About the Kiwanis Club of Penticton

1940’s

• 1945 Chartered in September – sponsored by the Kiwanis Club of Vancouver

• 1st club in the Okanagan

• Sponsored school patrol and Teen Town with the City of Penticton

• School patrol established

• 1st high school scholarships started, still sponsoring

• 1946 sponsored the Music Festival – still sponsoring

• Established Community Arts Association

• 1949 – Kiwanis Peace Marker Plaque placed at the Osoyoos border crossing at the official 1 st

• Canada-US Goodwill week gathering – still in place

• 1948-1949 - Sponsored the Kiwanis clubs of Summerland, Kelowna and Osoyoos.

• 1949 – The ladies Kiwassa club formed by the wives of Kiwanis members – folded in 1977

• Started Little Brothers program in Penticton

 

1950’s

• 1950 - Air Cadets formed with initial funding by Kiwanis

• 1951 - Kiwanis Park on Edmonton St officially opened with soccer fields, baseball fields and a children’s playground – still in use

• 1953 – started the Little League Baseball

• 1957 - Hosted District Convention

• 1959 – funded the initial Big Brother program in Penticton

• 1959 – hosted Premier WAC Bennett and the entire BC government cabinet at one of their lunch meetings

1960’s

• 1961 – 1st senior housing complex build on Brunswick St.

• 1962 – Key club established at Penticton High School

• 1967 - Hosted District Convention

• 1968 – 2nd senior housing complex built on Van Horn St.

 

1970’s

• 1970 – start of the Walk-a-long fundraiser. This fundraiser would net over $205,000 over a 20-year period

• 1972 – lead service club in building the Adult Training Building for challenged adults – donated $32,153.

• 1972 - sponsored the initial School District Science Fair – continued until 2011

• 1972 – started the student exchange with our US clubs

• 1977 – The Kiwassa club folded after 28 years

• 1977 - Hosted District Convention

• Kiwanis Park – a swimming pool and building for the Boys and Girls club were installed

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1980’s

• 1982 – 1st senior housing complex replaced with a new high-rise building

• 1982 - Chartered a new Kiwanis club in OK Falls

• 1984 – Kiwanis Walking Pier was completed - a $60,000 commitment

• 1987 - Hosted District Convention

• 1988 – Okanagan Beach Prominade completed - $120,000 commitment

• 1989 – funded the start of the Kokanee Spawning Program in Penticton Creek - $50,000 commitment

 

1990’s

• 1990 – started the Kiwanis bursaries at Okanagan College – still funding

• 1993 – OSNS Telethon hosted by Kiwanis

• 1993 – start of the McDonalds/Kiwanis Children’s Christmas party

• 1995 – started the Kiwanis Aktion club in Penticton

• 1996 – Computer Centre learning station set up for those with mental challenges - $5,004

• 1997 – donated $9.500 to the 2nd palliative care at the Westview Extended Care unit

• 1997 - Kiwanis Park – swimming pool covered over with playground equipment - $12,000

• 1998 – 3rd senior housing complex built on Brunswick St. – Kiwanis Court

• 1999 – funded new sound system in the arena - $10,000

• Queens Park – bleachers, fencing and stands were constructed for Little League baseball.

 

2000’s

• 2002 – Kiwanis Park upgrade to the ballfields - $2,000

• 2002 – Started pre-school reading program and supplied literacy kits to the library - $4,146

• 2004 – Kiwanis Park. An upgrade to the playground was done - $14,000

• 2008 - K-kids club started at Queens Park school

• Average yearly donations of $25,083 for this decade

 

2010’s

• Strong supporter of the Agur Lake camp for this century

• Average yearly donations of $14,684 for this decade

 

2020’s 

• Books for Babies began with yearly support to purchase beginner books that are given to 
  families at the child's first immunization at the Penticton Health Unit. 

• The Kiwanis Club of Penticton started working closely with the Penticton Safety Village, which
  is located next to Kiwanis Park on Edmonton Avenue. Renovations and maintenance of the 
  grounds is an on-going Kiwanis project. 

• Kiwanis Kid Readers started in the fall of 2021 as a literacy support program to purchase books
  for grade 2 learners. The program started as a pilot at 2 Penticton Elementary schools and
  after a successful first year it was expanded to all School District 67 Elementary schools in 2022. 
  In the fall of 2023 we are expanding once again to include all private schools in the city.

• Halloween of 2020 saw the creation of the Penticton Trick or Treat Cycle-Path; a Kiwanis
  Club of Penticton event held at the Penticton Safety Village. What started as a social distance 
  event to hold a COVID safe Halloween event, turned into a community event that was attended
  by close to 300 children. 

• In Easter of 2021 we continued the success of the Halloween event and started the Easter
  Hop-Along at the Penticton Safety Village. It also became an instant hit and was established as
  a new Penticton Easter event. 
   

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Significant Achievements

• 75 years of High school scholarships

• 74 years of donations and support for the Kiwanis Music Festival

• 69 years ago, created Kiwanis Park, with many upgrade contributions since

• 59 years ago, built the 1 st senior housing complex

• 39 years of sponsoring and funding the School District Science Fair

• 29 years of Okanagan College Bursaries

• Funded the Walking Pier, followed by the construction of the Okanagan Beach Prominade

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The Kiwanis club has had a tremendous impact on many youth programs. Having provided the funding to start such programs as the music festival, science fair, Air Cadets, senior peer counselling in the high school, Big Brothers, school reading programs, Little League Baseball, and Army Cadets. All the while providing continuing financial support for many other youth activities, through out their 75-year history.

In the community, the club was involved in many significant projects, that have had a long-standing impact on Penticton. The construction of the Walking Pier ($60,000), followed by the Okanagan Beach Prominade ($120,000); the funding and building of the Adult Training Building for challenged adults ($32,000); the funding and management of 3 senior housing complexes; the development and continued upgrading of the Kiwanis Park on Edmonton St; the volunteer hours put in at the hospital; contribution to the 2nd palliative care unit ($9,500); to volunteering in many
community events.

We are proud of our contribution to Penticton and will continue to provide that service.