The Kinsmen are a Dynamic Volunteer Organization Enriching our Communities through Service while Embracing National Pride, Positive Values, Personal Development and Lasting Friendships.

Kinsmen Events

TaKin' Your Food to the Bank - 2017

The Kinsmen Club of Calgary is holding its annual event in support of the Calgary Food Bank.
 
On Saturday February 25, 2017 the club, along with the Calgary Interfaith Food Bank, is collecting non-perishable food items and cash donations at Canada Safeway’s Westhills, Shawnessy and Crowfoot stores. 
Please HELP us with your donations for the Calgary Food Bank.    The need is Great.
Event Date:        Saturday February 25, 2016  -   10:00am - 3:00pm
 
Thank you Calgary for your contributions in 2016.
There were 2,935 Pounds of food collected Plus cash contributions of $1,526.
This 5 hour event collected the equivalent of $7,395.

ACH Radiothon

There will be a Kinsmen Krew manning the phones to accept your donations - Friday Feb. 10 - 5:30 to 9:00am (in the Morning)
403-802-2700

Please be there for us so we have something to do.

Alberta Children's Hospital 2017 Caring for Kids Radiothon fundraiser - in conjunction with Country 105 - February 8, 9 & 10, 2017

Tune in to Country 105 February 8, 9 & 10, 2017 to hear how YOUR support of the Alberta Children’s Hospital is helping over 95,000 kids who rely on our hospital each year!

Paul Brandt joins Team Kinsmen and now we are looking pretty good.
 

ACH - Kids Christmas Party - 2016

The Kinsmen are helping out again this year with the Alberta Children's Hospital (ACH) Kids Christmas Party, Thursday December 15, 2015.

Of course there are some crafts and glue and all sorts of sticky stuff including the sugar and icing in the cup cakes and rice crispy square handed out to all the luck ones.

This is a long tradition of the Kinsmen, and a small amount of joy on the kids and the family's faces bring a little bit of pleasure to the guys at this time of year.

 

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History - Kinsmen Club of Calgary

Calgary

(Excerpt from Galaxy of Gold (1979))

One day in last November, 1924, two friends met on a busy street in Calgary. Jack Gifford, who was visiting from Vancouver, began to tell John Ross about a new service club for young men. So enthusiastic was the young Vancouverite about this new organization, the aims of which were to promote fellowship among young businessmen between the ages of 21 and 40, that John Ross began to investigate the feasibility of a similar club in Calgary.

The following excerpt written in the language of Manley Edwards is taken from The March of Kin, published by Frank Allison in 1930:

“Say Manley, would you be interested in forming a service club? It was these words that John Howard Ross accosted me with. As a young, recently married lawyer, to whom street car tickets were a luxury, I lost no time in telling John that I was in no position to entertain any thought of joining any such club, embellished I fear by some small epithets re the modus operandi of those so called community benefactors. A few weeks later John Ross introduced myself and Jerry Ferguson to Herman MacWhinney, who explained the origin, development and operation of the Kinsmen Clubs. I remember well the meeting in Marsh Porter’s office one night when Harold Millican, Tommy Collinge, Marsh Porter, Jerry Ferguson, John Ross and I met and discussed the prospects of forming a club. And so, on the 18 day of December, 1924, at the Tea Kettle Inn, thirteen fellows met under the chairmanship of John Ross and inaugurated the KINSMEN CLUB OF CALGARY.”

The charter members were: Manley Edwards, President; John Ross, Vice-President; Tommy Collinge, Secretary; Jim Nicoll, Assistant Secretary; C. Halliday, Treasurer; Harold Millican, Director; Marsh Porter, Director; Jerry Ferguson, Director; Bryan Hammond, Charlie Matthews, Ed Reid, Alex Ross and Tom Skinner.

Monetarily the club had humble beginnings. One of the first fund raisers was running a food concession at the stampede grounds. With this began the spectacle and annual tradition of stampede visitors being hustled by the Kinsmen. Other early projects were relatively successful and the funds were channeled into a hospital project as the main service function. The financial report of 1925 shows a balance of only $174, but the early years cannot be measured in dollars. Fellowship among young men of common interests was the mortar that held the club together and service work was encouraged primarily because it fostered fellowship. At this point the Kinsmen personality was still predominantly isolationist but the changing world situation of the 1930s would propel the club beyond its narrow confines.

It was during that decade that the Kinsmen Club became vitally involved in the national organization. Manley Edwards was the first Calgarian to become national president and in his year, 1931, Calgary hosted its first national convention attended by 66 delegates from across Canada.

Changes were made within the confines of the club also. The ten charter members who remained in Calgary in 1938 met and decided to sponsor the Kinsmen Merit Trophy to recognize and honor an individual member for outstanding service to the Calgary club. On January 12, 1939 the first trophy was awarded to Ian MacDonald for outstanding services rendered the previous year.

Organization was tightened in the club. An inter-service club committee was formed during 1939 to co-ordinate relations with a view to avoiding overlapping or duplicating efforts. In the latter forties, re-organization continued. With the return of veterans, Kin energies were directed to internal operations. Under President Harry Young, innovations in direction and organization were instituted and the club constitution was substantially revised. Due to the high influx of transferees and returning serviced men at the end of the war the membership limit had to be increased from 60 to 75 men.

The executive was given greater decision making power, bringing to the general membership only those matters requiring discussion and voting. Committee chairmen began to report to specific directors rather than the executive as a whole and separate accounts were established. Attendance was excellent during these years. Shenanigans were par for the course and the St. Patrick’s Day Caper was a not unfamiliar kind of tomfoolery. On one particular St. Pat’s day during the forties, the members of Scottish decent spent hours reconstructing the Blarney Castle complete with Blarney Stone. As each member knelt to kiss the scared stone, he found both his posterior and face were unexpectedly assaulted.

