Since the Kiwanis Club of Ottawa was formed on December 22, 1917, the world has changed, and the Club has been a positive instrument for change in the world. To celebrate our 100 years of service to the community, this special part of the site will highlight some of the stories and projects taken on by the Club. The full list is here, and a list of recent additions is below.
At our Annual General Meeting in January 1990, the motion to accept women in our club was defeated. Following this meeting the Board felt that the question had to be addressed again and took a proactive stance by inviting written comments from our members. At our meeting on February 23, 1990, a motion was passed – 97 in favour – 28 against, to allow women’s membership in the Kiwanis Club of Ottawa.
In 2002 our club hosted the Eastern Canada and Caribbean District Convention at the Ottawa Congress Centre with a total of 670 registrations. The Convention was a financial success with a net profit of just over $1,000.
The Kiwanis Club of Ottawa contacted all other Kiwanis Clubs, our families, friends, and business associates, and we were able to contribute $114,000.00 for the Canadian War Museum, and two 'Kiwanis' classrooms were named to educate Canada's youth in the museum.
In 1953, Camp Banting, the first camp in Canada for diabetic children, was established at the YMCA Camp at Shirley’s Bay under the very able direction of Kiwanian Gordon Currie, himself a diabetic. Our club ran the camp for 30 years until it was taken over by the Canadian Diabetes Society.
One of the first projects undertaken by our Club in 1918 was the arrangement made by members to furnish automobiles for the conveyance of our war veterans from the Central Station to their homes on their arrival in the city.
2018-06-22 12:00 Ottawa Hunt and Golf Club
Our annual Legion of Honour Luncheon will acknowledge Kiwanians with more than 25 years of service, and welcome our Alumni!
Invite a former member to join us.
2018-06-08 12:00 at the Ottawa Hunt and Golf Club
I am Heshima has 5 PROGRAMS which break down the systemic barriers to education:
1. Academic Scholarships
2. Leadership
3. Heshima Football Club
4. Under the Mango Tree.
5. It’s My Time.
2018-05-25 12:00 at the Lord Elgin Hotel
Our member, Mayor Jim Watson, will be out guest speaker.
The 2018 version of the Kiwanis Music Festival is the 73rd version, and will take place between April 3 to April 28 in locations around Ottawa.
The Highlights concert on May 17th at 19:00, with special guest John Dapaah. Tickets can be purchased here.
Altogether, about 8,000 competitors will participate in the KIwanis Music Festival - National Capital Region, performing to audiences that will total over 15,000 people. This is only possible due to the efforts of over 400 volunteers, both Kiwanian and non-Kiwanian, who work for the KMF-NCR, giving over 9,000 hours of their time each year.
Lots of photos from past events available here.
Did you know the Kiwanis Club of Ottawa has proudly sponsored the 211 Ottawa Kiwanis Royal Canadian Air Cadet Squadron for 75 years since November 1942?! The longest sponsorship and partnership in the history of our Club.
The late Vic Castledine was the first Commanding Officer and his son Past President Allan Castledine was the first cadet. Both Vic and Allan are members of the Kiwanis Club of Ottawa Hall of Fame.
On the 12th May 2018, the squadron held their Annual Ceremonial Review. The cadets had the final parade and awards were presented for individual and group achievements over the past year.
Included in the awards were special recognition of Allan Castledine and Ken Miller, along with recognition for the Kiwanis Club of Ottawa for the 75 years of sponsorship, the longest of any cadet squadron or corps.
2018-05-11 12:00 Ottawa Hunt and Golf Club
On November 1, 2006, former “pack a day smoker” turned ultra runner Ray Zahab and two friends, Charlie Engle and Kevin Lin, both accomplished runners, set out on an expedition to cross the Sahara Desert by foot. 111 days and 7,500 kms after leaving the coast of Senegal, Africa they completed their journey by stepping into the Red Sea.
The Kiwanis Club of Ottawa will be adding on to the weekly Kiwanis TV Bingo with the addition of a Catch the Ace Game.
This new game will include an automatic 20% of the pot to the ticket drawn, in addition to the chance to win 30% of all ticket sales to date. More details on the Ottawa Kiwanis TV Bingo site.
Tickets and bingo cards are on sale at local Mac's and Circle K stores.
2018.04.19 12:00 at the Ottawa Hunt and Golf Club.
52 members attended the dinner meeting and enjoyed a very nice buffet put on by the Ottawa Hunt Club. Thank you to Past President Brian Reinke for being our parliamentarian, and thank you to Secretary/Treasurer Graham Acreman for his presentation on the current year-to-date financials. Thank you to all attendees.
Club Elections – Congratulations to the Board of Directors for our fiscal year October 1, 2018 – September 30, 2019
Executive Officers
President Mark O’Neill
Past President Steve Moore
President-elect Glen Vaillancourt
Secretary/Treasurer Graham Acreman
Directors: Guy Bourbonnière, Ryan Fung, Rachel Kooyman, Russ Salo, Howard Whittaker.
2018.04.06 at the Ottawa Hunt and Golf Club
It was a proud day in Kiwanis! 95 attendees witnessed 3 of our members being inducted into our Hall of Fame and there wasn’t a dry eye in the place.
Many great stories were told by the introducers – Buck Madden introduced Ross Hadwen, Peter Nadeau introduced Tom Spence, and, Mark Max and Tom Pullen introduced Alan Smith – and many of us were shocked to hear how much they have done.
These members contributed much to our community through Kiwanis and through their actions many lives were affected. Alan Smith’s thank you message summed it up well when he told the Kiwanis members to ‘continue’. It was extra special to have their families join us to share in this presentation.
