SERVICE CLUBS Stories by Glenn Drexhage OUNG BLOOD, fresh ideas, new vi- sions — these are common pleas from some of Terrace’s service clubs. Any organization needs a healthy membership to remain > -=successful. .. “Youth is often a key ingredient ~ “needed for'a group’s wellbeing. “Many-clubs are.eager for an in- jection of youthful vigour. How- “ever, you can’t always get what “you want, Peter’ Smyth is’ familiar with that ald saying. He joined the local Elks lodge : 10° years ago, and is the Exalted - Rulers It’s the third time he’s * claimed the title. ; “Smyth: estimates the club's membership. is holding steady at 64. but: he isn’t comfortable with. maintaining the status quo. - ; First of all, he notes the average member age is about 60. To ‘Smyth, age im itself isn’t a dis- : Advantage - after all, he’s 69. But he notes the importance of recruiting younger members and wants -more. That’s easier said -. than done. ~~ While the Elks have enlisted a couple, members in their twenties, me promoting service clubs to young ‘people remains a tough sell. “They “(young people) come but they don’t slay,’ says Smyth. “People «don’t: like. coming to meclings - they like to have fun,’’ “He adds the, organization will _ have to re-work its approach to - make it more attractive. 7 SWe're going to have to change our way of thinking — if “. weedon't get: younger members, “tll die, pretty soon. Us old people can only g0 so long,” Smyth laughs. The Elks aren’t isolated in their necd for new energy, according to Brian McIntyre, public relations officer for the Royal Canadian Legion. He notes that in 1977, the legion had about 1,100 members, Now, the number is down to 500, ° Mcintyre feels the decline is ‘parily ‘due to’ a more transient” population. In addition, he finds recrulting difficult. “Tt’s tough to get other people involved,’ he says. ‘It’s tough to convince - them (young people) that. it’s not just an old folks club.” Similar concems were voiced by newly. installed Kinsmen Club president Scott Linley. ' Linley, who joined the club last March, says he wanted to make a difference: ‘‘My attitude is don’t whine about things happening —. get out and do it.” aa While the Elks have en- listed a couple members in their twenties, promoting service clubs to young people remains a tough sell. membership, drive, the club came up empty-handed, Membership problems have be- come crucial. According to Lin- ley, during the 1980s the club - boasted a ‘constituency of about 50 members. Five years ago, that Tuinber shrank to 25. Now, the group is at a critical low of 15. “Tt (the Kinsmen) seems to be viable now. A further drop in The Terrace Standard, Wednesday, July 28, 1993 - Page AS What does the future hold? TRIP INTO THE PAST — The Elks Lodge is one of many service ciubs that have contributed to the comraunity for years. Pictured here are some Elks members, including one-time Exalted Ruler Ray Atwood (centre). They're at a baseball diamond that was built at Elks Agar Park In the mid-1970s. Like other service clubs, the Elks are concerned about thelr current membership numbers. membership would make it nol viable,” admits Linley. '‘A fur- ther drop could be devastating to the club.’? That's not an exaggeration — just ask Don Suttis, former Presi- oy co - - dent of the Jaycees. Not everyone follows this: line ~ Of thinking. During a recent The club, which began in 1952 as a training ground for-young | ended about 18, businessmen, -Months ago, Declining member- ship was the main cause. Suttis estimates that over. the . past 10 years, the club’s roll call went “*disappearance.”’ ’ With the steady decline in num- - bers, the Jaycees weren't able to continue. **IE you’ve got 60 inombeis, it’s not too- bad, from 60 members to: If you've got 15 members, it’s a lot of work,” says Suttis. ‘‘Unfortunately, it’s nota self-generating sysicm.’’ Suttis claims attrition and a general lack of public interest and incentive as the main causes for . the club’s demise. “Its hard: to make things in-- Stantly fun. Going out to be laught how to be a business man- ager isn’t going to be instantly fun, I. think young people today tend to not look so much to their future.” So why aren’t more people bec- oming involved? The answer offen tums to a- common cause: lack of interest among new and younger crawds. Smyth. from the Elks says that _ there seems to be an air of apathy, Rotary | remedies "TERRACE — Local Rotary -|<-Clubs have a unique way of. : ‘maintaining membership.» _ through i invitation, And Rotary, * 4 policy i is to ask people io join ‘| based on their profession, fe The recruiting is -‘‘done : quietly,” says Lyle Harvey, | race Rotary Club. gested to the club’s nine- -.: member executive. If the group >." deems them suitable for the or- 1 _ ganization, then they are in- _vited to join. Je. The... Terrace: Rotary Club ce received - its charter’ in 1954 "Te while the - Skeena Valley » “1 Rotary Club was formed just: a “|. few years ago. - ‘[°: Rotary clubs attempt : to get /] members from ‘as\ many dif- - ~ ferent professions as possible. * Such’ a.mix, says Harvey, is a **good cross-section of the << business community.”’ “| According to Harvey, the ~-Rotary Is the only local service ‘lub that has such a classifica- “tion sysiem. Members come. “from diverse backgrounds that ~inelude . banking, real estas education, insurance, medical. . practice and retailing. ‘ “ members to fill the need for -certain professions. For exam- ~ ple, if a member/doctor leaves “the organization, the club’ will, - etry to find another doctor to, fill - “othe slot. ; “<“ The Terrace Rotary contains 62 members, four of whom are “women. ‘There are shore women members in the Skeena ‘|Valley’ Rotary Club, Women — “became eligible for member-. » Ship in the mid-1980s._. They accept members oni. os - the-new president of the Ter- “Potential members are sug- “healthy because it provides for _ a “The ‘club looks for potential , REACH FOR THE TOP — According to new Rotary Club President Lyle Harvey, the Terrace club “is doing extremely well.” He says that membership is growing all the time. Pictured hare are some Rotarians putting together a playground at Skeenaview Park last April. but can’t explain why. “I don’t know, really. They don’t want to be tied down, being told what to do. (They would) Tather have fun than donate time.”’ Kinsmen president ~ Linley aprecs. “I believe that’s (apathy) the case for a lot of things. I would suspect that’s what itis.’’ Yet some groups are flourish- ing. Mary Bond, the Honoured Royal Lady for the Order of the Royal Purpie, says the club has grown in recent years, and boasts. . a membership of 42. She also Says that younger women have Signed up. “*] think it’s because of the pro- file that we have in the, com- Here are some brief facts and Figures from some. of Terrace’s Service Clubs: Terrace Ratary Club — The Terrace branch was. chartered in 1954, «It has four avenues of service - community, club, international and vocational, * Last year, it donated over $10,000 to playground equip- ment, and donated to the child de- velopment centre and the CT Scan fund, * Tt gave $60,000 in donations last year. Main sources are the annual duck race and a radio\TV auction. Order of the Royal Purple and the Elks BPO Ladge 425 * Both clubs began in 1957. * Royal Purple members are made up solely of women, The club is the sister organization to the Elks. * The main charity for both or- ganizations is the Purple Cross, a national charity for the hearing impaired, * The clubs also contribute to the CT Scan fund, the child de- velopment centre and the Salva- tion Army. * From July 1991 to July 1992, the Order raised $55,656.32, The Elks estimate that about $60,000 was raised in thelr past year. Bingos are the main fundraising sources for both organizations. Kinsmen Club and Kinette Club ¢ The Kinsmen started in Ter- race in 1946, and the Kinettes started in 1954. « Both clubs have been involved munity - almost everyone who joins, stays.”? The Kinette Club has also kept its membership at a steady 12-15 people for 10 years. While past president Patricia Waddell wants to recruit more people, she says the club isn’t in any danger of folding, Bond.'still stresses the impor- tance of youth to the Order of the Royal Purple. ‘I would like to sce younger women join - younger women have new, mod- em ideas.” Without youth, she too feels the group will suffer. For Elks leader Smyth, ‘the fu- ture promises to be challenging. “We're just going to carry on and do the best,we can,”? he says. || Clubs involved : with Kiddies Camp at Lakelso Lake since they began. == ¢ The Kinsmen renovated a World War Two. building five "years ‘ago and it now serves as the Kinhut. ‘The club also was In- volved in building the arena. * Money is ralsed each year for the Kinsmen Rehabilitation Foun-. datlon, which assists people with. disabilities, * The Kincites organize the an- nual Sweetheart’s Dinner and Dance, and have donated to omga-' nizations such as the local transi-, tion house, the Salvalion Army and the Special Olympics. * Approximately $60,000 and: $40,000 were raised by the Kins- men and Kinettes in 1992/93, mainly from bingos. ‘Royal Canadian Legion * The legion started up in Ter- race in 1919 as the Great War Veterans Association, ; «In 1927, it was Issued. its: charter as Branch 13 of the Royal’ Canadian Legion, * It has three types of member- ship: ordinary, associate and fra- ternal. » It recently held an auction for the Canuck Foundation, which is raising money for a children’s hospice, *It donates to Meals on Wheels and helps raise money for hospi- tal equipment. * Last year, it raised $18,265, mainly from bingos | and from poppy sales. Facts and fi dgures were pro- vided by members of the various organizations. Fer a listing af Terrace service clubs, see the up- coming cily recreation guide. Canal. Fish hurt ' Joe Barrett is a member of the New Democratic Party. He is running in -the next federal election. -} ~ Barrett is against sonic ‘| testing - in the Portland measure the return of the waves, It will give them a good idea of how the ocean floor is made up. But Barrett. says the sound - waves will hurt Job cuts laid out Forestry jobs will be lost, says a forest service report. That is because there is too much logging going on in the Kalum North area. logging over the next 100 years, Logging can be cut back fast or it can be cut back — slow. But each way means there will be less work, Americans: want. 10 do “fish, 7 Logging will have to be _ The forest service is |e this. ‘They ‘will use guns - And he says. ‘making a cut back over the next - writing “an: easy-to-read “that fire sound waves map of the ocean floor 100 years, says the report, _ vetsion of the report. ~ down into the ocean. will help American sub- Vow The report says: there. It wilt be out by the ear- ys This . way: they - can. marines. ae : Joe Barrett three ways to cut back on | y fall. Loe