The first service work done during this period was the establishment of the Boys Club and the development of the Community Chest Drive, and early version of the United Appeal. For many years the Kinsmen distinguished themselves in these campaigns often exceeding the financial objectives.

In 1939 the membership became involved with the Tuberculosis Association. At this time the club became official board of directors of the association and re-organized it completely.

The most important work during the war was the club’s commitment to the war effort. The royal visit to Calgary by King George VI and Queen Elizabeth had set the scene for the publication and sale of a souvenir program extolling the virtues of Calgary. These funds, plus others garnered from two dances, were directed to the war fund. Co-operation with the National Kinsmen organization was at once an established fact and the quota for the Lick Hitler campaign was easily met. Magazines were collected and bundled for shipment by rail. With the help of wives and friends the club sent a total of 80,000 magazines by the end of the war.

On January 9, 1941, a motion was passed: “That the Kinsmen Club of Calgary shall, while maintaining a high standard, its present service work, give full and complete support to the War Services Program of the National War Services Committee in preference before all other war work.

With 1942 came the inception of the Mile of Dime, a concerted effort by local Kinsmen to raise10 cents per Calgarian per year for the war effort. Radio station CFCN donated air time for a Kinsmen program and listeners were requested to mail in donations which were subsequently announced over the air. In July the club entered a milk wagon in the stampede parade where spectators along the route were requested (almost to the point of harassment) to throw dimes at the float. The total raised in the first Mile of Dimes, $1,600, was directed to the Milk for Britain fund. By the end of the war the Kinsmen Club of Calgary has donated $100,000, an accomplishment which made them well known in the community.

Other war work included working diligently for the Victory Bond Drive. The campaign of 1942 which cajoled citizens “Think . . . a dollar might lesson the war by a minute . . . a hundred dollars might cut one hour . . . a million dollars might save months of war and months of suffering for millions: raised a total of $80,000.

The club supplied both manpower and funds for several blood donor clinics and servicemen’s entertainment nights. RAF Night saw members of the Royal Air Force able to put aside their responsibilities for a few hours and be entertained in true Kinsmen fashion.

In spite of their heavy commitment to the war effort, Kinsmen continued the annual Christmas Seal Drive which consisted of stuffing, sealing and mailing stamps to thousands of Calgary homes. The monies raised provided the personnel, equipment and supplies for the tuberculosis testing centres, the institution and continuation of which meant early diagnosis and control of the dreaded disease. Work at the Junior Red Cross Hospital continued and even through gasoline was rationed the Saturday outings for the children instituted in pre-war years were maintained. As more specialized pieces of hospital equipment became available, they were purchased and donated.

During stampede week, Kin were busy treating the children and the elderly to the stampede parade, organizing and supervising a street dance and held a chesterfield raffle which netted the club sufficient funds to continue its community service work.

The lack of facilities and special requirements for hearing handicapped children were brought to the attention of the membership. For the next few years service funds were directed to the purchasing of audio equipment and supplies, as well as hearing aids for children whose families found the cost prohibitive. Kinsmen participated in the establishment of special classes at the James Short School and gave their whole-hearted co-operation to this venture.

In 1946 the city acquired the Maude Riley Home and in 1961 the present shelter was constructed with an adjacent detention facility. The centre now has its own nursery school and kindergarten and the older children attended local schools. The necessary material things – well equipped rooms, clothes and playground facilities are provided. In this regard, every attempt is made to make the children’s lives as normal as possible. However as the children do lack family attention, the Kinsmen have tried, since 1950, to supply the much needed personal element. Every weekend, the members take the younger children for a drive and show them films. Throughout the year various outings such as hockey games, Ice Capades and World Adventure Tours are arranged with the Kinsmen presence adding the personal touch.

During the forties the K-40 Club had been started and was taking an active role organizing the club’s silver anniversary.

The fifties marked the beginning of an era which placed the Kinsmen Club of Calgary on a solid foundation. Financial success and the aura of big business resulted in the club’s incorporation under the Registrar of Companies and Societies Act. After this milestone, the club embarked upon a road which led to a multitude of major contributions to the community, but first a serious problem had to be resolved. Just after purchasing another vehicle for the hospital, the club found itself in serious financial condition. Morale was at its lowest ebb with no project in sight to motivate and unify the membership.

The club then became aware of the successful car raffles held in Edmonton, Regina and Saskatoon and they cautiously approached the Stampede Board to determine the feasibility of a similar project. Negotiations determine that the costs and net proceeds would be split equally, with the Stampede Board profits directed to 4-H and other youth-oriented groups. The first booth resembled a hamburger stand with the car occupying the middle ground. Kin, Kinettes, K-40 and all the friends that could be mustered manned the little booth. However by Friday morning of stampede week receipts were insufficient to pay for the car. Desperate situations require desperate measures. Kin took to the midway to gab, convince and cajole people to buy a ticket for a dollar. The public was sceptical but by Friday night expenses were covered and the next day a profit of $5,800 for the club and the board was realized. From that point on the Kinsmen Club of Calgary never looked back. While it may be true that the incentive to win is sufficient inducement to buy a ticket, the Kinsmen have always kept the public aware that the profits would be earmarked for certain project within the community.

In 1952, Mewata Pool, Which was built by proceeds from the combined efforts of Calgary’s major service clubs, was soon to be dismantled to make way for the 14th Street Bridge. Stu Barker and Bill Webb undertook an exhaustive study to determine the feasibility of a Kinsmen funded pool. They met with Mayor Don MacKay, learned that city council had budgeted $45,000 for the pool replacement, then proposed that the Kinsmen match the budgeted amount thereby allowing two pools to be constructed. City council readily agreed.

