting a month, it’s not a commitment, but we like to see the people come… What we would like is for members to pick one of our projects and get involved with that. Serve on a committee, help us plan an event, help organize the volunteers who work on the projects… Things like that… We just ask that they do one thing throughout the year” Shaver said.

The Kiwanis Club holds events though out the year; they recently added a successful “Spirits in the Trees” event. For “The Spirits in the Trees” event, the Kiwanis Club set up 100 trees in Crandall Park, and for $75 an individual or group could sponsor a tree and decorate it. Out of the 100 trees, 94 of the trees were sponsored and fully decorated… And after the event, the trees were donated to a goat farm, as the pine needles provide a source of nutrients and vitamins for the goats. 

“We were hoping that it would be a special event during the holidays, and it really was that and more. The comments that we received from people were just so great. People who had lost loved ones in the last year told us that when they got down a little bit, they would come and look at their tree, and that would pick them up. We had a lot of other community organizations that sponsored trees and decorated them in celebration which we were not expecting… A lot of different groups participated which was great. We were pleasantly surprised” Shaver commented.

Kiwanis is preparing for their next event, which is this coming weekend – The Duck Race will be held on Saturday, January 21, at 7:00 PM at the Cooling Arena. Traditionally, this event had taken place at the Feeder Canal at Haviland Cove Park; however, they have had to shift the event due to COVID and other factors. This turn of events led to a partnership with the Thunder. The original concept was that people would purchase a $5 ticket, and the number from the ticket would be put on a rubber duck. The ducks were then dumped into the feeder canal, and each duck’s place would be recorded 1st, 2nd, 3rd and so on.

This fun-filled community event now takes place at the Cooling Area. Now, the ticket goes into a tumbler like a traditional raffle. The Kiwanis Club would eventually like the event to return to the Feeder Canal, but is happy with the support that the Adirondack Thunder has shown the club. This fundraiser is for the Kiwanis Foundation, which provides college scholarships to graduating Key Club members. 

The next event after the Duck Race is a drive-thru BBQ event at East Field – Brooks BBQ from Oneonta provides the food, and the Key Club members, cub scouts, and boy scouts bring the food to the cars. In the summer, the Kiwanis Club has its annual golf tournament at Cronin’s Golf Course in Warrensburg. The Fall will hopefully bring the Taste of the North Country event, which is their signature event; it was sidelined initially because of COVID, and sidelined again last year due to supply chain issues. Doug Shaver and the Kiwanis Club would like to have more people join the organization, and invites anyone who is interested to be a guest at the monthly luncheon. For more information, visit glensfallskiwanisclub.org