1980's | glen-carbon-kiwanis

Some History of 1980's

In 1981 we undertook the task of putting lighted decorations on Main Street for the Christmas season. It was an arduous task, as Timers had to be installed at the covered bridge, then wiring all long the Main Street south side, pole to pole, to the top of the hill on Main. Brackets and outlets installed on the poles for the decorations.

Over 3,000 feet of wire was strung. Christmas of 1981 saw the first lighted decorations in Glen Carbon in many years. Then in 1983, with the arrival of Cable Television, we had to restring another 3,000 feet of wiring to replace that which had been disrupted by the Cable installations. Then in 1978, working with the Village, a HAPPY HOLIDAYS sign was purchased, and installation was performed on the walkway of the Cottonwood water tower. The Sign hangs 80 feet in the air. Additional lighted decorations have been purchased by a group of businesses along 159, and are the responsibility of the club to install these as well. Last year, (1992) the Village and the club shared in the cost of 40 Christmas Banners which we now put up at the locations where Centennial Banners flew last year.

1988 again saw our club looking for a place to meet. Fire struck the Country House Restaurant in early October, resulting in the permanent closure of the business. After several meetings held in the Village Hall board room, we settled on the new meeting place, Walton's Restaurant in the upper level of the Cottonwood Mall structure. Finding storage for our many items which were kept at the Country House was a real problem. Since we had met there for over 25 years, one can appreciate how much can accumulate in that period of time. Fortunately none of our material was damaged in the fire.

During the past decade, we have continued some of our on going programs that include:

Support of Glen-Ed Pantry
Sponsor all Scout groups in the community
Provide assistance at Scouting events Build and maintain school bus shelters (project no longer maintained)
Maintained Spiritual Aims/Welcome signs until 2012
Conduct a free wheelchair/walker loaner program (project no longer maintained)
Provide camperships to Kiwanis Camp Wyman (Discontinued)
Maintain and install Christmas decorations (village has taken over this project)
Provide Christmas basket funds for the needy (replaced with donations to Glen-Ed Pantry)
Christmas program for nursing home residents (project no longer maintained)
Financial support for various Kids Christmas Parties
Participate in Parades (on occasion)
Food Booth for past Glenfest & current homecomings and other events
Financial and physical support of Camp Wyman (project no longer maintained)
Sponsor annual Municipal Band concert (project no longer maintained)

One of our first projects during this time period was to replace the old Church sign we had on Illinois 159. We decided to have a professional painter do the work, using our design. We also changed the wording to "Attend the Church of your choice", replacing the Church listings and hours of service, which always seemed to be changing. We also made it a Welcome to Glen Carbon Sign.

Having received the first sign, we opted for a second, to be installed on the Water plant property on Illinois 162. Landscaping was accomplished after the installation. Five years later, we can look at those signs as money well spent. (Village removed this sign in 2014 with the water main replacement project)

Early in this period, our club undertook a project of sponsoring a Kiwanis Kids Day for French Exchange students visiting the Edwardsville School District. This required coordination with the Edwardsville club and requesting additional funding from the Old Newsboy fund, of which we assisted. In a short period of time, all systems were go. The day of transporting the students to St. Louis for a ride on the Tom Sawyer, lunch at McDonald's on the river and a Cardinal Ball game, complete with hot dogs and soda arrived. It turned out to be a very exciting and All American Day for the students. Our Kiwanis chaperone reported that it was a great day, except for the student-generated bus noise.

The Glen Carbon Historical Society, in conjunction with our sponsored Scout troop, resurrected an old cemetery in the Village limits. A dedication ceremony was planned and the society asked our club to provide some major assistance. Honor guards, Benedictory and parking services were required. Before the ceremony our parking services crew assisted visitors in parking their vehicles, further assisted them onto a shuttle bus, rode with them to the site, and helped in disembarking, then returned to the lot for the next group.