The location of this type of facility is always a concern to a service club. When it was announced that two pools were to be constructed, one in the north and the other in the southwest sector, the ratepayers became very vocal in their disapproval.

At the time, another service club representing North Calgary had approached Council to discuss the proposed north pool. They had raised a small amount of money for the same purpose and the city gave them the $45,000 leaving the Kinsmen to pay totally for the other pool. In 1955 – some three years later – the pool was completed at a cost of $80,000.

During the 50’s the club participated in four other swimming pool projects. The second pool was located near Queen Elizabeth School and the third found its place in Bridgeland, just south of the General Hospital. The fourth and fifth pools were financed on a cost-sharing basis; the Killarney Pool and the downtown YMCA received donations of $60,000 and $75,000 respectively.

The fifties must be reviewed as an era of change. The members were more exposed to the public. They had begun to build a reputation as money-raisers responsible for the funding of numerous community facilities.

During the sixties, the Calgary club set high goals and exceeded them. Financial contributions to the community during this decade reached unprecedented levels and if one word could be used to summarize the decade, it would be “success”.

Among the wide range of activities undertaken was the massive injection of participatory sports which would tax even the most avid fan.

Hockey teams, keglers, curling teams and golf enthusiasts chartered buses and trains to transport families and teams to other in Clubs in Alberta for friendly but inspired competition.

In 1963, expansions and inter-club participation was being stressed on local, national and international levels and on April 12, a motion was passed to form a second Calgary club. Under chairman Ron Nicholls, the Jolly Fellows developed into the Stampede City Club, chartered April 12, 1964. Charter Night, 250 Kinsmen and their wives joined Calgary’s National President Keith Adams in welcoming the Kinsmen Club of Stampede City to the National Association. The nucleus of 27 charter members became club number 402 in Canada.

In order to further the inter-club relations and as a final fling, the 1962-63 executive took the old fresh air car – a worthless wreck which had over 125,000 miles logged – painted it with slogans, placed behind the wheel a dummy dressed as a conservative eastern banker, sat beside him a female mannequin dressed in western attire, then shipped the whole mess to the national convention in Hamilton. Late the first evening in the convention city, the wives of Calgary members, perched on top of the car singing western ballads as a transit mix truck pulled alongside and proceeded to fill the car with concrete. Radio, television and newspapers got wind of the unique endeavour and within 48 hours all of Canada and a major portion of the United States had been informed of this, to say the least, strange behavior.

With this Calgary’s reputation for unusual antics was assured and the publicity which resulted proves invaluable in promoting the 1964 National Convention to be held in Banff. As in 1948, Calgary Kin, under Chairman Ken Manning, provided the organization. All social functions were held in the curling arena and when the decorating committee completed its preparations, the building bore no resemblance to its original state. The event was the first prefabricated convention in Calgary’s Kin history. All decorations and props – including the world’s longest Kinsmen bar some 60 feet in length – were built in Calgary and transported to the convention site. Even the food was prepared in Calgary by caterers who brought the meals in cooking trailers, as the arena was not designed to carry the electrical load required by the cooking equipment. It was not unusual for sudden darkness to descend more frequently than the 1,200 Kinventioneers would normally expect. In typical western fashion, visiting Kin were treated to a rodeo and outdoor barbecue and Edmonton and Calgary Kinettes provided kick-line entertainment reminiscent of an earlier era.

The fun and fellowship of this period did not supersede the community service for which the club had become known. Realizing the importance of instilling good safety habits in the minds of city preschoolers, the Kinsmen had worked to that end with the Safety Council since 1940. In 1963 the club increased its input to the safety program and designed and developed a program geared to Calgary’s kindergarten children. Members painted large posters with a safety theme ad distributed them to the kindergartens. In 1967, the Jasper the Bear Safety Program was instigated consisting of an attraction safety education kit designed around a four foot cut-out of Alberta’s own Jasper the Bear.

A major project was started in the sixties for the betterment of the handicapped. The need for a camp for the handicapped in southern Alberta had become apparent to the Kinsmen in the early fifties when the club began supplying manpower and funds for the diabetic summer recreation camp. The members drove the children to a Bragg Creek site, transported provisions and dismantled the temporary quarters upon completion of the camp. This continued for many years and was an unqualified success.

In November, 1964, the idea of making the camp as a Kinsmen project was presented to the general membership. Plans included a main lodge, dormitories, kitchen, medical centre, staff quarters, craft studio and a swimming pool.

It was suggested that the club commit $70,000 with the Alberta Rehabilitation Council for the Disabled supplying the remaining $30,000.

Kinsmen began scouting the Bragg Creek area for a suitable site. They had made several trips into the area when finally, and quite by accident, they came upon a site that had level ground, good access, power lines and a magnificent view of the Rockies. This 34 acre site was leased from the government for a token $1 per year.

Architects, under the direction of Kin Ken Bond and Chuck Zickefoose developed the plans according to the club’s specifications. Then in the spring of 1965 the club received disastrous news. The contracting bids ranged from $251,000 to $424,000, much higher than the original $100,000 anticipated figure. After frantic meetings with the selected contractor the cost was reduced to $170,000, after the pool and several other buildings were eliminated, a grant for an additional $30,000 was obtained and the Hospital Aid Society donated the $10,000 required for the swimming pool.

Construction began in the fall of 1965 and was completed the following spring. The camp now included the facilities for horseback riding, hiking, swimming, campouts, crafts, rifle shooting and canoeing. Indeed the stereotype image of the abilities of the handicapped are dashed at Camp Horizon.

