Valparaiso Magazine Fall 2021

VALPARAISO NOON KIWANIS CLUB
>> Bobinski reached back into history
for tales of the friendly rivalry between
the Valparaiso Noon Kiwanis and
Valparaiso Rotary Club, both of them
founded in 1921.
On June 9, 1921, a baseball game
between the two clubs was staged to
benefit the Red Cross. In the month
before the game, the two clubs traded a
string of barbs in a local newspaper. The
Kiwanis team won the game, 12-6, and
then challenged the Rotarians to a game
of checkers, Bobinski said.
In 1978, the two clubs faced off in a
basketball game. The Rotarians brought
in a ringer – Joe Otis – but didn’t ask Otis
to join their club. At the end of the game,
the Kiwanians recruited Otis and,
through his leadership as a faculty
advisor at Valparaiso University,
chartered a new 31-member Circle
K Club on the VU campus.
Also in 1978, the Kiwanians, Rotarians
and Lions members initiated the first
Service Club Hog Roast to foster
fellowship, understanding and
friendly communication.
In 1989, the Rotary Club challenged the
Kiwanians to a goat milking contest at
the Porter County Fair. Kiwanian Lonnie
Steele arranged for two goats to be
brought into Milan’s for milking practice,
which helped the Kiwanians achieve
victory at the county fair competition,
Bobinski said.
In recent years, the Kiwanis and Rotary
clubs have collaborated in sponsoring
a veterans appreciation dinner, which
is now the largest in Porter and LaPorte
counties. Members pay the cost of dinner
for the veterans they invite.
A Salute the Recruits program is “a very
unique program that is starting to catch
on,” Corso said. The event honors high
school graduates going directly into the
military. The club gets the recruits’ names
from the military recruiters and hosts a
dinner for the recruits and their parents
in late May or early June. Sadly, the event
has been on hold for two years because
of the pandemic.
In Indiana, Kiwanis clubs raise money for
Riley Children’s Hospital in Indianapolis
as one of their projects. There’s a Kiwanis
elevator, two neonatal ambulances and
a new helipad because of Kiwanians’
generosity statewide.
The Kiwanis Noon Club is always looking
for new members. Campos is hoping for
more diversity. “You tend to hang out
with people who are similar to you,” she
said, which makes diversifying the club
more difficult, she acknowledged.
The number of members, though, isn’t
as important as their engagement. “Our
engagement is around 80 percent,”
she said.
Campos and others enjoy the “Happy
Bucks” moments when members donate
a dollar for the privilege of sharing a joy
in their life.
“For me, Kiwanis has been my family
away from family,” she said. “With
this club I find local love, support,
encouragement and true caring. Because
of the lessons learned here, I’ve been
able to better myself and do more for
my community.”
photo provided
“YOU WILL
MEET SOME
OF THE MOST
UNSELFISH AND
COMPASSIONATE
PEOPLE IN
THE WORLD
IN THE
KIWANIS
CLUB.”
— Lenny Corso,
Kiwanis Club
Past-President
12 VALPARAISO MAGAZINE | FALL 2021