Northlake Area Kiwanis Club History

Here is a summary of Northlake Area Kiwanis Club (written at the 60th anniversary of the club, by William Piper, longtime member)

KIWANIS history
Reflections on the Kiwanis Club of Northlake as it celebrates its 60th Anniversary

By William Piper (November 10, 2015)
 A 60 year anniversary is a big thing!  For a service club, like Kiwanis, a lot of lives, especially those of children, have been touched. I grew up in Northlake and joined Kiwanis in 1976. I came to know many of the original members and appreciated their civic pride for our home town. Over the past 60 years, the Kiwanis Club of Northlake had a significant role in shaping the character of Northlake into a community of “Friendly People”, citizens who cared for each other through their volunteer activity, especially its children. If you grew up in Northlake, Kiwanis touched you at some point along the way.
 Kiwanis International is now celebrating 100 years. In 1955, Kiwanis International was a young 40 years old.  The 1950’s saw an expansion of Kiwanis clubs into new communities being built for the veterans of WWII. Northlake was no different.
 Northlake was incorporated in 1949. It still had a number of farms, including the old Wagner Farm, which was later developed by Midland Development and where I grew up on Wagner Dr.  Schools were being built because there was a baby boom going on. Civic leaders who had served their country in war were ready to serve their community as they raised their families.
 In 1955, with the help of established Kiwanis clubs from Franklin Park and Elmwood Park, the Kiwanis Club of Northlake was chartered on December 12, 1955.  Its charter night was held at the newly built Grant Park Fieldhouse.  Charter members included many civic leaders, including Mayor Hayes, Doc Broz, Tom Moffat, John Connell and Bob Staerkel.
 The first Chicagoland Kiwanis Peanut Days were held in the 1950’s.  It was one of the original tag days sanctioned by Mayor Daley in Chicago.  Others included Donut Day (Salvation Army), Poppy day (American Legion), Children’s Benefit League and Lions Candy Day were some of the others. Northlake Kiwanis would not be left out and has participated in Kiwanis Peanut Day for the past 60 years.  That fund raiser along with its annual pancake breakfast helped raise funds needed for many projects.
 In 1959, when West Leyden High School opened its doors, Kiwanis was there to help by sponsoring the West Leyden Key Club.  That club continues today and joins many Kiwanis sponsored Key Clubs around the world in being the largest high school service organization in the world. I was a member of the Key Club in 1969-70.
 The Kiwanis advisor and faculty sponsor for the Key Club thru out the 1960’s and 70’s was the science teacher, Steve Kyrias.  Other school teachers and administrators who were members of Kiwanis over the years included, the math teacher, Joe Cvetan, Roy School principal, Mr. John Tomko, Dist. 83 School Board president Clint Thacker, and Dist. 83 superintendent John Ludolf.
 Beginning in the 1950’s and throughout the 80’s the club sponsored the annual kids Christmas party at Grant Park, providing entertainment, food and gifts to hundreds of kids – free of charge. Members, such as Joe Ardoino, John Lawrisuk, Harold Crocket, Dennis Maes, and Harold Mareci would be on hand. I can still remember getting a plastic model of a warship to glue together. Later, when I became a member, we would bring in magicians, story tellers and always a visit from Santa.
 During the 50’s and into the 70’s, schools used patrol boys at the corners as school children walked to school. As a reward for their service, Kiwanis would buy a block of tickets and rent a bus to take the kids to Kiwanis Night at Shriners Circus.  A good time was always had by all.
 Kiwanis would annually send a group of handicapped children from the area to a special needs camp for a day.  Kiwanis Member, John Connell and later his wife, Jackie Connell, would always make sure the kids had a great time, fishing, boating and just having fun.
 Kiwanis took an active role in the annual Northlake Day, which back then was a one day event held on the 4th of July.  Long time Kiwanis member, and local electrician, Joe Perry, chaired the event in 1974 when Northlake celebrated its 25th anniversary. Kiwanis members often volunteered to help set up an old fashioned 4th of July Celebration.  Joe Perry would be out there hot wiring all of the electrical needs for the booths into the electrical box and fixing things when we blew fuses. Aside from providing the volunteers to help set up and run the event each year, the club invested in a couple of cotton candy machines and sold its signature treat, cotton candy, each year.  As originally conceived, Northlake Day was held on the 4th of July and only the non-profits in town could run a booth.  It was a major source of fund raising for the many civic organizations.
 In the mid-1980s, Kiwanis got a shot at the beer booth. Traditionally, the beer booth alternated between the American Legion and the VFW since they both already had liquor licenses.   When neither one of them were inclined to take their turn, Kiwanis jumped in.  Within a couple of years, the club had amassed enough funds to celebrate its 30th anniversary in style and built the Kiwanis Gazebo in Grant Park, near the dam on Addison Creek.  Many Kiwanis members volunteered time in the project, including myself, Bob Staerkel, Joe Perry, Jim Policheri, Alan Arbuckle, Rich Grochowski, Larry Lewis, Joe Prochaska, Arnie Blitenthal, and Harold Mareci.
 In the 1980’s, the Northlake Police department gave a program to the club on the benefits of bullet proof vests.  They were expensive and not provided as routine equipment.  The club agreed and bought the first two vests for the department.
 In 1987, Kiwanis International voted to allow women to join and Northlake Kiwanis welcomed them into the club.  Active members included Nancy Tobin, Sharon Thacker, Delores Policheri and Mildred Dean. Many of these new members actively participated in a program distributing free books and encouraging reading at the library.
 Though out its existence, the Kiwanis club always had an unpublicized program that provided free eye exams and glasses for school children who needed them but whose families faced hard times.  Working thru local school nurses and cooperating optical offices, the children are identified, sent for an exam, fitted for glasses and the bill sent to the club for payment.
 When there was a need, members would also fund and help build wheel chair ramps for homes where a member of the house was in a wheel chair and needed a ramp.
 Thought the years, the club gave scholarships to graduating seniors at West Leyden who demonstrated achievements in music and art. It later began sponsoring the Builders Club at Mannheim Middle school and the K-Kids at Roy & Scott School. Northlake Kiwanis would also help sponsor boys and girl baseball teams, scout troops and send students to special leadership camps.
 Today, the club continues to identify special needs within the community.  It continues to sponsor the Key Club, Builders Club and K-Kids.  It supports the scouts and helps with coat drives and eyeglasses for school children.  It contributes to local food pantries and participates in Loaves and Fishes. It also continues to add playground equipment at the Kiwanis Playground in the park.  
 Both Northlake and Kiwanis have played an important part in shaping me.  If you too have that spirit of volunteerism and believe we can do more to help our communities when we come together with common interest, such as the way Kiwanis has done in Northlake, I invite you to consider joining the Kiwanis Club of Northlake. Together, we can do more.