Club History

The Kiwanis Club of West Angelo, under the sponsorship of the San Angelo Kiwanis Club, had its beginning on Wednesday, October 24, 1953. There were forty San Angelo Kiwanians and potential members meeting in the Green Room of the San Angelus Hotel, present location of the former Central National Bank. Louis Beck was elected president and Harold Hodapp secretary-treasurer. The next meeting was set for Thursday, November 12, 1953 at the Melody Club. However, this meeting was changed to Wednesday, November 11, 1953: the club meeting with other Civic Clubs to hear an address by Senator Lyndon Johnson.

Much planning went into the preparation of Charter Night, when the club would receive its official charter from Kiwanis International. This eventful time was 7:30 p.m. on January 14, 1954, at the Melody Club. By this time the club had forty-four members on its charter.

Involvement was immediately planned for the club; the first project was the sponsorship of the March of Dimes Dog Races, this event netted $196.00 for the March of Dimes. There have been many projects since then, some successful, others not so successful; but all were undertaken with enthusiasm.

Perhaps there are two other projects that should be mentioned. One was the establishment and maintenance of the West Angelo Kiwanis Park at Avenue N and A&M on November 2, 1955. The second was our primary fundraiser over the years, the annual TV Auction.

The park has been a very vital part of youth activities and is today one of the nicer parks in San Angelo. After several years under our operation the city took it over; but it is still known today as West Angelo Kiwanis Park.

Mention TV Auction and you'll see some of our members faces light up; it was a very successful project. The first one was on December 3, 1960. There were sixty-six items donated and we netted $585.00 for the Club. This grew to over 150 items, netting more than $5000.00 per year. This project required many man-hours of planning, but it was our primary fundraiser for many years. Due to a format change at KLST-TV, the last TV auction was held in 1999. Currently, an annual garage sale (held in the fall) is the club’s primary fund raising activity.

There have been so many projects that it would be impossible to mention them all, but our total commitment is helping youth, sponsored youth and community service. We've had fun, too; bowling teams, picnics, conventions, spouses night and weekly meetings.

Our Club has participated in local and national Kiwanis activities. One other highlight was October 8 - 10, 1961. Our Club, along with the San Angelo Kiwanis Club hosted the Texas/Oklahoma District Convention. Approximately 2,000 attended, including 1400 Kiwanians.

Five Division Twelve Lieutenant Governors have been elected from our Club; Louis Beck, 1959, Harold Hodapp, 1968, Herschel Shelby, 1965, and Karl Bookter, 1988. Mark Crouch was elected to serve two terms as Lieutenant Governor during the 2007-2009 Kiwanis years. Becky Bray was elected to serve as Division Twelve Lieutenant Governor while a member of the San Angelo Kiwanis Club. Most recently, Mark Crouch was elected to serve as Texas-Oklahoma District Trustee for the Big Country Region (Division 12, 22, and 35).

At the present time our Kiwanis Club has 21 members. The club meets at noon on Thursdays at Zentner’s Daughter Restaurant in the Stadium Park Shopping Center. Prior to that we met at the El Patio Motel, Henry’s Diner, and Golden Corral Restaurant.