During the first year 220 campers enjoyed the facilities. The camp has since continued to develop with the Kiwanis donating equipment, the Lions making funds available for the Art Centre and the Kinettes supplying and astonishing variety of items ranging from lounge furniture to a tractor. Funds for the directors’ and caretakers’ quarters were supplied by the Active 20/30 Club. Replacement costs for the camp would be over one million dollars. It carters to those afflicted with mental retardation, diabetes and cerebral palsy as well as other physical impairments. The original philosophy, which denies no one the recreational experience for lack of finances, is maintained through campership funds supplied by many service and business organizations.

Club participation does not end with financial contributions. Members serve on the camp board and manpower is supplied at various work parties to maintain the buildings and the grounds. Early in February, Kinsmen and their families have an opportunity to enjoy a weekend outing at the camp. Typical of Kinsmen participation is this mixture of work, fun and relaxation.

For some Calgary Kinsmen, the first forty-five years almost appear as the stepping stones to the pinnacle reached during the dynamic seventies. During this decade the club became involved in a weekly TV Kingo Bingo, which by 1979 had evolved into its most successful fund raising project. The club hosted major telethons with the Stampede City and Foothills Clubs, co-hosted the World Council Convention of 1977, maintained a strong role in District and National affairs with representation by two governors and three deputy governors, increased the number of major fun evenings such as action night, advertiser’s night and family activities in keeping with a greater emphasis on Kinsmen as a family club.

The Club’s first Kingo Bingo was held on February 7, 1970 under the chairmanship of Bob Sawka, and beginning in early 1971 this evolved into a weekly bingo. Not only did this project provide substantial sums of money for the Calgary club’s service work, but it also provided a major source of revenue to approximately thirty participating Kinsmen and Kinette Clubs in Southern Alberta. However, fund raising is not Kingo Bingo’s only attribute. Fellowship is found in abundance as Kinsmen and Kinettes run the program each Saturday evening. Interclub visiting is also stimulated as Calgary’s Kingo Bingo committee travels to other clubs promoting the project.

Kingo, combined with the car award funds, enabled the club to institute a series of projects. Early in 1970, the club embarked on the largest undertaking of its history with the approval of the half million dollar Kinsmen Centre on the stampede grounds. This followed by the upgrading Kinsmen Camp Horizon with the construction of an additional dormitory, constructing a wing of a day training centre at the Providence Child Development Centre for use by over 100 multi-handicapped children, construction of the Kinsmen Children’s Zoo and establishing a school for children with learning disabilities, constructing Kinsmen Elbow River Park on the stampede grounds, and providing funds and aid to Kinsmen Camp Enviros, which endeavours to rehabilitate hard core delinquent youths.

The most significant of the smaller project carries on during the seventies included donations to the Boys and Girls Club of Calgary, Cystic Fibrosis Research Fund, the Children’s Hospital, The Service Centre, St. John’s Ambulance, Theatre Calgary, The Calgary Philharmonic, Cerebral Palsy and the handicapped Boy Scouts. The club purchased optacons to provide blind children with a new reading medium, a Fresh Air bus, and handi busses. Funds provided annual camping trips for needy children and bowling sessions for the mentally retarded.

Conventions during the decade played a large role in the club’s history, and its expertise at holding conventions was displayed at the National Convention of 1972. Aptly named Funtier Daze, the event gave Calgary, according to Calgary Kin, the opportunity to show the rest of the Kin family how to host a convention. Over twenty-two hundreds Kinsmen, Kinettes and Kin wives registered to make it the largest convention in Kin history. Highlights of the convention were the Calgarama production, which was the culmination of eight months of planning and rehearsals, a similar show stopper put on by the Kinsmen and Kinettes of the Edmonton club, and a mini rodeo where the action was fast, furious and often hilarious. The success of this convention prompted the club to bid for the World Council Convention of 1977 in conjunction with the two other Calgary clubs. This co-operative effort by the three clubs in hosting World Council not only enhanced their reputation throughout the Kinsmen organization and the World Council organization, but also fostered a great feeling of togetherness among them. Those who attended will long remember Canarama, the western adventure tour, rodeo and all those house parties. The club was also front and centre in promoting the World Councils in Hamburg, Germany in 1976 and in Christchurch, New Zealand in 1979.

This enthusiasm for conventions provided stimulus for club members to become more involved with the governments at the zone, district, national and international level. Deputy Governors from the club including Jim Duggan in 1974-’75, Bill Miller in 1977-’78, and Clay Harmon in 1979-’80. Zone activities did not end at this point as the club chartered or co-chartered the Kinsmen Club of Foothills City, High River and Cochran. District involvement was attained through Governors Eldon Loucks in 1970-’71 and Ross Allison during 1975-’76. Few in the club and district will soon forget the fabulous campaign for “Hoss Ross for Big Boss” at the National Convention in Vancouver in 1976. Another feather in the hat for the Calgary club was when World Council Chairman of 1977, Gary Lee, was chosen as the World Council representative in America for the 1978-’79 term.

In spite of the shenanigans, the Al San Club management continued to allow the Kinsmen Club to hold their meetings on their premise. Although all meetings are lively, a few deserve special recognition. Campaign nights and old timers’ nights are exceptional. The joint executive installation and Kin Kar Kickoff are mixed meetings where business, fellowship and socializing are blended.

