Keeping a city tradition alive
By Kirsten Ballard
Published in News on July 14, 2015 1:46 PM
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News-Argus/MELISSA KEY
Kiwanis President Jim Vernon leads the Monday afternoon meeting while Treasurer Celia James presents her happy dollar moments for the week.
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News-Argus/MELISSA KEY
Chip Craig tells the rest of the Goldsboro Kiwanis Club stories from his recent trip with the Key Club camping on the Outer Banks during the Monday afternoon meeting.
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News-Argus/MELISSA KEY
Kevin Wolf, left, and Chip Craig laugh and joke as they purchase tickets for the raffle that Hal Forrester, right, won during the last Kiwanis Club meeting.
Once there was a Kiwanis club, and the members loved helping children very much.
Every year, the members would run a train for the children.
They taught teens to be leaders and worked to eliminate neonatal tetanus across the globe.
More than 100 men, busy with their careers and businesses, would gather weekly to network and to give their time.
One year, club members wanted to meet earlier, so the club founded a Sunrise Club.
Another year, the members wanted an evening meeting, so the club founded the Waynesborough Club for them.
Then the older members decided they did not want to raise funds so much, so the Golden K was formed.
Now, today, that same Kiwanis Club of Goldsboro that runs the train and helps the community is only a shadow of that 100-plus membership.
But even though they are small in number, those who are still part of the original club are working to keep that tradition of giving alive.
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The Goldsboro Kiwanis club will celebrate its 95th anniversary July 26 at Herman Park.
As part of the event, the club's 60-year-old train will run from 2 to 5 p.m. The Kiwanis will give away free snow cones with purchase of a ride. Normal concessions will be for sale.
The club is one of the oldest in Kiwanis International. The international organization turned 100 this year.
Nine people sit in the Lane Tree conference room on Monday at 12:30 p.m.
Hal Forrester is one of the longest standing members in attendance.
His neighbor convinced him to join in 1994. He was in business at the time and wanted to make business connections. He has served in a leadership capacity.
"I've enjoyed it," he said.
When he joined, he estimates the club had 40 members regularly attending meetings.
"We've lost members," he admits. "Meeting at 12 is not a good thing."
On Mondays, treasurer Celia James passes out attendance sheets.
She has been a Kiwanian her whole life. When her father, John Wooten, joined the Kiwanis, Celia joined him on the service projects, becoming an honorary member before the club admitted women.
Her father was involved in his Kiwanis club for 45 years, earning the moniker Mr. Kiwanis.
Her husband, Webster James, joined the Kiwanis because of Celia's family's involvement.
"We were dating at the time," he said.
"He worked the Kiwanis projects because I worked the Kiwanis projects," she said, laughing.
She has always been called to service.
She worked in education and retired as the principal of Meadow Lane Elementary.
The top of her post-retirement bucket list was to join the Kiwanis Club.
"You see the potential impact, and the satisfaction in knowing you've made a difference in a young person's life," she said.
She has been with the Goldsboro Kiwanis Club for four years.
Webster has been involved with the Kiwanis for 45 years now. He has held numerous leadership positions, including three years as a trustee on the board of Kiwanis International.
He pauses to think of why he has stayed so heavily involved.
Chip Craig stands up across the room and begins to tell his friends about his weekend on a leadership retreat with the local Key Clubs.
The campground flooded and he spent $40 in quarters drying off the student's gear. But Chip did not complain about the weather or the time in the laundry room.
He spoke of the students' resilience and positive attitude.
"That's why I do it," Webster said. "The Key Clubs."
Key Clubs are the high school chapter of the Kiwanis club. The Key Club is the largest high school service organization in the world.
The Goldsboro club sponsors three clubs -- Goldsboro High School, Wayne Early Middle College High School and Wayne School of Engineering.
Celia works with the WEMCHS Key Club as an adviser. She says that the opportunity to work side-by-side with the Key Club members has revitalized the club.
"These clubs have taken off like wildfire," she says.
Still, there is a discrepancy between the high volume of Key Club members, looking to make a difference and have a sterling college application, and the number of 18-year-olds transitioning to full-time Kiwanis membership.
Even in Goldsboro, the Key Club members are not aging into Kiwanis.
Goldsboro Kiwanis President Jim Vernon says that's because most of the Key Club members leave Goldsboro.
"They're the kids that get it, they get involved at an early age and are college bound," he said.
The youngest members of Goldsboro Kiwanis are members of the new satellite club and are 30 years old.
Universities have Circle K, the intermediary chapter between Key Club and Kiwanis. The Circle K represents the smallest faction of Kiwanis internationally.
Somewhere, between high school graduation and becoming a young professional, Kiwanians are losing their hook.
"This is happening internationally," Celia said.
Key Clubs now have a higher population than Kiwanis International. Locally, the Kiwanis club with the highest membership is the Golden K, there is a trend of aging out of fundraising.
The satellite club was founded in March in an effort to appeal to young professionals. The club meets once a month, on Saturdays, for breakfast or brunch. It has two members so far.
"Kiwanis need to be more responsive to the way young people do things," Celia said. "It takes a lot of hands and hearts to do work that needs to be done. Young people are being pulled in so many directions that they have to prioritize. We have to show them how they can impact the community."
The Key Clubs help at the Kiwanis train during the summer, selling concessions and promoting childhood literacy.
They have themed book readings, like "Llama, Llama Red Pajama," where they dress in costume and read to younger children. They climb aboard the back of the train to be the caboose and keep the children entertained.
"They're role models for the younger children," Celia said.
In a personal essay about her Kiwanis experience, Becky Craig, 11-year member and Key Club adviser wrote "Kiwanis clubs continue to stay relevant -- because while fashions and music change, students still long for adults to come along side them and encourage them."
Harlon Neal wrote that driving the train in the park, a jewel in the community, brings so much joy to the children.
"We may be small in numbers, but our club does make a huge impact in the community."
If you are interested in learning more about the Goldsboro Kiwanis Club mission, stop by Herman Park Center Kiwanis train on Saturday or Sunday to speak to a member, or visit Lane Tree Golf Club Mondays at 12:30 p.m.