COMMUNITY & CLUBS -- jim de boom

NEW YEAR’S RESOLUTION? Want to get more fun out of life? Be more

purposeful? Make new friends? Network? Give something back to the

community? See the world? Show pride in America? Then consider joining a

service club in 2000! There are USA-only clubs as well as service clubs

that have members around the world.

Rotary is the first of the services clubs, founded in 1905 by Paul

Harris, a Chicago lawyer. Today, Rotary has 1.2 million members in 29,000

clubs in 159 countries around the world and is the leader in eliminating

polio as a disease as a childhood disease. Four local clubs provide for

breakfast, lunch or dinner meetings.

The first local Exchange Club was formed in Detroit in 1911 by Charles A.

Berkey and is now is made up of nearly 1,000 clubs and 33,000 members

throughout the United States and Puerto Rico. Their major national thrust

is the prevention of child abuse, and there are two local noon time

clubs.

Allen Simpson Browne, a Moose lodge organizer and Joseph Prance, a

tailor, founded Kiwanis International in 1915. Today, Kiwanis membership

spans the globe with more than 300,000 members in 8,000 clubs in 82

countries. Their major worldwide project deals with iodine deficiency

found in children, which causes retardation. Three local clubs meet for

breakfast and lunch weekly.

Lions began in 1917 in Chicago, led by insurance man Melvin Jones. It has

grown to include more than 1.5 million members in 170 countries. Lions

are known worldwide for their work with the hard of hearing and

sightless. Three local Lion Clubs meet for dinner, while one meets for

breakfast.

Soroptimist International has almost 100,000 members in 119 countries

around the world. The first Soroptimist club was formed in 1921 by a

group of 80 women in Alameda County, California. They chose their name

from two Latin words meaning “best for women.” They continue to focus on

women’s opportunities today. The local club meets for lunch.

PUT A SERVICE CLUB IN YOUR FUTURE: If you made a New Year’s resolution to

get involved in your community or the world, to expand your circle of

friends, to network then check out our local service clubs. Some clubs

meet weekly, while others meet twice a month. All provide a lot of fun,

fellowship and service opportunities. The cost of membership and

participation varies from club to club. Most are coed.

You are invited to visit the service club of your choice to check them

out while they check you out. Most will buy your first meal for you. They

make a difference in our community and world, and you can too!

WORTH REPEATING: From the Newport Beach-Corona del Mark Kiwanis Club

“Scuttlebutt” ... “The dictionary is the only place where success comes

before work.”

SERVICE CLUB MEETINGS THIS COMING WEEK:

TUESDAY: The Newport Beach Sunrise Rotary Club meets at the Balboa Bay

Club at 7:30 a.m.; the Costa Mesa-Newport Harbor Lions Club will meet at

the Costa Mesa Golf and Country Club at 6:30 p.m.

WEDNESDAY: The South Coast Metro Rotary Club will meet at the Center

Club, and the Newport Harbor Kiwanis Club meets at the University

Athletic Club, both at 7:15 a.m. The Exchange Club of Orange Coast meets

at the Bahia Corinthian Yacht Club at noon; the Newport Balboa Rotary

meets at the Bahia Corinthian Yacht Club to hear Harbor Master Captain

Marty Kasules of the Orange County Sheriff’s Department at 6 p.m.

THURSDAY: The Costa Mesa Orange Coast Breakfast Lions Club meets at

Mimi’s Cafe to hear Dale Carlson, maker of balloons; The Kiwanis Club of

Newport Beach-Corona del Mar meets at the Bahia Corinthian Yacht; the

Costa Mesa Kiwanis Club meets at the Holiday Inn; the Exchange Club of

Newport Harbor meets at the Riverboat to hear John Moorlach, Orange

County treasurer/tax collector; and the Newport-Irvine Rotary Club meets

at the Irvine Marriott, all at noon.

* COMMUNITY & CLUBS is published Saturdays in the Daily Pilot. Send your

service club’s meeting information by Fax to (949) 660-8667, e-mail to

jdeboom@aol.com or by mail to 2082 S.E. Bristol, Suite 201, Newport

Beach, CA 92660-1740.