Kiwanis Club of Mars plans its final year
MARS — Since 1938 the Kiwanis Club of Mars has been giving back to the community. Its contributions may all come to an end next year as the group is considering closing its doors for good.
John Watson, Kiwanis member and past president of the group, said 2018 would be the 80th anniversary for the group, founded by area business members. It's a good time to celebrate the anniversary and a good time to close the club that has been struggling with membership.
“It breaks our hearts to close it down, but it's just too hard,” Watson said.
The club has about 10 members and it has become too difficult for those members to continue with all the meetings, fundraisers and other projects the group has put on for years, Watson said. The club had about 30 active members when he joined in 1993.
“Nowadays, there's just too much competing with people's time,” he said. “With Kiwanis we were supposed to meet once a week. That was tough. Sometimes you're lucky if you can meet once a month. There's just not enough hours in the day.”
The group will continue its work through 2018 and likely will dissolve sometime at the end of the year. One of its last fundraisers will be to put an electronic sign up in Mars to advertise events and community news, Watson said.
The Mars Kiwanis has held a number of regular events through the years, including an Easter egg hunt, Night at the Races fundraiser and the upcoming Halloween parade, to be held the Sunday before Halloween. The club also used to host a three-day flea market that was its biggest fundraiser for many years, Watson said.
“We've done a lot of stuff locally and internationally, helped the library, helped families,” Watson said.
Bill Swaney, a longtime club member, said most of the area service organizations began in the early 20th century to help people who were in need. At the time there were not many government support systems in place.
Now the groups are more social in nature, and it has become harder to find people to meet in the evenings. Swaney said organizations that meet during the morning or at lunch seem to have had more success recently.
In addition to its work in the community, the Kiwanis Club sponsors the Key Club at Mars High School. The group has about 80 student members, Watson said.
Watson said they were concerned about what would happen to the Key Club if the Kiwanis disbanded, but they found that the Key Club is strong enough now to stand on its own. Also some Kiwanis members will likely continue to help with the group.
Mars hopefully will not suffer the loss of the club, said Mayor Gregg Hartung. The Rich-Mar Rotary covers the area and a new Lion's Club opened up in the borough earlier this year. Hartung is hopeful that the other service organizations can pick up some of the events and projects the Kiwanis normally handled.
“Kiwanis has made a major impact on the community,” Hartung said. “The Kiwanis name speaks volumes because it is so well known, but I think in terms of things Kiwanis does, they'll be picked up by other organizations.”
Watson said the club's records, banners and other memorabilia will be donated to the Mars Area History and Landmarks Society. A few of the Kiwanis members are also involved with the historical society, so that group may also take over some of the club's responsibilities, Watson said.
Near the end of 2018, Watson said they'll likely talk to Kiwanis International about dissolving the group due to low membership. They also may plan an end-of-year party to thank the community for its support over the years, he said.
“It's a shame, but I think it's time,” Watson said. “It just seems younger people, there's not enough time in the day anymore and you have to pick and choose.”