Social events flourished during this decade. In 1979, approximately fifteen to twenty Kin still meet for Kin hockey every Sunday evening. This, combined with zone and district hockey tournaments, has provided for great club and inter-club fellowship. Bowling and bridge are hosted by the Kinette Club and held at intervals during the winter months. The long standing fall barbecue was changed to a Halloween night function and the costumes and scavenger hunt make this an evening not to be missed. Ladies’ Night is the social function of the year and provides Kin with the opportunity to thank the girls for their support. Southern Comfort is held at the Calgary Zoo Aviary with Hawaiian dress being the order of the evening. The annual Kinette spring dance which features an imaginative theme each year, the Kin golf tournament and barbecue, the Stampede wind up party and the Christmas decorating party are other social functions which should not be missed.

Family activities form an integral part of any club and the Calgary club has carried on the successful activities of the past and initiated numerous others during the seventies. The Christmas season forms the nucleus for these activities with a party for Kin children, a children’s hospital party, Cerebral Palsy party and a service centre party where on Christmas morning all members of the club are encouraged to take a few hours from their schedule and bring their families to the centre. Sno Bash compliments the Christmas season activities for the hardy families include sleighing, enjoying hay rides, snowmobiling and fortifying against the elements with one’s choice of wine or hot drinks and ample food for all.  The highlight of family activities is the Kinsmen Camp Horizon cleanup held on the May long weekend.  HORDE OF Kinsmen and their families converge on the camp on a Friday night and give it a first rate cleaning, and although the work is hard, it is carries out in an enjoyable atmosphere. The children are kept busy by a games committee and there is more than enough for them to do during their eighteen hour day.

Although it is the Kinsmen Club that is in the limelight, the majority of its achievements could not have been attained without the full support of the Kinettes and Kin wives. Apart from their understanding, their projects and support of Kin projects have proven vital to the success of the Calgary club. Kingo, Car Awards, Kinventions and volunteer work at the Calgary Lung Association office would not have enjoyed such great success without the participation of the Kinettes and Kin wives. The planning, organization and delivery of the Kinettes during the National Convention in 1972 and the World Council Convention in 1977 frequently outclassed Kin in the same area. Telethons co-hosted by the three Calgary clubs were heavily dependent on Kinette and Kin wife support and innovation.

The Calgary Kinettes were chartered in 1947 with thirty charter members, with Kay Pearpoint as the charter president. Even after the city gained two more Kinsmen Clubs, the Kinettes remained strong with a large membership.

Even before their formation, the Kinettes were aiding the Kinsmen with the Alberta Crippled Children’s Hospital. Christmas trees were decorated each year for the children, and an annual Christmas party is held. Halloween parties are also staged for the children. Kinettes have provided other services for the hospitals such as mending clothes and donating books. Since 1948 the girls have raised money for patients at the Baker Memorial Sanitarium for arts and crafts expenses. Teas to raise the needed funds were held at the Hudson’s Bay store until one day the Kinettes spilled some sugar in the escalator causing it to jam. The Bay didn’t ask them back but the girls continued to raise money.

Each February a party is held at the Calgary Rehabilitation Society, and the girls also visit the patients at the local nursing home once a week, the Kinettes have sponsored children through the Canadian Save the Children Fund and have aided welfare families with Christmas and Easter hampers.

The club provides an annual $850 bursary to further the education of a person working in the field of mental retardation.

For the past few years the Kinettes have been contributing to the Calgary
Women’s Emergency Shelter. In 1979 the Kinettes budgeted $1,500 to the shelter. In addition the Kinettes give clothes, toys and household items to assist women in setting up new homes.

The Kinettes have been collecting articles for the Unitarian Service Committee, have helped with the blood blitz, canvassed for the Cerebral Palsy Association and donated to the District Cystic Fibrosis Project.

Fund raisers have included the Kinsmen Car Awards, Kingo Bingo, Dessert Bridge, mini auctions, Santa suit rental, an innovative Bikeathon and catering at Kinsmen functions.

As an auxiliary to Kin, the Kinettes have little exposure to the public eye, yet the value of the Kinette Club must not be underestimated. The club’s contribution, whether alone or combined with that of Kin, has been felt by the community it serves.

The Kinsmen Club members feel that action, dedication and innovation are the keys to the success of the Kinsmen Club of Calgary, and a dedicated group of Kin have always comprised the club’s membership to supply the spark to turn the key. Calgary Kin so not swell on past glories, but seek out more challenging projects. The challenge has always been met in the past and the Kinsmen Club of Calgary does not doubt the challenge will be met in the future.

History - Stampede City Kinsmen

Stampede City

(Excerpt from Galaxy of Gold (1979))

History Number 1 (Al Black version)

The Stampede City club was chartered April 19, 1964 with sixteen charter members. The nucleus of this new club had come from a group known as the Jolly Fellows. With the intention of gaining notoriety as quickly as possible, the club concocted a little entertainment for the delegates attending the National Convention in Banff. A goose was released in the swimming pool of a local motel and after numerous complaints from hotel guests, National Parks personnel (for heaven’s sake) had to be called in to capture the honker.

The big flub came during the second year of the club, when it embarked on its famous oil try project. About twenty members spent 1,000 hours constructing the trays from Styrofoam with oil and mineral samples. These were to be sold during Stampede week. A grand deficit of $7,000 was realized from the non-sale of 15,000 trays which subsequently had to be stored once the stampede was over.

1967 was pretty uneventful but ’68 made up for it. That year relations with the Calgary club hit an all time low when the Stampede City club became well known to the Immigration Department, the RCMP and the Calgary City Police. It seems that Americans with Georgia accents were posing as Kinsmen while soliciting funds from local citizens.

In the 1968-’69 year, relations with the Calgary club were restored as each began to admit the other existed.

