Kinsmen Club of Valleyview. — 1961. — 1 cm of textual records.
Agency History
The Valleyview Kinsmen Club was an associate of the Grande Prairie Kinsmen which had been formed in 1942. Grande Prairie became the first in Zone 1 District 4 of the Association of Kinsmen Clubs of Canada, and went on to charter the Peace River Kinsmen in 1944, the Dawson Creek Kinsmen in 1950, the Spirit River Kinsmen in 1952, the Valleyview Kinsmen in 1961, and the Beaverlodge Kinsmen in 1974.
The first meeting for the Valleyview Kinsmen was held in the basement of the Valleyview Hotel with 14 members from the Grande Prairie club and 11 prospective members from Valleyview. Herman Stamp was elected chairman, and Ken Marshall Secretary. Meetings were to be held bi-weekly in various business places in Valleyview such as the Valleyview Hotel, the Community Centre, Hamlet Café, Doug’s Grill, Hi-Line Café, and the Hillcrest B.A. In 1964 the meetings were moved to the Hotel as the permanent venue.
The aim of the club was to work together as individuals, as well as with other clubs in the area, to raise money for community projects. The first fundraiser was a car wash held April 29, 1961, for a net profit of $86.00. In May of 1961, they began building the first of many summer cottages for raffle, for a draw to be held in July. Other fundraisers included Bingos, Raffles, Football Pools, Peanut Drives, Hallowe’en Candy, Cement Pouring, Town Clean-up and Lawn Mowing.
The community projects supported by the Kinsmen included a children’s playground, the Tiny Tim Christmas Charity for welfare, Minor Hockey Equipment, Little League Baseball, chairs for the hall, resuscitator for the hospital, the Curling Rink, Memorial Hall, National Institute for the Retarded, the Santa Claus project, and the Arena fund. Projects were not always successful. The members reported that the Little League Ball Park project was a flop, so the lumber was used in the Curling Rink and the Elks Ball Park seats went to the Cubs camp.
Over the years, there were approximately 100 men who became members of the Kinsmen. They started with 19 the first year, and although there were some years with membership as low as 13, in other years they had over 30 members.
Custodial History
The minute book was collected by Ann Martfeld in 2009 when she was compiling an Archival Records Survey of the Municipal District of Greenview and brought in to South Peace Regional Archives.
Scope and Content
The fonds consists of the first minute book for the Valleyview Kinsmen, from January 13 to June 21, 1961.
Notes
Title based on the contents of the fonds.