Club History  

The Greater Wausau Kiwanis club was founded on October 11, 1962 under the sponsorship of the Kiwanis Club of Wausau.  Al Berkman was the charter president and helped to lay the foundation for our club which as been an active part of the Wausau community for over 45 years. In addition, our club has sponsored a number of Kiwanis clubs in and around central Wisconsin as well as sponsors The Wausau Newman High School Key Club.

Of course being just about in the middle of the state, we enjoy attending other Kiwanis club meetings in the Wisconsin-Upper Michigan district and have a streak of nearly 15 years straight of achieving the Round Robin Interclubbing Award. The objective of our Kiwanis club is to improve the quality of life through service to the Wausau community.

Objects of Kiwanis

To give primacy to the human and spiritual, rather than to the material values of life.

To encourage the daily living of the Golden Rule in all human relationships.

To promote the adoption and the application of higher social, business, and professional standards.

To develop, by precept and example, a more intelligent, aggressive, and serviceable citizenship.

To provide, through Kiwanis clubs, a practical means to form enduring friendships, to render altruistic service, and to build better communities.

To cooperate in creating and maintaining that sound public opinion and high idealism which make possible the increase of righteousness, justice, patriotism, and good will.

A Brief History of Kiwanis International

The first Kiwanis club was organized in Detroit, Michigan. The group received a charter from the state of Michigan on January 21, 1915, and this is regarded as the birth date of Kiwanis.

The first clubs were organized to promote the exchange of business among the members. However, even before the Detroit club received its state charter, the members were distributing Christmas baskets to the poor. A lively debate ensued between those who supported community service as the Kiwanis mission and those who supported the exchange of business. By 1919, the service advocates won the debate.

Kiwanis became international with the organization of the Kiwanis club of Hamilton, Ontario, Canada, in 1916. Kiwanis limited its membership to the United States and Canada until 1962, when worldwide expansion was approved. Since then, Kiwanis has spread to all inhabited continents of the globe.

Kiwanis was defined as “an organization for men” in the constitution and adopted in 1924. In 1987, after several years of debate and growing support, women’s membership received overwhelming approval.

Six Canadians have served as Kiwanis International President. The first International President elected from outside the two founding nations of the US and Canada was Ian Perdriau AM from Australia, who served in 1994-95. Eyjólfur Sigurðsson of Iceland was the 1995-96 International President, and Juan F. Torres Jr., MD, of the Philippines, was president in 2002-03.

For more, see Who We Are on the Kiwanis International website by visiting the Kiwanis Legacy Section.  Got more questions about Kiwanis, check out Kiwanis Impact.