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A century celebration for the Kiwanis Club of Youngstown
CANFIELD
Tippecanoe Country Club filled with more than 100 guests to celebrate the 100th Anniversary of the Kiwanis Club of Youngstown.
“We are not a very large group, but we are a very strong group,” said Anthony D’Apolito, club president. “We get a lot of satisfaction seeing what can be and is accomplished. ... Everyone in this organization makes a difference.”
The strength of the club showed in the number of guests rallying around members during the dinner Friday evening.
Guests and members gave one another hugs and thanks for their continued support of the now-century old club dedicated to “serving the children of the world,” according to the club’s mission statement.
To celebrate all the time spent serving youth, the Kiwanis Club donated $10,000 to the United Way of Youngstown and the Mahoning Valley toward the rehabilitation of a playground at Taft Elementary School, 730 E. Avondale Ave., Youngstown.
Jerry Osborne, club treasurer, said the construction should be completed next week. By giving back to the youth, he said, the club is able to give back to the community.
Moving forward, Osborne said his mission is “just to keep continuing to help children.”
Along with that tradition, another will continue for the club – meeting at the Central YMCA at 17 N. Champion St., downtown Youngstown.
Osborne said the club has and will continue to meet at noon every Friday in the same place they met when the club was first chartered on July 29, 1916.
“One hundred years is a long time, and we are still at it,” said Chris McCarthy, club past president and lieutenant governor.
He said he fondly remembers his Kiwanis Club membership start as a 15-year-old boy in Key Club, the organization’s high school arm, at the former Woodrow Wilson High School in Youngstown.
From there, McCarthy went on to hold officer positions in the club and is currently continuing his Kiwanis career by running for the Ohio Kiwanis Club District Foundation Board.