Kiwanis first came to Kalamazoo as the nation stood on the brink of entering World War I. In 1916 Dr. Leslie DeWitt signed on as Kalamazoo’s first Kiwanian and it was on Jan. 10, 1917. That organizational meeting was held in the Burdick Hotel, which used to be in the very same location as the Radisson, where we still meet every week. At that initial meeting of the Kiwanis Club of Kalamazoo, the 72 men who were to be charter members elected Dr. James T. Upjohn as their first club President.
Club Milestones
1917: The fourth club to be organized in Michigan and the 37th to be chartered in the nation
1917: Began support of Pretty Lake Vacation Camp
1919: Co-founded the Battle Creek Kiwanis Club
1920: A shift in the focus of our club from the motto “We Trade” to “We Build” and became a service club instead of a business network
1920: Established a partnership with Rotary to establish the Boy Scout Camp, RotaKiwan
1923: First hosting of the Michigan District Convention
1930: Partnered with the Service Club of Kalamazoo (now the Junior League) as principal sponsors of Pretty Lake Camp
1930: Pretty Lake Tag Day begins
1942: Sponsored the formation of Constance Brown Hearing Centers
1947: Kiwanis Travel and Adventure Lectures begins
1953: Sponsored the Suburban Kiwanis Club
1953: Sponsored the Central High Key Club and the K College Circle K Club
1957: Sponsored West Side Kiwanis Club
1970: Pretty Lake Business Campaign begins
1987: Kiwanis International by-laws changed to admit women as members, and our club welcomed two
1991: Sponsored Golden K Kiwanis
1993: Sponsored Sunrise Kiwanis Club
2007: Began the purchase and delivery of dictionaries to every third grader in the Kalamazoo Public School system
2008: Partnered with the Northside Association for Community Development to build a splash water park on Florence Street
2012: Began Flags Across Kalamazoo subscription fundraiser
20??: Absorbed the Suburban Kiwanis Club
2019: Began support for the formation of Children’s Nature Playscape
Read the full story (PDF) written by Past President, Scott Scrum, in 2017 at our 100th-anniversary dinner and celebration.
Our History
Kiwanis first came to Kalamazoo as the nation stood on the brink of entering World War I. In 1916 Dr. Leslie DeWitt signed on as Kalamazoo’s first Kiwanian and it was on Jan. 10, 1917. That organizational meeting was held in the Burdick Hotel, which used to be in the very same location as the Radisson, where we still meet every week. At that initial meeting of the Kiwanis Club of Kalamazoo, the 72 men who were to be charter members elected Dr. James T. Upjohn as their first club President.
Club Milestones
Read the full story (PDF) written by Past President, Scott Scrum, in 2017 at our 100th-anniversary dinner and celebration.
What we are doing now?