The tree burning festival was introduced for the first time in the 1969-’70 year. Kin collected tons on Christmas trees from all over the city and hauled them to a central location over a period of two weekends. A queen was crowned and a big dance was held around the flaming trees. Traffic was backed up for miles creating chaos along Highway 1 West and into Happy Valley recreation area.

The great stampede cushion rental of 1971, resulted in the purchase of a few thousand cushions and the rental of only ten of them. For some inexplicable reason half the members of the executive left town and showed up in executive chairs in other clubs, three of them in the Big Chief’s chair.

The famous or infamous stag at the Al San Club which was raided and an account of which ended up in the Calgary Herald’s pages was the news for 1972-’73.The following year the initiation to end all initiations was held and although available information alludes only to a takeover of the business meeting by the initiates, it is probable that more raucous activity took place.

A few years later Big Scoop and the Stumbler’s award were introduced. The Big Scoop Award was given to one of the three members picked each meeting night who had to stand up and give a three minute off-the-cuff speech. For the Stumbler’s Awards, all a person had to do was perform a number of physical or verbal goofs.

History Number 2 (Official)

The Stampede City club was chartered April 19, 1964 with sixteen charter members. The nucleus of the club had come from a group known as the Jolly Fellows.

And there the pats diverge!

During the first year the club staged a county carnival at the North Hill shopping centre, and looked into service work at a home for boys and a new convalescent hospital. The major service project in the sixties was the purchase of seven heart and lung resuscitators after a plea from a local doctor. These units were to be placed in city ambulances, only there weren’t enough qualified people in the ambulance service to operate the machines. Deemed to be a danger to life if not handled by properly trained people, they were put into storage. The club then began investigating and planning for an intensive care ambulance. The club also sponsored minor hockey in the city and bingo for the residents of the Glenmore Auxiliary Hospital.

Funds were raised by staging dances, raffles, newspaper bingos. Kintree carnivals, beer fests, and stag nights.

By 1966 the club membership had reached 25, by 1969 it had risen to 61, a fact which won the club the National Expansion Award in that year. The club received the Boake Efficiency Award from 1964 to 1969 and won the National Gimmel bowling trophy one year.

Even though membership had fallen to 52 in 1970, Bylaws were adopted, information nights were begun, and the club hosted the Spring Zone meeting. The club participated in the Calgary Kingo that year and netted $1,000.

In the early seventies the club began its Salvation Army Christmas parties, assisting the Boys Club of Calgary, and the Shinny Bowl game for Easter Seals. Assistance in the Shinny Bowl involves helping with activities and selling tickets. The club decided to assist the Boys Club of Calgary both physically and financially in the operation of one of their activity houses which was in need of aid due to a budget cut back by the United Appeal.

In 1971 the hearts and lung resuscitators put in storage two years earlier were dusted off and donated to a city hospital. Construction on the Kinsmen Sports Centre began in the fall of 1971 and was completed in February 1972. The Kin contribution of $50,000 was paid in full by the time the ice arena was completed. The following year activity was flourishing with the construction of the second Kinsmen Arena. This time the club contributed $115,000 of the $265,000 total cost.

New services added were sponsorship of the Calgary school patrol and the Kin Y pool. The club paid around $10,000 for a portable pool and donated it to the YMCA, who took the pool to such outlying areas as Canmore, High River and Strathmore and held swimming lessons. The club later supplied funds for pool repairs. The program was dropped by the YMCA after about four years.

From 1974 to 1978 the club assisted in a recreational program for the children at CNIB. Every Saturday afternoon members of the club spent two or three hours “showing” the blind children how to do various exercises and offer much needed physical and moral support in doing some of the more difficult movements. Although some of the children had some vision, all were legally blind and required close individual assistance and supervision. Although some money was spent on equipment the job was basically am manpower project. Also that year the club hosted five children’s Christmas parties: for Cystic Fibrosis Children, Salvation Army, Spruce Cliff Home for Juvenile Delinquents, CNIB and the Kin Kids.

By 1979 the club was still holding three Christmas parties each year, for the blind, the Down’s syndrome children and for those with Cystic Fibrosis. At these parties gifts are handed out by Santa, a skit is put on by the Kinsmen and a special visitor from the zoo is in attendance. Other activities provided dot these children have included aircraft and hot air balloon rides.

The third Kinsmen sponsored arena was started and completed in the spring of 1977. A $250,000 contribution of the $750,000 was required to twin the new Henry Viney arena to the existing Renfrew Arena in northeast Calgary.

For three years, 1975, 1976 and 1978, the club participated in the Tri-Club Telethons that raised over one million dollars for Kinsmen pediatric research. The club has also continued to sponsor the school patrol. Stampede City Kinsmen hold an annual blind car rally which consists of thirty to forty Kinsmen drivers and an equal number of blind people, who with the aid of Braille instructions, act as the navigators.

In 1979 the Kinsmen completed the renovations of two Calgary residences services housing paraplegics and Down’s syndrome patients. Funds were provided for a carpenter to renovate one house to make it suitable for paraplegics. A great deal of the decorating in these 5,000 square foot residences, such as painting and wallpapering, was done by Kinsmen. The total cost of the project was in the vicinity of $45,000.

The club has two major fundraisers, the Skate-a-thon and the Swing into Spring Fashion Show. The Stampede City club has exclusive right to run Skate-a-tons in the City of Calgary and each year thousands of skaters participate in then or eleven different arenas. This results in the club grossing approximately $150,000, The Skate-a-thon proceeds in the past helped to pay for the three arenas. Swing into Spring is for the ladies only. During National Secretaries Week, the Kinsmen contact the various city employers to sell them $35 tickets for female employees. Included in the evening’s entertainment are drinks, dinner, a fashion show and some appropriate “for ladies only” entertainment. The proceeds from the evening are directed to the Cystic Fibrosis research fund.

