History

History of the Golden K Kiwanis Club of Rochester, MN

The meeting to incorporate the Kiwanis Club of Rochester Golden K, was held at Wade’s Broiler on April 27, 1983. Thirteen members of a 25 member roster were present.

A series of pre-organizational meetings had been held prior to this meeting in order to build a membership of 20 or more retirees necessary for incorporation of the club.

Cliff Lawrence and John Hansen chaired the meetings, which were held bi-weekly at Wade’s Broiler. Each meeting included a 45 minute program. Our pre-organizational meetings were sponsored by Walter Schaffer from the Kiwanis West Club, Dave Davis from the Kiwanis Sunrisers, and Al Famington from Kiwanis Downtown.

The officers elected at the organizational meeting, for the five months remaining of the 1983 term and for the 1983-1984 term to October 1, 1984 were as follows:

OFFICERS

Cliff Lawrence – President    John Hansen – 1st Vice President    George Jones – 2nd Vice President

Palmer Godtland – Secretary       Eldred Senrick – Treasurer

BOARD OF DIRECTORS

Frank Else   Walter Macher    Charles Austin   Verl Fetty   Harry Samways

CHARTER PROGRAM

The Kiwanis Club of Rochester Golden K, was chartered on May 24, 1983. The charter meeting was held at Holiday Inn South. Lt. Governor Paul Lutzke served as master of ceremonies for the program. Twenty-six members and their spouses, out of twenty-nine members were present. President Cliff Lawrence accepted the charter from District Governor Virgil Christensen of the Minnesota-Dakotas District.

Golden K Clubs for retirees became a new addition to the Kiwanis organization in Greenville North Carolina in 1975. As of October 1988 we had 193 clubs in the Minnesota Dakotas District. Included in this total were 41 Golden K Clubs. In April 1983, prior to Rochester Golden K being chartered, there were 189 Kiwanis Clubs including 27 Golden K Clubs in the Minnesota-Dakotas district. Rochester Golden K Club was number 28 in the district.

CHARTER MEMBERS–MAY 24, 1983

Charles J. Austin   Thomas S. Broton    Sunar P. Dahl   Phillip D. Dendler    Merle A. Dunn

Frank A. Else   Arlowe W. Esau    Verl A. Fetty   Milt H. Gauthier   George N. Gibbs

Palmer Godtland   Donald Halling    John E. Hansen    William J. Hill   Irvin A. Hoch

George W. Jones    Richard D. Kilpatrick    Clifford G. Lawrence    Paul A. Lundberg

Walter C. Macher    R. Frank Markley    Ember K. Metz    Walter Paulson    Walter L. Payne

Harry E. Samways    Eldred C. Senrick    Durward A. Shepard    Larry S. Smith    Ralph Whittemore

Even though our club has consistently demonstrated growth, we offer this list of Charter Members who have elected to resign: (Thru October 1, 1992)

Charles J. Austin    Thomas S. Broton    Merle A. Dunn    Arlowe W. Esau    Milt H Gauthier

Donald Halling    Durward A. Shepard    Irvin A. Hoch    Richard D. Kilpatrick

R.Frank Markley    Ember K. Metz    Walter Paulson    Harry E. Samways    Ralph Whittemore

Walter Payne resigned and reinstated membership

In Addition we regret that the following Charter Members are now deceased: (Thru October 1, l999)

Sunar P. Dahl    Phillip D. Dendler    William J. Hill    Paul A. Lundberg    Eldred C. Senrick    Walter C. Macher

The following Charter Members are included in our current membership of 51 members, as of October 1, 1992.

Frank A. Else    Verl A. Fetty    George N. Gibbs    Palmer Godtland    John E. Hansen

George W. Jones    Clifford G. Lawrence    Walter C. Macher    Larry S. Smith    Walter L. Payne

Charter Members

Back Row: Larry Smith, Arlowe Esau, Verl Fetty, Harry Samways, Paul Lundberg, Palmer Godtland, Walter Payne, Richard Spaniol, William Hill, Walter Macher, ?, George Gibbs, John Hansen.

Front Row: Eldred Senrick, Cliff Lawrence, George Jones, Richard Kilpatrick, Ralph Wittmore, Reverend Merle Dunn, Frank Else

                                   Last updated by Dick Zelenski on February 29, 2024
Text