KIWANIS CLUB OF ALLEN, TEXAS

PD Thomas

Club President 1991-1992

In 1990 Diane and I had already lived in Allen for 15 years. I was very active in First Baptist Church, and still felt the need to be of more service to others. I'm not too proud of the fact that I first approached another club and talked to a couple of members about joining them. To my dismay and even shock they told me that (at that time) their membership was made of representation of various professional members and that they already had their "allotment" of school professionals. I was a bit offended and still hold some hidden contempt for that particular organization to this day. It turned out to be a hidden blessing. I have been very fortunate in developing friendships over the years in Kiwanis. My perception today is that Kiwanis is more apt to roll up their sleeves and work to meet a need rather than have members pay to have the need met.

I remember being installed in September 1991 as the new Club President. Vice President was Ernie Pero, Past President was David Olson, Secretary was Susan Bartlemay, and Ben Hubert was Treasurer. Probably my greatest accomplishment that year was sponsoring as a new member in November. She was a former student I had taught and coached in basketball and track in the 7th and 8th grade. Her name was Kris Kistner. A couple of years afterward, I was named as Allen Kiwanian of the Year. Kris in a quick wit immediately announced at the annual banquet that I was selected because I was the only one in the club with a pickup truck.

In April of 1992 every member of the club worked in some capacity at the Area Special Olympics meet at Allen High School Stadium. We had a snow cone stand at the Allen Health Fair in May which netted a whopping $75.00. Our news letter that year, edited by David Olson placed 2nd in the T-O District news letter competition.

Our Pancake Breakfast even went back that far. Scott Murray cooked sausage inside and I flipped pancakes outside under a tent awning on the front lawn of the First Christian Church. Everyone ate in the fellowship hall of the Church with overflow into 3-4 classrooms. We could feed about 60-70 people at a time. We raised about $500 that year and had great participation from the club members. Out of necessity, we had a number spouses of club members and kids helping with the event.

I don't remember how many members we had that year, but I remember eating at TaMolli's Family Restaurant and usually had about 12-20 in attendance. We've come a long way and have done so well.