The Stampede City club has employed other fund raisers such as bingos, fall stags, raffles, beer fests and the Kinsmen Kitchen food booth at the Stampede.

Zone, District and National participation increased greatly in the seventies. The club sponsored four Deputy Governors; Terry Lawrence, Norm Asmundson, Larry Jorgenson and Bing Rundquist. Bing was elected as Vice-Governor at the 1979 Convention in Red Deer after the untimely assassination of opponent Sturdley Thrunch of Edson.

The club won zone curling, hockey, golf and public speaking competitions on various occasions, won the Founders Public Speaking Award in 1975, the District Bulletin Award in 1978 and an Outstanding President’s Award. Stampede City co-hosted World Council in 1977 with Calgary and Foothills City Kinsmen Clubs and will be hosting the District Convention in 1981.

The club has five life members, Doug Harding, Ray McCorquodale, Stan Sim, Ernie Kitzel and Mickey Boyle. It has various club awards, the Fellowship Trophy, Executive-of-the-Year and Kinsmen-of-the-Year Trophy.

The Stampede City Kinettes were chartered on June 26, 1965 with a membership of seventeen. It started out as a social club but after two years decided to become active. By 1979 the club had a history of helping Kin with their functions, conducting successful find raising projects, serving their community and participating in the National Kin organization.

The first fund raiser the girls put on was a box social and their first attempt at auxiliary work was helping Kin with a car award.

After a successful hard times party in the year two the streak of good luck was smudged with their third attempt at raising funds. The Kinettes were in charge of supplying the food for the teen dance at the first Kin Tree Carnival. And supply food they did as enough hot dogs were cooking on the stove to feed the expected 2,000 kids. But only 300 showed up with the result that there was more than a little munching on hot dogs at the wind up party held after the festival.

As each year passed more fund raisers were added such as auctions, bake sales, bottle drives and parties. Diverging somewhat from the usual Kinette fund raisers, during the seventies the Stamped City girls have been involved in taking inventory at the Bay. They have also stocked shelves for a Super S Store and acted as hostesses on opening day.

In 1976 a fur fashion show was held with the proceeds going to the Girl Guide Camp Jubilee. Also that year proceeds from a junk auction went into the World Council fund. The girls have held benefit bowls for Cystic Fibrosis and have generated funds through the Stampede food booth and also by preparing sandwiches for the annual Skate-a-thon participants.

The girls annually give away a Christmas hamper to a needy family, make layettes for the Unitarian Service Committee and hold regular teas and bingos, and up until 1978, exercise programs at the Chinook Nursing Home. For the fiftieth anniversary year, fifty children’s books were donated to schools in Calgary.

For entertainment the girls have mixed socials with Kinsmen, annual birthday parties, and past president’s nights. They sporadically partake in mischief making, such as stealing gavels, gongs and other paraphernalia form Kinsmen and other Kinette Clubs, or dressing up in 1920 bathing suits at National Conventions.

They have been active in the Association by raising funds for Cystic Fibrosis research, donating to National projects, and have also provided the Zone with two Co-ordinators, Myrna Marcinowski and Lorrie McClocklin. In addition the Freewheelers Travelling Trophy was donated to the Zone.

These two histories are both accurate, and are both related here. Take your pick. Obviously the Stampede City Club embodies the spirit of Kin, contributing to the needs of the community and providing fun and fellowship while doing so.

History - Foothills City Kinsmen

Foothills City

(Excerpt from Galaxy of Gold (1979))

(This club is no longer operational)

On January 12, 1974, Calgary’s third Kinsmen club, the Kinsmen Club of Foothills City, was chartered at the Kinsmen Centre in Stampede Park. Organizational meetings, under charter chairman Erin Kitzul, together with Bill Strand of the Stampede City club, and John Glans and Dave Sharpe from the Calgary club, were held beginning in May of 1973.

Over the following months more potential members were recruited until, by charter night, fifty members were signed up under the presidency of Jim Milum. In attendance at the charter festivities were almost 300 visiting Kin, National President George Irving, Governor Glen Chapman and Deputy Governor Reg Baldwin.

The first year activities included many small money raising projects, attendance at the District Convention, and a substantial intake of cash from the hundreds of Sergeant-at-Arms fines levied each meeting.

The second year was an extremely successful one for the club. Foothills City Kinsmen teamed up with Stampede City and Calgary Kinsmen to host Calgary’s first Telethon. Almost $648,000, collected in the 24-hour Telethon, was turned over to the Children’s Pediatric Research Centre at the Children’s Hospital. Later a casino night raised $3,400 in funds. Other fund raisers included a Car Award with the Calgary club, and Skate-a-thon held in conjunction with the Stampede City club.

The Outstanding Kinsmen award was introduced that year. Stampede City hosted the Spring Zone meeting and Glen Dmetrichuck won the Manley Edwards Senior Bulletin Award for his outstanding club bulletins. There was a lot of interclub travelling that year as well as visitations on the local level. The Traveling Can (a can built outhouse) was instituted for social visitations. Later the outhouse was changed to a fur lined toilet seat. A steak and beans night and a skating party also helped members of the club get better acquainted.

The three Calgary clubs hosted their second Telethon in the ’75-’76 year, the proceeds of which went to equip the children’s hospital. The club also gave an $8,000 bus to the Handicapped Association, $1,000 to the Cystic Fibrosis research fund, and $1,000 to the Hal Rogers Building Fund.

