Kiwanis Club of Cedar Hills History
The Kiwanis Club of Cedar Hills was chartered on May 11, 1967. The formal Charter Ceremony was held on July 13, 1967 as a dinner banquet, along with the charter of the Portland Sunrise Kiwanis Club, at what is now the Doubletree Hotel at the Lloyd Center in Portland, Oregon.
The club initially met at the White Elephant Restaurant on Canyon Road in Beaverton, but later moved to the Earl Kelly Restaurant on Canyon Road in West Slope. The club enjoyed a good buffet in the basement banquet room for several years. The restaurant's specialty, caramel nut rolls, were "Um, um, good".
The club's first fund-raising project was selling Pronto Pups (deep fried battered hot dogs on a stick). Bob Hamlin spearheaded the project, and two of the businesses that have worked with the club for years, Bales Thriftway in Cedar Mill and Safeway of Cedar Hills, provided food preparation donations and selling space. Back then, we sold hot dogs for $0.15 each or a bag of ten for a dollar, this project was so successful that a self-contained lunch-wagon trailer was constructed so we could sell Pronto Pups for several months during the year. The trailer construction was led by Lloyd Sipe and Harry Palmquist. It was rented to other community service groups and was eventually given to one of them.
Numerous projects were undertaken over the years. A soccer ball kick wall was constructed in Commonwealth Park in Cedar Hills. For many years we held a basketball shoot fundraiser, managed by club member Eldon Foster, at the annual "Taste of Beaverton" community event. We supported Head Start with Christmas gifts and other donations to help the kids in the program. Several members have been active in the SMART (Start Making A Reader Today) program in the Beaverton schools.
We have had a series of meeting locations; North's Chuck Wagon for eighteen months, briefly at Izzy's in Beaverton, Elmer's on Cedar Hills Boulevard in Beaverton, and Marika's on Barnes Road. We eventually moved to the Beaverton Elks Club, where we met for many years. When the Elks vacated their building we moved to the Golden Crown Restaurant in Beaverton, back to the Elks Club in their new smaller building, and then to Giovanni's Italian Restaurant in downtown Beaverton. For about two years during the Covid-19 pandemic we discontinued in-person meetings. When we started meeting again in-person, we tryed several restaurants and settled on Si Señor Mexican Restaurant - Cedar Mill. Unfortunately, they had a severe kitchen fire that shut down the restaurant and so we moved to meet at Oswego Grill -Beaverton. When Si Señor reopened after all the damage was repaired we moved our regular meetings back to Si Señor.
Currently our community service covers a variety of needs. We have helped with Scouting for Food with the Boy Scouts of America, rang bells for the Salvation Army, sorted food for the Oregon Food Bank, packed and distributed Christmas food and toy boxes for needy families, collected election ballots for Washington County, and supported several other community service programs and organizations. We are very active supporters of the Doernbecher Children's Hospital through the Kiwanis Doernbecher Children's Cancer Program (KDCCP). We have sold car raffle tickets every year as well as provided other financial support for KDCCP. We also provide major support for the Mount Hood Kiwanis Camp for children and adults with disabilities. In addition to financial support we participated in regular work parties to do the maintenance needed to ready the camp for summer activity.
Through Kiwanis International we have provided significant support for the Iodine Deficiency Disorders (IDD) project that made iodized salt available in developing countries, and the ELIMINATE project that is aimed at eliminating maternal and neonatal tetanus as a major threat in developing countries. For the ELIMINATE project we contributed enough financial support per member to be named a Model Club.
Our club sponsors Key Clubs in six local high schools; Aloha High School, Beaverton High School, Mountainview High School, Southridge High School, Sunsete High School, and Westview High School. .
Needless to say, we are one of the most active and vibrant Kiwanis Clubs in the Pacific Northwest. If you have read this far, we invite you to join us in community service.
Needless to say, we are one of the most active and vibrant Kiwanis Clubs in the Pacific Northwest. If you have read this far, we invite you to join us in community service.