It was during this year that Stampede City Kin got involved in building a canoe used for World Council Conference promotional purposes. The canoe started its trip from Grande Prairie to Newfoundland intact, but only the sail made it to the eastern island. Rumour has it a storm came along and washed the boat off someone’s car.

Foothills City Kin ran and saw elected Bill Holowatiuk as Deputy Governor for the 1976-’77 term. For his efforts in this capacity he was presented with the Outstanding Deputy Governor’s Award.

The following year the casino became a two-day affair. A third Kinsmen Telethon was held, with the proceeds going to geriatric research. Stampede City Kin assisted the Calgary club in hosting the World Council Conference, where the club distinguished itself by winning the world championships in the men’s and women’s beer drinking contests.

Two other rather exciting events happened that year. In September Foothills City Kin were presented with a buffalo belonging to the Rosetown Saskatchewan Kinsmen, with the suggestion that the beast be passed along or sent home C.O.D.

The second event to remember was the Fall Zone golf tournament in Banff. Here two illustrious Past-Presidents of the Foothills City club were leaders of the Rat Patrol. Instead of using guns, their weapons were axes, which they used to chop nice little round golf balls into halves or quarters.

In the 1977-’78 year Foothills Kinsmen continued fund raisers with the other two city clubs. They donated a 44-pasenger modified school bus to the City of Calgary for use of senior citizens.

Foothills Kinsmen became involved working with post operative patients at the Foothills Hospital. Entertainment was also provided three nights a week for some of the not-so-mobile patients. A great deal of money was raised for the Cystic Fibrosis research fund that year through the sale of giant sized colouring books.

Zone and District participation was at and all-time high. Foothills City Kin hosted and won the Zone Five golf tournament and won the Zone hockey tournament. They tied at Zone level for first place in curling, but lost to Calgary on the basis of points.

On June 9, 1979, Canada’s fiftieth Participark, built by the Foothills City Kinsmen Club, was opened. Gerry Allen, National Co-ordinator, Marv Woelfle, District Governor, and Bing Rundquist, Deputy Governor, were in attendance. The park was officially turned over to the City of Calgary, ably represented by Deputy Mayor Greg Husband who ‘participated’ through the park with the Kinsmen.

In the spring of 1979 Wayne Webb received the Outstanding President’s Award and Jim Rackham was elected the Deputy Governor for the 1979-’80 term.

The Foothills City Club has a number of social functions throughout the year. Induction night is a mixed semi-formal affair. During the winter a children’s Christmas party is held as well a Snow Bash, which is a family weekend spent at Kinsmen Camp Horizon. Anniversary nights, picnics, and wind-up parties are other events. The wind-up party usually takes the form of wing-ding out at a ranch with entertainment provided by a disc jockey or a band, egg throwing contests, calf catching contests and hay rides.

The Foothills Kinsmen Kinette Club was chartered January 11, 1975 under President Arlene Dmetrichuk. The first year activities concentrated on getting to know other Kinettes and studying the organization. One of the highlights of the second year was when the Kinettes held a spring dance for Kinsmen and friends, which was a huge success!

Some of the fund raisers employed by the club have included casinos, garage sales, bottle drives, bake sales and raffles, sales of dolls and books, and help at the Kinsmen Car Awards.

One of the largest service projects has been the assistance to the Home for Unwed Mothers. It took the Kinettes one full year to research the project. The girls had been looking for a project that required not only money, but something of themselves as well. Barbecues have been held for the young mothers each June, and throughout the year there have been activities such as bowling, make-up demonstrations, Christmas parties, craft nights, bingos and movies.

The Kinettes help the Kinsmen telephoning, providing entertainment at some Kinsmen meetings, organizing the Kiddies Christmas parties, serving lunch at the Kinsmen Casinos and assisting with the Cystic Fibrosis colouring book project.

Kinette socials include spring dances, Christmas parties and Mother and Daughter banquets.

The Foothills City Kinettes helped to charter the Strathmore Kinette Club. They were awarded the Attendance Trophy at the District Convention during the 1977-’78 term.

Foothills City, as one of the three Kinsmen Clubs in Calgary, has found its niche. Through co-operation, both on the social and fund raising levels, the club is able to make a significant contribution to the community. It has at the same time developed a charter all its own, and has maintained its independence and identity. The future looks bright indeed for this Calgary service club addition.

Funds Delivered

Major Project Grants 2023-2024 Now Closed

The acceptance of new applications for the Kinsmen Club of Calgary - Major Projects for the 2023-2024 year is now closed. All organizations that applied will be contacted the end of April or early May.

Thank you from the Kinsmen Club of Calgary.

fundingrequest@kinsmenclubofcalgary.com 

Contribution Back into the Community of Calgary and Surrounding Area of $385,000.00 - In 2023

The Kinsmen Club of Calgary is proud to announce....For yet another exceptional year in 2023.

Contributions of $385,000.00 have been allocated to a variety of projects being run by various charities in Calgary and surrounding area during 2023.

Thank you Calgary for your support and your help volunteering to make this happen!

The Major Projects night was held again this year for 2023 and ended up with the General Membership of the Kinsmen Club of Calgary distributing a total of $385,000.00 in contributions to a number of charitable organizations within Calgary and the surrounding area for very worthwhile projects.

Once again living up to the Kinsmen motto of "Serving the Community's Greatest Need"

The Kinsmen Club of Calgary will continue to be involved in the community with a variety of lessor contributions and a number of "Service Projects" through out the rest of the year.

Much of the fundraising to make this happen occurs with your support of our "Kinsmen Million" lottery ticket sales during the Calgary Stampede each year.

 

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Kinsmen Wheels Project at the Calgary Stampede 2019
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Calgary Stampede 100 years